Blair, torture and his Christian values

Sun Feb 8, 2009 12:39 PM EST

Below is an extract from Andrew Rawnsley's full article on the moral failure of Blair's leadership. It is excellent and needs reading. I can never come to use his first or rather Christian name "Tony".

Continue reading this entry ...

iraq, guantanamo, politics, blair, torture, moral-values, christian-values

Guantanamo is closed, but don't worry, rendition will continue

Mon Feb 2, 2009 6:54 AM EST

Continue reading this entry ...

guantanamo, obama, world-news, rendition, anti-terror-rendition

Living on thin ice

Seeded on Sun Jan 25, 2009 9:45 AM EST (Guardian Unlimited)

I'm putting this under science. I wish it were making headlines under ENVIRONMENT but I can't find the category. I wish the politicians were losing sleep over it but I fear the only sleep they will lose is if they don't grab the oil and mineral resources first.

global-warming, environment, science, arctic, ice-shelf, polar-regions

Afghanistan's 'Guantanamo' poses new prison problem for Barack Obama

Seeded on Sat Jan 24, 2009 5:05 PM EST (Telegraph)

Guantanamo is dead long live Bagram. The problem is not solved. The principle of arresting people anywhere in the world and spiriting them away to a prison and keeping them incommunicado without trial or resource to legal aid or without being charged is monstrous.

afghanistan, guantanamo, taliban, world-news, al-qaeda, bagram

'Rogue trader' describes 7/7 bombings as 'most profitable day' of his career

Seeded on Fri Jan 23, 2009 2:47 AM EST (Telegraph)

The utter immorality of traders is only equalled by that of bankers.

business, markets, bankers, profits, traders

Somalia. Pirates. The Royal Navy's HMS Pinafore to the rescue.

Sun Apr 13, 2008 2:58 AM EDT

THIS IS FROM TODAY'S TIMES WEBSITE. Pirates can claim UK asylum Marie Woolf, Whitehall Editor

Continue reading this entry ...

somalia, pirates, royal-navy, world-news, gordon-brown, ponant, french-commandos

Save the old South Vietnamese Military Cemetery.

Sat Apr 12, 2008 3:56 AM EDT

In 1967 I visited the South Vietnamese War Memorial and cemetery north east of Saigon. I was driving a young Vietnamese woman, PB, who was originally from North Vietnam.

Continue reading this entry ...

history, vietnam-war, south-vietnam, war-memorial, vietcong, military-cemetery, arvn

Tribal gangs rule the streets of England's towns.

Fri Apr 11, 2008 2:59 AM EDT

Under the best of circumstances children need to be set a good example. They should not be molly coddled as the new middle classes seem to be doing. They should not be spoilt either. On the other hand anything bordering on real violence should be stamped out without pity.

Continue reading this entry ...

violence, youth, education, crime, society, gangs, upbringing

What is beauty & why should women really bother?

Wed Apr 9, 2008 5:51 AM EDT

From The Times April 9, 2008 Looks aren't everything? Don't kid yourself Even in this postfeminist world, women are judged by their appearance. Is this the price they pay for equality?

Continue reading this entry ...

fashion, style, beauty, shakira, audrey-hepburn

An uncensored photo of my grandmother at the beach.

Sun Mar 30, 2008 4:56 AM EDT

Yesterday I clicked on Technorati to verify that a recent post on my blog had been pinged. To my shock I found the word Forbidden plus the number 403. Now what in the world did that mean? In consternation I returned to my blog to see what I had written.

Continue reading this entry ...

fashion, culture, society, censorship, morality, carla-bruni, miss-france, valerie-begue, first-lady-of-france

Miss France is not the First Lady of France

Sat Mar 29, 2008 5:52 AM EDT

Both women may wear hats but Madame Génévieve de Fontenoy is not the Queen of England.

Continue reading this entry ...

entertainment, customs, culture, queen-elizabeth, society, habits, sarkozy, carla-bruni, miss-france, entente-cordiale

Gad, Sir, the fellow's not even a member.

Sat Mar 29, 2008 5:51 AM EDT

Wednesday, February 27, 2008 Gad, Sir, the fellow's not even a member. Notes from an expat, Orléans Whilst reading an obituary on the Daily Telegraph website I came across the following:

Continue reading this entry ...

golf, war, club, odd-news, raf, golf-club, battle-of-britain, club-house

The Church of Scientology. Tom Cruise & his friend Nicholas Sarkozy

Wed Feb 20, 2008 11:35 AM EST

The popularity ranking of the French President Nicholas Sarkozy has fallen to a low of 36% favourable to him. This is I think a new record for a relatively newly elected president. Apart from the ever present cost of living it has a lot to do with his lifestyle:

Continue reading this entry ...

france, politics, tom-cruise, sarkozy, french-politics, church-of-scientology, sects