Protest against Nick Griffin’s BBC appearence
The cluster of protesters included representatives from various unions and university student groups stood against the decision to allow BNP leader Nick Griffin a platform on national television last Thursday. Several speakers shared their views with the crowd outside the Pacific Quay Building.
Labour councillor Jim Sharkey said: “Remember, they’re a party who if you beat them in the argument, they will come back and beat you with a truncheon. That’s the difference between them and any other party.”
Scottish Human Rights lawyer, Aamer Anwar said: “You don’t beat them by debating with a convicted Jew hating Holocaust denier who says he wants to build an organisation that defends rights for whites [on a programme] courtesy of Director General Mark Thompson.”
When asked by David Dimbleby during Question Time if he had ever denied the Holocaust, Nick Griffin replied that he did not have a conviction for Holocaust denial.
Dave Sherry, Branch Secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union, said: “The BBC is giving oxygen to an organisation that would victimise every ethnic minority, who would victimise gay people, attack trade unionists and wants to deport people.”
Raymie Kiernan, a protest organiser and Unite Against Fascism militant, said: “The best chance we have is that people in the audience will shame Nick Griffin and will expose Nick Griffin.”
A statement from the BBC said: “There is evidence of electoral support after the British National Party won two seats in the European Elections so like any party in this position the BNP may appear on programmes like The Andrew Marr Show and
Question Time.”
Written by Rachael Simpson
You’ve got a friend in The World State
WELCOME all Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons.
You’re never alone with an oppressive totalitarian omnipresent ruler.
This short film is a fun and interesting twist on the usual reactions of horror at the idea of 1984 state. Our protagonist uses his inane and annoying behaviour to mis-direct his oppressor and gain some freedom to start a revolution.
With our celebrity obsessed culture and our ever growing love for reality TV heroes, are we at risk of making ourselves into a totalitarian state, but not one controlled by the government, one controlled by the media? Are we creating a cult of personality by voting on X-factor? Are people on Big Brother being that annoying on purpose as part of a cunning plan to make us stop watching so we forget to vote them off and they win the prize money?
While many would argue against ID cards and tracking devices in a bid for individual freedom, are we already being tracked anyway? We tweet, we update our facebook, we create journey plans on the internet for our friends to follow, we blog all of our thoughts, we comment on news stories. Our boots advantage card or tesco clubcard allows the corporations to know what we buy and when. Our bank statements are online, our texting records stored digitally. If ever someone had the time and inclination (and technical skills) to search they could find out everything about you. Are we doing it do ourselves? You could argue we chose to do these things, we chose to update facebook, to post our personal holiday photos, to collect necter points. But at some stage you will have to go digital with your bank account and in order to work legally, you will have to get a bank account. As journalists we must face a bright new future of multimedia and online fun stuff.
GREETINGS, PROGRAMS!
The more accustomed we become to handing over our details, the less we question where they are going.
Age is important
There are groups for silver surfers, but in my experience the younger generation is completely au fait with the technology of their time whereas my mum only really learned to text last year. Recently I read a story about Kickbee – a twitter service for foetus’s. Before a baby is even born it can update it’s status on twitter. The Kickbee is placed on the stomach and picks up movement by the baby and tweets things like ‘I just kicked mummy!’.
If technology is so embedded into the next generations lives that they are part of it even before they are born, we can only imagine the kind of multi-media we will see in the future.
Feel free to comment on any of my questions, or respond to my writing!
King Blues speak wisely
IF you don’t know them, you’re missing out, but it’s not too late.
The King Blues are from London but Glasgow must be their second home by now as they’re always on the road touring and have amassed a solid group of fans up here. One of the most prolific and original bands I’ve seen in a long time, they mix folk punk poetry with reggae style. Here’s a band who don’t just write love songs (not to belittle love, its at the centre of everything) they write about life, about people, about justice and they do it well. Their sound is stripped down simple and honest, the poetry thoughtful but inconsiderately sensitive where it needs to be. They played a sold out show at Glasgow’s King Tut’s tonight, last year they did a tour in conjunction with the Big Issue, where instead of buying a ticket, you bought a copy of the magazine to gain access to the gig. This was due to lead singer Itch’s former years of homelessness, surviving on the streets of London. Now the band are in a position to highlight the issue, they dedicate alot of time to it. These are the kind of actions I like in a band.
They performed this piece and I just love it, I think it has a positive message for both men and women. There is some swearing in it but its appropriate to the message and I think to be sensitive to appropriate swearing is to lack an understanding of language, so enjoy!
This is ‘5 bottles of shampoo’ by The King Blues.
The King Blues album ‘Save the World, Get the Girl’ is out now.
Hookers don’t go to Topshop…
The area I live in is adjacent to a marvelously colourful area full of local character, the international financial district. In this cultural hub you will find the most delightful casinos, prostitutes and drunken rabble rousers. My flats are directly through this patch and thus to get home or go to work I must walk through this part of town or face a much longer walk through a no less savoury set of streets to reach my destination. Being a poor student and part time night club bar attendant, taxis are not a viable option due to my financial instability and public transport is not particularly cheap or local to my desired locations. But what I do have is a pair of sturdy legs and lots of near worn out shoes, thus I walk, everywhere.
As a young woman I realise there is a risk to walking at night, or even during the day, unaccompanied in a busy city. However much I feel strong and confident or feel I have a right to walk where I need to or feel well versed in self defense; the fact I must accept is that I fall into a category of people who are frequently attacked. The issue of violence against women in Scotland and particularly Glasgow is one I will come to later in this blog, at the moment I wish to focus on another area I mentioned earlier – prostitutes and soliciting.
