Financial Times Stock Exchange will go down if Cameron and Clegg can't come to an agreement

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Brown called his senior aides to No 10 as he battled to cling on to power amid growing calls for him to resign. The pound and the FTSE (Financial Times Stock Exchange) both face a bloodbath tomorrow if the Lib Dems and the Tories cannot come to an agreement.

Democracy

Source: guardian.co.uk
Ian Burumaguardian.co.uk

BSTAs people across the world rally against elites, our elected politicians must show strong leadership to regain respectElites are under siege in every corner of the world. Tea party activists in exurban America rant and rage against the so-called liberal elites of New York, Washington and Hollywood. In Europe, populist demagogues, such as Geert Wilders in the Netherlands, rant and rage against the elitist "appeasers" of Islam. In Thailand, red-shirted demonstrators from the country's rural northeast rant and rage against the military, social, and political elites of Bangkok.The first principle of democracy is that government must be based on popular consent, even if the government is made up of parties for which many people did not vote. It is clear from the worldwide rage against elected governments that this consent is becoming dangerously threadbare. More and more people in democratic countries feel unrepresented, anxious, and angry. And they blame the elites.The phenomenon is worldwide, but its causes differ from country to country. American populism is not the same as Thai populism. Culture and race play important roles in the United States – the culture of carrying guns, for example, and the discomfort at having a black, Harvard-educated president who talks like a law professor.In Thailand, the rage stems from the perceived neglect of the rural poor by the ruling class, backed by big business, the army and the king. The populist billionaire and former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, appeared to be different. He used some of his vast wealth to shower money on rural areas. Rural people, grateful for his largesse, voted for him twice.Authoritarian, crude, and somewhat megalomaniacal (almost as though he were a king himself), Thaksin was a Thai version of Silvio Berlusconi. He was removed from office in 2006, following a bloodless military coup that was supported by the Bangkok middle class, whose members took to the streets in yellow T-shirts (the colour of the Thai monarchy). Today's ongoing pro-Thaksin red-shirt rebellion is a form of revenge.In Europe, the power of the European Union, often-uncontrolled immigration, and economic globalisation are challenging feelings of national belonging, of being represented by national governments, or of sharing national cultures. Demagogues who denounce multiculturalism and warn of the "Islamisation" of the west are exploiting the resultant fears about the loss of national identity.The sense that globalisation is creating new classes of haves and have-nots is a factor that inflames most current forms of populism, regardless of national differences. At the same time, new technology, without which globalisation would not be possible, is being used to mobilise people for populist causes, too.
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The Guardian | David Cameron faces Tory party anger

http://m.guardian.co.uk/ms/p/gmg/op/sSNZ3Uj4ttUTe3RtcOrYA_w/view.m?id=426699&tid=120787&cat=Most_Read
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Dermaroller: Am I Beauty Masochist?

Can the Dermaroller make you look younger? | Mail Online

Alarm bells started to ring when Dr Sach Mohan extolled the virtues of his extra-strong anaesthetic cream - four times as powerful as any other.

I had been persuaded to book in for a Genuine Dermaroller treatment by an enthusiastic friend who was singing the praises of this peculiar device and was sufficiently intrigued to give it a whirl.

I say 'peculiar' because the Dermaroller looks like a miniature medieval instrument of torture.
No Pain, no gain: The spikes of the Dermaroller are designed to pierce holes in the skin to stimulate repair

No Pain, no gain: The spikes of the Dermaroller are designed to pierce holes in the skin to stimulate repair

About 2in across, it has a barrel covered in ultra-fine 'microneedles', spikes designed to pierce holes in the skin, a bit like aerating the lawn.

And why would you want to even contemplate this? Because, say aficionados, Dermaroller therapy stimulates the skin to repair itself (well, duh, it's got to, hasn't it?) and can significantly improve the appearance of acne scars, ageing and sun-damaged skin, wrinkles and stretch marks.

The worse your skin is, the greater the results. It is an attractive thought.

