Radovan Kadrazic and International Justice

Yesterday, as I was busy away from the house, it was not until the evening that I heard the news that the war criminal Radovan Kadrazic had been arrested. I will not use the journalistic nicety of saying “alleged war criminal” as simply as the head of state he could have stopped many the atrocities that took place in Bosnia.

While it has taken thirteen years and a change of government in Serbia for this to happen, finally the many thousands of his victims will see justice. While there will be some who will think that this will just open old wounds, the victims need to see that people like Kadrazic are held accountable.

Additionally, states like Serbia and the people of that country, need to know that only through following civilised and just behaviour can any state become full participants in the human family.
This actually should also send a strong message out to all states that behave aggressively either to external people or internally to its own population, that no matter how much time has passed justice will happen.

Now there is a parallel with other events that are happening around the world, and if we can contain people like Radovan Kadrazic and states like his was, eventually they will change. I can see a direct parallel with Iran here. I don't want to see Iran with nuclear weapons, but nor do I want to see America or Israel taking military action against Iran.

The trouble is that because of the thirst for oil in the west and particularly America, we indirectly feed the Iran economy by buying their oil. With Serbia by imposing and keeping strong sanctions in place eventually the Serbian government and more importantly the people realised that only by following and adopting the accepted ways of behaviour will a state, a nation become part of the civilised world.

This has worked before, Libya while it is still not a pleasant régime, they are at least extensively following international rules. If we followed a consistent approach and stopped supporting odious states by the back door, we really could start to build a better, safer and much more just world.

Zimbabwe and Proof of a rigged vote

Tonight, Friday, the first story on Newsnight was about Zimbabwe. Thanks to the Guardian, one of the few serious newspapers we still have in Britain, they had obtained film of the way that Mugabe and Zanu-PF enforced that people were not able to vote in a free and fair way.

Here is a link to the story on guardian.co.uk

However, before you go there, I have this comment to say.

I have long puzzled about why Mugabe has destroyed his country in the way that he has. And while I have long suspected it, the way he has acted in recent weeks has revealed that he is just nothing more than a racist.

Like all people who are prejudiced, he seeks to blame others for his own failings. In his mind its the White land owners and the former colonial masters that are to blame, all racists need their scapegoats. Finally the world sees him for what he is, a lying thug that enriches himself while his people starve.

David Davies - A Politician with Principals

When I returned yesterday, from helping to carry out a species survey, I caught the news headlines on the radio. While I wanted to find out the details, I really did not believe what I thought I had heard a politician had resined his seat in the House of Commons over the erosion of our civil liberties following the narrow vote in favour of allowing detention of terrorist suspects for forty two days without charges being laid.

I fully realise that the arguments in favour for this legislation may seem compelling as the purpose is to help protect us from the murderous acts of terrorists. But as has already happened with laws that were intended to be used purely for anti-terrorism, are now being used for all sorts of very minor crimes. By minor I do mean minor, as these laws and powers are being used to convict people guilty of things like allowing their dogs to foul the footpath.

For eight hundred years because of the Magna Charta, in Britain, we have had the right not to be detained without any trial or charges. While the situation has changed and we need protection from people whose twisted logic and sick morals justify (to themselves) the murder of innocent people. By our own government destroying our rights and liberties, the government does the terrorists job for them. If our own government erodes our freedoms and changes our way of life, the government is capitulating to the terrorist.

During the debate in parliament it was notable that people with experience of dealing with terrorism, were against this. In Northern Ireland during the period of nationalist terrorism Britain used internment. That was locking up people for their political beliefs, often with no real evidence that they were terrorists. This acted as a recruiting Sargent for the IRA (Irish Republican Army) and probably prolonged that war. This is not only my opinion but the carefully considered thoughts of minds much better than mine.

This loss of protection of the individual from the state is one of a long line of liberties that we have had taken away. While each individual loss of liberty can be justified as reasonable but only as long as we have a reasonable government. In Germany in the 1930s many of the same loss of freedoms were implemented, and this led to the repressions of the Nazi regime and the murder of six million people.

