Tag: politics

COMRADE FOX: Low-living in Revolutionary Russia (The Life and Times of Archibald Brinsley Fox) by Stewart Hennessey

“I never gave a monkeys for Marxism or Monarchism or Liberalism or Conservatism or Socialism or any ism. I’ve always been leery of anyone brandishing an ism – an excuse to howl at the moon if you ask me. And they’re all moralists too, always got it in for someone else, usually someone like me.” – Archibald Brinsley Fox.
Written in the style of a diary, ‘Low-Living in Revolutionary Russia’ is Archie Fox’s story of his time spent in Revolutionary Russia. He spent his time cosying up to Lenin, trying to seduce his mistress and hunting for a Faberge egg, but all that is just the surface level of this book. He marks the difference between bolsheviks and Mensheviks, describes the call to arms in Petrograd and even prisoners of war going on strike. With a large collection of well researched endnotes adding to the story, this is one for those with an interest in The October Revolution and those with a liking for adventure and intrigue.

Personally, I’ve never been a huge fan of historical novels, although I always feel like I should be, but Archie Fox’s adventures are genuinely captivating; so much so that I found myself reaching for the endnotes to learn more. Archie is headstrong, with loose morals and yet you can’t help but like him. You might not want to spend any time in his company, but as a character in a book he offers the perfect balance of intrigue and despicable behaviour. Simply put, it’s a love-hate scenario.

The writing style is what really makes this novel captivating, as it has an upbeat rhythm which ensures that you can’t stop reading. Combine that with Fox’s escapades and you very quickly become swept along with the story and forget that it is rooted in historical accuracy; until the name Lenin pops up. Hearing about a man trying to seduce Lenin’s mistress catches your interest like nothing else. It simply isn’t the type of thing you learn at school or college and for anyone who doesn’t have a firm knowledge of revolutionary Russia, this is one of the most effective ways of learning about it.

I imagine that this could be a book to divide the audience, as those who are particularly sensitive to political correctness might not see the humour in it, but in my experience anything that doesn’t beg to be accepted by the masses is usually worth a read and a little controversy never did anyone any harm.

Bullfighting Awarded Cultural Status Despite Opposition

Bullfighting may be one of the last bloodsports to disappear completely, due to a legislation which has awarded it with a special status in Spanish culture.

According to the Guardian, the bill – which was passed with twenty-four votes to six – solidifies the status of bullfighting as “part of the cultural heritage worthy of protection throughout the national territory”, despite strong and vocal opposition from every direction. However, almost all of the amendments put forward by these opponents were rejected by the right-wing People’s Party.

Although conjuring up a stereotypical image of Spanish culture, there has been a gradual decline in the popularity of bullfighting, due to ongoing pressure from animal rights groups and campaigns which demand greater recognition of and support for animal welfare; in short, to stop citing entertainment and culture as reasons to put animals through deaths preceded by great torment and suffering. It is notable that some of this support for animals comes from within Spain, in the form of “Torture is not Culture”.

The growing awareness is also in part due to tourists seeing for themselves exactly what the animals go through; in the annual Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, the event does not stop with the “running”, and in fact the bulls are rounded up into an arena and meet a similarly violent and distressing end to the bulls in bullfighting.

The ban of bullfighting has been successful and complete in Catalonia and the Canary Islands, but as yet is limited to these places, as other regions attempt to preserve bullfighting as a tradition. But one of the only things going for bullfighting, in this day and age, is the notion of “tradition”, which is not dissimilar to the tactics used by many countries to boost tourism, and thus the economy.

In this respect, one of the best ways to stop events featuring animal cruelty, such as bullfighting, is not to have any role in it while travelling abroad, even as a spectator, as this involves contributing to suffering, which must sooner rather than later lose its “status” as a national tradition.

UK Has 6 Universities in Top Global Ranking

According to the most recent global table, the UK now has six universities in a top world ranking.

In the World University rankings it has emerged that, unsurprisingly, Oxbridge continues to remain in the top 10 (with graduates from there deemed to be “the world’s most employable”), along with Imperial and UCL, with Edinburgh and King’s College London holding a place in the top 20. In the context of the global ranking, Cambridge holds third place, beaten only by Harvard in second place and Massachusetts Institute of Technology in first place.

