United States of America
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So what’s new? Israel’s Nationality Law
Israel’s parliament (Knesset) has this July passed its Nationality Law by sixty two votes to fifty five. In brief, it enshrines, and in effect crows about, Israel’s status as an apartheid state. The law confirms that ‘Israel is the historic homeland of the Jewish people and they have an exclusive right to national self-determination in… Continue reading
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Israel: Apartheid State?
This is the second blog that departs from my usual patch and addresses a subject that needs to be kept in the public eye. This is my very minor contribution to aiding that purpose. I speak of the Palestine/Israel situation. Postings on this topic will continue to form part of my blog, though I recognise… Continue reading
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There is a link, I promise: Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and play
I accept that at first blush it might seem odd to link words such as play, children, teenagers, risk-taking to the international trade talks currently being conducted between the European Union and the United States of America. But there is a link, and it is potentially a threatening one. The talks, known as the Transatlantic… Continue reading
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Discordant harmony
From a simple humanitarian perspective, it’s easy to be outraged at some countries’ response to the current refugee crisis. The UK’s response is, I think, simply shameful. And, once again, from a straightforwardly humanitarian view, Hungary’s response is both cruel and brutal. These sentiments are easy to feel, and as easy to express. But from… Continue reading
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ASTM and Surfacing Standards – back again, so organise
As you will see from Tim Gill’s blog – Playground Safety: Troubling New Move From ASTM – and the quote below, there appears to be a renewed attempt to amend ASTM surfacing standards, albeit in what looks like a surreptitious way. ‘Overall, the proposal appears to focus on how surfacing is safety-tested once it has… Continue reading
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Observations on Impact Attenuation Criteria for Playground Surfaces by Professor David Ball
I reprint in full an important and helpful paper by David Ball, Professor of Risk Management at the Centre for Decision Analysis and Risk Management. The paper, ‘Observations on Impact Attenuation Criteria for Playground Surfaces, discusses some of the questions and tensions that inevitably arise whenever risk management decisions need to be made. The paper… Continue reading
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ASTM surfacing proposal – opposition mounting
In this brief post I can do no better than direct your attention to the joint open letter to the ASTM committee by the Chair of the UK Play Safety Forum, Robin Sutcliffe and Tim Gill. It makes cogent and informed points that underscore the reasonableness of those urging ASTM to defer passing its current… Continue reading
About Me
My name is Bernard Spiegal, I write mainly about Palestine/Israel and related issues; sometimes other stuff too
Bernard Spiegal 