His take on the recent gaff by the British Conservative government. Filed under: Atheism, Religion Tagged: Religion, Tim Minchin, UK
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Dead Wild Roses: Another Reason To Love Tim Minchin
His take on the recent gaff by the British Conservative government. Filed under: Atheism, Religion Tagged: Religion, Tim Minchin, UK
Continue readingArt Threat: VoiceOver documentary reframes the 2011 London riots
VoiceOver | Riots Reframed (2013) is Fahim Alam’s first film, shot in the aftermath of the 2011 riots in London and other UK cities, while Alam was under conditional release and forced to wear an ankle tag after being arrested during a protest. The film mixes archival, CCTV, and cell
Continue readingTerahertz: You can’t get experience if you don’t have a job…
There was a PSA on TV in Canada in the 90s, which looped “you can’t get a job if you don’t have experience… you can’t get experience if you don’t have a job.” That about sums up what’s been flipping through my head for the past six months living in
Continue readingTerahertz: UK has “Systemic Discrimination” against freethinkers
Indi at Canadian Atheist brought the IHEU’s 2013 Freedom of Thought Report to my attention and has already done a brilliant summary of the issues facing Canada. Very shortly he’ll also be posting a commentary on the broader report. I encourage you to download and read the entire 244 page
Continue readingTerahertz: It’s time for elected local education authorities in Britain
There is a lot to learn coming from Canada about the complicated education system serving England and Wales. Differences abound from the widespread use of uniforms, to near-universal behavioural challenges, to the fact students don’t earn diplomas but are expected to either take the right classes to go to college
Continue readingTerahertz: Today’s required readings on revolution
Following his manifesto for a revolution, Russell Brand received ample praise and criticism, which he explores in a piece in yesterday’s Guardian. I think he makes a lot of good points in there, key among them is an admission of his own potential faults and biases: One thing I’ve learned
Continue readingLeft Over: The Revolution will Start, With or Without Me….
Russell Brand’s Epic Interview With BBC’s Jeremy Paxman Just Might Start A Revolution (VIDEO) The Huffington Post | By Ryan GrenoblePosted: 10/25/2013 4:11 pm EDT Many have seen Russel Brand’s remarkable interview with Jeremy Paxman, either on TV or YouTube..if not please go to the HuffPo article cited here and see it..the best ten
Continue readingTerahertz: Same old politics or revolution?
Progressives are buzzing after British comedian-turned-revolutionary Russell Brand released his revolutionary manifesto as guest editor of the latest issue of New Statesman and went on an anti-capitalist rant when interviewed by Jeremy Paxman on BBC Newsnight. The editorial is worth reading in its entirety. It wanders quite a bit but
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: He Called Himself a Journalist – UPDATED
The Independent got a black eye today from a former editor who shamelessly confessed to being an authoritarian. Blackhurst, in explaining why he would never have allowed his newspaper to publish any of the documents from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, actually wrote: If the security services insist something is contrary
Continue readingTerahertz: Brits and the Devil
Since moving to England, I haven’t been able to participate in Angus Reid surveys (their site only allows Canadian IPs to participate), so instead I’ve been getting my polling participation fix through YouGov. The most recent one I completed was just released and is part of a UK-USA comparison of
Continue readingTerahertz: UK Cons aim to consolidate angry old people vote
“The trouble with kids these days…” is not exactly the way I would have expected one of Britain’s youngest Prime Ministers in recent history would launch his latest policy announcement at the recent Conservative Party Conference. To David Cameron’s credit he’s not a cranky old man shouting at the kids
Continue readingTerahertz: Closure of Muslim Free School highlights folly of government policy
A bit of welcome news came today that British government inspectors have forced the temporary closure of an Islamic free school over “health and safety issues.” The school promises to re-open soon. Over the past few years, the British government has been increasingly trying to solve its broken education system
Continue readingTerahertz: Political Atheists
The Huffington Post has a piece comparing open atheists in government in the USA with the UK. They note that only two American legislators have only ever really professed non-belief: Pete Stark and Barney Frank (the latter admitting it after leaving politics). Meanwhile, the current deputy Prime Minister of the
Continue readingTerahertz: A quick guide to UK Politics for Canadians
I follow politics pretty closely and among the first things I did upon arriving here was register myself and Sonia to vote (I’m a citizen through descent and Commonwealth citizens living in the UK have a vote because colonialism). So here’s a rough translation of UK politics for Canadians (probably
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Open letter to Cameron from European editors: Miranda’s detention threat to freedom of the press
Editors of a number of northern European newspapers have written an open letter to British PM David Cameron stating their concerns arising from the detention of David Miranda – partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald. The writers express concern about the “harassment” of “the paper and individuals associated with it.”
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Marriage equality becomes law in England and Wales
Marriage equality became law in England and Wales after Queen Elizabeth granted Royal Assent to the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill last Wednesday. The post Marriage equality becomes law in England and Wales appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Social Media Intelligence
I’m so sick of the government reading all of my Facebook status updates, and never liking any of them. (Seen on a graphic going around Facebook) SOCMINT “It had been used, in one case, to arrest ten people who threatened to protest in front of UK Prime Minister David Cameron
Continue readingThings Are Good: Green Roofs Assist in Flood Prevention
Yesterday Toronto got more rain in two hours than it normally does in a month which meant some serious flooding happened. This got me thinking of a program that Toronto (alleged crackhead) Mayor (busted for DUI) Rob (loves pollution) Ford (reads while driving) cancelled. The cancelled program promoted green roofs
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