New StatesmanBritain's award-winning current affairs magazineDancing in the rain- August 14, 2008 There was something rawly sexual about this gaggle of half-drowned young people cavorting and hugging and splashing in the mud. And not in an obvious and cheap way.I have been in Edinburgh for over a fortnight now and am half way through the run of my latest stand up show, The Headmasters Son. Its going rather well this year, thanks for asking (oh you didnt), although I have just nearly crippled myself by trying to leap frog on to a high stool on stage, forgetting I am 41 years old and twatting.http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/richard-herring/2008/08/rain-half-mud-obvious-cheap A world system- August 14, 2008 Do you know what the system of this world is Tajudeen bin Tijani writes that the Quran claims to have the answerThose of us who are curious enough to find a "winning formula" for success in this world engage ourselves in all sorts of activities such as observation, investigation, evaluation and so on. This in turn leads to selecting from the options made available as a result of these activities attempted. It is definitely worth mentioning that these activities lead us to choose what "winning..http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-faith-column/2008/08/world-system-claims-humans Vivisection's missing millions- August 14, 2008 As many as 150 million animals could be used in laboratory experiments each year around the globe, according to the Dr Hadwen Trust for Humane Research and the BUAVFor the first time ever, a statistical analysis of global animal research figures has been produced and it suggests that a staggering 115 million animals could be used every year in laboratory experiments around the world. In fact the figure could be as high as 150 million animals, as the currently available data leaves so many...http://www.newstatesman.com/health/2008/08/animals-research-laboratory Bedside reading- August 14, 2008 Observations on the GideonsBibles in hotel rooms are a bit like hairdryers: unless you're searching for one, it's unlikely you'll even notice them. But that doesn't worry the Gideons International, the Nashville-based Christian group committed to getting them there. This year the group quietly marks the 100-year anniversary since the first Scripture was left in a hotel room. Since then, it has distributed nearly 1.3 billion Bibles, in 83 languages, worldwide. According to ...http://www.newstatesman.com/society/2008/08/hotel-gideons-bible-group Letting your hair down- August 14, 2008 Holidays can wreak havoc with even the tidiest locksI was in Poole, a lovely part of the world, despite the local library car park being a dogging hot spot. After a few days on the beach I looked in the mirror and there on top of my head was dried old thatch. All my life, I'd never had to bother with hair maintenance. As a teenager I'd put neat, and highly caustic, lemon juice on my hair to ...http://www.newstatesman.com/lifestyle/2008/08/hair-hot-water-head-sun A welcome coup- August 14, 2008 Observations on MauritaniaThree years ago this month, the Mauritanian army seized power from the long-term dictator Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya in a bloodless coup led by Colonel Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. On 6 August this year, Aziz, now promoted to general, told the president, Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, that he was relieved of his duties. This is not just another of the military coups that have plagued the poor desert country on ...http://www.newstatesman.com/society/2008/08/mauritania-coup-cheikh Out of the black stuff- August 14, 2008 Tara Hamilton-Miller finds Liverpool enjoying a renaissance from its status as Capital of CultureThe energy hit me as I arrived. The sun was shining on 2008's European Capital of Culture, the streets were packed and there was live music everywhere. Credit crunch, what credit crunch It was a Thursday afternoon but shoppers were struggling with bags as champagne corks popped at packed restaurants. This was not the Liverpool I remembered. Neoclassical architecture gleamed - someone has finally got.http://www.newstatesman.com/travel/2008/08/liverpool-beatles-culture Moodometer- August 14, 2008 We test the temperature of the nation this week Fresh attacks in China's Xinjiang Province leave 27 deadRepossessions in the UK have risen by 48 per cent since last yearStudy finds that British terminal cancer patients face postcode lottery over treatment UN-African Union helicopter comes under fire in SudanBiometric passports can be easily cloned, researcher warnsThames Water announces steep increases ...http://www.newstatesman.com/society/2008/08/nation-temperature-test-bills The feel of what's real- August 14, 2008 A drum'n'bass star saves this baton camp from being a dead lossMaestro BBC2Sue Perkins says that taking part in Maestro (Tuesdays, 9pm), the new reality show in which various "celebrities" attempt to learn how to conduct an orchestra, is: "The most exciting thing I've ever done!" What More exciting even than eating pig's head jelly with Giles Coren in The Supersizers Go . . . Surely not. Personally, my body tingles from head to toe at the very thought of a ...http://www.newstatesman.com/television/2008/08/dead-loss-maestro-bass-perkins Unearthing the past- August 14, 2008 The most recent wave of death threats came via email, after the publications of an article about a Spanish judge hearing testimonies in a genocide case For the staff of the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation (FAFG), death threats are a regular part of the job. Tasked with exhuming sites of massacres perpetrated by the military during Guatemala's 36-year civil war, the anthropologists play an indispensable role in their country's precarious transition towards democracy. In their...http://www.newstatesman.com/society/2008/08/fafg-guatemala-threats |