The type of subject also has a bearing on an institution’s position in the table; Oxford and Cambridge are the best subjects for seven key subjects, and according to the BBC website, “Oxford came top for English language and literature, philosophy, modern languages and geography in the QS World University Rankings by subject… Cambridge was first for maths, linguistics and history.” So while the UK is evidently the best place in the world for subjects such as English literature and geography, American universities such as MIT are clearly the places to go when it comes to the best education in technology.

However, many academics and educational spokespeople maintain that – with the detrimental effects on UK educational spending brought on by the recession, rising student fees and fewer applicants to university – the UK must increase funding in its education in order to remain at the top of the table.

Given the relative small size of the country, the UK has consistently proven that it can produce graduates whose education is highly valued in the global marketplace; the great influx of foreign students to the UK to seek a British degree is sufficient evidence of its great value.

A spokesperson for the Russell Group – an organisation of prestigious UK universities – has emphasised the importance of keeping the doors to UK higher education open, saying “If our universities are to compete in the future they need the government to provide light-touch regulation and continued investment, and to be welcoming to genuine international students.”. With international fees being several times higher for foreign students than for UK students, this is likely to be a challenge.

A university minister has remained cautiously optimistic about the future of the UK’s position in the world’s university ranking; “Our reforms to undergraduate finance have put universities on a sustainable financial footing and sharpened incentives to deliver a world-class student experience.”

 

Arrests Over Badger Cull Protests Continue

Four people were arrested early on Tuesday morning during a police operation covering the badger cull protests in Gloucestershire.

The people arrested were two 46-year-old women, a 23-year-old man and a 34-year-old woman, who was suspected to be carrying an “offensive weapon”. They were arrested at around 3.10am and remain in police custody at the time of writing.

These are merely the latest of a series of arrests being made in the Somerset/Gloucestershire since badger culls began there, with “aggravated trespass” being the most common charge. Although police have allegedly attempted to maintain a fair approach towards all participants in the badger protests, their recurring role in these protests indicates the sheer strength of feeling, and division of opinion, when it comes to the badger cull which was commissioned recently.

The main reasoning for the badger cull is that badgers are responsible for spreading bovine TB, although this is highly contested and there are plenty of reports of evidence indicating otherwise. Despite a government petition gaining over 300,000 signatures in the two weeks since the cull began, unfortunately it still looks set to continue for the foreseeable future.

Above all, the badger cull is widely condemned as being inhumane, with many claiming that many badgers are left alive and in great pain and suffering – leading to many volunteering for a “badger watch”, taking it upon themselves to keep watching and listening for signs of badgers who may be in distress nearby.

An RSPCA representative has remarked upon the sheer inefficiency of this measure being taken to control bovine TB, and how this will ultimately cause widespread animal suffering; “The cattle deserve a long-term sustainable solution to this devastating disease which we believe is vaccination and better biosecurity – and the badgers do not deserve to be sacrificed for no real gain.”

High profile figures such as Queen guitarist Brian May are bringing more attention to the cause and urge the public to keep protesting and condemning the inhumane practice.

Go to http://www.rspca.org.uk/getinvolved/campaigns/wildlife/badgers for more information on the cause.

Is Fido a communist? Thoughts on Andrew Currie’s unlikely hero in suburban America.

