As Paddy was saying only yesterday: "The author Michael Morpurgo, the former Childrens' Laureate, is in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories for the first time in his life. It's a journey inspired by his latest book, "The Kites are Flying", which is set there."
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Hugh sends these words and photos: "to illustrate the mood of relative optimism that he's found in parts of Israel and the West Bank":
Late afternoon on the road up through the mountainous Judea desert from Allenby Bridge to Jerusalem
Peace, quiet and security in a west Jerusalem park.
Arabic Shisha pipes on sale in west Jerusalem
An interval drink for musicians at an oud concert in east Jerusalem
An east Jerusalem garden, bursting with autumn flowers
Horse made of driftwood, flea market area, Tel Aviv. For sale: 21,000 Shekels. About £4,000
Animals not made of driftwood, flea market area
But the occupation continues. An Israeli military outpost in the centre of a West Bank town, Beit Jala near Bethlehem. But very relaxed, even here
The latest in a series of weekly protests against evictions of Palestinians from homes in Sheikh Jarrah in east Jerusalem, to make way for Jews
Arabs and Jews protesting side by side
Born in New York, 'made aliyah' fifty years ago
Calm, good natured protest. Women have been arrested at previous protests - and detained for a day or two, but not charged
Mostly Jewish musicians rallying the crowd
Solidarity. And writing on the wall
Sales of fresh fruit juice soar at the protest
Protest carrier bag
Sunset on the promenade at Tel Aviv
"She roleplays abused women and children and rape victims to train the police, prison officers and NHS staff. It's an exacting job and she gives of herself without stint."
Writes listener Jane Hamilton about her daughter Catherine (above) who she nominated for the iPM New Year's Honour award.
Catherine was either going to be a nurse or an actor, then she discovered roleplaying which she describe as the job she was 'meant to do'.
Eddie spoke to Catherine on iPM this week.
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You can find out more about what Catherine does .
If YOU would like to nominate someone for an iPM New Year's Honour, email ipm [at] bbc.co.uk putting Honour in the subject line.
The closing date for entries is 13 December, details on how to enter and the terms and conditions here.
As I speak, the PM editor is going through the happiness emails we got - more than 1300 of them - to work out the average.
We'll reveal the number tonight.
In the meantime, Alexander Chancellor has been mulling over the subject in today's .
Here is his interview in tonight's .
This is some of the fuss it's causing, as reported by Ö÷²¥´óÐã News.
"Hi
Got my upshares cd yesterday, put it on and the kids (2 & 6) went bonkers! They love it. Acid house is their favourite so far followed by the Dr Who one (no.57)
You could've warned us about the stylophone though - ow! (Yes we did have it up loud).
Thanks to everyone involved for this great cd (must go now as my 2yr old has started eating the shopping)
Catherine Hammond
nr Petersfield, Hants"
Our thanks to everyone who's sent a cheque but is still waiting...we've received hundreds more requests this week alone, and we already had a backlog. PM staff have spent their lunch hour stuffing envelopes, so another 1700 CDs are being sent out tonight. More will arrive in our office next week and we'll send them out as soon as possible.
Thank you for your donations and for your patience.
We're still doing our sums and will keep you updated on our total - probably on tomorrow's programme.
Our Honour is not connected to this place in any way
Is there someone in your life who deserves being made a fuss of? You could give them a bunch of flowers OR you could nominate them for an iPM New Year's Honour. Sadly, our honour doesn't involve a visit to this palace...but we do devote airtime not only to the winner but many of the nominees.
There are no special rules about who qualifies or what kind of person it needs to be, it's up to you. Email ipm [@] bbc.co.uk or write to iPM New Year's Honours, Room G601, Ö÷²¥´óÐã TV Centre, London W12 7RJ.
The closing date for entries is Monday December the 13th, you can read the terms and conditions here.
Is there someone in your life who deserves being made a fuss of? You could give them a bunch of flowers OR you could nominate them for an iPM New Year's Honour.
There are no special rules about who qualifies or what kind of person it needs to be, it's up to you. Email ipm [@] bbc.co.uk or write to iPM New Year's Honours, Room G601, Ö÷²¥´óÐã TV Centre, London W12 7RJ.
The closing date for entries is Monday December the 13th, you can read the terms and conditions here.
A QC turned mediator who has been involved in over 200 mediation cases says that most of the disputes were resolved in a single day.
In the week the government announced major changes to the system of civil legal aid in England and Wales, we speak to John Sturrock QC on what mediation has to offer.
We also speak to Dr Lesley Newson who is worried that the cut in legal aid will mean cases like her divorce - that went to the high court and set a legal precedent - are no longer funded.
