Gut me no guts
-
Awaiting a second blood test for coeliac disease – the first was, as I’d
suggested to the doctor, too soon after stopping avoiding wheat – I am
eating brea...
The 301 Group purge the 1922 committee
-
The 1922 elections were not a clean sweep for the loyalist 301 Group slate,
they missed out on one of the secretary position.
But they have pretty much ...
Selling the Nazi Flag
-
The Independent is currently running a debate on the selling of Nazi flags.
The problem I wish to highlight is the actual question up for debate. The
headl...
Greece: the frontline in the battle against austerity
-
In July 2011 I posted on this blog about how 'The Greeks MUST default on 'their' debt'. Getting on for 12 months later that default is looking increasingly l...
Titus Andronicus at the Globe: review
-
Titus Andronicus
Tang Shu-wing Theatre Studio
Globe 2 Globe World Shakespeare Festival
Review by Anna Chen
4th May 2012
With the scarcity of east Asian fac...
Carole Malone - those on benefits deserve to burn
-
It is impossible not to feel desperately sad for the Philpott family who
have lost six children in horrific circumstances in a fire in Derby.Father
Mick Ph...
Courage and Betrayal in a Country Churchyard
-
ST.JOHN THE BAPTIST, BURFORD, west Oxfordshire, where the Levellers were
held.
One of the detained soldiers left his name on the Font.
(postcard from rub...
Roundhead or Cavalier (or a bit of both)?
-
I imagine serious historians must tear their hair out at programmes like* Roundhead
or Cavalier: Which One Are You? *which was on BBC 4 last night (though ...
iPhone, my phone
-
Bryan Appleyard concludes a longish column on the iPhone (and equivalents) by asking if it's something we really want. I have a short answer to this question...
Get Well Soon
-
‘Get Well Soon’ is a short film by BRAG Productions. Its a quiet, visceral
horror starring Gresby Nash and Laura Howard. Continue reading →
She Monkeys opens in London and Dublin
-
Swedish director Lisa Aschan's last year's début feature She Monkeys (Apflickorna) is coming to selected London cinemas on Friday 18 May (and to the Irish Fi...
THE DRIVE FOR PROFIT
-
Timothy Roth and three other American gas field workers were killed in a
road accident. "Over the past decade, more than 300 oil and gas workers
like Mr. ...
Woman molested on #Essex C2C train
-
British Transport Police (BTP) detectives are appealing for information
after a teenager was touched inappropriately on a train in Essex. Investigators
hav...
The Great Asian Gold Theft Crisis
-
These interesting articles here and here highlight how the Asian community
who no longer have anywhere safe to store their valuables after Banks
stopped Sa...
Green Man’s New Charity Partner
-
Green Man is proud and delighted to support such a respected organization
such as the Bevan Foundation who have worked tirelessly since 2001 to build
a soc...
A Crappy Medium…
-
Sometimes there’s nothing one can do but lean over a barrel; aim one’s
firearm into it and shoot a fish into bitesize chunks. So it is when Derek
Acorah ra...
on Good Company
-
If you aspire to be more than you can currently imagine, don't keep too
much company with dumb friends, or else you'll find yourself having to talk
shit t...
Geldof's Guilt
-
Following on from the previous post and to give more substance to it we read that the United Nations Children’s Fund warned that one million children are at ...
New CRTC chair said to be appointed any day now
-
There has been some buzz on an imminent CRTC chair appointment in the past
week.
The Globe had a report that the Harper government was leaning toward a
r...
Red Rag - Getting worried Dave?
-
Red Rag - A little birdie tells me you are next to be dragged back in the
limelight Dave......all in good time obviously.
[[ This is a content summary o...
-
Michael Gove's King James Bible plan rescued by millionaire Tory donors
Education secretary will send a copy of the Bible to every state school
after donor...
Bauhaus at the Barbican.
-
Just got back from the Bauhaus exhibition at the Barbican. This hugely
influential school of art and design, like so much else that was
progressive, chal...
Now if they could get the dog to jump a shark...
-
I do of course realise that much of the voting on Britain's Got Talent is
tactical. Not that I've ever watched the damn thing. Essentially any act
other th...
Serco in Scotland
-
By Johnny Gailey On Friday 4th May at teatime, whilst the Scottish media’s
eyes were firmly fixed on the local election counts being totted across the
coun...
What are the Independents in Powys?
-
I will leave it to Y cneifwr to explain the
new arrangement in Carmarthenshire which see Labour and Independents
reforming their alliance but see Labour'...
Your hustings for the EBRD President
-
[image: Four candidates to be President of the EBRD]
(First published as a blog post on the Center for Global Development’s *Views
from the Center*.)
On ...
