http://blogs.independent.co.uk| Blogs from the Independent newspaper - news, views and features from the world's most free-thinking newspaper| Thu, 20 Jun 2013 04:00:42 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2| en hourly 1 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/09/05/bonkers-whistling-cop-is-viral-star-of-the-democratic-national-convention/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/09/05/bonkers-whistling-cop-is-viral-star-of-the-democratic-national-convention/#comments Wed, 05 Sep 2012 20:30:23 +0000 Guy Adams http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=28214 Forget Michelle, Bill, Barack, and a certain raspberry-coloured dress. The most memorable spectacle at the DNC so far is a marathon effort by the sheriff’s deputy stationed on Tryon Street in Charlotte, a stone’s throw from the convention hall.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/09/05/bonkers-whistling-cop-is-viral-star-of-the-democratic-national-convention/feed/ 2 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/09/04/the-democrats-celebrate-jimmy-carter-but-not-for-the-cameras/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/09/04/the-democrats-celebrate-jimmy-carter-but-not-for-the-cameras/#comments Tue, 04 Sep 2012 20:26:51 +0000 Guy Adams http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=28181 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/09/04/the-democrats-celebrate-jimmy-carter-but-not-for-the-cameras/feed/ 1 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/03/14/literary-porn-saved-as-paypal-abandons-effort-to-censor-smutty-books/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/03/14/literary-porn-saved-as-paypal-abandons-effort-to-censor-smutty-books/#comments Wed, 14 Mar 2012 02:43:43 +0000 Guy Adams http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=22343 There is happy news for admirers of the sort of literature which inspired Tom Lehrer to hymn the delights of a: “dirty novel I can’t shut.” Almost a fortnight after it announced that it would henceforth refuse to process payments for self-published novels it regarded as “obscene,” the eBay subsidiary Paypal has performed a somewhat untidy [...]]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/03/14/literary-porn-saved-as-paypal-abandons-effort-to-censor-smutty-books/feed/ 56 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/02/03/mitt-romney-faces-competition-for-nevada%e2%80%99s-mormon-vote/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/02/03/mitt-romney-faces-competition-for-nevada%e2%80%99s-mormon-vote/#comments Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:11:26 +0000 Guy Adams http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=21051 The outcome of tomorrow’s Republican caucus in Nevada is likely to be decided by a spectacular turnout from local Mormons, who make up around 7 percent of residents but (as I reported this morning) are expected to cast 30 percent of votes. Received wisdom has it that nine out of ten of them will back Mitt [...]]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/02/03/mitt-romney-faces-competition-for-nevada%e2%80%99s-mormon-vote/feed/ 8 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/12/29/police-to-america-guns-and-new-years-eve-dont-mix/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/12/29/police-to-america-guns-and-new-years-eve-dont-mix/#comments Thu, 29 Dec 2011 19:03:41 +0000 Guy Adams http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=19991 Some countries have street parties. Others do fireworks displays. Most nations bear witness to scenes of Hogarthian public drunken-ness. And in the occasional European city, half the population seems to spend the evening shoehorned into small cars, honking at passers-by. When it comes to New Year’s Eve celebrations, America has all that. Plus guns!]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/12/29/police-to-america-guns-and-new-years-eve-dont-mix/feed/ 2 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/12/28/tarzans-chimpanzee-is-dead-or-is-he/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/12/28/tarzans-chimpanzee-is-dead-or-is-he/#comments Wed, 28 Dec 2011 23:36:26 +0000 Guy Adams http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=19968 I was suprised by news this morning from the Suncoast wildlife sanctuary in Florida: a chimpanzee called Cheetah was reported to have died at the grand old age of 80. No ordinary chimp, either. According to his owners, Cheetah played Tarzan’s sidekick, of the same name, in the films of the 1930s. The sanctuary’s “outreach director,” [...]]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/12/28/tarzans-chimpanzee-is-dead-or-is-he/feed/ 7 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/12/07/some-unanswered-questions-about-hilary-swank-and-human-rights/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/12/07/some-unanswered-questions-about-hilary-swank-and-human-rights/#comments Wed, 07 Dec 2011 06:00:57 +0000 Guy Adams http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=19370 Hilary Swank attempted a bit of reputation management at the weekend, using Jay Leno’s sofa to issue a fulsome apology for her recent paid appearance at Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov’s 35th birthday party.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/12/07/some-unanswered-questions-about-hilary-swank-and-human-rights/feed/ 50 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/11/30/congresswoman-accuses-blackwater-founder-of-intimidation-over-indy-article/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/11/30/congresswoman-accuses-blackwater-founder-of-intimidation-over-indy-article/#comments Wed, 30 Nov 2011 23:09:20 +0000 Guy Adams http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=19211 The good citizens of Baghdad aren’t the only ones who know what it’s like to feel intimidated by representatives of Erik Prince, founder of Blackwater, the trigger-happy private security firm which was recently re-named “Xe Services.” Jan Schakowsky, a Democratic politician from Illinois, announced in Congress this morning that Mr Prince’s lawyers have been threatening to [...]]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/11/30/congresswoman-accuses-blackwater-founder-of-intimidation-over-indy-article/feed/ 16 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/11/21/nothing-says-%e2%80%9cpolice-brutality%e2%80%9d-quite-like-a-moustache/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/11/21/nothing-says-%e2%80%9cpolice-brutality%e2%80%9d-quite-like-a-moustache/#comments Mon, 21 Nov 2011 19:01:41 +0000 Guy Adams http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=18890 You don’t have to study current affairs for all that long to wonder why a hugely-disproportionate number of perpetrators of police brutality, particularly in America, appear to choose to cover their top lip in fuzz.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/11/21/nothing-says-%e2%80%9cpolice-brutality%e2%80%9d-quite-like-a-moustache/feed/ 12 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/11/18/blatters-comments-on-racism-are-appalling-says-beckham/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/11/18/blatters-comments-on-racism-are-appalling-says-beckham/#comments Fri, 18 Nov 2011 04:08:59 +0000 Guy Adams http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=18766 You can add David Beckham’s voice to the latest chorus of criticism coming the way of Fifa’s gaffe-prone President, Sepp Blatter.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/11/18/blatters-comments-on-racism-are-appalling-says-beckham/feed/ 6 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/10/31/basketballs-pay-dispute-the-1-percent-at-war-with-the-1-percent/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/10/31/basketballs-pay-dispute-the-1-percent-at-war-with-the-1-percent/#comments Mon, 31 Oct 2011 03:33:17 +0000 Guy Adams http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=18088 Along with the rest of America, Los Angeles suffering from a strange and unfamiliar shortage of very tall, heavily-tattooed men prepared to play basketball several times a week in exchange for large amounts of money.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/10/31/basketballs-pay-dispute-the-1-percent-at-war-with-the-1-percent/feed/ 3 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/10/25/%e2%80%9capostate%e2%80%9d-and-%e2%80%9cliar%e2%80%9d-the-church-of-scientology-confronts-a-critic/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/10/25/%e2%80%9capostate%e2%80%9d-and-%e2%80%9cliar%e2%80%9d-the-church-of-scientology-confronts-a-critic/#comments Tue, 25 Oct 2011 01:32:24 +0000 Guy Adams http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=17867 No less than 40 minutes after today’s newspaper went to print, the Church of Scientology’s public relations department got in touch. They wished to respond to the request I had lodged earlier – seeking comment on reports that its employees had attempted to dig up dirt on the South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey [...]]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/10/25/%e2%80%9capostate%e2%80%9d-and-%e2%80%9cliar%e2%80%9d-the-church-of-scientology-confronts-a-critic/feed/ 73