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 Peter Hain wants the BNP’s invitation rescinded because they aren’t a lawful organisation, due to a court ruling over their constitution.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).

Winning Kingsnorth, Winning the Struggle

The dust has now settled after the shock announcement that Kingsnorth is going nowhere for 3 years at least. Naturally I’m delighted, to the extent that I raided my alcohol supply for a swift one and bounced around the living room with my housemate. But politics is complicated and victories rarely more than partial. Also, sorry for lack of posts, life is just moving too quickly. Edit: And now we’re back in shock mode, as the Telegraph announces BAA’s decision to scrap the Third Runway at Heathrow. This post is probably only more timely because of it.

Tories face Fraud-Charity Smear over Atlantic Bridge

This morning, as I settled down to catch up on the world, having slept two hours longer than I should have, a labourite friend’s twitter screamed at me with the following: “The Tory scandal the media are too scared to touch” – an obscure charity called Atlantic Bridge, set up by now-shadow defence secretary Liam Fox, designed to promote the special relationship so many of us loathe.

Murdoch decides it all (again!)

Once again, the kingmaker of Britain (an Aussie) has decided who shall be leading the country after the next election, and unlike the last 12 years, he’s going for the Tories. Corporate Britain has few more capable subverting democracy than Rupert Murdoch, but today his friends must be pretty happy with him.

A Jungle No More

I’ll never learn. Ask people if you should blog about something, and like all my great friends, those that answer will mostly pour out the encouragement. Thanks guys! I’m sure you all know about the dire situation going on down in Calais, where  hundreds of asylum seekers are being made homeless, despite having only tarp shelters to call home in the first place.

How do you recruit war victims?

There are many victims in wars. Its easy to vent about how innocent people in Iraq and Afghanistan have become victims of war. But what about the victims behind the guns, those who, for whatever, are compelled into joining an army they otherwise wouldn’t and who often become the frontline casualties of even the most high-tech wars?