Saturday 15th November 2025
Blog Page 2298

Liveblogging: Texas and Ohio returns

Billy Kenber
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Liveblogging: Texas and Ohio returns

 

Up next we have Wyoming (on Saturday), and Mississippi (next Tuesday) where Obama is expected to win. The big challenge ahead is quite a way off – Pennsylvania on April 22nd. In the intervening period both campaigns are going to have to find a way to build some fresh momentum. Expect the recent negative attacks from the Clinton side to continue – they’ve proved reasonably successful – while Obama will have to tread a fine line as a campaign that has tended to shy away from more negative tactics. As this race continues I’ll be continuing to blog about the campaigns so stay right here with Cherwell online for the latest analysis.

 

02:52:33 – We’re over two hours in and it now looks like Clinton will win Ohio though the size of the win is currently anyone’s guess. Texas meanwhile looks very, very tight. With 5% in Obama still has a 7-point lead. However this is skewed by early voting so we don’t yet know how closely this ties to the final results. In Ohio, with 21% or results in, Hillary leads by 20 points but the networks are yet to call it in her favour, suggesting that it is closer than it looks. This is partly the result of the rural areas which heavily favour Clinton tending to report earlier than urban areas. The major cities are yet to return any results. A CNN exit poll gave Hillary the narrowest of victories (3%) in both Texas and Ohio.

As McCain takes to the podium I’m heading to bed but I’ll be back in the morning to roundup the rest of tonight’s action and to reflect on the final tallies.

 

02:36:45 – Obama has a 7-point lead with 4% reporting in Texas. With 14% of results in Clinton has a surprisingly large 22-point lead.

 

02:27:00 – Rhode Island has been called for Hillary Clinton by MSNBC. She was expected to win the New England state but the relatively small margin of victory may be some cause for concern.

 

02:19:17 – Huckabee is speaking. With an extended baseball metaphor he says he tried his hardest; he ‘gave it his best.’ Huckabee confirms he has made a concession call to McCain and calls for party unity.

 

02:09:18 – Clinton is leading in Ohio 2:1 with less than 1% reporting. A bias in the early reporting of rural vs. urban areas means that Clinton will do better early on than when the final results are in.

 

02:05:36 – With no confirmed winners in Texas or Ohio yet The Washington Post has an interesting article which suggests that 2/3rds of Democrats would support the continuation of Hillary’s bid if she wins one of the states. Should she lose both only 49% would support a continuation.

 

02:00:57 – Polls shut everywhere. CNN projects McCain will win Rhode Island, providing enough delegates to secure the GOP nomination. No call for Hillary yet in Rhode Island.

 

01:57:30 – Lots of result predictions are coming in on the email. If any of you want to put your money where your mouth is George is back with the latest odds. Hillary is 1-14 to win Ohio and is also favourite in Rhode Island. Obama meanwhile is ‘clear favourite’ in Texas at 2-9 as well as in Vermont. No surprise with the latter in each case but the strength with which they are respectively favoured in Ohio and Texas is surprising.

 

01:53:24 – According to the blogosphere (yes, I stole that word. And it’s still horrible) Huckabee will be waving goodbye to the campaign in the next half hour or so with a concession speech and an endorsement of John McCain. Perhaps McCain won’t need to reach 1,191 delegates to wrap up the nomination for certain tonight after all.

 

01:48:51 – George asks: "Does Barack stand a chance in Ohio?" It’s a good question but at this point, with some precincts still open after the extension, it really is too early to call. I would speculate however that Hillary is going to win Ohio by a relatively small margin (five points max), which compared to the 20-point lead she held a few weeks ago isn’t great, but will certainly be enough for her to claim victory. Clinton will say she has halted Barack’s momentum and will live to fight another day. When it gets down to delegate counts in the long run however a mere five-point lead may prove much more damaging. George also reports that on Betfair right now Obama is 5-1 to win Ohio.

