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http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2013/05/capital-mobility-and-corporate-whitewashing http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/?p=43457 This is an interesting piece about apparel corporations looking to get out of Bangladesh because of the bad publicity the building collapse has given the companies. They want to move to Cambodia, Vietnam, and the new frontier of Indonesia. What’s telling about it is that the corporations have zero interest in actually improving conditions for Bangladeshis. For all the talk (including by liberals) about how we need to keep outsourcing the jobs to countries with dangerous working conditions because the companies are providing them work, there is no commitment at all to keeping those people employed. While it might be a good thing that companies want to avoid multi-story factories with the potential to kill over 1100 workers like in Bangladesh, rather than work with Bangladesh to improve conditions or take some responsibility, instead they just want to bail on the country entirely because it might make them look bad to western customers.
Under normal circumstances, 2 workers dying in a Cambodian roof collapse wouldn’t make the news at all, which makes accidents in single-story buildings acceptable to corporations. Right now, if the linked article is accurate, there are some positive things in Indonesia, with contractors having to offer health insurance to attract scarce workers, but I am skeptical of the long-term continuance of such practices if Indonesia becomes a fully mobilized apparel economy with the plethora of workers that has allowed for low wages in other nations.
This issue also gets at the comments in the Cambodia workplace death thread, which were not unusual in their ultimate acquiescence in a spatially mobile capitalism. The only way capital has ever granted safer working conditions is to damage the bottom line. Workers’ compensation laws in the United States happened after workers began winning lawsuits for damages, forcing companies to create a rational system of low compensation to avoid expensive payouts. Corporations stopped dumping chemicals when OSHA and EPA created civil and criminal penalties for violators, minimal as they may have been. Capital mobility across the globe is not “natural.” Rather it is a process encouraged by the governments of the corporations’ home nations. Capital moved to pay lower wages, to reinstitute unsafe workplaces, to dump poisons into rivers and air, all of which increased profits. It is true that calling for international standards where workers around the world could sue corporations in the country of corporate origin for unsafe conditions and environmental degradation would lessen capital mobility, but I hardly see this as a bad thing.
We might ask, “What about the Bangladeshi worker!” if we lessened the incentives for race to the bottom capital mobility, but a) as the flight from Bangladesh shows, capital doesn’t care about that worker anyway, b) a job is a job no matter where it is–there is a great need for work in the United States, Cambodia, Bangladesh, wherever, c) we could create a system with some differentiation in conditions but that still protected basic worker safety and stopped grotesque pollution, both of which are very inexpensive to implement, and d) companies are more than welcome to stay in Bangladesh or Honduras or Vietnam and commit to long-term investments there that will help bring workers out of poverty. We rightfully say that these nations have laws on the books but because of corruption or indifference or violence they aren’t enforced. Allowing foreign workers access to international courts is one way to help solve these problems. The idea that enforcing safety in Cambodia is “impossible” is no different than saying that enforcing safety in Gilded Age American factories was impossible. It’s a process and there are issues of corruption, but of course it is possible, especially if the corporations in charge of the whole process want it enforced. If you want to see conditions in these factories improve fast, a couple of successful lawsuits against Gap or Asics is a pretty likely way to make that happen.
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http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2013/05/liveblogging-world-war-ii-may-18-1943.html 
Sturmbannfuehrer Gricksch for SS-Col. von Herff and Reichsfuehrer-SS Himmler:
The Auschwitz camp plays a special role in the resolution of the Jewish question. The most advance methods permit the execution of the Fuehrer-order in the shortest possible time and without arousing much attention. The so-called “resettlement action” runs the following course:
The Jews arrive in special trains (freight cars) toward evening and are driven on special tracks to areas of the camp specifically set aside for this purpose.
There the Jews are unloaded and examined for their fitness to work by a team of doctors, in the presence of the camp commandant and several SS officers. At this point anyone who can somehow be incorporated into the work program is put in a special camp.
The curably ill are sent straight to a medical camp and are restored to health through a special diet. The basic principle behind everything is: conserve all manpower for work. The previous type of “resettlement action” has been thoroughly rejected, since it is too costly to destroy precious work energy on a continual basis.
The unfit go to cellars in a large house which are entered from outside. They go down five or six steps into a fairly long, well-constructed and well-ventilated cellar area, which is lined with benches to the left and right. It is brightly lit, and the benches are numbered.
The prisoners are told that they are to be cleansed and disinfected for their new assignments. They must therefore completely undress to be bathed. To avoid panic and to prevent disturbances of any kind, they are instructed to arrange their clothing neatly under their respective numbers, so that they will be able to find their things again after their bath.
Everything proceeds in a perfectly orderly fashion. Then they pass through a small corridor and enter a large cellar room which resembles a shower bath. In this room are three large pillars, into which certain materials can be lowered from outside the cellar room. When three- to four-hundred people have been herded into this room, the doors are shut, and containers filled with the substances are dropped down into the pillars.
As soon as the containers touch the base of the pillars, they release particular substances that put the people to sleep in one minute. A few minutes later, the door opens on the other side, where the elevator is located. The hair of the corpses is cut off, and their teeth are extracted (gold-filled teeth) by specialists (Jews). It has been discovered that Jews were hiding pieces of jewelry, gold, platinum etc., in hollow teeth.
Then the corpses are loaded into elevators and brought up to the first floor, where ten large crematoria are located. (Because fresh corpses burn particularly well, only 50-100 lbs. of coke are needed for the whole process.) The job itself is performed by Jewish prisoners, who never step outside this camp again.
The results of this “resettlement action” to date: 500,000 Jews. Current capacity of the “resettlement action” ovens: 10,000 in 24 hours.
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http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/GXLFQts-fvo/-This-week-in-science-Common-census 
Climate Consensus image via Skeptical Science, click image for more data and details.
If you're old enough, you remember hearing about missile gaps that reportedly posed danger. Here's another perilous chasm: the Consensus Gap. There is virtually no scientific controversy over climate change anymore, but a lot of non-scientists think there is huge controversy in the climate research community itself. Greg Laden explains:
The point is, the gap between scientific consensus and public opinion is real, and very important. The consensus gap causes bad things to happen. ... Editorials in Main Stream Media that exploit the consensus gap could be compared to editorials at the New York Times or in the Scientific American or your local newspaper that demand more attention be given to the plight of Big Foot or the Loch Ness Monster. The degree of scientific consensus that those creatures do not exist is about the same as the degree of consensus that AGW is real, though the public “belief” in crypto-critters is less than the public “belief” that AGW is not real. Why? Because Main Stream Media has not taken Big Foot or the Loch Ness Monster seriously in quite some time.
Ten years from now it will be interesting to look back and see how Main Stream Media’s editorial writers who today are sticking with “the jury is still out” on AGW managed their reputations as they looked more and more like they belonged at the National Enquirer rather than a respected news outlet.
- Tanzania offers another clue in the fascinating story of primate evolution.
- Holy smokes, look at the line up of crazy to replace Saxby I-aint-gay Chambliss; no matter who wins, it will bear much science-blogging fruit in the years to come.
- Via the Stephanie Miller Show, I posted a few hilarious excepts from Housekeeping Monthly 1955 AKA
The Good Wife's Guide How to Lose a Woman in Five Minutes. Snopes says likely fabricated but still expresses many such sentiments common at that time.
- What could go wrong with mind reading or thought control?
- Sometimes knowing too much science can detract from a sci-fi movie ...
- The sequester kills.
- NASA plans to return a sample of an Apollo class asteroid called 101955 Bennu. The object is about half a km in diameter so no need for record-breaking rovers. One of the strange forces at work this mission will check out is called Yarkovsky Effect: a miniscule quantum force which orbital mechanics must take into account as, over time, it can change change the orbit of a small body enough that it misses the earth ... or hits us.
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http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/6CPGaDNkoNw/-Abbreviated-Pundit-Round-up-New-IRS-charges-by-conservatives-don-t-measure-up Peggy Noonan:
We are in the midst of the worst Washington scandal since Watergate.
Um, no we are not. It's not even a scandal. It's a controversy. And, by the way, Benghazi isn't even that. But don't worry. That won't stop Republicans from overreaching.
Nate Silver:
“The second part of the scandal is the auditing of political activists who have opposed the administration,” the Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan wrote on Thursday, describing the I.R.S.’s actions as the “worst Washington scandal since Watergate.”
What evidence does Ms. Noonan present for this second allegation?
