It's the end of the year in Santa Monica too...but not as you know it

Last year's Nativity display in Santa Monica

News coming from the USA these days focus on the massacre of Newtown and the customary debate that follows whenever atrocious events like the Connecticut shootings shock the nation and the rest of the world. Intense and futile debate revolves around the Second Amendment that enshrines the right to bear arms; I say futile because each time this debate takes place nothing really happens. A powerful lobby and an unshakable belief in the right to access arms amongst many US citizens tie politicians' hands. We'll see if the latest tragedy influences a future reform in the law though I for one very much doubt it.
But I wanted to write about something totally different here, which hasn't been covered as much; this is a federal court ruling that bans the display of the annual Christmas display depicting scenes from the Nativity.
This has been hailed as a victory that upholds the values of the Founding Fathers, which include the separation of state and religion. In the words of one of the campaigners for this ban to be allowed to stand, Damon Vix, this ruling 'rights a wrong'.
Unsurprisingly, the other camp, the Churches that for the last six decades organised the display, expressed their outrage at this decision in what they dubbed the People's Republic of Santa Monica. Another Constitution amendment, in this case the First, is also mentioned in the latest episode confronting freedom of speech and freedom of religion.
As someone who dislikes religious displays in public spaces, this court decision can only be praised and applauded, in the hope that more councils follow suit.

Micah P Hinson and the art of (almost) ruining a concert

Listen to me, folks

If  his last month's concert at Compostela's Capitol is anything to go by, Micah P Hinson has an unquestionable ability to frustrate and anger some people in his concerts, particularly those who struggle with his Texan accent.
With a tour scheduled to promote his newly-published album with the Junior Arts Collective (distributed by music magazine Rock De Lux), this was my first occasion to catch him live so I didn't really know what to expect.
That he is a sort of genius is something most people who appreciate music won't dispute yet I bet many people felt a bit uneasy whenever the little man interspersed his mostly brilliant renditions of a vast and rich repertoire with endless pauses in which he spoke about anything that came to his mind; from some interesting and funny anecdotes to the downright boring and irrelevant.
I always appreciate it when musicians address the audience and give valuable insights about a range of stuff; eloquence and witticism will usually enhance a performance, and that was the case with Micah's musings for the first 40 minutes or so, until it came to a point when the tempo of the concert was gone, no matter how powerful or moving his next song was. I wasn't the only one to feel this way, by the look of it, as some people even dared vent their frustration in an attempt to 'invite' Micah to play more and talk less; he didn't seem to care much and, quite contemptuously, found even time to eat a few pears on stage in between songs.
Yet all this is (partially) forgotten when I think back over the live versions of gems such as Beneath the Rose or The Happening that Micah left us.
What could have been a brilliant gig became a quite special one though  not for the reasons I was hoping for.
Despite all the above, I'd go see him again any time for his talent largely overrides his histrionics.

Micah's new album

No more Page 3,thank you

Campaigners let their opinions be known outside The Sun offices (pic from guardian.co.uk)

Just as the conclusions of  Leveson inquiry are published, a campaign targeting  the British newspaper The Sun and its daily publication of what is infamously known as Page 3  is gathering pace.If you are not acquainted with what Page 3 means, you should know that it is a daily photograph of a topless young female model that has been published since the 70s. In the words of Dominic Mohe, The Sun editor, this is 'an innocuous British institution'.This makes me wonder what is the concept of institution that Mr Mohan has, though  in any case it seems to differ a lot from my own.
Not for the first time, a campaign is trying to get rid of what many people consider a blatant example of sexism in the media; in the past,  former Labour MP Claire Short  had to endure nasty comments coming from the newspaper itself when back in 1986,she raised this issue in the Commons-'fat, jealous Clare' were the words used then by the newspaper. This shows the ethics and class, once again, of the people behind this newspaper: when confronted with criticism their way is to respond with insults.
Many people object to this campaign on freedom of expression grounds and that old and tiring mantra 'if you don't like it, don't buy it'. However, and whilst fully acknowledging the need for freedom of the press, that argument misses the point as campaigners stress that their aim isn't to ban Page 3 but rather to raise awareness amongst newspaper editors -and more particularly The Sun's- to exert their influence and power more responsibly. Page 3, unfortunately, is not what you should expect from a national newspaper; the damaging effects, particularly on its male readers, help perpetuate the image of women as sexual, casual objects.
On top of all that, and  if we consider how women and their achievements are underrepresented on other fronts of the media (almost inexistent in some cases) then we have an explosive cocktail that may help explain  how sexism is still rife in the 21st century.
Perhaps Lord Leveson's proposal calling for statutory regulation of the press may not be a bad idea after all.