 

01:41:58 – On the Fox News web stream the pundits are addressing the question of the superdelegates. This is an issue which was very prominent across the networks a few weeks ago, but which has since died down. Many suggested that Hillary would look to use the superdelegates to win the nomination. However, with most voters making it clear in polling data that they feel the superdelegates should back the winner of the primaries and caucuses it looks less and less likely that this will be a viable strategy should it become necessary. It is simply viewed as undemocratic.

 

01:34:13 – Lots more speculation that the Democrat fight is going to continue "to Pennsylvania and North Carolina" according to Fox News. It does seem increasingly likely that – though the polls are still open in Texas – Ohio and Texas will be reasonably close. If that happens Obama won’t be able to knock out Hillary tonight and Hillary will be able to claim ‘victory,’ sufficient at least to keep her fighting into April. The New York Times certainly thinks Hillary is going to fight on; she’s saying she’s ‘just warming up.’

 

01:25:51 – Very little happening at the moment and Fox News have taken to showing off their interactive tv wall in an effort to keep the viewers excited. Their 24-style countdown clock to 2am (9ET – polls closing time) is quite cool though. Obama leads in Texas 58% to 41% with over 700,000 votes in from Texas but nothing is being called as not all of the precincts in the Lone Star state are closed.

 

01:10:17 – Exit polls from Texas c/o Fox News: Those who made their decisions in the last 3 days overwhelmingly went for Hillary Clinton. This perhaps in response to the already famous red phone ad which plays on terror fears and the consistent perception from voters that Hillary Clinton is more experienced and better equipped to deal with national security. Barack tried to mount a response, pointing particularly to his opposition to the Iraq war as proof of his better judgment. If this polling data holds up it would appear that this approach hasn’t worked.

 

Some precincts will stay open in the city of Cleveland until 2am. No results can be run until all the polls are closed so consider the final Ohio result to be pushed back another hour.

 

01:06:33 – This is definitely going to be a long night now so settle in. The networks are reporting that the secretary of state has asked for polls to remain open in one Ohio county until 2am. No clear answers for a while then, but Fox News have got Karl Rove (strategy guru to President Bush) waxing lyrical and O’Reilly’s up soon so what’s not to like?

 

01:02:05 – All killer no filler right here so as we wait for some actual results to come in it’s time to get you lot involved. This story , which suggests that Hillary’s campaign doctored footage of Barack to make him appear blacker, is presented for your viewing pleasure courtesy of everyone’s favourite Isis editor, while reader Mohsin Khan offers his two cents. He says, "I reckon Obama’s not going to win in either Texas or Ohio tonight. A shame, as two days ago I would have him given him Texas nicely. We’ll see." Keep the comments coming.

 

00:47:20 – A word on the Texas voting format: Texas is highly unusual in that it holds both a primary and a caucus with voters able to participate in both. It is only the results of the primary which are expected this evening. The caucuses, worth 64 of the 193 pledged Texan delegates, will not report this evening. Of course, Obama has consistently performed much better than Hillary in caucuses since Iowa so expect him to do slightly better in delegates than tonight’s results suggest in the long run.

 

Meanwhile, Fox News are covering a story that the Obama campaign is applying right now to a Federal Judge for some of the polls in Ohio to be kept open longer over suggestions that in some places ballots ran out.

 

And for those who are interested this website is providing exit poll data as it comes in.

 

00:42:17 – Polls close in Texas and Rhode Island at 2am for those asking. If you want to get in touch leave a comment or click on my name to send an email.

 

00:38:33 – The polls in Vermont closed thirty-eight minutes ago and all the major networks called it for Barack immediately as expected. The margin however is very large: 30 points plus. Polls in Ohio have now closed but don’t expect results too soon. There are still paper ballots in some parts of the state and counting will be very slow. Meanwhile Ohio and Vermont have been called for McCain.

 

00:25:24 – Will she stay or will she go?

 

So here’s the deal with what’s at stake today for the Democrats. 4 states will be voting: Vermont (15 pledged delegates, 8 unpledged), Rhode Island (21, 11), Texas (193, 35) and Ohio (141,20). In the most recent polls Barack and Hillary have been statistically tied in Texas, with Hillary slightly ahead in Ohio. Obama is expected to win Vermont, while Rhode Island seems wrapped up for Hillary.