She cites four conservatives who were audited. Four cases out of 1.5 million. Please. This is "anything for a scandal" garbage and should be treated as such.
NY Times (news section, mind you):
Republican charges range from the clearly questionable to the seemingly specious, and they grow by the day. On Friday, lawmakers sought to tie the I.R.S. matter to the carrying out of President Obama’s health care law, which will rely heavily on the agency. Whether they succeed holds significant ramifications for Mr. Obama, who will soon know if he is dealing with a late spring thunderstorm that may soon blow over or a consuming squall that will leave lasting damage.
Watch over the next few weeks as Republican glee turns to frustration as the voters decidedly ignore the trumped-up charges.
More politics and policy below the fold. 
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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/firedoglake/fdl/~3/ftiYhuNBlv4/ http://firedoglake.com/?p=246198
As many of you know, our dear friend Christy Hardin Smith is in the middle of a health crisis, she was diagnosed with treatable breast cancer. But true to form, she is handling it with grace.
So far there have been tests, surgery, tests, tests, and more tests all leading up to the big decision on treatment, demon chemo starting Wedensday. A not very pleasant undertaking, as you can imagine. And then to put the anti-cherry on top of her anti-sundae, she just lost a dear aunt this week. So she is going to need a whole lotta love and support to help her through the worst of what’s to come – and here’s what we can do. Let’s give her that love and support – and most importantly for now, laughs.
As Dr. Norman Cousins taught us, laughter’s the best medicine. Endorphins are wonderful things.
So pop in the comments with endorphin-generating love, hugs, kisses and links to your favorite laugh generators to help her as she goes through the torment of chemotherapy, she’s going to feel shitty. Keeping her laughing will help ameliorate the side-effects of the sucky chemo and she’ll get better faster. Help her tell cancer, “Bite Me.”
Link to silly gifs and lolcats, tell her what movies made you howl, suggest funny books, humorous music, tv shows and videos. And websites.
Then as she goes through chemotherapy and needs a pick-me-up on the inevitable terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, she can find something here.
![Share This icon](http://static1.firedoglake.com"/plugins/share-this/images/share-icon-16x16.gif")
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/17/russia-reveal-identity-cia-moscow-chief Federal Security Service spokesman breaches protocol as he accuses US agency of crossing 'red line' in its recruitment efforts The Federal Security Service in Russia has revealed the identity of the CIA's station chief in Moscow in a breach of protocol. The revelation, made by an FSB spokesman who accused the US agency of crossing a "red line" in its attempt to recruit turncoats among Russian spy agencies, will up the ante in the unfolding spy scandal that emerged earlier this week when Russia detained and expelled an alleged CIA agent working undercover as third secretary at the US embassy in Moscow. Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin's foreign policy advisor, have taken pains to say they believe the scandal will blow over quickly. Publicly revealing the CIA station chief proves that some inside the Russian government believe otherwise and is likely to prompt an angry response from Washington. Speaking to Russia's Interfax news agency, the FSB spokesman said his agency had complained to the CIA station chief as far back as October 2011 "that if they [the Americans] continue their provocative recruitment efforts regarding employees of the Russian secret services, the FSB will take 'mirror' actions against CIA agents". In that statement, the spokesman included the station chief's name. The US embassy declined to comment . Oleg Kalugin, a former KGB general turned Kremlin critic now living in the US, said: "This is a deliberate attempt to make the situation worse than it is. It's an invitation to the US to do the same and they probably will – and no one will gain." The US has not reacted to the expulsion of Ryan Fogle, who Russia said was caught in a sting operation last week while allegedly attempting to recruit an FSB agent focused on anti-terrorism efforts in Russia's North Caucasus. Russia widely publicised the case, parading Fogle on state-run television alongside collection of alleged spy gear, including wigs, a map and compass, a poorly written recruitment letter and the recording of a phone call with his alleged target. The FSB spokesman said the case came after several warnings to the CIA, including the direct appeal to the station chief. In December, Russia expelled – less publicly – another suspected CIA agent working undercover as third secretary at the US embassy. The FSB spokesman said the man was declared persona non grata on 11 January and expelled four days later. "In the case with Fogle, the CIA crossed 'the red line' and we were forced to react, observing official procedures," the spokesman said. His comments were widely published in Russian media and on state-run television, including the Kremlin's English-language channel, Russia Today. "Basically, the FSB got sick of American spies and demonstratively and publicly slapped one of them," wrote the tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda. "Like a cockroach who thought he was master of the crumbs in the kitchen." Kalugin said he believed Russia designed the scandal in order to heighten general fear about Americans inside the country, while stepping up pressure on the US as Moscow and Washington tussle over Syria. "As Hillary Clinton, the former [US] secretary of state, put it just a few months ago: we are watching the process of re-Sovietisation of Russia," he said. "I think this is precisely what has been happening." Russian officials, including Putin, have accused the US of fomenting discontent against him in Russia, as well as orchestrating the uprisings around the Middle East. The spy scandal unfolds as the US and Russia have sought to boost co-operation between their respective security services over the investigation of the Boston Marathon bombing. Yet the two countries remain at odds over Syria. The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, reiterated on Friday that Russia was delivering its S-300 missiles to Syria, despite US and Israeli attempts to convince Moscow to halt arms shipments to the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/17/mandela-family-fall-out-lawyers-egacy Nelson Mandela said to be furious with daughters for trying to manipulate trusts to advance their businesses Nelson Mandela was "furious" that two of his daughters went behind his back to meddle in the management of his personal wealth, his lawyer has claimed in a case that exposes ugly battles over the lucrative Mandela brand. Makaziwe and Zenani Mandela allegedly amended a trust deed in secret so they could gain access to the former president's wealth, according to court papers filed by Bally Chuene, the lawyer. The affidavit offers an insight into potential conflicts over the 94-year-old's inheritance. Some members of the family, whose wealth is tied into an opaque web of about 27 trusts, have been accused of exploiting the former president's global celebrity – a charge that Makaziwe rejects. "Why are people obsessed with the Mandela family?" she demanded . "They are human beings like anyone else. They did not come from Mars. They have ambitions to be successful in life like anyone else, and I don't see anything wrong with that." Married three times, Nelson Mandela has fathered six children, three of whom are still alive. He has 17 grandchildren. Blessed – or cursed – with Africa's most famous name, many of the Mandelas have gone into business; a few have dabbled in politics and two are starring in a much-derided reality TV show, Being Mandela. Chuene's allegations are a response to Makaziwe, founder of the House of Mandela wine label, and Zenani, the South African ambassador to Argentina, who are seeking to oust him and George Bizos, Mandela's long-time friend and lawyer, from the boards of two investment funds. In an affidavit endorsed by Bizos, Chuene argues that the daughters' motive is to gain access to Mandela's money and sell artworks featuring his handprints. He contends that Makaziwe and Zenani have been trying to gain control of the Mandela Trust and became trustees without Mandela's knowledge since 2005. Recalling Mandela's reaction when he found out, Chuene states: "Mr Mandela was shocked and used a common expression, 'Good Lord'. He was most infuriated and wanted to know when this had happened. He assured me that no such decision or approval had been given by him." Mandela called a meeting at his Johannesburg home in April 2005. Makaziwe and Zenani as well as Bizos and Mandela's wife, Graca Machel, attended. "During this meeting, Mr Mandela made it clear to the applicants that he did not want them involved in his affairs," Chuene continues. "Mr Mandela wanted the applicants to resign their trusteeships." Chuene accuses Mandela's estranged lawyer, Ismail Ayob, of colluding with Makaziwe and Zenani. Mandela "had become concerned that artworks were being sold, ostensibly on his behalf, without his authority or permission", Chuene said. In June 2006, another meeting was held at Mandela's home. Chuene claims: "The meeting was very heated and, in some respects, unpleasant. Mr Mandela was furious that the applicants had allowed themselves to be used by Mr Ayob and had continued to associate themselves with him, knowing full well that he had terminated his relationship with Mr Ayob. "He