Innholdsfortegnelse for 13-6-2016 i The Big Issue

WE BELIEVE in a hand up, not a handout... Which is why our sellers BUY every copy of the magazine from us for £1.25 and sell it on to you for £2.50. In this way we have helped hundreds of thousands of people to take control of their lives since 1991, and in the process created a global blueprint for social change. WE BELIEVE in trade, not aid... Which is why we ask that you ALWAYS take your copy of the magazine – it’s a bloody good read and our sellers are working and need your custom. WE BELIEVE poverty is indiscriminate... Which is why we provide ANYONE whose life is blighted by poverty with the opportunity to earn a LEGITIMATE income. WE BELIEVE in the right to citizenship... Which…

This week a Big Issue vendor will take a big step forward. He’s getting housed and he’s been accepted on a university course. He’s down on the south coast. This is a good story. It’s good because it shows The Big Issue at work doing what we do – offering a hand up to those people who come to us, allowing a platform for the next step they choose. It’s social mobility at work. It’s the peak of a pyramid that has involved readers, distribution staff and interested other parties. It’s not good in a traditional sense of what really zings in the press. Bad news grips more often than good. In his cracking history of crime reporting in Britain – called We’ll All Be Murdered in Our Beds! –…

A recent report from the Equality and Human Rights Commission into maternity discrimination showed six times as many women under the age of 25 were sacked after getting pregnant compared to the national average. Young women are at the mercy of societal ‘norms’ that fetishise motherhood yet fail to realise many women might need or want to work. Yet the evidence is that once you step off the career ladder you are condemned to a lifetime of catch up as the ‘motherhood penalty’ knocks almost 20 per cent off earning potential. As it stands, only one per cent of all discrimination victims take a case to tribunal – the challenge is even greater if you’re a young mother and don’t yet have the life experience to fall back on. It’s…

“Social trading is the answer. We all need to be more business-like. Social Amazons, social Walmarts and social Tescos” Trade is what drives life, the means to buy stuff. Without trade you don’t have the means to spend on things, unless it is what is made from previous trade. Government is a vast machine that spends money got from people who trade or who work for traders; or for bodies that have got their hands on traders’ money. There is no wealth in the world that has not passed through the marketplace at some time. Money is always re-entering the marketplace to enrich itself. The £50 trillion of the world’s pensions is one of the biggest drivers of this marketplace. Where did that money come from? People’s savings and the…

“I would tell my younger self to think twice about becoming an actor” I find it hard to remember my younger self. Looking back, I was fairly unremarkable. I was not part of one clique, I had lots of different kinds of friends, I was not miserable. I think I was fairly typical. I went to a boarding school but didn’t board there and did what I had to do. I have warm feelings towards my younger self. I don’t look back on him with any shame or misery. I suppose I was bookish – I read anything and everything. We had to read Sons and Lovers in class and I didn’t want to but it was great. And Naked Lunch completely freaked me out. And I had an…

“I love that I have partners in crime spread all over the world, a good proportion of them from Africa. A truly international crime network” Crime pays. Just ask James Patterson. Or any of his many accomplices. I turned to a life of crime because of him. My bad influence, he is. But it wasn’t his amazing fortune what did it. Nor was it his 300 million copies sold that lured me to the dark side. Nah. It was his Alex Cross. His African-American psychologist/detective protagonist. Did I mention he is black? Alex Cross, that is, not the god of books who created him. And, Morgan Freeman played him in Along Came a Spider. Morgan Freeman. The Morgan Freeman. The voice of God. He played James Patterson’s Alex Cross. Morgan,…

Marc Bolan was the godfather of glam, a glitter-cheeked chart-topping genius – adored, influential and lost too soon, dying tragically in 1977 in a car crash. Born To Boogie: The Motion Picture, starring Bolan and T. Rex, is directed by former Beatle Ringo Starr and features guest appearances from Elton John and uber-producer Tony Visconti, who in 1970 produced Ride a White Swan, the single that changed the direction of Bolan’s career. The film is released on Blu-ray for the first time and as a deluxe two-DVD/two-CD set on June 13. Featuring a mix of concert and documentary, the live footage was shot at Wembley Empire Pool in 1972, where the set-list included T. Rex gems such as Jeepster, Get It On, Telegram Sam and more. We have teamed up…

Contrary to belief… I found Brendan O’Neill’s column [May 30–June 5] on the ‘nones’ a frustrating read. His suggestion that people lack deeply held beliefs, or even a strong moral compass, because they’re atheists is a little one dimensional and simplistic. Has he confused a quiet respect for other people’s beliefs with a lack of opinion and passion? I’m an atheist. I don’t believe in God but there are many things I do believe in and many things I’m passionate about. I just choose my arguments carefully, keep an open mind and try to avoid offending or hurting others when expressing what I believe. Sadly, I can’t say the same for those people that I know with a deeply held faith in God. Laurie Hall, email I enjoyed Brendan O’Neill’s…

JAMES AND BOB SELL THE BIG ISSUE With a film about his extraordinary life set for winter release, former vendor turned bestselling author James Bowen is set to become the toast of Hollywood. But that didn’t stop him taking to the streets of London last week to while away a few hours doing his favourite thing – selling The Big Issue. James, who used to sell the magazine with his sidekick Street Cat Bob at Angel Tube station, took a break from post-production planning of the upcoming biopic to don the red tabard in Covent Garden. It didn’t take long for word to spread on social media and for James and Bob to see fans gather. “We wouldn’t be where we are today if it wasn’t for The Big Issue,”…

