It’s a great story. Mild mannered, law-abiding lady in her forties – black lady in her forties – is too tired, after yet another hard shift as seamstress, to do as she’d done a hundred times before and give up … Read More »
Yesterday the Department for Work & Pensions, having failed to block a Freedom of Information request on the matter, grudgingly released data showing that between 2011 and 2014, 2380 employment support allowance (ESA) claimants died within two weeks of a work capability assessment declaring … Read More »
Anyone not yet got the message? “Old Labour is stuck in the past. That’s a serious charge in politics but look who’s making it. New Labour orthodoxy has it that Blair’s successes in 1997, 2001 and 2005 are down to the … Read More »
George Monbiot penned another fine Grauniad piece this week, this time on Jeremy Corbyn. So what have these in common: Corbyn’s leadership bid, Syriza, and Scotland’s Yes vote? Quite a lot, I’d say. One, they all tap and give focus … Read More »
Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination … Select only things that speak to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is nonexistent. Film Director, Jim Jarmusch When Motown … Read More »
My elation may be short lived and is in any case tempered by the sacrifice of Yanous Varoufakis, whose intelligence and dignity put our politicians to shame. But again Greece has shown courage in the face of crude threat and … Read More »
After his 1959 masterpiece, Kind of Blue, Miles Davis teamed with Gil Evans for the orchestral sound of Sketches of Spain and the Rodrigo piece, Concierto d’Aranquez. In one session Miles picked up that some of his hired classical musicians … Read More »
photo-essay here
For all I know Putin’s a nasty piece of work who eats cats and cheats at chess. And for all I know somebody in Washington really is sincere about bringing democracy to Ukraine. Fortunately, there’s a way of viewing the scary … Read More »
Urbane, articulate and well coiffured – a far cry from the bearded, ranting mediaevalist of secular nightmare – Al Jazeera presenter Mehdi Hasan is an ideal frontsman for Islam in the west. The other day he wrote in the Guardian … Read More »