Dear <Name>

I’m writing to share my concerns over the ongoing secret negotiations surrounding the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), and to urge you to stand against this opaque process.

The European Commission, the US, and eleven other countries (including several involved in systematic censorship at home the UAE, Singapore, and South Korea), have been negotiating the ACTA in secret for over two years. The proposed ACTA will be a global plurilateral agreement aiming to establish international standards over the counterfeiting of goods, generic medicines and online copyright infringement.

It is, of course, important that intellectual property is protected, and that those who research and develop products are able to make an appropriate return on their investments. However, I am extremely concerned that the ACTA, as proposed in recently released draft text, will threaten important, hard-won freedom of expression, stifle competition and access to generic medicines so important for poorer people and nations, and introduce overly harsh punishments for those who fall under its remit.

I am especially worried by the nature of the negotiations, which have become well advanced in secret, and cannot be subject to the proper scrutiny of the many, many people this agreement will impact if it comes in to force. I strongly believe the process needs to be much more open, and to be negotiated under one of the existing international bodies – such as the UN or WTO, rather than creating yet another international framework. It’s also key that the positions of individual countries are known, so that European citizens know what their governments are doing in their names. This is especially important when the ACTA proposes to allow law enforcement agencies to force Internet Service Providers to disclose personal usage data without a warrant, in direct violation of the UDHR Article 11. The proposed agreement would also provide for a 3-strikes clause for internet access disconnection, despite the fact that internet connections are usually shared, are near crucial for education in the modern world, and the fact that internet access is considered by many a fundamental human right.

I urge you to sign Written Declaration 12/2010 tabled by Françoise Castex, Zuzana Roithová, Alexander Alvaro, Stavros Lambrinidis which calls for greater transparency of the ACTA process.

Among other things Written Declaration 12/2010
- calls on the European Commission to immediately release all ACTA related documents
- states that ACTA should not limit judicial due process or weaken fundamental rights and data protection
- emphasises that Internet Service Providers should not be liable for the data they transmit
- states that the access to generic medicines should not be impeded

In March MEPs overwhelmingly approved a common resolution opposing the ACTA negotiations process. By signing Written Declaration 12/2010 you ensure that the call for transparency remains a top priority and put pressure on the European Commission to bring up the issue at the next ACTA round in Switzerland.

Thanks very much.

Yours, Josh Heald

If you’re anything like me, you’ll agree that this sort of thing transcends party boundaries, and requires the people to say no, as one, to any abuse of the power that we have entrusted to our governments. If you agree, the ORG’s tool makes it nice and easy to make your views clear to your MEPs. I encourage you to make the time to read about the issues and write an email of your own, but if you can’t, sending the form letters is better than nothing.

First and foremost, I’m worried about how close the Tories are to an overall majority. I know they won’t get it alone now, not unless the next 42 seats are ridiculous, and that is some comfort, but they still don’t deserve it and their views, principles and policies still don’t even come close to matching the views of the majority in the country. I also have a strange pervasive dread of hearing the words “Prime Minister David Cameron”, and I don’t think it’ll wear any better with time.

I’m very pleased for Caroline Lucas of the Greens taking their first ever seat, despite the fact that it meant a Labour loss. On the flip side, I’m gutted for the Lib Dems, who deserved to do a great deal better – I was expecting somewhere in the region of 100-125 seats, and for far more of them to be taken from the Tories, neither of which seemed to happen.

Like almost everyone, as far as I can see, I’m pleased and relieved that Nick Griffin and his Nazi ilk didn’t win a single seat, though it’s really quite depressing that there are over half a million racist morons who voted for them nationwide… and that under PR, which I am still all in favour of (preferably via STV, including RON in the absence of a perfect system), they would probably have won more than one seat – a real worry, though obviously still no reason to continue propping up FPTP

Naturally I’ll be keeping a close eye on everything with great interest…

I’m off to start my new job in Rotherham – I’ve been appointed, finished the grad scheme with M&S, and now I’ve got a proper accountability rather than being extra support as I have been through my training. It’s been pretty tough to get to this point, with some difficulties that started almost a year ago, and there have been several times where I’ve just wanted to pack it in – personally, getting here is a big achievement, and so is doing it with the jobs market the way it has been. Jennie, Mum and Dad, my Grandparents and friends have all helped me do it, one way or another at different times in the year, and I can’t tell you all how grateful I am… thanks!

