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UK Culture Newswire Archive

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Could Khatami be Iran's Obama?

09-02-2009 22:47

You have an economy in shambles, increasing international isolation, the danger of further wars, an unpopular millenarian president who thinks God put him in office to reshape the world, and an alarmed public across the board. And you have a liberal challenger to the woeful status quo who is known for an ability to reach out to conservatives and a dislike of social polarization, who is wildly popular with youth, women and liberals, but who might attract even conservative votes. Sound familiar? I am talking about Iran.

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ETA bombs BAA HQ in Madrid

09-02-2009 13:02

A car bomb exploded in Madrid at 9am today near the offices of Ferrovial, owners of BAA. No one was injured. The Basque separatist organisation ETA has claimed responsibility.

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Pure rubbish: Christopher Booker prize

08-02-2009 16:53

Christopher Booker prize 2009 offered for producing clap-trap about climate change.

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ASA, Home Office, BBC, M&S & Oxfam support Virgin Mad Men

07-02-2009 17:48

ASA will not 'intervene' to stop the RKCR / Y&R ad campaign despite stating that 'Council sympathized with the concern that the ad may invite unwanted attention to female staff’. RKCR / Y&R have contracts with the UK Home Office for their anti Prostitution, Domestic Violence, Child Protection on the Internet and Anti Rape campaigns as well for the BBC, M&S and Oxfam!

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The conscience of a generation: "We Shall Overcome"

07-02-2009 17:41


She was the conscience of a generation and remains the conscience of every generation. Joan Baez lent courage to millions outraged by what is still euphemistically called 'US involvement' in Viet Nam, indeed, she carried aloft the banner of equality, peace and the achievement of both through activism.

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We need a crusade of popular social democracy

07-02-2009 16:15

My Lords, I, too, congratulate my dear and noble friend Lord Eatwell on initiating this debate and I also congratulate him on his speech. I start, as he did, with a quote.

"From time to time in human history there occur events of a truly seismic significance, events that mark a turning point between one epoch and the next, when one orthodoxy is overthrown and another takes its place ... There is a sense that we are now living through just such a time: barely a decade into the new millennium, barely 20 years since the end of the Cold War and barely 30 years since the triumph of neo-liberalism-that particular brand of free-market fundamentalism, extreme capitalism and excessive greed which became the economic orthodoxy of our time ... The global crisis ... has called into question the prevailing neo-liberal economic orthodoxy of the past 30 years-the orthodoxy that has underpinned the national and global regulatory frameworks that have so spectacularly failed to prevent the economic mayhem which has now been visited upon us".

Those words, said in the past week, came from a Labour Prime Minister-not ours, I regret, but Kevin Rudd, the Australian Prime Minister.

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National Squat Meetup. 14/15 March. Bristol Area

06-02-2009 18:23

national squat meetup
NATIONAL SQUAT MEET 2009 to be held in the Bristol Area, in March. Come get involved!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Photography Exhibition on Abandoned Spaces

06-02-2009 14:31

'Waiting Room' Photography Exhibition. Response to multi-million pound regeneration projects. Check out the taster pictures.

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Roads blocked by giant snowballs

06-02-2009 11:43

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/7872626.stm

Gritting teams in the Black Country were called away from the main routes to clear road blocks made out of giant snowballs by pranksters.



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If the Pope Changes His Mind…

05-02-2009 20:28

Does that mean he's imperfect? Or that God is imperfect? We've all probably addressed the issue of whether an omnipotent being can change its mind about something, but let's get down to Earth for a moment and address the issue of whether Catholics or anyone should give any respect or deference to a religious idol in the flesh who claims to be the spokesperson for God, but who, from generation to generation, and even within the same tenure, changes his mind on issues due to political and public pressure. In other words, the Pope is and should be treated only as the equivalent of a Prime Minister of a tiny little, but very influential, country tucked away in Rome. So, why do people give him so much credit where it's clearly not due?

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Affectionate racism?

05-02-2009 19:34

Having flicked on the TV over breakfast this morning, I was subjected to the somewhat absurd spectacle of BBC 1 controller Jay Hunt debating the meaning of the word "golliwog", and whether or not it's racist, with the morning news presenters.T he reason for this, of course, was the row over Carol Thatcher's sacking from The One Show for using the word to describe a black tennis player off-air. Hunt pulled out the dictionary definition, which was similar to this definition I just found online – "A doll fashioned in grotesque caricature of a Black male", so any argument for it not being racist was quickly put to bed (and if you want any further evidence, the fourth Google result for "golliwog" involves the BNP trying to argue that banning golliwog dolls is political correctness gone mad).

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Free film series at 56a Infoshop, South London

05-02-2009 15:25

Not only are FULL UNEMPLOYMENT cinema now using 56a Infoshop (in South London) for screenings, the Infoshop folks are about to start a monthly film thing too. Check the 56a site for news of 56a film shows.

Here is Feb's FULL UNEMPLOYMENT cinema details and also March and April.

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Misogynistic Hindu thugs get bolder

05-02-2009 15:09

On January 24th the little-known group Sri Ram Sena (The army of Lord Ram) attacked a number of women who were drinking alcohol in a bar in Mangalore: "The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Delhi says the attack - which was filmed and then broadcast on national television - has shocked many Indians. Television pictures showed the men chasing and beating up the panicking women - some wearing skirts. Some of the women, who tripped and fell, were kicked by the men."

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Christian Voice Loses ASA Case

05-02-2009 12:18

A week after the Advertising Standards Authority ruled in favour of the Atheist Bus Campaign adverts rather than the complainants (who included Christian Voice), they have stated that Christian Voice is no longer allowed to run adverts making unsubstantiated claims against the HPV vaccine, which protects young girls from cervical cancer.

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Serge Trifkovic, BNP Councillor, and Scientific Racialists to Discuss Preserving

05-02-2009 12:14

Among the slew of anti-Muslim screeds published in recenty years, one of the more prominent was The Sword of the Prophet, by Serge Trifkovic. Despite Trifokovic's dubious background as a former spokesman for Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic (although he also spoke against Slobodan Milsoevic), he was embraced by American conservatives  - paleo and neo - as yet another expert who dared to tell ``the truth'' about Muslims and Islams.

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Occupation of the opera house in Athens

05-02-2009 10:32

photo
the struggle never ends

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War on Bankers - Snowball fights theory and practice

04-02-2009 21:56

As someone who has never really been entranced by the internal combustion engine fad that has swept through the world in recent decades, I tend to walk most places. However, given the snow on the ground today, I, along with many others, was presented with a number of ethical and practical issues; namely, how to deal with snowballs.

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British orkers are missing the point

03-02-2009 20:29

An important rticle from Italy

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Chinese New Year at Lakeside Arts, University of Nottingham 2

02-02-2009 22:40

Chinese year of the Ox

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Chinese New Year at Lakeside Arts, University of Nottingham 1

02-02-2009 22:30

Chinese year of the Ox