Archive for 2006
7th June 2006
Gwneud y chwedlau’n fyw
Newydd ddychwelyd o Seoul ar ymweliad i ganfod y rhesymau dros llwyddinat ysgubol diwydiannau cyfynge newydd yn Ne Korea. Mae’r wlad i weld yn mynd trwy ail don o adfywhau. Mi oedd y cynta yn dilyn rhyfel cartre y 50au a’r olion dal i weld mewn prifddinas sydd ar wahan i ambell i deml bron i gyd wedi ei ail-adeiladu yn ei sgil. Mi gafwyd llwyddiant aruthrol wedyn trwy’r cwmniau teuluol enfawr y chaebol – Samsung, Hyundai, Daewoo, LG ac ati – gyda chefnogaeth gref gan y wladwriaeth ganol nad oedd yn ddemocrataidd tan 1997.
Ond dyma flwyddyn hefyd y chwalfa economaidd a chwestiynu yr hen drefn gyda phennaethiaid dau o’r cwmnie mawr bellach yn y carchar o herwydd llwgrwobrwyo.
Y triawd newydd ‘na o ddiwylliant, technoleg ac entrepreneuriaeth sydd yn gyrru tyfiant y Korea. Technoleg o du Samsung sydd wedi llwyddo i oddiweddyd Sony bellach fel arweinydd marchnad ym maes electroneg a chydgyfeiraint ffonau mudol, cyfrifiduron a theledu. Diwylliant trwy’r “don Koreaidd” sydd yn llifo trwy Asia gyda phoblogwrydd K-pop (sef cerddoriaeth poblogaidd boy-bands Seoul), ffilm Koreaidd ac yn arbennig gemau cyfrifiadurol (mwy am hyn isod). O ran entrpreneuriaeth, mae’r llywodraeth yn ceisio creu’r hinsawdd – o ran amodau byw (mwy o lefydd gwyrdd) a threthi (dim treth incwmn o gwbl a 5 mlyneddd i ymchwilwyr) o fewn eu Digital Media City hynod argraffiadol mewn datblyiad newydd ar hen safle gwastraff ar gyrion y ddinas.
Tybed a oes ‘na wersi fan hyn i’r Gymru ol-ddiwydiannol sydd ei hunan wedi colli swyddi yn eiddo i gwmnie’r don gynta o Koreaid (cofier LG?).
Ar ymweliad i gwmni Nexon, un o brif ddatblygwyr gemau cyfrifiadurol rhyngweithiol MMORG (massively multi-player on-line role-playing games os oes rhaid i chwi wybod) dyma fi’n cael tipyn o sioc i weld mai gem o’r enw Mabinogi, ie wedi ei seilio ar ein chwedlau ni, ydy un o’i brif weithiau gyda 2 filiwn o chwareuwyr yn Korea yn unig a mwy fyth yn Tseina, Taiwan a Japan. Un o brif drefi’r gem ydy Bangor – ac yn wahanaol iawn i wneuthurwyr eraill, does dim trais yn cael ei ganiatau yn y gem o gwbl.
Pan ofynnais i pam y Mabinogi fe ddwedodd y cwmni o herwydd nad oedd hawlfraint arno fe. A beth yw’r wers: beth am i ni ddechrau magu’r math o hyder ym mhotensial ein diwylliant ni yn y byd cymhleth, newydd, syfrdanol o amrywiol hwn a chwmni hanner ffordd dros y byd sydd erioed wedi bod ‘ma?
15th May 2006
The Revolution Comes To Parliament
Just met Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela, in the Churchill Room (of all places) of the House of Commons. Chavez spoke passionately, personally and without notes about the ideas behind the Bolivarian revolution which has turned Latin America to a beacon of hope for the poor and downtrodden worldwide.
I was there as an honorary “Labour” Friend of Venezuela – some Tories who slunk in, presumably to enquire after their investments, were unceremoniously ejected – and Hywel Francis MP even took my picture with the man himself.
In Chavez, Morales and the Latine American Left we hear echoes of our own radical tradition of social justice and national liberation as two sides of the same coin of popular empowerment. In Chavez’s speech, there was that acute sense of history that comes from belonging to a nation, oppressed and dispossessed, and the high political price that national liberators – Bolivar, Sucre, Miranda – often paid in the cause of freedom. In the failed coup a few years ago, he almost did the same.
We should not forget those hundred of Welsh volunteers that died on Bolivar’s side in the Battle of Carabobo, just outside Caracas in 1821.
Thankfully, not a single drop of Welsh blood is needed now to liberate our nation from poverty, disadvantage and disease. All we need to give is our time, our creativity, our passion and our dreams.
Hasta la revolucion galesa.
4th May 2006
Y ni a nwy
Ynni yw cyrrensi grym yr oes sydd o honi.
