Mars Express confirms earlier Herald report

National Geographic: "Frozen Sea" Seen on Mars

The European Space Agency's orbiter has beamed a picture back to Earth of an ice floe formation on Mars. We are not at all reluctant to say 'we told you so.' On September 9th, 2003 we published this picture of seaweed on Mars taken from the Willesden Observatory's world-beating "massively redundant array" optical telescopic*.

*Developed partly with funding provided by the Willesden Herald.

Bush decides who's to live and who's to die

Guardian Unlimited Cartoons Steve Bell

The entire US government apparatus is convulsed in a battle to forcefeed a brain dead woman indefinitely, and keep her alive. They don't give a damn how many of their soldiers, British and Iraqis are killed. Bush should be in an insane asylum not in the White House. This is the moron that Blair sold Britain out to. This is the man who condemned more prisoners to death than any other contemporary state governor, and spent an average of ten minutes per case before deciding.

Epitaph on a Tyrant

Perfection, of a kind, was what he was after,
And the poetry he invented was easy to understand;
He knew human folly like the back of his hand,
And was greatly interested in armies and fleets;
When he laughed, respectable senators burst with laughter,
And when he cried the little children died in the streets.

--W. H. Auden

That's too good an epitaph in this case, a better one would be, 'Here lies a shameless mass murderer, may he burn in Hell.'

Zoz

Spring words blossom

Official website of Laura Hird

Laura's site promises the "pick of the best new writing and stuff" and a great load of reviews (see reason for saying this, below) and a ton of new short stories, as well as the remarkable Lit Mag Central and lots more besides.

Ossian

They flog horses don't they?

New review of The London Silence

This one is a mixed review, in parts flattering, by Neil Ayres.

Ossian

Lotto rapist released from prison

Sky News

'No one believes he's going to be able to stop himself attacking women,' a police source told the Daily Mirror. 'He doesn't give a damn about anyone or anything. He's the ultimate nightmare.'

He was given "life", he's still a danger, so why are they releasing him after 16 years?

Zoz

Red Cap father to stand against Blair

Sky News

Former ambulance paramedic Mr Keys, 52, from Bala, said: 'It will be a David and Goliath fight, but Goliath was a Philistine and I think that word sums up my opponent.'

Let's all get behind Reg Keys and teach Blair a lesson he'll never forget.

Zoz

Life and War with Mikey 'Fatboy' Delgado

Visiting Dean.



By the road to the mental hospital

a guy on the wall calls across to us

Ossian

Ashok Niyogi

5 poems



He cuts his vodka

With fresh iced grapefruit chunks

Ossian

Kidnapped by Aileens

Free poster for your cell

To celebrate our re-launch, this Sunday's super soaraway 'sden comes with this free poster of our legendary flounder, Red Woodward, fighting alongside the Fidelista in Finchley.

New improved formula! Free!

The super soaraway 'sden suddenly seems even superer. All new layout and fandabidozi giveaway pictures for all. Google gawkers glut your gizzards on our glamourous geewhiz graphics!

Marketing Dept.

Old Bushmills?

Dave Allen dies aged 68

Guardian TV critic Nancy Banks-Smith, writing about Allen in 1993, said he was like a '20-year-old malt. Very rare and very expensive, I hope, and you'd recognise it with a bucket over your head. Sip for six weeks. Savour, don't swig.'

Dave Allen

Reuters.com

'Am I the Irish comedian with half a finger? No, I'm the Irish comedian with nine and a half fingers,' he said, referring to the missing tip of one of his fingers.

Goodnight, and may your God go with you

Willesden's favourite Irishman and all-round comic genius, Dave Allen, has died in his sleep, aged 68. He always ended his hilarious, and religion-lampooning TV shows with a suave, 'Goodnight, and may your God go with you.'

Poetry anthology update

Some of you may recall the poetry anthology I started trying to produce - it seems a long time ago now. It was going to be called last night's dream corrected after one of the pieces. The likelihood is that the collection will now form a separate section in the new anthology from PretendGeniusPress, called fish drink like us. I hope this might be acceptable to people who submitted work.

Update: Publication came eventually as a book in its own right.

Ossian

The security trap - New Labour's gamble on terrorism

The UK government is delighted to offer an unacceptable security bill at this time, because they calculate - with despicable cynicism - that there could be a terrorist outrage before the election. The only security they care about is the security of their seats in parliament, their tickets for the gravy train. The calculation is that a terrorist outrage before the election might turn the electorate against them, as it did in Spain with various complications, but that trapping the opposition into opposing a security bill will acquit the government of responsibility. Somebody should tell people about this, explain it to the public, so that New Labour's cynical gamble on terrorism, security and the election doesn't work.

Zoz

International labour unions

The solution to the problems of globalization lies in a new generation of labour unions, which will be international. These new unions will have to fight both the capitalists and the old national unions. This is the cause that the anti-globalization movement is searching for. Isn't it?

Zoz

Attacking the Demi-Puppets

Reflections on Literary Rebellion Part I



"From the beginning, by the nature of our organization and our campaign, we've willfully put ourselves last among writers, 'the lowest of the low,' embracing this status. We recruited the most disgraced, overlooked, scorned, alienated, angriest, craziest outcast writers in the nation, desiring those at the bottom, complete underdogs; active outsiders."

Ossian

Asian women writers - scripts wanted

From: "Brent Brain"



"Are you an Asian woman working on a short or full-length theatre script you would like to develop? Kali Shorts is the first stage of Kali Theatre's writer development programme. Selected writers will be able to join the Kali writers' group and receive support in the development of their work."

Ossian

Review of The London Silence

From: Attacking the Demi-Puppets



"We see [...] not a development into maturity, but a regression from confusion into the comforts of ignorance. This gives the collection a growing impact of depression, as if the world is so overwhelming the character wants to go backward. It's harshly realistic about the fate of young people who don't come from a glowing Cozzens or Fitzgerald background."

Ossian

A hundred tons of feathers

Big Bridge #10

This may keep you reading till about this time next year.

Ossian

Westwords Live

"The largest literature festival that west London has ever seen kicks off in March. The Westwords Live Festival, which spans five west London boroughs, including Brent, features more than 100 events."

Ossian

It's all happening - here

Westwords Live Festival

"The largest literature festival that west London has ever seen kicks off in March."

Life's Agassi

You need balls to do this (Skynews)

The seven non-deadly sins

1. Waiting till your siblings have eaten their sweets before starting yours.

2. Buying the same car as next door.

3. Falling asleep and missing your stop on public transport.

4. Pillow fighting.

5. Imagining oneself witty.

6. Using ylang ylang bath oil.

7. Forgetting to worry.

Zoz