 

Bill Clinton said last week that Hillary must win Texas and Ohio if she is to win the nomination but the Clinton campaign has since backed down from this. It’s going to take a Barack sweep in Texas and Ohio to knock Hillary out of the way in the next few days. I was going to lay out all the possible outcomes and what they would mean at this point, but The Guardian have already done it better, so just look at that. While I’m passing on links here’s a great breakdown of the messages and visuals behind the various campaign ads of the 2008 primary season.

 

For the Republicans John McCain is expected to pick up the vast majority of delegates as the presumptive nominee.

 

Christ Church win University Challenge

Selena Wisnom
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Christ Church win University Challenge

Christ Church have beaten Sheffield in the University Challenge final, which was aired on BBC2 last night.
 The final score was 220 points to 170.
 Over 200 teams from around the country entered this year's competition, but only 28 were selected to compete in the televised stages.
 This is the 14th time an Oxford college has won since the programme began in 1963, compared with 6 wins for Cambridge.
 
 
 
 

They float in the breeze…

Stephan Elschenbroich
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They float in the breeze…

“I am convinced that we can eliminate single-use disposable bags altogether, in favour of long-lasting and more sustainable alternatives”-Prime Minister Brown

Although this sounds quite good, it does pose the question, what, exactly, is a “single-use disposable bag”? By usage, it seems to refer to free plastic bags you get from supermarkets. Many dog owners might dispute the concept that these bags are single use, and I myself quite like them for putting trainers in after a game of football.

I also used a plastic bag to keep the saddle of by bike dry when I had to leave it out in rain. It is, however, an indisputable fact that the majority of plastic bags obtained from the various supermarkets across the world do end up being thrown away once used to take the shopping home. What then is the overall effect of this waste?

Less that 0.03% of all the waste that goes into a landfill comes from plastic bags, so one might be forgiven for asking why this should be such a central element of the Government’s environmentally themed speeches.

I have tried the majority of the alternatives to the plastic bag. So far, I have generally felt that most of them are inadequate. The trusty backpack was used until a packet of Chicken Tikka Massala sauce leaked all over its insides. To this day, almost a year later, the bag still smells of stale curry.

I have bought quite a few of the re-usable green bags, and have found them brilliant for taking glass to the bottle bank, they do however tend to retain the smells of whatever you put into them. Invariably, however, one rarely remembers to bring them shopping and ends up using the oh-so-conveniently positioned disposables, warranting disapproving looks from environmentally-friendly lookers-on.

I find it rather irksome that I should be treated like I have personally poured a 50-gallon drum of DDT into the river Cherwell. The elderly, in particular, tend to chide one about not doing their bit for the environment. That seams rather hypocritical as the amount of CO2 released by them driving to the shop would be worth nearly my volume in shopping bags. That this is missing from their distorted perspective of reality does not seem so surprising.

Going back to the age of fossils, why not offer paper bags instead of plastic ones? Well, for a start plastic bags take 40% less energy to make and release 70% fewer atmospheric emissions, and as only ~5% of the UK’s energy comes from renewable sources, this would have a much greater detrimental effect on the globes atmosphere. They would also create 5 times the volume of waste.

As there is a considerable paucity of composting heaps in household gardens, it seems likely that this waste would end up in the landfills all the same and thereby circumvent the supposed reduction in waste volume. They are also less popular with the consumer due to the propensity for breaking, spilling the shopping all over the path. The only real advantage is that they will decompose in a relatively short period of time.

This being said, I do fully support efforts to reduce the usage of plastic bags for ecological rather than atmospheric reasons. A colossal amount of plastic, especially from plastic bags, find its way to the seas of the world. According the United Nations Environment Programme, there are 46,000 pieces of plastic rubbish per square mile. This is thought to lead to more that a million birds and 100,000 marine animals, such as turtles, dying each year due to eating, or getting entangled in, plastic.

