"Which Superhero am I?"


You are Spider-Man

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You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero am I?" quiz...

Believe it or not, you can read it


I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdgnieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.


Amzanig huh?

the Home Office


Dear Mr Khalid Mahmood MP,


I am writing to you with regard to the Home Office.


In recent weeks we have seen more and more evidence come out that the Home Office has been reduced to rubble by a Prime Minister and a Labour government obsessed with legislation, instead of good administration.


I believe that it is time to bring in outside expertise to find out what on earth is going on at the Home Office.


Therefore I am writing to you to ask that you encourage the government to ask the National Audit Office to form a task force to investigate the lamentable response to the current crisis in the Home Office.


The Home Secretary John Reid's latest admission that he provided inaccurate information to the House of Commons comes at a time when every civil servant in that department must be acutely aware of the need to provide reliable information.


It is unprecedented for the Home Secretary to admit that he cannot guarantee the accuracy of his statements to Parliament and the government. The government must now ask the National Audit Office to form a task force to investigate why this has happened and how it can be prevented in the future.


Yours sincerely,
Adam Nazir Ahmed Teladia

Diana Johnson MP writes in the House Magazine


I was reading this article, which was published in the January edition of House magazine.


I have to agree with what Ms Johnson says on a lot of things like:


· Sixteen and seventeen year-olds in Britain pay employment-related taxes, which are set by politicians who they don't get to choose.


· Sixteen and seventeen year-olds in Britain can get married so why can't they vote.


· Sixteen and seventeen year-olds in Britain can join the armed forces so why can't they elect the politicians who decide if Britain should participate in an armed conflict.


· People at 17 are entrusted with one of society's most dangerous weapons – the motor car and if they can be trusted with that then why cant we trust them with the vote.


· The current generation of sixteen and seventeen year-olds in Britain is the first generation of young people to undertake the government's citizenship education yet they have to wait two years to apply what they have learnt about the democratic process.


· Voting is a habit that society should encourage in the young – certainly more so than less socially beneficial activities such as smoking, alcohol, drugs, gambling and pornography and if Sixteen and seventeen year-olds in Britain can enjoy those then why not the right to vote.


In the article Ms Johnson also makes two good points which I have not heard made before the first was "Why should keen, well-informed young people coming through our education system and feeling ready for the right to vote, be held back by those not feeling up to it?" and "Why should democratic progress have to happen at a pace dictated by the slowest-developers?"


I certainly hope that soon parliament will decide that sixteen and seventeen year olds should have the vote. I think its more likely since the POWER Commission published back in February backed lowering the voting age to sixteen.

The Big Question: Is the Home Office too large and unwieldy to do its job properly?


I have just been reading The Big Question: Is the Home Office too large and unwieldy to do its job properly? And I have to say that I agree with the article when it argues that the “scale and variety of the Department's responsibilities are bewildering”.


I believe that what we need is to bring together all the agencies that are working to prevent crime and terrorism. There should be a cabinet member responsible for criminal justice, policing, security and community safety. However I believe powers and influence on policing and community safety should also be devolved further to local councils some of them could manage on their own due to the area and population they are responsible for. Others may find that they are not large enough or think that they are not competent enough and want to come together and work with neighbouring councils to manage their policing. For example in Birmingham the councils may think that they could manage policing in their area due to its area and population size but other smaller councils in the surrounding area might think that they do not cover a large enough area or population and so decide to come together with neighbouring councils to try and manage their policing and community safety together.


I think that responsibilities for nationality, citizenship and immigration should be the business of another government altogether.


I hope that soon Members of Parliament will realise that the Home office is “too large and unwieldy to do its job properly” and start pressuring the government to introduce reforms.

European Union subsidising cotton production


Dear Mr Khalid Mahmood MP,


I am writing to regard to the European Union subsidising cotton production.


The European Union along with its trading competitors the China and the United States of America subsidise cotton production which leads to over production and dumping, this causes falls in the real cotton prices which in turn improvises and livelihoods and erodes economies in the developing world where approximately two-thirds of the worlds cotton production takes place.


The economies of some of the worlds poorest countries are dependent upon cotton, but the prices that farmers in the developing countries receive for their high quality cotton is driven down due to the price of cotton subsidised by China, the European Union and the United States of America.


I would like you to call on the European Union to end the subsidising of cotton production and I would like to ask you to ask the British Prime Minister to use his “special relationship” with the President of the United States of America to get them to do the same.


I very much appreciate you taking the time to read this and do hope that you will act to ensure that cotton farmers in the developing world are allowed to trade their cotton on real free markets.


Your sincerely,
Adam Nazir Ahmed Teladia

top ten people who can do most to end injustice


I found myself reading Britons say they can do better than politicians in the fight against poverty and thought why not add a few more names to that list and see what we get and so I started top ten people who can do most to end injustice I used Britons say they can do better than politicians in the fight against poverty and The People Who Shape Our World to come up with the twenty four but hey its just a little bit of fun so lets see what results we can get.