was, moreover, upset that they continued to be involved in his personal affairs despite his clear instructions to them at the previous meeting held in April 2005." According to Chuene's affidavit, filed at a regional high court in Johannesburg, the wounds reopened in August 2011 when Zenani asked for trust money to be distributed to them and other beneficiaries. Bizos was reluctant to do so, citing legal and tax implications. He says Bizos's reservations were confirmed after a bank requested the original trust deed for the Mandela Trust. It had been covertly amended by Makaziwe and Zenani in 2005, he alleges. He goes on to claim: "It was evident from the purported amendment of the trust deed that the applicants had clandestinely and with the assistance of Mr Ayob sought to secure control of the Mandela Trust, contrary not only to the wishes of Mr Mandela, but also to the terms of the trust deed." On Friday, Makaziwe declined to address the claims directly, while Zenani was unavailable for comment, but Ayob said: "The Mandelas will respond to the allegations within the timeframe allowed." With the former president frail and his lucidity dwindling, some fear the case is indicative of a looming, unseemly struggle for his legacy. "The squabbles will be bitter and vicious if the first salvoes in this war are anything to go by," warned the Star of South Africa. Mandela's personal wealth is a mystery, but one veteran journalist who has followed him closely put it at 150m rand (£10.5m). In the court papers, Bizos, 84, raises concerns about how it might be carved up. "As a confidant and adviser of Mr Mandela, I know that his wishes in relation to the three general trusts established by him was that these ought to provide long term assurance, to the extent possible, for the support and education of the beneficiaries, which would include generations to come," he states. "I was, accordingly, concerned to learn in the last quarter of 2011 of a proposal for the distribution of almost the entire capital of the Mandela Trust in lump sums to groups within the broader Mandela family." About 27 trusts containing a roughly estimated 50-60m rand were created by Ayob in the 1990s. He admitted that this was "tax advantageous" because it split the income between different individuals, but he denied that was the sole reason. "It's fairly routine with large families with a lot of money to create trusts for the beneficiaries," he said. "It's very simple: you have one child who says as soon as I get my inheritance, I'm going to get a Jaguar, and you need a balance in terms of who gets the money. Everyone has different needs. It's very difficult if you only have one trust." The Mandela name can inevitably open doors. The family is active in more than 110 trading companies, according to records compiled by Beeld newspaper. Makaziwe is reportedly an active director in 16, including Nestlé South Africa, although she insists some directorships have lapsed. An emotional Makaziwe responded to critics who accuse the family of exploitation. "It's our name anyway," she said. "Why should we apologise for our name? I'm in the wine industry. There are families who've been in the wine industry for 500 years and no one says they are cashing in on their name. Every child in this family who wants to use the Mandela name has a right to do, so as long as they do so with honour and integrity and upholding the values of my father." Noting that many other commercial operators use Mandela's name and image, Makaziwe added: "It's the height of madness. I know what I am. The fact that someone calls me greedy is not going to make me greedy. Are they saying because I'm Nelson Mandela's daughter I'm not allowed to be a company director?" Not all the Mandelas have been successful. Grandson Zondwa Gaddafi Mandela was a director of Aurora Empowerment Systems, a mining company that went into liquidation and was named by unions as the country's worst employer. Last year Zondwa established a company called Mandela 95TH Birthday (Mandela turns 95 in July). Asked for details of the venture, Zondwa requested that questions be submitted by email, but he had not replied by Friday afternoon. He said the inclusion of Gaddafi in his name was a long story.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/17/bombs-sunnis-iraq Fears that country is again heading towards civil war as tensions intensify between Sunnis and Shias Bombs ripped through Sunni areas in Baghdad and surrounding areas on Friday, killing at least 76 people in the deadliest day in Iraq in more than eight months. The major spike in sectarian bloodshed heightened fears the country could again be veering towards civil war. The attacks followed two days of bombings targeting Shias, including bus stops and outdoor markets, with a total of 130 people killed since Wednesday. Scenes of bodies sprawled across a street outside a mosque and mourners killed during a funeral procession were reminiscent of some of the worst days of retaliatory warfare between the Islamic sects that peaked in 2006-2007 as US forces battled extremists on both sides. Tensions have been intensifying since Sunnis began protesting against what they say is mistreatment at the hands of the Shia-led government, including random detentions and neglect. The protests, which began in December, have largely been peaceful, but the number of attacks rose sharply after a deadly security crackdown on a Sunni protest camp in northern Iraq on 23 April. Majority Shias control the levers of power in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq. Wishing to rebuild the nation rather than revert to open warfare, they have largely restrained their militias in the past five years or so as Sunni extremist groups such as al-Qaida have frequently targeted them with large-scale attacks. Nobody claimed responsibility for Friday's attacks, but the fact they occurred in mainly Sunni areas raised suspicion that Shia militants were involved. The bombs also were largely planted, as opposed to the car bombings and suicide attacks that al-Qaida in Iraq and other Sunni insurgents are known to use. Talal al-Zobaie, a Sunni politician, called on politicians across the religious and ethnic spectrum to put aside their differences and focus on protecting the nation. "The terrorist attacks on Sunni areas today and on Shia areas in the past two days are an indication that some groups and regional countries are working hard to reignite the sectarian war in Iraq," he said. "The government should admit that it has failed to secure the country and the people, and all security commanders should be replaced by efficient people who can really confront terrorism. Sectarianism that has bred armies of widows and orphans in the past is now trying to make a comeback in this country, and everybody should be aware of this." The areas hit on Friday were all former Sunni insurgent strongholds that saw some of the fiercest fighting of the US-led war as sectarian rivalries nearly tore the country apart. The deadliest blast struck worshippers as they were leaving the main Sunni mosque in Baqouba, 35 miles north-east of Baghdad. Another explosion went off shortly afterward as people gathered to help the wounded, leaving 41 dead and 56 wounded, according to police and hospital officials. Grocery store owner Hassan Alwan was among the worshippers who attended Friday prayers in the al-Sariya mosque. He said he was getting ready to leave when he heard the explosion, followed by another a few minutes later. "We rushed into the street and saw people who were killed and wounded, and other worshippers asking for help," he said. "I do not know where the country is headed amid these attacks against both Sunnis and Shias." Baqouba was the site of some of the fiercest fighting between US forces and insurgents. Al-Qaida in Iraq essentially controlled the area for years, defying numerous US offensives aimed at restoring control. It also is the capital of Diyala province, a religiously mixed area that saw some of the worst atrocities as Shia militias battled Sunni insurgents for control. A roadside bomb exploded later on Friday during a Sunni funeral procession in Madain, about 12 miles south of Baghdad, killing eight mourners and wounding 11, police said. Two medical officials confirmed the casualties. Another blast struck a cafe in Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad, killing two people and wounding nine, according to police and hospital officials. Ahmed Jassim, a 26-year-old taxi driver, took a wounded friend to the Fallujah hospital after the attack. "We used to meet every Friday to smoke shisha and we thought we would have a good time today, but things turned into explosions and victims," he said, waiting outside the hospital. In Baghdad, a bomb exploded near a shopping centre during the evening rush hour in the mainly Sunni neighbourhood of Amariyah, killing 21 people and wounding 32. That was followed by another bomb in a commercial district in Dora, another Sunni neighbourhood, which killed four people and wounded 22, according to officials. "It is not a coincidence that the attacks were concentrated in some areas of one sect and then moved the next day into areas of the other sect," said Jawad al-Hasnawi, a lawmaker with the bloc loyal to Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. "It is clear that terrorist groups such as al-Qaida and Baathists are trying hard to reignite the sectarian war in Iraq," he added. "But the government bears full responsibility for this security chaos and it has to take quick and serious measures in order to stop the bloodshed, instead of just blaming other political blocs." Hasnawi added: "Today and yesterday, the Iraqi people paid for the failure of government security forces. Everybody should expect darker days full of even deadlier attacks."
