Tag: society
Corruption in the UK; the police are not looking into it
A wise Professor asked me why I thought there were so few criminal cases of corruption in the UK. My first thought was that, “It’s because there is no Corruption Squad”. I looked into it some more and discovered that it was not quite as simple as that. I had to rope in some experts […]
Corruption in the UK; the police are not looking into it
Early spring walks, a photo journey
Social movements; mainstreaming gendering and tackling hate crime
The murder of Sarah Everard by a met police copper brought the subject to mainstream focus again, amidst some tabloid distractions about Kate Middleton’s unmasked appearance to the memorial, yet not over-shadowing the re-offence of police on women during the vigil in Clapham junction.
The UN has introduced Sustainability Values as part of the award assessment tool, with the majority of contracts requiring gender mainstreaming, and women’s empowerment embedded in development and diplomatic responses.The UK government (FCDO, ex Dfid), introduced Social Value as a 10% contributor to the assessment process of proposals from suppliers and empowering women is central to this. The current debate in the House of Lords will propose that all acts of hate against women should become illegal whereas this is law in some areas.
This is certainly a step in the right direction for progressive development based on a basic understanding of valuing human capital through a broader set than the traditionally Conservative industrialised societies’ lenses.
In this context, the role of social media has been beneficial in unveiling outdated body-shamers, bullies, trolls and harassers to women therefore providing evidence and a trail to pursue criminal convictions on those who overstep the line for one or for many.
Here’s a reminder of behaviours to record with screenshots (if you need to report and block an account) for evidence in both public and private situations;
- passive-aggressive electronic messages (emails, social media inboxes, messaging apps)
- threats to harm others or oneself
- offensive comments to others or to yourself
- threatening behaviours (gas-lighting and bullying as an ultimatum)
Violence on women can happen from women and men and non-binary folk alike. Violence from women can happen towards either groups too.
Hate is a crime.
Each one of us need to keep this awareness of making sure there is a trail. Whether it is happening to you, a friend or family, or someone in the street, keep a record on your notes, take photos and recall what happened and how it made you feel.
The more evidence we all gather, the more power it generates to put those at risk to women/trans-women for judicial scrutiny and influence the level of sentencing and/or rehabilitation approaches.
Thames River Apprentiships
A few months into the latest UK covid related lockdown it’s a good time to highlight some fantastic opportunities connected to the river Thames.
Charities AHOY Centre and London Youth Rowing both have coaching apprenticeship opportunities listed here: https://www.lifetimetraining.co.uk/apprenticeship-vacancies/sport,london,,/, supported by Coach Core.
The Thames Skills Academy support two Level 3 apprenticeships (Boatmaster and Maritime Engineering). There’s an impressive range of career opportunitiesin the Maritime sector, adding more to the economy than rail and aviation combined.
Spread the word & hopefully some teens will be perkier as a result on top of having the opportunity to experience a slice of cockney history.
The pan is gone; declaterring stories
Just a quick one, a friend has been clearing out stuff by selling them on market place and the stories are worth every single penny she saves for peeps.
Here’s the latest update convo we had. To be true. This is our actual exchange.
The pan is gone.
Lockdown urban London photos with people
Well here we go again, only this time things are a bit different.
In London, there are noticeably less people out after dark, but shopping malls and cafes are still serving take outs and grocery essentials.
This means the earlier photos from the lockdown in spring bear a significant difference to the way urban landscapes look now.
For example, there are a fair amount of labourers and cleaning staff going out and about their business as usual. Spaces look less derelict and more like Sundays before London got crowded millennium onwards.
In urban green spaces, people don’t consider being in fairly crowded conditions, a threat from covid anymore. Benches are open and cyclists have equal access to parks.
The level of interaction with larger crowds is a personal preference.
On a recent cycle with Simon around trendy Hackney Wick and guardian reader pretentious Hackney on Victoria Park, the crowds were heavily dense in many public play areas and entrances.
