Boredom is Counterrevolutionary

A person I respect

Today, The New Statesman published a list of people 50 people who matter. Included and ranked 45th was Malalai Joya, someone I respect, A LOT.

In a time when Afghanistan is still one of the UK’s and for that matter, the US’ biggest foreign policy concern, perspective is important.

Malalai Joya has been linked with the words “brave” and “outspoken” but with very good reason. An elected member of the Afghan Parliament (Wolesi Jirga) she has spoken out against the tyrants of her country, the warlords that almost run the country she lives and works in. She is an authority on the criticism of the US led NATO occupational forces within her country and has stated her intelligent case for their withdrawal, her case for women’s rights in Afghanistan is unparalleled.

Suspended since May 2007 for criticism of her fellow representatives on television, she has since toured the world, spreading debate in freedom, democracy and human rights for Afghanistan and for the rest of the world.

In a time when popular political criticism in the US is to call Obama a Nazi and to be “brave” in the UK, is apparently to call liberal/conservative bias of the BBC, depending on where you stand politically, politicians like Malalai Joya are not important respectively to their own case, but as an act to inspire

My 16 year old Self & Music

I was digging through some old boxes the other day and I found a blank CD. For poops and giggles I threw it into the laptop to see what was on it.

This wasn’t just a CD but in fact, an insight into the musical taste of my 16-year-old self.

I used to have a job in a kitchen and on Sundays, I had to clean a function kitchen the day after a wedding or party. Left alone, would put on various albums and sometimes make my own mix CDs. Judging by the music on their, I’d say this was when i was 16, some I still like, other stuff, I did cringe a little but.

*deep breath*

Track listing

1. Ever Fallen in Love (with Someone You Shouldn’t’ve) - The Buzzcocks
2. Should I Stay or Should I Go - The Clash
3. Feel Good By Numbers - The Go! Team
4. Iris - The Goo Goo Dolls
5. A Song for Jeffrey - Jethro Tull
6. I Predict a Riot - Kaiser Chiefs
7. Whole Lotta Love - Led Zeppelin
8. Night Boat to Cairo - Maddness
9. Forever Lost - The Magic Numbers
10. 20th Century Boy - T-rex
11. Apply Some Pressure - Maximo Park
12. Hold Me Now - The Polyphonic Spree
13. Killing in the Name - Rage Against the Machine
14. Paint It, Black - The Rolling Stones
15. Push It - Salt n Pepa
16. Don’t You (Forget About Me) - Simple Minds
17. Chinatown - Thin Lizzy
18. Something in the Air - Thunderclap Newman
19. Sucker Train Blues - Velvet Revolver

As you can see, I was mainly into classic rock, I had long hair and wore a leather jacket. But you can see a trickling of indie, which I was just getting into at the time and one song of novelty hip hop.

Most of the songs on the CD for me are still great, but yeah, your only 16 once…..

This is what a Young Feminist Looks like Blog Carnival

Hello, my name is Thomas French, I’m 22 and I’m a young feminist.

To me, feminism is important. More important than cheese on toast.

At the age of 18 I was a nursing student, by 19 I was a feminist. I was bullied, ignored and made to feel very small, all because of my gender. Having experienced sexism, I felt that it was something that needed to be stopped, no one should be judged due to their gender. But all I had to do was leave nursing and pretty much, never have to experience that again. Most women experience that everyday, throughout their lives.

That isn’t fair and needs to be changed.

I try to be as active as I can within the feminist community, campaigning, protesting and rasing awareness at the gender gap that exists. From simple acts of wearing feminist t-shirts, tweeting on twitter calling passive sexism where I see it, writing letters to companies that promote sexism to working with Amnesty International for Stop violence against Women campaign and other feminist groups to try to make real change.

One of my favourite acts so far is working with Amnesty International and the Black Sisters for the No Recourse campaign. We conducted a mass lobby of the UK Parliament, talking to many MPs, putting in an early day motion and creating a big media buzz. It was successful and when ever I see it reported, I feel very proud to have taken part.

It upsets me when conservatives and the like say that feminism isn’t an issue, because it is. Laws have been passed, boundaries have been crossed and times have changed, yet feminism still is as important as ever.

They say the population of the world is about 6,864,700,000 and about half of that is made up by women. Curiously, women don’t share half of the world, not even a large chunk. I guess it takes a World of billions to hold a gender back. I hope you enjoyed the public enemy joke, feminism and hip hop are not the best bed fellows. I also hope you enjoyed the blog about reading about what a young, male, feminist looks like.

This Blog’s opinions are not sponsored by Barclaycard

So a bunch of people have sat round, thought for some time and thus, the Mercury Music Prize shortlist has been announced.

• Biffy Clyro ‘Only Revolutions’
• Villagers ‘Becoming A Jackal’
• Corinne Bailey Rae ‘The Sea’
• Mumford & Sons ‘Sigh No More’
• Paul Weller ‘Wake Up The Nation’
• Wild Beasts ‘Two Dancers’
• Kit Downes Trio ‘Golden’
• Laura Marling ‘I Speak Because I Can’
• Dizzee Rascal ‘Tongue N’ Cheek’
• Foals ‘Total Life Forever’
• I Am Kloot ‘Sky At Night’
• The xx ‘xx’

A Pretty awful list, celebrating what kinda isn’t working in music, apart from 3. Well it could be 4, because i haven’t actually heard Kit Downes Trio album or even who the Kit Downes Trio even are, which is more than most music hacks would admit.

So, what isn’t working with this list? Well, Biffy Clyro make music for people who either found metal too hard or punk to cutting, so some rubbish topless indie. Corinne Bailey Rae first effort, was kinda nice and sunny i guess, but anything that she had going on has been lost in ‘The Sea’ and seeing her perform at Latitude festival only confirms that, that set dragged.

