Back in June 2018 the Somers Town Coffee House in Euston was damaged by a large fire that was caused by a cigarette that had not been put out correctly. Some of you will remember that the original open meeting for The Common Sense Network was in fact in this very building. It was with great sadness that members of The Common Sense Network took the news of the Coffee House’s closure.
The coffee house, which is located less than 1 mile from Euston station, is not only a coffee house and a pub but it also has rooms available for booking for various events.
The London Fire Brigade reported that at one point there were around 72 firefighters and 10 fire engines tackling the fire at one time with onlookers and people who lived nearby explaining how they could smell the smoke from inside their houses and describing the streets as filled with smoke.
The staff were able to get everyone out of the building within three minutes with the majority of the damage being done to a residential building that some of the staff lived in.
In July, less than three weeks after the damage had been done, Somers Town Coffee House was able to have a re-opening “hard hat party” whilst some work was being finalised and since then they have been consistently up and running. The owner of the venue Tim Foster said “We could close it for a year without losing any money but that’s not what we’re about. We’ve spent the past 5 years building it up. We want people enjoying the pub” and that’s exactly what they have been able to do.
Big thanks to everyone who joined us last night @TheSomersTown for the re-opening! Despite the scaffolding we r now open all day everyday pic.twitter.com/fXhJ1ODTAF
The staff credit the firefighters for the way that they were able to minimise damage to the building and help to prevent further structural damage, they went as far as to say that they will be raising money to donate to support the firefighters. They’ve also agreed that the firefighters will have their Christmas party at the venue and said that no firefighter will ever have to pay for anything there again.
We wish The Somers Town Coffee House the very best.
We’ve now got you covered come ? or ☀️ now!! Whoever said there were no benefits to one of the largest ?’s in London this year, we’ll, you were clearly wrong ?. Watch this space, more poles going up tomorrow…#firewhatfirepic.twitter.com/qwq6JeqcXb
— Somers Town Coffee House (@TheSomersTown) August 2, 2018
2017 seemed to be the year of hope for many Zimbabweans; the 37 year reign of President Mugabe had finally ended. The leader of the the Political party Zanu-PF was made step down after the Zimbabwean army took seizure of of the 94 year old, in what was truly shocking but peaceful manner.
On November 24th the Vice President of Zimbabwe Emmerson Mnangagwa, was sworn in with the promise that 2018 election would go ahead. Coincidently the “not coup” of President Mugabe happened shortly after Mnangagwa had been fired by Mugabe. Many speculating the dismissal as a political move by Mugabe’s wife “Gucci Grace” (41 years his junior) as a way of paving her succession of her husband to the presidency.
Robert and Grace Mugabe (Source: News24)
Violence Erupts in Zimbabwe
The hope and peace however has been stained by recent bloodshed following the controversial and debatable free elections. On August 1st supporters of the opposing party Movement of the Democratic Change (MDC) took the streets of the capital, Harare. Tyres were burned, street signs torn down which led to Zimbabwean military opening fire; killing at least six people.
Aftermath of the elections
Former youth activist Nelson Chamisa (pictured above) was picked as successor to MDC (after death of its leader Morgan Tsvangirai) called out the election as being nothing but fair describing the president’s victory as a “coup against the people’s will”. Mnangagwa won with a slim 50.8% with Chamisa falling behind with 44.3% of almost 5 million votes and the remaining 21 candidates taking the rest. 144 seats were taken by Zan-PF; 64 by MCD alliance formed by seven parties and finally 1 seat by the National Patriotic Front.
Despite Mnangagwa’s attempts to call on peace. The opposition continue to oppose his Victory. Mna called on Chamisa to Zimbabwe as well as Chamisa o join in peace and unity, condemning the action of the military and promising protection not prosecutions for Zimbabwe.
Chamisa retorted with further accusation claiming that the results were “corrupted”, an opinion also shared by EU observers of the elections. In addition to the violence police have been patrolling the streets dispersing journalist and raiding MDC Headquarters, preventing Chamisa from speaking after the results.
MDC continue to retract support to the new president with its leader piling on the pressure, stating they have evidence of ballots being transported in open trucks, potentially allowing tampering. Chamisa continues to challenge and states MDC will continue to use all legal basis to uncover the truth of the results.
What Next
Though Mnangagwa has condemned the actions of the army and police.The hope the once rang through the air has been replaced by an atmosphere tension and fear. Now Mnangagwa must prove that when he says he want to move with peace he will continue to do so. With Zimbabwe’s economy in ruins, the next steps in rebuilding the country seem to point towards improving its financial stability.
Tanya Mwamuka is currently studying Biomedical Sciences at the University of Manchester and hopes to pursue a career science communication, media and African development. She is a lover of fashion, travelling and has a keen interest in racial- social issues. She enjoys learning languages, being fluent in two and is currently adding Spanish to her resume.
People often talk of slavery as if it were a tragedy of the past, part of history’s atrocities, devastating, but over now. However, constantly we are proven wrong. Whether we see snippets of clips of west Africans being kidnapped and sold in Libyan slave trades to people being trafficked and forced to work off fishing boats in Thailand, modern day slavery very much remains intact and without a doubt a major human rights issue that it is imperative that we continue to combat. I will not attempt to suggest that the current situation in Nepal consists of isolated incidents in the country and surrounding regions but draw attention to the rise in the trafficking of women in recent years.
The earthquakes of 2015 (one hitting Nepal April 25th 2015 between the Capital Kathmandu and Pokhara at a magnitude of 7.8 and another after several aftershocks hitting east Nepal going up to 7.3 on the richer scale in on the 12th of May in the same year) caused major damage to the already impoverished country that was responsible for over 9000 fatalities and many more seriously injured, with over eight million people affected, reports BBC news, the destruction of houses, farms, religious establishments and other monumental buildings. In addition to this, there has reported to have been a rise in girls and women being trafficked in and across borders over the past few years. Destinations range from close by countries such as India, Sri Lanka, further afield such as South Korea, Malaysia and recently a rise in girls being transported to Gulf countries.
