Tuesday 20 March 2012

Berlin


After studying both Nazi Germany and the Cold War through nondescript GCSE textbooks and handouts, I and thirty nine other year elevens were thrilled to visit the place about which we had heard so much about; Berlin.
Touching down at the grey, concrete airport just outside central Berlin and travelling then down the main roads, the most immediate observation to become apparent was the similarity of the buildings. The vast majority were functional to the point of dull and had obviously seen better days. This was the first hint at the gulf of difference between capitalist London, which has a varied kaleidoscope of architecture, and Berlin with its communist history. 
We next enjoyed a fantastic tour of the main touristic hotspots of the city on foot. Although reaching temperatures of minus eleven, most of us were engrossed in the hoard of interesting gems of information and insight that under our layers we felt fine.
Thinking back, the people of the city, the everyday Berliner of Potsdamer Platz, seemed oblivious to this history that has become synonymous with their city.  Our group were polar opposite to how they felt. It begs the question, do we, living so close to London; once the capital of the British Empire, reject our history?
In Berlin, an example could be the site of Hitler’s infamous bunker. It is situated only ten metres from a huge block of flats but since filled completely with concrete. Of course, it is wise to avoid turning the site into a monument for Neo-Nazis, but I do not believe that smoothing over history as if it never happened is wise either. Surely humanity should remember its darkest period so history does not repeat?
Wishing to give a chronological account of all the places we visited, word counts apply. I will, however, touch upon the place that touched us most. Located disturbingly close to metropolitan Berlin, Sachsenhausen concentration camp was in a prime location as the administrative control centre for the whole Holocaust. I shall not list the obscene facts about this camp but one does stick in my mind. The camp was at one point so overcrowded that one dawn role call took eighteen hours as all ‘workers’ were counted. Having to stand during this time caused over twenty people to drop dead.
In the four days were there, we visited many sites of both the communist and fascist eras. It was interesting to how the two regimes dealt with their victims. The communist Stazi police force focused on intense, individual and physiological torture to extract information from political opponents. This contrasts dramatically to the techniques used by the Nazi Party shown above. I noticed the contrast while visiting the Stazi Prison. Surrounding the Prison, greyness was supreme; colour had been eradicated.

     

Friday 9 March 2012

Kony 2012

A huge new craze has swept the blogosphere and social network sites these last three days around Joseph Kony, leader of the Lords Resistance Army, who has gained huge notoriety due to a thirty minute long documentary relaying his crimes. This sick man has displaced over 2.1 million people and captured thirty thousand children. After capture, he forces the boys into becoming child soldiers Their initiation ceremony is murdering their own parents.
'For twenty six years  Kony has been kidnapping children into his rebel group, the LRA. Turning the girls into sex slaves and the boys into child soldiers. He makes them mutilate people's faces, and he forces them to kill their own parents' Kony 2012
This quote tells how the LRA, powerful in Uganda, Congo and South Sudan, gains power. Kony has been placed first on the world's most wanted criminals by The Hague. There is a mass poster campaign planned for the 10th of April in Trafalgar Square to promote awareness, not power or fame, of Joseph Kony.

Sunday 4 March 2012

Old Testament Queries...

Ever heard the story from the Old Testament when Isaac took his only son to be killed to show his devotion to God? After hearing this today, I realize that the God of the Old Testament is a cruel and often ruthless. How is this the same omni - benevolent God that Christians read about in the New Testament? What kind and loving creator would demand of a man his one and greatest joy to simply show devotion to him? I thought that Christians, like many other religions, show devotion to God in their everyday actions and prayers. Is this not good enough? The Bible is ambiguous at times... 

