Apologies

I have exams and essay deadlines looming + a part-time job to show my face at a couple of times a week, all of which = very little free time. I'm trying to increase my productivity by weening myself off Google Reader and the like, so there won't be much action on here for the next couple of months. And if there is a sudden flurry, then please send me an email saying DO SOME WORK AND STOP FAFFING. Thanks.

Enough of the game

Matthew Taylor (who used to be Chief Advisor on Political Strategy for Tony Blair) has some wise words about 'email-gate' (dear god) on his blog, including these:

There is a documented tendency in political journalism over the last two decades to focus ever more on the political game at the expense of exploring the issues behind the contest for power. Away from the froth there are important debates emerging between the centre left and right, not just on economic policy but on the role of the state, family policy and Britain’s relationship with Europe. Many other issues – most obviously climate change - are being suppressed as neither of the main parties wants to confront us with the full implications of an adequate response.

Somehow, all of us who want the next election to be a chance to open up rather than close down the issues, who want the choice we focus on to be about policy options not brand propositions, need to find ways of making this happen. Maybe we had to get to the absolute nadir before we could demand a different frame for our political choices.

Peter Singer would be proud

From PostSecret:

A national disgrace

It sure is:
"This is Britain in the spring of 2009. An estimated 47,000 women are raped in this country every year. Between 75% and 95% of them will never report their attack. Of those who do, only a quarter make it to court, and there face an abject conviction rate of 6.5%. By my most conservative calculations, this results in 191 of those 47,000 ever seeing justice done."
Read the full article here.

Rwanda genocide anniversary

Forwarded by my IR professor: "On the 15th anniversary of the start of the genocide, US UN Ambassador Susan Rice delivers a speech that, for once, does justice to its subject." I agree.

Spot on

David Mitchell column in The Observer. "The BBC is an institution of genius, one of the great achievements of the 20th century." YES. BBC-haters make me really angry. As do these continuous spasms of hypocritical faux-moral outrage. Latest: political-hacks-exchanging-scurrilous-gossip shocker! See the News of the World, tut-tutting about the 'vicious and vile' 'sick stories' while reprinting them to sell more papers. Ugh.

Will Hutton on why we should ditch the green movement...

...in order to save the environment. I don't agree with everything in this article, but I definitely agree with this: "The best arguments to kill the "so-what" factor over climate change are not scary tales from a far-distant future. It is to argue for investment in energy efficiency because it saves cash and makes strategic sense."

Newswipe with Charlie Brooker

I was unconvinced by the first episode, but Episode 2 has got me fully on board...

Update: Episode 2 is not on IPlayer any longer, but you can find it on Youtube here (cut up into 3 bits). Episode 3 is worth a watch too, although I don't think Charlie manages to convey exactly how loopy the world of US news broadcasting really is - Glenn Beck is just the tip of the iceberg. Good film by Adam Curtis.

Best April Fool so far

I was wondering if, amongst all the G20 hullaballo, the broadsheets would give time/space to the traditional April Fool. They have, and thankfully the Guardian has come up with a cracker.