Irony with zombies
‘Fido’ is not strictly a zombie movie. Yes, its main premise is the story of a domesticated zombie, played by a strictly-grunting Billy Connoly, in a 1950s ‘perfect America’ universe where zombies are the ‘pets’ of mankind. The trick is to simply lock a collar around their necks to surpress their need to eat and create fenced off communities that protect them from the ‘Wild Zone’ where all the remaining un-domesticated zombies live. These communities are perfect in every way (it never rains apparently) and the families living in them look like they came right out of a Norman Rockwell painting. The working 9-5 husband Bill (Dylan Baker), the stay-at-home wife and mother Helen (Carrie-Ann Moss) and the well-mannered skinny kid Timmy (Kesun Loder). Only in this movie, instead of a dog, the pet is a zombie called Fido who starts to wake up from his permanent state of apathy and develops a will of his own despite the collar’s technology. As parts of his humanity emerge, seen through his cravings for a cigarette and appreciation of a woman’s scent, he protects and cares for Timmy and his family, as the ugliness of this seemingly-perfect American community appears. Through an accidental malfunction of his collar, Fido attacks Ms. Henderson, the generic old lady that spies on her neighbours, and before we know it there is a containment problem as zombies spread and death multiply. The head of ZomCom security, Mr. Bottoms, a decorated veteran of the Zombie Wars, succeeds in stopping the contamination just in time but many people are dead and he needs to make an example out of Fido and little Timmy.
The charm of this movie is not just its vibrant palette of colours, its shiny settings or the classic 50s images, like the wife greeting her husband at the door with a three-olive martini while the ham is in the oven. The images of this blissful suburban life are now romantic flashbacks, back to a time where family values were at the core of the American Dream and husbands, mothers and children had specific roles to play, a far cry from some family images we see in the movies today (absentee fathers, drunk mothers, rebellious sons and daughters). There is almost a longing to see a James Dean look-a-like appear at a some point to shake that blinding white smile off everyone’s face and make them act human, because they are as ‘zombified’ as their pets. This is what this film is all about though. It is the zombie that teaches Timmy to stand up to his bullies, it is the zombie that ignites the spark of feminism in Helen, it is the zombie that makes Bill want to be a better father to his son and it is the zombie that transforms this generic, dull community into a lively and human mix of people that have to face their inner demons. Irony at its best and the definitive charm of this film.

Zombies spread the life
When Mr. Bottoms, the illustrious war hero, declares that there is a containment problem within his perfect community, it is as if the film screams at you ‘Sound familiar?’. A decorated Zombie War veteran, risen to politics, protecting a town from a dangerous pandemic that kills people and turns them into heartless, emotionless eating machines? A pandemic whose source, Fido, seems to make women stand up to their husbands (‘Get it yourself dear’ ) and children rebel against their parents wishes. This film brings back memories of old Cold-War science fiction films like ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’, ‘The Thing from Another World’ and ‘It Came From Outer Space’ where such contamination scenarios do occur but their consequences are different. Instead of breathing life into a community, the threat tries to destroy all humanity it finds and replace it with pale copies of people, devoid of all emotion and free will. But this was 60 years ago, since then the Cold War has ended and the threat does not come from space but from the all-American home, from the people in power. They talk of perfection, control and safety, attainable only through the use of a gun and isolation.
Fido does not talk, does not actually control anything but through an accidental ‘dinner’, he sets off a sequence of events that show the rotten state of the American family core. However it is not beyond salvation. The solution? Human contact, conversation, sentiment and understanding, something that the status quo forbids in order to contain the zombie virus. In this world, if your mother turns into a zombie, well then she is easy to kill if you don’t love her. If your neighbour tries to eat you, you forget that he gave you 10 extra dollars for mowing his lawn and you chop off his head. Easy, simple and emotionally detached. Mr. Bottoms is a fervent believer in this ethos and is the representation of how America should live in this post-Zombie War world, looking more and more like communist-hunter Joe McCarthy who imprisoned and persecuted any citizen deemed to challenge American values and show left-wing sympathies in the 1950s. Timmy and Fido are challenging the status quo and draw in more people in their movement, until finally the whole town is contaminated. But this illness does not bring the community to an end, in fact it makes the viewer connect with the characters, love them, admire them and cheer for them, because they found their true voice and a lifestyle that makes them truly happy instead of acting like actors in a 50s toothpaste commercial. Helping Fido and Timmy in their quest is Mr. Theopolis (played by the brilliant Tim Blake Nelson), the only human adult in the film that sees through this technicolor sham and does not quite fit in. The cares for his zombie, Tammy, despite her nature and keeps her beside him as a partner, not just a servant. Their relationship is frowned upon by the rest of the town, showing that every community has their black sheep. However Theopolis and Tammy are the perfect example of what the community should in fact aspire to be.

