phillyharper.com

Since Autumn 2008 things haven’t looked their best. We’ve heard it mentioned so often it’s become entirely boring to hear; something is wrong with our finances. We’ve got an efficient and rabid media chasing down names and pointing at banks but some juicy and infuriating details are glossed over. I thought I’d share some of the more interesting points of the disaster. Read more »

Tonight I am going to see Mark Thomas, he’s a comedian activist, or maybe he’s an activist comedian. The show is called manifesto and the premise is simple, get the audience to write suggestions down which might improve our lives and then work those suggestions into the performance. After his tour around the UK he’ll hopefully have a manifesto written entirely by the people, or more specifically, by the small number of people who came to see his show.

Each audience gets to come up with a policy, which I will include in the final manifesto and then campaign upon. So here is your chance to propose your policy or policies for the future. All I want is an idea that you think will improve our lives, it can be silly, serious, economic, plagiarised, original, bold, simple, complex, obvious or morbid.    -   markthomasinfo.com

Apparently we’re to fill in a form to suggest our suggestion but who the hell fills out forms these days? I haven’t used a pen in years, they’re so last century. Maybe my first suggestion is for all forms to be abolished, and instead everything is filled out in digital forms.

I’m not one for long arduous ideas, so I’m going to give an internet friendly numbered list of things I want changed, and if Mark Thomas doesn’t change them I’ll label him a failure. They’re definitely not listed in order of priority. Read more »

There’s a world food crisis which has left countries like Haiti with a population dependant on eating mud to survive, there’s a financial crisis that’s forced a careless world to think about it’s endless consumption yet our supermarkets continue to throw away perfectly good food. It’s estimated that you guys, without the help of the supermarkets, throw away 3.6m tonnes of food each year just in England and Wales. In families with children that amounts to 27% of all of your food going in the bin, or to put it another way, you’re throwing £27 out of every £100 spent into the bin. Some estimates put your waste as much as 50%. I decided to take a look for myself just how much food is being wasted. Read more »

As of Monday 6th of April the UK Government keeps track of every website you visit, every email you send, and every VOIP phone call you make for a minimum of one year. The government waived your right to privacy on the farcical promise of additional security. Critics argue this has nothing to do with security and everything to do with surveillance. It seems clear that no matter how much we disapprove of these spy tactics we won’t ever change them, feeding on apathy and ignorance our government does whatever they like. It’s time to be pro-active and not re-active and claw back our right to privacy from the grasp of a government who coerced us into handing it over. They know you’re reading phillyharper, follow these instructions and in 15 minutes time they’ll have no idea who you are or what you’re looking at.  Read more »

On Wednesday the 1st of April 2009, a man died whilst in police custody. He was being held against his will, without charge and without having committed any crime. That night, the leading images on the BBC News in reference to the protests were those of windows being smashed at the RBS building on Bishopsgate in London. Read more »

I got a message this morning from Marina Pepper, one of the figureheads of the G20 Meltdown demonstrations. I’ve been getting these messages for a while; they always come across in what I assumed was a fantasy renegade tone but increasingly I think she’s being entirely serious. Read for yourself: Read more »

Mockery is probably the lowest form of comedy, but what if you could mock someone simply by repeating what they say? This was Sarah Palin’s problem in the election, but now fundamentalist Christians are getting the same treatment.

The guys in this video are reading word for word things written on fundamentalist Christian forums all across the internet. Since putting the video together, the website which they got their source material from has crashed over and over under the pressure of so many people trying to access it. Luckily for you I found the site in question stored safely in google’s cache. You can see it here Read more »

I’m sure you’ve heard the news. KFC have spread their wings and flown from their proverbial nest of budget eateries and landed in the world of aspirational cooking. Their chicken is now fresh and it’s prepared by young, handsome,  enthusiastic and ambitious chefs. In fact they are now such a quality food outlet that I’m  planning my Saturdays around a trip to KFC, with such quality meals and good value I’d be a fool not to. Read more »

Who can forget the story from February about Alfie, the seemingly pre-pubescent child who became the proud father of Maisie with his one time girlfriend Chantelle. It was a romance whirlwind that captivated the international press into a hysteria, “The morals of the UK have gone DOWN THE PAN!” they shouted, “What awful parenting!” people roared. Read more »

Things are rumbling. Gordon Brown was attacked by Daniel Hannan at the European Parliament, the video which has now had more than 1.1 million views in as little as two days – perhaps it’s a barometer for public opinion of the government? In the mean time, the road to the G20 in London has begun, and one University Professor has already been suspended inciting violence towards bankers and the Police. Read more »