Two female friends who were orderd by the education watchdog Ofsted to stop looking after each others' children are serving police officers it has emerged.

Don't situations like these past few days really sort out who your real friends are and who the fair weather friends are? You also find out those whom you thought were friends but turned out to be enemies, through automatic assumptions about you and by the little snide asides by email to third parties. To those true friends - thank you so much. You possibly think that your words of support ar...

I suppose if I was a really serious political blogger I wouldn’t link to stories like this: The likely cause was eventually established – he had apparently been drinking with friends, and had passed out. His friends had decided it...

The Conservative Friends of Israel have been quoted verbatim and without criticism at ConservativeHome. Tim Montgomerie is responsible and is pictured above on a fact-finding mission (June 2006*). Reproduced below. Here is my immediate response which I would repeat at any similarly ignorant, unbalanced, disingenuous and uncritical posting on behalf of Labour Friends of Israel. In fact I posted a q...

Obama's team sent out this message to supporters last night. Its a really innovative use of advocacy in Facebook networks Dear friends, Tuesday is the most important election of our lifetimes. Let's make sure everyone on Facebook gets to the polls on election day by making sure our friends do, and that their friends do, and their friends, and their friends...you get the idea. Donate your...

This is Friends of the Earth Intertnational: We are the world’s largest grassroots environmental network. We campaign on today’s most urgent environmental and social issues. This is Friends of the Earth Middle East: Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME) is a unique organization that brings together Jordanian, Palestinian, and Israeli environmentalists. Our primary objective is the p...

Troutie's avatar Tom Paine writes of real friendships and online friendships. We certainly need a way in English to distinguish real friends from "blog friends," "Facebook friends," "LinkedIn" or "Second Life" friends. While this holds water, especially in Second Life where nothing is as it seems, I do think that blog friendships do not always have to end in grief. Through unfortunate circums...

This from our friends at Stop the War concerning POLICE BEHAVIOUR ON THE GAZA PROTESTS... Last Saturday's demonstration was a wonderful expression of solidarity with the people of Gaza and anger that Israel has been allowed to continue its bombardment without serious and concerted action to stop it by the so-called "international community." The vast majority of people at the protest will kno...

Both Labour and the Conservatives have pressure groups allied to their parties putting the causes of both Israel and Arab interests. Conservative Friends of Israel and Labour Friends of Israel compete (in a friendly manner, I should emphasise) with the Conservative Middle Eastern Council and Labour Friends of Palestine. The LibDems also have a group called LibDem Friends of Palestine and a LibDem ...

Greetings from Samizdata HQ and best wishes to friends of liberty everywhere. Tonight we feast on a roasted beast upon which Adriana has worked her sorcery, celebrating all the wonders that our modern technological society has wrought. Wishing a year of champagne for our real friends, and real pain for our sham friends. Have a splendid Christmas, be it Godly or godless, as is your want....