"The Euro: what 'value' a currency?"

Before leaving Scotland a friend handed over some old Finnish markka,
challenging me to see if I could “still use them.”

In truth the Finnish markka ceased to be legal tender in 2002. Finland adopted the euro when entering the Eurozone in 1999, and is still the only Scandinavian country to have embraced the single currency.

My only option, then, is to get them changed.  On a day when the euro crisis has deepened, and Nokia Siemens Networks has been forced to announce cutting a quarter of its workforce,  I show the 240 Finnish markaas, including two big green notes depicting the composer Sibelius to Jenni, the teller at Forex Bank.  She looks surprised to see them. “You want to get rid of them,” she advises, adding that from next year nowhere will take them, even the Finnish National Bank.  “Are the Finns sad about that?” I ask.  “No” she says instantly.

“With everything that’s been going on in the Eurozone, do Finnish people want their old currency back?” I ask, adding, “are you fed up of the euro?” Jenni’s smile falters.  She looks at me as if I am stupid.  “No, why?” she asks.

Her reaction will be a disappointment to Timo Soini, the outspoken leader of the far-right party True Finns, who made surprising gains in last year’s election.  Soini is an outspoken critic of the EU, and has since voiced his desire to run for the presidency.  He takes credit as attempts to derail the bailouts of Portugal and Greece.

Every Finn I speak to seems embarrassed by the True Finns.  “Finland is a Social Democratic country, like the rest of Scandinavia,” Taisto Oksanen, 47, a well-known Finnish actor tells me. “But in the last ten years we’ve seen that erode.  We didn’t have too much of a class divide before, but since the Euro some people have got very rich, and a few hundred thousand people have just dropped into poverty. Our education and social welfare has been damaged.   The old parties were seen as corrupt and in with business, so I think people voted for the True Finns for change.  But it’s happening all over Europe – people are voting for those that blame the immigrants.  Look at Spain.  It is history repeating.”

“True Finns are very conservative, want the Finnish markka back and to kind of isolate Finland from the rest of Europe.  I don’t know how the support packages will actually help the citizens and I think that the banks should also take some responsibility for all of this.” says International Business student Milka Tanskanen, 21. “ I was ten years old when we started to use Euro in Finland, so I don’t actually have any real experience of the Finnish mark.”

“The old notes were nice,” Oksanen tells me.  “The euro, the note, doesn’t mean anything to me.  It has less ‘value’.”

From last Wednesday 9^th November, East Princes Street Gardens are being prepared for the Christmas time.
Works will last until next Thursday when the Edinburgh Christmas market will open its doors at 10am.

Recognised as one of the best cities in the UK to spend Christmas, Edinburgh comes to life in the winter with six weeks of festive celebration. From the stunning Big Wheel to the traditional German market, Edinburgh streets will come alive with an incredible and bustling atmosphere.

As David Goodwill, the site manager confirmed “this year it will be 15 stalls on the German market and 16 on the Highland one. Moreover, once again it will have the usual attractions: the funfair, including the big-wheel next to the Scott Monument, bubblepoods, bungy snowdome and the ice rink”.

Likewise every year Edinburgh Christmas market will be selling many different things: from food and drinks to woollen clothes and typical Christmas objects.

The site manager also explained “the stalls are not allowed to serve alcohol unless they get a licence from the Edinburgh Council”. We assume that German stalls would have got it once again and we will be able to enjoy their warm and delicious mulled wine. Furthermore, there will also be Scottish whisky around the Highland market.

Every stall has a five-year contract with the Edinburgh Council, which it will finish at the end of this Christmas market. However, David Goodwill predicts “the essence will be the same during the following years. Although some stalls will not extend this contract the organisation will not probably change”.

The Christmas market will last until the 4^th of January. Nevertheless, the German market will just be opened until the 24^th of December.

People love Edinburgh Christmas market and it is almost here. Next week everyone will be able to enjoy it!

Australian peace activists have criticised a new agreement between Australia and the US
which will lead to an increased American military presence in the area.

President Barack Obama assured the Asia-Pacific region that the U.S. was “here to stay,” after announcing 2,500 U.S. troops and aircraft will operate out of the city of Darwin, close to the Indonesian border.

Missile guidance base Pine Gap is an example of how the US and Australian militaries have worked together since the 1970s .

Cameron Hall, 35, from Tasmania, said “A lot of Australians will be upset about this.  In the cold war many people were worried because Pine Gap made us a target for Russia and China.  This announcement is bad timing because China is our main trade partner, and there is also a growing feeling of dissent about what is seen as a cavalier attitude by our government to giving away Australian territory.”

Pine Gap, near Alice Springs employs over 800 staff and is a Joint Defence Facility, like Menwith Hill in the UK.

“I have directed my national security team to make our presence and missions in the Asia Pacific a top priority,” Obama told an audience of American and Australian troops at the Royal Australian Air Force base in Darwin yesterday.