Saturday 3 March 2012

The Urban Dictionary View



Urban Dictionary's view on the future of the internet:
A vast tundra of knowledge, now corrupted and slowly imploding on itself. Those caught on the outskirts enter a void of stupidity and insecurity. Eventually, it will completely cave in on itself, and then explode with such force, we will all be sent to an information oblivion. Random bits of intelligence will float amongst vast oceans of idiocy, and all of man kind will commit suicide in a futile effort to repent for creating such a weapon of mass destruction. God will not accept their sacrifice, and everyone will go to hell, where Satan will get pissed off at the extreme overpopulation of his facilities, and send everyone to someplace completely unihabitable, like Utah. 
The four horsemen of the apocalypse crashed my unix server. Lol internet.

TOTP2: 'Casing Pavements' by Adele


A truly captivating performance by Adele of 'Casing Pavements'. First played on John Kennedy's Exposure show on XFM London, Adele has since become an international star and her latest album, 21, has been at the top of the british charts for twenty one weeks. This performance of 'Casing Pavements' , from the album 19, was shown on the Christmas Top of the Pops in 2008. Enjoy!

Technorati Code

PUJ8BBRZ9ERW

Meat? Murder?!


It's not "natural", "normal" or kind
The flesh you so fancifully fry
The meat in your mouth
As you savour the flavour
Of MURDER

Chilling! 'Meat is Murder' is supposed to be the thing that has converted most people to vegetarianism. Morrissey's astounding words and views supporting his belief are something to be admired. The eery sound effects and powerful lyrics certainly tempt me to give up sausages...

Friday 2 March 2012

London Riots: Reeves Furniture Store Arson





After only two minutes of watching that footage the full extent of the huge blaze becomes apparent. The witness using the mobile phone describes the scene as people gawp like 'lemmings' at the fire. In this post I will try to unpick the reasons and events of the riots using the Reeves Corner arson attack for a case study.
'My first thoughts are this is a complete catastrophe.
We've been here since 1867. They've (the police) completely lost control, there's no law and order'
These are the desperate words of Trevor Reeves, owner of Reeves Corner furniture store in Croydon, London, whose business was burnt down by Gordon Thompson on the 8th of August 2011. The shop had been in the family for five generations and the road in which it stood was named after the well-known shop.  The images of the burning store have become iconic image of the London riots 2011.
Gordon Thompson was captured on CCTV near Reeves Corner at
around the time of the fire 
The prosecution said: 
"On leaving the store, he asked another of the rioters for a lighter and, as soon as he was given one, went back to the shop and set fire to a sofa inside the shattered window.
"The ensuing fire razed the building to the ground. Such was the ferocity of the blaze that embers and heat from the flames set fire to property on the other side of the road and numerous residents were forced to flee their homes for their lives."
The Law needs to be fair in these circumstances. It is all too easy for judges and juries to crumble at the huge public outcry. One must not make excuses of course, but rather understand the criminal's situation so riots can be avoided again. 


Embarrassingly, similar scenes were echoed across inner city London and large cities such as Birmingham and Manchester in the north. Although many did not suffer as badly as Trevor Reeves, millions of pounds worth of designer goods, electrical goods and jewelry was looted from smashed shop windows. 


This arson attack highlights the pointlessness of the London riots. How did Thompson profit from razing to the ground a furniture store he had just looted? If his motives were simply born from malicious spite for those who had succeeded, this raises the question about how the economic recession and Britain's class system. Do they create such feelings among the hard done by in society?



Although this 'mindless' violence is tragic, I believe that the reason stems from the public's disappointment and outrage at the government's compliance with banker's demands despite them getting our country into the mess it finds itself in. At the time of the riots, not one banker had been incarcerated by the law, despite many stealing millions from the economy. Thats a lot of trainers. Just because a man wheres a suit does not mean he is exempt from the same level of crime demonstrated by those in hoodies. The simple difference is that the man in the suit, who deserve to be bailed out by the government. Its in Cameron's interests. 