While we don't yet have an oppressive dictatorship in the UK, yet. We have seen the government assuming more powers to control what is private in peoples lives. While some measures that protect children are welcome, there is an increasingly alarming repression of any ideas, thoughts and behaviour that deviates from the standard. The ban on smoking in public places is just one example of this.

However, it is the loss of liberty that this measure of locking up innocent people for six weeks without charge that is going beyond what should be accepted by a free society. The measure is being sold to us as a way of stopping terrorists outrages, but that would only be true if the police only ever arrested the guilty. Even now there are people that are arrested just because they are Muslim During the war with the IRA there were many people that were wrongfully convicted. While our legal system is not perfect I would rather trust a judge than a politician with my liberty.

As an environmental activist I could see the government using these powers to repress my opinions and activities. Not that I have ever or would ever become involved in anything destructive or violent. But once a government has a power they will use it and use it in ways never originally intended.

The one thing that strikes me as strange is that all of these modern terrorist organisations have grown out of repression. They want to dictate their perspective and impose their way of life upon all of us so why are we removing our freedoms for them?

It was hearing that David Davies the conservative shadow home secretary had taken up the challenge on this issue that has surprised me. The Conservative party (analogous to the Republicans) are not known for their libertarian principals, in fact they are rather better known as being authoritarian. So I needed to watch and listen to the news to find out if what I had heard was correct.

He is resigning his seat in the house of commons to force a serious debate via a “by election”. What is also heartening is that the Liberal Democrat's have already said the will not field a candidate. It looked as though this was going to be a straight race between a conservative libertarian and Labour.

Labour used to be a left of centre socialist (or rather more social democratic) party. But they have been a much more authoritarian and right wing whilst in government. So while I never thought it would happen we have a conservative defending our liberties while Labour are taking them away.

Then last night while watching a politics programme on television the former Editor of the Sun (A right wing Tabloid Trash Newspaper) Kelvin Mackenzie, announced that on the instruction of Rupert Murdock, would stand against David Davies.

Well to say we are living in interesting time is almost an understatement. Traditionally it would have been Labour defending freedoms. To have David Davies forcing a real debate in the country by giving up not just a high profile political position but a guaranteed ministerial post in government when the conservatives win the next General Election, shows that he is a man of principal.

The debate in the media over the issues has been derisory and has left much of the population thinking that apart from the Labour Party, no one wanted to prevent terrorism. Yet only the minority who listen to or read serious journalism will know that even the heads of the intelligence agencies and senior police are opposed to this measure. Well it all becomes clear that serious informed debate has been stifled by Rupert Murdock via his media empire.

So while we do not yet have a political dictatorship, we do have a media dictatorship with Rupert Murdock at the top. It is no wonder the British public are so ill-informed.

Wildlife of China

As my regular reader will know, I have been taking delight with the Natural History series Wild China that has been showing on BBC television over here. The series has been criticised in reviews as being PR for the Beijing Olympics. While I will not shy away from critiquing any government regarding environmental abuse, Human Rights abuse or for just being plain stupid, this is a Natural History series and had the films been critical of China then it would no longer have been about the wildlife.

While a film that was critical could possibly be made, this also is a co production with China TV and if it had been made with the intention of being critical of China then the series would never have been made. Nor would we have discovered all the hidden delights of the previously hidden and unknown wildlife that we have seen thus far. In fact one of the scenes shown tonight would never have been filmed. That of Wild Giant Panda courtship and mating.

Also one of the remarkable aspects of tonight's broadcast was that there was at least some comment of some of the environmental mistakes of the past. Additionally, and this may be seen as propaganda, it appears that China and its dictatorship have realised that serious environmental damage has been done in the past and are at least trying to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. There was also an acknowledgement that greater industrial extraction of water from the yellow river, risks the ability of the central plateau to grow the fifty percent of Chinas wheat that it currently grows.