I’m a Seoul Man
-
JW Marriott Hotel, Seoul: OVER the last 30 years, I have watched from afar
the transformation of South Korea from a military dictatorship to a
parliamentar...
Next Left is closing down...
-
With the launch of our new Fabian website Next Left will be closing down
soon...
But don't fear! This new site includes our new online version of the
maga...
Open Gardens, Open Sesame
-
Almost time for my personal highlight in the Wivenhoe social calendar –
almost time for Wivenhoe Open Gardens 2012. Hurrah! The weekend of 19th and
20th Ma...
Choonara, McNally and the US rate of profit
-
Dave McNally wrote a very good book last year called, Global Slump
(http://www.amazon.co.uk/Global-Slump-Spectre-David-McNally/dp/1604863323Global
Slump). ...
Greek election results analysis
-
A bit of psephological analysis has been carried out on the recent election
results in Greece. The first finding was that in Athens, about *half of
police...
NHS Does Not spend £1M a week on ‘repeat abortions’
-
From the file marked 'Why journalists shouldn't do statistics' we have a
new front page entry from the Daily Mail. As per standard Ministry policy,
I'm n...
More single mothers please, says Mail
-
The Mail is keen for there to be more unmarried mothers. Don’t look so
staggered, it’s on today’s front page. “NHS spends £1m a week on repeat
abortions: ...
Choosing choice
-
Recently I was in Berlin - a good place to be thinking about choice.
Three experiences started this train of thought.
Number one was of course my first si...
not at all defanged
-
Remember that thumbsucker I did on the Great Firewall? Well, here’s some
data, via this post (thanks, Jamie). It seems that Fang Binxing, China’s
Chief Bel...
Sir Wilshaw’s ‘visionary’ race to the bottom
-
Michael Wilshaw- sorry I’m not your Dad. I am a secondary school teacher in
an inner-city London school. Overall, I love my job. I love the challenge,
the ...
Australian Administrators Fuck Music Education
-
Last week Australian National University announced that they will be making
all of the staff in their music department reapply for their jobs resulting
in ...
Things you just can't economise on
-
What with the economy being as it is, probably most of us try and save dosh
by avoiding common consumer pitfall like using price as an indicator of
quality...
Shindler's dissed
-
David Osler has what looks to me like a good but quirky review of Colin
Shindler's book, *Israel and the European Left*, subtitled, Between
Solidarity and ...
Meet America’s deranged philosopher-queen
-
My latest podcast is a discussion of one of the great mysteries of American
politics – Ayn Rand, the woman whose ideas drive the American right, and
crashe...
Sacred Cows
-
An interesting read
The construction of today’s India as a vegetarian-loving and cow-praying
country is an outright lie and a false cultural-propaganda by...
Fascists botch attack on Bootle picket line
-
On Thursday May 10, hundreds of thousands of public sector workers took
strike action around the country. Amongst these was my own workplace, with
one of ...
Representing the Members
-
**
*Since Ed Miliband became leader of the Labour party - in September 2010 -
the big three public sector trade unions (GMB, Unison and Unite) have
poured ...
This isn’t a flounce
-
I started writing a post the other day with this title, but it got lost in
the ether. I don't mind, on reflection, as it gave me more time to think
about i...
WISE Up for Bradley Manning - Three weeks in Wales
-
WISE Up for Bradley Manning is a loose network of groups and individuals in
Wales, Ireland, Scotland and England (WISE) taking action for Bradley
Manning...
Open letter to North Wales Police.
-
Now I am intrigued. A reader from New York has been logging in to the Ched
Evans story. I cannot really update, his appeal is to be heard, no fixed
date, I...
71% say renationalise the water industry
-
The Sunday Express reports:
*CALLS to renationalise the water industry have risen as a summer of
drought looms despite heavy rain. *
*
*
*Seven out of 10 ...
The Under The Pier Show
-
Like my old Class War chum Ian Bone, I have always had a fascination with England's piers and seaside towns. Today I braved the cold weather and dragged the ...
SNP much to be happy about local elections 2012
-
The Scottish National Party (SNP) secured more councilors than Labour with
a total of 424 declared on Friday to the Labour Party's 394. An SNP gain of
57...
Parkrun : Running in Parks together
-
Ever wanted a bit of motivation to increase the frequency of your so-called
“regular” (actually annual) jog? I need all the help I can get, believe
me…. In...
Daily Mega-Fail
-
Yesterday's Daily Mail: Brave woman speaks out about child sex abuse.
Today's Daily Mail: Wa-hey, look at this sexy fifteen-year-old!
Seriously. How do th...
Crackers SMASH!
-
I just got a new phone. I synced my Five Chinese Crackers account with it,
and then deleted the Picasa pictures because I didn't want them taking up
disk s...
