Ken steps in it again
It looks like Ken Livingstone really does love the feel of bullets in his foot. I didn't think the concentration camp thing was the big issue it was made out to be, but this...
Category: Politics
Does this lady look angry to you?
Clipping of picture of a Muslima in niqab from today's Observer This picture appeared in the Observer today, on page 19 of the Review section next to this article by Miranda Sawyer. The article...
On Chishti defection and Sands sacking
Via Pickled Politics, with their memorable headline "Labour lose brown person to Tories", someone I knew as a union activist at Aberystwyth has joined the Conservative party just months after standing against the party...
Who needs a St. George’s day?
Today was St Patrick’s Day, which means lots of Irish flags about, Irish shows in both Trafalgar and Leicester Squares, the sound of fiddles playing Irish dance tunes, and everything else stereotypically Irish. I...
Slobo dead
And some good news to finish the week off: the ironically named Slobodan (meaning freedom) Milosevic is dead. From Gene at Harry's Place: "Let the conspiracy-mongering begin" To paraphrase a headline from the Sun,...
Why Lukashenko might win – fair and square
In today's Guardian, Jonathan Steele explains why Alexander Lukashenko, despite his notoriously repressive record, might well expect to win the coming election even if he doesn't rig it (which he probably will): Would you...
Blind man to fight extradition laws
The BBC is reporting that a blind British man, who was extradited to the USA on child cruelty charges, which were later dropped after he had spent six months in jail, is taking up...
Green light for abuse of power
In the Guardian today, Jenni Russell has a column describing the danger you are in when you argue with a petty "public service" jobsworth: One of them aggressively thrust a BAA [British Airports Authority]...
Monbiot on RFIDs
George Monbiot has an article in today's Guardian about the emerging "radio frequency identification tags", used in one company in Ohio to identify two workers who are entitled to enter the strongroom. The chips...
Who brought this lot out?
There is an interesting "sketch" piece on the BBC's website about this afternoon's rally outside Parliament against the proposed "religious hatred" law. (To be honest, I was considering going as I finished work around...
Guess what? ID cards aren’t much use
From the BBC: the Lib Dem peer in charge of reviewing anti-terror laws has changed his mind on ID cards: he says they would not be much use in preventing terrorist attacks: Liberal Democrat...
Proscription plans unravelling
The New Statesman this week (30th Jan edition) has a feature by former Observer editor Martin Bright on how serious questions are being asked about the viability of banning Hizbut-Tahreer. The NS website has...
ID cards will become compulsory
The BBC has an interview with the Lord Chancellor (head of the House of Lords and the Judiciary) in which he says what opponents of ID cards have always believed: that they will end...
Bigots intimidate with no-fee lawsuits
The British train drivers' union Aslef was recently sued for libel by a member of the British National Party after a Virgin train driver was called a racist in Aslef's magazine, the Loco Journal....
Is Feminism dead?
This week’s New Statesman contains an article by Zoe Williams (note: the site has is a “read once then pay” system), contending that “across a whole range of issues, including even abortion and rape,...
Menzies or Minghis?
BBC NEWS Magazine – Why is Menzies pronounced Mingis? This is for anyone wondering about why the man who could become the leader of the third biggest party in the UK has such an...
Saudis offer funds to repair Delhi Jami’a mosque
An interesting story I found on the BBC's website: the king of Saudi Arabia offering to do much-needed repairs to the Jama Mosque in Delhi. The imam has advised the Saudis to approach the...
Hijab not Tunisian enough?
Via Islamophobia Watch, the Boston Globe reports that the Tunisian "religious affairs minister", Aboubaker Akhzouri, has claimed that the hijab worn by religious Muslim women does not "fit in with the North African country's...
From Prince Charles to King George?
The Times and the BBC report that Prince Charles is considering taking the name George when (or rather if) he becomes king. The Times' headline is the rather amusing "Call me George, says Charles",...
“Orthodoxy” on evolution
Guardian Unlimited: The question Tim Radford presents the "orthodox" view on why there really is no doubt about how we came to be here – namely that primitive life forms became vertebrates which became...