Innholdsfortegnelse for 4/9/2018 i The Big Issue

Welcome to this very special edition of The Big Issue. Street Cat Bob has fans all over the world and now that he’s starring in a cartoon I think he’s going to become even more famous. You can read about his new venture on page 18. My dog, Tyson, is my best friend so I’m very interested to see what an anthrozoologist says about how our pets may have shaped our evolution in the feature on page 22. And you can read more about Tyson and me on page 46.…

These last weeks it would be easy to believe that we have descended into dystopia: mass shootings in the US, gang violence bringing unprecedented death to the streets of London. The tragic toll of stabbings and shootings continues to spiral at a terrifying rate. Hopelessness and fear could engulf us. We can’t, shouldn’t, ignore these statistics. But on page eight of this week’s magazine you will hear from people who have chosen to approach the fearsome complexities behind these problems and put into action ideas about how they might be fixed. The common theme is prevention – also a core ethos of The Big Issue. Rather than mopping up after crime and violence, throwing more police officers at it, why not try to stop it happening in the first place?…

Quick-thinking vendor Garry Buchan has been hailed as a “great asset to the community” after leaping to the aid of a moped rider caught in a crash. A Mini collided with the moped just yards from Garry’s pitch on Park Street in Bristol on March 26, leaving the rider lying stricken on the two-wheeled vehicle. While onlookers gathered, the vendor, who has been selling the magazine for 18 months, leapt into action and used his rucksack to fill the gap between the handlebars and the car, protecting the woman from back injury. “There were a lot of people stood around who didn’t act, hopefully I showed that if a homeless guy can do it then I can inspire others to help out too,” said Garry (below), 42 and originally from…

Steve taught himself to draw at a young age from reading DC comic books. He submits his artworks via London homeless charity the 240 Project. His work possesses an ethereal quality and often combines architecture designs with eerie natural elements and a sense of otherworldliness. “My drawing feels more technical than artistic,” he says. “Puzzles, crosswords and historical facts influence my thoughts and occupy my time, though my work comes from my imagination. I don’t feel in any rush when working, I just take my time. Each line is considered, not instinctive.” BUY STREET ART! You can buy prints of some artworks featured in Street Art through bigissueshop.com At least half of the profit from each sale goes to the artist. Street Art is created by people who…

IN 1990 THE  YEAR SARA COX TURNS 16… Nelson Mandela is released from prison after 27 years / Gazza cries as England lose their World Cup semi to West Germany / Jessica Tandy becomes the oldest winner of a Best Actress Oscar for Driving Miss Daisy, aged 80 At 16 I was raving. I was the youngest of five and my eldest sister Dot really looked out for me. My mum didn’t know I was cadging lifts with boys in their XR2s to drive me to go clubbing at Angels in Burnley. I had a real look going. My hair was a pineapple on the top of my head. I had a terrible spiral perm, my fringe held up with hairspray. I wore three pairs of knee socks and scrunched them…

It will rankle me for life that I never met Leonard Cohen but my dog did. What happened was we were rehearsing for a tour, I think it was possibly 2006. We were at a rehearsal place for a few weeks then we went off on the tour and it just so happened that Leonard Cohen took over our rehearsal room the day after we left. The girl who worked at the front desk would occasionally house-sit and dog-sit for me, so I left Bobby Jr with her. He had been coming with me to rehearsals every day – he was that type of dog – he was like a person who could just hang out. And so he became part of the family at the rehearsal place over those…

Over the course of his eight novels, American writer Jesse Ball has developed an admirably singular approach to fiction. He eschews emotive language, and has a ruthless, never-surrender attitude to sentimentality. He often favours a clinical, pragmatic style of surrealism in which characters and locations are not named, but given initials or symbolic titles. Ball’s commitment to show-don’ttell writing is evangelical. That, and his lack of interest in familiar landscapes or times, means he runs the risk of leaving his reader feeling displaced and disconnected; impressed, but not invested. Yet somehow, as his new novel Census unfolds, the story of this father and son journey through an unidentified country becomes deeply moving. How does he do it? By rejecting sign-posting and contrivance completely and trusting in the sensitivity and intelligence…

Marvel Studios recently staked the hyperbolic claim that their new film Avengers: Infinity War is “the most ambitious crossover event in history”. “Au contraire!” Twitter protested, and a meme was born. Cue a stream of reminders about such improbable genre-clashing moments in light entertainment history as the Red Dwarf crew landing on the set of Coronation Street, Magnum, PI meeting Murder, She Wrote, and that time the Hoff did panto with the Krankies. Evidently none of the above are aware that Sting and Shaggy have made an album together. Yes, that’s the lute-abusing worthy-rock bard of the north east and the Jamaican Mr Boombastic call me fantastic, united in cod reggae song. The ambitious crossover event that nobody thought would happen – because nobody’s mind is that twisted, not even…

Good work, Andy! A big full respect to Andy who was grafting on Easter Sunday at the Barbican Tube stop as I walked out of Fabric nightclub at 11pm. He was polite, courteous and working very hard in the rain and most insistent we took his magazine. A credit to The Big Issue, and a great example of hard work no matter what the conditions. Tom Belte (impressed) A valid alternative Thank you John Bird for your article on homeopathy [March 19-25]. The multi-national drug companies have been ripping off the NHS for years with their over-priced chemical drugs that very often do not work, or cause more side effects. The best medicine is good healthy food, and there’s plenty of information about cheap alternative remedies, ie herbs, homeopathy etc.…

