The JIGG web site design, designed by Polaris Digital, has been praised by the government and higher education advisory panel as, “Excellent. Clear and concise layout with a good use of colour”.
Polaris Digital are currently developing the new information governance portal with The Univeristy of Manchester and Liverpool John Moores University as part of a JISC funded project. A full working prototype of the portal will be released for public testing in late September 2006.
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31.Jul.06 
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Since fighting broke out between Hezbollah and Israel over two weeks ago, the Western propaganda machine has been very busy making Hezbollah look like extremist terrorists. But this is far from the truth. To be fair, the UK press, at least some of it, has been very objective with the reporting, The Independent and Guardian producing balanced and properly informed analysis of the crisis. BBC News has also been objective for the most part, but this is where reality stops. If you even for a second look at the US news networks, you instantly see how distorted the news can be. The war for the Middle East is being fought on the ground and in the media.
Due to Israel’s relentless bombing in recent days, they have finally killed enough innocent civilians to make the international community sit up and say, “now hang on a minute, we’re not sure about this!”. Most of the world was already singing this tune, but if the US wasn’t singing along, nothing was going to happen. But the mood changed after the Qana bombing, killing about 60 civilians, forcing Tony Blair to break the ranks with America and condem Israel’s behavior.
But there are several facts in this war that seem to be overlooked by the public. The first and most important fact is that Hezbollah are not extremist terrorists. Israel and the US both class them as such, mainly so they can bomb the hell out of them without gaining international consent. Europe, including the UK, class Hezbollah as a militant organisation, not a terrorist organisation. Afterall, this is a true Army with soldiers and reserves. Hezbollah run communities, provide health care and education and are strongly admired by the Lebonese community who benefit from their presence. Does that sound like a terrorist organisation to you?
It is true that Hezbollah are funded heavily by Syria and Iran, but then who are we to condem that fact when Israel is funded by the US and UK at a scale many times larger. The reason that Israel and the US have a big problem with Hezbollah is because they are fighting to return Israel to it’s rightful owners, the Palestinians. It has become even more obvious recently of how much Israel know they are totally unfounded in their actions.
One former Israeli defence minister when speaking on BBC News about the four killed UN observers nervously said, “what were they doing there, they were unarmed peace observers. There was no peace to observe, so why didn’t the UN pull them out. They had no business being there! [nervous laugh]“. It was the nervous laugh at the end which gave the game away, almost as though that statement had almost convinced a little part of himself they Israel where actually justified in their actions of killing four innocent UN observers.
Whatever the world thinks or says in the coming weeks, please remember the facts. It is true that Hezbollah are firing Katusha rockets at Israel and these rockets kill innocent civilians. This in itself is completely deplorable. But the Katusha rocket technology does not allow for pin-point accuracy when targeting. Israel has state of the art laser-guided weaponry, bombs that in theory should prevent any unnecessary loss of life, yet they use these laser-guided bombs to target civilians and the UN. Israel has bombed civilian houses, vehicles, ambulances, airports, roads, bridges and bomb shelters in the past two weeks. Because the infrastructure has been destroyed, the civilians in the south that Israel claim are warned to leave can’t because there are no roads. If they do try and leave, Israel attack them as they move, even if escorted by the UN. So what choice do they have but to stay and hope they don’t get bombed. This is utterly disgusting and should be considered a crime against humanity. Maybe sometime in the future the current Israeli government will find themselves in the Hague charged with grievous war crimes. It would be nice to think so, but I doubt it.
As this conflict continues, I will continue to watch with disbelief and try to dispell some of the rediculous statements coming from Israel and its supporters.
31.Jul.06 Uncategorized Comments (0)
The 1997 General Election victory for Labour is probably going to be the only good thing they are going to be remembered for if the current mood of the British public persists. I remember being particularly happy to see the back of nearly 20 years of Tory rule, twelve under Margret Thatcher. But in recent weeks I am becoming more and more angry with our current government, particularly with Tony Blair.
It is completely unbelievable that the Prime Minister will completely ignore the mood of his electorate on a matter such as the current Middle East crisis. As an ICM poll showed this week, almost 70% of the British Public feel that Tony Blair should have criticised Israel for its totally unproportional response to the capturing of two of their soldiers by Hezbollah.
It certainly seems that the United States are going to happily let Israel commit the war crimes it has sustained for the past 17 days of conflict, so it is up to the rest of the world to do something. I would have thought that the killing of four UN soldiers this week would have provoked a response, but for the most part Israel have not been publically criticised. It is as though the world has got into a state of depression and every country believes there is nothing they can do - and they’re probably right.