China has already expressed concerns about the move.  Xinhua, China’s state news agency, said “it wouldn’t come as a surprise if the United States is trying to seek hegemony in the region, which would be in line with its aspirations as a global superpower.”

Obama responded to these objections by saying the U.S. wants to work with China: “We’ll seek more opportunities for cooperation with Beijing.” He also added, however, that the U.S. would not ignore issues such as human rights in the region.

“Asia will largely define whether the century ahead will be marked by conflict, or cooperation; needless suffering or human progress,” he said.

SOUND FILE: obama addresses troops.

The Scottish Government has issued fresh warnings that bigots who flaunt the new anti-sectarian legislation will be named and shamed.

With sectarian singing prevalent throughout the recent Old Firm game, Roseanna Cunningham MSP warned that offenders would be unable to hide the nature of their crimes. The Community Safety minister made clear that the family and employers of those prosecuted would be informed of their sectarian charges.

However uncertainty has surrounded the government’s drive to rid Scottish football of religious bigotry from the beginning, with no definition of what classifies illegal behaviour being established.

Fans have reacted angrily to threats of unspecified guidelines being used to charge them. Dave Watson, a member of the Rangers Supporters Trust, said, “Surely no other crime could be punished in this way. The ones in charge of this, the ones that were at Ibrox have said they wouldn’t know any sectarian songs even if they heard them. Total joke.”

Celtic fans have also denounced the proposals, with Jim McNally adding, “Politicians should be focusing on more important things than a game of football.”

The trouble associated with Old Firm matches again hit the headlines following a 212% increase in domestic violence on Sunday.

On a day dedicated to peace, the Polio Eradication Initiative hope to issue mass immunizations in war-torn regions around the world, vaccinating those who would otherwise be difficult to reach.

Established by the UN in 1981, World Peace Day encourages regions in conflict to ceasefire for one day to promote the ideal of international peace.

Rotary International joined the campaign to eradicate Polio in 1985. Since then cases have reduced by 99% but the final 1% will be the hardest to eradicate as Maurice Halliday, member of Rotary International’s Foundation Committee explains, ‘War is the biggest challenge facing the immunization programme. It’s too dangerous to enter these regions normally and so an attempt has been made to organise mass immunizations to coincide with this day of peace to get help to those who need it.’

Largely waterborne and affecting mainly children under 5, the poliovirus attacks the nervous system and can cause paralysis and in some cases death.

Recent violence and fresh flooding in Pakistan mean these mass immunizations are vital to prevent the spread of the disease, which is still endemic in the country. Mr. Halliday stresses that help is imminent for the affected areas, ‘The logistics of flooding can be overcome in time and we hope to immunize up to 7 million children in one day.’

Portobello Park, the site of the new school.

By Tom Freeman

In the face of legal action, Edinburgh City Council is today voting to approve preparatory works on building on one of Edinburgh’s community parks.  Portobello Park, between the ancient Portobello 9-hole golf course and the Milton Road section of the A1, is the preferred site for the new Portobello High School.  The Portobello Park Action Group have condemned the decision to build on the park, citing this as another example of shrinking public green space in Edinburgh and have now raised a legal action in the Court of Session to review the decision, an action which the Council have vowed to ‘vigorously defend’.

“Green space is an asset” Ros Sutherland, chair of PPAG said yesterday, “Step outside the bounds of Portobello, and look at Edinburgh as whole, there’s a history of building on public space”

Local SNP councillor Michael Bridgeman was quick to distance the current administration from the previous Labour-led council  “The SNP pledge to leave the golf course and its 150 year history alone” he told Napier News.  “We have published a clear Open Space Strategy.”  He conceded, however, that there were no plans to create new green space in Edinburgh.

“I fully acknowledge that for those living nearby this choice is totally unacceptable and very painful.” Labour councillor Maureen Child said yesterday.

The PPAG is holding a 5k fun run in the park tonight from 7pm, followed by tea and home baking in St Martin’s church hall.  They hope this will raise awareness and funds for their appeal.

It was announced last week that scientists from the University of Dundee have made a discovery which could lead to a deeper understanding of how cancer occurs. The research team, led by Dr Joost Zomerdijk discovered a “previously hidden link” within the ways in which human cells make the structures they need to function, a process called “transcription” – specifically the way in which genes regulate ribosomes which produce proteins vital for growth. Understanding transcription is important in cancer research as when the genes controlling it fail, cells can grow out of control, creating cancers.

Dr Joost Zomerdijk led the study.

This breakthrough was hailed by Dr Zomerdijk, claiming that it “advances our understanding of how normal transcription is maintained in human cells” adding that this may help to discover how to reverse the damaging “deregulation” of transcription.

Dr David Wright a biologist from the University, who was not involved in the research, cautioned that this finding is “a tiny crucial cog in a complicated machine… it is not particularly important on its own” but it “ties the information that we already have about the ways in which cancer cells go wrong to our understanding of how normal cells do their jobs” which could possibly lead to new kinds of cancer therapies.