Tourists have been tossing coins over their shoulder and into Rome’s famed Trevi Fountain to celebrate a trip to the Eternal City for generations. Rome City Council has marked the practice, which was popularised by the 1954 flick Three Coins in the Fountain, by scooping out the proceeds and gifting it to Catholic charity Caritas to provide food and shelter for the Italian capital’s homeless population. Tradition dictates that throwing one coin in the water means that you will return to Rome, with two meaning romance and three signifying marriage – but the cash-strapped council fell out of love with the idea after finding themselves around £12bn in the red. The 20-year agreement with Caritas was cancelled in October last year and the £1.2m that is chucked into the 300-year-old…

A first-of-its-kind vending machine that allowed homeless people to access daily essentials has been removed. Homelessness charity Action Hunger installed their pilot machine in Nottingham’s intu Broadmarsh shopping centre in December, allowing rough sleepers to access sanitary products, food and clean clothing 24 hours a day. The project was given a one-month trial at the shopping centre that was extended to three before the machine was removed on March 23. Despite the setback, Action Hunger founder Huzaifah Khaled has spoken about his plans to bring the idea to other cities, including New York, insisting that the vending machine ensures that “the bare necessities are always available”. But Nigel Wheatley, general manager at intu Broadmarsh, said: “We agreed to support a trial to help get their vending machine concept off the…

I am told that my children and all children should be analysing data. As preparation for the fourth industrial revolution. And perhaps something called econometrics. This is (presumably) to enable our children, and their children, to understand the workings of our increasingly computer-driven world. If you know the workings of something, the language of something – and you can analyse it – then you’re much more likely to get a job out of it. But will this bring us any nearer to understanding that divine piece of engineering, biology and complexity of our own bodies? Of how, and why, electrical signals fire through our bodies via incredibly complex systems of nerves? If one were to expose the pipes, tunnels, wires and cables that make up a modern city – even…

THE (HONEST) TRUTH ABOUT DISHONESTY Dan Ariely People convince themselves they are honest and rational. But in Dan Ariely’s simple experiments, they prove to be irrational and dishonest, but in highly predictable ways. We could possibly use this understanding to build a more honest society. THE HAPPINESS HYPOTHESIS Jonathan Haidt In all times people have been wrong about what really makes them happy. Why? Ancient wisdom from all religions are pretty much confirmed by modern cognitive science. THE BIG RATCHET Ruth DeFries In the future, humanity should expect to face game-changing resource shortages like we always have. Looking back at pivotal moments in history can teach us how to deal with future crises. SUPERFORECASTING PhilipTetlock and Dan Gardner How can we know which experts to trust? Tetlock left US intelligence…

[Re cover feature, April 2-8] Martin Luther King spoke about the ‘Drum Major Effect’; the Western ideal of being first in everything, and its destructive repercussion on the rest of society. This is exemplified in the current housing crisis where more homes are built for the ‘Drum Majors’ while less well-off young people are homeless. A shocking example is the vast amount of development in villages across the country where half the existing old properties are empty second homes. This is a clear indication of a moral and social breakdown, with its root cause in the massive tax-avoidance schemes which are crippling those who need the most help. Only by stopping this greed can we tackle housing and every other social crisis facing us today. There was talk of doubling…

My great-aunt Ausma tucks a trowel in her handbag and announces herself ready for the cemetery. Once a year, everyone in the Latvian village of Gulbene where she lives gathers in the graveyard for a special celebration, when each family assembles around the graves of its ancestors for an entire day. For Latvians, cemeteries are like parks, thick with groves of linden, oak and birch, and people often come to sit in silence and beauty the way they would in any city green space. Volunteers tend the graves of those who have no more living ancestors, so that no plot goes neglected. For the cemetery celebration, preparations begin days ahead of time. Families arrive with wheelbarrows full of fresh soil to rake over the plots. Others haul heaps of cut…

Somewhere deep in rural Russia, in an overcrowded post office, a young woman addresses the grumpy assistant behind the counter. This young woman sent her husband, serving a prison sentence in Siberia, a parcel, which has just been returned, unopened. If there’s any explanation, the post office worker isn’t providing one, despite the wife’s mounting anxiety. What’s happened to her husband? No reply, just a demand for a fee. As the unhappy wife leaves, there’s a confrontation between the woman behind the desk and another customer, an old man claiming to suffer from TB. He concludes the argument by threatening to gob in her face. This run-in with officialdom – a queasy mix of naked hostility, willed indifference and petty intransigence – offers a cautionary welcome to the world of…

“Kerry is resplendent in an England shirt from the market (with four lions)” When it’s done well, a mockumentary is like sipping an ice-cold Martini at the bar of a fancy hotel. It makes you squirm, but you know it’s really good. Even if it’s uncomfortable, a show like The Office rewards you for seeing the funny and getting the point. Yes, you are a handsome comedy connoisseur. Everyone else is a mouth breather who thinks it’s REAL. Have another olive, you magnificent beast. A bad one, though, is like a sad swig of Mad Dog on a bench outside Farmfoods – giving you an instant headache. You can imagine the lines written on the page and read out at rehearsal, see right through the clunky observations, the brassy try-hardness…