The McCanns and Scotland Yard
Does Every Child Matter? – itsmotherswork’s posterous I had meant to post a longer entry about this issue, but was too busy watching the debate on The Big Questions (“Does Britain Have a Problem...
Category: Politics
Calls for apologies for 1970s virginity tests
The Guardian have been running various stories lately over files released which show the extent of virginity tests which were being carried out on Asian brides, either on arrival at Heathrow or before they...
Election days should be holidays
Last week we had local elections in the UK, along with a referendum on whether to change the voting system to the Alternative Vote, which is currently used in Australia (and to elect party...
No, ME is not polio
Yesterday I was having a discussion on Facebook with an anti-vaccinationist who referred me to various websites which outlined the various supposed conspiracies that have gone on to keep parents in the dark about...
Watch who you call a ho
For the second time in about a month, I’ve come across the same person I know on Facebook throwing the word “ho” (whore) around at women who are not, in fact, prostitutes. Last time,...
Guest Post: my review of One Last Goodbye
Same Difference: review of One Last Goodbye by Kay Gilderdale I wrote a review of Kay Gilderdale’s memoir of living with and caring for her daughter Lynn (also Jessie), who suffered from ME very...
Hargey attacks Islam along with the “burqa”
I don't watch al-Jazeera English (although I can get it, part-time, on Freeview) but saw this clip of David Frost interviewing Taj Hargey and Salma Yaqoob over the recently-introduced ban on the niqaab in...
Waterloo Road: how much protection does a 17-year-old need?
Yesterday, the last in the present series of Waterloo Road, the BBC school soap, aired, and it featured the climax of two separate stories, that of Denzil and his death-defying stunts which nearly killed...
Why I’ll probably vote No on AV
Next month we will be having a referendum in this country on whether to change our method of electing MPs from the traditional “first past the post”, in which the candidate with the single...
Demo report
So, I made it to the demonstration yesterday, as I had arranged to meet Riven Vincent who wanted someone to walk with her. I got there late because I was delayed leaving home and...
Trafalgar into Tahrir?
Anti-cuts campaigners plan to turn Trafalgar Square into Tahrir Square | World news | guardian.co.uk I am planning to attend the march organised by the Trades Union Congress this coming Saturday (26th March), but...
Attacks on disabled people are not “just nastiness”
BBC iPlayer – Dave Monk: Essex disability hate crime and Pebmarsh needs a donkey This was broadcast last Wednesday (so you will be able to listen to it until early next Wednesday). The focus...
Review: 23 Week Babies – the Price of Life
BBC2 – 23 Week Babies: The Price of Life This was on last Wednesday on BBC2, and is available on iPlayer until next Wednesday. It examines whether it is worthwhile to resuscitate babies born...
Gender prejudice in insurance outlawed
BBC News – Insurance and pension costs hit by ECJ gender ruling The European Court of Justice today ruled that it was unlawful for insurance companies to charge different premiums for male and female...
How not to teach kids about the slave trade
Womanist Musings: When Is A Child Too Young to Learn About the Middle Passage? This story is about an incident in which two supply teachers decided to show a film called The Middle Passage,...
The cartoon Geert Hitlers couldn’t live with
Islamophobia Watch – Documenting anti Muslim bigotry – Dutch broadcaster removes anti-Wilders cartoon after threats to staff Geert Wilders was a supporter of the Dutch cartoonists who depicted the Prophet (sall’ Allahu ‘alaihi wa sallam)...
“Big society” is just an empty slogan
BBC News – Big Society is my mission, says David Cameron David Cameron gave a speech today in which he claimed that, while reducing the budget deficit was his duty, his so-called Big Society...
Busybodies and common sense
BBC News – Should a teenager be left to babysit a toddler? Lately I’ve seen a few stories about parents receiving cautions or fines for “child neglect” which consisted of leaving a young child...
Suzanne Moore, Newsnight and the EDL
If the Left is to rise again, it must lift the official silence on race and culture | Suzanne Moore | Comment is free | The Guardian This weekend the so-called English Defence League held...
ME, mental health and victim blaming
Yesterday afternoon there was a debate on ME at Westminster Hall, an annex to the House of Commons, whose main participants were Ian Swales (Lib Dem, Redcar) and the Tory health minister Paul Burstow....