All the way through the series there have been comments that have highlighted some of the environmental impacts that have occurred in China. And while not apportioning blame, the series has not been shy in providing examples of these. One that was illuminated tonight was the fate of the Crested Ibis. It was thought to have been made extinct, but in 1981 seven individuals were found. A conservation programme was initiated and there are now just over five hundred individuals

While I could be critical, I would rather be constructive. There is no a single political geographic area on this planet that could not do a much better job on the environment, therefore I would rather that we had this limited openness that none at all. There is obviously a tacit propaganda exercise by China, but only from learning more about the world can we hope to change what's wrong and keep what's right.

Undiscovered Tribe in Brazil

While the story fascinated me, I take exception to the headlines that the main stream media used that this is a Lost Tribe. They are not lost, they know where they are. Further, they are only uncontacted by the white western world, it is likely that they do have contact with other tribes.

In fact, when you look at the way the members of the tribe reacted to the second pass of the aircraft, firing arrows and having painted their bodies, it is possible that they have knowledge of the outside world. This may only be from stories and folk tales, but considering the way we have treated native peoples, their reaction is understandable.

What I have learned is that there are around one hundred uncontacted tribes around the world. Not just in South America, but across the planet. While probably like most people I am interested to discover what they could teach us and what we can learn from and about them. However, I feel that the the right thing to do is to leave them alone.

Anyway here's a link to one of the better news stories, and a link to Survival International who campaign to protect the tribes.

Photo credit AP Photo/Gleison Miranda, Funai

Food and Population Follow up - Plan A? Or Plan B?

Following my posting about Food shortages and Population growth, a rather interesting comment was made. Sometimes when I am writing about something I feel so passionately about, I can occasionally say something that is not as clear as intended. Often as I am writing a stream of conciousness, although many of my readers may say that is more a stream of unconsciousness, I don't always provide the clarity that I aim for.

Additionally, I do try to hard to be diplomatic at times. This posting and the comment are a classic example. Personally, I think that as a result of Climate Change, there will not be the projected increase in the global population. In fact I we will soon start to see population decline. That will be as a direct result of food shortages giving rise to famine and to put it bluntly, people starving to death. This is not alarmist as it is already happening. This occurs not from lack of food, but from poverty. As I stated in my previous posting, eight hundred and fifty million people will not get enough food today. That is nearly three times the population of the USA, or over fourteen time the population of the UK. The reason for choosing these two countries as examples is that in both enough food per day is thrown away that would feed the underfed the under nourished and the starving. I thank my contact in the UN for clarify the situation in the US.

Now if we cant feed the world now, how can we hope to feed the a growing population? Add in to that the difficulties of a changing climate and the whole concept of a population reaching nine billion looks impossible.

Put quite simply without the political will to distribute food fairly now, the population will not grow as fast as projections estimate. In the natural world food and water is the limiting factor regarding population size. Therefore without the food or the capacity to grow the food the human population will never reach the projected twelve billion humans on the planet. Personally, the way that we in the west are dealing with the problem will result in the global population falling. In nature, no population like ours can be sustained. Further in biology, any cell or group of cells that grows out of control is called a cancer. Is that the way humanity wants to be remembered, as a cancer on the planet?

That brings me on to the main are that I need to provide clarification on. Currently in the developing world there is a crisis brought about by HIV/AIDS. So many of the solutions that the western developed world has proposed or has been prepared to fund, involve preaching abstinence. I use the word preaching quite deliberately, as while intellectually I can see that if we got the whole world to stop having sex would stop HIV/AIDS, it is just not going to happen. Via this naïve and frankly ridiculous policy, inspired by religious morality, it has condemned millions in Africa alone to grow up with out parents. In some parts of Africa the HIV+ rate is as high as forty percent of the adult population. Had the religious busy bodies kept their noses out, we would have seen twenty years of good family planing, far lower rates of infection not just of HIV+ but of other STD and lower birth rates.

While I am not saying that family planning is the only solution here, for the last twenty years the interference from religious groups has done more harm than good in providing development to the countries of Africa. Yet where non judgemental healthcare and education has occurred, in Africa and Asia, it has not only helped stem the spread of HIV infections it has helped reduce the birth rate.