This time last year (specifically, about 22 hours ago last year) I was in Birmingham’s jewellers quarter, having just bought a diamond ring for Jennie, with Kieran’s expert advice. It took me almost a month to get the courage up and figure out how to ask her the question of our lifetime, which I finally did on the 1st of February, up Arthur’s Seat, in Edinburgh (and yeah, I got good marks for the location ).

This year we’ll be getting married (after much deliberation over the date) in mid-August up here in the North East. I really can’t wait, and I’m hoping that our time apart, while I’m in Rotherham and Jennie finishes her NQT year up here in Darlington, will fly by and not drag on too much. She’s very worth waiting for, though, even if it does!

Winding back slightly to January, I went over to Dubai with Dad, Mum and Felix, just as they were starting out on the strange experience of living out there with Dad’s work. The setting that time wasn’t too glamourous, in some of the oldest accommodation in Dubai, some serviced apartments near the World Trade Centre, but there was a nice pool and it was good and central. I think all the rain of the year, more or less, fell while I was there, but my next visit had better weather.

In July, Jennie finished her PGCE, having done very well in it, and she promptly (though after a bit of head and heartache) got herself a job with a 1 year contract in a Darlington primary school, to start in September. She did really well – it’s no mean feat given the small number of primary vacancies up here and low turnover, and she’s setting herself up well for 2010 with the experience.

The graduation of the year was Dominie’s, another gorgeous sunny affair on Palace Green, with copious amounts of Pimm’s and the usual dose of academic pageantry. This January will see Jennie’s second of (a probable) 3 Durham graduations, but I think it might be a bit colder than the other two I’ve been to!

August brought another (for me, Jennie’s first) great week in France with the gang – Brittany this time. There were quite a few more trips out in the local area this year, which was good, and the weather held pretty well, which was a worry with not being as far south as in other years… though Ben might not agree, who got the very worst of what was our worst journey there yet… and it wasn’t entirely his own fault, either . We’ll not be going on another France trip this year, for obvious reasons, but I’m looking forward to the holidays resuming maybe next year (Italy 2011, anyone?)

September was the inevitable end of summer and start of term for Jennie – she got a little flat, nice and close to her school, to try and make the notoriously difficult first year of teaching that little bit easier without the commuting. After a false start in Darlington before the France holiday, I started working over in the Middlesbrough store, with what was to be my last placement before getting appointed at the end of the year. Things were pretty quiet with us for a few months, with Jennie outrageously busy at work and me gearing up for the big Chrimbo push, but I managed to slide in starting to sail at a sailing club in Northumberland – I’ll have to find a new one in Rotherham, which is a shame, but it was a lot of fun and something I’ll be keeping up with this year.

In late September, Beckie died, obviously completely without warning. I didn’t know what to write about it then, and I still don’t now. I’ll miss her badly, as will each of us. I don’t often have a day when I don’t think of her now, which I feel quite sad about, because I didn’t always make the effort to stay in touch before it happened.

In November I took a second trip to Dubai, and saw Mum, Dad, Felix and Dom all settled in to their lovely (and enormous) house out there. I basically had 10 days of escaping the British winter, swimming and sunbathing, catching up with family, and big time being on relax. When I came back, Jennie had planned a mini-break to York for the following weekend, where we did the usual mini-break activities like painting china and stuff like that… why, what do you do on mini breaks?

December’s always a busy month, and I just about found time to fit in Christmas shopping around work, and preparing for the (very welcome) familial invasion at Christmas, which has just finished, and was full of food, presents and fun. And then, it was Now.

