Who’s black and who isn’t?

One of the men in this picture is black. The other isn’t. How so? Well, President Barack Obama describes himself as African American even though his mother was white. This is in stark contrast to Tiger Woods.

There was astonishment – largely by African Americans – when Woods described himself as “Cablinasian”. This word was a contraction of his mixed Caucasian, Black, Indian (Native American) and Asian roots. Black America was in uproar that the first black man to win the US Masters had essentially, opted out of being black.

Teetotal Tedium

When I tell people that I don’t like Marmite, they accept it and move on without comment. When I tell people that I don’t like alcohol, a pause invariably ensues, a pause I am supposed to fill in by explaining myself. Or, I’m asked the question, “what, never?”

My confession (and it often feels like a confession) seems to lead to whoever I’m speaking to trying to imagine their life without alcohol and seeing an empty void where their social life used to be. Maybe its our binge drinking culture, or maybe it’s just a lack of imagination.

Gay equality laws – what has the Pope got to do with it?

The government recently tabled an amendment to the Equality Bill which would have clarified that churches can not discriminate against gay men and lesbians in recruitment for roles that did not include leading worship.

Naturally, the Pope – who is obsessed with gays – criticised the legislation for violating “natural law” and would “impose unjust limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs.”