Art For Art's Sake: Jansen

And my final choice for the year is the only one for which there's a video, and not a static image. Because a static image wouldn't do these extraordinary sculptures justice...



First seen at David Thompson's blog, it's the incredible Theo Jansen and his kinetic sculptures, with their eerie movement seeming like some bizarre creature discovered on a far-flung planet.

A very fitting last choice. I hope you've all enjoyed this 'series'.

Coming Over Here, Taking Our…Well, Whatever’s Not Nailed Down, Actually

When Emil Metodiev raided the Toms’ home in Ladram Road, Thorpe Bay, he wasn’t prepared for what happened next.

Trevor Toms, 62, chased him into the street in his dressing gown, alongside son Adam, 19, who was barefoot.

Neighbours managed to alert police as the pair tracked Metodiev through neighbouring gardens before the burglar was finally nabbed by police.

And if you ponder at the less-than-good-old-Southend name there…

The prolific criminal, who has a string of previous convictions for theft and burglary in his native Bulgaria, was jailed for 16 months at Basildon Crown Court yesterday.

Came over to make a fresh start, did he?

Richard Kelly, prosecuting said: “He had only been in the UK for eight days and had no independent means of income.

“It is not unreasonable to conclude the reason he came to the UK was to commit crime.”

No. It isn’t. Is it?

Well, I'll Go To T'Foot Of Our Stairs!

A councillor was rushed to hospital after falling down a flight of stairs just moments before a disciplinary hearing into her comments on golliwogs was due to begin.

Oo-er!

The council’s standards panel into her comments to The Argus in August has now been postponed until a later date.

The Hangleton and Knoll councillor was due to attend a hearing chaired by three fellow councillors into charges she had brought the authority into disrepute for...

Comparing black people to golliwogs?

No. Amazingly, by... well, read for yourself.

...describing golliwogs as “nostalgic, not racist”.

A heinous crime, I'm sure you'll agree?

She had been contacted by The Argus to comment on a story that homestore firm Bert’s had been selling golliwog place mats.

Brighton and Hove City Council received four “separate but similar” complaints from three residents and the authority’s Black and Minority Ethnic Workers’ Forum on her comments.

Ah! I smell the distinct metallic tang of axes being ground by the usual suspects.

Then Why Are You BREEDING?!?!?!

Heather Dickinson and her partner Bradley East-Watson, both 24, had been living in a two-bed flat at Howe Hill hostel in Acomb since May 2, having been evicted from a private rental in Clifton.

They have a two-year-old daughter, Paige, and Heather is expecting her twins in seven weeks. Heather said they were paying £212 a week to stay in the hostel and, on Bradley’s wage as a barman which varies each week depending on shifts, they could not afford to save enough for a deposit for another private flat.

GAH!

Heather said they had been on the council house waiting list for more than five years. They are on a range of benefits, but Heather said that some weeks their income has fallen well below their rent and they have fallen into arrears.

*weeps*

The Child Poverty Action Group campaigns for the abolition of child poverty in the UK and for a better deal for low-income families and children.

Chief executive Alison Garnham said: “It doesn’t matter how much debt a family has, you can’t introduce new-born twins into the world by making them homeless at the start of winter.

“Cuts to basic support for families, especially those stuck on low wages and zero hours contracts, are causing more and more families like this to get into serious housing debt.

“They can’t pay what they haven’t got.”

NEITHER CAN I ANYMORE!

They haven't opened this article for comments. I wonder why...

*Shrugs* It’s Not Like They Hurled A Fire Extinguisher At You From A Tall Building, Is It?

Students today accused police of a “heavy-handed” response as more than 100 officers armed with batons broke up a sit-in at the University of London.

Cue Student Grant howling about the ‘unfairness’ of it all…

A 24-year-old student and part-time teacher told the Standard: "I have never seen a student occupation treated like this. This was a civic matter, but the university got at least 100 police officers in to deal with it which seems extremely heavy-handed."

Awwww….

Just to show I care...

A statement from ULU said: "We are still investigating what happened but initial reports indicate protesters were assaulted by both police and security, thrown to the ground, kicked and punched, and dragged to the ground by their hair. When supporters gathered outside to show support for the occupation, they were beaten back and assaulted.

"Occupations are a legitimate form of dissent. When our university shuts down our student union, and are utterly unaccountable to the students and staff that give it life and make it function, students have no choice but to gain leverage in whatever way they can."

And when that way contravenes the law, you’ll be dealt with. Like you have been here.

Take it away, chaps!

  

Public Donations? Who Needs Those?

The voluntary sector is stretched to breaking point, according to the boss of Brighton’s biggest community organisation.

Sally Polanski, CEO at Community Works in Queens Road, said that if Brighton and Hove City Council makes further cuts to the sector in its forthcoming budget, the survival of some charities in the city will be in question.

Oh, really?

Ms Polanski said that community organisations in Brighton and Hove had managed to buck the trend so far by snaring funds from...

The public? Been out there rattling the tins and rustling the sponsorship forms, have they?

...outside the city.

She said ten charities in the city brought in £2 million from the Big Lottery Fund’s Reaching Communities Programme.

Oh. Silly me...

We no longer need to give to charity. Other people do it for us.

It's Never A 'Father Of Three' Is It?

Hayley Chapman has complained to the council and Spectrum Housing Association because she says the problem at Bramble Court in West Moors has been ongoing for more than a year.

