http://blogs.independent.co.uk| Blogs from the Independent newspaper - news, views and features from the world's most free-thinking newspaper| Sat, 25 May 2013 12:12:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2| en hourly 1 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/04/04/mine-awareness-day-lend-your-leg-today/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/04/04/mine-awareness-day-lend-your-leg-today/#comments Thu, 04 Apr 2013 04:00:27 +0000 Alex Jackson http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=33825 In spite of the continued cold snap, you may notice a significant number of people rolling up their trousers and baring their legs today in order to ‘Lend a Leg’ in support of continued landmine problems around the world.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/04/04/mine-awareness-day-lend-your-leg-today/feed/ 0 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/04/03/china%e2%80%99s-sudanese-dilemma-secure-oil-whatever-the-cost/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/04/03/china%e2%80%99s-sudanese-dilemma-secure-oil-whatever-the-cost/#comments Wed, 03 Apr 2013 14:10:03 +0000 Tim Daiss http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=33809 News broke in late March that South Sudan ordered its oil companies to start production again. The fledgling Sub-Saharan nation stopped oil exports in January 2012 amid failed negotiations with Sudan over oil transmission prices. Not that this is anything new. The two Sudans reached an agreement last September but it was never implemented due to disagreement over border security issues.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/04/03/china%e2%80%99s-sudanese-dilemma-secure-oil-whatever-the-cost/feed/ 1 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/04/03/why-does-jack-the-ripper-continue-to-intrigue-us/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/04/03/why-does-jack-the-ripper-continue-to-intrigue-us/#comments Wed, 03 Apr 2013 04:00:47 +0000 James Silcocks http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=33790 This year marks the 125th anniversary of Jack the Ripper, the notorious Whitechapel murderer who killed and mutilated at least five women during the darkest months of the Victorian era. On the surface, it’s just another grisly tale from Britain’s often grisly past. So, after all these years, why does the Ripper’s legacy continue to linger so strongly in the public consciousness?]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/04/03/why-does-jack-the-ripper-continue-to-intrigue-us/feed/ 4 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/28/my-transgender-life-the-trans-phone-conundrum/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/28/my-transgender-life-the-trans-phone-conundrum/#comments Thu, 28 Mar 2013 14:15:40 +0000 Ben Smith http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=33697 I pick up the phone and dial the researcher’s office number. His assistant answers. He’ll pass on my request for information. A couple of hours pass and my telephone rings. “Hello, is that Beth?” asks the caller. ‘Beth?’ I think. Then I realise what’s happening.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/28/my-transgender-life-the-trans-phone-conundrum/feed/ 9 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/25/the-photography-blog-a-quick-chat-with-geoff-tompkinson/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/25/the-photography-blog-a-quick-chat-with-geoff-tompkinson/#comments Mon, 25 Mar 2013 18:00:29 +0000 Alex Hare http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=33606 Geoff Tompkinson is a photographer at the forefront of what can be achieved with a modern digital SLR. He’s been dubbed ‘the man who controls time’ after producing some of the most innovative and stunning footage from the world’s major cities with his camera. Welcome to Geoff’s world of hyperlapse photography.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/25/the-photography-blog-a-quick-chat-with-geoff-tompkinson/feed/ 5 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/22/world-water-day-water-water-everywhere-only-if-we-share/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/22/world-water-day-water-water-everywhere-only-if-we-share/#comments Fri, 22 Mar 2013 06:00:32 +0000 Freddie Nathan http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=33546 It is fair to say that in the western world we take water for granted. At home, one can turn on the tap, pour themselves a glass of tap water, and even leave it running without fear that the flow might stop.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/22/world-water-day-water-water-everywhere-only-if-we-share/feed/ 3 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/20/the-human-rights-act-and-the-nhs-how-theresa-mays-proposals-go-beyond-abu-qatada/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/20/the-human-rights-act-and-the-nhs-how-theresa-mays-proposals-go-beyond-abu-qatada/#comments Wed, 20 Mar 2013 16:03:27 +0000 Dr Martin Stanton http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=33514 Theresa May's proposal to scrap the UK Human Rights Act (HRA) and withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is clearly not just motivated by government legal difficulties over the extradition of Abu Qatada. ]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/20/the-human-rights-act-and-the-nhs-how-theresa-mays-proposals-go-beyond-abu-qatada/feed/ 7 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/20/suggestions-for-the-budget-2013-simplifying-the-tax-system-and-stimulating-growth/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/20/suggestions-for-the-budget-2013-simplifying-the-tax-system-and-stimulating-growth/#comments Wed, 20 Mar 2013 09:00:31 +0000 Stephen Herring http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=33470 With the Chancellor’s Budget almost upon us, many businesses and indeed individuals across the country are speculating about what George Osborne will announce and how this will directly impact upon them. ]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/20/suggestions-for-the-budget-2013-simplifying-the-tax-system-and-stimulating-growth/feed/ 0 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/14/my-transgender-life-social-transition-is-scarier-than-jabbing-a-needle-in-your-thigh-every-fortnight/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/14/my-transgender-life-social-transition-is-scarier-than-jabbing-a-needle-in-your-thigh-every-fortnight/#comments Thu, 14 Mar 2013 12:06:41 +0000 Ben Smith http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=33322 The weirdest aspect of being in the early stages of transitioning from female to male is the unavoidably public “social transition”. I never had to come to terms with how I felt since I’d always felt trans. What scared me was telling everyone else.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/14/my-transgender-life-social-transition-is-scarier-than-jabbing-a-needle-in-your-thigh-every-fortnight/feed/ 109 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/02/24/barking-blondes-the-brits-sane-and-adam-ant/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/02/24/barking-blondes-the-brits-sane-and-adam-ant/#comments Sun, 24 Feb 2013 04:00:45 +0000 Joanne Good and Anna Webb http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=32751 We were invited to the coveted Brits after party on Wednesday night, not for our services to music, more for our enthusiasm for dogs. ]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/02/24/barking-blondes-the-brits-sane-and-adam-ant/feed/ 11 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/02/22/beyond-the-neet-label-how-digital-tech-has-helped-me-to-gain-valuable-work-experience/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/02/22/beyond-the-neet-label-how-digital-tech-has-helped-me-to-gain-valuable-work-experience/#comments Fri, 22 Feb 2013 13:29:46 +0000 Arfah Farooq http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=32732 The recession first hit while I was at university. I assumed by the time I graduated in 2012 the economy would have recovered. So much for my optimism. I was wrong.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/02/22/beyond-the-neet-label-how-digital-tech-has-helped-me-to-gain-valuable-work-experience/feed/ 2 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/02/21/sex-must-always-be-great-otherwise-don%e2%80%99t-bother/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/02/21/sex-must-always-be-great-otherwise-don%e2%80%99t-bother/#comments Thu, 21 Feb 2013 14:48:27 +0000 Wolfgang Weinberger http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=32726 Sexology comedian Wolfgang Weinberger talks about a new competitive sport known as 'sex']]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/02/21/sex-must-always-be-great-otherwise-don%e2%80%99t-bother/feed/ 8