The imposition of a tax of approximately 22 cents upon each plastic bag used in the Republic of Ireland has led to a reduction of almost 90% in the last 5 years. Surely, an imposition of a similar system in the UK would do wonders in reducing the wasteful use of plastic bags. I would be willing to pay 10 pence for each bag, so long as society doesn’t make me a pariah for daring to be forgetful.

by Stephan Elschenbroich

Community radio station back on air

Sian Cox-Brooker
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Community radio station back on air

Oxford’s only community radio station is back on air for a month by popular demand.OX4 fm will broadcast 24 hours a day until 28th March after it was granted a restricted service license (RSL) by radio regulator Ofcom. The RSL cost £8,000 but OX4FM’s long-term goal is a 5 year community licence.The station, popular with many Oxford University students, is entirely by volunteers from Cowley, Rose Hill and Blackbird Leys. It features shows such as Ultra Culture” (jungle, break-beat, liquid-funk) and “Cowleyfornia dreaming” (dance, house, rave reggae, soul, and funk rock roll ballads). The station focuses on local artists and producers, especially drum and bass, which has a big following in Oxford.OX4 FM is available on 87.9FM or through the website www.ox4fm.net.

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Residents demand Westgate reassessment

Sangwon Yoon
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Residents demand Westgate reassessment

Campaign group Oxford Against Westgate Expansion are lobbying the Environment Agency to undertake another flood risk assessment on the Westgate Centre redevelopment plans.

A meeting was held in the town hall earlier this week to debate the proposed redevelopment. Alternative proposals were discussed, possibly including a proportion of affordable housing or a more environmentally friendly refit of the existing shopping centre.

Marketing and community relations manager for Capital Shopping Centres, Simon Ward said, “Throughout the lengthy consultation process prior to the planning application submission, the Westgate Partnership worked closely with both city and county councils, the Environment Agency, transport groups and the local community to ensure the development of a retail-led mixed use regeneration scheme for Oxford which is at the forefront of sustainable design.”

“The scheme is designed to reduce energy requirements through natural ventilation, intelligent lighting controls, solar panels, green roofs and rainwater collection,” he added.

However, campaigners are not convinced. Many believe building an underground car park could reduce flood storage and increase the danger to surrounding roads.

Gillian Turberfield, 76, from Pegasus Way, Oxford, told the Oxford Mail, “I grieve for Oxford because I think this scheme is going to be a disaster.

“The roads won’t be able to cope with the increase in traffic. The people of Oxford have never been asked what they want for the site instead of a big shopping centre.”

More than 70 people attended the meeting. Speaking afterwards, campaigner Jess Worth, 33, said, “We had no idea so many people were against the development – it has spurred the group on to fight even harder to make sure it doesn’t happen.”A second meeting has been arranged at the Town Hall for Thursday March 13.

Varsity Fives-A double report on all the highlights of the day

James Duboff
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Varsity Fives-A double report on all the highlights of the day

Report 1: by James Duboff

Last week saw the massive Oxford dynasty descend upon Eton, all guns blazing, raring to go and greet the Cambridge kids. The chiselled Oxford first team dominated their way onto their designated courts and eagerly awaited the arrival of their opponents. Led by the dynamic duo, Peter Kennedy and Andy Erskine, the first team exhibited style and prowess with every stroke, exceeding all their predecessors in the game of the blackguards. They demonstrated their extreme back court superiority, but unfortunately weren’t able to get it off the step often enough, conceding the first match by exceedingly close margins. This arbitrary result was outshone by the first pair winning the post-lash, despite the ‘bridge’s attempts to keep up. The second pair, namely Will Betts and Chris Michaels, fought bravely, but at the last minute, the Cambridge duo tricked their way towards a light blue achievement. The final game for the first’s force was fronted by the phenomenal Duncan Bloor-Young and the ferocious Henry Mostyn. DJ-ABY managed to get up two flair shots in a row off the pepper on the top step in a fearsome and fast-paced fifth set, but the sneaky Tabs penetrated again.The Oxford second team, The Peppers, took the courts by storm. Freddie Krespi joined Ben Samuel who played most proficiently together, bringing a firm 3-1 demolishment upon the Cambridge twosome.