Photo Credit: Carl Whetham/IFRC/PA Wire
According to Indian authorities, Nepali women rescued from the border between Nepal and India has gone from 33 cases in 2014 before the temblor, to 336 in 2015, 501 in 2016 and 607 in 2017 and these numbers continue to rise this year.
Many estimations have been made on just how many Nepali girls and women are trafficked, Amnesty International argues that there has been 600,000 to 800,000, the FBI have suggested 700,000 however UNICEF have estimated around 1.75 million females have been trafficked. Currently there is no solid statistics on the number of people trafficked due to the number of undocumented cases.
Trafficking, of course, is a global problem which has existed for thousands of years, and particularly vulnerable to these types of crimes are children and women although in recent years Nepali youths have become more susceptible to this act of illegal human trading. Already Nepal is known as low income country with issues with gender discrimination (there exists a large dependence on men, reinforced by politics meaning women in the country remain “citoyennes de seconde zone” which is expressed through the gender education gap, rates of forced marriage and are very often a target of domestic violence) however following the recent natural disasters people have been becoming desperate.
(Source: Elizabethavedon.blogspot)
With sources of income from farms and other establishments being destroyed more and more people have turned to selling humans in commercial sex trades in order to round up extra earnings during a difficult time. Plus, with expansion in local sex industries, there is money to be found in this deplorable commerce. Another possible reason for the acceleration is the separation between families that seismic activity causes. Sometimes separations come directly from the earthquakes where people are displaced and missing and additionally, due to economic reasons families feel they are incapable of looking after their children financially and so a complete lack of monetary support leads youths to search for sources of income elsewhere.
These youths who are most vulnerable often seek for employment abroad in order to finance themselves or/and families and are often exploited by people within the family such as uncles, cousins and in some cases cousins as well as strangers who give them false promises of fortune beyond borders.
(taken at the Saatchi Gallery, London, original photo by Lizzie Sadin in 2017)
Not only are these young women trafficked on a conventional level, to work at brothels clubs and forced into marriages but also are forced into child labour such as mining, domestic servants and even in circuses. In even more serious cases there have been reports of organ removal amongst the young and exploited.
There are many measures that have been put in and have yet to be put in place in order to combat these barbarities. From more check points being put up around Nepal and at borders, education on how to detect high risk situations to women and children service centres and organisations dedicated to help those who are defenceless.
(source: The Himalayan Times)
Despite these measures, trafficking is suspected to rise particularly due to the delayed reconstruction of the country so whether these efforts will minimise rates of exploitation, only time will tell. Nonetheless, it is with the economic, political and cultural development (not viewing women as second class citizens) of the country that we should see a decline to these violations against human rights.
Benedicta Denteh is currently studying Arabic and French at the University of Manchester and hopes to become a linguist and broadcast journalist in the future. In her free time, she enjoys learning about African development and issues to do with race, society and culture. Benedicta also takes pleasure in acting and travelling.
“I’m sorry, our ice cream machine is down” is the usual disappointing response when you try ordering a Mcflurry. Its become a running joke that the ice cream machines at McDonald’s restaurants never work and are always broken.
In fact, in recent years many disappointed customers have taken to social media to express their anger and frustration. One customer went on to create an app that lets customers know whether their nearby McDonald’s have a working ice cream machine or not.
McDonald’s has tried to reassure its loyal customers that it’ll improve its service with one of their employees explaining to the Wall Street Journal why the Mcflurry machines are always broken. The spokeswoman told the WSJ, “We regularly serviceour soft-serve equipment during off-peak hours. Customers who come in during that time may encounter a longer wait time or soft-serve dessert unavailability.”
She added, that the 11-part cleaning process “involves combining a sanitizing mix with warm water, removing and rinsing seven parts, brushing clean two fixed parts for 60 seconds and wiping down the machine with a sanitized towel.”
Icecream from Madconalds (Source: McDonalds)
Sounds like a tedious process to clean the Mcflurry machine, doesn’tit? McDonald’s requires the machines to undergo a nightly cleaning cycle that can last up to 4hours. During this time, they can’t serve ice cream. In early 2017, McDonald’s vowed to replace its ice cream machines with ones that have fewer parts and are easy to maintain in order to serve more ice cream and minimize customers frustration and disappointment but complaints about `broken Mcflurry machines are still pouring in.
A McDonald’s Vanilla Milkshake (Source: McDonalds)
When contacted about the multitude of complaints, it turned out the machines hadn’t been changed yet, but replacement machines had been identified. “In order to better serve our customers the delicious treats they enjoy, we have identified new soft serve equipment options and are working hard to make these available for restaurants as quickly as possible,” a McDonald’s representative commented.
A McDonald’s McFlurry
For now, you may have to keep your Mcflurry cravings to a minimum until McDonald’s deals with the issue or use the app that lets you check the nearest restaurant to you that has a functioning ice cream machine.
Shafiq Kyazze is a Chemical engineering student at The University of Manchester and has a strong interest in philosophy and history having been exposed to such issues at a very tender age. He is also very keen on topics concerning the global economy, politics, and social issues, but when he’s not engrossed in such conversations, you can find him supporting the Barcelona football team or writing articles for The Common Sense Network.
The Russia scandal that has raged on since before Trump was even elected is in some ways the very antithesis of Trump’s presidency. It has loomed forebodingly ever since Trump took office, never quite bringing him down no matter how many of his former associates are indicted, never quite going away no matter how many times Trump tweets “NO COLLUSION” in relation to the investigation. Leading the investigation is attorney Robert Mueller, who in many ways appears an anti-Trump: an unassuming bureaucratic figure in contrast to Trump’s pomp and showmanship. Put another way, the Trump administration and the Russia investigation to be in a kind of perfect equilibrium.
