Karamu Afrika! 22nd February, School of Oriental and African Studies - in aid of The Hoja Project

Cross-posted from the Hoja Project Blog (the Hoja Project is the charity I helped set up in my friend's village in Tanzania).

[Click on the picture to make it bigger...]



It would be great to see you at this event.  You can find SOAS here on this map.  It's close the Russell Square on the Picadilly Line, or Goodge Street on the Northern Line (Charing Cross branch).

Contact 07584 065211 or email for more information.

You can also RSVP to the Facebook event page, and invite all of your friends.  All of them.

Three Things

1. My album of the decade is Through The Window Pane, by Guillemots.

2. From Friday I'll be embarking on my friend Claire's 2010 project, RAoK365.  I'll be attempting to perform one random act of kindness a day for a whole year.  I'll be making occasional and very brief blogs over there, but mostly I'll probably be posting my RAoKs on Twitter, with the hashtag #raok365.

3. I'm not going to blog very much on here for a while.  I have far too many other things I'd like to get on with.  Like gardening.  And being healthy.  In fact I'm going to spend far more time unplugged from the Internet.  I'm going to unplug myself from a couple of other things I'm involved in too.

Was The Holocaust Really All That Bad?

Well, yes, of course it was.  Why would I even bother asking?

You might say the same of the BBC's new Have Your Say debate, which is breaking new ground by asking "Should Homosexuals Face Execution?"  Except that the answer in this case would be "No".

Yes yes, Have Your Say is always populated by bigots and morons, so it's no surprise that some people are actually supporting Uganda's proposed gay death penalty, but that's not really the point.  Why are they being given a platform at all?

I'm not a no-platformer - I supported the Beeb's decision to put Nick Griffin on Question Time - but this is simply an open invitation to post seemingly unmoderated bile on a publicly funded forum.

Thankfully by now the most offensive comments have been voted down a bit.

Another thing about Uganda's proposed law is, it's not just the death penalty for gay people.  It's jail terms for anyone who talks about (or "promotes") homosexuality.   They're going all out on this one.

via @antonvowl, @SohoPolitico

BBC Complaints Form

Trafigura And Carter-Ruck Are At It Again - This Time They're Gagging The BBC

Feel free to embed these videos on your blog if you have one, and sign the Libel Reform Petition, encouraging your MP to sign up to the EDM 423.

via Thinking Is Dangerous and Don't Get Fooled Again

Joined Up Thinking But Disjointed Presentation Over PSHE Curriculum And Gender Violence

Now, I could be wrong, but I don't think the Government are doing themselves many favours with the way they have announced their proposals to make personal, social and health education (PSHE) a compulsory part of the National Curriculum from 2011.

From what I've heard of the proposals, they seem to be uncharacteristically well thought through.  It's been informed by teacher, parent and youth involvement, for a start.

You might think that's something to be pleased with (and you'd be right), but that word in italics has been niggling at me.  Any details on the new curriculum are five clicks away from the front page of the DCSF website, which seems completely wrong to me - surely such significant changes should be directly linked from the "Hot Topics" info box on the homepage?  Worse, only a brief and slightly misleading press release from April is to be found in the DirectGov Newsroom.

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