Dermarollers work by producing thousands of microscopic needle holes in the dermis, which prompts the skin to produce new collagen and elastin and generate new cells.

They have been used in the States for a while, but they have been a strictly minority interest; now, they're moving in over here.

Once my face was nicely numb, Dr Mohan began working the roller quickly across my face, back and forth, back and forth. I hardly felt it.
Alice Hart-Davis

Not an instant fix: Alice Hart-Davis saw an improvement in her skin - eventually

'I thought you just did six passes?' I asked. 'Six in each direction,' he replied. That meant rolling a Union Jack pattern on my cheeks and forehead, with extra on my nose to help with the large pores.

That was a bit sore and, of course, lots of those tiny puncture marks bled. Yikes!

Once I was cleaned up, I wobbled home on my bike. The breeze was cooling. My son, aged ten, looked at me with concern.

'Is that cosmetic surgery?' he asked. No, I reassured him, just something to make me look younger and lovelier.

'But it looks really sore. And anyway, what's the point, you're nearly 50,' he concluded, turning his back, so I couldn't kiss him goodnight. Grr.

For a couple of days, my skin looked sunburn-red. I cancelled all my appointments and treated it with great care, slathering on moisturiser as the traumatised skin became hard and dry.

Covering it up with make-up was tricky, since it gathered in drifts on the drier bits.

The next week, it softened. I could still see traces of the needled roller-tracks but no difference in my skin and felt cross at having been gulled into the treatment .

The Dermaroller is certainly some-thing that divides opinion in the skincare world.


Leading facialist Sarah Chapman, who has built her reputation on being a whizz with the most effective gadgets, has been using the Dermaroller for two years.

'It is excellent for tired skin, skin that is losing its smoothness and plumpness or becoming slack around the mouth and jaw,' she says.

'I see most effect on lower face, although it makes the whole area look smoother and much fresher, as the skin takes on a new vitality and looks brighter as well as firmer.'

But it's no instant fix, she warns. 'I always do at least three sessions, six weeks apart and have found results are noticeable only after the second session.'
Skin deep
The UK market for skin make-up and haircare for black and Asian women is worth £65million, 2per cent of the £3.7billion beauty industry


Other skin specialists throw up their hands in dismay at the thought of the treatment, pointing out that it needs to be carefully done, by an expert, and there is a fair risk of infection from all those puncture marks if you're not careful.

I went on grumbling, then something strange happened. It was slow, subtle and I hadn't really noticed until I began to get compliments about my skin from other beauty writers - who have eyes like lasers that don't miss a thing.

I was then forced to acknowledge that, yes, my skin was looking much improved. A bit fresher, a bit livelier, maybe even a bit tighter. It had to be the Dermaroller.

Now, I've been obliged to eat my words and admit I'm impressed enough to book another treatment. But this time I'll clear my diary for a couple of days afterwards.

Press freedom still lags in Middle East

| Khaled Diab | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Three Jordanian journalists were imprisoned for "defaming" the prophet in an article on Muhammad's sex life (an example how press freedom is abused in Middle East)

A new survey on press freedom conducted by the Amman-based Centre for Defending the Freedom of Journalists (CDFJ) makes for sober reading. Despite Jordan's stated commitment to freedom of expression, only a minuscule minority (2%) of the 500 or so journalists surveyed said that they were entirely satisfied with the state of press freedom in the kingdom.

"Over and over again, speeches on media freedom have not been coupled with practical procedures in spite of all the clear royal messages addressing this issue," said Nidal Mansour, who heads the CDFJ.

A fifth of those surveyed said they had been exposed to attempts to "contain" them. Co-option is also a common practice and one that can be far more effective than intimidation. The vast majority of journalists believed that journalistic favours in return for gifts and bribes were common.

In addition, some 95% of media professionals said that they practised self-censorship. Topics that are generally off-limits centre on a kind of "holy trinity": the king and the royal household, religion, and state institutions, including corruption in high places.