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Everything we do on iPM starts with a listener suggestion or idea. If there's something you'd like to hear in the programme, email ipm [@] bbc.co.uk
In November 2008, Nils Blythe began his nightly report on the world's economic woes. We asked listeners to suggest a name for it and David Cartwright came up with Upshares Downshares.
We began to play the original theme to Upstairs Downstairs by Sandy Faris, and listeners - without being asked - started to perform their own versions and send them in.
When the recession, and the nightly slot ended, in January several listeners suggested we sell a CD of everyone's hard work.
On October 18th, the CD went on sale. Last week we set ourselves a target of selling 5,000 CDs.
Tonight, I can tell you that we have sold more than 7,000 CDs and have raised at least £70,000 for Ö÷²¥´óÐã Children In Need - in part because people have sent extra money. And the cheques are still coming in
THANK YOU if you've ordered one. We are now working hard to clear the backlog.
NOT GOT YOUR CD YET?
Don't worry if you haven't yet ordered your CD. You still have time.
We will process all the orders we receive, even into next week. So please just post your order today and we'll take care of it.
Your cheque or postal order for 10 pounds should be made payable to Children in Need Appeal.
You should send it to "Upshares Downshares, Room G601, Ö÷²¥´óÐã TV Centre, London W12 7RJ".
Don't worry if you haven't yet ordered your CD. You still have time.
We will process all the orders we receive, even into next week. So please just post your order today and we'll take care of it.
Your cheque or postal order for 10 pounds should be made payable to Children in Need Appeal.
You should send it to "Upshares Downshares, Room G601, Ö÷²¥´óÐã TV Centre, London W12 7RJ".
YOU SENT A CHEQUE BUT HAVEN'T GOT YOUR CD YET?
Apologies for the delay. We ordered 1,000 CDs and quickly sold a lot more than that. We ordered more and sold out again. So more are on their way. We will post them as soon as we can. Thank you for your kind donation and your patience.
HAVE WE REACHED OUR TARGET?
Last week, we set ourselves a target of selling 5,000 CDs, raising at least £40,000 for Ö÷²¥´óÐã Children In Need. (At least five pounds from the sale of each CD goes to Children In Need - once we've done our sums we expect the charity proportion will be quite a bit higher than our minimum guarantee.)
In the programme that's on right now, we'll tell you whether we've made it.
Upshares Downshares CDs are arriving across the land and today we take delivery of more to send out.
Among the satisfied customers:
"Dear Eddie Mair, Just to say the disc is fantastic! We are really enjoying it and, meanwhile, are ordering two more. Thanks to all concerned for producing it & hope it makes a lot for the appeal. Ann Keith, Grantchester, Cambridge"
And what about this:
"Dear PM, Having listened to all 89 tracks on the wonderful Upshares Downshares CD, I was listening to PM (of course!) and the feature on nightlife in the French capital. Listen to the clip where "Cristophe" is talking. Am I going mad, or are Paris bus brakes now playing the "Upstairs Downstairs" theme tune?! Well done PM! Yours, Dr. Well Awesome"
We wondered what Dr Awesome was talking about, and went back to listen to last night's report. Here is the clip, and no we haven't altered the sound.
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In tonight's "Previously on PM" we'll have much more on mini-roundabouts, including the one above, which listener Jeremy Marchant pointed us towards on .
Don't worry if you haven't yet ordered your CD. You still have time.
We will process all the orders we receive, even into next week. So please just post your order today or tomorrow and we'll take care of it.
Your cheque or postal order for 10 pounds should be made payable to Children in Need Appeal.
You should send it to "Upshares Downshares, Room G601, Ö÷²¥´óÐã TV Centre, London W12 7RJ".
YOU SENT A CHEQUE BUT HAVEN'T GOT YOUR CD YET?
Apologies for the delay. We ordered 1,000 CDs and quickly sold a lot more than that. We ordered more and sold out again. So more are on their way. We will post them as soon as we can. Thank you for your kind donation and your patience.
HAVE WE REACHED OUR TARGET?
Last week, we set ourselves a target of selling 5,000 CDs, raising at least £40,000 for Ö÷²¥´óÐã Children In Need. (At least five pounds from the sale of each CD goes to Children In Need - once we've done our sums we expect the charity proportion will be quite a bit higher than our minimum guarantee.)
In PM tomorrow, we'll tell you whether we've made it.
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We're selling our Upshares Downshares CD - but only until Friday November 19th.
