There’s been plenty of coverage of the events unfolding in Iran. Meanwhile, as the eyes of the world – and its media - have been on Tehran, there have been equally disturbing, but much less publicised developments in Peru. The attempted implementation of yet another dodgy US free trade agreement has resulted in protests, heavy-handed suppression and over fifty deaths. Here’s your chance to find out what your newspaper and Sky News may not have told you.

They were described to us as one of the most energetic bands on the live circuit and they didn’t disappoint. Beyond boundless energy and a powerful live performance, these five young men, hailing from Kentucky in the US, actually have something to say.  We were lucky enough to catch Cage the Elephant as they passed through Northampton UK and then we got our hands on a copy of their eponymous debut CD. While millions gawp at Britain’s Got Couch Potatoes, people are still producing fine music. There is still hope.....

As yet another season draws to a close, we think that it’s time to reflect on the state of our beloved national game. We think that it’s become stale and predictable. Too much money at the top and too little elsewhere, players diving at the hint of a tackle, referees spoiling games with daft decisions and players having tantrums to make a two-year-old ashamed. So we’ve made a list of proposed changes – some sensible, some less so – which, if implemented, could make the 2009-10 season one of the fairest and most fun for a long, long while. What do you think......?

Long ago, John the Baptist stood up to King Herod. More recently, The Clash, The Levellers and Billy Bragg spoke out during M*ggie’s reign of terror. So surely we need some “voices in the wilderness” as unrestrained capitalism enriches the few, impoverishes the many and threatens to destroy our planet? Having so often bemoaned the lack of bands with something useful to say, we are now coming across more and more which are bringing a bit of colour to a bleak musical and political landscape. The King Blues, Sonic Boom Six and now, Dirty Revolution.......

So there I was, standing at the restaurant counter in one of the UK’s many Wyevale Garden Centres. I thought I’d asked a sensible question and, presumably, the young bloke behind the counter thought that he’d given me a sensible answer. “Do you have a vegetarian option?” “Yes, we’ve got fish and chips.” For some of the red pill crew, March 2009 was a meat-free month and it opened our eyes to how biased our society is towards carnivores. Read more about our veggie adventures here....

Always on the lookout for good new music, we’d been keeping track of Twisted Wheel, three boys from Oldham who had been getting some rave reviews from the usual suspects (NME, Xfm). It’s been easy for people to pick up on the band’s swagger and to lump them in with the Manchester scene (“gobby frontmen might be a Manc cliché, but then so are ace bands” – NME) but we wanted to know if Twisted Wheel were the genuine article or just the next big hype. Now we’ve got our grubby paws on the eponymous debut album and can make up our own minds.

We’d always cited Innocent as a shining example of the resistance to ethical and independent companies selling out to global corporations*. The funky smoothie maker with a halo in its logo was an exception to the rule that an ethical start must end in a sell out justified with weasel words. So when we read about Innocent selling a share of its business to Coca-Cola, we felt like we’d lost a friend. And judging by the amount of negative public comment on the brand’s own website, we’re not the only ones who feel disappointed. Has the halo slipped?

As I write this and think back, I am angry and I feel sick. Many people will have watched the news or read a newspaper about events in the City of London last Wednesday. They may have got the impression that it was all about violent protesters and criminal damage but we know different. How? Because we were in the City on Wednesday – very close to that RBS window - and saw it with our own eyes. Here’s our report and pictures from a day when legal protest was stifled and more people saw the police for what they really are......

I used to know a lot of England’s towns and cities solely from travelling to away football matches but these days it’s more the draw of great live music that gets us out and about. On Thursday, Gill, Billy and I visited the delightful city of Peterborough and discovered some fine culture down one of its lamplit back streets (we did park near the cathedral). The venue was called the Park and mercifully was not sponsored by that cheap brand of sappy lager that seems to be taking over most UK music venues. On the bill tonight, the wonderful Skints from London........

The old joke about protest marches is that the organisers usually claim a million people turned up, the police say it was nearer a dozen and the truth lies somewhere in between. So when “the police estimated the crowd at about 35,000”* on Saturday’s Put People First march and rally in London, it would be fair to assume that a lot of people turned up. Steve, Gill & Billy from Take the Red Pill spent a day down south, marching, whistling, shouting, listening, dreaming of a new revolution and then hoping that the coach was coming soon ‘cos it was bloody cold......