pete mcgovern

Download available here (possibly UK only) Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as Custer's Last Stand. The discussion gives some insights into how native American Indians became dispossessed in their own lands, and details the mythology of a battle that was over ' in the time it takes a hungry man to eat a meal ' according to Indian folklore.

Reuters news story on yahoo! Palestinians welcomed a U.N. Human Rights Council report on Thursday highly critical of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, saying it vindicated their struggle against Israel. The U.N. investigation, which was boycotted by the Jewish state, urged Israel to halt settlement construction unconditionally and begin removing all 500,000 Israeli settlers from occupied territory immediately. "This is incredible. We are extremely heartened by this principled and candid assessment of Israeli violations," said Hanan Ashrawi, a senior official in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

 BBC web link A 15-year-old Icelandic girl has won the right to use the name given her by her mother, after a court battle against the authorities.  Blaer Bjarkardottir will now be able to use her first name, which means "light breeze", officially.  Icelandic authorities had objected, saying it was not a proper feminine name.   Like Germany and Denmark, Iceland has rigid limitations about how a baby can be named. The names like Carolina and Christa, for example, are not allowed because the letter "c" is not part of Iceland's alphabet. Names cannot be unisex either.

Piece by a political writer I am a huge fan of, Stephen M. Walt , professor of international relations at Harvard University.  These points seem applicable to the UK, too - apart from #4, although there are plenty of men in tailored suits with manicured hands, both on the left and the right, prolonging post-empire militarism. Stephen Walt: Top Five Truths You Won't Hear Any U.S. Official Admit: Here's a little fantasy for you to ponder: what if one of our senior foreign policy officials accidentally swallowed some sodium pentothal (aka "truth serum") before some public hearing or press conference, and started speaking the truth about one of those issues where prevarication, political correctness, and obfuscation normally prevail? You know: what if they started saying in public all those things that they probably believe in private? What sorts of "inconvenient truths" might suddenly get revealed? In that spirit, here's my Top Five Tru...

One of the things that trans self-portraits offer (for those of us who have not really ' come out ') is some form of compensation to living life in a discrete way, out of sight.  When that alternative self remains routinely invisible then the photograph is alternative validation.  Before, like most people, I guess, I was never particularly comfortable in front of the camera, it seemed like you have to put on an act, but now I'm not bothered : ) Stephen, a friend from my photography course years ago, just sent me this studio pic he took of me back then, which made me laugh.  I recognise the appearance - hm, yep that's me - but I don't identify with the person in the picture, his concerns, what he occupied his time with... it seems like someone else .  And I have no recollection of posing for this photo. I just ordered a book by Lee Friedlander (b. 1934) One of the unusual things about his lifetime of taking eclectic photos is the recurrance of self-portraiture; ...

Henrik Kerstens ' long term series of photographs of his daughter includes a set of images in the manner of (15th Century Flemish) painting.  They are stunning but I'm not sure if he is being satirical of photography's long history of being referential - and usually deferential - to the earlier art form?  I hope so.