To get a Children In Need CD please send a cheque or postal order for ten pounds to "Upshares Downshares, Room G601, Ö÷²¥´óÐã TV Centre, London W12 7RJ". The cheque or postal order should be made out to Children In Need Appeal. And very important this, please don't forget to clearly include your own name and address so we can send you the CD.
To everyone who's already ordered and is still waiting - please accept our apologies - we have been inundated and are doing our best to clear the backlog. CDs have begun arriving.
At least five pounds from the sale of each CD will go to Children In Need. We will know exactly how much once all our orders are in, but already we know it's rather more than the minimum of five pounds that we guarantee.
You'll find more details of the CD itself below.
Read the rest of this entry
John Rossetti:
"Hello, a funny thing happened as I left the house this morning, my upshares downshares CD arrived. I grabbed my CD walkman (non of that new fangled technology here) and had the best 10 hours I've had in a long time, I listened to it all the way to work, at work, and all the way home too. reminded me of all the nice things that happened in the last year. However, I do urge caution when listening to it, the tracks are so vivid, by track 14 I wanted to marry the singer from wolverhampton. Again. and at track 21 a cyclist's front wheel fell off as they passed me, (he was fine by the way). I started to swing by track 39, but thats another story,, track 51 helped me catch a bus in Oxford Street, 54 as I walked thru soho, 57 got to covent Garden Police Station, lesft my wallet in a well known coffee shop by 70, got it back by quick detective work,so you can live all those sounds again. Thanks you PM and Radio 4 got to go track 89 coming up again, for the 8th time."
Today's mail - our biggest ever mailbag
Can you help us reach our target of FORTY THOUSAND POUNDS for Children in Need?
We're selling our Upshares Downshares CD - but only until Friday November 19th.
To get a Children In Need CD please send a cheque or postal order for ten pounds to "Upshares Downshares, Room G601, Ö÷²¥´óÐã TV Centre, London W12 7RJ". The cheque or postal order should be made out to Children In Need Appeal. And very important this, please don't forget to clearly include your own name and address so we can send you the CD.
To everyone who's already ordered and is still waiting - please accept our apologies - we have been inundated and are doing our best to clear the backlog. CDs have begun arriving. Chris emailed to say:
"I received my Upshares Downshares CD this weekend - rapture! Relentlessly & inventively entertaining & the inlay card smells lovely."
At least five pounds from the sale of each CD will go to Children In Need. We will know exactly how much once all our orders are in, but already we know it's rather more than the minimum of five pounds that we guarantee.
You'll find more details of the CD itself below.
Read the rest of this entry
Can you help us reach our target of FORTY THOUSAND POUNDS by this Friday?
We're selling our Upshares Downshares CD for Children In Need - but only until next Friday.
To get a CD please send a cheque or postal order for ten pounds to "Upshares Downshares, Room G601, Ö÷²¥´óÐã TV Centre, London W12 7RJ". The cheque or postal order should be made out to Children In Need Appeal. And very important this, please don't forget to clearly include your own name and address so we can send you the CD.
Thank you.
You'll find more details of the CD itself below.
Read the rest of this entry
The iPM New Year Honours is officially launched...drumroll please
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We'd like you to nominate someone who you think is rather special. There's no particular criteria for who can be put forward. We're looking for some of Britain's unsung heros.
Full details of how to enter and the terms and conditions are here.
Also on the programme this week, we heard talk about his experience of living in a squat as a young man. This is the photograph we discuss in the piece
Jim and Andrea in their long running squat in Guildford street, London. Photo: Nick Cobbing.
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If you've an idea for the programme, a sentence of news or an iPM New Year's Honour nomination, please email ipm [@] bbc.co.uk
Can you help us reach our target of FORTY THOUSAND POUNDS for Children in Need?
We're selling our Upshares Downshares CD - but only until next Friday.
To get a Children In Need CD please send a cheque or postal order for ten pounds to "Upshares Downshares, Room G601, Ö÷²¥´óÐã TV Centre, London W12 7RJ". The cheque or postal order should be made out to Children In Need Appeal. And very important this, please don't forget to clearly include your own name and address so we can send you the CD.
Thank you.
You'll find more details of the CD itself below.
Read the rest of this entry
More than 300 letters this morning
Can you help us reach our target of FORTY THOUSAND POUNDS for Children in Need? The listeners above have.
We're selling our Upshares Downshares CD - but only until next Friday.
To get a Children In Need CD please send a cheque or postal order for ten pounds to "Upshares Downshares, Room G601, Ö÷²¥´óÐã TV Centre, London W12 7RJ". The cheque or postal order should be made out to Children In Need Appeal. And very important this, please don't forget to clearly include your own name and address so we can send you the CD.
