Having just finished my own initial reflections on the meaning of Easter, as refracted through two connected mini-dramas marked on Holy Thursday, I came across this arresting short piece (if you'll pardon the pun, given its topic) by Nathan Schneider.

Despite substantial, detailed criticism and concern from the medical profession, health planners and the public over his Health & Social Care Bill, Secretary of State Andrew Lansley has shown few signs so far that a genuine rethink will emerge from the government's "listening exercise".

My colleague Symon Hill's appearance on 4though.tv this evening (13 April 2011), arguing that the mutual inherence of an Established Church and the institution of monarchy compromises the Gospel message of freedom and identification with the least in society (http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/14559), comes weeks away from the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

I have just registered as a participant on Globethics.net - a global network of people and institutions interested in various fields of applied ethics. It offers access to a large number resources on ethics, especially through its leading global digital ethics library.

Some 23 journalists have been threatened with imprisonments, killings and disappearances in Colombia over the past three months. Fifty-seven have been on a 'hit list' during the past 12 months. There have been 1,400 attacks against media workers. The reason? They are exposing government complicity in massive human rights abuses in the country, and challenging the silence and complicity around this.

Though much of the media focus on the issues of asylum seekers and refugees (as well as migration more generally) is filtered through a prism of fear and the instinct to exclude, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) - whose 8-10 April 2011 annual delegate conference I am attending - continues to work hard for fair reporting and justice.

Sometimes, as Pascale Palmer says in her moving blog article (http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/14510), being caught in large chunks of the 24/7 media maelstrom for your professional life can be an enerv

The arrogance of large media companies in the face of calls for fairness and accountability besmirches the reputation of good journalism - and I say that as someone who has been in the business on-and-off (mostly 'on'!) for nearly 30 years.

This short film by Oonagh Cousins highlights, in accessible terms, what 'the alternative' to the current recessionary government trajectory looks like - and introduces some of the key players - including political economist Ann Pettifor (who is involved in the 'Green New Deal' group, and writes for Ekklesia among others), UK Uncut, the Robin Hood Tax Campaign initiative, False Economy, and others.

Listening to the the suave propaganda pouring from the lips of Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander, and other government apologists over the last 24 hours, I am struck by the persistence of the 'deficit denial' theme - and the fact that it seems to have won over a significant portion of the public. This does not make what is being said any more factually sound, ethically substantial or intellectually rigorous, of course.