‘Get Gordon’ is gathering speed The marketing in this election has been a spectacularly negative, and right now it seems nobody likes Gordon Brown Steve Henry guardian.co.uk Gordon Brown has seen his popularity nosedive during this election campaign. Photograph: Conservative Party/PA Wire I’m supposed to be writing about the marketing in this general election – but where does marketing start and end in all this? Even policies are marketing – since, like a lot of marketing, they bear only a tenuous relation to the truth. As Samuel Johnson said: “Promise … is the soul of an advertisement.” And we all … Continue reading Time to show Big Brother Labour The Door?

Wearing ties is not a bind The necktie is a stylish tool of self-expression, not a symbol of oppression Stuart G Millar guardian.co.uk Whether you’re Colonel Buftington-Tuftington or Peter H Author, there’s bound to be a tie for you. Photograph: David Sillitoe for the Guardian Aside from gin-soaked Hollywood princesses sardonically flirting with Philip Marlowe, no one ever said “you look smart” and meant it in a bad way. It’s why we dress up for the most important things in our lives – job interviews, weddings and funerals. It’s why fashion designers send model after model down the catwalk decked … Continue reading Should Men Burn Ties?

Wildlife TV infringes animals’ privacy, says academic By Tom Morgan, Press Association Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images Sir David Attenborough, whose BBC programme Nature’s Great Events was scrutinised in Brett Mills’s research Wildlife documentaries deny animals their “right to privacy”, an academic claimed today. Producers of nature shows ignore privacy ethics when considering the mechanics of filming, argues Brett Mills, of the University of East Anglia. Related articles More Environment News Search the news archive for more stories BBC show Nature’s Great Events – narrated by Sir David Attenborough – was scrutinised in his research. Dr Mills said: “Human notions of privacy … Continue reading Wildlife TV infringes animals’ privacy – (New Labour – New Laws?)

Labour follows debate failure with car crash event The VW Golf crashed after some dustmen were distracted by the poster launch Martin Fletcher and Philippe Naughton Labour’s ill-starred election campaign took another hit today when Gordon Brown’s launch of a poster designed to set the agenda for the final week was interrupted by a car crash. Witnesses at the poster launch in Hockley, Birmingham, said that, after a long squealing of tyres, Aa green Volkswagen Golf smashed into a bus shelter on a traffic island only yards from the car park where the Prime Minister and nine Cabinet ministers were … Continue reading ‘Crash Gordon’ in Birmingham?

Dr. Taxi Posted by Guest (www.dawn.com) Canada:  Some say it’s not a country, it’s winter. In some parts of it, for about eight months of the year, the dog shit is too frozen to worry about. But what worries me most is that my fellow Pakistani taxi drivers are on the road all year round. The time has gone when Sikhs used to dominate the taxi business here; now it’s the Pakistanis who rule. From Yellowknife, a city near Arctic Circle, to the eastern cities, I can’t recall a single major city where I haven’t come across Pakistani taxi drivers. … Continue reading Dr Taxiwalla Sahib!

Following the final TV debate, our panel assess the performance of Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg Jackie Ashley, Madeleine Bunting, Aditya Chakrabortty and Gaby Hinsliff guardian.co.uk, TV debate: what’s your verdict? Photograph: guardian.co.uk Jackie Ashley: No one leader has this election in the bag One thing went right for Gordon Brown: yesterday really did seem to be yesterday. His brief self-deprecating reference to “Bigotgate” at the beginning of the debate defused the situation, and neither of his opponents were daft enough to try to make political capital out of it. Clearly shaken by his day in Rochdale, Brown … Continue reading Leaders Debate: Verdict

VIEW: Of interventions —Gulmina Bilal Ahmad We are not fighting only a military war. It is a war against mindsets and attitudes that are discriminatory and bigoted. It is actually a war against a paranoid mindset Comedy of errors or a case of what goes around comes around? For years now, human rights activists have highlighted the plight of the ‘missing persons’. From demonstrations to contacting politicians to even approaching the Supreme Court, the families of the missing persons have continued their protests and agitation. It is alleged that the missing persons were and are in the custody of the … Continue reading The Takfiri Mindset in the kidnapping of Colonel Imam

Indian military scientists are studying an 82-year-old who claims he has not had any food or drink for 70 years. telegraph.co.uk Indian patient Prahlad Jani (Mataji), who claims he has survived without food and water for more than seven decades Photo: AFP Prahlad Jani is being held in isolation in a hospital in Ahmedabad, Gurjarat, where he is being closely monitored by India’s defence research organization, who believe he may have a genuine quality which could help save lives. He has now spent six days without food or water under strict observation and doctors say his body has not yet … Continue reading Man claims to have had no food or drink for 70 years

Sarkozy’s niqab ban: a legal nightmare While boasting about human rights, the president has got the French state into a muddle about what it is trying to achieve Agnès Poirier guardian.co.uk A veiled Muslim woman walks near the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Photograph: Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters President Sarkozy must be having nightmares every night. Little did he know last June that his idea of banning the niqab in France, “the country of human rights”, would so lamentably backfire. Today, he is struggling to put an end to l’affaire. And it is of little satisfaction to him that Belgium should be the … Continue reading Sarkozy’s womens clothing fixation: a legal nightmare