New StatesmanBritain's award-winning current affairs magazineParticipatory Democracy: The Way Forward- August 6, 2008 An article on a new book on Democracy sparked some real discussion and debateMy piece on Paul Ginsborg's book Democracy sparked some great comments on the blog but also some suggestions for further reading. Thanks to Michael MacPherson for recommending the Citizens' Initiative and Referendum and pointing out Michael Wills's parliamentary statement last month. He also refers to a dissenting voice in Red Pepper magazine. Daniel Taghioff links to a good Wikipedia entry ...http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/martin-bright/2008/08/democracy-sparked-book Dangerous times for Labour- August 6, 2008 The minimum wage, a better deal for working families, 10 years of economic stability were not an accident, argues ex-minister Barbara Roche - it's time to fightback on Labour's recordWhat a difference a year makes. Last summer the Tories were in complete disarray over education. David Cameron was, quite rightly, under fire for a wholesale failure of policy. Were the Conservatives in favour of abolishing grammar schools or extending them as a response to local campaigns Cameron and his...http://www.newstatesman.com/uk-politics/2008/08/labour-party-working-deal Disabled on Big Brother- August 5, 2008 One of the earliest of my recruits on Weakest Link was a blind radio producer from Ayrshire called Michael Hughes. He is now nine weeks into his stay in the Big Brother houseIn 2004, while I was working as a researcher on The Weakest Link, the BBC set itself a target that one in fifty of the contestants on its quiz shows should be disabled. This low figure suggested a box-ticking exercise but it was certainly better than nothing. I played a role in persuading potential contestants that this...http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/james-medhurst/2008/08/disabled-brother-called An evangelical atheist- August 5, 2008 Dawkins, in choosing a form of firebrand fundamentalist atheism over the discipline science, is no longer the champion of reason but rather a kind of evangelical against religionRichard Dawkins is at it again - trying to wean the non-converted away from religion this time in his examination of The Genius of Charles Darwin, on Channel 4. In 2006, his brutal and beautifully convincing exegesis The God Delusion tormented those whom Dawkins described as holding "beliefs that flatly contradict...http://www.newstatesman.com/religion/2008/08/dawkins-evangelical-science Trots Get the Boot from City Hall- August 5, 2008 Ken Livingstone's Socialist Action cronies have finally left City Hall, but not without fat cat pay-offsI return from holiday to the sight of John Ross, Ken Livingstone's bonkers economics adviser staring out at me from the front page of the Evening Standard. Apparently this champion of the working man has been given a six-figure pay-off, which should buy him a nice dacha somewhere in his beloved Russia. Or maybe he will donate it to charity. It seems the small coterie of Trotskyists that ...http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/martin-bright/2008/08/city-hall-livingstone The death of Solzhenitsyn- August 5, 2008 The Ukrainian novelist Andrey Kurkov on how the author of the Gulag Archipelago, who related the terrible truth about Soviet totalitarianism, outlived his era to become something of a living monument to Russia's pastOn the death of such figures as Solzhenitsyn, the phrase end of an era is bound to come up, but Alexander Isaevich outlived his era and never truly accepted the new post-soviet epoch. Having sincerely dedicated his life to a desperate struggle against communism, in 1991 Solzhenitsyn.http://www.newstatesman.com/europe/2008/08/soviet-solzhenitsyn-era-russia More popular than Enver Hoxha- August 5, 2008 The worldwide prices of cocaine have not fluctuated much, nor, I am told, has product quality varied - but then there are lies, damn lies and Colombian statistics...One has to be fair to everyone, I feel. Even to statisticians. Take, for instance, the old saying lies, damned lies and statistics - in my view it's much too sweeping and condemnatory. I suggest it be modified from now on to lies, damned lies and Colombian statistics. That would point the finger in the right direction, without...http://www.newstatesman.com/south-america/2008/08/colombia-lies-cocaine UN backs Rape Crisis- August 5, 2008 The Women's Resource Centre's Darlene Corry welcomes international recognition, at UN level, that the financial situation facing Rape Crisis centres is unacceptableThe United Nations has recently made its judgement on how well (or not) the UK Government is eliminating discrimination against women and promoting womens equality. The CEDAW committee has been critical of the UK on a number of counts. These include:The funding crisis facing womens organisations working on violence against womenThe..http://www.newstatesman.com/uk-politics/2008/08/rape-crisis-centres-women Will they tolerate me if I wear shorts- August 5, 2008 Becer Gul gives her views on the current government in Turkey, which some claim has an hidden Islamic agenda. Ever since Ataturk became the leader of Turkey and established a secular country, the Alevi people were able to speak out openly and say: Yes we are Alevis. We have our own practices and, indeed, we pay taxes like everyone else. For years we have been asking for more rights but the government just ignored us. However, as a lot of Alevis began to migrate to European countries, they ...http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-faith-column/2008/08/turkey-alevi-rights-government Evil twin- August 5, 2008 Poor Gordon - perhaps soon to be replaced by one or another Miliband. Theyre twins. What happens if we get the evil twin Ive watched enough Hammer horror films to know this is surely a riskSomething of an eventful fortnight behind me. The weekend before last I had to pick up the Austrian State Prize for European Literature. This involved flying to Salzburg cue much head twitching and feeble attempts at self-hypnosis in various bits of Gatwick. Eventually my imagination simply became so...http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/a-l-kennedy/2008/08/evil-twin-horror-films-cake |