August 25, 2010 – 2:02 am
Julia Gillard is a childless 48-year-old unmarried atheist redhead who lives in sin with her hairdresser. She is also the first woman to become prime minister of Australia. Just in case you thought that might mean a new era had dawned, be assured that it is probably just about over. Not that Gillard had radical [...]
By DeusExMacintosh
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Also posted in Economics, Environment, Feminism, Law, Media, Politics
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Tagged australia, Australian politics, Bob Katter, Germaine Greer, Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott
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August 24, 2010 – 5:06 am
A friend and I went to see magician and comic Pete Firman on the weekend (part of the Edinburgh Comedy Festival). I don’t usually have a great deal of time for magicians, in part because they so often take themselves so bloody seriously, when you and I know that the whole caper is a scam [...]
August 14, 2010 – 9:24 pm
David Cameron claimed on Tuesday that he and his wife Samantha are members of ‘the sharp-elbowed middle classes’. This statement was at the same time an attempt to proclaim his ordinariness and a dig at middle-class values. The Prime Minister was in effect saying that he is much like everyone else while deprecating those whom [...]
August 13, 2010 – 3:47 am
I’ve always found the various attempts to argue for the burqa or niqab as liberating rather than constricting and deeply misogynistic to be a steaming pile. Clearly the people at newsbiscuit agree. Some highlights: New laws in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates will require that every Blackberry user dress their phone a miniature [...]
A major Edinburgh Fringe venue has defended its decision to put a “psychic medium” on the bill. Joe Power – “The Man Who Sees Dead People” – is to play a three week run at The Assembly. However, Power was booed and heckled during the Assembly’s 30th anniversary gala. Assembly director William Burdett-Coutts admitted he [...]
Work and pensions minister Chris Grayling is conducting an urgent review into a new medical test for incapacity benefit after fresh figures showed only 6% of those tested were deemed to be totally incapable of working. The figures, covering all new claims from October 2008 to the end of November 2009, show 39% are being [...]
By DeusExMacintosh
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Also posted in Britain, Economics, Personal, Politics, Popular culture, Society
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Tagged ATOS, Chris Grayling, computer says no, Department for Work and Pensions, disability, DWP, employment support allowance, LiMA, UK coalition government, UK politics, welfare, welfare reform, work capability assessment
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FRIENDS of an acclaimed Scottish writer have accused the new government’s crackdown on welfare benefits of being a factor in his suicide. Paul Reekie, who, along with Irvine Welsh, was part of a wave of young Scottish authors who rose to international prominence in the 1990s, killed himself in his Edinburgh home last month. The [...]
By DeusExMacintosh
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Also posted in Britain, Depression, Economics, Politics, Society, scotland
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Tagged George Osborne, housing benefit, incapacity benefit, Paul Reekie, suicide, welfare, welfare reform
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David Cameron has launched his “big society” drive to empower communities, describing it as his “great passion”. In a speech in Liverpool, the prime minister said groups should be able to run post offices, libraries, transport services and shape housing projects. Also announcing plans to use dormant bank accounts to fund projects, Mr Cameron said [...]
Australia will hold a general election on 21 August, Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced. Ms Gillard – the country’s first female prime minister – said the snap poll would be “tough and close”. The governing Labor Party elected her as leader three weeks ago after ousting her predecessor, Kevin Rudd. The race between Labor [...]
I can reveal that Dr Jeffrey John, the openly gay but celibate Dean of St Albans, has been blocked from becoming a bishop once again. He has not been chosen as the next Bishop of Southwark. Liberals will be dismayed that the Church has lost its nerve – but there is no reason for evangelicals [...]
By DeusExMacintosh
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Also posted in England, Human/Civil rights, Philosophy, Politics, Religion, Society
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Tagged Anglican Church, Archbishop of Canterbury, Catholic Church, church of england, crown nominations commission, gay and lesbian, gay priests, Jeffrey johns, jonathan wynne-jones, pope benedict, rowan williams
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