Sunday, 23 November 2008
Asking for it...
At the after party I met Alex Brew, a photographer, who has recently published a collection of her photographs questioning this very point. Alex told me how she had submitted her photos to a number of top male magazines but to no avail. Is this only a woman's issue then?
Here is the write up of the exhibition from her website, this is the link to see the photos:
DIVA magazine named the preview of "Asking for it" at Ladyfest London in the Islington Arts Factory as its hot pick. DIVA said: "The artist approaches men in public places – outside offices, pubs, cafes and gentlemen's venues often in London's square mile. She confronts them with her camera and sometimes asks them to fully or partially undress in a more private space – in an alleyway, a car park, or back at their place or hers.
The images illuminate the risks women take everyday in a culture that believes that the stranger is more dangerous than the man by your side in spite of the statistics that show the opposite."
This is about why women don't tend to objectify men and the massive obstacles in a woman's way if she goes after a positive, active sexuality: not least fear - of alienation, disapproval or violence. Not only by individual men but by the legal system.
Saturday, 22 November 2008
Friday, 21 November 2008
Seize this opportunity to send the Nazi BNP packing
Last night I spent hours scouring the lists. I am pleased that there is only one, in my area, one in my previous are and two registered nazi's in Camden where we have been campaigning recently. In Camden where they stood two months ago they only got 29 votes so well done to Camden UAF and all those that campaigned together. United we stand.
Have a look at the lists yourself. There are many links on facebook and on the net. You will be shocked (or not) by how many ex-military and police officers on it. to search, for those of you who are not familiar with Excel, click tools then sort and sort in various ways. Columns J & K are where you can see the occupations. Then hold Ctrl and press 'f'. you can then search by keywords such as 'renew' or 'military' or 'police' fro example and the keep pressing 'next' for the next entry. Fascinating stuff.
In cases where people haven't renewed their memberships, you can also see why-some very illuminating evidence: 'under police investigation' is one of the entries!!
Read the report at Socialist Worker here.
SOAS Love Music Hate Racism gig TODAY. All welcome
Following a film showing of This Is England SOAS LHMR society was launched in September. Today they host their 3rd event. Please bring all your anti-racist friends and family to what will be yet another brilliant campaigning music event.
Love Music Hate Racism: Free Gig Friday Returns!
This Friday we at the LMHR society are presenting you with our second gig night in the JCR.
This time the bar is open until 1am, and will be accompanied by the 1st SOAS beer festival downstairs.
The live music also lasts until 1am you'll be pleased to hear. The acts are as follows...
* Visionary Underground (live drum and bass) www.myspace.com/visionaryunderground
* Coppers for Karma (funk-psychobilly-folk rock) http://www.coppersforkarma.com/
* The Frank Hamilton Band (folk-acoustic-indie) http://www.myspace.com/frankhamiltonband
* Something Simple (funk-jazz-latin) http://www.myspace.com/somethingsimple
Music starts at 18:30, this Friday, SOAS JCR, Everyone is welcome.
Shame on Prof. Hugh Collins Head of Law at LSE
From today's Metro:
"Prof Hugh Collins, head of law at the London School of Economic and Political Science, agreed that sacked BNP members could sue for unfair dismissal.
'There is a freedom of association right which is supposed to protect people's rights to join political parties.
'For most workers I would have thought it would be clearly unfair to be dismissed just for being a member of a political party,' Prof Collins said."
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/
His email address is:
h.collins@lse.ac.uk
Thursday, 20 November 2008
Home Office forces Uni's to act as immigration informers
Outcry from lecturers over plans to make them ’spies’.University of London staff have fiercely denounced new government rules which will force university staff to report international students who fail to turn up to class to border authorities.
An implementation plan for new immigration rules, published on October 30th, will see universities receive licences from the United Kingdom Border Authority (UKBA) and operate as students’ sponsors, reporting those who do not enrol, miss tutorials or coursework submissions, or who discontinue their studies.
The measures, which will be phased in over a twelve month period starting in March 2009, require universities to acquire licences in order to recruit students from outside the European Economic Area (EEA), and are part of a new Australian-style points based immigration system.
