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Featured Blog Posts November 05, 2012
Arianna Huffington
Arianna Huffington

In the Calm Before the Electoral Storm, Let's Ask Some Big Questions

We're in the calm between the storms. The one created by Mother Nature has passed; the man-made electoral storm is about to begin. But in the short window before the media goes All Election, All the Time, we should take a moment to ask some big questions. That's what I've found myself doing over nearly a week of living by candlelight once the sun set. Why is it so difficult for us to look around the corner and prevent upcoming disasters, or at least mitigate their impact? Why does it take a disaster to bring out the best in us? Why can't we sustain that best-self spirit even after these storm-battered communities get back on their feet? In a few hours, we're going to get lots of results, but we shouldn't confuse them with answers. Those we'll have to keep looking for ourselves. Continue reading...

Sheila Hageman
Sheila Hageman

Supersizing Has Become the New Norm - Even in Bodies

I do not want to judge anyone's choices for how they choose to use their own body, but when those choices are having a negative impact on their health and on their children, that seems to be the line where I'm willing to say that something is wrong. Continue reading...

Jane Graham
Jane Graham

Abridge Too Far: Or, How I Changed Oliver Jeffers' Mind About Peter Pan

Peter Pan is a great book which has been particularly badly served by the abridging brigade, but there are many others. The more I consider it, the more malevolent the practise seems. Continue reading...

Mikey Smith
Mikey Smith

A British Politics Geek's Guide to Election Night 2012

Come on then nerds, how do you plan to see the new administration? Continue reading...

Gareth Edmundson
Gareth Edmundson

Poverty in America. The Silent Scandal of 6 November 2012

The biggest economy in the world, the global wealth creator that is the United States of America is effectively living with country the size of Spain of people who are below the poverty line, living on a household income of $23,021 for a family of four. Continue reading...

Tien Tzuo
Tien Tzuo

Launching a Business - Easier With Subscriptions

It's a great time to be a subscription business. Every day, you hear about how companies such as Netflix and Lovefilm have taken on the big boys and won. Continue reading...

Peter McGuire
Peter McGuire

Why Ireland's Religious Extremists Oppose Children's Rights

The religious right is pushing the ludicrous scenario whereby the state gleefully rushes in and tears apart innocent families, forcibly placing children for adoption because it doesn't like the colour of mammy's rosary beads. Continue reading...

Dr Khandee Ahnaimugan
Dr Khandee Ahnaimugan

'If I'm So Smart, Why Can't I Lose This Weight?'

Even the most determined, motivated woman, who is able to solve almost any problem in their work or family life, cannot seem to work out what to do when it comes to their weight. Continue reading...

Alison Garnham
Alison Garnham

New Tax Rules on Child Benefit for High Earners are a Complicated, Unfair and Unworkable 'Child Tax'

At CPAG we believe as strongly as anyone that higher earners need to make a larger, fairer contribution to dealing with the deficit. But most high earners don't have children living with them. Why are the majority of high earners being left out? Continue reading...

Dannie Grufferty
Dannie Grufferty

The Wage of Dave

We can bemoan the privatisation agenda all we like, but it exists nonetheless, and I'd rather spend my time supporting students to work with other workers and unions to negotiate better conditions, including a living wage. Continue reading...

Kay Burley
Kay Burley

The King Is Dead, Long Live the King

More than 1,000 people live in dirty, rat-infested underground flood tunnels way beneath Caesar's Palace at The Luxor casino hotels. Disease and highly poisonous spiders are the major concern. Begging and 'dumpster diving' for food is how they survive. Many of those who call this home are former war veterans or those who came to Las Vegas in pursuit of the American dream. Drink, drugs and depression are now their way of life. So, who do the residents of underground Vegas want to win on Tuesday? I'll be finding out as I spend the next few days broadcasting for Sky News from Nevada. Continue reading...

Sarah Dean
Sarah Dean

Back in the Game

The impression of women that play football is they are 'butch lesbians'. I say this because 99% of the people I told that I was going to start playing again said that's who I'd be playing with. Those impressions were wrong. Continue reading...

Gloria Halim
Gloria Halim

What's the Deal With Carbohydrates?

I hear quite a lot of people say they would like to reduce or cut out carbohydrate from their diet or they are starting one of those carb-free fad diets to lose weight. When I ask why, the common answer is that carbs are not good for you because they make you fat. Continue reading...