The end of a busy year, and this one’s starting just as busily, with moving to Rotherham, househunting, wedding planning, and all sorts of other things to do, I don’t think we’ll be at a loose end much…

We had a great weekend, all things considered – Jennie found herself a new flat and signed the lease on Saturday morning (no need to panic – we’ve decided to live apart before the wedding, which is still very much on, etc etc.) I had a nice lie in while she was off in Darlington getting that done. When she got back (and I got a healthy dose of eggs and bacon down the hatch) we tootled off to the local sailing club‘s open day; we went up to the club about a month ago to have a look around, and found out about the open day and a potential special offer on membership. It looked absolutely fantastic then, and did again on Saturday, and I was convinced to join, and sign up for an RYA level 1 dinghy sailing course, as a birthday present from mum and dad, and in the diary for the 10th and 17th of October. It seemed a really friendly and active club, so I’m going to be going up there quite a bit – the aim is to crew for someone who knows what they’re doing for a while before I buy a boat of my own… maybe a Topper or a Laser, but who knows?

Sunday was Jennie’s mum’s birthday, so we spent the day over there – all good fun. Before we left Langley Park, though, we were racking our brains for ideas of what to do on the Bank Holiday Monday; we wanted to go away, but we’re feeling a bit poor right now. We were just writing off the youth hostel idea when Jennie(!) suggested camping… after her previous suspicion and unenthusiastic feelings for it (especially after I bought a new tent in July), I jumped right on that, so we chucked everything we needed (and far more besides that) in the back of her car. A brief successful shopping trip later, we had a new roll mat, some pillows, a folding chair and a nice stove (all end of season bargains) and were ready to rough it on Sunday night. We booked in to a little campsite between York and Harrowgate “just off the A59″ – and it meant it, we had about 6 metres and a hedge between us and the road, which wasn’t great – no sleep for me, but Jennie was out like a light. That combined with putting up a tent in the rain, and there wasn’t a single moan from her (though possibly one or two from me!)

All in all, a successful first camping trip, getting rid of the dread that Girlguiding camps instilled – we were planning the next trip over breakfast!

We rounded it all off with a couple of hours at Fountains Abbey, probably our favourite National Trust site up here – taking photos, flying mini kites, and napping on the lawn: very pheasant! We’re rounding the whole thing off tonight with some celebratory end-of-holidays steak for tea, red wine, and possibly a silly film.

The recent elections made me completely furious… I’m sure many many other people felt the same. Yes, it was a washout for Labour, which is always bad, but what made my blood boil was the BNP winning two seats in the European Parliament, largely because so few people could be bothered to take a two minute walk to their polling station and cross a box. Yes, there’s more to it than that, and a big chunk of the blame lies at the feet of scorn worthy ex-ministers for resigning in the days leading up to polling day, and the ongoing expenses scandal.

At the end of the day though, every single British, European or Commonwealth adult citizen in this country is responsible for casting their own vote. I’m disgusted that as someone who actually used their vote last week, I’m in a minority of just over a third of the electorate- UK turnout was only 34.48%.

I think the expenses scandal has been ridiculous, just like pretty much everyone. The next time I hear a politician whine “but it was within the rules…” I think I might scream. Yes, the rules were wrong, but I would hope the politicians I support and help return to Westminster would be bright enough to realise that without a month-long Telegraph exposé. We don’t want representatives who work systems to their own advantage as much as possible because it’s in the rules, we want MPs who are upstanding, responsible role models to society – they should have integrity, and at least try to be grounded in the real world.

Expenses are a necessary part of a fair political system, including second home allowances, and the Telegraph didn’t half ham up some of the claims, with their tendency to hone in on small parts of large claims, present them in isolation, and then say “what a scoundrel, couldn’t he even buy his own new toilet seat”. I don’t subscribe to an MPs halls of residence (I mean really, just think of the security risk for half a second) but MPs should know to be reasonable in their claims.

As for all this talk of Labour leadership elections, I’m glad the PLP got a grip. It was incredible to see a few self-serving members and even ministers try to ride the media’s storm to oust Brown, as if the expenses scandal were his fault, when the fascists are being returned to Brussels due to voter apathy. It’s a time for pulling together, ideally of all the moderate parties, to say no to the extremism in our midst, not for parties to be splitting down the middle.

All in all, a pretty awful week for UK and EU politics. I’m looking forward to seeing some improvements over the coming months.

The picture at the top was what I sent to Hope not Hate‘s anti-BNP campaign. It’s a petition which says NOT IN MY NAME. The petition will be handed into the European Parliament on the day that BNP leader Nick Griffin takes his seat. Sign the petition – let’s show the rest of the EU what we think of the racist BNP.