Such was the case, anyway, until the apparent defection of Trump’s lawyer and erstwhile ally, Michael Cohen. Cohen had long seemed the most loyal of comrades, gaining a reputation as Trump’s ‘attack dog’ during his ten-year affiliation with the president. He has a long history of threatening who have challenged or criticised Trump, as well as attempting to deal with his employer’s controversies himself, such as when he admitted to paying off adult film actress Stormy Daniels out of his own pocket for her silence over an alleged affair with Trump.
In May, though, Rudy Giuliani, another member of Trump’s legal team, confirmed that Cohen was no longer in the employ of the president. Since this revelation, it appears to many that Cohen is going out of his way to undermine his former boss, releasing information which is at best embarrassing, and at worst incriminating, to Trump.
Since his departure from Trump’s legal team, Cohen has leaked a recording of he and Trump discussing payment of more silence money, this time to former Playboy model Karen MacDougal, who it is also alleged had an affair with Trump. In the tapes, Trump allegedly proposes paying MacDougal off with cash, a suggestion which Cohen overrules. Such a recording, if proven, could potentially lead to legal issues for the president, exposing him to particular charges of fraud. Unsurprisingly, Trump has decried the tape and the story around it as ‘fake news’.
Michael Cohen, right, watches a speech alongside his former employer Donald Trump (Source: Newsweek)
Just as seriously, Cohen has also claimed that Trump knew about a meeting with a Russian official who claimed to have offered ‘dirt’ on rival Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election campaign. Trump’s son Donald Jr and son-in-law Jared Kushner, among others, met with a Russian lawyer to help bring down the Clinton campaign. Trump had always claimed that he had been unaware of his family members attending the meeting, something which Cohen’s statement challenges. Whether Cohen’s testimony is useful to Mueller as proof of collusion remains to be seen, but it is certainly a distinct possibility.
Unsurprisingly, the response to Cohen’s recent actions has been met with fury from those in Trump’s inner circle. Trump has suggested he is falsifying his accusations in order to cover for his own misconduct, while in a slightly bizarre interview Giuliani compared Cohen to Shakespearean traitors Iago and Brutus.
Certainly, the suddenness with which Cohen has jumped ship has been dramatic, theatrical even. It certainly begs the question of what has caused this extreme transformation from fierce ally to informant in a matter of weeks. There is discussion of federal charges being levelled against Cohen as a result of the Stormy Daniels affair, which may lead him to agree a deal with prosecutors who could take a more lenient approach in return for information about Trump or his family. Some have speculated that Trump’s inability to stand by Cohen in the face of such charges helped to intensify the rift between the two men, speculation which has been fuelled by Cohen’s recent statement in an interview that he “will not be a punching bag as part of anyone’s defence strategy”.
Whatever the reason, Trump may have much to fear from Cohen being ‘flipped’ by prosecutors. As Cohen’s revelations suggest, his years working for Trump may have resulting in his being privy to much private information, and he could be in a key position to offer the inside track on some of Trump’s more dubious dealings. If this is the case, prosecutors may gain crucial evidence of Trump’s alleged collusion with Russia in the election campaign, or – perhaps more plausibly – obstruction of justice in the attempts to cover up the scandal. Cohen’s decision to defect and stick the knife into his former boss may amount to absolutely nothing in the context of Mueller’s investigation. Or, it may tip the equilibrium between the president and the scandal, and not in Trump’s favour.
Demi Lovato is reportedly still in hospital after suffering from complications from an alleged opioid overdose. The 25 year old has battled with an open struggle with addiction, self harming and an eating disorder, the culmination of which led to her going to a rehabilitation centre for 3 months in 2011.
Just officially turned 6 years sober. So grateful for another year of joy, health and happiness. It IS possible. ??
In 2017 she announced that she was 6 years sober and said that it was possible.
Lovato has expressed her struggle in her music. In 2011 she released the song ‘Skyscraper’ where she said referred to herself as a skyscraper saying that even if everyone took everything from her, she would still be standing strong. She also subtly addressed her issues with self harm, asking if people would have felt better watching her whilst she bled. Skyscraper was the song that Lovato released as an explanation before being admitted into rehab. Using the same form of self expression, Lovato released a song titled “Sober” this year. The song details a more recent struggle with addiction and shows her apologising to her parents and her friends, her future lover and the fans that she has lost. She sings that she isn’t sober anymore and that she will get the help that she needs and even that she wants to be a role model again but that she’s only human. She goes as far as to say “wake me when the shakes are gone and the cold sweats disappear, call me when it’s over and myself has reappeared.”
The singer-songwriter is still in hospital following complications and is reportedly still so sick that rehab hasn’t even been part of the discussion yet. She reportedly fired her long time sober coach just three weeks before this incident occurred following a failed intervention.
As many know, Demi’s big break came from Disney as she was first cast in their 2008 movie “Camp Rock” (and the sequel), she also went on to be cast alongside then best friend Selena Gomez in the Disney movie” Princess Protection Programme” and also was cast as the main role in the Disney sitcom “Sonny with a Chance” and when talking about her struggles with addiction she says that they started during that period. She isn’t the first Disney start to seem to have trouble coping, in fact she joins a line of many. There were the stars who came before Lovato. The generation of Britney Spears was first and Britney of course, had an overly document breakdown. Then followed the generation of Raven Symoné, Lindsey Lohan, Shia LaBeouf and Orlando Brown who all had some sort of public meltdown or battled with some sort of addiction in the public eye. In Demi’s generation of Disney Stars we have seen the recent breakdown of Miley Cyrus who also found herself using drugs. We’ve also seen stars like Bella Thorne, who stared alongside Zendaya in Disney’s “Shake It Up”, who have tried extremely hard to shed their Disney past by any means possible. Thorne’s extremely well documented wild ride has included cheating on multiple partners, explicit pictures and even snap-chatting herself getting a wax. She has publicly stated that she never wanted to be a “Disney Girl”. We even saw stars like Zac Efron who quietly checked himself into rehab to deal with a cocaine addiction and admitted that he was addicted to alcohol and that he regularly went to therapy and to alcoholic’s anonymous.