Warning over tribunal changes
-
David Renton. Pic by Phil Chamberlain Union News has printed my interview with barrister David Renton who has a new book out looking at empoyment tribunals. ...
May Day 2012
-
Its that time of year again, Happy International Workers day, or May day to
give it its common title. Official days to respect and acknowledge
societies d...
Dennis Rice and the @TabloidTroll Twitter account
-
From the outset, I would like to make clear that I have both a legitimate
personal and public interest argument for outing the author of the Twitter
accoun...
Du côté de chez Swan
-
*"What are you staring at?"* Annette asked the pair of *blurry-faced soaks*across the bar.
* "Ewer tits, luv,"* one grinned. He raised his glass and returne...
Is this the worst government statistic ever created?
-
I forgot to post this column up last year. It’s a fun one: the Department
for Communities and Local Government have produced a truly farcical piece
of evid...
Review: Mark Steel's In Town
-
*Mark Steel’s In Town* is a rallying call against the commercialisation and
homogenisation of Britain’s towns. It is a celebration of regional quirks
and ...
What Ho Bloggers of My Bosom!
-
Just to let you know, there may be more activity chez domum in the coming
weeks - largely thanks to my online emporium, which you can visit here.
100 days until I run 100 miles ...
-
The trouble with the countdown to the London 2012 Olympics is that it’s a
constant reminder of how many days I’ve got left until I’ll be running the
100-...
Book Sorting
-
I'm sitting down surrounded by books. Some books I have to reshelve. Some
books have to go to my Oxfam book shop to stop me drowning in a sea of
books.
He...
I can tell that we are gonna be friends.
-
[YouTube Link]
So I totally teared up. Bite me.
Tell me what’s going to be great about your week?
This post can also be found at Thagomizer.net. Feel f...
On police and cars
-
I'm about to state a Lebanese truism:
*
*
*Where there is a traffic jam there is a policeman. Or four.*
Seemingly without rhyme or reason Lebanese traf...
Samsung's Galaxy S2 ICS mess
-
[image: Icecream2]Last year I bought a SIM-free Galaxy S2 from Samsung. I
was kicking around the idea of waiting on the Galaxy Nexus, but at the last
min...
School Wars – the road trip.
-
Over the last eight months, I have been taking the arguments in my book
School Wars around the country, talking to parents, teachers, heads in
maintained s...
The Garden of Eden complex
-
I was chatting on Facebook with a friend about relationships (I've had yet
another disastrous friendship situation emerge recently!) and this segued
into t...
Yakkety-Yak. Tracked Talk Back
-
Here's a thing.
I went to Potlatch, a Typepad blog, and was mildly interested in this article and wanted to comment. I've commented there before, but only ...
Farewell and a Few Final Words
-
Several followers of this blog have emailed me to ask why I haven't posted for a while. The truth is I no longer work in the social care or youth sector. In ...
Cornwall mourns shock departure
-
I've decided to take a break from blogging for a bit. Have a good St
Piran's Day!
*Signs of a hasty exit
**CZ hitches a ride to the station
*
*and waits...
Nemo expectat Sanctum Officium
-
As long-time readers will be aware (hello, both of you), I like to try and
be charitable towards our spiritual leaders. I mean to say, Rowan Williams
comes...
Neo-nazi flags for sale on Amazon.co.uk
-
It seems that Nazi flags are on the world’s largest online retailers —
Amazon. While texts like Mein Kampf and artifacts such as coins are of
genuine his...
All in the name of duty
-
Surrey Advertiser, January 27 2011 One moment we thought it was a wasted
evening; moments later we were hurtling through the streets of Elmbridge.
The boro...
On Politics
-
Obviously, not much being said around here. Mostly, because I haven’t got
much to say. But recently I’ve found it hard to articulate to people what,
exactl...
Soul Politics is moving,,,again
-
An announecment to anyone who still follows this blog, that it will close
in a week. I will continue blogging on poltico-theological issues on
http://words...
It's time for LU to say goodbye
-
For seven years, first on my own server then on Blogger, Lancaster Unity
(formerly Lancaster UAF) has been fighting fascism and racism as embodied
in such ...
Electoral Boundary Changes for Swansea
-
The proposals for changes to the parliamentary constituency changes in
Wales were published yesterday.
Immediately jumping to pages 21 to 23 to see what ha...
Time
-
Chicken Yoghurt will disappear on January 25 when the web-hosting expires.
The old girl opened some amazing doors and made me some fantastic friends
(they ...
Top 10 Dance Tunes of 2011
-
The blog maybe deader than England's chances at the European Championships
next year, but in 2011 the quietude of its crypt was regularly disturbed by
an a...
quick thoughts on wednesday's strike
-
it's said that pensions are so much better in the public sector than in the
private sector and so they should be made worse.
how about let's have better pen...
