For those who missed it last month, this is one Romanian teenager’s astonishing and, in a strange way, deeply affecting tribute to the wonder of space exploration and the demise of the shuttle programme. On 31st December, 2011, Oaida Raul, who has always been fascinated by space exploration (Bob and I know a thing or [...]
Posts Tagged ‘international’
To infinity and beyond: Lego’s final frontier?
Posted in culture, science, space, tagged international, lego, shuttle, space on April 7, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Open Letter to Bashar Al-Assad regarding Haitham Al-Maleh #almaleh #alkarama
Posted in human rights, international, politics, syria, tagged haitham al-maleh, human rights, international, politics, syria, syrian opposition on April 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Alkarama is increasingly alarmed at the state of health of Haitham al-Maleh and has issued the following appeal to the Syrian President:
Protestors call for the release of Syria’s prisoners of conscience #labwani #syria
Posted in current affairs, human rights, international, politics, syria, tagged al-bunni, al-hassani, anwar al-bunni, haitham al-maleh, human rights, international, kamal labwani, maleh, syria, syrian opposition on April 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
To mark Syria’s National Day, 17th April, friends and supporters of Syria’s wrongly incarcerated prisoners of conscience protested outside the Syrian Embassy at 8 Belgrave Square, in London. Between 70 and 80 people were in attendance, many of them signing a letter to the President that was delivered via Embassy officials. Simultaneous protests mounted in [...]
Iyas Maleh and Kamal Labwani’s friends urge support for Syrian Independence Day demo, April 17th #syria #labwani
Posted in human rights, international, politics, syria, tagged al-bunni, amnesty, haitham al-maleh, human rights, international, kamal labwani, politics, syria, syrian opposition on April 3, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
As Syria prepares to celebrate 64 years of independence, the European Union continues to work towards cementing relations with Syria through its EU-Syria Mediterranean Association Agreement. Maureen Thomas, however, has alerted me to a demonstration outside the Syrian Embassy to remind the world that despite its reformist rhetoric, peaceful and democratic reformers such as Kamal Labwani, Anwar Bunni, [...]
Letter from Kamal’s family about the conditions in Adra Prison #syria #kamal
Posted in human rights, international, politics, syria, tagged al-bunni, haitham al-maleh, human rights, international, kamal labwani, politics, syria, syrian opposition on March 25, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Kamal Labwani’s family have written to Maureen Thomas, describing the latest humiliations in Adra Prison, Damascus. Maureen’s covering comment is a timely reminder of the human frailty of our friends who have been imprisoned in Damascus: “One can only admire the prisoners’ pride, determination and courage but I worry for Haytham, Muhannad, Anwar and Kamal [...]
“They fear an old man” – the disappearing of Haitham al-Maleh #almaleh #syria
Posted in current affairs, human rights, international, politics, syria, tagged haitham al-maleh, human rights, international, politics, syria, syrian opposition on February 27, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
One of the country’s leading champions of those imprisoned in Syria for human rights abuses is Maureen Thomas. The journalist Christiane Schlötzer recently sent her a copy of her article about the disappearance of Haitham al-Maleh that first appeared in the Süddeutsche Zeitung last weekend. Geoff Williams has translated that article. “They fear an old [...]
Urgent: Amnesty appeal as Haitham al-Maleh’s health fails #syria #amnesty #almaleh #labwani
Posted in human rights, international, politics, syria, tagged al-labwani, amnesty, free speech, haitham al-maleh, human rights, international, politics, syria, syrian opposition on February 26, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Very worrying news from Amnesty International regarding the health of Hytham al-Maleh. Haitham al-Maleh was born in Damascus, in 1931 holds a degree in Law from Damascus University and a diploma in public international law. He is an award-winning human rights activist and lawyer. On 7 December 2004 he received an award from the National Advisory [...]
Eva Sajovic’s “Be-Longing”: Workshop information #gypsies #travellers #roma
Posted in arts, current affairs, tagged arts, delaine le bas, eva sajovic, gypsies, international, roma, travellers on February 13, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
News of two workshops being run at Eva Sajovic’s “Be-Longing” exhibition at 198. Workshop with Delaine Le Bas – Saturday 13 February 2010, 12-5pm Delaine Le Bas is part of the UK Romany community. In her works she explores many of the experiences of intolerance, misrepresentation, transitional displacement and homelessness that the community continues to [...]
“Be-Longing”: Eva Sajovic’s exhibition opens at the 198 #sajovic #gypsies #travellers #roma
Posted in arts, comment, personal, tagged arts, eva sajovic, gypsies, international, roma, travellers on February 5, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Wednesday evening, after work, I took a taxi to 198 Railton Road, home to 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning. A few days earlier I had received an invitation to the preview of its new exhibition of photographs by Eva Sajovic, the Slovenian artist I have blogged about previously. To call 198 a gallery is to [...]
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About Me (Ben Williams)
With far too many interests, I've never been known to be short of an opinion - to the infuriation of friends and family alike. As a result, over the years I've come to recognise that "contradictory" and "contrary" are not unfair descriptions of me.My Lib Dem politics, my doubt-stricken Christianity, my love of revolution, my fear of change, literature, art, music, writing, my fascination with new tech, gaming and MMOs, diabetes, my passion for poker, my disdain for gambling, Cornwall, Bavaria, the places that inspire and depress me, my relief in lonely countryside and my attraction to the cruel crush of the city: at some point it will all end up here.
This is my space to share those reflections on all the things that provoke me and just perhaps I'll capture some of those fleeting fragmented thoughts that otherwise are lost in the ether of busy days.
Ben
N.B. For the time being I am taking a little break from the political commentary. History, art, social observation, culture, technology, weather, people, places, faith, religion, entertainment, the arts... But no politics. ;-)
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I am a center-left moderate social libertarian
Left: 1.64, Libertarian: 3.29
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Corpse-eating robots, Jedi and computer games – did James Cameron understate the Terminator threat? #darpa #eatr #jedi
Posted in comment, film, human rights, politics, tech, tagged arts, chaos theory, darpa, eatr, ethics, human rights, international, jedi, politics, science, tech, terminator on February 17, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Robot dietary requirements and Jedi I am definitely not the first person to have blogged about the wince-inducing news that the American military have developed robots that can power themselves by eating organic material. However, I’ve not read much that speculates on what interesting things could happen if you marry this robot technology with several [...]
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