Theo Peterson and Jonny Nelmes annihilated their counterparts with a glorious 3-0 victory for the Oxford pair. It seems PK’s inspired battleplan of attacking the back corners paid dividends. Nelmes’ tuneful devotion to finishing before the Tabs had even got into the swing of it, rumoured to be his favourite tactic, meant they left on a very high note! Peterson shared this rhythm as he volleyed imperiously all game.

Last and by far not the least, the Duboff, J. – Pattenden, H. duo, truly brought sexy back to the Eton courts. Having already won on banterous prestige, they took on the infamous Ralph and his friend. JD + HP were shockingly dislodged by the unexpected force of the Cambridge “bantex” (banter vortex) and as such, had to fight the true underlying battle here in finding new niches and caveats to exploit.

Rosie Scott scored a very impressive 2-0 for the Oxford ladies, joining the ranks of her predecessor and new partner, Juliet Browning, who was glad to have set the standard for the ladies and see it continue with impeccable strength and power. Emma Cernis led new girl Alex Colvin into a brilliant match, which they thoroughly enjoyed. The ladies were triumphant on the whole so they too won another Magnum of Pol for the Oxford elite to share at the legendary dinner later that evening.Ultimately, the Cambridge boys and girls admitted defeat by leaving ridiculously early so they could get back to the ‘bridge before their bedtimes – quoting their captain “we intend to keep our Magnum for our AGM next week”….cute.

Report 2: by Theo Peterson

The Varsity Fives was sponsored this year by Pol Roger, so please excuse a degree of haziness surrounding the details of events. But I have it on good authority that the match definitely did take place. As if the endorsement of a major champagne company were not enough to demonstrate the public-school credentials of the occasion, the whole affair was hosted by Eton. Ironically, Oxford and Cambridge don’t even have enough courts to accommodate their own varsity. How embarrassing. Incidentally, if anyone is still wondering what all this Fives business is actually about…it’s like squash with your hands, alright?

We were fired up, by gosh, and ready to claim victory by bashing the Tabs, or whatever it is kids do nowadays. The loss of our best player (in fact one of the country’s best players) to the real world at the end of last year was certainly a blow, but we had a pretty strong team. But it was Cambridge who scored the first psychological point by turning up en masse as we sat around with our pre-match sandwiches, and shedding their overcoats to reveal gleaming polo-shirts emblazoned with all sorts of logos and badges and whatnot. Stash! Why didn’t we have stash? Their shirts said Cambridge on the back; ours offered nothing. We didn’t even know who we were. Nevertheless, once we had overcome this mild identity crisis and warmed up we were ready to start. Of the six boys’ matches, three were rather close, and three were not so close, although no less hardly fought. The top three pairs formed the Varsity team proper, and in this part of the competition I’m afraid to say we suffered something of a whitewash. But it was only a whitewash on paper.

Peter Kennedy, our valiant captain, and Andrew Erskine played bravely, eventually succumbing to a tricksy Cambridge first pair 0-3. Our second and third pairs held out a while longer, both taking their matches to the full five sets. Will Betts & Chris Michaels on court 2, and Henry Mostyn & Duncan “Nate-Dog” “Big D” “Dr Dunkenstein” Bloor-Young on court 3 provided some thrilling Fives against very evenly matched Cambridge opposition. The latter match was the last to finish, and had garnered quite a crowd by the end. As their opponents closed in on the final points, Our Boys dug deep to stall the onslaught, and when Duncan pulled out two cracking shots up off the buttress in a row it seemed for a moment that they might turn the tide. But sadly exhaustion took hold and despite the fact that one had injured his hand the Cambridge pair romped home.

It was in the second team, the so-called Peppers, that our real success lay. I’m not ashamed to admit that Jonny Nelmes and I were the first to claim victory, despatching with a slightly lacklustre fifth pair within the hour. Things were rather more exciting in the fourth pair match. Freddy Krespi and Ben Samuel went one set down, before remembering what they were playing for and fighting back to take the match 3-1. Only our sixth pair suffered defeat, James Duboff and Hugh Pattenden going down all hands on deck, but that wasn’t enough to deny us the magnum of Pol Roger offered to the winners of each part of the event.