Clearly there is a fundamental flaw in the system that is failing these young people but we here at TCS want to wish Demi Lovato a healthy and speedy recovery and we hope that she gets all of the help and support that she needs.
Right-wing activist and former leader of the English Defence League Tommy Robinson has been released from prison on bail. Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon, had an appeal to quash his May conviction for contempt of court upheld, and he will now face a retrial before a new judge.
Robinson and his case have long split opinion in the UK and beyond. Many argue that Robinson has been jailed simply for speaking a truth which the political and legal establishment did not like, while critics claim Robinson’s rhetoric amounts to no more than hate speech. This divide was reflected by remarkable scenes in London, where the appeal was being heard, as protesters for both sides exchanged abuse. There was also jubilation among his supporters, many of whom began singing and dancing in the streets at the news that his appeal had been upheld.
Robinson had been arrested, tried and sentenced to 13 months in prison in just five hours’ time in May of this year, after he had filmed an hour-long Facebook Live video outside Leeds crown court. In the video he posted, Robinson reported on an ongoing trial and filmed the defendants, despite blanket reporting restrictions being in place for the trial. Judge Geoffrey Marson QC had deemed that Robinson’s breaking of such restrictions ran the risk of influencing the jury’s decision. He was given 10 months for the offence, along with an additional three for transgressing a suspended contempt of court sentence.
Successful appellant Tommy Robinson (Source: PA)
While in prison, Robinson appealed both the recent Leeds conviction, and the earlier one resulting in a suspended sentence, which was issued in May 2017 at Canterbury crown court. Robinson’s lawyers argued in both cases that he had not been fully made aware by the presiding judges of which of Robinson’s specific actions constituted contempt of court. Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett dismissed his appeal of the Canterbury verdict, stating that Robinson’s counsel “had taken a tactical decision not to ask the judge spell out in full the specific actions constituting contempt”, as well as noting that no prior complaint had been made about this lack of clarification.
However, Lord Burnett upheld Robinson’s appeal of his Leeds conviction. The essence of this decision was that Judge Marson had rushed Robinson’s trial when there was no need to do so. The only urgency in his case was that Robinson’s video may have influenced the jury in the ongoing trial, yet Robinson offered to remove the video from Facebook before the jury – who had retired – would have had a chance to see it. According to Lord Burnett, having the video removed from Facebook meant there was no reason to try and sentence Robinson with such speed. Doing prevented Robinson from being informed as to which of his actions actually constituted contempt of court, as well as stopping him from mitigating his actions and thus having an effect on his sentence.
That racist and bigot Tommy Robinson has been released from prison. MSM should not give him any airtime so he can promote his hatred. He should be banned from public events for inciting racial hatred.
The important thing for Robinson’s sympathisers and detractors to take away from today’s ruling is that it says absolutely nothing about his guilt or innocence. No matter how much it may be celebrated in some quarters and bemoaned in others, Robinson has not ‘won’, nor is this a victory for ‘free speech’ or a defeat for ‘tolerance’. All Lord Burnett has decided is that the process by which he was tried and sentenced was unfair to the defendant, and that his trial must take place again under more equitable conditions. While some may argue that it is evidence of the prejudice the justice system has against Robinson for his controversial views, it is equally evidence that it is capable of recognising that such prejudice took place, and was wrong. Whether the decision was right or wrong, it was made with a view to ensuring that everyone, from heroic crusader to hate preacher (even if they are the same person), is treated equally in the eyes of the law. Only Robinson’s new trial can decide whether he is guilty.
Sergio Marchionne, former CEO and chairman of the Fiat Chrysler Autombile group (FCA), Ferrari and Maserati passed away on the 25th of June, aged 66, due to complications from a shoulder surgery. FCA had previously been forced to remove Marchionne as CEO due to the increasing complications post-surgery. The legendary figure was being treated at Zurich’s University Hospital. The hospital said it had used “all the options offered by cutting-edge medicine” but did not disclose the exact nature of Mr. Marchionne’s illness.
Sergio Marchionne speaking at a press conference (Source: Wall Street Journal)
According to FCA policy, any health conditions or complications suffered by their leading members are private matters, and do not amount to a disclosure in any form. This means succession plans and company ambitions have the potential to be thrown into a cloud of smoke in emergencies such as these.
“Succession has been a topic that has obsessed all of us,” FCA Chairman John Elkann said at the company’s business plan event in early June. “This has been taken incredibly seriously by the board [and] by myself and we’ve been working on it for many years with Sergio,” he said. “We were also very clear about the timing of it, which is 2019.”
Elkann and Marchionne were in agreement that Mike Manley (currently in charge of Jeep) would be the next CEO, but the board had not made a decision, a spokesman said Thursday.
Drivers Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen wear black armbands, in mourning,
Ferrari, on the other hand, were caught unawares as they were unaware of the “complications” and did not know the severity of Marchionne’s condition. They have since announced enlisted Philip Morris International Inc. veteran Louis Camilleri to run the company. Mr Camilleri was at the helm till 2013 when he voted to step down but remain on the board. He oversaw the transition when key markets faced cigarette bans, with he and the company since adopting a policy of incorporating new technologies in the industry.
Now some musical chairs have to be played to get the right people back in place. But the void left by Marchionne is large and will be hard to fill. Ferrari, as we see above, called in a Philip Morris vet, and FCA have Mike Manley lined up, but Sergio was a visionary and one the most brave men the industry witnessed. He orchestrated the merger of then-struggling FIAT but just turned profits and Chrysler to form the FCA corp.
