Comment - Columnists - Guest Contributors:
It was all so simple for the Monkey Wrench Gang. They set bulldozers alight and blew up dams in defence of the pristine wildernesses of the American West, and they told the Feds to go to hell. They swore a lot and drank a lot of beer. They existed only in the fearless imagination of Edward Abbey, but they were real enough t (Read More)
Huffington Post:
Reflection: On a very deep, core level we are a point of awareness in a universe of bliss and compassion. But we don't stay in paradise very long. Being awareness gives way to self awareness which in turn gives birth to personhood. We are now a self with the need for purpose and meaning, respect and value. Being awaren (Read More)
The Guardian:
The stripped-back approach to rock'n'roll inspired many bands during the noughties, but none were a match for Jack and MegThe cricket bat on the cover, along with utterances about cups of tea and the Queen, announced that the White Stripes were a long way from Motor City for their fourth album. They also seemed, at times, a (Read More)
The Guardian:
The web has given rise to a new breed of fashion guru. You no longer have to be a celebrity or model – just a fashion enthusiast happy to put yourself on the line, online. Kelly Bowerbank picks out 10 of 2009's cyber sagesWhat do Reese Witherspoon and Tavi, a self-proclaimed "tiny 13-year-old dork", have in common? They're (Read More)
guardian.co.uk Politics:
Most of the facts surrounding the Iraq war are generally known yet we all now have to go through it againWhy are we bothering with Sir John Chilcot's inquiry into the Iraq war, the one which opens its public hearings this morning? Why don't we just hang Tony Blair on piano wire right away – perhaps it could be done by Piers (Read More)
The Guardian:
President Sarkozy and Carla Bruni appear in unauthorised episode of US show that coined 'surrender monkey' phraseFirst it coined the insult "cheese-eating surrender monkeys" to describe the French. Now America's cult television series The Simpsons has taken a satirical shot at France's president, Nicolas Sarkozy, and his wi (Read More)
The Guardian:
Hollywood figures quit 'rip-off' church as Australian prime minister threatens parliamentary inquiry into its activitiesThe security at the red-brick and glass-walled horseshoe of the John Joseph Moakley courthouse on Boston's waterfront was unusually tight. Anybody who was not a member of the city's bar association was swe (Read More)
The Guardian:
African version of Spitting Image has delighted big audiences by ridiculing corrupt politiciansA rapping president describes himself as "a real bad dude"; a prime minister and vice-president fight over lavatories; and a set of parliamentarians suffer from a brain disease called "corruptophaelia".Welcome to Kenya, as seen an (Read More)
www.guardian.co.uk:
Call them 'twitchers' at your peril: how birdwatching has taken off in Britain. By Kate KellawayBirdwatching – when it is non-birdwatchers you are talking to – produces an almost uniform reaction: amused condescension, as if the sheer harmlessness of the activity were dangerous or put it beyond the pale as a subject. It's t (Read More)
observer.guardian.co.uk:
Some of today's comics are guilty not so much of being offensive, but of just not being clever, funny or flexible enough to do their jobs without being offensiveWhen did British comedians get so whiney? It's getting difficult to open a newspaper without coming across a comedian feeling "oppressed" by the "culture of fear", (Read More)
www.guardian.co.uk:
Film and biographies mark 250th anniversary of passionate 'Ode to Joy' poetHe is the "rebel from Arcadia", the author of the lyrics to the modern European anthem, Ode to Joy, and a passionate champion of free spirits. But for some time Germany seemed to forget all about the man who was arguably the country's most famous Rom (Read More)
The Guardian:
How did fur, once taboo, become so acceptable – desirable even – again? Elizabeth Day investigates an ethical dilemma that goes to the heart of the fashion industry – and meets the animal rights campaigner who refuses to be defeatedOn an otherwise unremarkable grey autumn day in London last month, a few hundred protesters t (Read More)
Times Online:
MYSPACE has defused a year-long row with independent record labels, allowing artists such as Arctic Monkeys, Basement Jaxx and Bjork to sell songs on the social networking site’s music service when it launches shortly in Britain. (Read More)