spiked | tell a friend | Glasgow North East by-electionToo many people…Editor’s comment, 20 NovemberA splendid time is still guaranteed for all…The crisis of Scottish football, part 147Never mind the guest presentersMore luck in golf than pokerLuck is all that countsSelf-control is importantFree trade and open minds can feed the worldThe mystery of famineToo many people? No, too many MalthusiansWelfare: how help becomes a hindranceQueens speech legislationWhat is stopping us from feeding the world?Let’s give children the ‘store of human knowledge’A climate scare in Trafalgar SquareModern Warfare 2 has not made me a terroristFuredi reviewTiffany JenkinsGraham BarnfieldElection: up for grabs, but nothing to play forUndermining nursing care by degreesWhy Northern Ireland is a one party stateErasing David and NO2IDThere’s more to human character than sharing toysThe truth about those unemployment stats‘Poker is all about skill and self-control’Cannabis versus AlcoholTurning environmentalism into a religionEditor’s comment, 13 NovemberThe ‘McCarthyism’ of the anti-smoking lobbyCommunists can’t make colaWhy not just call it the Blub-o-drome?Erasing David: nothing to hide, everything to fearWomen child sex abusersWe must stop being tolerant of repressionGermany: still divided after all these yearsNutts to these anti-alcohol expertsclamour for calamity‘Lettergate’ reveals the illiteracy of British politicsAirbrushing ‘bad ads’ from public lifeStill no clear policy on nuclear energyLibel law reformIt’s Europe, Dave, but not as we know itSee? Mothers can be sex abusers, tooThirst: a vampire film for grown-upsElevating environmentalism over ‘less worthy’ lifestylesDavid Nutt is not the new GalileoThe right to privacy in the Age of FacebookOverpopulation?Avoid eating anything that is advertisedProfessor Nutt: mixing science with politicsWelfareBanning offensive comedyCultivating risk-aversion06 November 2009Why pedagogy is in perilThe Noughties: 10 years of nostalgiaAre we witnessing a counter-Rafalution?Autism: moving beyond the quest for a curePutting a forcefield around green ideasFireworks: the killjoys’ pet hateNo, I’m the real Irish republicanWho elected these knights to rule parliament?American hippies vs the evil JapaneseGiving the young a taste of freedomGetting it right on climate changeThere’s nothing wrong with ethical farmingWhy we must wipe out climate denialismChina’s too lenient: we need a no-child policySmoking parents pose a threat to their kidsOoh, the scary Carbon MonsterProblem gambling is a problem!This ‘revolt of the experts’ is revoltingWhy New Labour is so dopey on cannabisTelling unfunny jokes should not be a crimeTrafficking and the sex industryThe comedy crackdownGo veggie - save the planet?MP’s Expenses ScandalDecentralization in MoroccoEditor’s comment, 30 OctoberWhy pedagogy is in perilChina and America: the economic Odd CoupleThe anti-smoking ‘truth regime’ that cannot be questionedFarewell, Norman LevittThe drawn-out decay of the capitalist classSeeing Sweden through the eyes of Stieg LarssonCooking up a new theory of evolutionState intervention is no substitute for innovationA book to set democratic alarm bells ringingRacist kidsGo veggie to ‘save the planet’? Burger off!Steve McQueen, without the car chaseIn defence of terrace abuseWelcome to October’s review of booksWhy do they all want to hijack Churchill?Why they love to hate Mother TeresaIf comedians can’t be offensive, who can?


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Friday 20 November 2009

	Ed Barrett
	A splendid time is still guaranteed for all… ESSAY: As the Beatles’ back catalogue is reissued, Ed Barrett salutes the world’s most brilliant, inventive and humorous pop group.

Duleep Allirajah
The crisis of Scottish football, part 147 This week’s sacking of Scotland manager George Burley won’t make a mediocre generation of players any better.

Patrick West
Never mind the guest presenters The fashion for using a variety of hosts to replace a familiar front man reveals the BBC's indecision.

Brendan O’Neill
Too many people? No, too many Malthusians Since 200 AD, scaremongers have been describing human beings as ‘burdensome to the world’. They were wrong then, and they’re still wrong today.