A letter published in the Guardian newspaper and signed by over 200 academics in the 24 hours before it was printed said: “The new immigration rules for overseas students to be introduced in March 2009 by the Border Agency are very worrying”.
“The university is being asked to act as an immigration officer and set up a surveillance unit over these students. This goes far beyond the present monitoring of student progress systems in universities, which has as its basic purpose assisting students to reach their full potential.”
At the time of going to press, the number of signatories had reached around 360, including staff from the LSE, SOAS, UCL and Birkbeck College, the letter’s author Ian Grigg-Spall said.
Speaking to London Student, Mr Grigg-Spall, a lecturer at Kent University Law School and Academic chair of the National Critical Lawyers Group, said: “This is a matter of principle. It breaches academic freedom and universities’ autonomy.”
“Relationships between staff and students rely on trust, this creates mistrust and destroys that relationship”.
“The idea that universities must know where students are at all times is just wrong as a matter of principle,” he added.
Read more at London Student
UCU Prseident Sally Hunt, said: "We have grave concerns that new rules on monitoring foreign students have been pulled together without any consultation with the people who would be tasked with their implementation. We do not believe it is appropriate or effective to task colleges and universities with the policing of immigration."To read the UCU's response, click here:
http://www.ucu.org.uk/index.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/
click here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
n-and-public-services
For more, click here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
nt-scams-crackdown
See facebook campaign from NUS International Students Officer
Breathalising students on campus
OMG, i just received this email on the Students' Union presidents mailing list. I cant tell you where's it from at the mo but PLEASE, please do email ME at revolution@soas.ac.uk and i will pass it on.
"We’ve been alerted to a practice on our acting courses, where lecturers are insisting students take a breathalyser test on a Wednesday morning and denying them access to classes if they “fail”.
Students tell us that this has been brought in across the acting courses to treat students “equally” as there is a perceived need to protect those engaging in Stage combat practicals and training.
Our initial thoughts are:
- Is this an illegal search? Do students have a right to privacy if there is no immediate risk to their self or others?
- Who is administering the tests? How are they certified as competent?
- What processes are in place to prevent “false positives”? How do we resolve such?
- What machinery / equipment is being used? How often is it calibrated? And, again, by certified technicians?
- What redress does a fee-paying student have for being denied contact time with academic personnel?
Any reactions, input, ideas or examples of this occurring elsewhere will be very welcome…
Thanks!"
Lenin & the Party-Tony Cliff part 1
Why do we need a revolutionary party? Marx said "the emancipation of the working class is the act of the working class". But, at the same time, there exists a contradiction. That is: the ruling ideas are in society are the ideas of the ruling class.
How do we overcome these contradictions? Who are strikers fighting against? What can and should revolutionaries do to intervene?
It's so good it's a repeat...
Wednesday, 19 November 2008
We are temporarily out-of-order
Tuesday, 18 November 2008
Ideology and Roses-where's the bread?
Slightly freaked out that Axel is poised as the creating the Greatest Album of all time...although i would possibly agree that they are quite good. Just don't tell anyone that i had a crush on him when younger-yes, i said youngER.
Read more at Ideology&Roses (and the Hope for the Future)
Monday, 17 November 2008
Sunday, 16 November 2008
Boycott Prada if you can live without your luxuries for just a while...
Vuitton, Mulberry and Nicole Farhi. These are luxury brands, priced too
high for ordinary working people like us.
But the people who make those products are often low-paid, non-union
workers. When those workers stand up and fight for their rights, it's
our responsibility to stand with them.
Earlier this year, hundreds of workers at the Turkish leather
manufacturer DESA -- which produces for all the luxury brands mentioned
above -- joined a union. The reaction of the company was fierce: 44
union members were sacked, and 50 more compelled to quit the union.
Nevertheless, the workers have stood firm, holding daily protests
outside the factory. Local police have been called in to arrest them,
and bribes offered to union leaders to call off the demonstrations.
Families have been threatened.
Workers at DESA need a union urgently. They complain of poverty wages,
long hours and terrible health and safety conditions.
Please take a moment to send off a message to DESA's customers -- the
luxury fashion brands -- telling them that you support the DESA workers
in their struggle:
http://www.labourstart.org/
Tell them that a union is right, not a luxury.
Thanks - and spread the word!
