Are you a 'Neet'? Are you 'not in employment, education or training?' The numbers of young people who don't have a job, who've struggled to make it through college or university only to find a gaping black hole in front of their feet, is soaring...it's incredibly depressing and sad.

As expected, Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi was recently found guilty of violating the terms of her house arrest. The 18 months house arrest she was subsequently sentenced to will obviously keep her out of the way during next year's elections. And all because some mad guy, American John Yettaw, decided to swim to her house because God had warned him she was going to be assassinated and he, in turn, needed to warn her. Ms. Suu Kyi's mistake was to let him in and allow him to cotch on the sofa for a night or two.

Militia Forces Accused Of Murdering Gay Men In Iraq:According to New York-based NGO Human Rights Watch, gay men are being murdered in a coordinated campaign involving militia forces. A report by the NGO says that hundreds of gay men have been targeted and killed since 2004; 90 gay men have been murdered since January. The report states that in some instances, Iraqi security forces "colluded and joined in the killing".

 

Sziget Festival, Danube Budapest - over 350,000 people, 5 days, music and culture; that's probably all I needed to say but here's a bit more info.

He's coming out swinging. Did you really expect anything else? Mahmoud Ahmadinejad used his highly controversial and highly anticipated inauguration to criticise those Western powers who have cast doubt on his recent election victory. Not a word about the highly visible and hard fought campaign within Iran, but there you go. You have to pick your battles. By that point he'd probably already heard that he would not be receiving the customary letters of congratulations from countries like England, America et al. He did his best ‘am i bothered’ routine and in truth it was kind of convincing. He is a head of state now after all.

I was in a pub last week when an activist rang me with the news that the Vestas workers had occupied their factory. “They’re in there now. There are police around the area, the barricades are up...” He was pretty hyper actually, and admitted that he was a little over-excited. “It’s all a bit mad
down here really.”

Some of you may remember Tinchy Stryder as one of the faces of Ctrl.Alt.Shift's HIV protests last year, and some of you may remember him for being a UK Chart topper with his hit single 'Number One'. Either way, it seems Tinchy isn't so small when it comes to volunteering as he headed down to Kennington Park, Oval, to launch the vinspired National Awards.

"Are you really who you say you are... Richard?" "Erm... yes, I am."
You see, The Yes Men know all about bending the truth. 'Andy' and 'Mike' (not their real names) have become notorious in the USA for their satirical pranks that highlight the absurdities of our economic condition.

There's a lot of po-po related business going on around the world at the moment. It's maybe a bit ironic that Leonard Peltier's first parole hearing since 1993 has arrived at the same time as the Joint Human Rights Committee report on the G20 centred unrest, and only a few days after black Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates was arrested by police in his own home.