	David Clements
	Welfare: how help becomes a hindrance With the shift of emphasis from welfare to wellbeing, the state reinforces the sense that we are unable to cope with life.

	Rob Lyons
	What is stopping us from feeding the world? Malthus was wrong about the inevitability of famine, but we still need to ask why so many people don't get enough to eat.

Frank Furedi
Let’s give children the ‘store of human knowledge’ In flattering kids as ‘digital natives’ for whom the past is irrelevant, we degrade a vital adult mission: transmitting knowledge.

	Tim Black
	A climate scare in Trafalgar Square Ghost Forest, a new art installation, wants to frighten us into changing our greedy, planet-wrecking ways.

	Shane O’Neill
	Modern Warfare 2 has not made me a terrorist The hysterical campaign against the greatest videogame ever made is based on outdated effects theories.

	Mick Hume
	Election: up for grabs, but nothing to play for As Gordon Brown launches the General Election campaign, the one certainty seems to be that we won't be offered any political choice.

	Brid Hehir
	Undermining nursing care by degrees The proposal that nurses in England should be university graduates will further reduce the level of basic nursing skills.

	Jason Walsh
	Why Northern Ireland is a one party state Forget Sinn Féin or the DUP, the only party that matters in the Northern Ireland Assembly is the Peace Process Party.

Jennie Bristow
There’s more to human character than sharing toys Demos should go on the naughty step for arguing that parenting style determines whether kids become good, bad and even middle class.

Rob Lyons
The truth about those unemployment stats Is the small rise really due to economic recovery, or the fact that people are willing to accept wage and hour cuts?

	Tim Black
	‘Poker is all about skill and self-control’ An American expert on poker challenges the idea that it encourages reckless, addictive, spendthrift behaviour.

	Dr Michael Fitzpatrick
	The ‘McCarthyism’ of the anti-smoking lobby Two new books expose how epidemiology has been used as a tool of propaganda in the war on tobacco, leaving little room for real facts.

Patrick West
Communists can’t make cola The Secret Life of The Berlin Wall was gripping, but it didn’t explain anything new, like why East German coke was so bad.

Duleep Allirajah
Why not just call it the Blub-o-drome? Yes, Sportsdirect.com@St James Park is a rubbish name for a stadium, but why are Geordies really upset about it?

	Tessa Mayes
	Erasing David: nothing to hide, everything to fear David Bond’s documentary makes a decent case for defending privacy, but it too often fails as investigative journalism.

	Wendy Kaminer
	We must stop being tolerant of repression In a recent speech, the libertarian Wendy Kaminer argued that state intervention into everyday life is giving rise to ‘habits of submission’.

	Sabine Reul
	Germany: still divided after all these years The fall of the Berlin Wall, far from heralding a unified future, ushered in a new period of discord between west and east.

Brendan O’Neill
Nutts to these anti-alcohol experts Last night’s David Nutt debate confirmed that cannabis is now promoted as a means of pacifying young, drunk ruffians.

	Brendan O’Neill
	‘Lettergate’ reveals the illiteracy of British politics The bizarre controversy over Gordon Brown’s letter to a grieving mum shows that we urgently need to improve and deepen political debate.

	Nathalie Rothschild
	Airbrushing ‘bad ads’ from public life The campaign to ban retouched images of skinny models is not only crazy – it’s deeply censorious, too.

	James Woudhuysen
	Still no clear policy on nuclear energy New Labour’s commitment to nuclear is half-hearted at best, and goes hand in hand with more policing of our energy use.

	Mick Hume
	It’s Europe, Dave, but not as we know it Europe might be back to haunt Cameron’s Tories – but this time things look very different for the EU, Britain, the Tory Party and the rest of us.

	Tim Black
	See? Mothers can be sex abusers, too On the flimsiest of evidence, ChildLine and the NSPCC are now even spreading suspicion about the mother-child bond.

	Brendan O’Neill
	Thirst: a vampire film for grown-ups If you, too, are bored by the emo, sexless, vegetarian vampires of Twilight, check out Chan-wook Park’s new movie.

Frank Furedi
Elevating environmentalism over ‘less worthy’ lifestyles The legal ruling that a belief in climate change is similar to a religious conviction seriously damages science, philosophy and democracy.