But returning to Tony Blair for a moment. This is it for his credibility. If it wasn’t for removing the student grant system, introducing student loans leading to millions of indebted students, not renationalising the railways, leaking Dr. David Kelly’s name to the press, going to war illegally in Iraq, continual relaxed attitude to corruption in his ‘whiter than white’ party and rediculous relationship with a complete idiot (George W. Bush), then I would almost let his silence go. But the fact is that Tony, you are a disgrace to the Labour party. You have systematically sold them out to almost everything your predecessors fought long and hard for.
What Tony Blair has forgotten is that although he is prime minister, he has a boss who he will eventually have to answer to. That boss is us, the British public. We put Tony in power and we have the power to take it away again and it is moments like this that we remember most. Everyone that talks about the Middle East crisis is very quick to condem Israel, despite the actions of Hezbollah. Yet Tony strides on as though we are all behind him. At the same time it is becoming increasingly obvious how quiet Gordon Brown is currently, keeping off the news completely other than the news of a new boy. Maybe he is quietly getting ready to take control, or letting Tony finish himself off the way only Tony knows how. Either way, I hope at Septembers Labour Conference here in Manchester, Tony Blair announces his resignation and for his sake leaves the country.
If that happens, then maybe we can finally have Gordon Brown, who will want to make a good first impression, standing up to the idiotic leaders of the two most aggressive and dangerous countries on the planet, namely the United States and Israel.
27.Jul.06 Uncategorized Comments (0)
Today marks the first anniversary of Siân and I moving to Manchester. After several weekends scouting various flats in and around Castlefield, Hulme and the City Centre, we eventually decided to rent in The Green Building just off Oxford Road.
The Green Building won our hearts because of its environmental credentials and the unique experience of living in a cylindrical building very near the centre of Manchester.
In March 2006 we took the plunge and brought a property within the building, which became the new home of Polaris Digital from May.
Needless to say, our first year in Manchester has been eventful. But our new friends are treating us very well and we certainly are enjoying the not so traditional Manchester summer this year.
18.Jul.06 Uncategorized Comments (0)
Today we watch the Middle-East fall back into a state of war as Israel opens up the conflict on a second front by bombing Beirut International Airport in Lebanon. Israel are using the capture of two of their soldiers as justification for this action. Currently all the global community is doing is sitting back and watching. Although, today the UN finally decided to hold an emergency meeting. (more…)
14.Jul.06 Uncategorized Comments (2)
The last two years have seen a lot of change in my personal life. I successfully completed University, was nominated for a RTS award, lost a member of our family, gained a wonderful companion, moved to Sheffield, won a RTS award, moved to Manchester, left my former employer and then started my own business. If someone told me the above two years ago, I wouldn’t have believed them for a second. (more…)
12.Jul.06 Uncategorized Comments (0)
Today the government pledged £520m to Greater Manchester Public Transport Executive (GMPTE) allowing them to begin contractor bidding for the Phase III(a) extension to the tram network.
The extensions will enable the current network to be extended in three new directions to Rochdale, Droysden and Chorley. The Droysden line will extend the route through the current Piccadilly terminus out towards the East of Manchester, making that current stub line more relevant. (more…)
06.Jul.06 Uncategorized Comments (0)
Polaris Digital will be closing our doors on the following dates in the 3rd and 4th quarter of 2006. We will process all client e-mail and telephone queries when we return.
- Thursday 24th August 2006, 18:00 - Monday 4th September, 09:00
- Friday 22nd December 2006, 13:00 - Wednesday 3rd January 2007, 09:00
If you have any enqueries please don’t hesitate to contact us the usual way.
05.Jul.06 Uncategorized Comments (0)
11 - 14 August 2006
This year, a special year, we are going mark my 25th Birthday and our first year in Manchester with a group trip to Amsterdam over a long weekend, flying out in the evening on Friday 11th August.
We currently have a party of five, but we welcome more to come and join us in the cultural centre of Holland. Pictured right is The Dolphins coffee shop, which was a major stopping place last time I was there. Hopefully the atmosphere will be as chilled as last time.
If anyone else out there is interested in coming along, you can email me on my usual address, or reply to this post. If you’re not near Manchester, then head out under your own steam and we’ll meet you there. I promise to post lots of pictures and other tit-bits upon our return.
03.Jul.06 Uncategorized Comments (0)
After a wonderful week of blazing sunshine and an oven-like weekend, what better way to end Sunday afternoon than with a tropical storm. I have seen plenty of summer storms in my time, but this one was like nothing I have ever experienced in the UK. At 15:00 we could clearly see a huge storm cloud approaching us from the south west, flickering every few seconds from the internal discharges. (more…)
02.Jul.06 Uncategorized Comments (0)
