DEMOS

• Think again Lots of talk of U-turns in the news today. Yesterday’s news on the 10p tax rate, Jim Knight insisting there will be ‘no U-turn’ over teachers pay. Which begs the question, would politics be better or worse without U-turns? Leaving aside these specific examples, I think U-turns (and U-turners) can be underrated.When we make a decision we tend to suffer from cognitive biases that make us surer and surer that our decision was the right one– partly because we look for... continue reading Posted by Duncan O'Leary on 24th April 2008 Comments (2)
• Stop press: 'The public love the armed forces' Back in September the Chief of the Army called for greater support of the British Armed forces. He said there was a social gulf  between the army (which has borne the brunt of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan) and British society. Soon Ministers began to raise the issue of public support for the armed forces, and media campaigns were ratcheted up... but this hyper-activity was based on a single major flaw - the widely held but utterly false assumption that there was a lack of public support for the armed forces to begin with. continue reading Posted by Charlie Edwards on 24th April 2008 Comments (1)
• ‘Complements’ and sweet talk Dr. Edzard Ernst, a prominent professor of alternative medicine, is interviewed in today’s Independent talking about his new book, Trick or Treatment. From what I gather, it gives alternative medicine a bit of kicking, demonstrating its ineffectiveness when subjected to randomised controlled trials.Two interesting points strike me about the article.The first is that whilst Dr. Ernst is very critical about the complementary medicine industry, he doesn’t shy away from criticising... continue reading 22nd April 2008 in Healthy Conversations Comments (2)
• Like school, but not Last weekend I got pretty excited by 'iTunes U' - an area of iTunes that lets Universities in the US share audio and video from their lectures, talks and events. You can subscribe to courses, listen to one-off debates, and hear some of the leading thinkers in a range of fields dispensing their vast wisdom. Thinking about this in the context of sites like the splendid School of Everything, it's another alternative way to learn, and to share knowledge. continue reading Posted by Peter Bradwell on 22nd April 2008 Comments (1)
• Women and culture New report into women in the workforce in the cultural sector... continue reading Posted by John Holden on 21st April 2008
• WANTED! - Citizen Scientists Way, way up in northern Norway, reminiscent of a scene from His Dark Materials, scientists are currently busy hiding seeds in a giant underground fridge. In the much warmer fields of Southern France, they have a more vibrant approach to biodiversity. Here, farmers are breeding and growing wheat. Their new varieties of wheat are in fact very old indeed. They hark back to a time when farmers wanted bread that was good to eat rather than easy to make on an industrial scale. The farmers here argue... continue reading Posted by Jack Stilgoe on 21st April 2008 in Technology and Civil Society (STACS) ,Science
• Why politicians should always do their homework... On Saturday I attended an excellent mayoral hustings, hosted by the LGBT organisation Stonewall.  The three main candidates, along with Sian Berry of the Green Party and Left List candidate Lindsay German gave short presentations and fielded questions ranging from corruption, buses, the Pride festival, the rights of older LGBT people, extremism, Section 28, and providing better transport for disabled people in London.... continue reading 21st April 2008 Comments (3)
• A new race Cold War? You would be forgiven for thinking that I'm talking about the fallout from the Beijing Olympics torch relay, but in fact I am referring to a speech being delivered today by Trevor Philips to mark the 40th anniversary of Enoch Powell's 'Rivers of Blood' speech. Philips argues that Powell was wrong to predict a 'hot war' between races, but that the UK instead now faces the emergence of a 'cold war', with relations between different races and ethnic groups at a low.Two points come to mind:First,... continue reading Posted by Rachel Briggs on 20th April 2008
• Bridge over troubled water? As Gordon Brown attempts to escape his domestic travails with a visit to US, he seems set to provoke further debate about Britain’s most established international relationship. Speaking in an interview on Monday with Katie Couric, from the US broadcaster CBS, the PM reiterated his pro-American credentials in a way reminiscent of Tony Blair’s foreign policy rhetoric. continue reading 18th April 2008
• The Wire If you haven’t got round to watching The Wire yet then you are missing a treat. You might have mistaken it for just another American TV series sensationalising drugs and violence but The Wire is very different. The series focuses on the subtle interplay between drugs cartels, the role of police and the corruption of politics.
  
  But more than that it regularly (and starkly)  demonstrates the power and weakness of institutions, their dysfunctionality and how they regular betray the people that are part of them.  And furthermore the series acts a a social commentary, in the words of the director ‘a deliberate argument that unencumbered capitalism is not a substitute for social policy; that on its own, without a social compact, raw capitalism is destined to serve the few at the expense of the many.’ continue reading Posted by Charlie Edwards on 17th April 2008 Comments (5)

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