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...
Indigo Jo Blogs Blog
How Iraq’s money was frittered away
The Guardian on how $23billion of money entrusted by the UN for the redevelopment of Iraq was lost to waste, theft and fraud: Because the Iraqi banking system was in tatters, the funds were...
Yet another anti-war demo
Yesterday the Stop the War Coalition organised yet another of their marches in London against the Iraq war and against any expansion of it (into Iran, for example) (more from the BBC here). While...
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...
Melanie Phillips soundbite of the week (2)
In response to the civil union in the Netherlands involving a man and two women, Mad Mel wonders where all this liberalisation is leading us: [Charles] Krauthammer, however, sees all these developments merely as...
Pictures: dumb cycle lanes
A great set of pictures of stupid cycle lanes, like the 15-mile cycle route alternative to a six-mile road journey, the cycle ride straight into a phone box, and this one from Middlesbrough: I...
Tamil Tigers funded by worldwide extortion
The BBC reports that "Tamil people around the world are being intimidated and threatened into giving money to Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels, according to a new report" from Human Rights Watch. The extortion...
Iraq is not Bosnia
The title of this entry rather sounds like stating the obvious, but of course Iraq and Bosnia have something in common, namely a recent or fairly recent western intervention. David Aaronovitch, in yesterday’s Times,...
Giving it out, but …
The BBC reports that Isaac Hayes, the singer behind the 1971 hit *Shaft*, has quit the American TV show *South Park*, in which he “is the voice of the lustful Chef”, because it ridiculed...
Saracen on Madeleine Bunting in today’s Guardian
Saracen has blogged at length about an article I was going to briefly link to: Madeleine Bunting in today's Guardian on how the "cheerleaders" for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which have produced...
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...
SAS man quits over US tactics
The Sunday Telegraph reports that a long-standing member of the SAS (Special Air Service, an élite British armed service) has quit because he is no longer willing to serve alongside US forces because of...
Moroccans love their king, don’t they?
The BBC's From Our Own Correspondent has a feature on the country's king, and the "respect" supposedly lavished on him in his country: When Moulay turned up with the tea I asked him about...
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,...
Church meeting fixed for Clarke
Rachel from North London, a clergyman’s daughter (not sure which church) who was injured in last July’s bombings, writes about how her father met the Home Secretary (and her father’s local MP) Charles Clarke...
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...
Snail Trail induced students to spy on Muslims
Via Pickled Politics, London Student reports that the Mail on Sunday attempted to induce students at London universities to spy on meetings of Muslim student organisations. The offer came in an email from Sophie...
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...
Neo-cons, Muslims and ‘last men’
Douglas Murray, author of the Social Affairs Unit’s Neoconservatism: Why We Need It, recently made a speech at the Pim Fortuyn Memorial Lecture on the topic “What Are We To Do About Islam?”. This...