The FCA headquarters, Auburn Hills, Michigan (Source: FCA)
He arrived in the auto industry as an outsider in 2004, taking over from Umberto Agnelli, whose family founded Fiat in 1899. He cut middle management jobs and reduced wages to help lessen the company’s multi-billion dollar losses. Then chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo handled the politics and unions. Going beyond the family hierarchy model and bringing in outsiders clearly paid diviends. About two years after Marchionne took over, Fiat turned its first profit in five years. There was a transformation in the brand’s car portfolio, with the hit Grande Punto being introduced under Marchionne’s stewardship. In addition he reintroduced the “people’s car”, FIAT 500, which became one of Fiat’s iconic exports as it expanded abroad. While he started small with limited industrial alliances, his ambitions soon grew.
Spinning off CNH (a reputed construction company) and Ferrari was another brilliant move that saw increased shareholder value but well after came the masterplan that saw him invest in the nearly bankrupt Chrysler in 2009, even in the midst of a global auto crisis. Over the years he gradually increased the share percentage and implemented the FIAT model in Chrysler. In 2014 he oversaw the tax office move from Italy to London as the Italian system essentially ran companies into the ground.
Marchionne was grooming Elkann (incidently part of the hereditary Agnelli family) to be his successor along with Manley. Elkann led the investment company EXOR based in the Netherlands, making him a sensible option for succession. More recently Marchionne layed out a plan to transform Ferrari and was fighting the two tier salary system negotiated by the UAW in 2007 in the United States.
At his last public appearance as CEO, in June, Marchionne attended a ceremony in Rome at which a Jeep was presented to the Carabinieri police. He noted that his father was a Carabinieri officer and he recognised in the Carabinieri “the same values at the basis of my own education: seriousness, honesty, sense of duty, discipline and spirit of service.”
Marchionne is an embodiment of all those values and a source of inspiration to all business and people who want to break into the automotive industry. He showed everyone what it meant, when you dared to be different in the right circumstances.
by Rutvik Bhaskar Perepa Rutvik Bhaskar Perepa is a student at The University of Manchester working towards a MEng in Mechanical Engineering hoping to be on a placement after Year 3. He has had the privilege to travel around his home country, India and discover the rich heritage and diversity. His personal interests include Food and travel, history, Sport among many others. Often found in discourse on various issues ranging Engineering to Religious Practices, he never shy’s away from being expressive. He believes in being open minded, empathetic and analytical is the key to problems posed on a daily basis.
James Gunn, riding off the success of Avengers: Infinity War was incredibly hot currency in Hollywood. He brought the Guardians of the Galaxy to the silver screen with great directing and witty writing in 2014 but his advances into the limelight appear to have been abruptly ended this week by a far-right witchhunt into his tweets, specifically those made making light of pedophilia and rape between 2008 and 2012. This story isn’t all that it seems to be and at its heart, James Gunn’s firing is another win for a growing right-wing conspiracy online.
First of all, Gunn would probably be the first to say that his firing made absolute sense – in fact he did:
“Regardless of how much time has passed, I understand and accept the business decisions taken today. Even these many years later, I take full responsibility for the way I conducted myself” – James Gunn
From a business perspective, such humor would be inconsistent with Disney’s family-friendly image. Although, Gunn did hint that his wild sense of humour was probably what caught the eye of Disney’s subsidiary, Marvel Studios in the first place:
1. Many people who have followed my career know when I started, I viewed myself as a provocateur, making movies and telling jokes that were outrageous and taboo. As I have discussed publicly many times, as I’ve developed as a person, so has my work and my humor.
Guardian’s fans, like myself, will be upset that Gunn will no longer be at the helm of the project which he really made his own but we have to acknowledge that Disney did what was best for its public image when this issue came to public attention.
But wait, how did it come to public attention? James Gunn had already apologised for some of the things he’d said as early as 2012, why is he being fired now, almost a decade after most of the comments were made?
Meet the orchestrator of this scandal, Mike Cernovich. He’s the far-right crusader that has turned the liberal outrage machine against itself and you really should know about him.
Source: New York Magazine
It’s no understatement that this man is one of the most dangerous individuals on the internet right now, having a role to play in most of the recent and pernicious right-wing online conspiracies such as pizzagate, gamergate, and the coming ‘white genocide’. His role in Gunn’s firing was using his big network of alt-right cronies and bots to hijack the various algorithms of the social media sites and trick them into showing Gunn’s old tweets everywhere. The reason why this story should have all of us ‘free speech’ buffs on the left and the right shaken up is that it reveals how easily outrage can be weaponised. We all have skeletons in our closet and, if all it takes for us to have our lives irreparably altered is that our objectionable comments in the past take public prominence, then we all have something to worry about.
In itself, this kind of attack constitutes a gaping hole in the sanctity of free speech in public discourse and will silence satire, comedy and even political thought.
I don’t think that Disney should have let Gunn go. By doing so, rather than protecting its young audience, Disney has actually told them that they cannot make mistakes; every word that they have uttered will hang over them as a lasting indictment on their character for as long as they live.
4. For the record, when I made these shocking jokes, I wasn’t living them out. I know this is a weird statement to make, and seems obvious, but, still, here I am, saying it.
Gunn is not Harvey Weinstein nor is he Donald Trump (whom Gunn maligned on Twitter, ironically making him a target for altright attack) and shouldn’t have been treated as some kind of parasite to Disney’s property for what were just really terrible jokes mad by his past self.
Tell me what you guys think? Should we be held accountable for the jokes we make in bad taste, especially when made in the past?
After facing countless allegations regarding “cults”, violence and the abuse of underage women, R’n’B singer R. Kelly has released a new single titled “I admit”.
The 19 minute long song is made up of 8 verses which go into detail on various stories that have come up about him over the years, without actually saying anything concrete about the allegations. The first verse talks about various elements of his past. The fact that he dropped out of school, the fact that focusing has always been hard for him and the fact that he has considered retiring from the industry but he has people around him that encourage him to continue striving. He also refers to himself as both a gift and a curse and admits to sleeping with some of his fans.
Verse 2 deals with his struggles with literacy and battles with dependency on alcohol and drugs. Kelly also talks about doing things that he regrets like making his mother cry and sleeping with his friend’s ex and his girlfriend’s friend.