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/18/italians-unveil-tomb-medallion-francis-horner Profile of Francis Horner created by regency sculptor Sir Francis Chantrey is found by volunteers at Livorno cemetery Amid rampant weeds and crumbling stones, Matteo Giunti makes his way to the tomb of Francis Horner MP, a Scottish Whig who co-founded the Edinburgh Review and died, in 1817, in what he would have known as the prosperous Tuscan port of Leghorn. But, as he reaches the once imposing grave, Giunti stops first at the Nike trainer and plastic bottle that have been left there overnight – not, presumably, by well-wishers. "This is nothing," he says. "People throw trash over the walls. We've found bicycles. We've found wheels. We've found all sorts of things." In March last year, as he and fellow volunteer Francesco Ceccarini were scrabbling through the mud and vegetation on the top of Horner's dilapidated tomb in the city's old English cemetery, they stumbled on something whose significance was not immediately apparent. A piece of stone, broken into three and caked in dirt, it was barely recognisable. But, after some research and more thought, the penny dropped. They had, Giunti realised, found the long-lost medallion that had once graced the tomb: a profile of Horner in bas relief carved by the foremost sculptor of Regency Britain, Sir Francis Chantrey. "When I understood what it was," he says, "we decided, 'Wow, this is something – we need to take it away from here.'" Unveiled on Friday before journalists and locals in the Museo Fattori, the sculpture represents vindication for the five locals who make up the cultural association Livorno delle Nazioni (LdN) and who have fought to reverse the decline of what they describe as Italy's oldest Protestant cemetery still in existence. With its first marked grave dating from 1646 (a 21-year-old, Leonard Digges), Livorno's small corner of England has almost two centuries on its counterpart in Florence and is older even than Rome's. There are merchants and mothers; novelists and navy men; one of Byron's bankers and a favoured pupil of Mary Wollstonecraft. After wartime bombing and decades of neglect, however, many tombstones lie cracked and dirty. And the cemetery's aesthetic appeal is marred by the large car park that opened last year next door. The cemetery has been run for decades by the Misericordia, a charity which also runs an ambulance service. In 2011, the LdN was set up to formalise the efforts of Giunti and his fellow volunteers, who have tried to step up the cleaning, gardening and research that is needed if the place is to be returned to its former glory. Now, the LdN hopes that the discovery of the Chantrey could help to attract attention – and money. "I'm pretty confident that this could be a real treasure. It's something that just needs more organisation and funding," says Lisa Lillie, Giunti's American wife. Among the hundreds of graves are those of Scottish writer Tobias Smollett, Irish aristocrat Margaret King – taught by Wollstonecraft and friend to her daughter, Mary Shelley – and the English merchant Robert Bateman. The cemetery was closed in the mid-19th century. What will become of Chantrey's long-lost work is unclear. It must first be restored, then a decision taken on whether to put it back on Horner's tomb or in a Livorno museum. "I feel that someone would steal it," Giunti says, rather despondently. "Even if it's difficult to sell it."
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/18/new-york-commuter-train-crash Sixty people injured after one train derails and is hit by another from behind during evening rush hour The cause of a crash between two New York commuter trains, injuring 60 people, is to be investigated by the American Transportation Safety Board. Governor Dannal Molloy of Connecticut said five people were critically injured and one very critically injured in the collision on Friday night. One of the trains left New York's Grand Central station for New Haven, Connecticut, and was derailed before being hit by another train travelling in the same direction. The Metro-North Railroad, a commuter line serving the northern suburbs, said there had been a "major derailment" near Fairfield after 6pm. "We're most concerned about the injured and ultimately reopening the system," Malloy said from the scene about three hours after the crash. He said there was no reason to believe it was anything other than an accident. Malloy said most people were not seriously hurt. There was extensive damage to the train carriages and the track, and it could take until Monday for normal service to be restored. He said the area where the accident happened was down to two tracks because of repair work and that the accident would have a "big impact on the north-east corridor." Bill Kaempffer, a spokesman for Bridgeport public safety, told Associated Press that about 250 people were on board the trains. Photos taken at the scene showed a carriage askew on the rails, with its end smashed up and brushing against another train. Amtrak suspended service indefinitely between New York and Boston. "At this stage, we don't know if this is a mechanical failure, an accident or something deliberate," the Fairfield police spokesman Lieutenant James Perez said. Some carriages on the second train derailed as a result of the collision. The Bridgeport police chief, Joseph Gaudett, said everyone who needed treatment had been attended to and authorities were beginning to turn their attention to investigating the cause. "Everybody seemed pretty calm," he said. "Everybody was thankful they didn't get seriously hurt. They were anxious to get home to their families." The Metropolitan Transportation Authority operates the Metro-North Railroad, the second-largest commuter railroad in the US. The Metro-North main lines run northward from New York City's Grand Central station into New York and Connecticut.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2013/may/18/humble-alex-ferguson-chris-huhne Chris Huhne is humbled by his disgrace, Alex Ferguson by his triumph. Those with true humility let their actions do the talking Saints and sinners of the world unite: you have nothing to lose but your pride. That would appear to be the message sent by the odd assortment of heroes and villains who have all claimed to have been humbled in recent times. This week Chris Huhne described his trial and imprisonment as "a humbling and sobering experience". He follows in the footsteps of the similarly repentant Rupert Murdoch, who described his day of interrogation by MPs as "the most humble day of my life". Yet at the same time, others have been proclaiming their humility in their moments of greatest triumph. Sir Alex Ferguson told supporters in his last Manchester United programme note that "the support you have provided over the years has been truly humbling". David Moyes described himself as "humbled" by the reception he received at this last home game as Everton manager. In her last Christmas message the Queen told the nation: "It was humbling that so many chose to mark the anniversary of a duty which passed to me 60 years ago." How can it be that triumph and disaster both have the capacity to humble those who experience them? Can it really be true that someone caught out for sordid, petty deception can feel the same way as someone else riding on the crest of triumph? The two varieties of humility are in many ways very different. There is a kind of standard script which the disgraced are expected to play out in which remorse and humility are the necessary precursors to rehabilitation and resurrection. In this narrative, humility is used as a kind of ethical judo: faced with humiliation you use the momentum to your advantage and transform it into the virtue of humility. They are after all closely related, sharing the same Latin root, hummus, earth, which humility brings you right down to. But why then do victors also claim to be humbled by being exalted? The most humbling day of Alex Ferguson's career was surely when his side was beaten 6-1 at home by rivals Manchester City in 2011, not when he was given an enthusiastic send-off after 26 years at the helm. For a man notoriously ungracious in defeat, that seems rather late in the day to discover humility. It is possible to see a crowd of adoring faces and realise that one is not worthy. But I suspect the more usual reason why people claim to be humbled when they are lauded is that we live in a society in which we are all officially equal. The worst thing anyone can do is appear to set themselves up as superior to others. So what can you say if you are surrounded by adoring fans or loyal subjects? You must show that despite their protestations, you do not think you are any better than they are. You proclaim that you are humbled, bringing yourself down to earth just as others raise you above it. This is the deal: we are happy to single out people as superior just as long as they don't accept the description themselves. We want heroes and idols but we also want egalitarianism and that requires proclamations of humility from our Gods. What both types of humility have in common is that they are both ways of presenting ourselves as grounded, without ideas above our station. Of course, we cannot know in an given case whether this is sincere or merely a rhetorical ploy. Still, it is right and proper that we should challenge the illusion that we are better than we really are, at times of triumph and disaster. Nonetheless, like modesty, humility is something that, if professed, is self-refuting. True humility is expressed in deeds, not words. The humble are those who truly walk the same ground as everyone else, not necessarily with grovelling, hunched backs but certainly not lording it over others either. What we need is more such genuine humility in public life, and hear less of it in extremis. The truly humble feel the ground beneath their feet every day and do not only become aware of it when held aloft or pushed down to their knees.