The worrying fact is that the Conservative government is implementing a huge amount of public austerity measures that will directly affect the youth of our society. I hope Cameron has not abandoned this most vulnerable generation, stereotyped as hoodies, because he notices they do not care to vote. Comedian Russell Brand describes his troubled coming of age in a article for The Guardian in light of the riots: 
I felt that, and I had a mum who loved me, a dad who told me that nothing was beyond my reach, an education, a grant from Essex council (to train as an actor of all things!!!) and several charities that gave me money for maintenance. I shudder to think how disenfranchised I would have felt if I had been deprived of that long list of privileges.
We need to be able to understand the desperation some rioters are feeling due to the withdrawal in targeted public spending without having first hand experience of it. 



Jack White: Love Interruption



Amazing tune, amazing lyrics, amazing visuals. Jack White has done it again! The raw power and delicate acoustic strumming are true perfection. Anyone know what that instrument at the start is? Hammond organ?

The Student Voice

Love amateur journalism? Who doesn't ;)?! Check out The John Fisher School newspaper - the best student paper in town!

Kasabian: 'Velociraptor' Review

Although I will not pretend to be a massive fan of Kasabian, their lead singer, Tom Meighan, promised to 'change [our] lives' with their new record, 'Velociraptor!'. Therefore, I was considerably sceptical about the claim and doubted if they would surpass their previous efforts.

When any band releases a new album, it focuses greatly on the songs which will lure fans in to book gig tickets. That is where real money is made; after all, each album determines a bands fate for the year ahead. When Kasabian first exploded onto the British music scene, Oasis were still guzzling lager and throwing V-signs to every passer-by. Kasabian followed suit by supporting the Gallaghers live and built a huge fan base, as well as a reputation for head-banging indie rock anthems such as 'Fire', 'Underdog' and 'Empire'. Meighan's heavy and brutal northern accent is reminiscent of the Liam Gallagher’s 'in your face' vocals.

Now on album number four, the band have kept their trademark sound whilst delving a little into songs with more melody and grandeur, and less of that brash attitude that earned them their “laddish” persona in the first place. Apart from acouple of songs, such as the no-nonsense title track, there seems to be an understated feel to the record: it’s definitely less hectic than their previous three efforts.

The enticing opening track “Let’s Roll Just Like We Used To” lays down the foundations for how the album is going to sound, and keeps the band’s psychedelic love pride of place in 'Velociraptor!'. All real great albums should lure you in at the start; however, it is interesting that Producer Dan the Automator, put this track first: other Kasabian albums have opened with a song with a killer riff such as 'Club Foot'. This opening track oozes suave sophistication and could easily be the next Bond theme. In my opinion it’s one of the stand-out highlights of “Velociraptor!”

Other tracks from the album are also impressive. 'Acid Turkish Bath' charms with a Moroccan feel, which has obviously come from Serge Pizzaro's (the songwriter) roots, and ‘Days are Forgotten' opens with a savage war cry, an upbeat tempo and provocative lyrics. The video accompaniment is a work of art in itself, with vibrating lines enveloping the band as they belt out the sing-along tune. The album is riddled with computer glitches and dubbed out bass lines which hark back to the genius of the first and third albums. Kasabian have been known to borrow musical ideals from Primal Scream, namely blending guitar rock with dance tinged electronics and winey, slightly drunken vocals.

Overall, this album shows Kasabian finally making their sound their own and trying a couple of new things whilst sticking to their roots. Although, “Velociraptor!” isn’t as iconic or as explosive and memorable as previous albums but it’s still enjoyable and thoroughly deserved reaching number one in the album charts.

Rating: 7.5/10

Download: 'Days are Forgotten' and 'Rewired'

The Hacking Scandal Explained

It is so easy for people to brush away the hacking scandal, arguably the biggest story of 2011, as simply boring politics. However, this story affects us all, if not obviously, every day because the media surrounds us. The ethics reporters follow are so important; they make up our democracy and much of what the Western world is today. Truthful, honest reporting is vital around the world because without it we are severed from the real events of the world.

