Dundee-born astronomer with a lunar crater named in her honour

Marlyn Glen, is highlighting in this, the International Year of Astronomy ,the work of a Dundee-born astronomer who has a crater on the Moon named in honour of her work.

Ms. Glen is tabling a motion asking the Scottish Parliament to acclaim the work of Williamina Fleming, in the late 19th. and early 20th . century in the classification of stars.

Ms. Glen said,

" Williamina Fleming’s work has carried her to where no Dundonian has gone before - from pupil-teacher to the far side of the Moon.

" The prestigious recognition of having a lunar crater named in her honour acknowledges her exceptional achievements. "

Ms. Glen is tabling a motion in the Scottish Parliament in honour of her work which reads:
This Parliament celebrates in this, the International Year of Astronomy, the outstanding contribution made to the study of astronomy by Williamina Fleming, born in Dundee in 1857; notes her remarkable work in cataloguing over 10,000 stars, discovering 59 gaseous nebulae, over 310 variable stars, 10 novae; and notes with great pleasure that she shares the distinction of having the Fleming crater on the Moon named jointly after Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of penicillin, and herself.
Ms. Glen added that she planned to highlight the work of other astronomers from Dundee during this International Year of Astronomy.

View larger image of Marlyn Glen with Williamina Fleming


Williamina Fleming's Wikipedia entry

Single rooms in all new hospitals : "No guarantee of new cash," says MSP

Marlyn Glen said today that she had received " no guarantee" from Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon that NHS Tayside would receive new additional money specifically for carrying out the SNP Government’s policy of providing single rooms in all new-build and in mostly refurbished hospitals.

In reply to a letter from Ms. Glen, Ms. Sturgeon said :

"All NHS Boards receive an annual allocation of funds.

"It is for each NHS Health Board to determine how best to utilise these funds to meet the needs of resident population, taking account of national and local priorities."

New hospitals are to have solely single rooms , and refurbished wards at least 50 per cent single beds.

Ms. Glen written to Ms. Sturgeon on the increased cost of the effect in the changes of design, the implications for increases in staffing costs, and the effect this would have on the budgets of health boards such as NHS Tayside.


Ms. Glen said,

"While the Minister admits to increases in costs, there is no corresponding commitment to increases in funding from the SNP Government to pay for them.

" The provision of single rooms in hospital will assist in helping to control the spread of infection.

" They are part of a larger prevention and control regime for tackling Healthcare Acquired Infection."

The DEC video that the BBC won't screen

Single click on the video below to view it

Poverty Pledge

Marlyn and Labour North of Scotland MSP colleague, Richard Baker, signed the Poverty Pledge in the Scottish Parliament (link to photographs )

The Pledge is part of the Get Fair Scotland campaign and reads :

The Poverty Pledge

GET FAIR Scotland 2009

As the leaders of the political parties represented in the Scottish Parliament and other elected representatives in Scotland:

We hold that the current number of people in Scotland living in poverty, 950,000 or nearly 1 in 5 of the population, is wholly unacceptable.
We believe that the reduction of poverty must be a shared key objective of Governments in London and Edinburgh.
We recognise that the current economic crisis threatens to push more Scots into poverty and acknowledge that Government responses must include specific measures to protect those most at risk.

We endorse the aims of GET FAIR and believe that an increase in income adequacy will be an essential part of the package of measures necessary to achieve a major reduction in poverty.

We undertake to use, or support the use of, all policy powers available to the Governments of Scotland and the UK to meet poverty reduction targets.

We reaffirm our commitment to end child poverty by 2020 and to end Fuel Poverty for all households by 2016.

Humanitarian crisis in Gaza : donate through the DEC

You can donate to the appeal by the Disasters Emergency Committee ( http://www.dec.org.uk/ )


through this link : http://www.dec.org.uk/donate_now







The terrible situation in Gaza is described at :

http://www.dec.org.uk/item/200

and at Oxfam's Gaza blog :

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/applications/blogs/pressoffice/?tag=gazablog



Online photographic collections of living conditions can be viewed at :

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/oxfam_in_action/emergencies/gaza_gallery.html


and on the DEC collection on Flickr :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/disastersemergencycommittee/sets/72157612866135964/

The www.White House

Barack Obama entered the White House this week, having already stated that he would be using using online communication to govern in the same way as he used it to win the US Presidential election. ( single click on the video below to view it )

The online network of supporters that he built up during the campaign remains intact .

His election campaign produced over 1,100 videos which had a combined total number of viewings of 52 million.

Here's a few that caught the eye :
30-minute video/TV ad American stories (single click on the video below to view it)

A fun one, magnificent electronic trickery as John McCain’s Republican convention is interrupted by the appearance of Obama on the back screen dancing to Rick Astley’s 1980s "Never Gonna Give You Up" (single click on the video below to watch it)







So well organised were the Obama campaign that in remote rural areas they had supporters who went out to canvass for Obama on horseback. (single click on the video below to watch it)



It’s no exaggeration to say that his use of the Internet and online communication has changed the face of American election campaigning .

It’s no exaggeration to say that it’ll be coming here sooner rather than later.

Jim Murphy's visit to Dundee

Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy's blog records his visit to Dundee yesterday ( Friday).

As ever, he's an enthusiastic spokesperson for the city's skills and expertise :

http://www.scotlandoffice.gov.uk/secretary-of-state-blog/?p=116