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/may/18/japan-clubbing-crackdown-dance Osaka's draconian move isn't just bad news for clubbers – it affects the whole area. And now it is meeting resistance Before Kevin Bacon was walking around in annoying adverts talking about himself and the 4G network, he was in a film called Footloose. It focuses on a teenager who is sent to live in the small town of Bomont, West Virginia, where rock music and dancing are banned. It's debatable whether or not the film is any good but the basic premise – that the simple act of dancing could be banned – seemed like something that, well, could only happen in the movies. However, in Japan and especially the country's third largest city, Osaka, that is exactly what is happening. The nightclubs in the city's Amemura area, known as "little America" on account of its trendy vintage shops that stock large amounts of US clothing, started being targeted by the authorities recently. Under laws known as Fueiho, which govern "adult entertainment" (and date back to the 1940s), any establishment which allows its customers to dance must obtain a licence. For years the authorities turned a blind eye, but three years ago they began raiding establishments which did not have the licences. These licences come with a few requirements: the club must close by either midnight or 1am (in other words, just as things are getting going) and have 66 sq m of unobstructed floor space in the main room. Anyone who has been to Japan knows that the vast majority of bars and clubs simply don't have that amount of room for a dancefloor because space is at such a premium, especially in the country's big cities. On a recent trip to Osaka I spoke to the owner of Noon nightclub, Masatoshi Kanemitsu, in Amemura. Last April he and seven members of staff were arrested by police and held for 22 days because 11 people were dancing in his club. His bank accounts were investigated and police looked for links between himself and Yakuza (Japanese gangsters), which simply didn't exist. Similar raids have taken place in Amemura since 2010 and in the aftermath many establishments have been forced to close. Noon just about manages to carry on but, like in many of Osaka's nightclubs, now patrons know that dancing is strictly prohibited. The reason for the crackdown centres on complaints from local residents of noise, concerns around antisocial behaviour associated with the clubs, and wider concerns over clubbing culture which have made the headlines after high-profile celebrity ravers were caught in possession of drugs. The same moral panic that led to the Criminal Justice and Public Order Actin the UK started to envelope Japan in 2010. But instead of legislation that took clubbing from the unregulated, illegal rave scene and helped plonk it into the mainstream, the Japanese authorities seem intent on using the outmoded Fueiho regulations to kill off bars and clubs where dance music is played altogether. Yet the moral panic that has overcome the authorities seems to only stretch so far. They have failed to see the hypocrisy in effectively banning the act of dancing in Osaka's nightclubs – partly because of issues of taste – while still allowing Amemura's lap dancing clubs to operate a few hundred metres down the road. It's a situation that has driven Kanemitsu to form the protest group Let's Dance, and take legal action of his own against the authorities. In Osaka the clampdown is more than a simple issue of gentrification, and it affects more than just the livelihoods of DJs, musicians and club owners. The bars and clubs act as a hub for creativity, not only for dance music, but for those interested in fashion, design and art too. It's impossible to imagine areas like Shoreditch or Dalston in London or Manchester's Northern Quarter without the bars and clubs that help give the areas their identity, but because they don't fit in with the Osaka authority's idea of what Amemura should be, they are being squeezed out. In Osaka the fightback has already started. For some it's a case of saving the music and clubs that they love, but for others it's just a case of wanting to go out and dance. In 2013 that simple act shouldn't be something rebellious, but without defying draconian laws people will lose the right to dance altogether and, in these austere times, that's about as welcome as another Kevin Bacon advert.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/18/french-same-sex-marriage-francois-hollande After intense protests, law allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt children is approved, but key issues still unresolved The French president, François Hollande, has signed a law authorising same-sex couples to marry and adopt children, after months of street protests, political slanging matches and a rise in homophobic attacks. The move makes France the ninth country in Europe and the 14th globally to legalise same-sex marriage. France's official journal announced on Saturday that the bill had become law after the Constitutional Council rejected a challenge by the rightwing opposition on Friday. The first same-sex marriage is due to be held in Montpellier in the south of France on 29 May, Reuters reported. Hollande and his ruling Socialist party have made the legislation their flagship social change, but the right to marriage and adoption for everyone regardless of sexual orientation has triggered the biggest conservative and rightwing street protests in 30 years, with more than 200 arrests. Opponents have called for another protest on 26 May. While French opinion polls have long shown that a majority of the public support same-sex marriage, the issue of adoption is more controversial. The law also leaves key issues on family rights unanswered. It will not grant automatic co-parenting rights for same-sex couples in civil partnerships, nor allow access to medically assisted procreation or IVF to lesbian couples. Rights campaigners want these issues to be addressed in a family law this year. The government has referred the issue of medically assisted procreation to France's national ethics council, which will rule in the autumn. But the issue of parenting and procreation rights remains deeply divisive in opinion polls and among politicians. The other 13 countries to legalise same-sex marriage include Canada, Denmark, Sweden and most recently Uruguay and New Zealand. In the US, Washington DC and 12 states have legalised same-sex marriage.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/18/north-korea-fires-scud-missile Move could reignite tensions that flared up after Pyongyang's nuclear test earlier this year, which led to tighter UN sanctions North Korea has fired three short-range Scud missiles from its east coast, amid diplomatic efforts to ease tensions over the state's nuclear programme. Two missiles were launched on Saturday morning and another in the afternoon according to the South Korean defence ministry. North Korea routinely tests such missiles, which can hit targets in South Korea. But the latest launches could signal a re-ignition of tension on the Korean peninsula, which ran high for several weeks following the imposition of tougher UN sanctions after Pyongyang's third nuclear test. Earlier this year, North Korea threatened nuclear strikes on Seoul and Washington because of annual US-South Korean military drills and the tightened UN sanctions. During weeks of high tension, South Korea reported that North Korea had moved missile launchers into place on its east coast ahead of a possible launch of a medium-range Musudan missile. The Musudan has a range of 3,500km, allowing it to reach Japan and possibly the US.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/18/uk-backpacker-dies-poisoned-alcohol-indonesia Cheznye Emmons, 23, has life support machine turned off after drinking methanol from a bottle labelled as gin A British backpacker has died after drinking poisoned alcohol in the Indonesian jungle. Cheznye Emmons, 23, had bought a bottle labelled "gin" from a shop, which turned out to be deadly methanol. The beauty therapist from Essex had been trekking with her boyfriend and another man they met while travelling. All three suffered health problems after drinking the methanol, which can cause kidney failure, blindness, seizures and death. Emmons lost her sight and was taken through the jungle to the nearest eye clinic. She was referred to hospital where she was placed in an induced coma. Her parents flew to Indonesia where they eventually decided to turn off her life support machine. A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We can confirm the death of a British national in Indonesia and we are providing consular assistance to the family at this difficult time." Her brother, Michael Emmons, said: "We're all just in shock. From what we understand, the shop poured the gin out of the original bottle and then replaced it with methanol. It was in the original bottle with the gin label on it. As far as we're aware, the shop has been shut and there's a police investigation." Home-brewed spirits are common in Indonesia because of an alcohol tax of more than 200%, but methanol is a by-product of poor distillation techniques.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/may/18/british-girl-drowns-egyptian-hotel-pool London five-year-old Chloe Johnson dies in water park of Coral Sea Waterworld hotel in Sharm el-Sheikh A five-year-old girl from south London has drowned in a hotel pool at an Egyptian resort in Sharm el-Sheikh. Chloe Johnson, from Forest Hill in south London, died in a water park at the Coral Sea Waterworld hotel while on a family holiday. Her grandmother told Sky News on Saturday that the family was devastated by her death. A spokeswoman for the travel company First Choice said: "First Choice can sadly confirm that a child has died while staying at the Coral Sea Waterworld hotel in Egypt. The incident occurred in a pool in the hotel's water park. "Our thoughts and condolences are with the family at this extremely difficult time. The British consulate were immediately informed and they are now working with our dedicated resort team in Egypt, to offer every assistance possible to the family in resort. "In partnership with the hotelier, our resort team are working to understand how the incident occurred, and we will be carrying out a full and thorough investigation. At this time our priority is to provide support to the family." A Foreign Office spokesman confirmed the death of a British national and said it was providing consular assistance. A spokesman said: "We are aware of the death of a British national in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt on 17 May. We are providing consular assistance to the family at this difficult time." The Coral Sea Waterworld water park had been open for less than three weeks, according to its Facebook page.