The one aspect that all of the NGOs (Non Governmental Organisations) agree on though is that educating women really helps. Even organisations like Oxfam, the UN Food and Health programmes and many others don't fully understand why, but it seems that by even teaching women something as basic as the ability to read and write, helps empower women to access information regarding women's health issues and in particular information regarding family planning. That helps reduce the size of the families. Put simply the fewer children the families have the lower the financial cost. Further, there is also lower child mortality rates in the families where the woman has been educated.

We in the Western developed world just don't realise just how easy we have it, and just how difficult it is in other parts of our planet. However the real point is, that had we not tried to impose our morality upon other people and cultures, it is possible that we would not now be facing the projected growth of planets population to such unsustainable levels.

While I am not advocating any form of forced population control, if people in the developing world were provided with the education and choice, most would use family planning as they see it as the most sustainable way out of poverty there is.

The trouble is so far we have not even tried plan A so no one has thought of a Plan B.

Global Food System Must Change Population and Food

Here is a mind boggling fact;

There are more human beings alive on the planet today then have ever lived in the whole of human existence.

Human population is the elephant in the room when it comes to climate change and the environment. Not least in the moral abhorrent image of genocide sparked by raising the issue. Thus, very few governments, will actually even discuss the issue. Or when they do they only talk about it in economic terms, such as the so called demographic time bomb. That's where with an ageing population, there are fears that we will not have enough new workers entering the job market to pay the taxes that will enable a government to pay for the health and social services. Even then it is only in terms of increasing the population further.


This prospective of only seeing people as economic units, consumers and or as producers is very short sighted. As quite simply a constantly growing population requires more resources: Food, Water, Shelter and Warmth. These are the basics of life, no matter if you live in the developed world or in the developing world. The problem is that at a global population of six and a half billion we cant get this right, so how are we going to cope with nine billion? Or even the twelve billion that is the expected peek?

I have constantly tried to write a posting on this topic of population growth, but I kept on getting sidetracked. I now understand why, it is simply that I can not see it happening. It is not that I can envisage that many people on the planet, but that I can not see how the this can happen without the already stressed natural systems breaking down.

Even if you take out of the equation the likely effects of a changing climate, the two key elements are food and water. Water and food poverty are already serious issues around the planet. People are already starving, 850 million people will not have enough food to eat today. With another two or three billion mouths to feed, how will we grow that food?

Already the over use of non organic chemical fertilisers has created a run off into the oceans creating dead zones. Therefore, if we expand yields by this method, it will only work in the short term. Add to that the very real problem of expanding deserts, water scarcity and degraded soils, then that too will prevent the planet from expanding its food production to meet this growing population. Further, the way we are polluting the seas, as well as over fishing them, we will lose that resource as a means of feeding people too.

Now if you then add in the effects of global warming, an already mind numbing situation starts to look like a disaster. Even if we only add in the most conservative effects of Climate Change, drought from the loss of the mountain glaciers, coastal flooding causing salinity of the farming land around the worlds coasts, and hotter dryer summers combined with sudden flood events, the problem of water becomes obvious.

Already, there are problems with food shortages. The effects of Climate Change are reducing yields of important food crops already. Wheat, Corn and Rice. This is provoking food riots among the poor around the world. This is happening now, so how much worse will it be if we have a population of nine billion?

Quite simply we will face refugees fleeing famine.

This is why I can not see that level of population ever occurring. We are just to selfish and wasteful to provide an equitable distribution food around the world today, so how can we feed another three billion people?

Here is another fact that should shock people. Here in the UK every day eight million pounds worth of food is thrown out. Exclude the environmental cost of shipping in and then throwing out all that food, and you still have enough food discarded to feed all of the under nourished around the world.

