5 Comments »

1. O, pass that buck! Agreed, health and safety is paramount. Will the relationship between the police force and the government support an objective decision? Not sure myself.

   Comment by auntyq38 — 16 Jun 2005 on 5:43 pm | Link

2. "Safe" for who? Part of the reason for the protests is that many people do not think that the G8 leaders care enough about our safety and care far more about businesses in their countries making huge profits. I think that we need protecting from them, not the other way round.

   If the leaders spent a bit more time considering the health and safety of people in the world then we might have very different attitiudes to global warming and pollution generally, GM crops, fair trade, pro-active wars, etc etc etc.

   Whether you agree with everything the protesters are arguing or not, I think most people would rather see the politicians come out and talk honestly about the issues rather than hide away in select groups making unjustified decisions about our future.

   Comment by Uncarved Block — 16 Jun 2005 on 10:37 pm | Link

3. blair and co are saying the right words .and

   then will go away and do nothing as before. when will people learn.

   Comment by phillip crossley — 29 Jun 2005 on 11:19 pm | Link

4. Whatever happened to peaceful protest? The wanton vandalism and aggressive actions (to both the public and the police) by so called protestors does nothing to give credence to the cause of reducing third world debt and gaining additional aid for third world countries.Anarchy isn’t the way forward.

   Comment by Ray Fitchett — 7 Jul 2005 on 9:59 am | Link

5. Please circulate \x96 the world would be quite different if these 50 people didn\x92t exist \x96 for example Gender and post-conflict democracy-building expert Lesley Abdela (see Google etc).

   \x91Heroes Of Our Time: the Top 50\x92
   New Statesman Magazine Cover Story

   During Spring 2006 the international politics/current affairs journal New Statesman conducted a vote among readers for the top 50 heroes of our time. The New Statesman readership is largely over 35 years of age, with the highest percentage of readers holding first and advanced university degrees of any other international magazine.

   The poll\x92s definition of a hero:

   \x91A man or woman whose actions have been in the service of the greater good and whose influence is national or international: someone who is prepared to act in pursuit of a freer, more equitable and democratic future, without recourse to violence\x92.

   The response, published as the magazine\x92s cover story is \x91as surprising in its range and unpredictability as it was overwhelming\x92 though the first three are to be expected, world figures Aung San Suu Kyi, Nelson Mandela and Bob Geldof. No. 49 is leading theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, and No 50, Andrew Flintoff, famous English cricketer.
   Quite a few respondents thought the magazine meant \x91people for our time\x92 rather than people alive and active now, so Winston Churchill and Jesus and Marie Curie received a lot of votes.
   Of the 50 who topped the poll, 10 are female (20%), out of whom 5 are British: Civil Society/Democracy/post-conflict reconstruction specialist Lesley Abdela, Liberty\x92s Shami Chakrabarti, Queen Elizabeth 11, human rights lawyer Helena Kennedy QC, Rt Hon Margaret Thatcher.
   Other women on the Top 50 list include American, Australian, Burmese, Irish and Russian.

   See complete poll on http://www.newstatesman.com/200605220016

   Campaigners ranked significantly, hence Bob Dylan (37th) and Bono (30th), Aung San Suu Kyi (1st), Mordechai Vanunu (24th), Lesley Abdela (34th), Helena Kennedy (40th), Noam Chomsky (7th) and John Pilger (4th).

   Women voted into the top 50 Heroes of our Time:
   Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese pro-democracy campaigner (1st)
   Margaret Thatcher, UK Prime Minister 1979-90 (5th)
   Mary Robinson, Ethical Globalisation Initiative, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (20th)
   Germaine Greer, Academic and Broadcaster, author of \x91The Female Eunuch\x92 (25th)
   Elizabeth 11, most travelled head of state in history (33rd)
   Lesley Abdela, international Champion of Women\x92s Rights, specialist in \x91gender in post-deadly conflict/natural disaster reconstruction\x92 (Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Aceh, Sierra Leone) (34th) (lesley.abdela@shevolution.com), one who has put her own life on the line for democracy and human rights.
   Shami Chakrabarti, Civil liberties campaigner, Director of human-rights group Liberty (35th)
   Anna Politkovskaya, Russian journalist reporting on Chechnya war (39th)
   Helena Kennedy QC, leading British lawyer, especially on social justice (40th)
   Toni Morrison, Pulitzer Prizewinner novelist on black America (48th)

   Voted among the Top 50 male heroes of our time are (not in order) \x96
   Amartya Sen, Nobel Laureate, writing on poverty, welfare and development (29th)
   Bill Gates, Microsoft founder, with his wife Melinda one of the greatest philanthropists (8th)
   Dalai Lama, Buddhist spiritual leader (9th)
   Hans Blix, former UN weapons inspector (15th)
   Tony Benn, former Cabinet Minister, veteran anti-war campaigner (12th)
   Mikhail Gorbachev, last leader of the Soviet Union, relinquished power to help bring Cold War to an end (13th)
   Tim Berners-Lee, Inventor of the worldwide web (28th)
   Jimmy Carter, former US President, founder of the Carter Center, dedicated to alleviating poverty (41st)
   Richard Dawkins, evolutionary theorist (26th)
   Muhammad Yunus, Founder of Grameen Bank, \x91banker to the poor\x92 (22nd)
   John Carr, international Internet safety expert, advises on protecting children from the dangers of the web (42nd)
   Peter Tatchell, co-founder of OutRage, who attempted citizen\x92s arrest on Robert Mugabe (6th)

   New Statesman magazine: tel. +44 20 7730 3444, fax +44 20 7259 0181 website: http://www.newstatesman.com <http://www.newstatesman.com/&gt; e-mail info@newstatesman.co.uk

   Comment by Tim Symonds — 13 Sep 2006 on 6:29 pm | Link

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