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2013/may/18/microfinance-madagascar-small-businesses Borrowers get business advice and a buffer against disaster from growing microcredit sector in cyclone-prone Madagascar Justine Sija, 60, begins her day at 4am, when she buys catch from local fishermen to hawk on the streets of St Augustin village, in Madagascar's southern Atsimo-Andrefana region. The work is hard, but in the past year, access to microcredit has boosted both her business and her hopes for the future. "Before, I used to make 10,000 to 20,000 ariary ($4.50-9.00, about £3) a day. Now, with the credit, I can make double that amount," she told IRIN. "I can put my four [grand]children in school, buy some livestock and save the rest of the money. Eventually, I plan to sell other goods as well, like rice and other local products." Madagascar's microfinance sector was established in 1990, but began to experience rapid growth only in the past 10 years; it was worth about 22.7bn ariary ($10m) in 2002, and by 2011, it was valued at about 244.4bn ariary. Microfinance is seen as a vehicle to help Madagascar attain some of its millennium development goals, particularly on eradicating extreme poverty. The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) says about 85% of the population lives on less than $1.25 a day. Poor people often lack access to formal banking and credit services; according to some estimates, only 2% of low-income households have access to credit. Instead, they rely on informal moneylenders, who charge annual interest rates for unsecured loans of 120-400% – compared with microfinance institutions' (MFI) average rate of 36% for the same period, or 2-4% a month. The country's annual inflation rate was pegged at 5.4% in March. Madagascar's microfinance sector has about 31 players, which include state, foreign investor and donor-supported initiatives, operating under a legal framework and regulated by the central bank. Since 2011, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and UNCDF have jointly managed the $350,000 support programme for inclusive finance for Madagascar (Pafim), which operates through three MFIs and charges zero interest on loans. Fatma Samoura, UNDP's country representative, says: "Through this mechanism, we have good hopes that the cycle of poverty caused by poor farmers' debts will be broken." Education needed "People in Madagascar need to work together and the poor need a direct approach to development. The products are there, but people need the right education to be able to access them," says Harinavalona Rajaonah, who works at Ombona Tahiry Ifampisamborana Vola (Otiv), one of UNDP's partner organisations. "We have tried to put a culture of credit access in place here. The hardest part is to change the mentality of the people," says Jean Olivier Razafimanantsoa, regional director of the credit co-operative Caisses d'Epargne et de Crédit Agricole Mutuelles (Cecam), which is registered with the central bank. "We work together with other organisations in the city, as some people are members [of other MFIs] everywhere, and so they take out too many loans. Also, the farmers tend to overestimate how much they need. They want us to finance their rice crop, which is worth 700,000 ariary, but they'll come and ask for 2m. When you ask them how they got to this amount, they don't know," he says. All microloan borrowers receive business advice, but with technical assistance and funding from UNDP, microfinance players have established microcredit education programmes aimed at vulnerable groups. One such programme, run by Cecam, mainly targets poor female street vendors. Razafimanantsoa says the programme has more than 1,300 clients, including Sija and other women from St Augustin village. The women must save 200-400 ariary a week, as part of the initial loan agreement. They are then enrolled in a lending system that goes through nine cycles, the first entitling the recipient to an 80,000 ariary loan. Each time the clients repay a loan, they are eligible for another, with progressively higher loan ceilings up to 300,000 ariary. Repayment schedules range from a few months to a year. The programme offers education on basic money management, family planning and health issues. After completing all the cycles, the women become eligible for Cecam's commercial microcredit system. "Right now, our goal is for these women to eat three times a day and feed their children, but eventually, they should be able to build up a guarantee to get a commercial business going and enter into the regular Cecam system," Razafimanantsoa says. Emergency funds The weekly savings plan acts as a buffer against hard times, which is especially important in this cyclone-prone country. After cyclone Haruna struck in February, many of Cecam's clients in Toliara, the regional capital of Atsimo-Andrefana region, were left penniless. "[During] the first weeks, we didn't give out any more loans, as we were afraid people would just use the money to eat. We are now helping some of the women who have lost their homes to reschedule their loans," says Razafimanantsoa. Prisca, 33, who did not provide her family name, from Belem, a district of Toliara, had entered her second credit cycle, and was using the capital to buy eggs from producers to sell at the market. "After I got the microcredit, I went from selling 100 eggs a day to selling up to 300. I could send the children to a private school and was able to buy some chickens," she says. But she was left homeless in the wake of the cyclone, and now lives in a displacement camp, sharing a tent with 10 others. "We were left with only the clothes on our back. The first week we stayed in a school. Then the BNGRC [National Disaster Risk Reduction Office] came to give us these tents," she says. Prisca owes a 44,000 ariary debt to Cecam, and in the interim she has enrolled in a cash-for-work project. "We're working to rehabilitate the roads, earning 24,000 ariary a week. I want to pay the Cecam [debt] first, as that will enable me to take out a new loan. Then, I can earn money again and rebuild the house little by little. This credit is what takes care of our daily needs," she says. In the wake of the disaster, Sija was grateful for the loan's savings requirement. "We pay back our loans from our savings," she says. "After the cyclone in February, we had some problems paying, as there were no more goods to sell, so it was good that I had saved up some money." Growing businesses The programmes are working. Hanisoa Ravalison, 43, operates a small roadside restaurant selling sausages and simple meals in the village of Ambanitsena, about 26km (16 miles) east of Antananarivo, the capital. Following a visit by an Otiv agent, who recruits prospective clients, Ravalison decided to expand her business. "At first, I borrowed money to renovate and enlarge the snack bar and to buy a fridge," she says. "Now, I use money to buy more goods, so I can make more profit." Ravalison is in the 10th borrowing cycle of Otiv's 12 cycles – which have an initial loan of 60,000 ariary and reach a loan ceiling of 440,000 ariary. "Before I received training, I just used the money I made to buy whatever was needed. Now, I separate personal expenses and money for the business. I also know the difference between sales and profits, and know that I need to use part of the profits to make the company run." On a good day, her restaurant takes in 85,000 ariary. "During holidays and festivals, we sell as many as 100kg of sausages," she says. Her husband has set up a second restaurant, and two of their five children work in the family businesses. Ravalison says her next plan is to open a wholesale food business. Liva Harininana Ramanatenasoa began a small business selling charcoal in Ambanitsena. "One day, an agent from Otiv came along and explained that, with microcredit, I could do better," she says. With the first loan, Ramanatenasoa bought more charcoal. "Without credit, I would be able to buy 10 bags maximum, but with credit, I could afford as many as 22, so I made a lot more profit," she says. Two years after enrolling in the microcredit scheme, Ramanatenasoa used the profits from her business to buy the rights to a stone quarry for 200,000 ariary. She now employs 14 people. Profits from the business have enabled her to build a house and send her children to school. "If it wasn't for the credit, I would have still been selling coal," she says.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/may/18/older-women-tv-anna-ford This week's finding that just 18% of presenters are women over 50 doesn't surprise me – but it does make me angry I enjoyed my life in news and current affairs, which started at Granada TV in 1974 and ended at the BBC in 2006. I was privileged to have visiting rights in many different worlds. I interviewed every prime minister from Harold Wilson to Tony Blair, was entertained at Chequers and Nos 10 and 11, and over the years had access to people and places most people never have the luck to experience. It meant being paid to read all the papers every morning. Language and clear communication were a passion, as were politics and examining how and where power is exercised. I liked the buzz of the newsroom and I'm a natural (and comfortable) outsider, intrigued by society in all its layers and the eternal difference between what people see as the truth, and what the real truth might be. Appearing on screen wasn't the bit I enjoyed most but I could do it and felt a calm presentation style was what fitted. Yes, there were bullies and sexual harassment that was, on the whole, not dealt with by the bosses. You fought your own corner, which is not a good management system. I worked hard, I hope did a good job, I made friends, and left voluntarily at 63 to do other things. I was told once by Sir Robin Day that I got my job because "men wanted to sleep with me". If he was right, were men chosen on the same basis? Did some ageing old-school dame and trusty of Lord Reith secretly lust after David Dimbleby's youthful body? Or was it that he was already part of a male dynasty with the right connections, Oxbridge education and voice of authority? Have the criteria changed? Forty years ago, attitudes were different, and I and other women were breaking the barriers down. Angela Rippon at the BBC, then me at ITN. The