A couple of years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Mansour in Amman where he told me about the CDFJ's Media Legal Aid Unit (Melad) which seeks to empower journalists and facilitate press freedom by providing media professionals with training on their rights and legal support.

And it is definitely needed. Despite the decriminalisation of press offences on paper in 2007, an estimated 100 clauses in national law allow legal action to be taken against journalists. An example of this occurred in 2003 when three Jordanian journalists were imprisoned for "defaming" the prophet in an article on Muhammad's sex life.

Jordan is ranked 117 out of 175 countries in Reporters Sans Frontières' annual Press Freedom Index (PFI), while neighbouring Egypt occupies the 143rd position in the league table. As a non-Jordanian, I don't know if this is a fair reflection of the situation there. I agree with my wife's assessment that the quality of journalism is high in Jordan, but certain key differences between Jordan and Egypt lead me to the conclusion that its media is actually more vibrant and outspoken.

What warps the picture in Egypt, as I have argued before, is the existence of large, state-owned media conglomerates (whose publications have become less popular than the independents), and the more frequent crackdowns by the state – triggered by a nervous government under immense popular pressure to change and the media's incessant drive to push the limits of freedom further out. In addition, Egypt's media tradition and modernising civil society movements are the oldest in the region.

"In Egypt, it might seem there is more control of the media. But, in fact, there is more independent journalism in Egypt, so more issues are discussed and come to the public eye," was Mansour's own assessment.

In contrast, Jordan's media appears to be a lot less confrontational, and more willing to wait for top-down reform from King Abdullah II. This is partly because of the reverence in which the royal household is held, with its claims of descent from the Prophet, and the fact that the Hashemites are inextricably linked with Jordan's creation and identity.

In Egypt, the awe and fear of the president were shattered a few years ago, at least in the independent media, and Egyptians are generally under no illusions as to the extent of the corruption and violence of the regime.

Moreover, Jordan, unlike Egypt, is, under its modern veneer, very much a tribal society and one in which the indigenous tribes now make up a minority of the population, with an estimated 70% of the population being of Palestinian descent. This makes its hard-won social tranquillity, particularly with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict leaking toxicity next door, a fragile one – and so many Jordanians are willing to compromise on a measure of freedom in return for stability.

But what goes for Jordan and Egypt, both of which have a strong journalistic tradition and are striving for reform, applies in spades to the entire region. "Stop press" seems to be the byword of governments. With the exception of Lebanon and the Qatar-based al-Jazeera network, which is often said to shy away from criticism of its host, the media across the Arab world suffers, to varying degrees, from repression.

So, why is press freedom so seriously compromised in the Arab world? There are different reasons in different countries, but one common thread is the general lack of legitimacy and accountability of the region's regimes who, therefore, view the free circulation of ideas as a fatally dangerous folly.

Another reason is the volatility of the region and the numerous conflicts that plague it, the ethnic and regional fault lines which increase tensions, not to mention the legacy of Ottoman and western colonialism, as well as foreign meddling.

The Middle East's instability is not just a reason but also an excuse. Governments use the shadow of external threats – both real and imagined – to try to intimidate and silence opposition and resist policies and reforms that run contrary to their vested interests.

This is not just an Arab phenomenon, however, and the Middle East's non-Arab countries also summon the spectre of irresistible and sinister outside forces. Iran, whose regime faces a serious challenge to its legitimacy from a vibrant opposition movement, not only occupies the lowest rank of the Middle Eastern PFI league, it is also scraping the bottom of the global barrel. The regime in Tehran evokes frightening demons in the form of the United States and Israel to keep its population in check.

Iran itself, not to mention the Palestinians, Syrians and the generic scary "Arab" are summoned by Israeli politicians as the phantom threat that keeps dissenters in check. Although the freedom and independence of Israel's media puts the rest of the region to shame, even Israel does not fare well by global standards, and comes in at only 93 in the PFI.

True press freedom in the Middle East cannot occur in a vacuum. In addition to wide-ranging political reform, the region needs to overcome its endemic culture of paranoia and distrust.