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 11, 2010 – 5:03 pm
Those of you who are my facebook friends will know that last night, I was the victim of a serious assault. That piece of legalese doesn’t, however, quite do justice to the experience of having a bottle smashed over one’s head. If it’s a ned, then it must be Buckfast. In short, two persons — [...]
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, Funnies, Politics, Society
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Tagged George Osborne, housing benefit, incapacity benefit, Paul Reekie, suicide, welfare, welfare reform
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Henry Kissinger once said of Saddam that ‘we knew he was a son of a bitch, but we thought he was our son of a bitch’. I think it’s fair to say that Saddam ruled his country with spectacular nastiness, but that he also did enough to garner the support of a significant chunk of [...]
By skepticlawyer
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Also posted in Economics, Law, Popular culture, Public Policy, Religion
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Tagged Anthony Shaffer, Charter Cities, Christopher Lee, Edward Woodward, Henry Kissinger, Highland Clearances, Paul Romer, Robin Hardy, Saddam, The Wicker Man, Tradition
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Labour may as well not have fronted. If the UK electoral system was fair, this election would be a fight between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. Even with its current unfairness, it may still be a fight between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. I wrote that after watching the second Prime Ministerial Debate on [...]
By skepticlawyer
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Also posted in England, Northern Ireland, Politics, Wales
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Tagged Conservatives, david cameron, general election 2010, Gordon Brown, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg, Overton Window, Tories, Whigs
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Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg are preparing to make political history by taking part in Britain’s first ever prime ministerial TV debate. The party leaders have been rehearsing intensively for the 90-minute US-style live broadcast, in which every word and gesture will be analysed. They will answer questions chosen by the audience and [...]
Political leaders have headed off on the campaign trail after Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced the UK general election would be held on 6 May. He said he would seek a “clear” mandate to continue the “road to recovery”, as Labour bids for a fourth term. David Cameron, whose Conservative Party has been ahead in [...]
January 17, 2010 – 4:08 am
Royal Bank of Scotland shareholders have criticised the appointment of Sir Fred Goodwin by the architectural firm RMJM in Edinburgh. The consultancy role will be his first job since leaving RBS after the government bailed it out 15 months ago. Roger Lawson, from the RBS Shareholder Action Group, said it was “ironic” Sir Fred got [...]
December 24, 2009 – 8:38 pm
Prince William has spent a night sleeping rough in an event organised by a charity for the homeless. William slept in a sleeping bag near Blackfriars Bridge in central London last week, as part of his role as a patron of the Centrepoint organisation. He said he could not “even begin to imagine what it [...]
November 18, 2009 – 1:02 am
As many people would know, David Cameron is a Brasenose alumnus. 2009 is the college’s 500th anniversary (yes, I attend a college more than double the age of my country), and to that end has been putting on various rather pleasant events. There’s been the usual round of balls, parties, guest speakers and lots of [...]