papers had a field day, one comparing our hair and eye colours, ages, bust sizes, heights and so on, and giving us marks out of 100. We met privately and laughed, we thought things were moving forward, although one question on an entrance exam for trainees at Merrill Lynch in 1972 read: "When you meet a woman, what interests you most about her?" The correct answer was "beauty". Low scores were given to those who answered "intelligence". I don't see a great change in parts of the City today. But other barriers have been overcome. Prime minister, supreme court member, leader of the TUC, senior police officers, home secretary, foreign secretary are all jobs filled by talented women in the past few decades. So why are we women, who are 51% of the population, still subject to appalling discrimination? Why are we so absent from the places where power lies and decisions are made? Why aren't there more women over 50 gracing our screens? Just 18% of presenters at major broadcasters belong to this demographic was the finding of this week's research. Why aren't there more women in the cabinet, or being appointed as high court judges or joining the boards of companies? How is it that we've had an Equal Pay Act for 40 years and women are still not paid equally for doing the same work as men? How can it be that women are still deemed unemployable because they have babies? Whose babies do they have? Why is it that in these times of austerity, the majority of people who will pay the price of the cuts are women, and poorer women in the regions? Why, when large numbers of women experience violence and rape, are conviction numbers so paltry ? Who in Britain speaks out for women and who takes notice? (Women's ministers have often been excluded from the cabinet and the job too often has been an "add-on", bundled in with something else.) Feminists do speak out but they get a bad name and are often dismissed with a barrage of derogatory words, for which there are no male equivalents. Is a man ever referred to as strident, high-pitched, shrill or a battleaxe? There's a firmly held conviction in our society that women "talk a lot", often about trivia and gossip. And yet research has shown that men, in many different situations, talk far more than women and expect women to listen. I'm reminded of a full-page headline that was written about me: "Angry Anna hates men." This is not true, now or ever, but was the result of my having criticised sexist adverts. I got used to being portrayed as a man-hating woman for ever "hitting out" at powerful men. So is this what happens when you step out of the box of femininity? Yes, and too often the degree of bullying involved confines and constrains women. To quote Jeanette Winterson: "Women have become adapters to an environment that doesn't suit us." So what are we missing? What would women of the age of John Humphrys (69) or David Dimbleby (74) or David Attenborough (87) bring to our screens? Women of age often (but not always) have wisdom, beauty, tolerance and humour, intelligence, experience, empathy, understanding, are highly qualified and show boundless energy. Even more importantly, they bring another point of view. So why aren't they being chosen when they want to be? Why has equality of opportunity proved so hard to achieve? Partly because those who do the choosing (not always men) do not see or value those qualities, and partly because society has an obsession with a narrow form of youthful beauty (which doesn't explain Humphrys et al, but they are deemed to have authority and gravitas often misconstrued as male attributes). Audiences have said they want to see more older women on screen as positive role models, yet despite years of broken promises the BBC has not acted. I hope Tony Hall, the new director general, and his peers in other organisations will see the problem and fix it. All this is not a deficiency in women but in the systems we inhabit, and the change to these systems needs to be for everyone. Men too suffer from harsh, demanding and family-unfriendly work environments, where corporate interests have gained supremacy. For the invisibilty of women over 50 isn't just a problem of representation on television. It's far more deep-seated than that. It's to do with levels of misogyny that lie so deep as to remain unrecognised and as yet not fully explained. It's the "male-as-norm" with men always in the foreground, thereby relegating women to the slightly out-of-focus background. As to remedies, first we need quotas for women's advancement in politics, law and business. A company director said to me recently that quotas would lead to mediocrity, but they wouldn't: the UK is bursting with hidden female talent. Second, we need an independent, high-level public investigation into the place of women in our society, to look into why we are so poorly represented, and so poorly served, with some legally binding recommendations. (I keep being told the next generation will be different, that women will rule the roost. To that I would say: we thought we'd done that in the 60s.) Third, we need more female writers for front-page articles to help change the portrayal of women in the newspapers. Fourth, we need to change the ways we make decisions so power is less centralised and shared more equally. And finally, we need early education about gender and how "equality of opportunity" must mean just that. Oh, and enforcement of existing discrimination laws please. I'm reminded of the bravery of the suffragettes who won us the vote. Women from all classes broke the law by walking down Bond Street breaking windows with hammers and then endured sickening levels of violence in prison. One hundred years ago Ethel Smyth, suffragette and political prisoner, said: "There is something hateful, sickening in this heaping up of art treasures, this sentimentalising over the beautiful, while the desecration and ruin of the bodies of women and little children by lust, disease and poverty are looked upon with indifference."
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2013/may/18/ask-grown-up-who-invented-clothes Fashion writer Hadley Freeman answers eight-year-old Harriet's question Clothes have been around for a very long time. Even in The Flintstones, which is set a very, very, very long time ago, Wilma Flintstone and Betty Rubble wear some absolutely darling dresses, hair accessories and even the occasional swimsuit. No one knows who was the first person to invent clothing, but at some point in the very distant past, your ancestors and mine decided to put on some animal skins to keep themselves warm. But more important than learning who invented clothes is figuring out what new thing are you going to do with clothes. Perhaps you will wear a brightly patterned, long-sleeved shirt under a neon floral dress? Maybe you will wear ballet slippers with dungarees? Or you could wear a Snow White costume with a pair of wellingtons. Clothes have been around a long time, but there is so much more to do with them. I'm more interested in what you will do with your dress, Harriet, than who invented it. • Be Awesome, by Hadley Freeman, is published by Fourth Estate. If you're 10 or under and have a question that needs answering, email ask.a.grownup@guardian.co.uk and we'll find an expert to look into it for you.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/may/18/cannes-2013-like-father-like-son-review Hirokazu Kore-eda's baby-swap film is another good-natured domestic drama set in contemporary Japan, but it lacks the nuance and innovation of his earlier work Hirokazu Kore-eda has returned to Cannes with another gentle and warm-hearted family drama in that classic Japanese manner that he has been gravitating towards in recent movies like Still Walking (2008) and I Wish (2011). It is a very decent piece of work, although not as distinctive as those two previous movies, not quite as finely observed and frankly a little schematic and formulaic, with life-lessons being learnt by the obvious people. It does however have charm and abundant human sympathy.
Like Father, Like Son is a "baby-swap" drama: go-getting salaryman Ryota (Masaharu Fukuyama) and his sleek wife Midori (Machiko Ono) live in a perfect modern house and have a little 6-year-old boy — their only child — whom they push hard educationally. Then the hospital sends the devastating news that their baby was mixed up six years ago with the child now being raised by another family, with other siblings: Yudai (Franky Lily), an amiable semi-slob who works behind the counter of a shop and his sensible wife Yukari (Yoko Maki). The slow, agonising diplomatic process of meetings between the families begins, and Ryota hires a hotshot lawyer, ostensibly so that all four can unite to sue the hospital. But arrogant Ryota has an awful secret plan: snobbishly aghast at where his biological boy is being raised, and unwilling to relinquish the one he has naturally come to love, he is scheming somehow to prove legally that Yudai and Yukari are unfit parents so that he can take legal charge of both boys — or to make them a huge cash offer to let their son go to him.
Kore-eda has said that he was inspired by his own recent experience of fatherhood to write and direct this film and by the "baby-swap" cases in Japan in the 1960s. I wonder if he was not also inspired by Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children, whose basic plot resembles this movie in a couple of key particulars. Nature versus nurture is the obvious theme, and this movie suggests that nature is far less important than we might think.
There is a doppelgänger theme, interestingly like that of his earlier film I Wish, in which two brothers were being raised in different households: with the amiable slacker dad and hardworking worrier mum. But there was complexity in that story, and no reassurance as to which parent has got it right about life and which of them is wrong. In this film it is quite plain: Ryota should loosen up, and easy-going, goofy Yudai is the life-affirming good guy. The movie tracks Ryota's crisis, and assumes that Yudai doesn't and needn't change. There is something more challenging in its depiction of Midori, who feels guilty that her boy is an only child with no sibling-playmates, and wonders if allowing the other family to take him is the right thing to do. But then what right has she to inflict only-child loneliness on the boy they're getting in return?
