Innholdsfortegnelse for 8/15/2022 i The Big Issue

Waking up in a Devon field has many advantages to it. Even in the heavy heat, if you are up early enough you can smell the smack of nature upon your nose, before the hotness sets in. I rise early as I have done since my days as an industrial worker, then a printer, then a social advocate. Early mornings are a gift to us all that many do not feast on. I once advocated in these pages an Early Morning Association, based on witnessing in Beijing one sunny 5am the wonderful sight of largely older people in the public parks doing tai chi, the slow-motion exercise that brings energy storming back into your body, quietly, gently, kindly. The field I am in is no ordinary field, even though it…

USA 1 If I could walk with the animals, and talk to the animals. Grunt, squeak and squawk with the animals… what would they say? Soon we may find out. The Earth Species Project based in California is using AI to analyse and interpret non-human forms of communication. In the past, algorithms have been developed that worked out whether a pig was grunting to express a positive or negative emotion. Evolving this technology could unlock the secrets of what different species are trying to say. Pacific 2 A milestone has been reached in the Atlantic as Dutch non-profit The Ocean Cleanup announced that they’d removed 10,000kg of waste from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The Patch extends across an area twice the size of Texas. Unfortunately the amount collected…

We remain deeply worried by the sheer numbers of Afghans who remain languishing in hotels for long periods, accommodation by no means appropriate for prolonged stays. This situation represents a failure of the government’s promise to provide a warm welcome to Afghans and to help them integrate here. We remain deeply concerned by all elements of the government’s draconian policies enshrined in the Nationality and Borders Act, and the harm they will do to people in desperate need of safety. Criminalising those who have no choice but to make their own way to the UK is both cruel and heartless. It sees this government dramatically turning its back on the commitment made over seven decades ago when the UK was one of the founding signatories of the Refugee Convention –…

REVIEWS On the hunt for the Angel of Death The Disappearance of Josef Mengele by Olivier Guez comes to us after a long period of anticipation. First published in France in 2017, it won the Prix Renaudot in its native country and now makes its way to Anglophone audiences through the radical indie press Verso and a faithful translation by Georgia de Chamberet. The cover proclaims it to be a factual novel, another proponent of that strange genre known as “narrative nonfiction” whereby real-life events are recounted using the style, register and voice of a novel. It’s a style that hits as much as it misses, but in the hands of Olivier Guez it flourishes in ways I’ve rarely seen before. The novel is an account of the post-Holocaust years…

Bringing up children is relentless, tedious, and occasionally, briefly, joyful – like the joy someone under police interrogation might feel when their tormentor goes to the toilet. But when you (quite understandably) moan about your situation, you have to caveat it with “of course, I wouldn’t change it for the world” while secretly imagining changing it in favour of almost anything else: a trip to Goole in the back of a lorry, a new life in Bogotá, an hour browsing the pasta shapes in an out-of-town supermarket… anything. If you fail to add this positive spin, however, people tend to get defensive and step in with the dreaded: “Well, nobody told you to have children in the first place.” This, of course, isn’t true, because if you are a woman,…

TERRY COKELEY, 63 I used to sell the magazine at Forest Hill rail station, but I moved to the Co-op here at Crofton Park in May because it’s nearer to my home, basically. It’s just a mile away from where I live now. I’ve lived in supported housing since 2017 because I have a few health problems. It’s alright, it’s a roof over my head! I’ve not always been in London, I moved here when I was 10. I don’t mind it in London but I’d much rather be with my family over in Ireland. I saw them at my brother’s funeral recently. He died after a long illness. I’ve been OK since he died, but there definitely is some sadness there. My health has meant I’ve had to stop…

In June last year, the Welsh government said it was halting all new road-building projects. The plan was a bold move in the effort to hit net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The more roads there are, the more cars there will be to fill them, experts said – while scientists, community groups and doctors’ unions pleaded for action on air pollution. An external panel will review all proposed future schemes. It’s no coincidence that Wales was the first UK country to appoint a Future Generations Commissioner. The commissioner, Sophie Howe – tasked with protecting the long-term interests of Welsh society – urged Welsh Parliament members to freeze road building in 2020. When they did, she hailed the “very brave” move and said that while the needs of rural residents…

