What is up in this crazy mixed up world.
I was watching the news. It was all bad except there was one good story I heard about a four year old who put on his Power Ranger costume and chased away a robber..
The last story was about someone planning to use the threat of terrorism to censor the internet.This was not a story from China but was occurring in the U.S.A. The raving self proclaimed idea person was named Newt. I sure hope no one is taking this guy seriously. If they did I would have to rmove some of my political opinion pieces from Gather because this newly formed thought police that was being suggested would probably consider some of my rantings as inflammatory.
There was another story about 2 leaders from opposite sides of the world who obviously have no idea how they are going to end the violence that rages on with no end in sight. Revenge killing and ethnic cleansing. The adage about those who do not learn the lessons of history are condemned to repeat them keeps ringing in my head. I keep waiting for some sort of explanation as to why the richest country in the world has one of the dumbest leaders in the history of the modern world. As responsible citizens we may need to elect leaders who have some intellectual capability rather than electing leaders based on what religious group they belong to. This is ranting so of course our leaders can not really be so dumb as to invade a country with no idea about what the potential cultural and political implications would be? Not to mention the fact that revenge is apparently a built in part of the equation for some cultures.
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Here's food for thought, however. Digest thoroughly. It's not relevant to the US, well, I hope not, but this is a little piece extracted from a local British newspaper published yesterday with a subtle warning to us in the UK. I wonder what planet our decision-makers are on!
"LAW CHANGE THREAT TO PUBLIC'S RIGHT TO KNOW
A NEW law that allows newspapers and members of the public to expose the activities of public authorities is under threat.
The Free Press has used the Freedom of Information Act, which came into force last year, extensively to highlight issues that Doncaster Council, and other publicly-funded organisations, have tried to keep under wraps.
These include:
Revealing the location of the six sites that Doncaster Council were looking at for one of the country's first prostitution "tolerance zones".
Highlighting the fact that one third of children - 20 out of 68 - kicked out of school in the 2004/2005 were not receiving any form of education.
The massive £1,450 per car cost to the taxpayer of a little used Park and Ride site at Lakeside. Doncaster Council had repeatedly refused to divulge figures on its usage and cost. It is still being operated by the council.
Making public a South Yorkshire Learning and Skills Council investigation into spending at Doncaster College. It found that it had ran up a deficit of more than £1 million in 2004/05 after it failed to recruit enough students.
A £250,000 annual bill to taxpayers for of council tax payers' money on line rental for 761 trendy BlackBerries. In addition, the gadgets cost £113,389 to buy. Doncaster Council said it could not provide information on how much more is spent on calls, messages and emails.
Cleaning up fly-tipping was costing Doncaster Council £3m a year and the borough had 137 hot-spots for fly-tipping.
Now, the Government is proposing to change the way fees are charged for answering enquiries under the Act. At present most enquries made under the Act, either by newspapers or members of the public are free, excluding photo-copying costs. However, public bodies can refuse to provide the information if they deem it will cost more than £450 in staff time to collate it.
The proposed changes would allow the time spent considering FoI requests to count towards calculating the cost limit, meaning the limit would be reached much more quickly.
The second change, which would particualrly hinder newspapers seeking information, would allow authorities to aggregate requests from the same person or organisation and refuse them all if the total exceeds the cost limit. This could possibly limit the press to no more than a single request to a particular authority within a three-month period.
The Newspaper Society - of which Johnston Press, publisher of the Doncaster Free Press, is a leading member - is campaigning against the changes which, it warns, are "fundamentally flawed" and would undermine the theory behind the FoI legislation.
It said: "The regional press could be badly affected by the Government's proposals to restrict the use of the Freedom of Information Act."
The Society is backing call by the Campaign for Freedom of Information for protests about the proposals to be made to the Department for Constitutional Affairs as soon as possible.
Society of Editors executive director Bob Satchwell said the FoI Act was a small, but essential step towards a change in culture from one of pervading secrecy to one of openness in public affairs.
Graeme Huston, Editor in Chief of South Yorkshire Newspapers, said: "Local newspapers have a vital role to play in the process of local democracy. One of their most important functions is to be a watchdog, chronicling, highlighting and, where necessary, calling to account authorities who are responsible for spending millions of pounds of public money and for providing services that affect our lives every day.
"Unfortunately, getting access to the information our readers want - and have a right to see - is not always easy and the FoI Act has gone a long way towards making it easier to getting some of this information into the public domain where it belongs."
andrew.bond@doncastertoday.co.uk"
Any comments now???
Today I have an interview with a woman who is turning 100 on Monday. She still goes to the senior citizen's center every day, works with the Society for Historic Preservation, sings in her church choir, paints landscapes - she learned to do this at age 80 - and volunteers at the church Thrift shop once a week.
Thank goodness for small town news. Not everything is murder, beatings, robberies and hostile situations.