Professor Ian Robertson
Professor Ian Robertson

The Racial Presidential Race

Democracy depends on rational, mature decisions and should not be shaped by unconscious, gut responses. But the polarization in US politics is such that this is probably a vain hope and race may be the trump card in the final result. Continue reading...

Stanley Weiss
Stanley Weiss

It's Time for an Independent Kurdistan

It will not be easy, but the uncertainty and plasticity in the region today offers an opportunity to secure a Kurdish homeland and remedy the capricious map-making of the early 20th century. Continue reading...

  • Posted 5 January 2013
  • World
Fiona Wood
Fiona Wood

A Costly Foreign Affair: Divorcees and Falling Overseas Property Prices

It might sound unromantic but considering what might happen to overseas assets in the event of a break-up and even formalising those plans in something like a post-nup agreement could forestall difficulties between partners - even if it can't ward off a global recession. Continue reading...

  • Posted 6 November 2012
  • UK
John Wight
John Wight

Meanwhile in Beijing...

Whatever the outcome of the US presidential election on 6 November is, events in Beijing on 8 November will undoubtedly prove of equal if not more significance for a southern hemisphere that has long suffered as a consequence of the unipolarity enjoyed by Washington. Continue reading...

Nasir Zubairi
Nasir Zubairi

Re-wired: Financial Services Evolution

Pigs might indeed fly before I get an online solution from a leading bank that actually gets close to what it could and should do. Continue reading...

  • Posted 5 January 2013
  • UK
Mina Zaher
Mina Zaher

Do You Want a World Populated by Chain Stores and No Independent Shops?

Is there actually something we can do to make the high street a friendlier place for independents? Continue reading...

  • Posted 5 January 2013
  • UK
Mario Canseco
Mario Canseco

Governed by Conservatives, Canadians and Britons Shun Romney

If Canadians and Britons could vote in the United States presidential election, the result would be a massive victory for incumbent Democrat Barack Obama over Republican challenger Mitt Romney. Continue reading...

  • Posted 5 January 2013
  • World
Ann Feltham
Ann Feltham

Arms Sales - When Will Prime Ministers Ever Learn?

David Cameron says he will be arguing for human rights when he visits Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman this week. The stronger message, however, will be of UK support and the government's willingness to do anything to promote UK arms company interests. Continue reading...

Jean-Marc Noel
Jean-Marc Noel

Office of Fair Trading Puts Online Retailers in the Firing Line

Earlier this month the Office of Fair Trading wrote to 62 of the top online retailers in the country to let them know their website may not comply with consumer protection law. Continue reading...

  • Posted 5 January 2013
  • UK
Helen I. Hwang
Helen I. Hwang

Adventures of an Absentee Ballot

Sitting here in Scotland, I'm hoping my absentee ballot along with my vote for Barack Obama lands safely on the shores of America before the deadline and gets counted in my hotly contested home state of Pennsylvania. Continue reading...

Jeremy Gilley
Jeremy Gilley

What Difference Can a Day Make?

If you want to build a house you start with one brick, if you want to build peace why not start with one day? Continue reading...

  • Posted 5 January 2013
  • Impact
Lottie Dexter
Lottie Dexter

A Compulsory Living Wage Will Mean More Young People Miss a Vital First Shot

Of course all businesses should value hard working talent, but the introduction of a compulsory Living Wage could hinder more young people than it helps. Continue reading...

Paul Quigley
Paul Quigley

How Five Top Sandy Stories Spread Through the Social Web, and What They Teach Us

For anyone on the East Coast, or with loved ones there, social media and our hyper-fast online press made Sandy felt like a shared event, characterised by messages of support and offers of showers on Facebook, and exchanging information with strangers on Twitter. Social media is still young: perhaps this is a taste of how it will bring all of us closer to major events - good and bad - in the future. Continue reading...

  • Posted 5 January 2013
  • UK
Peter Kellner
Peter Kellner

Obama on Course for Narrow Victory

YouGov's final survey in America shows Barack Obama ahead in enough states to secure a second term as President, but by a narrower margin than in his first victory four years ago. Continue reading...

William Hanson
William Hanson

Downton Etiquette Explained - Series 3, Episode 8

Even though I have sat through the past eight weeks nit-picking and exclaiming in cod-horror every time one of the cast appeared with one too many buttons fastened, this third series of Downton Abbey has been excellent. Continue reading...