Thank you.
"Eddie,
Thank you so very much for the Upshares Downshares CD. It now takes pride of place in my CD collection and will remain so for a long time I think. A couple of points though:
All was going well up to track 6, and then track 7 (stylophone) started. This track appeared to be somewhat louder than the preceding ones and not to the liking of my cat who instantly jumped and fled at top speed out of the cat flap. It took a lot of coaxing to encourage him to come back in which he eventually did after I promised not to play that track again while he was in earshot!
Track 88 however more than made up for this. The banter was good, but the amazing musical talents of the two performers on this track made it outstanding and worth the £10 alone. A double act of the future I have no doubt!
Thanks again,
Rowley from Sheringham"
Hi Eddie,
We've already got 1 Upshares CD and after your renewed appeal this week with your self-imposed target, we're going to buy a 2nd to send to musician friends in Massachusetts.
We think we can suggest icing on the cake - you and Nils to appear on Children in Need next Friday handing over the Upshares donation.
Go on, you know you want to!
Best of luck with the target.
Chris
Monyash, Derbyshire
Can you help us reach our target of FORTY THOUSAND POUNDS for Children in Need?
We're selling our Upshares Downshares CD - but only until Friday November 19th.
To get a Children In Need CD please send a cheque or postal order for ten pounds to "Upshares Downshares, Room G601, Ö÷²¥´óÐã TV Centre, London W12 7RJ". The cheque or postal order should be made out to Children In Need Appeal. And very important this, please don't forget to clearly include your own name and address so we can send you the CD.
Thank you.
You'll find more details of the CD itself below.
Read the rest of this entry
Is there someone in your life worthy of an honour?
The great and the good will be rewarded in the Queen's New year Honours, well here at iPM we have our own award.
Our honour is about recognising the achievements of people who are not normally in the limelight. And we'd like you to nominate them.
Who do YOU know that deserves some recognition? Perhaps it's a member of your family, a neighbour or a colleague you work with? Is there someone who has done something extraordinary that you think should be rewarded?
There are no special rules about who qualifies or what kind of person it needs to be, it's up to you.
There's no prize, but we will make a fuss of the winner.
How to nominate someone
Please email iPM [@] bbc.co.uk, putting HONOUR in the subject line. You can also write to iPM New Year's Honours, Room G601, Ö÷²¥´óÐã TV Centre, London W12 7RJ. Please DON'T leave your nomination in the comments underneath.
The closing date for entries is Monday December the 13th.
Continue reading for the terms and conditions
Read the rest of this entry
In the past few minutes we've taken this box of cheques and cash - worth £18,980 to our colleagues at Children in Need.
If you're one of the people who's sent us money - our sincere thanks. To those listeners who've asked for only one CD but have sent 20, 50 or even 100 pounds - we're especially grateful.
If you've not yet sent us your cheque or postal order, send it soon please to "Upshares Downshares, Room G601, Ö÷²¥´óÐã TV Centre, London W12 7RJ". The cheque or postal order should be made out to Children In Need Appeal. And very important this, please don't forget to clearly include your own name and address so we can send you the CD.
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...and not only will you be able to hear what happened next...you'll be giving at least five pounds to Children in Need.
We're trying to raise £40,000 by next Friday. Will you help?
To get a Children In Need CD please send a cheque or postal order for ten pounds to "Upshares Downshares, Room G601, Ö÷²¥´óÐã TV Centre, London W12 7RJ". The cheque or postal order should be made out to Children In Need Appeal. And very important this, please don't forget to clearly include your own name and address so we can send you the CD.
We heard once again from Alan Power last night - head gardener at
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Afterwards we were sent this email by Cliff Forrest: "enjoyed your piece on the colours at Stourhead! I live further south on the coast, but was there 2 weeks ago and took the attached - autumn just starting to turn!"
To get a Children In Need CD please send a cheque or postal order for ten pounds to "Upshares Downshares, Room G601, Ö÷²¥´óÐã TV Centre, London W12 7RJ". The cheque or postal order should be made out to Children In Need Appeal. And very important this, please don't forget to clearly include your own name and address so we can send you the CD.
Thank you.
You'll find more details of the CD itself below.
Read the rest of this entry
After November 19th we won't be accepting orders for our coveted CD. It contains virtually every piece of the Upshares Downshares music sent in by our listeners and broadcast between May 2009 and January 2010. It also contains some bonus tracks, including an interview with the music's composer Sandy Faris and a number of previously unheard renditions. And each CD has a full track listing for all 89 tracks - a total of an hour and twenty minutes.
