Innholdsfortegnelse for November 16, 2015 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 £1.50 and sell it on to you for £3. 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…

Last week I bought a telescope. This was not in reaction to any TV ad, rather a long promised present. Buying online, when I clicked to make the purchase, I was shown what other people who had bought it had also bought. This, of course, is not uncommon. Our habits are recorded and regurgitated by a world of complex algorithms. I expected some books on the solar system, or maybe a map of the night sky glorying in the wonder of the infinite beyond. It wasn’t that. Merrily listed was a selection of snooping paraphernalia. There was a HD bullet camera. There was a CCTV kit with two cameras (presumably for home use). There was even a drone. (I was tempted…) It put recent debate about Theresa May’s Snooper’s Charter…

So this sounds self-defeating but after 13 years of banging on about bullying we’re tired of zero-tolerance schools. They pride themselves on being a ‘no bullying here’ school and slam the door in your face when you offer help. Trouble is, they also have a tendency to slam the door in the face of pupils and parents who try to explain that there is bullying there and nothing is being done about it. It’s a mistake to think that by saying you don’t tolerate bullying it means it won’t occur. Bullying is anywhere there are humans. It thrives in a culture of silence. Children need brave headteachers to say, yes we have bullying – but we listen, we take action and learn from mistakes. We look at our collective responsibility…

So I’m 16 years old and I like partying but my whole mind is on music. I’m practising and practising and practising, I’m doing everything I can, every waking minute, practising my vocals. I asked dad for a PA system, which I remember cost $130, and he was generous enough to let me have it because I promised to use it every single day. I set it up in the garage, it was just a microphone you could plug into speakers. I would go to buy vinyl singles that had instrumental versions of the songs on the b-side, and I’d pretend I was on stage and just go for it. I wasn’t popular with girls at first. I was this Greek guy with an English accent, very curly dark hair,…

This is it: the last call for entries for The Big Issue’s Kids’ Christmas Cover Competition! Entries are pouring in, and every one will be a star in our December 7 issue. We’ve had covers from whole classes of schoolmates, groups of friends, families and, poignantly, from a group of children who are living in a homeless hostel. The competition shows the universal spirit of togetherness that can come from taking part in a quest that unites the whole country, and sharing in the creation of something bright and beautiful. Our 2014 winner, eight-year-old Maya Jerram, from Bristol, said: “You feel as though you are doing good for other people as well as yourself.” And 2013’s winner, Dylan Allman, aged seven, said that he entered because “I wanted to put…

Last weekend, Rick Clement was the toast of the nation as he walked in public for the first time since losing his legs during the war in Afghanistan. It was a poignant occasion for the former British Army sergeant. He was told he would never walk again after he was cut in half when he stepped on a hidden Taliban bomb while on patrol in Helmand Province in 2010. After months of gruelling preparation, Rick, 35, left his wheelchair behind to stand on two mechanical legs to lay a wreath at Blackpool Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday. “It was very overwhelming,” said Rick, who also served in Northern Ireland and Iraq during a distinguished 14-year military career. “I didn’t expect it to be as emotional as it turned out to be.…

Saving your bacon Re: Brendan O’Neill, November 2-8. Does the ‘scaremongering’ lobby you refer to include us hardworking doctors? Next time you run for help after a health scare, remember the reason we bang on about obesity and eating rubbish is that our lives are spent largely treating lifestyle diseases in this country. That is utterly depressing for medics and should be for you too as an intelligent human being. You want to be ‘left alone’? Does than mean you want to be left alone to deal with your health problems? I doubt it. You can’t have your cake (or bacon) and eat it… oh sorry, that’s exactly what you want. Kids in rural India are going blind because of vitamin A deficiency in the only diet they can afford…

BIG KNITATHON Talk about spinning a good yarn. The Scottish Women’s Institute has enlisted its 17,000 members to knit warm woollies for Big Issue vendors this Christmas. Anne and Jane Muirhead will be inspiring their crafty SWI ladies to take part in The Big Issue Foundation’s Big Knitathon, knitting cosy garments and raising funds to help the magazine’s sellers move out of homelessness. Anne, 73, says: “This is a fantastic cause with very worthy recipients, so between our scarves, gloves, blankets and hats, we’ll make sure The Big Issue’s vendors don’t feel a chill this winter.” And she adds: “At the SWI we’re passionate about making a difference and helping others in need. I’ve been a member for 40 years and I still love the fact that when we work…

Arithmetic lives in all things. You might call it the arithmetic of change. A Big Issue vendor decides to leave his pitch in a small town. The word goes out that the vendor has had his official badge removed. In the region of 300 people email complaints to The Big Issue at what is seen as an attack on the vendor and his needs. It’s difficult but we try and get the word out that in fact he has left of his own accord; and that is the right of the vendor. Often people ask us about people who have moved on. And often we have to say they have left and not left indication as to where. The above little story, though, throws up something that is very sensitive…

UNFINISHED BY SHIRIN ALI “I suffered from an abusive relationship but I refused to let it break me,” says Shirin. “I escaped and became an activist for change and for human rights, particularly of women. In my own small way I hope my drawings show the inner strength of those who are oppressed, and the desire for freedom.” BUY STREET ART! You can buy prints of some artworks featured in Street Art through The Big Issue Shop. At least half of the profit from each sale goes to the artist. Order at shop.bigissue.com W BLOOMING FLOWERS BY MANGO Mango is a London-based graffiti artist and photographer who submitted this work via the 240 Project, a charity for people affected by homelessness, vulnerability and exclusion. He has been spray…