Excuse me sir but you're under arrest

'Smart' speaker with blood on his hands

'Tony Blair, I am making a citizen's arrest for your war crimes,' were the words uttered  by Kate O'Sullivan in 2010 at a book signing event in Dublin, before being taken away by security staff. It has become a sort of familiar scene, whenever an individual manages to approach former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and makes an attempt at arresting him on the grounds of international war crimes.Wherever he goes, there will be people following him and remind the world of  what he is responsible of.
This is part of a campaign -Arrest Blair www.arrestblair.org/ - which seeks Blair's arrest for his involvement in  launching a deadly war on Iraq, causing thousands of deaths. The campaign stresses that any attempt to arrest him must be done peacefully and a financial reward is offered to people who successfully manage to perform an attempt.
The campaign acts as reminder of the fact that justice has not been done yet and that  Bush and Blair, both ultimately responsible for the Iraq's war, should be held accountable for what has been a politically and economically-motivated war based on a massive lie.
The people behind this campaign are driven by a desire to restore some sense of justice or, at least, expose  Blair and remind the world that he is still at large, living a very comfortable life full of well-remunerated events in which he is asked to speak (presumably to spread and share his 'wisdom').
 All my respect and admiration goes to these people who so bravely go out of their way and  risk their own safety in order to perform a completely logical act: ask Tony Blair to face justice for crimes against peace.
Bush and Aznar should face the same public exposure.

New Internationalist: independent and ethical journalism

Worth reading and supporting

Not a day goes by without hearing dreadful news concerning journalism (and journalists): newspapers closing down or drastically reducing their size, journalists working in dire conditions, being victims of either censorship or political and commercial pressure, publicity revenues dropping...the list goes on. It seems clear that this most noble profession is undergoing a painful process with an uncertain ending for now, though it is safe to assume that it somehow will have to reinvent itself.Theories and opinions on the future of journalism are widely available so we won't discuss the matter here.
I am more interested in focusing on positive, inspirational examples that defy the odds in  difficult -some would say almost impossible- times for the publishing industry.
The good news is that there are still professional, interesting, reputable publications out there that are worth reading and supporting. One of them is the monthly magazine New Internationalist (http://www.newint.org)), a workers' co-operative that focuses on 'people, ideas and action for global justice'. Both its print and digital  editions are an excellent way of accessing well-researched,thought-provoking articles and reports that you will rarely find in the mainstream media. Despite being published in the UK, it provides a refreshingly non-Euroccentric viewpoint and approach, tackling issues affecting the Majority World, as they call it. Covering a range of topics (social, environment, political, cultural...), New Internationalist sets an example of how a critical, independent, ethical and radical magazine can compete and find its own public in the 21st century, far from the media circus and the fat cats that control and dictate the mainstream publishing world. Buy it, read it, share it and cherish it.It is a more than recommendable read, it is a necessary one.

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists

                 Philanthropy at its best  (picture published by praza.com)

I finished reading Robert Tressell's book -The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists- almost at the same time as the outcome of last week's Galician elections was being announced. To be perfectly honest, I'd finished the book a couple of days before but what Tressell's work depicted and so bitterly criticised about Edwardian England was still lingering on my mind as news about another downfall was becoming reality.
Tressell's must-read book is an all too depressingly familiar criticism of  Capitalism as a system that will inevitably ensure wealth and privileges for a selected elite who can only prosper thanks to the systematic abuse, oppression and robbery of the working classes. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists is considered to be the first Socialist novel, which largely focuses on the miserable lives of a group of workers in Southern England. The author considers these hungry, exploited poor wretches as the real philanthropists, as it is only thanks to the appalling conditions they live in -not far from slavery- that their 'Masters' can live in obnoxious luxury, whilst pretending to care about the well-being of their 'inferiors'. As the writer says, they are 'loathsome hypocrites'. What the book so well reflects is the way these deprived men and women are willing to maintain this farce, much to the dismay of Owen and Barrington, the only characters who are able to see and fight such injustices.
All these thoughts about the  relationship between the 'Masters' and their serfs  came to me as I was following the results of the aforementioned Galician parliamentary elections, which somehow reinforced Tressell's theories. Once again, those who are really screwed and bear the brunt of a crumbling system voted in support of their masters, perhaps in the hope of obtaining some minor favour or simply because their ignorance and fear is bigger than their sense.The masters' dogs (in the novel represented so well by Hunter-also known as Misery) did everything they could to help perpetuate this vicious situation, as illustrated in the above picture.
The 21st Century's philanthropist don't have their trousers ragged but instead they have a system that is falling apart behind their eyes and they are not even getting the breadcrumbs.A despicable spectacle indeed.

The Closed Circle

Things could only get better

With The Closed Circle, Jonathan Coe's last volume of the trilogy started with What a carve up!, the writer send us right back to those years we've left not long ago; those years when it seemed that almost anything was possible, when things were looking up and they 'could only get better'. The story starts off by taking us back to some of the main characters of the trilogy's previous book, The Rotters' Club; instead of the happy and  innocent 70s when they were growing up, we find them now at the turn of the millennium, their lives now very different to what they'd perhaps imagined.The Blair years are in full swing and through the character of Paul, now a Labour MP and self-confessed Blairite, Coe takes aim at those who so well knew how to play the game and used the party's supposedly progressive agenda to gain power and glory.
Somehow predictably, it is also the tale of those golden boys and girls, so talented and with a bright future ahead of them who never fully realised their potential and now wander around quite erratically, stumbling upon failed relationships and forgotten life projects.
In true Coe's fashion, the book's stories are intertwined and connected in a way that sometimes are surprising and sometimes quite easy to predict where the author is leading us to.
All in all, The Closed Circle is an interesting read, particularly because it depicts quite well the arrogance and vanity of the political elite, ultimately only interested in raising their own profile, in the hope of getting their slice of the cake.
If you like the fantastically written and performed sitcom 'The Thick of It', you'll probably enjoy this book.