As if those two verse weren’t enough, by verse 3 Robert feels comfortable enough to somewhat discuss the current cases against him. He starts by saying that his lawyers have told him that he can’t speak on certain things but that they want him to settle. He goes on to address the boycott by saying it isn’t right for people to treat him like an “amateur”, cancel his shows and turn his career upside down just because people are angry that he has “some girlfriends”. Ironically, in this verse he also goes on to compare himself to Bill Cosby, a man who has just been ruled a “sexually violent predator” by a Pennsylvania board and must now register as a sex offender before he can return to Massachusetts, by saying “they tryna lock me up like Bill, in years like Bill” referring to Bill Cosby being found guilty of all three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004. Cosby is due to be sentenced on the 24th of September.
R Kelly
Verse 4 isn’t nearly as dramatic with Kelly claiming that this is a big conspiracy but being thankful that he still has fans. Verse 5 gets slightly more interesting with him admitting to being a “freak” and saying that he has been with older and younger women but he also says that that isn’t enough to be labelled a paedophile and argues that he shouldn’t have to go to jail for someone’s “opinion”. He also briefly touches on a conversation he had with Wendy Williams, a conversation where he admits that he loved Aaliyah (though he makes no mention about whether or not their secret wedding, that allegedly took place when she was 15, was real). Kelly reveals that being dyslexic has d him in his career as he signed away the rights to his music without understanding and says that the reason he still tours is because he needs money to pay his rent.
Verse 6 takes a turn with Kelly admitting to being a victim of sexual assault at the hands of a family member from when he was a child through to the age of 14 and also losing his virginity to his abuser whilst being asleep. He details how parents have encouraged him to pursue their daughters, putting them on stage and saying that they’re of age only to try and get money out of him at a later stage. This is actually one of the longer verses and goes on to detail other things too including how he feels about being removed from Spotify playlists.
Verse 7 may be the most explicit (and the longest) with Kelly going on to detail some of the things that he has done with women and how he feels as though people have been after his downfall for years and verse 8 talks about how he wants to be seen as a role model and invited to talk to the youth and help to get them out of their current situations.
The song details and breaks down various allegations but if the things that Kelly has revealed about his past are true then it adds to the notion that hurt people hurt people. However, being hurt is never an excuse to hurt others.
On the 19 of July the Human Rights Watch released a report accusing Cameroonian government security forces of committing grave abuses against citizens in the Anglophone regions. The region has been in turmoil ever since the 2016 and 2017 Cameroonian protests.
In 2016 a group of Anglophone lawyers went on strike after objecting the appointment of French-educated judges to their courts and new laws not being translated into English. Anglophone courts were being forced to conduct in French and Francophone judges were continually refusing to speak in English in these courts. The strike inspired various peaceful protests by other groups such as teachers and others from the civil society in Anglophone regions against discriminatory practices by the government.
40 civilians killed by Military in Anglophone regions. (Source: twitter.com/Carlson201)
The response to the peaceful protests by the government has been heavily criticised by many for being “too severe” with some believing that this is a “intentional genocide” against English-speaking Cameroonians. The regions internet has been shut off for months on at least two occasions, credible reports of the police and army shooting civilians from helicopters have been released, villages are being burned down and both men and women are being tortured and raped.Social media has played a part in creating awareness to issues Northern and Southern Cameroonians are facing, with images of beheadings and killings of men, women and children surfacing on Twitter. Recently a video has been doing rounds on social media, the video depicts two women and two children being made to kneel down on the ground before being executed. The government has refused to acknowledge these atrocities and have even gone as far as stating the policemen in these images are not Cameroonian and the videos are “fake”.
Disturbing footage shows a little boy strapped to the back of one of the women during the killing. (Source: Watchlist)Both the women and children are shot point blank by an alleged Cameroonian soldier
History of the Anglophone problem
The Anglophone problem in Cameroon is not a recent problem as some reports will lead you to believe, instead it has been a on-going social-political issue that has stemmed from their colonial past. Cameroon previously was referred to as “German Kamerun” and was a German colony but after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, Cameroon was given to both England and France. Majority of Cameroon was given to the French while small territory’s of Northern Cameroon and Southern Cameroon were given to the British. Before Cameroons 1961 independence, The UN proposed two options to the English speaking regions: 1. join Nigeria or 2. stay with Cameroon as a federation. English-speaking Northern Cameroonians voted to join Nigeria while English-speaking Southern Cameroonians voted to join Cameroon.
Separatists call for a “Republic of Ambazonia”
The uneven difference in how Cameroon was shared has created civil unrest with the English-speaking Cameroonians (known as Anglophones) feeling politically and economically and marginalized. This of course has led to the calling of a separate state: Ambazonia. In retaliation to Francophone president Paul Biya changing the name of the country from the “United Republic of Cameroon” back to the pre-reunification name of the French Cameroun, the “Republic of Cameroun”, in 1984 Fon Gorji Dinka declared “The Republic of Ambazonia”. Dinka viewed the change as a political change and argued that Biya had restored the Francophone state thus ultimately surrendered his authority to rule the Anglophone parts of the country.
Peaceful talks and Biya’s regime
The U.N and the UK have called for both sides to reject the violence and peaceful talks be held. Firstly This rhetoric is dangerous as it assumes both sides are at blame. It is true that some separatists are kidnapping and murdering French-speaking officials in response to the government’s tactics but we cannot ignore the disproportionate force used by the government against unarmed civilians.
Secondly the kidnapping and forced deportation of 47 Anglophone leaders from a meeting in Abuja with the help of local Nigerian security forces has further decreased the likelihood of peaceful talks between the government and the separatists.
President Biya has been in power for over 35 years and is one of the world’s oldest heads of state
Though he has been placed under pressure by the U.N to engage in talks with the opposition, Biya has shown no signs of compromise. With the country gearing up for a presidential election on October 7, many are grappling with the fear that Biya may use propaganda to manipulate the Francophone majority into rising against the Anglophone minority thus resulting in more bloodshed and violence in the country.
