Dr. Brian May,
CBE, PhD
FRAS, recently
retired Chancellor of
LJMU, winner of
The RPS' Saxby Award for achievements in the field of stereoscopic photography, distinguished
author,
lecturer,
film producer,
entrepreneur, and
occasional musician has been quite busy lately
trying to prevent a sweeping cull of the British badger population. His efforts have been surprisingly successful. The overwhelming response to
his government petition led
to a parliamentary debate, where MPs overwhelmingly rejected the cull in a non-binding vote. The government has attempted to press forward with the cull, but has faced
significant resistance from scientists, naturalists, and concerned citizens that have led to
implementation delays. The movement recently got the attention of
Weebl, who has
recorded a rough cut of a new song with Brian May called
"Save the Badger Badger Badger" which was
recently used in a flash mob protest. The final version will include
additional vocals by
Brian Blessed.
posted by markkraft
on May 6, 2013 -
25 comments
Mau Mau to Midnapore: Confronting the brutality of empire There are certainly some Britons, including academics, journalists and human rights lawyers, who are aware of the realities of colonialism. However, in the society as a whole and in the media in the UK there are still far too many who seem strangely reluctant, even after so many decades after the end of the British empire, to come to terms with the true nature of colonialism or learn from the perspective of former subjects who had rebelled against it.
posted by infini
on May 6, 2013 -
17 comments
This St. George's Day sees news of
the next attempt to redress Britain's superhero shortage:
Englishman, who looks like Iron Man crossed with a mediaeval crusader.
The series promises “brand new, quintessentially English characters, including Greenbelt and Dry Stone Wall”.
[more inside]
posted by acb
on Apr 23, 2013 -
119 comments
The Story of the Turban (slyt) is a 38 minute documentary on the history of the Sikh community in 20th century Britain as embodied by the struggle to be allowed to wear the turban in all walks of life.
posted by salishsea
on Apr 3, 2013 -
17 comments
Legacies of British Slave-ownership , which went live on February 27, 2013, tracks what became of the twenty million pounds set aside to compensate British slave owners in the
Act for the Abolition of Slavery throughout the British Colonies (1833). Users have a variety of search options that can yield results according to individuals, businesses, countries, and so on. The site tracks compensated owners through their contributions to the arts, politics, entrepreneurship, and governance; some owners have extensive biographical notes. A number of the site's revelations about slave-owning families and the extent of their compensation have already attracted
comment.
[more inside]
posted by thomas j wise
on Feb 27, 2013 -
26 comments
Scarfolk is a town in North West England that did not progress beyond 1979. Instead, the entire decade of the 1970s loops ad infinitum. Here in Scarfolk, pagan rituals blend seamlessly with science; hauntology is a compulsory subject at school, and everyone must be in bed by 8pm because they are perpetually running a slight fever. "Visit Scarfolk today. Our number one priority is keeping rabies at bay." Join their
Learn To Swim program, and enjoy the song that won 2nd place in the 1974 Scarfolk Harvest Festival,
Dormin Slowly Died With The Radio On.
posted by Jimbob
on Feb 18, 2013 -
58 comments
The British and their bizarre view of American. "So, while from afar America may seem, to the Briton, a bewildering and Brobdingnagian phenomenon, close up and personal, the Americans themselves take on the more familiar Lilliputian lineaments of his own countrymen and women." Will Self takes a look at the ambivalent relationship the British has with the USA.
posted by zoo
on Jan 6, 2013 -
125 comments
It took 15 years, but, as the Guardian reports, the feud between writers Salman Rushdie and John le Carre
is at an end.
posted by subdee
on Nov 14, 2012 -
37 comments
How Things Fell Apart, By Chinua Achebe - 'In an excerpt from his long-awaited memoir, the inventor of the post-colonial African novel in English discusses his origins as a writer and the seeds of revolt against the British Empire.'
I can say that my whole artistic career was probably sparked by this tension between the Christian religion of my parents, which we followed in our home, and the retreating, older religion of my ancestors, which fortunately for me was still active outside my home. I still had access to a number of relatives who had not converted to Christianity and were called heathens by the new converts. When my parents were not watching I would often sneak off in the evenings to visit some of these relatives.
[more inside]
posted by the man of twists and turns
on Oct 25, 2012 -
10 comments
The story of British art From the earliest evocative stone structures at Skara Brae and Stonehenge to the disturbing 20th-century portraits by Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud, the art inspired by the British isles tells a truly spectacular story. Through painting, sculpture, architecture and much more, immerse yourself in the best of critic Jonathan Jones's epic survey of the artworks that have made us who we are interactive,
intro
posted by fearfulsymmetry
on Oct 10, 2012 -
2 comments
As you turn eyes to London to watch this year's Olympics, you might be surprised to find out that the
City of London has a population of about 11,000 and is only one square mile.