Brendan O’Neill
David Nutt is not the new Galileo The curious Cult of Nutt, backed by both dopeheads and scientists, is actually denigrating scientific truth.

	Norman Lewis
	The right to privacy in the Age of Facebook In an era of voluntary revelation and involuntary regulation, we must find new ways to defend our private lives.

	Jennie Bristow
	Why pedagogy is in peril Frank Furedi explains that the real problem in education isn’t intefering politicians or pushy parents, but a profound crisis of adult authority.

Patrick West
The Noughties: 10 years of nostalgia The most striking thing about this decade is how much of it we spent looking back at past decades.

Duleep Allirajah
Are we witnessing a counter-Rafalution? Most Liverpool fans still believe Rafael Benitez is a tactical genius. But the voices of dissent are increasing.

Dr Michael Fitzpatrick
Autism: moving beyond the quest for a cure The author of Defeating Autism: A Damaging Delusion challenges both those who want to cure and those who want to celebrate autism.

	Nathalie Rothschild
	Putting a forcefield around green ideas The notion that green beliefs in the workplace should be legally protected from ridicule is deeply censorious.

	Barry Curtis
	Fireworks: the killjoys’ pet hate Miserabilists want to make Bonfire Night a less explosive, less colourful affair in the name of protecting pets. No way.

	Jason Walsh
	No, I’m the real Irish republican Jason Walsh spoke to some of those who claim to be the legitimate heirs of 1916 and found their legitimism geeky and unconvincing.

	Mick Hume
	Who elected these knights to rule parliament? Grubby elected – and kick-outable – MPs are still more of a democratic choice than squeaky-clean appointed and unaccountable civil servant Sirs.

	Brendan O’Neill
	American hippies vs the evil Japanese The pro-dolphin documentary The Cove exposes how warped are the misanthropic values of the animal-rights lobby.

	Tim Black
	Giving the young a taste of freedom Prince Edward’s comments may have been crass, but today’s cotton-wool kids need to be allowed to take risks.

	Brandon O’Neal
	Why we must wipe out climate denialism With a survey showing that only 15 per cent of Brits are worried about global warming, it’s time to extinguish the ideas warping the public’s mind.

	Nathalie Rothstein
	China’s too lenient: we need a no-child policy With the swarm of human beings expected to hit nine billion by 2050, it’s time we discussed tough remedies.

	Rob Loynes
	Smoking parents pose a threat to their kids By all means take away the children of obese parents, but parents who smoke and drink are an even greater danger.

Brendan O’Neill
This ‘revolt of the experts’ is revolting It was wrong of the government to sack David Nutt. But it’s also wrong for experts to pose as paragons of wisdom who are above democracy.

	Tim Black
	Why New Labour is so dopey on cannabis The interminable debate about whether dope should be a class B or C drug reveals the government’s incoherence.

	Nathalie Rothschild
	Telling unfunny jokes should not be a crime The fining of French comedian Dieudonné for publicly insulting Jews is a crime against freedom of speech.

	Jennie Bristow
	Why pedagogy is in peril Frank Furedi, author of the new book Wasted: Why Education Isn’t Educating, talks to Jennie Bristow about the politicisation of education and the crisis of adult authority.

	Sean Collins
	China and America: the economic Odd Couple Stephen Roach provides some useful, counterintuitive insights into the economic relationship between America and China, but too often uses the term ‘global imbalance’ as a euphemism for ‘US decline’.

	Dr Michael Fitzpatrick
	The anti-smoking ‘truth regime’ that cannot be questioned Two new books expose how epidemiology has been used as a tool of propaganda in the war on tobacco – and woe betide anyone who tries to inject some real facts into the debate.

	Stuart Derbyshire
	Farewell, Norman Levitt With the passing of Norman Levitt, a rigorous defender of scientific truth against the relativism and cowardice of the ‘academic left’, we have lost a modern Enlightenment hero.

	Tim Black
	The drawn-out decay of the capitalist class Richard Overy’s splendid new book on the ‘morbid age’ of the 1920s and 30s sheds light on the emergence of a profound crisis of confidence amongst the bourgeoisie – a crisis that has never quite gone away.

