I guess you need to experience sadness to be funny

I recently had the pleasure of listening to a ‘muslim comedian’ performing his routine at a charity event. It’s normally an ordeal that requires the highest resolve and I normally get through it by constantly reminding myself that it is for charity, hungry orphans and all,  so I end up fake laughing through gritted teeth. […]

Apologies for the break in transmission

Now you may have been wondering why there has been a sudden break in posts after such recent frenetic activity, but it is only now, when the dust has settled, that I feel it right to recount the sorry tale. It all started over a meal that the contributors have from time to time. Usually […]

Youthful misunderstandings

Greg the builder wasn’t particularly good at his job. He didn’t have a van, nor the right tools and he didn’t pay much attention to detail. But what made me hire him was the thickest Jamaican accent I’d ever heard. I used to strike up conversation with him just to revel in it and it […]

Deja vu daydreams

Bleary-eyed I force myself awake, it’s the 6th of the month and I need to vote. I stumble past the TV that is blaring out with an indistinguishable figure warning of civil unrest from a hung political process. My friend texts me that he’s voting in the Greens – Green what? voting in the Green […]

A hung political process

While speaking to my cousin from Iraq the other day, conversation inevitably turned to the elections – both Iraqi and British. He was quite in favour of the ‘hung’ parliament that people were warning about here and felt a similar hanging of MPs should happen in Iraq. There was obviously something lost in translation here  and […]

As British Iraqis, why should we vote Lib Dem?

So the Liberal Democrats have launched their manifesto today!  Now before you write this post off completely just think about the possible regrets you may have after casting your vote for one of the other parties. Hilariously both of the other parties launched their manifestos in venues that were ironic own goals. Gordon Brown proudly […]

Countdown to the UK election begins

If British Iraqis enjoyed the amateur campaigning and political wrangling that came with the Iraqi elections then they’re definitely in for a treat now. The date of the British election was announced yesterday and we’re going to have politicians grinning at us, kissing ugly babies and promising us the world over the next four weeks. […]

Rabbit munching can’t possibly be a sin

I was once sitting through a lecture given by a well-known Iranian thinker/dissident in the vain attempt at hearing something refreshingly controversial and possibly scandalous. It’s not always the easiest thing to do as while he is a nice guy and is blessed with an original mind, he is also rather dry, esoteric and can […]

Coalition conundrums

So the results are in and we’ve had time to mull over their significance. Here’s an attempt at forecasting the effects of different coalition combinations for Iraq and political entities. So a successful coalition needs at least 163 to gain 50% or more of Parliament Scenario 1: The Difficult Partnership, INM (Allawi) + SOL (Maliki) […]

Explosions, Tories and communal Hugs

Not so long ago, the electricity substation directly opposite my house blew up. We had experienced a power cut earlier on in the day (yes it seems to be an Iraqi thing) and we were pleased to see engineers lazily attempting to fix it. When power was restored, we were relieved and I temporarily took […]