Ladies of the night are common characters in literature and TV shows. Their portrayal ranges from heart of gold mother figures to down and out drug abusers to femme fatale nymphomaniacs. The ones I’ve seen and had extremely brief monosyllabic interactions with when passing through their “office” seem to fit none of these stereotypes (though the drugs issue in Central Scotland cannot be ignored). The ones I am familiar with stand on particular street corners and ask passing males if they are interested in ‘business’ in return when a ‘client’ is looking for a prostitute he asks if a woman is ‘working?’. Seems very formal to me for the exchange of such an intimate act but then again I’m not sure how you would phrase it otherwise. Its not a casual meeting or relationship, it’s an exchange of services, a transaction. At least this is the definition I have heard from men I know who have experience of this world. For my part I can not ever imagine what it would be like to use yourself as the tool of your trade. It could be said that its not just a trade of a physical act for money but also an emotional one, which is the same as many other professions. I think ‘oh I could never do that, I couldn’t bring myself to do that’ the very idea fills me with horror, but I’m speaking from a privileged position, I have the resources to study, a career in mind, family to support me a have a stable loving monogamous relationship, while not all prostitutes are from broken backgrounds, it seems very unlikely if you had all these things and nothing happened to change your circumstances, that you enter in to the line of night companion. But there it is, I’ve never been pushed into a desperate situation. Also, growing up with all the embellished stereotypes and my community and family’s disapproving attitude to prostitution have no doubt fuelled my feelings, but even at that I’d say I have a extremely adverse gut reaction to whole process that comes purely from my own judgement.
I feel nothing negative to the women themselves, perhaps because I feel they must have been pushed into their jobs, whether that’s true or not, and women still have a tough time of it, while we’re on our way towards a better more equal society, there is still a great deal of work to do before things are actually fair between the sexes. Also I feel concern for their safety, just as I would any woman who had to work in a potentially dangerous environment, usually alone without the support/protection/established official and legal responsibility of an employer offered in other jobs. The risk is greater with prostitutes, particularly as these women are at a great risk of violent attack, which apart from being a terrible thing in itself can lead to a vicious cycle of desperation. The men who solicit them however, I am pretty appalled by. Something about seeing a human being as something to be ‘hired’, not someone to be hire for their skills but an actual thing makes me extremely uneasy. I would find it difficult to look at a long term relationship with someone who had used prostitutes in the past and definitely couldn’t with someone who was actively using them. The language itself, the term ‘use’ makes me feel as though psychologically their view of women must be impaired. Of course times change, years ago the general or public opinion was different depending on which social circle you were in and which sex you were.
The Wiki-travel guide tells us a little about the red light district:
“The Calton area of the east end (East of the “Barras”) especially around the Tennents brewery, the eastern end of Glasgow Green from the Peoples Palace to Bridgeton Cross area. These areas function as red light areas more or less 24/7: however it should be noted that they are well worth avoiding at night as they are quite far from the city centre and are poorly lit. There is also a red light district in the financial area of the city(Anderston: West of Central Station) although this only becomes a red light district from about 9PM onwards (or after dark during winter). This area in particular is very heavily policed.
It should be noted that whereas prostitution is legal in Scotland, ’soliciting’ (i.e. prostitutes soliciting for business), and ‘running a brothel’ are illegal: brothels and ‘massage parlours’ can be (and are) frequently busted by the police and their ‘customers’ taken into police custody at least temporarily. It should also be noted that since the Prostitution (Public Places) (Scotland) Act came into effect in 2008, the police are increasingly cracking down on ‘Kerb Crawling’. Therefore lone males should drive or walk around the red light districts at their own risk, and should be aware that if the police suspect them of attempting to solicit a prostitute they can be arrested and charged. In these areas, especially during summer, prostitutes from these areas occasionally provide sexual services in ‘private’ (but open air) parts of the city. Yet again, this is illegal, and, again, ‘customers’ caught having any form of sexual activity in what the law sees as a public place (i.e. not a private residence or a hotel) will be charged.
Strathclyde Police, the local police force, has a Stay Safe while Travelling guide.”
Last week I was walking my usual route, a direct straight road from my home to where I was going to meet friends for a night out when I stopped momentarily to look for a cash machine, at this point I was approached by a man looking for a prostitute who leaned towards me and asked ‘are ye workin’?’
I replied with a discreet ‘WHAT!??!’ and the man quickly apologised and shuffled Gollum-like away down another street. Filled with indignation I looked over my outfit, a floral Topshop dress, leggings, boots, jacket zipped up, handbag, an expensive haircut and make up. No flesh on display, no animal print, gold jewelry or heels (the old stereotypical classics I have seen nearly all of the local prostitutes wear – but as a vaguely fashion conscious young woman, I do own heels, I do own a leopard print jacket). I was, to use the correct regional term, ‘pure ragin’ at having been mistaken for a hooker. Hookers don’t go to Topshop!!! Biased am I about how prostitutes look and clearly I feel deep down I am better than them. Thinking about it afterwards I change my attitude, I think I’m just better off than they are because I don’t have to do their job, and I think no one should have to.
Ironically enough though, I just read an article on a fashion blog which talks about Topshop’s new ‘hooker inspired’ high heels and the author wondered how you would wear them and look trendy but not to close to the inspiration, so while the prostitutes of Glasgow I have never seen wearing Moto jeans there is a case for art imitating life when it comes to trade professionals and fashion.
Stories I have read in the media paint the prostitutes of Glasgow as both sinner and victim but apart from sensationalising what is essentially old news about the ‘oldest profession in the world’, the general feeling seems to be concern for the women involved and the desire to stop these activities. Some stories are linked below if you’re interested in reading more.
Salt and Light Bus, The Scottish Sun
Magnet for Prostitution, The BBC