The 29-year-old, who has a four-month-old baby, Daisy, said the garden posed a serious health and safety risk especially for the children and elderly residents.

She said: “The garden is incredibly dangerous and absolutely covered in rubbish including dirty nappies, beer cans and food waste. It is disgusting because you can see huge rats running around attracted by the overflowing bins.

“I’m gobsmacked that the problem has been allowed to continue for more than a year.”

Can't your husband do anything about it for you?

No? Hmmm. I'm not 'gobsmacked' about that, frankly...

LOL!!!

MONA* - Yr Doin' It Wrong...

Yes, it's wheelchair user vs BuggyMum again, in the gladiatorial arena of the local bus route in Erith:

Mark Hibberd (Ed: great 'folded arms & frowning' pic, by the way. Worthy of APILN), 39, of Masefield Close, says he asked the 229 bus driver to request passengers with buggies to fold them so he could move into the wheelchair space at around 3.30pm on Nov 14.

He claims the driver told him the passengers had refused to do so and that Mr Hibberd could not come on board.

Mr Hibberd, who suffers from dystonic cerebral palsy, told News Shopper: "The wheelchair/buggy area had two buggies in it but both were empty.

"I called out to ask the driver to ask for the buggies to be folded so that I could get into the relevant space.

"I was told to ‘f*** off’.

"I said that I was going to put in a formal complaint and asked him his name and he told me 'Joe Bloggs' and sarcastically asked what I was going to do about that.’"

Go to the local newspaper, of course!

The bus company sighs and shrugs and says 'Whaddayagonnado?':

Ken Davidson, TfL’s head of bus operations, said: "We are always concerned when wheelchair users experience problems using our services.

"In this instance we understand the bus driver used an automated announcement requesting that the owners of the buggies move or fold them to enable Mr Hibberd to board the bus.

"Sadly the buggy owners chose not to do so."

Maybe a £5500 compo claim (and fine) will change your mind that that's all you need to do in these cases?

But what sort of women won't fold empty buggies in the first place?

Kath Forrest, of Brook Street in Erith, was waiting at the same bus stop near Colyers Lane and said although she did not hear a profanity, the driver’s attitude was "patronising, unprofessional and unhelpful".

The 62-year-old said: "Mark told me what happened, so I got on and stood at the front of the bus and said ‘could you please fold your buggies? He is a wheelchair user.’

"One of the ladies said the babies were sleeping. "I said 'It's a wheelchair bay. She just clicked her lips at me and said no."

'Clicked her lips'..? Hmmm...

And I'm not the only one:

*This time, Mothers of No Appearance...

Hyperbole, Shaming And Political Opportunism?

It must be another Open Borders article in CiF; and Emma Hunter ramps up the hyperbole:

I was quick to realise that the clients were often not even called by their names – they were instead called by the boat number displayed on their photo ID card, which had to remain on them at all times. "673/RYB/039!". The practice reminded me of stories from concentration camps in the second world war.

Really? You mean, apart from the planned result of those showers..?

One of the saddest places I worked at was referred to as "the induction shed". This is where asylum seekers are first led to after stepping onto the island's jetty. Once there they sit and wait, sometimes for hours, without any food or water.

They’ve supposedly braved hardship, terror and a long sea voyage in unsuitable transport to get here yet the fact that there’s no (free) sandwiches for a few hours is intolerable?

As a mental health nurse, I would ask a series of questions outlined for us by the immigration department. These forms often asked unnecessary questions and avoided vital ones – we were told to "stick to the script".

You're hired to do a job. They'll tell you how to do it. What's wrong with that?

It was there that I heard some of the most horrific and tragic of stories.

Yes, I'm sure you did. So what?

Since returning from Christmas Island, my friends from school often ask me about my experience while at the pub. "Are you still helping support those bomb throwers?" they ask, adding that refugees are " taking our jobs". I feel a strong burning inside each time, and want to scream at them for showing such ignorance. But instead I tell them the story about the guy from Somalia, or the boy from Afghanistan. And when they listen, they see what I see. I give them information and facts, and it makes them think. That’s all I ask of people when it comes to the asylum seeker issue: just think about it, read more about it. Don’t take for granted that the government is doing the best thing.

And if they think, and then still consider that open ended immigration isn't something they want to see?

I truly believe that most Australians would show much more compassion and understanding if they experienced what I have. I have never been ashamed to be Australian until I was thrown in this process.

Compassion and understanding is all very well, but cramming Australia full of refugees isn't the answer.

Radical Islamic Whackjobs Hardest Hit!

A fresh crackdown on Islamist extremism risks backfiring by fuelling anti-Muslim prejudice and driving hardliners underground, the Government was warned last night.

Warned by whom?

A group that monitors attacks on Muslims …

Oh. *loses interest*

Last night Fiyaz Mughal, the director of Tell Mama, which records anti-Muslim incidents, said he feared Mr Cameron’s announcements would reinforce negative perceptions of Muslims.

Gosh! Really?

Mr Mughal said he had asked extra staff to be on standby because of an anticipated surge in hate attacks.

Hope you do your due diligence before reporting them...

He added that the new rules should cover all forms of extremism, including the activities of the far right.

“There has to be parity and not a feeling that Muslims are being singled out,” he said.

But they are. Because they are the threat. And because they won't stop until they are stopped.