Politics, tech and media issues from a Muslim perspective
A few months ago, Transport for London published a set of advertisements aimed at encouraging people, particularly women, not to take the unlicensed “minicabs” which attempt to pick up passengers by the side of...
Various newspapers have reported that two sculptures to be erected at both ends of Brick Lane in east London, a narrow street which has become a trendy hang-out place and which is supposedly full...
I’m stopping to type this on my phone in the middle of a long trudge through the snow and ice on the back streets between Kingston and New Malden. I’m using the back streets...
A while back, before I got the hang of Twitter as a means of announcing blog posts and conducting cross-border conversations without having to log into a chat client (and well before getting my...
There is an article in the current issue of The Spectator by Andrew Gilligan, attacking a project to make Green Park station, an important London Underground interchange, wheelchair accessible or, in London Transport jargon,...
The Guardian reports today that the British operation of Whole Foods Market, which took over the old Fresh and Wild organic chain and opened up a huge supermarket in a former department store in...
I read a short article in the Evening Standard yesterday evening that Borders was to shut its flagship bookshop in Oxford Street; after looking it up I discovered that four other Borders stores are...
There is a letter in today’s Guardian in response to the long saga of the intervention by the Prince of Wales in the planning dispute in Chelsea. The letter is from Georgine Thorburn of...
Today there was a substantial impromptu demonstration in London by Sri Lankan Tamils, who first occupied Westminster Bridge before being forced by riot police into the centre of Parliament Square, where they still were...
I recently acquired (thanks Mum & Dad) a new Dell Inspiron 530 computer, and one of the first things I do in such circumstances (which don’t come that often, admittedly) is to install Linux...
Does anyone out there (particularly in the UK; I’m not sure if it’s available anywhere else) like Kingfisher toothpaste? It’s an organic brand of toothpaste which is available in a variety of flavours, including...
Simon Jenkins: A runway for jobs? It's time aviation's bluff was called (The Guardian) An excellent opinion piece on the stream of lies and broken promises which have led to the proposal for the...
Today an experimental scheme comes into operation in London, allowing motorcyclists to use bus lanes on “red routes” (main roads with stopping restrictions for all or part of the day). They have been allowed...
Now that it’s the evening of New Year’s Day, and the holiday season will be over in a few hours (even if it’s still the school holidays and a few people will be taking...
George Monbiot, in the Guardian last Tuesday, on the link between religious belief and the anti-intellectualisation of US politics: Ignorant politicians are elected by ignorant people. US education, like the US health system, is...
Over the Summer and early Autumn (i.e. Ramadan), I had a lot of work delivering electrical supplies to shopfitters working in the new Westfield centre, and spent many an hour sitting on the ramps...
Last week, Ian Blair, the London Police commissioner, finally resigned. I must say I am glad to see him go, and I was disgusted that the killing of Jean-Charles de Menezes did not result...
Yesterday, with the water off in my part of town because of a burst water main in Wimbledon (which flooded not only the street but also South Wimbledon tube station), I headed up London...
As you can see, I have not blogged much this week, mainly out of being tired after getting up in the morning to do various driving jobs. However, it's Sunday and I'm well and...
As I am sure most of you know by now, London now has a new mayor, Boris Johnson. Johnson won on second preference votes, a circumstance one would have expected would have favoured Livingstone...