Today, Nick Clegg has set the date for the UK voting referendum, giving us a chance to reform the badly flawed voting system.
If you're not convinced that the system is unfair, compare these charts: How we voted in the 2010 election vs what we got.
Unfortunately some backbench Conservative MPs are trying to propose a 40% threshold, meaning that at least 40% of all registered voters would need to support the reform. This is totally unrealistic and unprecedented: it's not the way we elect MPs, in fact only 35 out of our 650 MPs got support from 40% of their electorate.
Their fear is understandable: under a fairer voting system the Conservative party would probably not get an overall majority. But it is not right to use an unfair voting system to save another very unfair voting system.
The most important thing right now is to urge your MP not to support the threshold and to give the referendum a fair chance. You can do so here:
Follow the instructions to write a letter to your MP. A suggested letter will be provided for you; all you need to do is add in your MP's name (the site will tell you) and sign it with your name. If you personalise the letter more, so much the better.
For reference, here's the letter i wrote to my MP for Winchester, Steve Brine.
Dear Steve,
My first opportunity to write to you! :) This is about the Alternative Vote system referendum.
I really welcome a fairer system than the one we have currently. I led a debate at The Roebuck Inn recently proposing that First Past The Post is undemocratic. I did not vote for you, and my vote was discarded. It bothers me that 28,800 votes in Winchester counted for nothing. I won the debate, by the way!
Now that we have a real chance to get a fairer system I'm concerned that some backbench Conservative MPs are already trying to fight against it by trying to argue for a 40% threshold rule — that's 40% support from all available voters, even those who choose not to vote.
This doesn't sound at all fair to me, and sounds like a sign of fear. By the way, Steve, you only got 36.79% of the total available electorate in Winchester, so you should be able to see why this proposal doesn't make sense!
You may not be the representative i voted for, but you are now my representative in Parliament, and therefore i hope i can count on you to oppose this suggestion and give the referendum a fair chance.
Yours sincerely,
aimee daniells
twitter: @sermoa
After one afternoon already 1,873 letters have been sent to 548 of our MPs. It is important that we get the message to all 650 MPs, so please do your bit and support true democracy.
A twitter retweeter bot: @tupperwarebot – the cool thing about this was i learnt how to use Yahoo Pipes and made a pipe that finds relevant tweets and manipulates the stream to become retweets with the hashtag #tupperwarebox
A Justin Bieber in a #tupperwarebox which gained the @tupperwarebot a lot of Justin Bieber fans!
This is actually quite disturbing when i found there is a rumour that Justin Bieber got stuck in a toy box at age 7 and suffers from claustrophobia. But anyway, the fans seem to like it. They appreciate the randomness of it and came up with the hashtag #justininatupperwarebox!
Finally, there is a Facebook group: Tupperware Box! If you are a fan of Tupperware and/or pure random nonsense, please don't hesitate to join! :D
I am a believer in logic and reasoning. I believe in things that can be scientifically tested and proven by independent non-biased parties. Things, in short, most unlike homeopathy.
Homeopathy is an alternative "remedy" system from the 18th century based on the bizarre conjecture that to dilute something to virtually nothing will increase its effectiveness. It relies on such nonsense as water having a "memory" so that it can "remember" what has been added to it even after it has been diluted so many times that it can no longer have any trace of the intentional ingredient.
Until recently, if you mentioned homeopathy to me, my mind would have conjured up an image of a dusty old shop with small windows in lonely back street. I certainly did not imagine that homeopathy was on sale bright and cheerful in every high street in the country!
Homeopathy for sale at Boots
Thanks to the 10:23 campaign i have learnt a lot more about homeopathy. This saturday, 30th january, at 10:23 hundreds of demonstrators will "overdose" on homeopathy remedies outside branches of Boots across England. This is in order to show that homeopathy does not work, and to raise awareness of what it really is.
I hope that the demonstration will put pressure on Boots to stop selling this nonsense. Homeopathy is not something that a reputable chemist should be indulging in. Paul Bennett, the professional standards director at Boots has even admitted that there is no evidence that homeopathy works. Paul Bennett cites "consumer choice" as an appropriate reason to sell and profit from the little pills.
Interestingly enough, some homeopaths are in support of the 10:23 campaign. They say that homeopathy needs to treat the person as a whole, and is to be given with consultation of a "trained" homeopath! Either way, we're in agreement that this stuff should not be available over the counter on the high street!
If you want to add your support to the cause, whichever side you're on, go to www.1023.org.uk where you'll find plenty of resources and more information.
I have been using Songbird for a couple of years now instead of iTunes. I feel so proud that they have achieved the 1.0 milestone. Off to download it right now …! :)
Update: Oh, the icon has changed! For ever it has been a little egg, slowly cracking. Today it is a little yellow bird! How cute!! :D
For those who may not have seen it on the MyChores journal, i started a MyChores pledge campaign last night. I kind of stumbled into it by accident, via github, but i thought i may as well publicise it a little bit.
Already we've had one confirmed pledge of $10 and another $10 waiting to be cleared! I am making people site supporters on MyChores, so if you pledge and you have an account, please let me know your login ID so i can give you the additional features.
These are exciting times for MyChores. The code has gone open source and there are some people expressing a serious interest in helping to improve the codebase. We are going to make the site more reliable, faster, more intuitive. One of my colleagues is hopefully coming for a weekend code-a-thon sometime soon! So i think this is a very worthy cause to support! :)
This morning, whilst discussing with my partner my reasons for wearing a poppy, i discovered that my opinions are better represented by the white poppy than the red poppy. I was, and still am, strongly against the war in Iraq, and in wearing a poppy i remember not just the British soldiers who have died but also all the innocent victims in Iraq whose lives have been torn apart by warfare.
The red poppy is associated with the British Legion, and is particularly for commemorating soldiers who have died. I believe that is important, and i recognise that war is sometimes necessary. But i believe the impact of war goes so much further than that.
The white poppy is for peaceful resolution of conflict, and is to remember the victims of warfare. I did not know about the white poppy before today, and it's too late to get one for this year, but in the future i will wear both a red poppy and a white one. This week i'll be wearing my white scarf to symbolise my desire for peace.
P.S. Here is a lovely picture of a Sea of White Poppies taken near Basingstoke a couple of years ago.
These are a thank you gift for helping to make Shea Bliss – Natural Shea Butter Body Care – the webshop is now open and ready for business! :) I personally use the products, and they do wonders for my skin … really good quality, and they make excellent gifts too!
My job continues to go very well indeed. Most of this week i have been working on Nudo Italia – a site for olive groves in Italy. You can adopt an olive tree and receive all its produce for a year. So all week i have been looking at stunning views of Italy! :) I ordered a pot of their olive oil … it came last night and tasted absolutely delicious in a salad dressing!
Today we are going to Portsmouth … a bit of shopping and a treasure hunt and barbecue this evening. I hope this lovely weather holds out! :)
Thank goodness someone was selling the ribbons today! It is better than last year when i couldn't find a ribbon anywhere! This morning i remembered that it is World Aids Day tomorrow, and at lunch time i saw people out selling the ribbons. I also saw a lot of people wearing them, which made me happy.
Everything we buy has an impact on our planet. Buy Nothing Day highlights the environmental and ethical consequences of consumerism. The developed countries – only 20% of the world population are consuming over 80% of the earth's natural resources, causing a disproportionate level of environmental damage and unfair distribution of wealth.
This year, Buy Nothing Day will be biggest 24-hour moratorium against consumerism ever. People in around the UK will make a pact with themselves to take a break from shopping as a personal experiment or public statement and the best thing is – IT'S FREE!!