Nol ym mis Ionawr ces i’r ateb isod gan Malcolm Wicks yn esbonio na fydd hawl gan gwmni’r National Grid i brynu tir yn orfodol gogyfer eu piben LNG o Felindre i Tirley nes iddyn nhw cael caniatad cynllunio. Syndod felly oedd gorfod delio yn ddiweddar gyda achos etholwr oedd wedi derbyn llythyr cyfreithiol gan y cwmni yn bygwyth cyfarwyddeb prynu gorfodol. Mae’r cwmni wedi gorfod camu nol nawr o’r tacetegau bwlian yma ar ol pwynto mas iddyn y sefyllfa cyfreithiol.
Ar raddfa fwy, mae’n pery gofid i ddarllen am ddiddordeb Gazprom, y cwmni ynni gwladoledig enfawr o Rwsia Ymerodrol, mewn cymeryd Centrica, rhiant gwmni British Gas, drosodd. Dyma’r cwmni sydd wedi bygwth Belarus dros yr wythnose diwetha’ gyda threblu eu prisiau nwy os na chawn nhw rhagor o gonsesiynau gan y Belarwsiaid. Y llynedd gofynon nhw am berchnogaeth o ran Belarws o’r biben o Yamal i Ewrop a chwpl o “booster stations” ar hyd y ffordd tebyg i’r un yn Felindre. Y Cymry, yn amlwg, ydy Belarwsiaid y cyn-Deyrnas Gyfunol.
Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which alternative routes were explored before the 1km corridor for the liquid gas pipeline proposed by the National Grid from Felindre to Tirley was chosen; on what basis these alternative routes were not chosen; what consultation there has been between National Grid, Carmarthen county council and the general public on the pipeline; and whether a compulsory purchase order will be granted for the land owned by those who refuse to accept the terms offered by the National Grid. [43171]
Malcolm Wicks: National Grid have not applied for consent to lay a pipeline from Filindre to Tirley. If and when they do then an explanation of the alternative routes considered, the reasons for the preferred route and justification for the discounting of others will have to be given. Any such application will be advertised and an opportunity given for representations to be made to the Secretary of State.
In view of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State’s quasi-judicial responsibilities for confirming compulsory purchase orders, I cannot give an indication as to whether or not such an order would be confirmed.
26th April 2006
Return of the People’s Bank
An excellent report on financial exclusion by the Welsh Consumer Council from November last year showed that an incredible one in seven people in Wales don’t even have a bank account and more than half don’t save regularly. The problem is much deeper in Wales than the rest of the UK with our historically higher levels of deprivation.
In its policy recommendation the report concentrates on improving financial literacy – and we all could certainly benefit from a little more of that. But it’s often not so much a question of people excluding themselves through ignorance but more a case of the financial instituions failing to target the needs of low-income individuals in their marketing strategies and product design.
The needs of the financially excluded are fairly clear according to earlier research by the “Joseph Rowntree Foundation”:http://tinyurl.com/gq233
“For day-to-day money management they required a simple account which would allow them to retain tight control over their money. It should offer basic money transfer facilities, including a facility for spreading the cost of bills. It would offer no credit facilities but have a ‘buffer zone’ to allow flexibility. Ideally, it should also be designed so that access is not dependent on credit scoring.”
There may just be a solution on hand from the early decades of the last century: the municipal bank. First created in Birmingham in 1916 and popularised by the Independent Labour Party and the Co-operative Movement as a means of promoting financial independence among the working class, there are six municipal banks currently in existence, though none currently in Wales. But we do have the power to create them under the Banking Act 1987. A municipal bank is essentially a savings bank linked to a local authority which allows you to make deposits, pay bills etc – but without credit facilities, though these can be provided by an associated credit union.
Perhaps it’s time to dust down those early socialist banners and build the people’s bank in council estates up and down Wales.
19th April 2006
Cwm Elan a Chyngor Birmingham
Er mwyn balans, ac ar ol eu beirniadu y diwrnod o’r blaen am eu misdimanars, rhaid nodi bod cwmni Severn Trent wedi cytuno i gyfrannu at Amgueddfa Traftadaeth Cwm Elan. Gwaetha’r modd nid yw Cynghorwyr Birmingham – y ddinas a orfodododd y trigolion lleol allan o’u cartefi – yn teimlo yr un mor edifar a’u tebyg yn Lerpwl yn achos ymddiheuriad Tryweryn. Gellwch darllen y stori yma http://tinyurl.com/jnj32 .
Mae yna rhyw fath o foesoldeb yn y ffaith mai Tori ydy’r Cyng. Mike Whitby sydd wedi achosi’r holl stwr, yn aelod o’r un plaid fa phensaer y boddi, yr arch-imperialydd Joe Chamberlain (a ddechreuodd ei ddyddie yn radical Rhyddfrydol, rhyw fath o Guto Bebb Seisnig y ganrif cyn ddiwethaf?).
Mentra i bod pobl Rhaeadr ychydig bach yn flin am yr holl peth. Efe dyma pam mae na gymal ym Mesur Llywodraeth Cymru yn rhoi’r hawl i’r Ysgrifennydd Gwladol ymyrryd i amddifyn y cyflenwad dwr i Loegr. Ofni i’r werin datws cael llond bola o’r hen wrth-Gymreictod haerllug a gwenwyno’r cwbl liw nos? Bydd angen mwy na chwpl o gannoedd cyn i’r briw yma gwella.