Away from the long queues outside to pick up coffees and take outs in places where some think it’s important to be at, our was certaintly picking a fish and chips from a good old reliable affordable local chippy just east of Victoria Park to the Wick.
No queues, no wait, no hassle. After a five minute walk, we were enjoying dinner on a bench in the park.
In my next blog I will write about meaningful ways to spend preparing for Christmas holidays and Christmas day itself.
Many get carried away with meaningless cultural traditions, missing the point. Culture can be as oppressive as American culture’s cultural non existence, when it adds no experiental reflection or mindful rest.
In a time of self reflection I couldn’t be luckier having met four days after landing back from a two month trip away early August 2019. And here we are still are today.
Back in the park, we sat watching the lowering sun introducing the mist, the temperature drop, the sensation of colours struggling to define themselves in this new reality.
I suppose this time, it is also the first time of the year’s season under covid for our urban neighbourhoods too. Well I say, we can only pay homage to this another new reality for the family albums to come.
Really, what’s there to complain about? And why not to?
Canary Wharf, Canada Place, London 
Wharf Market, Jubilee Place, CW 
Bow Gate, Victoria Park 
Hackney Wick 
Skate Park, Victoria Park 
Bridge over the canal, Bow
Sharing chuckles
Got to share what’s been sent around, that made me chuckle all aloud!
Different vibes, same love.
Enjoy!
His sense of humour rocks
Hope you enjoyed the mindless fun. It is needed more than you’d think.
Portland, Oregon, US
Solidarity with Portlanders.
What converting Hagia Sophia into a functioning mosque really means
10th July 2020, a Turkish Court order approved Hagia Sophia’s convertion from a museum to an operational mosque.
For many Christians around the world, aborting a historical monument that represented the centuries of Byzantine Eastern Orthodox with Ottoman faith-inspired culture in the region, to having it reclaimed as a faith space for Islam, is a vilifying act of disrespect. The region has been affected by territorial tensions for millenia and many in the Balkan and Western Asia Minor, have experienced relocations, marginalisation, faith based extradition, torture and incarceration.
It is a non surprise western Turkey struggles with their record on human rights abuses, and corruption has been developmental to the Greek economy even in modern times.
Looking past the historicity of the region, and the unsettled air Erdoğan’s latest move has created, I can attest to the following:
– Erdoğan has three years left before the next election.
– The Hagia Sofia move was his check mate to Europe beyond the Greco-Turkish spats.
– Erdoğan doesn’t want to join EU (and all the monitoring and regulations), the EU will not have Turkey as it is today, but to make sure they don’t interfere, he needed to growl over his territory.
– Putin will turn a blind eye, despite Russia’s Orthodox Church affinity. Faith is only useful when it serves one’s interests by masking transparency. Christian links to the European church history are problematic for Putin’s and Erdoğan’s dark and underhanded populist and divisionary operations.
– Unmonitored, anyone challenging Erdoğan like the Kemalists, will end up in jail or dissappear.
– Turks in Turkey, Germany and the UK love Erdoğan. He took power and water to the favelas. He is making profits from the Syrian refugees that have no labour rights but plenty of will to do whatever yet not get paid or paid scraps of peanuts when they do (a 10th of the Turkish labour rates according to reports).
Noone wants drama on their doorstep. Turning adversity to positive stories is a way for populist governments to get away with the uttermost abuse of human rights.
Minorities and culture are the capital nasty regimes use for political coercion.
Coercion to domestic opposition, and coercion in international relations contexts.
Threatening securities makes vulnerable populations anxious and puts actor resources at high risk and alert. This costs actors money and make populations more predatory between them. Double win.
Hagia Sophia is the starting line of an incredibly narcissistic performance we will expect to see from Erdoğan in the next three years.
I can only hope there will be limited loss and blood lost in the process, but not set on having any hopes at this point.
In the middle of a pandemic, reclaiming a museum to a faith institution is a bold move.
To be continued…