Champagne was similarly forthcoming in the women’s match. Juliet Browning and Rosie Scott destroyed the Cambridge pair 12-2 12-5, although that same pair then went on to beat our women’s second. We still got the magnum though. All in all it was a grand day out, even if we did lose overall, and things were only improved by the lavish dinner that followed, at which we were most certainly victorious.

Wadham Fresher Narrowly Lost Chance to Become Britain’s "MasterChef"

Cherwell
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Wadham Fresher Narrowly Lost Chance to Become Britain’s "MasterChef"
A first year reading English at Wadham has narrowly missed out on becoming Britain’s latest and youngest ever “BBC MasterChef”.Emily Ludolf, 19, from Lyne in Surrey was in the final of the television competition against James Nathan, 34, a former lawyer who lives in Spain.After six weeks of heats and semi-finals, the 132 contestants had been whittled down to just three.Throughout the culinary battle-off she has cooked for troops in Belize, for a wedding reception at Blenheim Palace and for some of Europe’s top chefs.Ludolf told BBC News that her decision to enter the contest was a sporadic one.”I was studying for my A-levels and I was watching it with my sister and she dared me to do it,” she said. “I thought, yes, let’s go for it and see what happens.”Also in the final alongside Ludolf and Nathan was 32-year-old Jonny Stevenson, an ex-banker and a single father from Northern Ireland.

Blues Athlete of the Week: Sam Humphry-Baker

Jack Pitt-Brooke
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Blues Athlete of the Week: Sam Humphry-Baker
Club: Oxford University Rugby Football Club College: Saint Edmund Hall Year/Course: 3rd Year Materials Science Position: Centre How long have you been involved with OURFC? How much has it defined your time in Oxford?
I started playing for the Under 21s in my first year, going on tour before I started Freshers’ Week. Knowing some of the guys before definitely helped me settle in. Hopefully rugby hasn’t defined my Oxford career as much as sports like rowing can do. Although you spend a lot of time with your team mates, I have lots of friends outside rugby. I get involved with college stuff as much as I can and try to avoid being a stereotypical ‘rugger bugger’. I guess you miss out on stuff but it’s worthwhile at the end of the day.

What was it like playing with Joe Roff?
Off the field you wouldn’t think Roffy was one of the greats of the game due to his modest, laid-back demeanour. On the field, though, you can’t help but learn from the way he dominates the game, always seeming to have time on the ball. As a developing player in the same position, it’s obviously an invaluable experience.

Do you think that Blues rugby has been devalued by the decreasing numbers of undergraduates playing for them?
Quite the opposite I think. Having the opportunity to play alongside stronger, more experienced players is what makes the Varsity Match the best amateur game in the rugby calendar. Some of the older guys really bring on the undergraduate players coming up through the ranks, offloading their experience in skills and conditioning etc. Having said that, not making the team can be frustrating, but I think it makes the rugby Blue so much more special if an undergraduate manages to win one.

Who is the best player you’ve played against?
It sounds a bit contrived wheeling out players’ names, but playing in the Michaelmas fixtures you occasionally find yourself up against a big gun, which can be quite nerve racking, but you just play like it’s any other bloke.

Do you hope to play in the Varsity Match this year? Would it be the biggest moment of your rugby career to date?
I’ve got to the stage now where I think I can challenge for a Varsity spot. Every guy who plays for OURFC wants to run out onto Twickenham in front of 40,000 supporters. Let’s just say I wouldn’t say no.

How does the Blues standard compare to other levels of rugby you’ve played in the past?
Coming as a school boy, whatever level you play, there is a massive step up in physicality and aggression which you soon adapt to.

Are you planning on continuing with your rugby after Oxford?
I want to keep my options open, but I have the opportunity to keep playing good rugby and developing as a player.

Do you play any college rugby?
I love playing for college; it’s a hugely intimate team atmosphere. You definitely get a real buzz every time you pull on the jersey. Losing Cuppers final was probably the worst feeling I’ve had on a rugby field.