	Nathalie Rothschild
	Seeing Sweden through the eyes of Stieg Larsson Larsson’s hugely popular Millennium novels are not only brilliant page-turners – they also challenge the clapped-out view of Sweden as a social paradise peopled by buxom blondes and depressives.

	Rob Lyons
	Cooking up a new theory of evolution With his smaller teeth and jaws, what separated Homo erectus from his predecessors was not just eating meat, but cooking what he caught.

	James Woudhuysen
	State intervention is no substitute for innovation British industry isn’t dead by any means, but if low-carbon jobs and protectionism trump new research and development, it soon will be.

	Suzy Dean
	A book to set democratic alarm bells ringing Martin Bell’s account of the expenses scandal has insights, but his willingness to embrace infringements upon parliamentary sovereignty in the name of restoring trust denigrates democracy.

	Rob Lyons
	Go veggie to ‘save the planet’? Burger off! The Stern-endorsed campaign to stop people eating meat shows that greens have no solutions for society beyond launching wars on enjoyment.

Patrick West
Steve McQueen, without the car chase BBC Radio 4’s brave choice to rework the ultra-visual Bullitt showed that old-school noir can still be entertaining.

Duleep Allirajah
In defence of terrace abuse The arguments that football fans have become too abusive and more inclined to violence don’t stack up.

	Mick Hume
	Why do they all want to hijack Churchill? The ‘would Churchill have supported the BNP?’ furore says more about politics today than it does about the role of ‘our hero’ in history.

	Brendan O’Neill
	Why they love to hate Mother Teresa The radical-atheist assaults on the late sister of Calcutta are the intellectual equivalent of mugging an old woman.

	Tim Black
	If comedians can’t be offensive, who can? Jimmy Carr is only the latest public figure to fall victim to the ‘offence hounds’ who love being scandalised.

	Dr Michael Fitzpatrick
	Making a pig’s ear of mass vaccination People are right to be sceptical about the swine-flu scare, but it is telling – and worrying – that they focus their scepticism on swine-flu jabs.

Tiffany Jenkins
Artists: resist this propagandist agenda In a speech for the Battle of Ideas, Tiffany Jenkins argued that cultural diplomacy leads to bad art and bad politics.

	Tim Black
	The cheap thrill of global warming Ed Miliband’s ‘climate map’ confirms that climate change is the only thing providing New Labour with a sense of mission.

	Nathalie Rothschild
	‘Rescue’: a new PC term for repatriation As the sex-trafficking scare is exposed as a tissue of lies, Nathalie Rothschild spells out the need for full freedom of movement for migrants.

	Basham and Luik
	NYC: the city that never smokes A proposal to ban lighting up in New York’s parks has exposed the puritanical agenda behind the crusade against smoking.

	Guy Rundle
	The calm before the immigration storm? The lack of hysteria at a new influx of refugee boats to Australia has disappointed pro- and anti-refugee groups alike.

	Brendan O’Neill
	The new divide in British politics: Us and Him Question Time was no victory for rigorous and free debate – it merely confirmed Nick Griffin’s elevation as the voodoo doll of public life.

	Alex Hochuli
	Hating Nick: a shared national experience Alex Hochuli reports from a London university that showed Question Time on a big screen in a bar, football-style.

	Patrick Hayes
	‘Would the BBC give a platform to Hitler?’ Patrick Hayes joined the rabble of censors protesting outside BBC Television Centre in the run-up to Question Time.

Patrick West
‘My name’s Josie…and I have a penis’ Age 8 and Wanting a Sex Change took an unusually empathic look at ‘gender dysphoria’ amongst children.

Rob Lyons
Life’s a beachball, and then you die Eight weeks in and Liverpool’s season might already be over – thanks, in part, to a little comedy intervention.

	Sean Collins
	This isn’t a recovery. It’s an Obama Bubble Just because the Dow Jones Industrial Average recently reached 10,000, that doesn’t mean the US economy is springing back to life.

	Tim Black
	‘Voltaire never saw concentration camps’ Tim Black reports from a radical-left anti-BNP rally at which free speech was denounced as ‘nonsense’.

	Sarnath Banerjee
	A tragi-comic censorship campaign Cartoonist Sarnath Banerjee illustrates how a website about a sexy Indian sister-in-law got the censors hot under the collar.