Police Misconduct
-
Police Misconduct (http://www.doughtystreet.co.uk/files/20101001.pdf) has been the subject of great debate recently. Drs Mawby and Wright of Keele Universit...
Have Your Say On The Future of Winckley Square
-
Theindependent body formed to help kick-start the revival of Winckley
Square has begun a consultationprocess giving stakeholders of the historic
Square a c...
November 30th March in Dundee
-
As decided at Dundee TUC‘s November 2nd meeting Assemble 12noon, West gate
of Dudhope Park (postcode DD1 5RE for satnav / GoogleMap). March off at
12:30pm....
Pull the Units Down
-
Despite earlier gripes I'm going to be giving several talks about *Uncommon
*over the next month or so; one at the Architectural Association in London
(o...
Link your brand to the campaign
-
Have you seen the panasonic facebook campaign, the persecution of Rommy
Gulla? Basically, for 28 days, they are pulling some pretty nast practical
jokes on...
Thanks And Good Bye.
-
For many complex reasons, which I won’t go into, this blog is closing. It
has been around years and I have learnt so much in the process. I would
like to t...
Marriage, expectation and Pippa Middleton's bum
-
Okay, so this blog post isn't actually about Pippa Middleton's bum but good
cod, you'd think it was made of solid gold the way people have been harping
on ...
An update: The company behind the Twitter spies?
-
For background, see the bottom of this post. After talking to a few peeps,
I’ve decided to throw caution to the wind, and reveal what I know. After
all, I...
Section de Londres – nouveau site
-
A partir de mars 2011, la section de Londres du PS dispose d’un nouveau
site. Veuillez vous rediriger vers http://londres.ffe-ps.org/ . Merci!
Outrage at the council revelations
-
Originally written for the Socialism in RCT blog
SP member of the ponty anti-cuts demoOn March 17th an article appeared on
the WalesOnline website explainin...
Lebanon, India, and Jordon
-
I haven't posted anything here for a long time, but I wanted to link some
articles I've done for the New Statesman which, if it wasn't for them
allowing me...
A break from blogging
-
I'm very aware I haven't blogged much of late. At the moment it is more a
stress, a chore, than a pleasure . The blog has always been something I
have enjo...
Batty Ieuan Wyn Jones
-
One year after the £5million St Athan Public Inquiry, the groups critical
of the plans are demanding Ieuan Wyn Jones - the Minister responsible for
the dev...
Perfidious Albion's ASTROTURFING in Ireland
-
The term astroturfing denotes political or public relations campaigns that
are formally planned by an organization, as opposed to genuine community
gr...
Blue Valentine
-
Blue Valentine is an intense, tender and beautifully observed love story
for anyone that’s ever been in love. Driven by stand-out performances from
Academy...
Farewell - at least for now
-
I really should have posted this valedictory comment a long time ago, but
what with one thing and another it got forgotten about.
Since I now live in North...
Kel (1959 - 2010)
-
Many of you will have noticed the absence of posts on the Osterley Times.
It is with regret that I have to tell you that Kel, the man behind the
Osterley T...
It’s the ‘squeeze’ not the ‘middle’ that matters
-
Writing for New Statesman, Head of Open Left Richard Darlington argues
Labour need to ignore definitions of the 'middle' and focus on policies
that address...
The value of a pledge? Roughly £7,000 p.a.
-
It's difficult how to react to these most recent revelations about yet
another U-turn by the Liberal Democrats. This must now complete the most
comprehen...
Clegg Clamour Continues
-
The Sheffield Telegraph also ran a story today picking up on our call for
Nick Clegg to keep his promise to vote against higher tuition fees. We made
page ...
This week's posts
-
Over at the other place I have written in the past week:
A thrilling expose in three parts of whether the referendum bill would be
within the legislative c...
The UN’s drug war demagoguery
-
Antonio Maria Costa is a man with such good fortune that he has a job which
shouldn’t exist. Whilst there may be a place for a United Nations and
occasions...
A Vilification of the Cliché
-
Throughout May, there was much discontent demonstrated by the electorate
towards politicians. A good portion of this was a reflection of the
public’s disap...
Letter to the Irish News
-
Mark Mulholland's letter (August 6th) is a piece of satire befitting of
Swift himself. In a flurry of media excitement we have learnt recently of
the openi...
A New Blog
-
Hi there,
Readers will have noticed that my updates have dropped off a bit recently.
The good news is, I've co-founded a collaborative blog called The Grea...
Old
-
And so the elderly were one of the few beneficiaries of today's budget,
except those that buy VAT-goods, natch. Why?
It seems to ETTL that there is some de...
Swedenise us!
-
Thanks to Gerard O'Neill of *Turbulence Ahead* for publishing yet another
of the international comparisons that allow us to see how well – or badly –
we ar...