Do you have any problems balancing your OURFC commitments with your degree?
I often have times when I’m rushing from a tute to the game and don’t get to prepare as well as I should, or when you miss lectures for a game in Wales or something, but I think everyone needs a focus outside their academics otherwise you would go mad.

Does your status as a Blues player get you noticed in Oxford?
I guess so, but to be honest I’m a bit of a space cadet so I wouldn’t know.

Which current famous rugby players would you compare yourself to?
Stirling Mortlock is a bit of a hero, but I wouldn’t begin to compare myself to him.

Are there any current Blues players worth watching out for?
There are a lot of guys coming through, which is exciting to watch, Chris Davies is probably the best fresher forward this club has seen for years, I just hope he doesn’t get sidetracked by all his lady friends.

Who has the best banter on the Blues team?
Nobody springs to mind but Bertie ‘The Banter Vacuum’ Payne…well the name speaks for itself really.

‘We didn’t betray Prince Harry. Honest…’

Joshua Freedman
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‘We didn’t betray Prince Harry. Honest…’

In their edition of February 20, the German women’s magazine Frau im Spiegel speculated that Prince Harry might be in Iraq on service without the public knowing.

It took till this Tuesday for the issue to be picked up by Germany’s mass-circulation daily tabloid, Bild, the most sold newspaper in Europe. Frau im Spiegel, according to Bild, had quoted a “palace insider” who claimed that it was “entirely possible that he’s on service in Iraq or Afghanistan”. Bild went on:

There has been no official statement on it. Or: they’re not allowed to give one.

Standard tabloid conventions here. However, Bild will usually keep to another tabloid convention: bragging about getting there first (I know, I know, I’m guilty too).

Not this time, it seems. Four days after bringing the story to a wider audience — even if it took two days for the rest of the world to follow — Bild have removed the story from their website.

I’ve checked whether they always remove old stories from the site, and they don’t — a Google News search shows that content from several days back seems still to be there.

Thankfully, I saved the page as a PDF when I first saw it. The Bild page and the Frau im Spiegel contents page are pictured.

Are they embarrassed to admit that they put Prince Harry’s life in danger by reporting it – and want the attention to be deferred to the US site that first confirmed the story?

Whatever the motive, it’s strange behaviour from a paper that doesn’t usually go in for holding back.

Same newspaper, different source of embarrassment

It’s Bild-bashing week this week. The populist tabloid’s latest campaign against Wikipedia for being an “unreliable” source of information is laughable and gets me looking in the dictionary for the German for “pots” and “kettles”. BILDBlog, a blog exposing Bild’s recklessness, cleverly points out that portraits of Daniel Day-Lewis und Tilda Swinton from Wednesday’s paper were almost identical to their entries on — you guessed it — Wikipedia. Red faces all round.

Left out

A few important points were edited out my piece in Friday’s Cherwell on the German Left and the significance of its rise, 40 years on from 1968. My claim that

It’s perhaps no wonder that Die Linke [today’s communist party in Germany], despite its electoral success, is finding it difficult getting accepted by the political establishment

needs to be preceded by the following facts about the 1968 conference happening this May, which substantiate my (otherwise unsubstantiated) point that the German Left are “doing little grappling” with their terrorist past. This paragraph was edited out:

Yet the contents of the May conference suggest that nothing much has changed. One speaker at the event, Jutta Ditfurth, has written a sympathetic biography of Meinhof [one of the Baader-Meinhof activists] described by the weekly newsmagazine Der Spiegel as an attempt to rescue the terrorist’s reputation. Another planned speaker was a member of a different extreme-left organisation surveilled under the constitution protection law, Rote Hilfe (“Red Aid”), until she took up the national headship of the Young Socialists three months ago. Rote Hilfe is a group that supports political victims of the state — so long as they’re of a left-wing persuasion. Past beneficiaries of its support include former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal, convicted of killing a policeman in the US in 1981, as well as imprisoned members of the Baader-Meinhof Gang [the German left-wing terror group formed in the 60s].