Why not vote at:


top ten people who can do most to end injustice

or


http://www.votevote.org/dcballot.php?poll=oxfam

Crazy Complaints from Gujaratis...


These are extracts from actual letters sent to Leicester council and Housing associations written by Gujaratis:


1. I want some repairs done to my cooker as it has backfired and burnt my knob off.


2. I wish to complain that my father hurt his ankle very badly when he put his foot in the hole in his back passage.


3. And their 18-year-old son is continually banging his balls against my fence.


4. I wish to report that the tiles are missing from the outside toilet roof. I think it was that bad wind the other night that blew them off.


5. I am writing on behalf of my sink, which is coming away from the wall.


6. Will you please send someone to mend the garden path, my wife tripped and fell on it yesterday and now she is pregnant?


7. I request permission to remove my drawers in the kitchen. 50% of the walls are damp, 50% have crumbling plaster and the rest are plain filthy.


8. The toilet is blocked and we cannot bath the children until it is cleared.


9. Will you please send a man to look at my water? It is a funny colour and not fit to drink.


10. Our lavatory seat is broken in half and is now in three pieces.


11. I want to complain about the farmer across the road, every morning at 6:00 am his cock wakes me up and its now getting too much for me.


12. The man next door has a large erection in the garden, which is unsightly and dangerous.


13. Our kitchen floor is damp. We have two small children and would like a third so please send someone round to do something about it.


14. I am a single woman living in a downstairs flat and would you please do something about the noise made by the man I have on top of me every night.


15. Please send a man with the right tool to finish the job and satisfy my wife.

Nuclear power stations


Mr Khalid Mahmood MP


I am writing to you to ask you to encourage the cabinet that committing the UK to another generation of nuclear power stations would be a dangerous, expensive and unpopular move that would do more damage than good in the fight against climate change.


Replacing all our existing nuclear power stations with new ones would create more nuclear waste, and still only save 4% of our CO2 emissions, and the savings would come too late to prevent climate change anyway.


Every pound spent on nuclear power is one, which could have delivered seven times more carbon savings if spent on energy efficiency. If the government started delivering the policy it committed to after the last Energy Review, the UK would be on track to meet its climate targets and secure its energy supply for the future.


I am particularly concerned that the Prime Minister has already made up his mind and is trying to force his opinion on the British public and none of the problems of nuclear power have yet been solved, such as the waste issue or its exorbitant cost. A commitment to nuclear would stifle the vital development of the real solutions to climate change - renewable energy and effective energy efficiency measures.


There is a better choice than nuclear that does more for the climate, more for energy security and costs less. Using energy locally and using heat as well as power is a technique that exists and works on a significant scale in several countries today.


Combined with efficiency and renewable energy technologies we can have a smarter, cleaner, cheaper and viable alternative to traditional energy systems in both heat and electricity.


Please write to all members of the cabinet individually asking them to get the government to seriously commit to stopping climate change through sustainable means that do not include nuclear power.


Yours sincerely,


Adam Nazir Ahmed Teladia

www.democracyseries.org.uk

The Democracy Series is a major new project aimed at stimulating constructive debate on a range of issues central to the future of democratic politics. The Series draws together a range of experts from a variety of professional backgrounds and political persuasions, who will contribute essays and commentaries on six broad themes:


Democracy and Islam
Democracy and Voting
Democracy and Disengagement
Democracy and Capitalism
Democracy and Political Parties
Democracy and the Future of the British Constitution


Democracy and Islam by Professor Haleh Afshar with commentaries by Professor Brian Barry, Madeleine Bunting and Sir Iqbal Sacranie OBE is published on Tuesday May 9.


Each publication is available for free download from www.democracyseries.org.uk. An online debate will be hosted over a period of three weeks after the publication of each booklet to enable wider discussion about the issues involved. Contributions from people of any and all ages, backgrounds and political persuasions are welcome.


Register now at www.democracyseries.org.uk


For each debate a summary report will be produced and distributed online. These reports will serve as a permanent record of the views expressed by participants.


The Democracy Series is organised by the Hansard Society and administered by an editorial board:


Kate Jenkins (Hansard Society Vice-Chair)
Declan McHugh (Director, Parliament & Government Programme, Hansard Society)
Philip Parvin (Director, Study & Scholars Programme, Hansard Society)
Peter Riddell (Hansard Society Council & Associate Editor (politics), The Times)


The Series is supported by the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA).

Unite Against Fascism submit incitement to racial hatred complaint to police on BNP


UAF has asked the police to investigate comments by the British National Party (BNP) press officer Phill Edwards, for incitement to racial hatred, after comments he made were reported on Sky News today.


Edwards said "the black kids are going to grow up dysfunctional, low IQ, low achievers that drain our welfare benefits and the prison system and probably go and mug you." The comments can be viewed on the Sky News website.