The one key fact that I have learnt about providing good development is that education is vital. Further, educating women is the cornerstone of good development policy. As well as the simple fact that women in most of the world are the food growers and providers, but educating women empowers them to have greater control of their bodies. Put quite simply educated women have fewer children. Additionally, providing an education to women has been proven by the Non Government Agencies, charities providers of aid and education, is the most effective route out of poverty for most families. However, there is another factor in this equation that of religious and social taboos regarding sex. This became most apparent in the fight to stop the spread of AIDS/HIV.

Rather than enable the use of Condoms, religious leaders would advocate abstinence. While that may sound a reasonable way forward to many people, it actually ignores the reality of cultural differences and the way that women are still treated as property.

I have spoken before of my repugnance of the policy of people like Bush who will not fund any development project that enables the use of Condoms or provides education regarding family planning. However it is not just George W, there are almost all the religious leaders; Christian, Muslim etc., who are promoting this form of keeping women oppressed and keeping people in poverty

If we are to even start tackling this crisis of over population then we really need to start tackling poverty head on.

I don't see the future as a desperate one. We can make the future better for all, what is needed is the political will.

Global Food System Must Change

China, Tibet and the Olympic Torch

Before I go on about what happened on Monday, I have to tell you that on Sunday while running a bath, the telephone rang. Normally it only rings when I am in the bath. However because of this my bath was more full than I intended. Also that meant that my cat “Trouble” (that's her name) was able to sneak into the bathroom and as I was trying to gently lower myself in to the Bath, so she suddenly leapt on to the edge of the bath making me jump, and in my desperation to avoid her slipping in I slipped and crashed down onto my bum. Well the big slosh sent the cat running but I knew that I was going to be bruised.

The reason for telling you this is that on Monday, I was bruised and it made sitting for any prolonged period a little uncomfortable. Not good as I had a meeting in Newcastle with one of the publishers interested in producing the Badger book. So my journey in to the city on the bus was less pleasant than it normally would be. I also had the problem of having to sit through the meeting.

Because of my fidgeting, trying to get comfortable, the publisher thought that I was not happy with the money I was being offered. Thus, instead of signing a contract as we had both expected, the woman I was talking to, decided that the offer was not good enough. Therefore, she will be talking with her partners to see if it cant be increased.

So my bruised butt may have improved my financial status. As was planned I was also taken out to lunch. I told her the reason why I was uncomfortable (so this is not news to her, here) and she had a good laugh both as me, and with me. You could say that I was the Butt of the joke!

Also, as the publishers office is in one of these business units where many small businesses are located, there were other people in the Café who were also from these studios. Further I saw people that I knew. Anyway, this lead to a nice long leisurely lunch, plenty of coffee and some interesting chat. I was then asked if I wanted to meet up again latter at the pub.
That meant that I had most of the afternoon to kill. So I went and wandered around on the Town Moor. I had wished I had taken a camera with me as I could have gotten some good images.

In the pub, it was good to catch up with people that I had known more years ago than I care to remember. One aspect that was uncomfortable, and I am not talking about my bum, was a woman that was/is the partner of one of the people from the publishers. She got tipsy quite quickly and kept on wanting to touch my hair. Further, she kept on saying “I Really Like your Hair” All this in front of her partner. Fortunately they left to get some food.

Once that discomfort was gone, I ended up having a nice long chin wag with some really nice people. While I talked a little about what I was up to, I was more interested in what other folks were up to. This lead to one man saying that he had been in London protesting about Chinas Human rights record in Tibet during the procession of the Olympic torch. Now while I was tempted to say something at the time on here, I didn't see much point in just repeating much of what others were saying. However, I suggested that rather than trying to disrupt the procession that the way to protest was by booing and by everyone turning their back on the torch procession would have been a far more eloquent message to send to the Chinese than the violence that actually happened. I could not believe the way this split people. Some agreed, but far more seemed to think that the torch should have been stopped by any means.

Now I know that not everyone agrees with non violent protesting, as it doesn't always grab the headlines, but I feel that it helps win greater support in the long run than does any aggressive action. As in this case in particular, it would have shown the Chinese what feeling the majority have about their treatment of the peoples of Tibet and that protests don't need to be or end up with violence.

