Practical advice time, folks: how do I find interesting films showing in London cinemas ( Read more... )

George Osborne supposedly used to regularly snort cocaine with a sex worker. Andy Coulson's NotW was on hand to damp down the story, hacking the escort's phone, attacking her personally, and printing an editorial sympathetic to Osborne. Hypocritical Tory saved by friends in high places, what's new ( Read more... )

It seems about time for me to throw some kind of a party. Late-night consultation with my housemate Cristina narrows us down to the middle of October, i.e ( Read more... )

Guardian:

Just as Tottenham residents in 1985 lambasted the media for scaremongering about protesters - the Daily Express suggested some had been trained in Russia - today's rioters might be surprised to read about "Twitter-organised chaos".

I love the idea of twitter as the new Soviet influence behind every event. It's not quite a perfect stand- ( Read more... )

I'm moving back to London in 2 weeks.

I'll be arriving on the July 4th. My birthday is on July 8th.

Combined, that's sufficient excuse for a gathering of londoners I love.

Conveniently, mirabehn and mirrorshard are already organizing a readthrough in Finsbury Park on Sunday 10th. I'm going to hijack it ( Read more... )

In less wanky news...
I'll be in London next week, Thursday to Sunday. Then off to Bristol for a couple of days.

Let me know if there are things I should be going to!

[warning: 600 words of indulgent waffle on identity politics ( Read more... )

Azerbaijan has banned wearing hijabs in schools.
In a move some say is designed to bring the secular predominantly Muslim country closer to Europe, Azerbaijan follows a number of other countries in banning religious head scarves in schools. It also follows the closure of several mosques late last year under a new law on religion.
Don't you feel ( Read more... )

Does the cost of policing affect what laws are enforced ( Read more... )

I've lately been poking around in the UN Comtrade database. This records international trade in detail that is mind-boggling, and I suspect not entirely reliable. So today I learned that:

• The UAE spent half a billion dollars on swords in the space of 2 years. How many swords does that buy you?
  
  
• The UK is the world's leading importer of cufflinks, ( Read more... )