The scandal started back in August 2005 when two investigative journalists at the News of the World (NOTW), Clive Goodman and Glen Mulcaire, were arrested over an allegation of interfering with the mobile phone of Prince William and convicted of conspiracy to phone hacking. Andy Coulson, editor of the NOTW at the time of the hacking allegations, became chief of communications for the Conservative Party. It came to light that journalists, while Coulson was editor at the News of the World, had hacked into the mobile phones of numerous celebrities.

It emerged that News International, the company which owned the daily ‘News of the World’, had paid one million pounds in ‘hush money’ to celebrities who threatened to reveal the crimes. In February 2010, MPs investigating newspaper ethics said in a report that it was ‘inconceivable’ that editors at the News of the World knew nothing of the ‘rife’ hacking at their paper.

Although there was considerable media disapproval, David Cameron gave Coulson “a second chance” by appointing him head of the government’s media operation. A year later, Coulson resigned due toincreasing speculation about his involvement in hacking and was finally arrested on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications. By February 2011, The Met Police stated they had identified more victims of Mulcaire and Goodman, now residing in jail, and were urgently notifying previous victims, previously told they were not under threat.

After three more journalists were arrested, NOTW admitted it had a role in phone hacking - this was the first time it acknowledged the whole company was involved. Despite many social commentators discussing its demise, the paper hung on and paid Andy Gray, the shamed football pundit, £20,000 in compensation due to his phone being hacked. This is just one of the many examples of the newspaper using money to bribe people from speaking out against
them.

June, and following a month long trial of Levi Bellfield is found guilty of murdering Milly Dowler in 2002. Milly was found in a wood unclothed and unburied. It was discovered that a lawyer had learned from police that Dowler's voicemail messages had been hacked, possibly by a NOTW investigator, while police were searching for her. It is claimed that messages on the phones were deleted, giving the victim’s family a cruel false hope of her safety. Then, on the 10th July 2011, News International announced it would close down the News of the World after over one hundred and sixty years in circulation.

Following further intense speculation, the owner of News International, Rupert Murdoch, withdrew his offer to buy in full ‘BSkyB’, the broadcasting company, with years of intense negotiations shattered by the hacking scandal. On 13th July 2011, David Cameron appointed Lord Justice Leveson as head of ‘Leveson Inquiry’ on the phone hacking scandal, interviewing those involved such as Sienna Miller and J.K. Rowling. The case was designed to access whether media is in fact able to selfregulate, and the general ‘culture, practices and ethics of the media.’

Speculation grew even more when former News of the World ‘showbiz’ editor, Sean Hoare was found dead in his home. Hoare was thought to be an advocate of hacking as most the victims were celebrities. The death is not treated as suspicious; Hoare was a heavy smoker, drinker and frequently used class-A drugs.

News International’s shares fell by 5% on the US stock exchange as the phone hacking scandal reverberating around the world, affecting America and Australia. Two days later, BSkyB the company which broadcasts Sky TV and is part owned by Rupert Murdock, who was later attacked with a foam pie by Johnnie Marbles during a select committee alongside his son, announced a £253m payout to silence angry shareholders.

From August to February 2012 the Leveson Inquiry has been working to investigate the causes which bred the environment whereby the crime of phone hacking was deemed acceptable.

Overall, the hacking scandal can be compared to a black hole; growing the more things it consumes. It has sullied the names of world leaders, respected politicians, and international celebrities.
This scandal was the inevitable outcome of the climate of fear and bullying present in newsrooms. Reporters, desperate for promotion and acceptance from their editors, discard morality for their big break. In this story, each revelation amplifies the calls for change, and now.

"There Is No News Tonight"

On Good Friday 1930, a BBC reporter signed onto the radio broadcast for the evening news. He announced to the listeners “There is no news tonight” and the rest of the broadcast was filled by piano music. […] Today, there are several 24-hour news stations releasing content around the clock. In the last 80 years we have either started producing vastly more news worthy content or the standard of what is worth talking about has dropped significantly.

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