Mumford and songs only sound like the Wurzels, but with and electric backing band, their singles do nothing for me and the rest of the album only does the same. Paul Weller, last album ‘22 Dreams’ really was a Zeist of the time it was written, so interesting guitar driven music but ‘Wake Up The Nation’ only really woke up Q readers.

I’ve never really got Laura Marling, but i love folk and Laura Marling is a car crash live. Her albums first album was average at best but her second was just boring but it got all the important buzz from the media, so plenty if album sales which a lot of folk artists really should have got. Dizzie Rascal should really be ashamed of himself, his latest album is awful, anything that once made him a decent rapper of the grime seen has gone and now this guy just loves making pop music for cocks.

Foals have failed to capture the interesting sound of the first album and neither took that further or did anything to say that they trying something new. I will still look forward to their 3rd album. I Am Kloot sadly are not as near as good as they used to be, scene friends Elbow won a coupe of years ago and i don’t think it will be Kloot’s year, at least it shouldn’t be with this album, perhaps before.

So, what did they get right?

Villagers are wonderful, my friend Frazer got me into them and i’m glad he did. A dark but beautiful album. It sounds as great as in the sun as it does in your darkened bedroom.

Wild Beasts are amazing live and the album only reflects this, duel vocalists sharing the songs, i’m not sure how the album will age, but dang right now, its epic.

It took me a while to get into the xx and now that i am, i can’t stop listening to their self titled debut. Hunting, dark but all at the same time wonderful. The album could be a soundtrack to any emotion, very deep but very essesibl

In the tradition of the Mercury Music Prize, here is what i think the shortlist should be.

• Errors ‘Come Down With Me’
• Peggy Sue ‘Fossils And Other Phantoms’
• 65daysofstatic ‘We Were Exploding Anyway’
• Two Door Cinema Club ‘Tourist History’
• Villagers ‘Becoming A Jackal’
• Los Campesionos! ‘Romance is Boring’
• Four Tet ‘There Is Love In You’
• Wild Beasts ‘Two Dancers’
• Fuck Buttons ‘Tarot Sport’
• Pulled Apart By Horses ‘Pulled Apart By Horses’
• The Fall ‘Your Future Our Clutter’
• The xx ‘xx’

My year in Lists

Edit, 8/10/2010, The XX won, which is pretty good, i mean it could be worse *cough cough* Mumford & Sons *cough*

The Oily Truth

This ad was paid for by Amnesty International volunteers to raise awareness about the unethical actions of Oil Company Shell. It was meant to be printed by the Financial Times today, but at the last moment, it was pulled. The Metro and Evening Standard have no problem with this ad, it is just the FT that has seen fit to censor the truth about one the world’s biggest and perhaps most unethical oil companies.

Tim Hancock, Amnesty International UK’s campaigns director, said:

“The decision by the Financial Times is extremely disappointing. We gave them written reassurances that we would take full responsibility for the comments and opinions stated in the advertisement. The money to pay for the advertisements came entirely from more than 2,000 individuals online, who we’d asked to fund an ad campaign targeting Shell’s AGM – and it really caught their imagination. And I am sure these supporters will share with us our sense of deep disappointment.”

Shell’s $9.8bn profits come at a terrible cost for the people who live in the Niger Delta, who have to drink polluted water, breath in air that smells of oil and gas, eat fish that are contaminated, tend and farm land that is unfit and spoilt due to Shell’s actions. Shell refuses to adequately clean up oil spills and take care of the over damages that the company does while working in the Niger Delta.

Shell needs to clean up its act and it will only do this from pressure from the rest of the world. The FT should have printed this, the FT and the rest of us need to do more to make Shell responsible for the actions in the Niger Delta.

For more information please go to the Amnesty International Website

http://www.protectthehuman.com/campaigns/demanddignity

Cabinet of Strickly Hetro Love…..

The 2010 general election saw the electorate put pencil to card and put a coalition government to power. Although that’s not how it really works, the tabloid media like to put it that way.

The new Prime Minster, David Cameron and buddy Liberal Democrat Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg have put together a rag tag group of Ministers to form the all new cabinet, to deal with the problems of a modern society because as Cameron proudly stated…

“”A country is at its best when the bonds between people are strong and when the sense of national purpose is clear.”

So then why is one social group so hounded by the current cabinet? Why is the cabinet so homophobic?

If you were to break down the cabinet you would see some startling statistics about just how homophobic it can be

• Only 13% of the Coalition Cabinet voted to repeal Section 28
• If you take out the 5 Lib-Dem members, then this Cabinet is 64% more homophobic than the last
• The average pro gay voting record of the Coalition cabinet is 43%, the last Cabinet was 90%
• The Coalition Government is 52% more homophobic than the last cabinet.

Shocking and in the 21st Century, you would expect a newly elected government to be a little more progressive than that.  But this is nothing unexpected, but what comes as a shock is the appointment of Theresa May, the new Minister for Women and Equality.

As well as being the the new Home Security, she will take the role women and equality. this has gained much criticism from the liberal to the well…..sane?

Personally she has clocked up an (un)impressive and shocking voting history herself on both women’s rights and gay rights, she does kind of spit in the face of all her represents in her role as Minister for Women and Equality. She was against lowering the age of consent in homosexual relationships to 16, voted against gay adoption rights and against Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill which would give lesbian couples the ability to receive fertility treatment.

May is hardly going to win bigot of the year in the conservative party, but when other governmental MPs could of been better suited like current junior Home Office minister with responsibility for equality, why was May chosen?

For more infomation on this subject

http://www.lgbtnetwork.eu/

and to join the fight for a more “progressive” Minister for Women and Equality

http://tinyurl.com/3xy9lzs