The State of the Union

Last night I stayed up to listen to George W Bushes State of the Union address. While it did not contain anything that was surprising, there were three aspects that I found frustrating. The first was the Bush stance on Climate Change. While there appears to be a recognition of the reality of climate change, under bush, there will not be any real or substantive action until countries like China and India start tackling climate change as well.

Well China is, while china is doing this in part as the PR for the Olympics, there is also a recognition that a changing climate is already causing problems. Desertification, Drought, Floods and its having an economic impact too. That is why China is building the largest solar power station in the world in the Gobi Desert.

The difference really is that the US has a Gross Domestic Product of fifteen trillion Dollars, while Chinas economy is still only two and a quarter of a trillion dollars. If China can do it I am sure that the US could, and in my opinion should, be doing much more.

The other aspect of the proper gander of this speech was when Bush talked about overseas aid. Because of religious interference, the US refuses to fund or support any project that promotes the use of condoms as a way of tackling HIV/AIDS. Even though the world health organisation and a myriad of other specialists know that the use of condoms is the only was that the spread of HIV/AIDS can be halted. This stance, by Bush, is based upon an ideology that's akin to the belief that the earth is flat. Don't get me started on natural selection!

Over the years of listening to the world service, reading books, and talking to people involved in development, the one aspect of development that has the greatest benefit is family planning. Empowering and educating women actually has the greatest positive effect on the health, economics and productivity of the developing world. Therefore, the US dictating that aid will only be given to peoples and projects that comply with the morality (the word that Bush used in the speech) of the religious right (wing), is not only wrong but adds to the problems that the developing world has. Further, it adds (Rightly or Wrongly) to the impression that America is pushing an anti Moslem agenda.

Lastly was the way that the US has dealt with current financial crisis. The US economy has some serious structural problems. Over recent years it has been on a spending spree, this has been funded by borrowing. Here in the UK we have done the same, so we are not guilt free here. While borrowing can really help people archive more sooner, borrowing has to be repaid. The problem is that this borrowing has come from overseas, predominantly China and South East Asia. That means that now Americans are busy working to boost the economic standing of China, Korea, Japan etc.

This was why in the 1970s in the UK we had to sort out the structural problems of our economy as during the Second World War we had borrowed so much from the US. It was only last year that we finally repaid that money. The US now has a similar problem, with government borrowings of three trillion dollars, that's twenty percent of the US economy, America has to work harder just to pay off the debt.

Further as US business has transported industries and jobs overseas, cutting the taxes of the richer citizens will do little to help this problem. Had Bush given the money to the poorest people in the US then you would have seen that money spent and injected into the US economy and not spent on servicing overseas debt.

I never expected much from Bush and I was not disappointed, given all the problems in the world it would have been great if the speech had not been full of idealogical rhetoric and had more substantive action.

Welcome to The Wood Mouse’s Diary.

Previously I was using Yahoo 360 to keep a web log or a journal on line regarding my activities in and around the bit of countryside that I live. However, yesterday I discovered that Yahoo was passing on details to the Chinese government of its users and the web sites they visited. As a result of this the Chinese government has jailed dissidents or decentres in china, this includes one journalist who has been given a ten-year sentence for trying to seek out the truth.

Thus I decided not to support Yahoo in any way shape or form, and have moved my Blog from there. Now I will be posting here. I hope that other people will support Human Rights and refuse to use Yahoo. As Yahoo have only done this for financial gain, if no one uses their sites or products they will soon discover that they will be the losers here.

One thing that my readers will discover my politics are neither of the Right nor the Left, my political philosophy is Green. Not a green tint, but a deep green that flows through everything I do. I am a strong believer in Human Rights but not where some so-called rights infringe upon other peoples liberties.

I try hard to make my postings entertaining and interesting. At times they will be humorous, but at other times they will be challenging. I hope that you folks enjoy my Blog. You may disagree with what the mouse says but I moved here because of freedom of speech and I will only ever say what I truly believe

Mouse