I had a mountain bike while I was at uni, but when I finished and we had no bike rack, I just left it in the bike sheds and gave my sister the key, since she was intending to use it… but she never did. I assumed it was gone, but last week I went down to check for sure – and it was still there! In a complete state, maybe, but intact and unmolested, which was fantastic.

I spent some satisfying mornings (I’ve started working late nights, so I’m not at work until 2) last week doing it up – and it’s nearly finished. The plan is to have another boys camping/cycling trip in the Peak District at some point after Easter – we’ve already got a car camping trip planned for Easter weekend booked in, which will be ace.

I started by cleaning it all down with hot water and a microfibre cloth, as well as a special bike cleaning brush/tool, which was great for getting in to nooks and crannies around the drivechain. It hadn’t even seen a drop of lubricant for the best part of 3 years, so after thoroughly cleaning all of that, I oiled it up really really well with a teflon based oil.

I changed the brake cables for new ones, resurfaced my brake pads, re aligned the brakes, and eventually got everything back together. I took off the stickers for the ninja look, and took it for a pretty successful test ride.

If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s gripshift gear changers… so I’ve bought some trigger style ones to replace them, new grips, a suspended seatpost for a little comfort, and a few other things. Once all that arrives, I should be good to go on a few longer trips, which will be fantastic… great to have a bike again. If you’ve got a free weekend, get it out of the shed, give it a clean up and take a bit of a ride

Christmas was all new… for a start there was the work, which was busy in a strange way – the work peaked in the last three days, after being quite quiet up to then, but when it came it was more than we ever expected. It seemed to take even the guys who’ve been around for years by surprise, which was interesting. I really enjoyed it when it picked up, anyway, which is a good sign.

I spent Christmas itself (I had 4 days off!) at Jennie’s house with her and her mum – a much smaller (in people if not pressies) affair than I’m used too, but it was really good fun… I was given lots of lovely things that have all been used, which is the real test of a good present.

We had second Christmas at K&L’s, then a New Years Eve party up here at mine – was great to see everyone, as it always is.

After a few days back at work at the start of Jan, I was off on holiday to Dubai, to see Mum, Dad and Felix and help them settle in over there… it’s a really interesting and quite strange place – I had a great visit, though it did rain a fair bit more than you’d expect in the desert! I’ll probably go back out in October, which will be good especially to see them settled in their new house.

And my main big news, which most of you lot know anyway, is that Jennie and I got engaged! I proposed up Arthur’s seat in Edinburgh on the 1st of February, and we’re looking at Christmas 2010 for the wedding (which can’t come round soon enough!) – absolutely fantastic news, and I’m thrilled that she said yes.  We’re starting to get embroiled in the crazy world of wedding planning, but we’ll be having an engagement party in mid-April to celebrate with everyone… hopefully we won’t be all jaded by the hassle of planning by then!

I’ve had a nice few days off since Sunday – back at work tomorrow, so not a full week off, sadly.

That’s all for now folks, I don’t really want to write a great long post about things you all know anyway!

We went around the gardens for a bit, after sneakily blagging our way in free by Felix getting his photo taken by someone from The Journal, proudly holding a lantern he made… all very interesting and modern and creative – it’s not often a garden like that even vaguely interests me, even with my NT membership! Except maybe if it contains picnic baskets…

They’re off to Dubai in the New Year, to be with my Dad who moved out there a week or two ago… that’s just how a recession effects industries linked to construction, unfortunately, so he’s had to go where the work is. It was good to see them for probably the last time before Dom graduates next summer, and I think they had good fun too.

We went to Barter Books, a great big second hand bookshop/Aladdin’s cave/British Library in the old (massively oversized) railway station. It’s the kind of place that you could spend a week in, as well as a month’s salary, quite easily. Jen’s quite jealous, so we’ll have to go back sometime… I was sorely tempted by lots of old OS maps they had, but restrained myself.

Felix has become ridiculously good at the Diabolo since I last saw him (when he was struggling to even catch it from a flick in the air – not that I can do that either!) He’s made up couple of very intricate tricks of his own… it seems like a much better playground fad than Pogs ever were!

