Eurabian nightmare
The end of Eurabia – FT.com Ths image is from the Spectator, the British political magazine, and represents what passed for journalism on the European and American right during the post-9/11 era. The occasion...
Indigo Jo Blogs Blog
Blood donation rules: no sense then or now
On Thursday it was announced that the rules governing who can give blood in the UK was changed; previously, any man who had ever had sex with a man was permanently excluded; the new...
Ayn Van Dyk: where child protection defeats itself
BC Local News: Abbotsford dad still fighting to have daughter returned home Over the past few months I’ve been following the case of Ayn Van Dyk, a 9-year-old autistic girl from British Columbia (Canada)...
Vivint vote appeal, ME and mental illness
Yesterday it was announced that the Whittemore-Peterson Institute in Reno, Nevada had won a long-running campaign for a $100,000 grant from the Vivint home security company (formerly APX Alarm) called the Vivint Gives Back...
Charges against saline case nurse dropped
BBC News – Stepping Hill saline deaths: Nurse Rebecca Leighton charges dropped Remember the case of the several people who died after someone spiked the saline at a Manchester hospital two months ago? And...
Why I support banning the EDL’s march
Of late I've seen a number of tweets and blog articles questioning why some "good liberals" suddenly go hard-line when it comes to allowing the English Defence League to have their marches, and start...
Pauline Pearce: why jail drug mules?
“Hackney heroine” tells why she confronted rioters (from last Monday’s Guardian) Pauline Pearce was the woman caught on camera lecturing rioting youths in Hackney that they should “fight for a cause” rather than tearing...
What makes appropriate school dress?
School skirt ban is just the latest battle in the uniform wars | Education | The Guardian Recently a secondary school in Ipswich (the third in the town) changed its uniform code making trousers...
BBC wants white female Muslims (again)
Wanted: Single White Female (Muslims) | iMuslim.tv The BBC issued an advert asking for “Caucasian” white Muslim women to contribute to a programme about their lives since 9/11. They say: The BBC World Service, Heart and...
The perils of hosting political content in the UK
Atos moves to shut down criticism | Tentacles of doom (also see Carer Watch) The above article is about how ATOS, the French company hired by the British government to conduct disability assessments, has...
Why do hospitals discharge people so early?
These days, if you go into hospital for virtually any procedure or any surgery, chances are high that you will be out in much shorter time than you would have been in the past....
Johnson’s pupil referral plan is ill-informed
Boris Johnson in tough units call for young rioters – Crime, UK – The Independent Boris Johnson has called for school children involved in the riots last week (and presumably any future similar incidents)...
Hysteria follows anarchy
I have held off writing about the wave of rioting and looting that hit London and some other English towns and cities early last week partly because I was busy (work, Ramadan and an...
The Times, Wessely and the ME community
A little over a week ago I responded to accusations that people in the ME community were threatening scientists who were involved in "valuable" research into the cause and treatment of ME, because their...
Somalia? Send a proper journalist
LIZ JONES: The caring professions? They just don't seem to care at all | Mail Online The above article is a rant by Liz Jones, normally a fashion columnist on the Daily Mail also...
Anti-ME brigade play victim
On Friday morning, the BBC’s Radio 4 ran a feature on the supposed intimidation of scientists working on “chronic fatigue syndrome, also called ME” which is claimed to be driving people away from researching...
On Norway
This past weekend was dominated by two major death-related news stories: the bombing and subsequent massacre in Norway on Friday, and the death (to me at least, sudden and unexpected) of the singer, Amy...
Hustvedt’s ignorance over “CFS”
Acting up: is hysteria all in the mind? | Life and style | The Guardian Asti Hustvedt has written a large book on the “celebrity” hysterics of 19th-century Paris, whose doctor, Jean-Martin Charcot, paraded...
Is there money to burn in Basildon?
BBC iPlayer: The Big Gypsy Eviction This programme was on BBC1 last night (you can watch it until next Thursday, if you are in the UK) and is the result of six years of...
Nothing “right on” about rape jokes, Jan
Michael McIntyre endures jealousy of rival comics | Mail Online I'm not all that familiar with the comedy of Michael Macintyre, who has a reputation for being the "nice guy" of British comedy at...