Pakistani voters go to the polls today in what is expected to be only the second democratic transfer of power in the country’s history. The leading prime ministerial candidates contesting today’s election are former cricketer Imran Khan, leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party, who is leading in many of the polls, and Shehbaz Sharif, leading the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) party, whose brother Nawaz had served as Prime Minister until he was deposed in 2017 and imprisoned earlier this year on the grounds of corruption. However, unfortunately for a country whose relationship with democracy has often been fragile, regular outbreaks of violence throughout the campaign have threatened Pakistan’s electoral process.
Imran Khan, leader of the PTI party (Source: Getty)
Indeed, since polls opened this morning a suicide bombing at a polling station in Quetta, capital of the province of Balochistan, has already claimed the lives of at least 28 people. IS has claimed responsibility for the attack, which has simply been the latest in a long list of acts of terrorism committed in the country in recent weeks in an attempt to disrupt the election. The most devastating of these took place in the town of Mastung on 13 July when a bomb at an election rally killed 153 people including Siraj Raisani, a candidate in provincial elections.
Heart broken to learn of martyrdom of innocent people including police officials & injuries sustained by others in a terrorist attack in Quetta at a time when the people are exercising their democratic right of vote. My profound condolences to the bereaved families.
— Shehbaz Sharif (Stay at home to stay safe) (@CMShehbaz) July 25, 2018
Condemnable terrorist attack in Quetta by enemies of Pak seeking to disrupt our democratic process. Saddened by the loss of innocent lives. Pakistanis must defeat the terrorists' design by coming out in strength to cast their vote.
As well as IS-orchestrated attacks, violence has also broken out between members of rival parties, with one person killed and two more injured following gunfire between PTI and Awami National Party (ANP) supporters in the province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. This political violence is symptomatic of a deep and angry mistrust between the country’s major political parties and their supporters. Khan claims the incumbent PML-N have been corrupt while in power, siphoning funds away from public services to benefit their own leaders’ interests. Shehbaz Sharif, meanwhile, has argued Khan has military connections which he is taking advantage of in order to rig the election.
As a result, the large-scale deployment of troops throughout the country organized by the military with the stated aim of ensuring the safety of civilians on election day has itself been open to accusations that it is encouraging the very violence and manipulation it is meant to curtail. Many fear the military establishment’s apparent support for Khan will lead it to threaten those who do not intend to vote for him, something Khan vehemently denies. Such allegations, though, may well result in further unrest following the elections if either side feels the result has been fixed against them.
The people of Pakistan – especially women – the power is in your hands. Get up, go and vote! Democracy shall win! #Election2018 ??? pic.twitter.com/LqVRUK9cjO
For the average voter, it has been suggested that the only way for democracy to have any enduring success in Pakistan is to brave the threats by turning out to vote. Encouragingly for many, there appear to be signs that voters are heeding such calls. In the region of Upper Dir, where women have been banned from voting for over 40 years due to apparent threats to their safety, videos have emerged today of women voters casting their ballots in defiance of the danger. If voters to continue to turn out despite the violence, they may well have a decisive effect on the election, which is expected to go down to the wire.
Many of you may have heard of the term Au Pair, and if you haven’t I’m sure you’ve at least worked it out from the name, it’s probably got some French origin. An Au pair is defined as a young foreign person, typically a woman, who helps with child care and maybe a little bit of housework.
In exchange, the Au Pair gets free accommodation, free food and some pocket money usually around 70-80 euros. Currently, I have been au pairing in Madrid since the beginning of July and will be leaving at the beginning of August. One thing I noticed when researching this, was the overwhelming information of all the positives of the experience. Very rarely did I see anything about the dark side of Au pairing. Personally, I’ve been experiencing nothing but a dream; with only the occasional homesickness or the rare disobedience from the children. I’ve definitely had my lows but nothing compares to the ridiculous situations some of the other au pairs have had. So in this article, I’ll let you really know how it really is; all the positives and all the negatives.
There’s Always a Positive
It would be impossible to outline the free food and accommodation as one of the biggest benefits of this experience. I guarantee a normal trip of this length would cost me way over £1000 and Au Pairing has cut this down by at least half. Not to mention the little bit of pocket money you get will help you fund all that restaurant hoping you feel obliged to do when on holiday. Outside the financial aid, you also get to live abroad rather than being a tourist since the minimum stay is usually one month. There’s something nice about being able to visit without the pressure of flying back home in the next four days. Visiting long term allows you to explore the nook and crannies of the area, and you really get to experience the place like a local rather than a naive tourist who falls under the traps of the non-authentic and overpriced.
It’s Not Your House and They Aren’t Your Family
This is something you’re always going to feel. Yes, your host family may do their absolute best to make you feel comfortable and at home, however, you really truly don’t have that sense of freedom you would normally have. Even with the overwhelming kindness that I receive from my family gives me, nothing is more freeing as having the house to myself when they go away. It’s the simple luxuries that really count; not having to be quiet when the kids go sleep; being able to eat like a pig without the fear of being judged for overeating. My host family had the right balance of care without smothering me. I’d be expected to let them know what time I’d be getting home to give them a piece of mind. But what time I get back and if I chose to tell them where I’m going was very much my decision. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the reality; many hosts have been known to impose ridiculous house rules like setting curfews (bare in mind this Au Pair is an adult of 23). The disregard of the Au Pair’s personal space within the house is something I’ve heard too many times; whether that’s executed by not knocking on their door before entering or asking them to do tasks outside of their pre-arranged “working hours”. Yes whilst the Au pair is part of the family during their stay, they also aren’t the host’s child and need their independence.
(source: onmilwaukee.com)
Also be prepared for late payments, and feeling awkward about reminding them that you 70 euros is four days late. If your fortunate enough to have chilled family then your luck might soon run out when it comes to food. Remember when I said the food was also provided, there’s nothing to say that the food actually has to taste nice. If your going to Au Pair you really can’t be a picky eater, but I’m sure nothing prepared one of my au pair friends when her host mum would consistently cook her a clear unseasoned chickpea soup every day for lunch.