In 2007, Zoran Janković was slapped in the face by a protester outside Ljubljana’s town hall. It had been just months since he’d won a landslide victory to become the city’s mayor, and already he was in trouble with local residents. His crime? An ambitious plan to make the centre of the Slovenian capital completely car-free. The idea was part of Janković’s “Ljubljana 2025” plan: a strategy for making the city a more liveable, sustainable and pleasant place to live. Back in 2007, it was an astonishingly forward-thinking proposition. “I’m not sure if Ljubljana was the first in the world to do something like this, but it was certainly the first in this part of the world, in former Yugoslavian countries,” explains Saša Poljak Istenič, an academic who has researched…

TRENDING The internet loves the story of these young men who rescued people from a burning building In times like these, people are desperate to read something that gives them hope. Thankfully, The Big Issue is around to provide just that. Our scoop on a group of young men who ran into a burning building to rescue people has taken the internet by storm, with thousands of people reading the story and sharing it on social media. The teenagers were on their way to their community hub in East London, where they attend the Young Black Men project, when they heard a loud bang and saw smoke billowing out of a tower block across the road. They immediately sprang into action, helping people out of the building before firefighters arrived.…

Get in touch The Big Issue, 2nd floor, 43 Bath Street, Glasgow G2 1HW letters@bigissue.com @bigissue /bigissueUK @bigissueuk @thebigissue Never change Last Saturday I was in Salisbury with my two young grandsons. I bought a Big Issue off the cheerful man whose pitch is outside the library near the cheese market. I gave him a fiver and told him to keep the change. But he decided to give a pound each to my two young grandsons. What a top bloke, I hope things work out for him, he deserves all the luck in the world. Mark Barrett, Amesbury, Wiltshire Crude awakening Chloe Petts spoils a good argument [Issue 1524, August 1] by lauding humour that is “filthier the better”. It isn’t. Much of it is childish and very repetitive. Don’t…

On October 2, 1872, Phileas Fogg set off from the Reform Club in London to circumnavigate the world in 80 days. His journey was fictional, but not fanciful. French author Jules Verne was fascinated by the fantastical, but unlike previous books where characters journeyed to the centre of the earth or 20,000 leagues under the sea, Fogg’s voyage showcased how technology – specifically the steam engine – was shrinking the world, bringing people and cultures closer together. One hundred and fifty years on, being able to travel around the world has changed the world. International travel and trade have created unprecedented wealth while intensifying desperate poverty. Goods are manufactured wherever labour is easiest to exploit. Factories are built where environmental regulations are less strict. The race to secure resources has…

I sometimes look back and think if I’d been born 30 years later my teenage years would have been different because whatever I am would have been understood and help would have been given, rather than just “You’re a clown”. I was just too hyperactive for school; my attention was continually swayed and I got bored incredibly quickly. I had energy to burn. I went from having bad tantrums to going into a shell for days. So I was kicked out of classes, suspended or moved on, and at 16 I had left school and left home. I started a government Youth Training Scheme when I left school, and I was accepted as a trainee journalist at the Ulster News Letter. I’ve no idea why they accepted me. I remember…

ANALYSIS Another outing for Liam Neeson’s cool black coat First, a confession. I have a soft spot for any movie where Liam Neeson plays a slightly crinkly dude who beats up bad guys while wearing a cool black coat. Which is lucky because since the release of Taken in 2008 there has been a constant conveyor belt of thrifty thrillers in which Neeson – who turned 70 in June – plays a slightly crinkly dude who beats up bad guys while wearing a cool black coat. Maybe he’s a freelance fixer with a military background, or a career criminal with a strict ethical code, or a special agent whose morally murky job has messed up his relationship with his family but one thing is for sure: he is going to…

CLASSICAL Solution to opera controversy staring us in the face In the short space of time since George Floyd was murdered in 2020 and the Black Lives Matter movement gained broader support, education about what racism looks like has – in some quarters –made incremental progress. There have been several public apologies for the historic use of blackface. Celebrity Juice star Keith Lemon appeared in a video to say sorry to those he’d impersonated, including presenter Trisha Goddard and Spice Girl Mel B. Lemon’s jibes at Craig David and the like in his 2002-2004 TV show Bo’ Selecta! – including make-up, unflattering masks and crass cultural stereotypes – were not in isolation. Parodic comedy series Little Britain (2003-2007) was temporarily removed from streaming services while David Walliams’s Desiree DeVere –…

Big Issue Group is determined to help as many vulnerable and long-term unemployed people as possible reskill and get back into work. That’s why earlier this year, we changed gear. As well as producing a magazine for vendors to sell, we started an eBike scheme that recruits and reskills marginalised people. The partnership with ShareBike saw a fleet of eBikes hit the streets of Bristol. They not only give people a cheap, eco-friendly way to get around, but also provide training for people to repair and maintain the bikes. They are estimated to prevent around 1,900 car trips every day, and Bristol is just the first city in a planned national rollout. So keep an eye out for Big Issue eBikes arriving in your area over the next weeks and…

