Category: Current Affairs
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Snow and Strangers – TAZ excerpt from Other
With the current snowy and icy conditions in the UK I thought I’d post an extract from ‘Other’ which links the huge snowfalls we’ve had in the past couple of winters to the idea of TAZ which is one of the central themes of ‘Other‘ – a welcome addition to anyone’s Christmas present pile, heartily…
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Why Are Governments Chasing Benefit Cheats, but not Tax-Evaders?
A brilliant ad in The Times today, which comically captures the absurd tragedy of the government’s new idea to tackle the lazy, work-shy unemployed: make them do voluntary work. Which will benefit the councils having to put thousands out of work because of spending cuts. Discussing this today with a colleague he mentioned the disparity…
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The 33
The story of the Chilean miners has been one of the most incredibly moving events I can remember. There’s something of the two-fingers-up-to-nature which is both exhilarating and troubling, and something of the deeply archetypal and transformative about the rescue… 33 Sliding, encased, through the bowels the earth thirty-three steel turds are evacuated into the…
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Alas, University, We Knew Thee Well
The announcement that there will be no cap on tuition fees for English universities made me very sad today. Granted, our country’s finances are in dire straits. But it seems hugely short-sighted to try to claw back that money by raising costs for students, and setting them off in life with huge amounts of debt.…
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Dirt Boundaries and Commonwealth Games: An Opportunity for Renewal
The furore over the state of the athletes’ accommodation at the forthcoming Commonwealth Games has focused largely on the issue of cleanliness. Putting the issues of security and hygiene aside for a moment – these are separate concerns that require a different reaction – I think the cleanliness issue is interesting in the way it…