Dundee University’s College of Life Sciencesreceives over £40million of research funding annually is renowned for research into cell Biology, having recently been ranked 1^st in the UK for Biological Sciences.

This pupil is one of thousands of victims of homophobic bullying in schools across the UK. Almost two thirds of young people, in the gay community, experience bullying in secondary schools. The charitable organisation Stonewall, which lends support to the gay community, found that homophobic bullying, after taunting because of weight, is the most frequent form of abuse in secondary schools. It is three times more prevalent than bullying due to religion or ethnicity. Unfortunately, a culture of homophobia exists in many school environments and this creates problems for young people trying to come to terms with their sexuality.

Previous poster campaign by Stonewall. Image courtesy of Stonewall.org.uk

Stonewall carried out studies in 2006 and 2009 on the issue of homophobic bullying in UK schools and published The Student’s Report and The Teacher’s Report, respectively. The first report found that of those who have been bullied, 92 per cent have been subjected to verbal abuse, 41 per cent to physical abuse and 17 per cent have received death threats. This treatment is not limited to young gay people. The Teacher’s Report found that nine in ten secondary school teachers say pupils experience name-calling and homophobic bullying at school, regardless of their sexual orientation. “I was not aware of my sexuality at the time and girls called me lesbian and bullied me severely and made me depressed and suicidal.” As this girl’s experience shows, homophobic bullying has an enormous impact on young people’s self-esteem and their sense of belonging in their school community. Many of these young people are unaware of their own sexual feelings or have still to ‘come out’ to their friends and family. Often they feel alone when they are bullied because of their sexuality, which can lead to further feelings of isolation.

Many young people have also experienced sexual abuse because they are gay, like this pupil in Yorkshire: “The worst experience I had was a straight lad coming to sit next to me and touching my leg to wind me up. It was an invasion of personal space and very intimidating.” These forms of bullying are serious issues, which need to be addressed. They violate the basic human rights of the young people who experience them first hand as well as having a considerable impact on their wellbeing.

It is perhaps surprising with the amount of gay celebrities that are admired and respected in our society that this kind of behaviour still exists among young people. It seems that homophobia is rife in many schools across the UK. This is in part due to insufficient policies on homophobic bullying within schools. Nearly every school has an anti-bullying policy but less than half of them specifically address homophobic bullying. Of those that do have policies on this issue, only half of teachers say that these provisions are publicised and promoted to pupils. Over 94 per cent of staff do not receive proper training for dealing with homophobic bullying and only 7 per cent of teachers are reported to respond when they witness it. One student found no help when he reported an incident to a teacher. “The last person I told about homophobic behaviour was my drama teacher who was as much help as a chocolate fireguard.”

Another reason for the prevalence of homophobia in schools is the lack of education regarding gay issues. Three quarters of pupils who experience bullying say that they have never seen lesbian and gay issues addressed in class. Often the information that is provided about sexual orientation can be misleading and lead to further bullying: “PHSE was about AIDS- the teacher didn’t contradict that it was a ‘gay disease’ and implied what gay men did in bed was disgusting.”

LGBT Youth in Scotland is one of many organisations that work with schools to educate students properly about gay and lesbian issues. Nigel Chipps is the Youth Community Development Officer for Edinburgh and the Lothians and he has been running workshops in several schools across Edinburgh for five years. Some of the schools that participate in these workshops include North Berwick High School, George Heriot’s School, and Loretto. “The workshops contain a lot of fun exercises”, Nigel says. “We talk about famous lesbian, gay and bisexual celebrities and talk about perception. If we think people look a certain way they project a particular image.” The workshops often vary depending on the age group, with different issues being highlighted in each case. The main aim of these sessions is to generate discussion about gay issues and give pupils the opportunity to ask questions. “I always go back to the key fact”, Nigel states. “ One in ten gay young people have a higher mental health risk and a higher suicide risk than others.” This statistic highlights the importance of the work being done by LGBT Youth Scotland and Stonewall to combat homophobic bullying in schools. “Changing the whole school culture is important”, advises Nigel. “It is an equality issue and about being fair and just.”

This form of education seems to be working. Pupils who have been taught in a positive way about lesbian and gay issues are 60 per cent more likely to feel happy and accepted at school and 40 per cent more likely to feel respected. They are more likely to feel safe at school and part of their school community. They also feel more confident in talking to an adult at school about being gay. This Scottish student talks about the stance in his school: “There is always someone you can talk to about [bullying] who will take you seriously. If you are being bullied then it is taken seriously and action is immediately taken.” It is possible to tackle homophobic bullying through initiatives like these and Stonewall’s Education Champions programme. Without such interventions bullying will continue to be a serious problem in schools across the UK and could lead to negative consequences for young people in the gay community. Every child has the right to feel safe at school and this should not be compromised because of their sexual orientation.