On suicide, depression and euthanasia
When the actor Robin Williams died recently – more specifically, killed himself – there was the usual outpouring of comments about suicide and the wider issue of depression. As ever, … Continue reading
Why I’m not getting a smartphone (for as long as possible)
One of the few irritations of an absolutely amazing two years on Edinburgh University’s Arab World Studies MSc has been the background pressure to get a smartphone. Or an iPad. … Continue reading
Rant warning: on capitalism, the Western media and different types of explosions
It is a commonplace which has, in a few days, spread from the leftist Twittersphere to the liberal media (hell, even Owen Jones is doing articles on it now) to … Continue reading
Trafford Centre greenwash
I was recently sent the event advertisement below with the request that it be publicised via a community group website I run. However, as it’s such a shameless attempt at … Continue reading
All for a good cause?
Over the years, my friends and I have dressed up as some pretty bizarre things – angels, nudes, corpses, squirrels, cows – to protest against or raise awareness of issues … Continue reading
Electricity prices keep rocketing – or do they?
Interesting letter from yesterday’s Sydney Morning Herald. Fuel prices are as much a hot topic in Aus as in the UK, although I guess here a certain amount goes on … Continue reading
John Lewis ditches settlement cosmetics
Excellent BDS news: British retailer John Lewis has announced that it will no longer be stocking Ahava Dead Sea products. For the news announcement, see the Independent Middle East Media … Continue reading
Eating local in Adelaide
OK, so I’m homesick and missing my girlfriends and my cats, but there are upsides to life in sunny (very, today, stupidly hot) Adelaide. One of them is the food … Continue reading
'Swishing' and stitching
A while ago, I wrote about the commercialisation and appropriation of clothes swaps parties, from homegrown opportunities for women to get together and use non-commercial ways to renew their wardrobes … Continue reading
'Cool! Andrew Bolt has slagged you off before you even get to Australia!'
…Sez husband, as we box up the contents of the house in preparation for a year Down Under… I wouldn’t have known Andrew Bolt from a hole in the ground … Continue reading
'Swishing' and swaps parties: home and away
Once upon a time, swapping used clothes was the preserve of the skint, the sensibly frugal or the eco-hippy. Now, even Louise Redknapp is doing it (or at least getting … Continue reading
Sarah Irving 