Category: Politics
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Beating the Bounds: Pussy Riot and Orthodox Pirate Practice
Been meaning to write something on Pussy Riot for a while now. I’ve been reflecting on how their protest resonates with the ancient practice of ‘beating the bounds.’ Traditionally, each year, members of a parish would march around the parish boundary, often singing hymns and songs. The ritual served two purposes. Firstly, it passed on…
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A Very Modern Decathlon: Who Would Win the ‘Whole Person’ Olympic Gold?
One of the things I liked about Tom Wolfe’s novel I Am Charlotte Simmons is the journey that one of the main characters, Jojo, takes, from ‘dumb college jock’ to athletic student of philosophy. It’s an arc that’s not that uncommon: the pursuit of excellence in sport requires careful reflection on the self; top…
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The End of ACTA – European Parliament Seeing Sense on Copyright / DRM
Good news today: the European Parliament has voted down the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) – an act which has some parallels with the SOPA / PIPA legislation that was proposed in the US. ACTA sought to tighten up rules on intellectual property, but proposed to do so in ways that would have been highly…
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Gifts, Not Exchanges
Interesting debate going on about charitable giving in the UK. The recent coalition government’s budget set a cap on the amount of money that people can give and get tax relief for…and charities have responded with concerns that this will reduce the amount of money they receive. In a weird parallel story, a supermarket have…
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Forgive me, but I thought it was the ‘Labour’ party
Just a quick comment on the furore surrounding the potential strike by tanker drivers, and the government’s response on this… Seems to me that they have deliberately kicked sand in the air on this one in order to distract from the more serious news about shenanigans surrounding Tory party funding and access to the Prime Minister.…
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Harry Potter and the Importance of Transgression
Apologies (really, I’m saying sorry? For what?!) for not posting much recently. It’s not that I’ve had nothing to say…just not much to say in public right now. Lots of writing getting done, so watch this space (if you like watching space.) Anyways, something I’ve been pondering the last couple of days: the importance of…