How are you spending your three minutes? It’s a lot to think about. Maybe you’re weeding. Or working towards some planting. Or maybe you’re considering the weight of existential angst anchoring humanity despite our potential to build on positives around us. It’s three minutes. A lot can go through a mind. Three minutes is the extra amount calculated by the ONS that those lucky enough to have gardens are spending in them post lockdown. Figures suggest people are in there for, on average, 20 minutes per day. Not everybody, clearly. It is estimated that one in eight households have no access to a shared or private garden. That’s a big chunk of the population. One thing nobody will be doing, in increasing areas of Britain, is using a hosepipe in…

VENDORS ‘Michael was everything you want in a vendor and a friend.’ The Big Issue mourns popular vendor Michael Crean Tributes have been paid to much-loved Big Issue vendor Michael Crean, who has died at the age of 44. Crean started selling The Big Issue around Plymouth in 2018 and went on to cover pitches in nearby Ashburton, Ivybridge and South Brent after finding his “ideal job”, according to Susan Owen, The Big Issue’s frontline vendor support worker in Plymouth. He died from sepsis on June 11. “Michael loved his work, it helped him financially but it was so much more than that,” said Owen. “He had a huge heart and I have had so many messages from his customers since his death, everyone saying something positive, funny or loving…

In 2011 Sanjar Qiam fled to the UK from Afghanistan – and he brought 12,000 kites with him. “I’ll tell you how I got them here,” Qiam chuckles, speaking by phone from his home in Brighton, over the din of squawking seagulls. “I shipped them with DHL.” When the customs clearance officer delivered the boxes to his newly opened toy shop on the East Sussex coast, he did so with a raised eyebrow. “What are you going to do with so many kites?” he asked. To which Qiam replied, “I’m going to get everyone in the UK flying them.” The officer wasn’t convinced – and Qiam soon realised why. “I overestimated British enthusiasm for kite flying,” he laughs. Eleven years later, the UK’s enthusiasm is set to be challenged by…

James’s journey in art began around 15 years ago when he first became homeless, during which time he joined an art therapy class. He soon fell in love with art and taught himself different techniques. After a spell of living in his own flat, he has become homeless again, living on the streets around Victoria, Central London. This colourful, upbeat acrylic on canvas painting “brings the beauty and colour summertime offers us,” he says. “Hopefully I can get back into art and go back indoors.”…

Sitting on the floor of a coach hurtling along the motorway, I’m wondering exactly why I’m doing this. I haven’t got a seat belt and if things go wrong I don’t imagine it will end well. At least I got to pay with contactless. I’m trying to get from Ilminster to Nailsea, entirely on buses. It’s a convoluted journey through rural Somerset, and one I’m not entirely sure will work. Why not? They’ve been rated the worst and best small towns in England respectively for public transport, according to a report by the Campaign for Better Transport. Buses travel around a billion miles every year in England, providing a lifeline for people getting to work, school, hospital or the pub. But outside London things are patchy. Services are unreliable, don’t…

The UK is melting in record temperatures as Big Issue Group’s first electric delivery vehicle arrives. Climate change – and the very real threats it poses to the most vulnerable in society – is high on the agenda as we set off on our Citroën ë-Berlingo Van’s maiden voyage to drop off magazines to vendors in South West England. Vendors Dean, Jack and Laurentiu admire its snazzy, bright livery when it’s delivered to our Bristol office. “I think it looks good,” says Dean. “It’s good that the company is starting to go greener for the planet.” Laurentiu adds: “It’s a good idea. My customers like it when the magazine covers political issues – so I think they will be happy that we are starting to use electric vehicles.” This is…

We know our transport system needs to be fixed. The way we’re doing things right now harms the environment. Road traffic crashes are the eighth leading cause of deaths globally. Our roads are congested, public transport frequently unreliable. The tech whizzes of Silicon Valley say they can fix all this, offering a future that’s safer, greener, and more efficient. But have we fallen for the hype? Paris Marx is a Canadian technology writer and host of the Tech Won’t Save Us podcast. He argues innovators have failed to keep many of the promises they’ve made so far, and their vision could ultimately make society worse. We need to be more sceptical of Big Tech “We tend to believe the positive visions of the tech companies too much, and not pay…