Wednesday 17 October 2012
Kelly and Victor
I was so happy to see Kieran Evans' film Kelly and Victor at the London Film Festival last night. It was a perfect antidote to so much of the vacuous, aspirational Downton-tainment that we are inundated with. The film looked incredible and held that magical line between revealing the brutal de-humanization process that people in deprived areas all over the country, but more specifically urban in this case, are still undergoing as a result of the strip-and-sell politics of Thatcher (heed the warnings... this film could not be more prescient.), and the tender, beautiful moments of humanity that take take root like dandelions, spiking through the cracked concrete (or deeper, causing the cracks) in sharp green shards of nature defiant. A haunting story - as haunting as a life, or city itself, with all the wonder, love and pain thrown in, a beautiful paean to a place and the people that haunt it.
Monday 8 October 2012
Osborne on benefit "fairness"...
A quote taken from The Guardian today...
"So we are absolutely clear that those with the broadest shoulders must bear the broadest burden. But our conception of fairness, and this is perhaps where we differ from the Labour party, also extends to the welfare system. We also think it's unfair that when that person leaves their home early in the morning, they pull the door behind them, they're going off to do their job, they're looking at their next-door neighbour, the blinds are down, and that family is living a life on benefits. That is unfair as well, and we are going to tackle that as part of tackling this country's economic problems."
This is exactly the kind of emotive, imaginary, anecdotal bullshit that the Tories continue to use to justify their unabated attacks on the people they are paid to govern, not wage war on. The stupidity and immaturity of the drivel spouted here is just lamentable. Not just because it comes from a public figure who we can surely expect to at least have a kind of basic respect for everyone he is elected to represent, but more because this is the overly simplistic view of a grown man, for chrissssakes. I've heard Jeremy Kyle offer stiffer analysis than this.
"So we are absolutely clear that those with the broadest shoulders must bear the broadest burden. But our conception of fairness, and this is perhaps where we differ from the Labour party, also extends to the welfare system. We also think it's unfair that when that person leaves their home early in the morning, they pull the door behind them, they're going off to do their job, they're looking at their next-door neighbour, the blinds are down, and that family is living a life on benefits. That is unfair as well, and we are going to tackle that as part of tackling this country's economic problems."
This is exactly the kind of emotive, imaginary, anecdotal bullshit that the Tories continue to use to justify their unabated attacks on the people they are paid to govern, not wage war on. The stupidity and immaturity of the drivel spouted here is just lamentable. Not just because it comes from a public figure who we can surely expect to at least have a kind of basic respect for everyone he is elected to represent, but more because this is the overly simplistic view of a grown man, for chrissssakes. I've heard Jeremy Kyle offer stiffer analysis than this.
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