serendipityoucity

I always find interesting stories in the UK Independent. Today there were a bunch, two hot ones on women’s issues, one on over the top wealth and one on Mussolini’s crazy sounding right wing granddaughter. I am never going to get anything done at this rate!

1) the story of Sayed Pervez Kambaksh, a 24 year old male journalist escapes and Afghan prison. He was sentenced to death for distributing literature about the right of women. His death sentence was eventually reduced to 20 years in prison, this was after he was given a death sentence in a 4 minute court appearance.

2) The story about the rampant sexism in the UK financial sector, where women’s bonuses are 40% those of men, starting wages are much lower for women, pregnancy means redundancy, work segregation, customer parties with lap dancers, strippers, golf and billiards, combined with harassing sexist comments on manner of dress or reducing pay because these women are expected to have babies so why pay them if they are going to leave. It seems like the British banking system is run by a bunch of spoiled frat boys! The study was done by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). I have heard of this kind of behaviour in engineering firms, the military, and other baby blue collar occupations such as fire-fighters, and to a lesser extent in legal firms, but not this outrageous! The EHRC acquires its data via the Equality Act 2006 which require firms to provide information on their working practices and policies.

3) An Article about the Victoria and Albert Museum exhibit of objects owned by today’s Indian Maharajas. These folks are supremely rich. The Maharajas no longer rule the north, but they maintain their incredible wealth, this in a country that does not believe in universal education, has a deeply entrenched cast system and does not provide clean drinking water to its people - but hey - Bangalore here we come. Neverland move over, as these folks have been tackier and wing nuttier for longer than stars in the US:

a vast banqueting table with a diamond-studded train set on it for ferrying the port and wine to diners.

A silver-encrusted bed. The design was sent to Christofle in Paris calling for a bed of “dark wood decorated with applied sterling with gilded parts, monograms and arms, ornamented with four life-size bronze figures (of naked females) painted in flesh colour with natural hair, movable eyes and arms, holding fans and horse tails”. Some 290kg of silver was needed to decorate the bed. The four naked figures were European, representing women of France, Spain, Italy and Greece, each with a different skin-tone and hair colour. Through ingenious mechanics linked to the mattress, the Nawab was able to set the figures in motion so that they fanned him while winking at him, against a 30-minute cycle of music from Gounod’s Faust generated by a music box built into the bed.

The Patiala Necklace, part of the largest single commission that the Paris jeweller Cartier has ever executed. Completed in 1928, this piece of ceremonial jewellery originally contained 2930 diamonds and weighed almost a thousand carats.

4) a story about Mussolini’s granddaughter blocking a movie that labels her a ‘whore’, meanwhile she has some great one liners such as when she responded to claims by the transgender Italian politician, Vladimir Luxuria, that she was a “fascist” by reportedly saying: “Meglio fascista che frocio” – it is better to be a fascist than a faggot.

5) How Catholic Church holds a candle and a prayer for the internet generation, just go to the Santa Maria Regina Pacis di Ostia website and light your cyber candle! And of course lets not forget the Vatican launched YouTube channel.

Dam! I am only half way through the paper & Boing Boing may want to RSS feed this paper!