[more inside]
posted by eye of newt
on Jul 26, 2012 -
65 comments
Rupert Murdoch, CEO of News Corp., repeatedly lobbied Tony Blair to invade Iraq. In the days leading up to the invasion, Tony Blair's Director of Communications wrote that "(Blair) took a call from Murdoch who was pressing on timings, saying how News International would support us, etc. Both TB and I felt it was prompted by Washington, and another example of their over-crude diplomacy. Murdoch was pushing all the Republican buttons, how the longer we waited the harder it got."
The phone call in question took place just days before
a crucial vote on Iraq, and was
one of three personal calls from Murdoch that Blair received in that week alone. Blair recently testified, admitting an
"unhealthy" level of closeness with Murdoch, oftentimes communicating more with him than with his own ministers.
In the first 19 days following the invasion of Iraq, Rupert Murdoch's Fox News
averaged 3.3 million viewers, a 236% increase from the weeks preceding the war.
Huge increases in newspaper sales were seen throughout his
global media empire, with advertising revenue soaring to record levels. That empire now
faces serious calls for it to be broken up.
posted by markkraft
on Jun 16, 2012 -
62 comments
In the wake of their grunge-y breakout hit
"Creep" and the success of sophomore record
The Bends, Thom Yorke and the rest of
Radiohead were under pressure to deliver once more.
So they shut themselves away inside the echoing halls of
a secluded 16th century manor and got to work.
What emerged from that crumbling Elizabethan castle fifteen years ago today was a shockingly ambitious masterpiece of progressive rock, a visionary concept album that explored
the "fridge buzz" of modernity -- alienation, social disconnection, existential dread,
the impersonal hum of technology -- through a mosaic of
challenging,
innovative,
eerily beautiful music unlike anything else at the time.
Tentatively called
Ones and Zeroes, then
Your Home May Be at Risk If You Do Not Keep Up Payments, the band finally settled on
OK Computer, an appropriately enigmatic title for this
acclaimed harbinger of millennial angst. For more, you can watch the retrospective
OK Computer: A Classic Album Under Review for a track-by-track rundown, or the unsettling documentary
Meeting People is Easy for a look at how the album's whirlwind tour nearly gave Yorke
a nervous breakdown. Or look inside for more details and cool interpretations of all the tracks -- including
an upcoming MeFi Music Challenge! [more inside]
posted by Rhaomi
on Jun 16, 2012 -
66 comments
Welcome to the world of Britain's working poor. The Rowleys belong to a section of society not much mentioned in ministerial and media dispatches. They are neither the very wealthy affected by the 50p tax nor the "squeezed middle" expressing anxiety about child benefit and this week's budget; nor are the Rowleys representative of the long-term unemployed or one of the 120,000 "troubled families" in which the government is investing £448m over the next three years.
[more inside]
posted by modernnomad
on Mar 18, 2012 -
105 comments
Network Rail virtual archive Original drawings and plans of Britain's railway infrastructure from Network Rail, including the Forth Bridge, Bristol Temple Meads station, the Tay Bridge and lots more.
posted by Helga-woo
on Mar 4, 2012 -
6 comments
"Everyone knows there’s a catastrophe unfolding, that few can afford to live in their own city. It was not always so." - China Miéville on
Apocalyptic London
posted by timshel
on Mar 1, 2012 -
58 comments
Argentina will take Falklands claim to the UN Cristina Kirchner warns of 'grave risks to international security' and states intention to prevent war over natural resources. (Argentina) has mobilised much of South America and the Caribbean in a diplomatic and commercial squeeze. Ships flying the Falklands flag are barred from the region's ports, depriving the islands of bananas and other fresh fruit. [more inside]
posted by KokuRyu
on Feb 7, 2012 -
124 comments
India tells Britain: We don't want your aid According to a leaked memo, the foreign minister, Nirupama Rao, proposed “not to avail [of] any further DFID [British] assistance with effect from 1st April 2011,” because of the “negative publicity of Indian poverty promoted by DFID”. But officials at DFID, Britain’s Department for International Development, told the Indians that cancelling the programme would cause “grave political embarrassment” to Britain, according to sources in Delhi. Further embarressment ensues.
Emma Boon, campaign director of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “It is incredible that ministers have defended the aid we send to India, insisting it is vital, when now we learn that even the Indian government doesn’t want it.”
posted by infini
on Feb 5, 2012 -
34 comments
