Glaessner, Sian

Well we've all heard that slogan by now haven't we? Something about blue green algae? Pond slime?

Yes, David Cameron and his merry band of Tories have suddenly discovered that bicycles are The Way Forward and have turned their well-tailored be-suited backs on the luxury Rolls, the Mercs and the SUVs. Jolly good isn't it? Cameron has Two Great Men working to make sure he stays green: John Gummer (he of “eat the mad cow burger” fame) and Zac Goldsmith (an eco pin-up if ever there was…

We all like to be entertained don't we? And isn't it great that the hero gets the girl, the poor get rich and the good guys (us) always win?

Yes. The enemy this time is the sweetest of all - Hollywood. After all, how could anyone criticise that which gives pleasure to millions? Well. Hollywood might have been making us laugh and cry for generations but beyond the glitz and glamour there's the reality. A reality of oppression, exploitation and propaganda. So go on - add your pennies…

Well gather round me people there's a story I'm gonna tell, about a brave young prophet, you should remember well.

Our man of the month is the alternative man of the moment, say his supporters. He goes by the name of George. Some call him “gorgeous”. And we can surely see why, his skin - taut and flushed like an orange, begging to be peeled... his balding pate - lending him a gravitas (or is that veritas) that is undercut by his wry humour, and his moustache - seemingly grown in…

Well darlings, the object of our desire this month is not a person, it's a concept. Oooh. An advertising concept. Aaaaah. It is - wait for it - “Beyond Petroleum”.

We've all seen it on billboards, we've seen it in magazines. It's the ever so post postmodern advertising solution that BP is using to convince us all that, oh no, they don't do oil any more. Oil is ever so last century darling. What use would the company formerly known as “Anglo Iranian” have for fossil fuels? It's all…

Hello my lovely ones, are you feeling full of vernal passion?

I hope so, cos this month's target for all your cupid's arrows is Dr John Reid. Bless `im. He's our beloved new defence secretary.

He knows a rogue elephant [shurely “element” ed?] when he sees one. They were in the intelligence services, briefing against Government in the “Iraq weapons row” apparently. As health secretary he was “a man on a mission”, although he is said to have greeted news of that appointment with…

As Peace News went to press, hundreds of protesters remained on the streets of Uzbekistan, following mid-May's unrest and subsequent massacre by government troops. Sian Glaessner has been talking with the founder of the Uzbek organisation

Why hello there voters! You've heard his slogans - you've read his posters, you've burnt his manifesto... Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

Yip. This month's man is Anthony Michael Howard-Blair. He is going to be Our Glorious Leader. Democracy is coming to the UK... but only for a day. After that, it's stay off the streets or you'll get an ASBO, stay outta the meetings cos their pigged to high heaven, and most importantly - stay in line cos it's forward to the…

“The two stacks of hay there had been burnt; the apricot and cherry trees he had planted and reared were broken and scorched; and, worse still, all the beehives and bees were burnt. The wailing of the women, and of the little children who cried with their mothers, mingled with the lowing of the hungry cattle, for whom there was no food. The bigger children did not play, but followed their elders with frightened eyes. The fountain was polluted, evidently on purpose, so that the water…

Well my lovelies, this month we're meeting mister Kevin Stanley Beeston.

Not heard of him? Shame. He's a busy man. He's top dog at SERCO. Not heard of it? Chances are it's heard of you. It does it all: leisure centres, hospitals, prisons, railways, national rail enquiries, and nuclear weapons. In 2003 it made #11million gross profit from PFI and it's ambition is to be “up there” with KBR in the global “support services” industry.

When a 54-year-old coughed…

Russia after the election is a grim place. With electoral doubts safely swept under the carpet, Putin has been sworn into Office.

Greeted by Putin Youth Rallies in Moscow, and an explosion in Chechnya killing “Putin's man in the region”, Kadyrov, Head of Parliament Hussein Isaev and, at time of going to press, possibly Finance Minister Ely Isaev. No accidental irony this attack: on the Day of Victory. Putin's promise: the liquidation of the terrorists.

Speaking of which - one…

The FSB, one of the successors to the KGB, have accused humanitarian organisations working in Chechnya and Ingushetia of producing “anti stability” propaganda harmful to the efforts made by the Governments involved to seek a resolution of the “Chechen Problem”.

These organisations have been working with refugees from the continuing bloodbath in the Caucasus, providing necessary materials for the refugee camps in which they live. The FSB has been monitoring these organisations for…

At times worryingly naïve this is a book that goes some way to readdress the myth of “transition” in Post Soviet Russia.

Packed with tables and charts there is no doubt that Mssrs Haynes and Hasan have done serious research, and it shows. They avoid many of the cliche's that appear in books about Russia: centuries of endurance, the mysterious Russian Soul etc, and for anyone new to that part of the world, the facts and figures of (Post)Soviet life and death will be truly horrific.…

In spite of mounting state repression of campaign groups - the spurious arrests of ecological activists, the death in suspicious circumstances of Mr Shekochikhin, the Minister of Defence accusing the Soldiers' Mothers Committee of being a dodgy outfit funded by shady organisations - campaigners in Russia are as active as ever on a wide range of issues.

In Azov, Kaliningrad, blockades organised by Rainbow Keepers and Autonomous Action - and supported by local residents and…