Lenin, Guevara, Trotski and Fido
Communism in American cinema, as with its current politics, will never belong on the good side of popular culture. The so-called ‘Third World War’ between America and Soviet Russia lasted from the end of the Second World War, till the collapse of the Soviet block in 1989 under Republican hero Ronald ‘Second coming of Christ’ Reagan. But unofficially, Hollywood never liked ‘lefties’ and probably never will. They will always be portrayed as either eccentric, remnants of the losing side, or just mad but Fido seems to be neither. The similarities between this film and the ones mentioned above is undeniable but the formula is reversed. As the bodysnatchers suck the life out of Americans, Fido retrieves it for them even though he is undead. Is Hollywood changing its mind about Communism? Wishful thinking there I’m afraid since this battle will go on in cinema and American politics for as long as uneducated right-wingers scream on Fox News that healthcare is socialism. No, this is not about communism in the end. It’s about family, it’s about loving your neighbour and it’s about breaking the wall of silence that our society today lives in.
The people in the town are seemingly fenced off from the rest of world, they hardly talk to each other unless it is to improve their social standing, the kids learn how to shoot to kill without a second thought (a nice critique on gun-laws there) and the best accomplishment one could hope for when they die, is to have their heads cut off and to be buried in the cold ground and stay there. All fitting metaphors of the crippling isolation modern society is going through. Emotional detachment, lack of empathy and individualism are all stigmas in today’s world, mostly due to technology, fear, lack of trust and digital networking. All these hinder human contact and increase the chance of living a solitary life while being constantly surrounded by people. In this film, Fido is our saviour. He will accompany you outside to play in the park, he will help you wash you dad’s car in the driveway while you mum makes lemonade, he will help you get the girl, he will save you from bullies, he will want you to be a decent human being to your family and friends. Fido has all the traits of a Hollywood 1950s communist but in fact he is not a revolutionary, he is not a messiah.
He is what we used to be, imperfect in a lot of ways but alive, smoking, drinking, running and biting.

Gove shocked by heckling headteachers

As Michael Gove attended the conference for the National Union of Headteachers he appeared to be taken aback by jeering and heckling aimed at him by the members of the union. During the question and answer session Gove was ruffled by ironic laughter and groans that were the frequent response to his answers.

The National Union of Head Teachers passed a ‘no confidence’ motion in the policies proposed and adopted by Gove, however, he remained steadfast in his belief in the policies and stated that he was striving for higher standards in schools.

When informed that, under his policies, teachers were suffering from stress due to SATs and OFSTED inspections, his response was less than sympathetic. Even when headteachers told him of their own experiences, including feeling that they were working within an environment of ‘bullying and fear’ whilst waiting for OSTED inspections and the subsequent results. Another example of the stress was reported by a headteacher who explained that in her school a governor with 20 years of experience ‘dissolved into tears’ when the school had to cope with SATs and OFSTED in one week. Still Gove seemed unmoved, even though the stress caused by his policies is shown to be affecting not only paid members of schools but also volunteers such as school governors.

Rather than accepting that his policies have caused upheaval and stress, and conceding that he could consider revising them, Gove instead insisted that the problem was that he had not communicated his ideas effectively. He would not be making any changes to his policies whether or not there was a problem with him expecting high standards and this was causing stress.

The overwhelming feeling that came from the question and answer session was that Gove was uninterested in the levels of stress that school staff were facing. He would not change his policies simply because headteachers were suffering and did not wish to work with people who were not happy to be constructive rather than just critical.

The general secretary of the National Union of Head Teachers, Russell Hobby, described the session as ‘bruising’. It is not just the National Union of Headteachers who have lost confidence in the government’s plans for the education system. The three biggest teachers’ unions, ATL, NUT and NASUWT, have also been vocal about their dislike of the policies and are planning regional strikes in response to the continuing dispute over pay, pensions and workloads.

It would appear that Gove has made his position clear and will not be backing down. It is also clear that the biggest unions in the country are not willing to accept this position and will continue to fight for what they believe teachers deserve. Evidently, a rough journey lies ahead, whatever the outcome and whoever ends up being victorious.