In other words, the organisers of the conference are voluntarily associating themselves with active terrorist sympathisers. There was also a factual inaccuracy caused by the editing. Where it says

The Social Democrat Party would easily form a ruling majority if it accepted a coalition with the far-left party,

this is only actually the case in the federal state of Hesse. This has nothing to do with national government. This delicate fact was removed. I could list several other editions that destroyed the piece, but I won’t bore you more…

Bad form

Concern that Oxford is now the only university in the UK that requires an additional application form to the main UCAS caboodle would move anyone versed in German bureaucracy to hysterics. Think you have to do lots of paperwork? Well, to apply to study for just one year in Germany I had to provide:

* An online application form — very long, with my entire education and employment history

* The same form in (hand)writing, in triplicate — one copy for each university

* A letter from my college confirming my student status

* Officially approved and stamped photocopies of all my A-Level certificates. I had to do this twice because it wasn’t good enough the first time, for some reason.

I don’t think anyone in Britain should be complaining about having to fill in forms.

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Feral Beast will appear every Sunday

Protestors to sleep out on Cornmarket

Rob Pomfret
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Protestors to sleep out on Cornmarket

On Wednesday March 5th, more than 100 people will sleep out on Cornmarket to raise awareness of the government’s treatment of refused asylum seekers. Supporters of the ‘Still Human Still Here’ campaign, including Student Action of Refugees (STAR), Refugee Resource and Asylum Welcome, will sleep out in an act of solidarity with thousands of asylum seekers who are unable to return home safely to countries such as Zimbabwe, Iraq, Somalia and the Sudan, having been denied asylum.

The event has won widespread support with Oxford City Councillor David Williams and Evan Harris MP having pledged to attend. Oxford students, the Church of St Mary Magdalen and local refugee charities and community organizations have offered their support. The Lord Mayor of Oxford has also backed the event.

Councillor David Williams declared, “I shall be sleeping out to show support for the campaign for justice and better treatment for failed Asylum seekers because the present situation is a violation of their human rights. Many are forced to return to countries where they will be mistreated and may even be tortured. Others are denied food shelter and help by the UK government yet are not allowed to work to support themselves. I also believe that the present system has a racial bias as it would seem you are far more likely to be deported if you have a dark skin.”

The Reverend Dr Peter Groves of the Church of St Mary Magdalen, another supporter of the sleep out, said, “We as a church are delighted to be supporting the sleep-out in Oxford. It is fantastic to see community groups and students coming together to raise people’s awareness of the way in which refused asylum seekers are forced to live destitute on the streets and campaigning for a change.”

Jenny Allsop, a Wadham student and head of Oxford STAR group, expressed her delight at the level of support. “The campaign aims to raise awareness of the plight of tens of thousands of refused asylum seekers who are being forced into destitution in an attempt to force them out of the country. Many refused asylum seekers cannot go home because their countries are unsafe or unstable and they fear for their lives, because of uncooperative governments who refuse to recognize their documents, because of health and safety issues… Yet the current number of people living in this state of limbo is estimated at around 280,000,” she said. “I am hopeful that the sleep out will help dispel a lot of myths about asylum seekers and make people realise and act upon the fact that human rights abuses are happening right here, on our streets, as a result of government policy which is executed in our name.”

Two reports from Amnesty International and Refugee Action in November 2006 accused the Government of employing destitution as a deliberate tactic in an effort to drive refused asylum-seekers out of the country.

According to a ‘Still Human Still Here’ press release, asylum seekers are “unable to return home, refused support and prevented from taking work to provide for themselves, they are forced to sleep rough and survive on the charity of others.” The campaign also calls on the Government to grant permission to work until such a time as refused asylum seekers are able to leave the UK or have been granted leave to remain. Access to health care and education should also be provided.

Matt Holman, Director of local charity Asylum Welcome, said:

“We need a more enlightened policy that would see refused asylum-seekers who cannot be returned home provided with support and allowed to contribute to British society. We are sleeping out here in Oxford to show our support for the Still Human Still Here campaign in order to change Government policy and we are encouraging as many people as possible to join us.”

by Rob Pomfret


Check Cherwell24 next week for exclusive video coverage of the event

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