Remembering Haditha

So, after seven years, a single U.S marine has been tried for the murder of 24 unarmed iraqis in three houses in Haditha, 2005. They were mostly women and children, one old man in a wheelchair. I wrote a post about it in 2006 I think (in the old blog) and included this beautiful image, 'Haditha', by Emily Johns, an artist whose work I love.

And what sentence did the marine receive? Three months. I could cry for the shame of it.

Voting

Blimey, never thought I'd be encouraging anyone to vote but I read Tony's blog about the IWA possibly monopolising the 4 available seats on the Council of the new Canal and River Trust. I agree that that wouldn't be properly representative of the diversity of boaters in the UK. When voicing his concerns among the London Boaters, Tony found himself nominated as a candidate, which doesn't surprise me in the least!

It's quite clear from first meeting Tony, what a warm, genuine and caring person he is and his dynamic, intelligent input in the London Boaters group has earnt the respect of many fellow boaters. He worked tirelessly to win rights and concessions for that group and could use this experience and his ideas in other areas. I'm fortunate to also know him as a friend and although I know he is far too modest to be happy about me shouting his virtues from the treetops, I've seen his selfless and personal commitment to those facing hardship and injustice.


Anyway, I've taken the liberty of re-posting his obligatory election address here.


"I am a 51-year-old CC liveaboard and have been an active member of London Boaters for the past year or so.

London Boaters is becoming a pioneer of community-based provision of services and facilities for boaters (e.g. moorings, boaters' credit union). I believe that this could serve as a template for use in other areas, and fits in well with the local partnership model embodied in the CaRT structure.

There is a view that the canal network is a scarce commodity with competition for resources between leisure and residential users. Our research showed this not to be the case, and that a vibrant residential community actually encourages leisure users to make better use of the canals. I will work to promote the use of the waterways to maximise the benefit for all users.

I am independent of all organisations representing boaters.


Any questions, please leave a comment, or email me at election at floatinguniverse dot org dot uk.

Tony"

Possible light for a boat?

I came across this you-tube clip about making light from plastic bottles. I wondered if this could be tried on a narrowboat, in place of a mushroom vent? Obviously, adequate ventilation would need to be ensured for stove safety.
It's HERE.

Happy new year

from Blackbird x