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Top Stories – 27th March

by Douglas Johnson     March 27, 2009 at 8:55 am

LIBDEM DODGES GAG ORDER

Nationwide
Thousands to march for jobs on Saturday
Royal succession rules may be reformed
Met facing crisis after rape failures
UK teens among heaviest drinkers in EU

International
Pope ‘distorting condom science’
How the West lost its way in the East
Obama won’t back down
‘You have dishonoured family, please kill yourself’

DAILY BLOG REVIEW / by Douglas Johnson

Pickwick’s Papers - on a crisis in journalism.

Rupert’s Read - Is turning rainforests into charcoal to save the planet really evidence of a logical though process?

Andy Worthington – Binyam Mohamed was offered a plea bargain to stay silent on torture.

Two Doctors - All this talk about succession is a pointless distraction tactic.

New Direction - puts a case for state intervention for green energy.

StroppyBlog - Rowan Williams continues to talk himself out of a job.

… previous Netcasts

Top Stories and Blog Review – 10th February

by Douglas Johnson     February 10, 2009 at 10:37 am

THE $1.5 TRILLION STIMULUS

Nationwide
Brown seeks Obama-style bonus cap
Government may offer cash-back for scrap cars
MPs demand apologies from fallen bank bosses
Surge in sex abuse calls to children’s helpline

International
Polls open in Israel’s closely watched elections
Hadron Collider relaunch delayed
Republicans balk but Americans side with Obama
The Taliban in Pakistan are raising U.S. fears

DAILY BLOG REVIEW / by Douglas Johnson

Stumbling and Mumbling - Democracy and religion both appear to make people happy. Do the two have to be mutuallly exclusive?

Jennie - finds a rather good reason to bash the BBC.

Back Towards the Locus - does not like Obama’s inside-out underwear.

Charles Darwin’s Blog - prefers dinosaurs to the Tories.

Our Kingdom- Time for the taxpayers to make the rules on banks, says Tony Curzon-Price

Top Stories and Blog Review – Tuesday 13th Jan

by Douglas Johnson     January 13, 2009 at 10:27 am

Protesters Buy Third Runway Land

Nationwide

Funding Halted For Stem Cell Research.
Tories Back in Double Figure Poll Lead.
Army Must Confront Barrack Culture.
£10,000 Golden Handcuffs Offer for the Best Teachers.

International

Ban Ki-moon pleads for peace in Gaza.
Bush defends his record in office.
Obama Will Close Gitmo in First Week in Office.
French Intellectual Tries to Solve World Poverty.

DAILY BLOG REVIEW / by Douglas Johnson

The Lay Scientist - lays into spurious medical claims.

Poliblog Perspective - reviews online archives of British election material. Gave me almost as much a thrill as this.

James Hooper - deconstructs the Pro-Life.

Splintered Sunrise - on Unionism’s strange affinity with invaders.

The Daily (Maybe) - Israel has effectively banned Arab MPs from sitting in the Knesset. Even those who think Israel should exist. Hamas must be pleased.

New Direction - 76% of Mail readers have racist tendencies. ORLY?

Top Stories and Blog Review – 24th Dec

by Douglas Johnson     December 24, 2008 at 10:51 am

Forces Into Retreat

Nationwide
Millions stranded in trains fiasco
Flu ‘heading for nine-year high’
Recession deepens in the UK and US
Conservative treasurer admits non-disclosure

International
It’s the end of the line for S.U.V.s
Pope ‘spreading fear’ of homosexuality
‘Green’ jobs compete for stimulus aid
Katrina’s hidden race war

DAILY BLOG REVIEW / by Douglas Johnson

Our Kingdom - Does data protection inhibit basic rights of expression?

Wired - on RIAA’s latest attempt to choke the internet.

Scribo Ergo Sum - James thinks the Pope’s problems extends beyond homophobia into a more general misanthropy.

Huffington Post – on Obamania in Hawaii.

BlairWatch - Losing an election has only increased Sarah Palin’s capacity for self-delusion, it seems…

Top Stories and Blog Review – 23rd Dec

by Douglas Johnson     December 23, 2008 at 12:00 pm

29% Of Teachers: Teach Creationism

Nationwide
Counterterrorism chief under pressure to quit inquiry
Government buildings emit more CO2 than Kenya
Voters revolt over taxes, Labour polls drop
Britons stay at home over Christmas holiday

International
China to send warships after pirates
Plot to kill Bolivian president foiled
Clinton moves to widen role of State Dept.
India offers Pakistan proof of gunman’s letter

DAILY BLOG REVIEW / by Douglas Johnson

Tygerland - loves those Saudis so much.

Machine Gun Keyboard - The Internet Watch Foundation continue their particularly unpleasant expansion. All the way to Australia.

Adam Bienkov - Racial politics isn’t dead yet.

The Enemies of Reason - on Labour’s war with everyone but the rich.

Hagley Road to Ladywood - The Pope feels homosexuality is as great a threat to humanity as climate change. As does more or less the rest of the Vatican, too.

StroppyBlog - has a report on the day of action to free the Shministim.

Top Stories and Blog Review – 17th Dec

by Douglas Johnson     December 17, 2008 at 11:34 am

Under Poll Pressure

Nationwide
Brown faces Labour revolt on post plans
Family courts set to be opened up to media
Doctor guilty of Glasow car bomb attacks
Planning targets ‘creating bias’

International
US rates slashed to nearly zero
‘Thousands made slaves’ in Darfur
Explosives found at Paris department store
Sicilian mafia ‘decapitated’ by mass arrests

DAILY BLOG REVIEW / by Douglas Johnson

Back Towards the Locus - compares a terrible band with a terrible party.

