New StatesmanBritain's award-winning current affairs magazineWhy China is frightened of horses- August 7, 2008 The Communist Party doesn't believe in anything - not in God, nor ghosts, nor spirits - so why are they so afraid of a picture As Beijing prepared for the Olympics, I set off for Rongwu, in the Chinese province of Qinghai, where last spring's Tibetan uprising started. The roadblocks which had stopped journalists from reporting events have been dismantled, and we evaded the security forces by never staying more than one night in the same place. The police and soldiers may have withdrawn, but we..http://www.newstatesman.com/asia/2008/08/dalai-lama-china-chinese Britain's unfair treaty- August 7, 2008 Observations on extraditionIt now seems very likely that Gary McKinnon, the north London UFO enthusiast and conspiracy theorist, will be extradited to the United States to face charges that he hacked into Nasa and military computers. The Law Lords ruled on 30 July that earlier American attempts to press a plea bargain from their suspect had been legal, leaving his defence team with no further recourse to the UK courts. Lawyers are ...http://www.newstatesman.com/society/2008/08/extradition-treaty-law-howeses The politics of love- August 7, 2008 After a long hiatus, Randy Newman has produced an album of beauty and angerWhen Randy Newman released the single "A Few Words in Defence of Our Country" last year, it was something of an event, and not just because it heralded Harps and Angels, the first studio album by the Los Angeles songwriter in nearly a decade. The song was a spoken-word polemic about Bush-era America set to a nostalgic, old-time country waltz. The lyrics caught the imagination of liberal America to the ...http://www.newstatesman.com/north-america/2008/08/randy-newman-album-song-angels In a league of their own- August 7, 2008 The testing regime in schools does pupils no goodAugust, the month when children aren't at school, is when the English spend most time talking about education, as results of GCSEs, A-levels and Key Stage 2 Sats (tests for 11-year-olds) are published. Alongside the stories about the nerdy geniuses who get 15 A-levels, newspapers argue about whether standards are rising or falling. This year, the bungled administration of Sats by a US-based company has added an extra twist. Otherwise, ...http://www.newstatesman.com/society/2008/08/review-sats-children-standards Behind the staffroom door- August 7, 2008 Themes of platonic and unrequited love keep a flawed revival relevantUnder the Blue SkyDuke of York's, London WC2When I was a boy at prep school, I used to look through the window of the teachers' common room and imagine the affairs they were all having. As an adult, I had a brilliant idea how to extend the Grange Hill franchise: whenever it was shown there would be a post-watershed, adult version concentrating on the teachers. Parents and children could fill in one another over the school run..http://www.newstatesman.com/arts-and-culture/2008/08/play-love-london-platonic-blue Brand me!- August 7, 2008 From Michelle Obama and David Miliband to top athletes and business people, successful 21st-century figures appear to have the knack of branding themselves. Should we be following their leadThe ascent of Michelle Obama represents the triumph of the power of personal branding. America's aspiring first lady embodies the principles of image management in the modern age. Don't confuse people with mixed messages. Present a clean, clear image. Adopt visual catchphrases: the recognisable hair, the...http://www.newstatesman.com/north-america/2008/08/personal-branding-obama RZA- August 7, 2008 RZA is an American music producer, rapper and actor, best known as a member of the Wu-Tang Clan. He also has a passion for chess, as is clear from his new website, http:www.wuchess.com. 1 Does art make a difference Out of six billion people, only a million are artists. They are the ones that inspire the world. Without art we might as well be cavemen. 2 Should politics and art mix I dont see those mix. Artistic people are rare. Hitler tried to destroy art and books, as he knew they...http://www.newstatesman.com/art/2008/08/rza-art-american-clear-chess Interview: Clara Osagiede- August 7, 2008 The cleaner who convinced London's Tory mayor of the justice of her causeClara Osagiede bursts into the room flapping a piece of paper, her dark eyes flashing. "We're basically being paid the same as we were 16 years ago!" she says, brandishing the yellowing payslip. "The situation is outrageous." Two mobile phones continuously interrupt her. This is not surprising, given that she is trying to live two lives. By day, she volunteers for the national transport union RMT, making speeches,...http://www.newstatesman.com/uk-politics/2008/08/clara-london-cleaners-wage Blowing in the wind- August 7, 2008 Driving a convertible can be a challenge for the coiffuredA convertible car is regarded as super-luxe and highly covetable. And, indeed, it is. Not to mention very lovely when it's boiling hot (but only when you're going at speed, otherwise you fry). This weekend in London, driving not more than six miles, I spotted three separate Bentley convertibles. Evidently, at 130K a pop, someone's not feeling the pinch. We have a convertible. It's a Triumph Herald 1600 in Wedgwood ...http://www.newstatesman.com/lifestyle/2008/08/driving-convertible-hair-car Frailty in Sarajevo- August 7, 2008 The Lazarus ProjectAleksandar Hemon Picador, 292pp, 14.99The Cellist of SarajevoSteven Galloway Atlantic Books, 278pp, 12.99Monuments describe a city, and Sarajevo has many: tall buildings pockmarked with shells, including the old office of Oslobo djenje, the city's newspaper. There are bridges dividing the city, such as the one where a sniper shot down two young women, a Serb and a Bosnian, plunging the city into war, and the Latin Bridge, where Gavrilo Princip shot Archduke Franz Ferdinand....http://www.newstatesman.com/books/2008/08/sarajevo-hemon-lazarus-city |