Home-grown Nazis
The News Review:
- Home-grown Nazis
- Grade slashes regional news to pay for ITV revival
- Visions of Osama bin Laden
- Don’t blame the foreigners for England’s lack of silverware
- Foreigners ‘prop up UK science’
- ‘Superfood’ that’s berry good business
Home-grown Nazis
economist.com – Sep 13, 2007
Israel’s “law of return” allows not only Jews but their partners, children and grandchildren, who may not be technically Jewish, to claim Israeli citizenship. It drew immigrants from the former Soviet Union, causing many with only a tenuous Jewish link to move to Israel for a better life. But they often found it hard to get good jobs, so many of their children have grown up in poor towns with few opportunities. And non-Jews in Israel face various complications—from social exclusion to trouble getting married in a country where the rabbinate will not marry non-Jews but civil marriage does not exist. It was likely that a few disillusioned and susceptible youths would fall prey to extreme ideologies. Nor is the phenomenon new. The past few years have seen a steady trickle of anti-Semitic attacks and swastika-daubings by Israelis, and several youths have been arrested.
Grade slashes regional news to pay for ITV revival
Guardian Unlimited – Sep 13, 2007
Setting a five-year target of doubling ITV Production’s revenues to £1. 2bn, the former BBC chairman, who took over eight months ago, said he wanted home-grown productions to account for three-quarters of ITV1′s schedule, up from 54%. “By 2012, I want ITV to be widely acknowledged as the UK’s favourite source of free, original entertainment across all popular platforms and devices, not just on television,” he said. Unions immediately attacked ITV’s plan to slash the £120m regional programming budget by a third to help pay for it. ITV wants to cut the 17 regional news bulletins to nine, a move that unions warned will cost hundreds of jobs from the regional news workforce of about 1,000. Some regions, such as Border and Tyne Tees, will be merged.
Visions of Osama bin Laden
economist.com – Sep 13, 2007
The three plotters are alleged to have trained in Pakistani camps run by the Islamic Jihad Union, an originally Uzbek-based outfit. The group later promised more attacks, and demanded that the German air force stop using a base at Termez in Uzbekistan. The plot underlines concern about home-grown terrorism across Europe. Much of al-Qaeda’s propaganda, as well as its military training manuals, are spread through a large network of jihadist websites. Muslims anywhere can become radicalised and join the fight, with little or no involvement from al-Qaeda’s leaders. In Britain, and now in Germany, some converts to Islam appear to be particularly prone to extremism. The German Islam Archive, a think-tank and lobby group, estimates that some 4,000 people converted in the year to June 2005, more than ten times the annual average in the past decade; other experts question the figures… Markus Kaiser, a specialist with the intelligence service of Baden-Württemberg, says that Turkish-language jihadist material on the internet is growing markedly. Turks have joined the fight against Russia in Chechnya, and German-born veterans may now be helping to radicalise Muslims at home. Though training is much easier abroad, such home-grown cells may need no direction from overseas and can act faster, making it harder to detect them. The German plotters were caught thanks to American electronic snooping which uncovered their e-mail exchanges with Pakistan. Future terrorists will learn from that. Al-Qaeda has experienced some broader setbacks, however, notably in Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, where violent jihadist campaigns have been largely squashed. Palestinian leaders have tried to keep al-Qaeda away from their fight with Israel (though it has won followers in refugee camps in Lebanon and maybe Gaza).
Don’t blame the foreigners for England’s lack of silverware
New Statesman – Sep 13, 2007
I’d rather have the world’s best footballers in the Prem than say the German or Italian leagues. If that happened, then the handful of players we do like to boast are world class, such as Gerrard and Rooney, plus possibly Lampard and Ferdinand, would be off like a shot, attracted by the big money. Would that then allow our top clubs to be filled by home-grown players? Possibly – or they might be filled by second-class, cheapo imports instead. I believe really good native players will always come through. They can only gain by the tougher competition, playing alongside the best foreigners each week, making them better equipped when turning out for England. Except, hmmm, hold on, that doesn’t seem to work. The average or potentially good Brit players are having problems getting into Prem first teams, apart from Boro, but we do have three other professional leagues, far more than elsewhere, where they can flourish.
Foreigners ‘prop up UK science’
BBC News – Sep 13, 2007
Only 29% of postgraduate students in these areas are from the UK, with more than half coming from non-EU countries. The government says attracting foreign students was a matter of satisfaction. But Universities UK says more home grown researchers are needed. Strategic subjects are defined as those which are vital on the grounds of wealth creation, diplomacy, international relations and cultural grounds… ”
He added: “The concern is that should people return home, the flow of researchers will dry up and that will cause problems for the UK economy. “The important thing for UK universities now is not to have fewer researchers from abroad but to build up more from the UK. ”
Department closures
There are also fears that the lack of home grown researchers could add to the shortage of specialist teachers in these areas in schools. There are particular concerns about the numbers of students studying physical sciences, within which chemistry has fallen by 19% and physics by 6% over the past 10 years. The drop-off has led to the closure of a number of university science departments in recent years. Prof Crossick said: “A key part of the problem with strategic subjects relates directly to the lack of student demand, and more must be done in schools and the wider society to address this. ”
At the same time the number of students studying for degrees in “trendy” subjects like psychology, (up 113%) computer science, law, media studies, drama and film (up 335%) has increased.
‘Superfood’ that’s berry good business
Telegraph.co.uk – Sep 13, 2007
“Our relationship is what the farming industry has been missing for 50 years. “Nicki Baggott, Waitrose fruit buyer, says: “Waitrose is committed to sourcing from the UK wherever we can but until now blueberries have not been cultivated commercially within the UK in large quantities. Through working closely with Harry we hope that the British blueberry will ultimately become as much a part of the British season as home-grown apples and strawberries. “Mr Hall embodies the future of the farming industry. He talks of building a legacy, of looking after the environment, investing in hedgerows, being carbon positive. But he also refers to business management books, such as Jim Collins’ Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap.