Author Archives: Natalie Bennett

Feeling old…

March 17, 2007 – 12:59 pm

Had to throw out my last pair of football socks this morning due to terminal holes – not that they’d been worn for the purpose for which they were designed for many years, but there was still the possibility sitting in the drawer. (The boots are still in the hall cupboard.)

Actually, I think I could still have a season or two in me if I had the time for training and weekend matches, or if the five-a-side football pitches in London (and elsewhere) weren’t all full of males.

But it probably won’t happen. Still, won’t throw out the boots just yet…

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Euripides as interpreted by the Daily Mail

March 17, 2007 – 11:44 am

You’ve probably already gathered I wasn’t greatly impressed by the new show at the Union Theatre. The review’s here.

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Animals in peril

March 15, 2007 – 11:08 am

You’d hardly think it possible, but a new species of great cat has been identified – the Bornean clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi). Of course you can guess the final lines of the story – numbers are thought to be small, and he species endangered. Sigh.

And an introduced species is facing an equally bleak future – camels, although not native to Australia (and less harmful than the hard-hooved sheep, goats and cattle that tear up the ancient soils) are said to be causing ecological chaos (when they aren’t dying of thirst in the drought), and culls are planned. Or worse…

The plan will examine the economic opportunities presented by the camels, including making them into pet food and building up exports. Australia does not have a licensed camel abattoir, but it exports live camels to South-east Asia, where they are slaughtered for their meat.

These are feral — ie wild — camels. The kind of stress they must undergo during live export doesn’t bear thinking about.

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From the inbox

March 15, 2007 – 1:40 am

* Free delousing and social grooming – at least that’s the promise of the next edition of Four Stone Hearth, the anthropology carnival. For this one, you’ll have to settle short-legged aggressive primates and nudity in Scandanavia, and a warning that the opening pic may turn the stomach of vegetarians (and others).

* An American journalist finds a new perspective on the environment from Britain:

Ignorance is bliss until you step out of the carbon-guzzling garden; then it’s just downright embarrassing.
But what would it take to find a new lover in the Green Revolution? Even the British rhetorical tradition of environmental stewardship, which problematically implies that humans are the Earth’s caretakers rather than its guests, is largely that: mere rhetoric.

* Blogging a war: how the story has been told from the front line – powerful stuff.

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Making a stand in Iran

March 15, 2007 – 1:35 am

Iranian women are bravely continuing their struggle to express their anger and frustration, despite a government crackdown.

Demonstrators Sunday carried signs pointing to articles in the Iranian Constitution that guarantee the right to peaceful protest. Activists said the arrests were made to preempt another gathering they had planned for Thursday. “They are afraid of the women’s movement, because there are some links between them and journalists, nongovernmental organizations, and they cooperate with [foreign] NGOs,” says Isa Saharkhiz, a former editor and reformist.

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Freecycling is its own reward

March 13, 2007 – 9:59 pm

Having reluctantly decided that I won’t be getting another dog any time soon, I decided to freecycle the half-sack of pigs’ ears in the storeroom – and my reward was a short cuddle with a gorgeous and wildly appreciative white Staffie. Definitely worth the small effort of organisation!

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