So, here ends my last weekend off before Christmas… almost. Tis St. Andrews Day today, and even though it’s not quite Burns’ Night, Jennie and I will be celebrating with Haggis, Neaps and Tatties, and maybe some Scotch “gravy” too .

Only if she finishes her essay though *cracks whip*

Hope you’re all well and have good weeks.

I’m ridiculously proud to say that I can sort-of, accurately-ish, play the bass line to Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes. Go me! I know it’s ridiculously easy (clearly a song made for n00bs), but even though I’ve owned the guitar for about 6 years, I’m very proud of that *sets himself up for a mocking*

Anywho, enough of that. Last weekend was my housewarming party… only small (7 of us) but it was fantastic – it was nice to be able to be able to have a proper sit down meal with every one (mm, yummy lamb), even if a couple of us were sitting on speakers due to lack of chairs… thank you to everyone who came, it was fabulous to see you all, and my house is feeling metaphorically, if not actually, warm.

Yesterday, we made good use of our matching National Trust memberships (only £21 if you’re under 26, join up, live the dream!) to visit Housesteads Fort on Hadrian’s Wall… it was very cold, though there wasn’t any snow left, which was probably a good thing. I’d never been to the wall before, it was surprising how much was still there really. I still found it  a little difficult to imagine how big it would have been, because it doesn’t look that much more imposing than the surrounding dry stone walls, but the museum bit gave lots of information that made it pretty clear that it was a formidable structure after all – as much because of the defensive ditches and peaks on either side of the wall as of the stone structure itself. Go and see it if you get the chance – Rome’s solution to the ungovernable people!

We had a 20% off day at work recently – while these are common in some retailers, M&S doesn’t usually go in for store-wide discounting as much as the competition. The last time we had a “Spectacular Day” was four years ago, so the store was absolutely rammed with people – mostly on GM, but the deal extended to wine too which meant foods was very busy as well – to the point where ten people filling the section all day couldn’t keep it full (the maximum we could get away with without crowding out customers!) It meant a very long shift for me and the other managers, but I did enjoy it. That was my first real taste of retail at Peak, so it’s a good sign.

A number of others from my intake of grads have recently left the business, where I’m really just beginning to enjoy it properly. I think a lot of that is because I’m happier being up here, and because my competitive nature is kicking in a bit more… I’m not sure how much I need to reign it in, but I’m getting good reviews at the moment, which is nice

I watched the government’s PBR this afternoon. All very interesting, and delivered masterfully by Mr. Darling. I think Osborne came on much too strongly, especially as the Tories don’t have any suggestions for what to do, but we’ll see how the media portrays their debate in the morning.

In terms of the policy, it’s a shame that VAT is effectively being kept on fuel, although with prices dropping anyway I suppose it’s not a big problem. I like the 15% VAT policy generally, especially the speed of implementation, but I’m disappointed that the changes won’t go further in reforming the tax system overall.

That said, without winning a general election with reforms as a manifesto, we probably shouldn’t go for a wholesale overhaul of taxation, however badly it is needed. I do think, though, that the reform of taxation after 2010 is the way to pay for the immediate tax cuts: a 50-60% rate for those earning over £100k, implementing a local income tax to replace the ridiculous council tax, and a freeze or cut of the 20% standard rate. I’m not sure whether the current 40% higher rate should change, but I’m inclined to think that any movement either way should be very modest.

That’s enough for now, I think.

Things have been ticking on nicely – I’ve moved in to my house and have gradually been making is housey… it’s been an expensive month. I’ve just got a sofa left to buy, which I’m going to try to do at the start of next week. I got a futon sofa-bed thing from Ikea yesterday, which is fine for the time being, but is more of a spare room sofa, and works better as a bed than a sofa. The thrills.

Work’s going well – they’re very keen to throw responsibility at me early, which suits me just fine – not getting it quickly was one of the frustrations I had before I moved. Christmas looks like it’ll be mental, but that’s a good thing really.

Delilah’s been in the wars this month – burst a tyre yesterday, she’s in getting mended as I type… just what I needed on an expensive month like this one

So, very speedy entry, hope you’re all well, and please please come to my housewarming – I miss all of you! It’s on the 15th of November at my house, all the details are on Facebook.