My dog Jess and I had been on quite an adventure together in the past year, sailing round bits of the south coast. I got Jess in Bangor, North Wales, just over two years ago, where my customers had helped me save up for a little Wayfarer dinghy. I worked as a motorcycle courier in London for 14 years, so I seem to be able to turn my hand to fixing things up – bikes, boats or anything else. So we went sailing together. We set sail from Falmouth last spring and spent a couple of months getting to know the dinghy’s capabilities. It had long been a dream of mine and it worked out so well. We got as far as Portsmouth, then down to Plymouth, and got to…

When Brian Clough took over as Nottingham Forest manager on January 6, 1975, the team was 13th place in the second division. In his second full season, Forest won promotion. The following season they won the First Division and League Cup. In 1979 they won the first of two consecutive European Cups and began a record 42-game unbeaten run in the league. In January 2015, Nottingham Forest again stood 13th in the second tier of English football. Could they win the Premier League, two Champions Leagues and two League Cups by the end of 2019-20? Of course not – sorry, Forest fans. As director Jonny Owen (pictured above), whose film reunites Clough’s great Forest team, explains, it would require a miracle. “We have to celebrate Brian Clough and Peter Taylor’s…

The muddling of concepts of taxation and welfare which occurs with tax credits [John Bird, November 2-8] is just one problem with this benefit. From the start, tax credit overpayments stemming from official errors were recouped, which has been extended to other benefits. Claimants can face repayment demands years after supposed entitlement, clawing them back into poverty. In 2012-2013, social security changes went almost unnoticed, such as the abolition of national council tax benefit and its replacement by local reduction schemes. Two years on, council tax default levels are reaching record levels. But how many people, apart from claimants, even know these changes have happened? The biggest sink into which social security money is poured is the housing benefit system, which operates as a welfare state for landlords. With rising…

One of my earliest memories is my uncle saying, ‘He’s just like Eddie Murphy’ because I have this big grin. So I set out to find out all about him. I don’t see it as an obsession but everyone else does. I’m 33, so I’m The Nutty Professor generation. It blew my mind how he played so many characters in one film, so I dug out his earlier stuff. Before I knew it I had all his films on DVD. They’re stacked in chronological order in my wardrobe. I’m amazed how Eddie Murphy commands the room with his crazy, hyper comedy. I also have his music. When I was 17, I spent silly money on a signed copy of his single I Was a King with Shabba Ranks. I spent…

A disturbing fact of modern life in the UK is that suicide is the biggest killer of men aged 20 to 45. To remove stigma and encourage dialogue, CALM (the Campaign Against Living Miserably) have organised ALPHA, a photo exhibition challenging alpha male stereotypes and exploring the complexities of mental health. One featured photographer is Scarlet Page (daughter of Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy). Her portraits of musicians include rapper Professor Green (right), who recently spoke out about his father’s suicide and his own battle with depression. ALPHA runs from November 20-27 at The Print Space gallery in London. Admission is free. theprintspace.co.uk…

There are no five books you should read before the age of 12. You should be free to read whatever you like, and anyone who tells you otherwise is a fool. So here are five random things I’ve enjoyed… 1. THE PHOENIX This isn’t a book, it’s a weekly comic. It’s funny, beautiful, silly, intelligent, bonkers, serious, sad and wonderful – filled with cartoons from some of our very finest writers and illustrators. 2. MR GUM Andy Stanton Each one is a surreal-ish adventure filled with more jokes than a packed lunch box, all brought to life by the jagged beauty of David Tazzyman’s drawings. 3. NOBODY SAW NO ONE Steve Tasane Two boys run away from the children’s home where dreadful things have happened. How do they survive on…

Just because there’s going to be a lot of superheroes in next year’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, it’s not going to be “overstuffed” insists its producer. Charles Roven has assured fans it’s still going to focus on Batman and Superman, in spite of also including the likes of Wonder Woman, Aquaman and possibly The Flash. A videogame of Jurassic World had been scheduled to arrive this year but was cancelled. Deleted material of the project has appeared online, although no reason for its cancellation has surfaced. Still, we’ve got LEGO: Jurassic World. Talking of videogames, Call of Duty is next to jump to the big screen. A “cinematic universe” based on the first-person shooter franchise is planned. The first film could be as early as 2018. Paramount has…

Opera has a reputation for purveying sensational music via ridiculous plots. The most delicious of melodies and luscious of harmonies often are the musical expression of innocuous words, stemming from banal or absurd situations onstage. Usually in Britain, our ignorance of Italian, French or German allows us to overlook this, to escape the realisation that the soprano’s soaring aria is actually about her missing hat, her pet hamster or, perhaps, her yearning for her true love (whom she’s only met once, and may or may not be her brother). Handel’s Acis and Galatea is the quintessential silly opera in this regard. Its archetypal plot is laughable: shepherd and nymph are in love; hideous monster loves nymph too; battle ensues between shepherd and monster; shepherd is crushed by a rock; nymph…