I attended the World Social Forum in Mumbai in January 2004. It became clear to me during the five days of the WSF that there is a common theme underlying many of concerns and campaigns that make up the anti-globalisation movement. There is anxiety that globalisation entails the rolling back of the boundaries of the state, to the benefit of business; and that businesses now enjoy political power which is too great. The critiques of privatisation, public private partnerships, liberalisation, intellectual property and patents and trade liberalisation all have at their heart a sense of disquiet that the balance of… Read More »Another World is Possible: Thoughts from the World Social Forum

After ten days, the stitches are beginning to dissolve, and the incisisions seem to be healing well. However, there is still some inflammation in the groin area, on either side of the base of my penis, and at in the scrotum at about the point where my vas deferens was cut. The inflammation in the groin is also putting some pressure on my digestive system, which is making me feel a little ill. I've started swimming, and have had absolutely no problems with that at all; and today I went to the gym and did some light upper body weights.… Read More »Update on the snip

3 days later, I still feel as if someone has gripped my balls and given them a hard twist. I am not in pain exactly – more of a dull ache, really. As a result, I feel a little nauseus. I think it is getting better, but more slowly than I would like. The actual incisions are healing nicely, and there is now hardly any swelling or bruising around the two sites of the operation. And there is some irritation where the pubic hairs that were shaved are growing back.

Today I had a vasectomy. I realise that this is relatively unusual for a man of only 36 with no children. But I have absolutely no doubt, and nor does my partner, that we do not want to have children, so I regard the risk of wanting to reverse it as, effectively, zero. Why? My partner is taking the contraceptive pill. Long term use of the pill increases the risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer by around 50%, which is a significantly increased risk. Taking large doses of hormone every day simply cannot be good for you. Vasectomy, by… Read More »I had a vasectomy today

The Reverend Joanne Jepson has been given permission to seek a judicial review of the decision by West Mercia Police not to prosecute a woman who had an abortion of a foetus that would have been born with a cleft palate. The current abortion law in England is the 1967 Abortion Act, as amended in 1990 by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act. A woman can have an abortion up to 24 weeks in pregnancy provided two doctors agree to her decision. In the period from 24 weeks until birth, a woman can have an abortion only if two doctors… Read More »Abortion: why the 24 week rule is absurd

Thirteen million people died last year of curable diseases. Of these, three million children died from diseases that are preventable with currently available vaccines (see GAVI). This is 35,000 people every day – seven times as many deaths each day as died in the attack on the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001. The term “intellectual property rights” is (deliberately) misleading. As I explain in a longer article about intellectual property, intellectual property rights are not a natural property right like other property rights (eg for land) which improve the functioning of the market by moving it towards a… Read More »The myth of intellectual property rights