It's on sale only from us, only on CD and only, as I say until November the 19th. Each CD costs ten pounds including postage and packing. At least five pounds of this will go to Ö÷²¥´óÐã Children in Need. Five pounds is the guaranteed minimum - the more we sell, the greater the proportion of money will go to Children in Need, and of course we'll report back to you on how much money we raise.
HOW DO I GET ONE?
To get a CD send a cheque or postal order for ten pounds to "Upshares Downshares, Room G601, Ö÷²¥´óÐã TV Centre, London W12 7RJ". The cheque or postal order should be made out to Children In Need Appeal. And very important this, please don't forget to clearly include your own name and address so we can send you the CD.
Thanks to everyone for their patience. We ordered 1000 CDs and quickly sold out. We ordered a thousand more - those have now arrived...and it looks as if we'll have to order a thousand more on top of that. A huge batch is being sent out in the next few days.
Yours for ten pounds
froggers for my eye-opening gift. If I knew how to make this a larger font, I would.
Thank you.
On our programme, the Housing Minister Grant Shapps will be in live debate with Jim Paton from the .
Mr Shapps says the Advisory Service for Squatters acts as an estate agent for squatters, hosting an online forum where people can advertise properties available to invade, as well as rooms available in existing squats. Mr Shapps says he is challenging these forums to provide more balanced information and will consider whether extra powers are needed in addition to new government advice which you can read .
There is Ö÷²¥´óÐã News coverage here.
Today's post brought another 200 requests
After November 19th we won't be accepting orders for our coveted CD. It CD contains virtually every piece of the Upshares Downshares music sent in by our listeners and broadcast between May 2009 and January 2010. It also contains some bonus tracks, including an interview with the music's composer Sandy Faris and a number of previously unheard renditions. And each CD has a full track listing for all 89 tracks - a total of an hour and twenty minutes.
It's be on sale only from us, only on CD and only until November the 19th. Each CD costs ten pounds including postage and packing. At least five pounds of this will go to Ö÷²¥´óÐã Children in Need. Five pounds is the guaranteed minimum - the more we sell, the greater the proportion of money will go to Children in Need, and of course we'll report back to you on how much money we raise.
HOW DO I GET ONE?
To get a CD send a cheque or postal order for ten pounds to "Upshares Downshares, Room G601, Ö÷²¥´óÐã TV Centre, London W12 7RJ". The cheque or postal order should be made out to Children In Need Appeal. And very important this, please don't forget to clearly include your own name and address so we can send you the CD.
Thanks to everyone for their patience. We ordered 1000 CDs and quickly sold out, so more are on their way.
Yours for ten pounds
Nov 8, 2009. British troops attend the Remembrance Sunday service at Camp Bastion in southern Afghanistan.
Every week listeners send us sentences of news about themselves, which we showcase in our Your News Bulletin. (You can send yours anytime to ipm@bbc.co.uk).
Recently we broadcast this sentence:
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As you can imagine, we wanted to know more. The listener who sent that sentence was happy to talk to us. He is John Vincent. He served in Afghanistan with the 1st Battalion of The Mercian Regiment. Now that his unit has returned home - following a tour in which it sustained heavy casualties - you might think that John is taking a well-deserved break. He isn't. In the coming week, through Armistice Day on the 11th, up to next the Remembrance services a week tomorrow, John will play a pivotal role. John, as you might have guessed, is an Army chaplain.
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More on the programme. Our guest Charles Norton points us towards website.
Peter Cook and Dudley Moore perform a television version of their successful revue, Behind the Fridge, as Show of the Week on Ö÷²¥´óÐã-2 on Thursday 7th March, 1973
brings more than 200 more requests. We're now up to more than 2000.
To get a CD send a cheque or postal order for ten pounds to "Upshares Downshares, Room G601, Ö÷²¥´óÐã TV Centre, London W12 7RJ". The cheque or postal order should be made out to Children In Need Appeal. And very important this, please don't forget to clearly include your own name and address so we can send you the CD.
Ö÷²¥´óÐã News reports here on the violence at a church in Iraq. Hugh sends these words and pictures:
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"Some images from another Baghdad church, St. Joseph's Chaldean Catholic Church, Karrada. So vulnerable to attack by cowards with guns and bombs. Jesus - 'Isa' in Arabic - is a deeply revered prophet in Islam - but Muslims believe he was a messenger of God, not the incarnation of the deity. When I met him a year ago, the priest - Father Sa'ad, said to me: "We lost so many people, we can't forget what's happened. People lost sons, daughters, homes....sometimes I ask myself, is it worth it? To live all this for democracy and freedom? Sometimes I hate freedom, I hate democracy."
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