The story of the two boys has an interesting larger resonance. Perhaps many hard-working strivers in Japan — people who have worked tremendously hard from their infancy to get to the top in business, or indeed film-directing —might sometimes look wonderingly into the mirror and consider if they might be happier in an alternative, underachieving existence. Who knows? This is a sweet-natured, but essentially undemanding film from Kore-eda. Rating: 3/5
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/may/18/dsm-5-us-manual-mental-disorders The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM-5, has divided medical opinion The field of mental health will face its greatest upset in years on Saturday with the publication of the long-awaited and deeply-controversial US manual for diagnosing mental disorders. Early drafts of the book, the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM-5, have divided medical opinion so firmly that authors of previous editions are among the most prominent critics. Known informally as the psychiatrists' bible, the $199 tome from the American Psychiatric Association is the guidebook that US doctors will use to diagnose mental disorders. The latest edition is the first major update in 20 years. Though not used in the UK, where doctors turn to the World Health Organisation's International Statistical Classification of Diseases (ICD), the US manual has global influence. It defines groups of patients, and introduces new names for disorders. Those names can spread, and become the norm elsewhere. More importantly, the categories redefine the populations that are targeted by drugs companies. Criticisms have come from almost every corner. There are claims of expansionism, with common experiences and behaviours becoming newly medicalised. Temper tantrums become disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD); grief becomes major depressive disorder (MDD), according to Allen Frances, an American psychiatrist who chaired the task force behind the fourth edition of the manual. Other behaviours get their own labels: overeating becomes binge eating disorder; keeping too much junk, a hoarding disorder; a bit forgetful could be mild neurocognitive disorder. David Clark, professor of experimental psychology at Oxford University, said mental health disorders are often hard to divide into clear categories, because too little is known about them, and there can be major overlaps. But the definitions are often valuable. For example, greater distinctions between various types of anxiety have led to more specific and effective treatments, he said. Nick Craddock, professor of psychiatry at Cardiff University, and director of the National Centre for Mental Health in Wales, said some of the stranger aspects of the US manual will have no impact in Britain. But he said DSM-5 was flawed because definitions of disorders were sometimes changed on the basis of too little fresh scientific evidence. "I don't believe the science has advanced sufficiently in 20 years since DSM-4 to warrant making a new system," he said. "That essentially is just a group of people agreeing on tweaking things and making them a little bit different. That to me is not a very helpful stage in the develop of psychiatric diagnosis. This is the wrong time in history to change the diagnostic system. " Changing the definitions of disorders alters who has them. That affects who gets drugs and other support, and who interventions are trialled on. If the criteria for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are broadened, then more people are likely to be diagnosed with the condition. The arrival of DSM-5 will mark the end of Asperger's syndrome in the US. Along with some other autism-related conditions, Asperger's will now be consumed by the new category of "autism spectrum disorder". Some people diagnosed with Asperger's are unhappy about the coming change. Carol Povey, director of the National Autistic Society's Centre for Autism, said: "The term Asperger Syndrome is a core part of their identity for many people and they understandably feel anxious about moves to remove the term. The changes won't prevent people from continuing to use it to define themselves and nor should it," she said. Debbie Tucker, chair of the Asperger's Syndrome Foundation, said the label can be useful in treating people, but that some did not want to be labelled. "Labels only become unhelpful and sometimes dangerous if used to discriminate. People with Aspergers are vulnerable to this," she said. Last month, Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, declared that the organisation would not use DSM-5 definitions to set its research priorities. Writing about DSM-5 on his blog, he said: "The weakness is its lack of validity. Unlike our definitions of ischaemic heart disease, lymphoma, or AIDS, the DSM diagnoses are based on a consensus about clusters of clinical symptoms, not any objective laboratory measure." Instead, he said the NIHM would lay the foundations for a new classification system, based on brain imaging, genetics, cognitive science and other research. "We need to begin collecting the genetic, imaging, physiologic, and cognitive data to see how all the data – not just the symptoms – cluster and how these clusters relate to treatment response," he said.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2013/may/18/now-sue-smith-rhodesia-archive-1978 The policeman produced a copy of the Guardian, which contained an article I had written about Rhodesian military involvement in Mozambique Two Rhodesian policemen gave evidence for the prosecution at my trial in Salisbury nine weeks ago. One produced a copy of the Guardian which, he said, he had bought on holiday in London, and which contained an article I had written about Rhodesian military involvement in Mozambique. The other policeman said that he had been listening to BBC broadcasts and had recorded two of my reports on that same border situation. In both reports I had said that Rhodesian troops and planes were operating across the Mozambique border, and had been doing so for some time. It seemed to me that the prosecution evidence was flimsy. The border operations were well known, both to other journalists and to the guerrillas. But the charges brought against me alleged that by revealing this information I had endangered the security of the country. Mr Jack Fleming, the Rhodesian Secretary for Defence gave evidence to that effect: he said that the Government regarded troop movements on the borders of Rhodesia as top secret, but even his evidence was in places contradictory. Tapes of telephone calls were produced in court. They were recordings of conversations I had had with the authorities when I had refused to disclose the sources of my information, and they were in themselves quite accurate. But a lot of that first trial was taken up with the nuts and bolts of how the authorities had found my reports, and on how I had refused to co-operate in leading them to my informants. I was put in the witness box for some hours – I cannot remember exactly how many, but the cross-examination was extremely aggressive and at the beginning I was hardly given a pause in which to answer the questions put to me. The Appeal Court procedure was, of course, more restrained. No judge would take kindly to the sort of court procedure that was allowed in the magistrate's court. But the transcripts of both court hearings, which I now have in London, amount to around half a ream of paper. My next move, now that my wife is in London, will be to begin a libel action against Mr Ian Smith, who has persisted in claiming that I contravened the Official Secrets Act even after my appeal against conviction was upheld on May I. He is said to have made a reference to my guilt during a by-election speech in the low veld area of Rhodesia on May 14. We expect him to publish some kind of apology within the next few days, but otherwise we feel that it is a clear case of libel which we would feel confident of winning, even In the Rhodesian courts. Peter Niesewand was tried in secret and sentenced to two years' hard labour in 1973 under a section of the Rhodesian Official Secrets Act. He was released after a successful appeal and deported. These archive extracts, compiled by the Guardian's research and information department, appear online daily at gu.com/fromthearchive
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/may/17/harvey-weinstein-cannes-party This year's Majestic Hotel party sees host of films showcased and stars including Nicole Kidman join producer on stage Around Oscar time this year, cheeky host Seth Macfarlane noted that the race being now run, and the winners and losers more or less apparent, thousands of dejected actresses were at least spared the burden of saying they found Harvey Weinstein attractive. But on Friday night here in Cannes, the cyclical business of finding Harvey sexy – for both men and women – began again in a big way as the great man unveiled his slate of upcoming projects at his annual party at the Majestic Hotel. At this same bash last year, things were far more subdued: a few cocktails, a few trailers and we were all back outside, milling about on the Croisette in pretty short order. This, by contrast, was a massive event, with around nine or 10 films being showcased and stars of all varieties joining Harvey on stage, including an elfin Rooney Mara (the lead of his Ain't Them Bodies Saints), martial arts legend Yuen Wo-ping and the impossibly elegant Nicole Kidman, the star of his Grace Kelly biopic, Grace Of Monaco. Harvey began the evening by thanking a string of his subordinates and junior executives and then said: "Is Nicole ready yet?" A corporate person at the back having apparently signalled yes, Harvey then said: "Ladies and gentlemen – Nicole Kidman!" We all turned around for Nicole to make her way up the aisle. Nothing. No Nicole. The person had apparently jumped the gun. "They're all fired. All those guys I thanked," wisecracked Harvey after a heavy silence. "I'm gonna get a new team." We in the press corps chortled appreciatively: and the executives matched us laugh for laugh. After Harvey was left to improv some more comments on his slate, Nicole finally showed up, made some gracious remarks about working on the movie, and then Harvey raucously commented on the elephant in the living room, as she stood beside him. Nicole Kidman was here both as a Weinstein team player and as a member of the jury, sitting in judgement on some Weinstein films in competition: James Gray's The Immigrant and Nicolas Winding Refn's Only God Forgives. "After this evening is over," said Harvey cheerfully, "Nicole has to return to her fellow jurors to decide which film of mine is going to win the Palme D'Or." There was a brief pause during which we craned our necks to appreciate Nicole's diplomatic smile. Harvey added: "I've certainly given Steven Spielberg enough money over the years! Ha! Ha! Ha!" Then it was time for the clips, largely trailers, which had the unfortunate effect of making almost every film look outrageously cheesy, even Ryan Coogler's gritty Fruitvale Station, which having watched in its entirety, I know to be a different proposition from the sucrose emotion-grabber it appeared to be. Lee Daniels's The Butler stars Forest Whitaker as Cecil Gains, the African-American butler who served eight US Presidents in the White House, and had a ringside seat at historical events. Shane Salerno's Salinger is a drama-documentary about the legendary, reclusive author – and Harvey was teasingly hinting at a big revelation. Wong Kar-wai's The Grandmaster was another eagerly awaited movie, and the Brit entry was the heartwarmer called One Chance with James Corden as the reality-show singing star Paul Potts. The big items, though, were undoubtedly the Cannes entries: James Gray's Immigrant showed a tense and unpleasant scene with Joaquin Phoenix's character menacing the timid immigrant, played by Marion Cotillard. The biggest response from the invited audience undoubtedly was for Nicolas Winding Refn's Only God Forgives, in which Kristin Scott Thomas's sinister character invites her son, Ryan Gosling, to dinner with his girlfriend and proceeds to humiliate him over the size of his penis. It got laughs and gasps from the crowd – perhaps partly because we could all imagine all too clearly the eruption of violence that wouldn't be long coming. Last year, Harvey's Cannes party gave us three films: Django Unchained, The Master and Silver Linings Playbook which in their various ways were hugely successful. It was the beginning of a huge year for Harvey Weinstein. So an awful lot is riding on all these. On the basis of these glimpses, the real award-frontrunners are going to be the big Cannes titles: The Immigrant and Only God Forgives. But then they are the sort of arthouse fare, like PT Anderson's The Master, which did badly. It could be something hokey, like The Butler. But these clips could be deceiving in all sorts of ways. We shall see.
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then