“Alison’s body was discovered in her flat. She died of a heart attack” Johnny Monroe, in writing about his ex-partner Alison Ewing, opens up about one of the great social taboos of our time… Loneliness is certainly the crowded room Bryan Ferry sang of, as much as it is a telephone or doorbell that never rings. In 2014, the Office for National Statistics bestowed the unenviable title ‘The Loneliness Capital of Europe’ upon Britain. The 2013 findings of the Campaign to End Loneliness referred to ‘older people’ as sufferers of social isolation without specifying who precisely qualifies as an older person. It found that 17 per cent of this age group are in contact with family, friends and neighbours less than once a week and that 40 per cent consider…

After Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston met President Obama at the White House last month, he tweeted only one quote from the encounter: “‘Cynicism posing as wisdom’ Are you listening @realDonaldTrump”. The actor’s political ire has been at full throttle lately, and he tells The Big Issue that in the heated atmosphere of suspicion, blame and hate gripping the current US election race, his Oscar-nominated turn in biopic Trumbo as a screenwriter blacklisted in an era of Communist witch-hunts reverberates ever-louder. ment. Argo [the Oscar-winning film directed by Ben Affleck] took eight years from when it was approved by Warner Brothers to finding out where to go, who to cast, where to do it, script, shooting. Eight years, and the producer at the beginning of that eight years was a…

We’re yet to meet a human being who has seen the Tom Hanks-Daryl Hannah mermaid rom-com Splash and thinks it needs a new take on the story. But in its continued quest to sniff out every spare pound from the back of every sofa, Hollywood is planning a remake. Original producer Brian Grazer confirmed the news. None of the original cast are likely to be involved. The fallout from 2015’s Fantastic Four film continues, with actor Toby Kebbell – who played Doctor Doom – insisting there’s a better cut of the film out there. Director Josh Trank infamously suggested the same in a swiftly deleted tweet before the film’s release. Kebbell also suggested we’re never likely to see the better version. Marvellous. The co-director of the infamously bad 1993 Super…

I buy The Big Issue on a regular basis from vendors in Nottingham, and for lots of different reasons: I want to support the homeless; I enjoy reading the magazine; and I also use it as a very valuable teaching resource, and a way of increasing social awareness. I use the magazine to teach students from GCSE to A-level, and with international students trying to improve their standard of English and, in some cases, studying to sit their Cambridge exams. There are so many varied and topical articles that can be used at different levels. The basic ones are good for those struggling with English, and the more sophisticated and longer articles (for example, those written by John Bird) are ideal for higher-level learners and are very good for discussion.…

BEVERLEY KNIGHT SOUL SINGER SERIAL KILLERS It might surprise people but I’m massively into crime. I have a morbid fascination with the wrong ’uns of this world. It started because I was at university in Cheltenham when Fred West was arrested, three miles from where I lived. I passed 25 Cromwell Street all the time, and I’m convinced I once walked past Rosemary West and didn’t like the way she looked at me. I followed every cough and spit of her trial. A serial killer so close to home was a massive story. I watch Snapped: Women Who Kill and was intrigued by Steven Avery after watching Making a Murderer. Something was not right there. But it is serial killers and historical cases that really fascinate me. The Green River…

This is a blueprint of the original Disneyland, which opened in Anaheim, California, in 1955. This week Disneyland Shanghai will open the doors to the first magical kingdom on mainland China, laid out in a remarkably similar way to the original concept. The plan is one of more than 700 historic Disney items being put up for auction. Other gems include an early Mickey Mouse doll (signed by Walt Disney) and sketches from the two first Mickey cartoons, Steamboat Willie and Plane Crazy. Those after the bare necessities will be interested to know that acetates from the Jungle Book soundtrack are also up for sale.…

1. UNICORNS Unicorns are a symbol of goodness and purity, often in danger of being hunted and killed for their magical horns. They are often lone, solitary creatures, as in The Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle, understandably wary of humans. 2. VAMPIRES The classic monster. Whether they are soulless, bloodsucking fiends like the original Dracula, or tortured, beautiful heroes, vampires have been around for a very long time and aren’t going anywhere soon. 3. FEY/FAERIES There are many types of fey, and some are far from friendly pixies with dragonfly wings. The ones in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, for example, are immortal, beautiful and as fickle as the weather, and humans are simply playthings to be used and discarded. 4. KITSUNE Throughout Japan, you will find statues of…

That music ‘transports us’ and ‘takes us on a journey’ is a cliché used to death by marketing teams across the music industry – but our desire to be swept up from our everyday lives and whisked somewhere quite different is one of the reasons music is such an important aspect of our existence. It allows us escape from humdrum reality. But rather than involving any movement from one location to another, this musical transportation tends to be a metaphorical journey – a shift in our state of mind. Music moves emotionally, not physically. Nevertheless, some music does attempt to describe a physical journey and, aptly, one such piece is currently travelling up and down the country. Orlando Gough’s The World Encompassed, composed for the viol consort Fretwork, charts Sir…