Daily Kos - on participatory democracy in food activism.

Feministing - wonders if the internet is more important than sex.

Peter Cranie - provides another reason to reduce our dependence on oil.

Pickled Politics - Apparently, Anthony Browne didn’t mean it. Yeah…

StroppyBlog - Are we on the verge of seeing a renewed prudery in the media?

Top Stories and Blog Review – 16th Dec

by Douglas Johnson     December 16, 2008 at 11:28 am

Smith Cracks Down on Council Spying

Nationwide
Darling: UK facing severe downturn
Ministers apologise for misleading over police
50,000 jobs at risk in Royal Mail break-up
Iraqi sewed up mouth to avoid deportation

International
Arctic melt passes the point of no return
Shoe-hurling Iraqi becomes a folk hero
Britain adds 300 soldiers to support Afghan force
US rate cut towards zero expected

DAILY BLOG REVIEW / by Douglas Johnson

Green Ben’s Kemptown Blog - wants free school meals for all.

Two Doctors - doesn’t understand why anyone still uses Internet Explorer.

The Daily (Maybe) - reports on the recent HOPI conference.

James Grieves - Why do so many conservatives have such a deranged position on sex?

Peter Cranie - thinks we need more honesty about NHS service provision.

Obselete - on murderous tabloids.

BorisWatch - on why blogs are important.

Top Stories and Blog Review – 10th Dec

by Douglas Johnson     December 10, 2008 at 11:35 am

80% Approval Rating

Nationwide
Iraq withdrawal ‘begins in March’
Purnell: Benefit claimants ‘must do more’
Clegg: Freedom taking a battering under New Labour
Tesco to be world number two by 2012

International
New Deal: Business likes Obama plan
Funeral leads to more Greece mayhem
Writer poised to lead Canada’s Liberal Party
India identifies Mumbai attackers

DAILY BLOG REVIEW / by Douglas Johnson

The Daily (Maybe) - Why doesn’t the media promote best practise rather than simply squeal that sex is dangerous?

Back Towards the Locus - thinks an invasion of Zimbabwe wouldn’t work.

Earthpal - A few delayed journeys now are better than no journeys at all in the future.

Ten Percent - on the whitewashing of the de Menezes case.

Jennie – worries that the remit of the IWF is about to increase.

This is Zimbabwe - There is nothing for Zimbabwean’s to celebrate on human rights day.

Machine Gun Keyboard - Bart Simpson is now legallly a “person” in New South Wales.

Top Stories and Blog Review – 9th Dec

by Douglas Johnson     December 9, 2008 at 11:49 am

Profits Plunge at High St

Nationwide
Tories and Lib Dems to boycott Green inquiry
Baby P official fired without pay
Retail sales ‘fall still further’
Obama spending pledges boost FTSE and markets

International
America’s NY Times, LA Times in crisis
Bush hands out jobs at the last minute
Taliban ‘noose’ around Kabul
Alleged 9/11 plotters offer to confess at Guantánamo

DAILY BLOG REVIEW / by Douglas Johnson

Splintered Sunrise - thinks the reaction to the Karen Matthews case is overblown.

The Daily (Maybe) - rounds up posts on Plane Stupid. Are they becoming the Fathers 4 Justice of the environmental movement?

Socialist Unity - Why bother with bowdlerism?

Rhetorically Speaking - Why does Melanie Phillips not understand the disconnect between assaulting the minority rights of homosexuals and defending the minority rights of evangelicals?

Stroppyblog - mourns Oliver Postgate.

Bart Jones - Chavez is no saint, but not is he the monster depicted in the Western media.

DAILY BLOG REVIEW *EXTRA* / by Aaron

anticant’s arena – A brilliant round-up of the regressive stances taken by Ratzinger’s Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church here. Hard-line conservatism bordering intolerant fascism would be my take. Important.

Obsolete – The recent fury over the Virgin Killer album cover highlights the unchecked power of Internet Watch Foundation.

The Barnet Eye – Rog is amazed by the changes made in kiddies version of The Oxford dictionary. Are we really seeing a fledgling Newspeak via the famous tome?

Clairwil – The Karen Matthews incident has little or nothing to tell us about the benefits system as a whole.

Hagley Road to Ladywood – The government’s latest assault on the humble fag is to force it underground. Well, under the counter, anyway.

The Sun – Tabloid Lies – On The Scum’s coordinated assault on the Plane Stupid protesters.

Wot, yer still want more? Our Neil has a selection of links over at The Bleeding Heart Show.

Top Stories and Blog Review – 26th Nov

by Douglas Johnson     November 26, 2008 at 10:45 am

Tory lead cut in post-PBR poll

Nationwide
The ‘British Fritzl’ and his reign of terror
Revealed: Labour’s £37bn stealth spending cuts
UK: All Starbucks’ coffee to be Fairtrade
GM passes begging bowl around Europe

International
U.S. plans $800 billion in lending to ease crisis
Blasts shut Bangkok airport
World’s top marijuana producers identified
Record crowd for Obama inauguration?

DAILY BLOG REVIEW / by Douglas Johnson

The Daily (Maybe) - on the Venezualan elections.

Tory Troll - has essential viewing for all the Nerdistanis.

The Enemies of Reason - considers whether the Mail really cares about suicide. Answer: no.

Jess McCabe - doesn’t understand the concept of Web 2.0 celebrities. Neither do I.

Hagley Road to Ladywood - Why will repeating the behaviour which created a crisis help end it?

J. Arthur MacNumpty - on the fury of Anne Moffat.

Agnes Poirier - Could the French socialists collapse any more farcically?