	Mick Hume
	They couldn’t manage a mail service in a post office Behind the UK postal dispute is the spectre of privatisation and the authorities’ inability to take responsibility for basic state services.

	Thomas McMahon
	What do family courts have to hide? Opening up UK family courts to the public will not lead to social worker witch-hunts, but to greater public trust.

	Tara McCormack
	An Afghan farce, produced in the West For Hamid Karzai to justify the West’s unjustified war, the Afghan presidential elections had to be rigged.

	Tim Black
	Off with their head of state New Labour’s craven justification for maintaining the Royal Prerogative shows that today’s political class doesn’t trust the people – or itself.

Stuart Blackman
Climate change is not beyond questioning A BBC News journalist's willingness to report more than climate orthodoxy should be encouraged not condemned.

Rob Lyons
Recycling: an eco-ritual we should bin Reprocessing waste might one day be cost-effective, but for now it's a moralistic reminder that humans are greedy.

Brendan O’Neill
The fight to re-enfranchise the electorate starts here If the next General Election is to have any real impact, it must be turned from a technical affair into a big, loud public debate about the future.

	Tim Black
	I am offended, therefore I am The overblown reaction to Jan Moir’s bilious column about Stephen Gately shows offence now trumps open debate.

	Mark Adnum
	Stop presenting gays as whiter than white The editor of a gay website says that, beneath her prejudice and inaccuracy, Jan Moir kind of had a point.

	Sean Collins
	We’re all Keynesians now? I’m not Robert Skidelsky’s book on Keynes gives a good account of today’s economic crisis. But its faith in the ‘master’ of economic debate is misplaced.

Emily Hill
‘Welcome to the rohypnol conference’ Emily Hill watched the Tories in Manchester swig fizz, dodge photographers and talk about as little as possible.

Patrick West
Giving animals human motivations: that’s Life Like so many nature series, David Attenborough’s latest show is visually stunning but built on childish storytelling.

Duleep Allirajah
It’s not true that ‘black men can’t coach’ Just as black players proved themselves on the pitch, so black managers should prove themselves in the dugout.

Brendan O’Neill
The self-destruction of the House of Commons The mock-populist backlash on parliamentary expenses poses a serious threat not only to MPs’ bank balances, but to democracy itself.

Nathalie Rothschild
A naked assault on our right to privacy Airport scanners that will ogle our naked bodies are only a more hi-tech version of everyday state surveillance.

Emily Hill
Jane Austen meets Sex and the City A new BBC adaptation of Emma abandons Austen’s barbed wit in favour of 21st-century dating psychobabble.

Wendy Kaminer
Why libertarians should support the right to die In the US, the war on drugs and federal heavy-handedness are limiting a doctor’s ability to help patients in exceptional pain.

	Patrick Marmion
	Exit stage right, pursued by a banker Former Communist David Hare is now a knight of the realm, yet his play on the recession is his most radical to date.

Tim Black
New Labour’s phoney battle with fascism The more the party’s crisis deepens, the more it cynically ups the ante against a far-right phantasm.

	Mick Hume
	Brighton bomb memories How the world has changed since I was bizarrely accused of involvement in the IRA attack on the Tory cabinet 25 years ago this week.

	Nancy McDermott
	Circumcision: cut the crap ‘Intactivists’ who claim that being circumcised abused their human rights, and ruined their sex lives, should get a grip.

	Shane O’Neill
	Hey, union, leave us kids alone! The NUS’s offer of free alcoholic drinks to students who agree to have STI tests reveals its prudish anti-sex tendencies.

	Brendan O’Neill
	How Hillary became Empress of Ireland Hillary Clinton’s head-knocking visit to the Six Counties confirms that Washington has successfully conquered both Ireland and Britain.

	Gordon Hughes
	The wrong answer to climate change It would be wiser, and cheaper, to adapt to climate change rather than to slash CO2 emissions by 70 per cent.

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	19 November 2009 Too many people? No, too many Malthusians


	17 November 2009 Election: up for grabs, but nothing to play for

There’s more to human character than sharing toys


	13 November 2009: Erasing David and the fight for privacy rights


	20 November 2009: Never mind the guest presenters