We’re Doomed
on Nov 14, 2009 in Environment climate change Copenhagen global warming peak oil The Wave I realise that’s not the most cheery of post titles, and I also realise that a lot of what follows won’t be news to most readers of this blog, but given the content of a few news stories this week, I thought it was worth setting out briefly  qui...

A Picture Paints a Thousand Words
on Nov 14, 2009 in Media Racism/Fascism BNP Daily Mail Fascism Guardian News nick griffin pictures Racism Today’s Guardian headline reads: ‘BNP conference backs ballot on non-white members’. Naturally, the accompanying picture shows Nick Griffin breaking wind with a very long pole up his backside. I found this very interesting. Not bec...

Disney Ad Gives Scrooge Exagerrated Semitic Features
on Nov 14, 2009 in Culture A Christmas Carol anti-semitism Scrooge One of the above images appeared, at the turn of the century, in an anti-Semitic Austrian newspaper. One of the images, however, is a contemporary portrayal of the legendary tight fisted businessman, Scrooge. It has gone up on posters across the Lond...

Iran vs Saudi Arabia
on Nov 13, 2009 in International Iran Religion Hajj Middle East political Islam Saudi Arabia Yemen Tensions have been mounting between Iran and Saudi Arabia in recent weeks. Saudi’s intervention this month into the long-running and long-underreported Yemeni civil war – attacking Shi’ah Houthi rebels fighting against the government of a predo...

Tab Houses: A Case of Unintended Consequence
on Nov 13, 2009 in Puritanism Smoking tobacco taxes OK I will admit it. The study I cited a few days ago – investigating the social costs of “passive non-smoking” – was not entirely factual. In fact you could go as far as to say that it did not exist and there is in fact no Pro...

Chris Harman 1942-2009
on Nov 12, 2009 in Revolution Socialism Chris Harman Socialist Workers Party Since Chris’ tragic death at the weekend there have been a number of warm and inspiring tributes, and I thought I’d highlight a few here. Michael Rosen in the Guardian. Alex Callinicos, John Rose and many other comrades in Socialist Work...

A War Weariness That Dare Not Speak Its Name
on Nov 11, 2009 in Afghanistan Anti-War These are strange times in which we live. Not for a generation have governments had so many important political decisions pressed upon them by world events. Yet rarely has political discourse been so focused upon the personal behaviour of those in po...

Don’t Just Do Something, Sit There!
on Nov 10, 2009 in Environment GreenFeed Protest activism climate change I went to a public meeting organised by the Campaign Against Climate Change (CCC) on Saturday. Oh aren’t I so virtuous? What is it about these public meetings about Climate Change that puts people off? It would be easy to blame the doom, the gloom...

The Role of Philosophy in Politics
on Nov 10, 2009 in Philosophy Dworkin Hayek ideology Marx politics Guest post by Tendai Nyamapfene Philosophy has an unfortunate reputation outside the world of philosophers. And even people who understand themselves to be philosophers are often poets more than anything else. One reason for this is a lack of underst...

Study Reveals True Cost of Passive Non-Smoking
on Nov 9, 2009 in Satire Today, a study conducted by Cambridge University reveals for the first time the true cost of passive non-smoking. While it has long being recognised that non-smokers have a higher than average propensity to lead sad and boring lives, the impact of su...