The problems with paring down the Royal Mail
Earlier this week I heard on the news that the Royal Mail were closing down two of their big London sorting depots, namely Bow and Nine Elms. I’ve worked at Nine Elms and it...
Indigo Jo Blogs Blog
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...
Minorities may die in Midsomer Massacres
The BBC doesn’t have a monopoly on ridiculous plotlines in its drama, despite the recent trends of Casualty, Holby City and EastEnders (not to mention the sappy ridiculousness of the school drama series, Waterloo...
Casualty plots getting ridiculous
Recently I stopped watching EastEnders regularly, as I found the plotlines were getting frustrating and repetitive and were going nowhere. Some would say that Casualty (and its week-night sister programme, Holby City) went the...
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...
Further clarification: Usama Hasan
After I posted my article on Usama Hasan the other day, I found that my blog had been linked to by the secularist Spittoon blog, which had been copied by Harry’s Place. The author...
Deen Intensive programme for 2011 announced
I've been asked to publicise the upcoming Deen Intensive programme, which is to be held at Uludag near Bursa, Turkey, for three weeks starting 30th June. The focus will be on Imam Ghazaali, and...
Usama Hasan: thanks for the apology, now clear off
Recently the east London imam, Usama Hasan, who has been involved with the Quilliam Foundation (a media-friendly group of purported former extremists) and promoting the idea of reconciling Islam with Darwinian theory, went beyond...
Cost of everything, value of nothing
Yesterday, I listened to a discussion on Radio 5 (the Victoria Derbyshire show) featuring Riven Vincent, the mother of a disabled daughter who challenged David Cameron on Mumsnet and then said she was planning...
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)...
Should we be rescuing Brits from Libya?
Yesterday I heard a discussion on the Radio 2 mid-day discussion programme in which Vanessa Feltz (sitting in for Jeremy Vine who is on holiday, along with several other Radio 2 presenters) debated with...
Android: feeling at home, moving on
Last December I wrote about the year I’d had with my Android phone (an HTC Hero, branded a T-Mobile G2 Touch — not to be confused with the G2 that is sold in some...
PACE trial: What’s fear got to do with it?
Study finds therapy and exercise best for ME (from the Guardian, 18th February) On Thursday, the results of a trial of various supposed methods of treating what the authors insist on calling Chronic Fatigue...
On the recent UK sterilisation case
It is vital these difficult decisions are heard in public | Deborah Orr | Comment is free | The Guardian Recently the UK Court of Protection has been hearing a case in which a...
Dispatches: “Lessons in Hate and Violence”
Last night, Channel 4 broadcast another Dispatches programme titled “Lessons in Hate and Violence” (not available currently to watch online, possibly because arrests have been made in connection to some of the footage, but...
“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...