From Slaves to Oil to Sunlight

Africa has supplied the wants and desires of the global north with many many things over the years through the process known as colonialism. People talk about our times as being “post-Colonial”, as if somehow the process of Colonial resource extraction has ended and the people of Africa can once more live at peace without Europe sucking them dry of anything of any value. But then, if solar-energy is the solution to Climate Change, and Africa has lots of sunlight, why not just exploit Africa for that too?

Building National Pride in Palestine?

I’m often aware of the tension that exists between my passion for justice for the Palestinians, as such, a national grouping, and my disgust at anything to do with National Pride. I find the copious numbers of England flags that appear during major football competitions mildly disturbing, an affront to my Internationalist, anti-statist leanings, and so news that Israel is blocking construction of Palestine’s national football stadium leaves me a bit stuck.

LCpl Joe Glenton: The War is Local

On Saturday I took part in a stall and vigil protesting at the incarceration of York Soldier Lance Corporal Joe Glenton. It was an intense affair, with media interest normally not shown to a mere anti-war stall, hundreds signing petitions and some very heated exchanges. The struggle to end the Afghanistan War is no longer just about a place several thousand miles away, it has come home.

The News: Is Vanity Fair?

Curious to discover why such a thing might happen, I read an article on the censorship of Enid Blyton by the BBC. It was rather amusing to note the short sightedness of the controllers of the airwaves and their own personal opinions on the author. I did wonder why this was news. Its hardly current celebrity gossip either. No, despite the disguise as a news article, it was an advert for a program. I was pretty pissed off to be honest.

David Cameron and the Prodigal Son’s Brother

I was visiting my Sister’s church in Durham today, St Nicks, also know as the church on the market place, and had a really great time. The sermon looked at the part of the Prodigal Son story after the bit everyone knows, the part where the eldest son refuses to join the party. The preacher referenced a writer* who said that Jesus sought to appeal to the unreligious, not to the generally conservative types that the UK church most often appeals to.

Transsexual Jesus Sparks Glasgow Church Protests

I saw the headline for this article on my RSS feeder and knew I’d be writing about it as soon as I had the chance. The entire subject, from Christian pressure groups, to a personal engagement with Jesus by a trans author, was bound to turn my head. So here goes…

Look away and Blair’s back

Some of you will have managed to notice that I haven’t written a post in over a week. Life got a lot too hectic. This means I’ve had to play catch up with the news, and to be honest, most of its been a bit depressing, but then I found myself living a nightmare a few days ago: Brown to back Blair for EU President. “Oh crap!”, I groaned, “make it all go away!”.

The BNP, Free Speech, and BBC Question Time

A senior government member has struck out at the BBC’s Question Time for its invite to BNP leader Nick Griffin, who is currently due to appear on the 22nd October edition of the program. Peter Hain wants the BNP’s invitation rescinded because they aren’t a lawful organisation, due to a court ruling over their constitution.

Israel declares war permanent

Avigdor Lieberman, Israel’s Foreign Minister, has told Israelis that the conflict between Israel and Palestine is not going to be resolved. Citing the example of Cyprus, he has called on Israelis to stop seeking peace and make the best of his countries oppression of the Palestinians. In a sense, this isn’t anything new, but it would be easy to see this as merely an admission of hopelessness, rather than a calculated position for Israel to put itself in.

Dividing Economic and Employment Recovery

Economics is not my strong point, but I think its worth digging into one of the assumptions being made by the media, especially in the language it uses whilst debating signs of an economic recovery. We here about economic recovery, and we assume this is good for the mere mortals at the bottom of the chain, but does this really hold truth? (With apologies to Naomi Klein from whom I learnt most of this).