Category: Politics
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“Now I am become death…” | The Jolly Roger
The work on piracy continues apace. One of the things I’ve been thinking about is the pirate emblem ‘The Jolly Roger.’ This skull and crossed bones, or swords, was hoisted by pirates as they approached vessels they were about to attack, as a sort of early warning / threat system. Crews who had turned mutinously…
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This is NOT Just About the Poor | Are Looters Pirates to be Celebrated?
I’ve been away for a couple of days, so haven’t posted again on the aftermath of the night of looting that gripped various locations in London, and then spread to other cities in the UK. But in the mean time I’ve faced some criticism for my previous post for a) appearing to back away from…
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You Shall Know the Truth… And the Truth Shall Keep You Bound
Been quiet here with end of term busyness and stuff, but as we come to the first Sunday in… well, around 150 years, where there’s not been a News of the World to buy, I wanted to offer some reflections on the phone-hacking scandal. It’s pretty much dominated the UK news for weeks now, and…
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Lament at Pentecost, the Benefits of Drink and the Scourge of Technology
Was invited to debate with Steve Chalke last night on the topic of ‘the Politics of Pentecost’ – which was designed to think about issues of multiculturalism and inclusion over the Pentecost festival. Steve gave a very interesting opening talk about this, which we then argued over afterwards, drawing in questions from the floor too.…
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Date Rape, The Slut Walk, and the Problem of Evolution (Plus Dolphin Sex)
Tricky ground here, so I hope you’ll bear with me. I’ve never wanted to shy away from what I feel needs thinking about, and I feel that a few stories have come together recently that warrant some comment. Firstly, the ‘Slut Walks’ began after uproar broke out following a Canadian policeman’s advice to a personal…