“Christina Turner feared that she might have been sexually assaulted after two men slipped her a knockout drug. She thought she was taking proper precautions when her doctor prescribed a month’s worth of anti-AIDS medicine … Only later did she learn that she had made herself all but uninsurable.” The Huffington Post reveals yet another [...]

The BBC reports on a bullshit proposal by the Government to give higher grades to school students from poorer backgrounds. I’m aware that I’m about to sound like a raging Tory (I’m not) but I can barely articulate how much this idea outrages me  Not only is it grossly unfair and unethical to even think [...]

The Washington Post reports on the lobbying force of the families of 9/11 victims, and their wide range of views – from the relative who says that inmates have it easy (“They’re in the Caribbean on a beach, getting three meals a day”) to those ardently in favour of trying detainees in US courts; and [...]

“For Ignacio Sánchez-Cuenca, a sociologist at Madrid’s Cumpletense University who specializes in ETA, the answer to why ETA continues its violent fight is more chilling … ‘They have no theory of violence anymore. For the past three or four years, it’s been purely reactionary. It’s all they know how to do.’ “ The Basque separatist [...]

Incredibly, decades after the legal and official end of segregation, The New York Times reports that the practice of divided proms is alive and well in the American South. In states such as Georgia, it’s common practice for black and white students to attend separate proms. While officially open to all, the two separate nights are in [...]

Sri Lankan leader Mahinda Rajapaksa has officially announced the end of the civil war which has raged there for the last 26 years and killed 70,000 people. The separatist movement were defeated after a bloody offensive by the Sri Lankan army which, despite achieving their aims, ignored international calls for restraint and has been accused [...]

“The Phorm system learns your interests by snooping on your internet web traffic. Your ISP does the necessary wiretap in exchange for a cut when advertisers pay a premium for learning precisely what to try and sell you. It’s rather like the postman getting money to peek at your letters, so you can receive a [...]

Time reports on the “dash for Burma”, as major Asian powers fight to access resources in the military dictatorship, cosying up to a the regime to mine and exploit fossil fuels, minerals and precious metals. Although not altogether surprising given the human rights records of China, Malaysia and others, this is disgusting. Countries are trampling [...]

Over the last decade, civil liberties and human rights in Britain have been eroded like never before. Centuries of hard-fought democratic freedoms are being diluted and outlawed. The government uses any pretence it can – from fighting terrorism to social order – to justify the increasing oppression and silencing of the British public. At the [...]

“Since 1948 Palestinians have lived in perpetual humiliation. They can’t breathe without permission. They have lost their country, their land, their water, their freedom, their everything.” Eduardo Galeano writes an impassioned criticism of Israel and its treatment of the Palestinians. While there are parts of the article which make me wince and cringe, with its complete and [...]

“US President Barack Obama is expected to lift restrictions on federal funding for research on new stem cell lines, according to reports … Officials say Mr Obama will authorise the move by executive order on Monday. “ Obama has reversed yet another Bush policy which denied potentially life-saving medical treatment for millions of people, this [...]

While I stand by yesterday’s post that initial media reporting on the Russia/Georgia fighting was rather one-sided, it seems that Russia has now gone beyond simply “protecting the South Ossetians”. As BBC News reports, Western leaders are increasingly worried that Russia is now outright invading Georgia – and it seems they aren’t quite sure what [...]

Reuters reports that Russia is complaining of Western media bias in reports on the South Ossetian conflict. While I’d normally greet complaints of bias from the Kremlin with a hearty laugh and a cry of “hypocrites”, in this case they may actually have a point. All coverage of the violence seems to be centring on [...]

“Israel’s secret police are pressuring Palestinians in Gaza to spy on their community in exchange for urgent medical treatment, according to a report released today by an Israeli human rights organisation … International law forbids the use of civilians in conflict to damage an enemy state and collaboration in the Palestinian community is a crime [...]

The Washington Post recently reported on the shocking prevalence of HIV amongst black people in the US, with two percent of African-Americans infected. This percentage, worse than many developing nations, yet again demonstrates the terrible divide between different racial and socioeconomic groups in the US. Even worse is that this study came out a couple [...]

“China has opened crevices in the Great Firewall that blocks access to many internet sites, allowing the public to see some quarters of cyberspace that it has long blocked … The issue had caused a major stir and created dissension within the top ranks of the IOC because the move reneged on previous pledges of [...]

“Yet the one slogan you never hear at the Olympics is that with dreams come responsibilities … And in the global neighborhood, any city’s treatment of its local problems is suddenly a matter of everyone’s concern. So evicting roughly 3 million of the capital’s residents, as Beijing has done, while spending perhaps $200 billion on [...]

The security minister Lord West has refused to reject the idea of a proposed Big Brother database, which would hold details of all phone calls, e-mails and Internet use made in the UK. He slithered around the issue, simply saying that it’s “early days”. “We haven’t made a decision” is not a no and is [...]

“This is voting as handheld therapy to make us (and politicians) feel better. No one – not the Putney Debaters nor the Suffragettes – put their lives on the line for the right to be patronised madly by an aloof and idea-lite elite. They wanted the right to engage in serious politics on an equal [...]

Jeffrey Denning blogs for the Washington Times about the latest invention of Lamperd Less Lethal, Inc. The “safety bracelet”, as they’re marketing it, is designed to be compulsory for airline passengers, and would take the place of a boarding pass, contain personal details, and monitor the whereabouts of the passenger and luggage. Oh, and a [...]