fourth edition

The economic recession has claimed many victims. The first phase saw people losing jobs, companies going bankrupt and banks folding. Experts say that this first wave is over. Signs of economic growth are visible in the financial sectors. We are now living through the second phase: spending cuts have to be made. This is all [...]

“Denmark is losing its reputation for being a good world citizen.” – Naomi Klein
Danish police arrest 150 demonstrators as world leaders arrive at Copenhagen conference. Mainstream groups such as Friends of the Earth have been barred from the conference centre (“Every delegate from the international environmental campaign group arrived at the centre this morning to [...]

A few brief links:

Why not visit Pompeii from the comfort of your own home? The ruins of Pompeii are now available on Google Street View.
This is absolutely lovely: Flare, a wind-sensitive electronic dress. “As the wind gently caresses the dress or if you “blow” on the dandelions themselves, a pattern of lights will twinkle across [...]

.. are condemned to repeat it.
Or, in other words, try reading this news article about Switzerland banning minarets, replace the words “minaret” with “synagogue” and “Muslim” with “Jewish” and then ask yourself what it reminds you of? A simple semantic trick, but a very useful one.
Meanwhile, I have become slightly addicted to Galaxy Zoo. When [...]

Sitting here in dark, rainy Scotland does not feel so bad, when I look at the Danish Budget for 2010. Among all the talk about a new super-hospital and whatnot, the government is now going to offer non-Western immigrants up to £12,000 for giving up their legal residency and returning “home”. The Budget also includes [...]

Twenty years ago today my mother woke me up early. She was crying. Last time she woke me up crying, Olof Palme had just been assassinated. This time, though, my mother’s tears were not angry, horrified and sad tears. She was crying with joy. The Berlin Wall had fallen.
I went to school that day. My [...]

Last night the leader of the British National Party was part of the panel on a BBC politics programme. I was glad he got the chance to be on the panel. Last time I checked Britain was a democracy with free speech and I thought it just that the leader of the BNP got a [...]

You take approximately 750g of ripe elderberries (rinsed and de-stalked, natch), 200g of granulated sugar, two table spoons of lemon juice, two diced cooking apples and about 2 pints of water. Stick ‘em in a pan and boil until you’ve squeezed every last drop of goodness from the elderberries. This should take about ten minutes.
(Remember [...]

What happened to churches as places of sanctuary, Denmark? Was it really necessary to get combat-clad police to raid a church at 2am in the morning? Are leading politicians serious when they say “it was a lot more gentle to do the raid at night; imagine what a scene it would’ve caused by day” [...]

When I talked about independent bookshops and Glasgow, I mentioned that my neighbourhood has several excellent secondhand bookshops. This is my favourite: Voltaire & Rousseau just off Otago Street. Sometimes I even think it is my favourite bookshop in the entire universe, full stop.
As someone whose idea of a good time is digging through piles [...]