Or the disrespect when she told them she doesn’t eat meat, but yet they consistently try sneaking it into her food. The funny thing is this is really only scratching the surface. I’ve even heard of host families ceasing their Au Pairs passports.
Kids From Hell
So this is something that every Au Pair will experience. I take care of two children a six-year-old and an eight-year-old, and the worst trouble I get is the kids not wanting to study English. When the six-year-old acts up her older brother usually backs me up and all is well. But like I said I’ve really been living a dream, generally, when I meet up with my friends there’s boasting about who has the worst kids out the bunch.
(source: twitter.com/camaracts/)
A Scottish Au Pair told me that her child is obsessed with private parts. Visit to the pool, usually consists of the four-year-old trying to pull off her bikini bottoms. To make it worse the siblings just love fighting with each other; when it comes to discipline they’re knowledge of English seems to mysteriously lapse despite being fluent two hrs prior. Once in the pool, they cease fire and come together as siblings for one purpose; the torment of the au pair. As she takes a relaxing swim across the length of the pool, out of nowhere the group of them pounce on her taking turns to drown her.
Your Going to Meet Some Absolute Weirdo’s
When it comes to personal life, frankly it’s quite easy to meet new people. The expat community, particularly in large cities like Madrid, are alive and thriving. You’ll find many facebook groups of foreigners with people posting, asking to hang out and the whatsapp group chats with activities, really easy to find. But that’s not the real issue. I forgot that back at home the people I’m around are generally people I like, and seemed to be naive in thinking that every meeting I go to I’m going find these cool like-minded people who I’m going to have all these laughs with.
Yes I did meet nice people and have been lucky enough to form a nice group of friends, but I’ve definitely met my handful of odd people. If they haven’t been odd they’ve definitely not met a black person because some of the questions I got set me back a little. Then again it’s all part of the experience. One thing I wanted to say these things shouldn’t put you off Au Pairing, for me, I’ve had nothing but positives really. But it’s important to know the other side to it. If you really want to make the most of the experience make sure you really do your research, also don’t be quick to say yes to the very first family that takes interest in you. Make sure you’re specific about what role you want to play as an Au Pair. For me, I wanted minimal hours and I wanted to be more there to help improve their English rather than a full time nanny. So with all this, you should be very much equipped and if any of this does happen to you then at least I can say I did warn you.
Tanya is currently studying Biomedical Sciences at the University of Manchester and hopes to pursue a career in science communication, media and African development. She is a lover of fashion, travelling and has a keen interest in racial- social issues. She enjoys learning languages, being fluent in two and is currently adding French to her resume.
In the wake of Mesut Ozil’s retirement from the German National team for racist discrimination and echoed sentiments from athletes with dual nationalities, we have yet again been reminded that our sporting heroes are not immune to the remaining ills in our modern societies.
As public figures. they perhaps suffer more than most but ultimately, they may be our most effective antidote against society-wide discrimination.
Blind faith: Ozil and Mahrez’s religion doesn’t matter to most Arsenal and Leicester fans (Image: Stuart MacFarlane)
On the 27th June 2018 Germany, the reigning World Cup champions crashed out of the World Cup. Of course, there was a national fallout and the players, management and staff all came under heavy criticism; which is to be expected. However, some came under more fire than others. Mesut Ozil, the FIVE time German Player of the Year award winner, was given extreme criticism. This hasn’t been new to Ozil as he has been routinely criticised both at club and international level. Nonetheless, on Sunday the 22nd of July, Ozil took the opportunity to describe his experience playing for the German National Team.
Here Ozil alleges that there were racial and political motives behind his criticism which the German FA did not protect him from. I won’t go into whether these charges are true or not but instead, let’s focus on the impact of immigration on one’s national identity. You cannot help but see the same ideas echoed in other players and sporting heroes. For example, it has only been a week since France lifted the World Cup but all the talk has been around the “Frenchness” of the French team. Many of the French squad have African roots and so “Africa won the World Cup” according to Trevor Noah, presenter of The Daily Show. He attracted huge criticism for this but in the following days, dialogue had begun on French identity and immigration. France’s neighbours, Belgium also have many second-generation immigrants on their side. Their number 9, Romelu Lukaku in an interview with the Player’s Tribune, released at the beginning of the World Cup said the following:
“When things were going well, I was reading newspapers articles and they were calling me Romelu Lukaku, the Belgian striker.
When things weren’t going well, they were calling me Romelu Lukaku, the Belgian striker of Congolese descent.”
It’s easy to think this is just a European phenomenon. But with Brexit and comments such as the ones made by “Ian” in an LBC video (see below)
A man called in to say he wants England to lose because there are too many black players ???? do you know this level of racism and mental illness pic.twitter.com/3OhHmkdhId
All these instances raise wider questions for us in dealing with matters of national identity, acceptance and immigration.
Who decides who we are?
The obvious answer to this question is that everyone should have the ability to decide how they ought to lead their lives. However, as with many other aspects of our identity, society plays a huge role. Is society this external monster that picks and chooses how to shape people and put them into boxes? I don’t think so. We collectively make up society and that means, at least on a micro-level, we may have to look at ourselves and see how we come to make people from immigrant backgrounds feel accepted. On a larger scale, the authorities and the media also can shape one’s perception towards national identity. Policies that restrict immigrants to low-level work or stories run by the mainstream media that portray immigrants as troublemakers or criminals all play a factor in how accepted one feels within a nation.
Where are we heading?
Immigration is a hot topic in politics, particularly in Europe with far-right ideas clashing with more liberal ones about national identity (the recent elections in Eastern European nations such as Hungary have displayed this). The problem persists in the US too with Trumps pending great wall. Governments are coming under increasing pressure from people to close their borders and to protect the interests of the national citizens. However, as we can see with France and even our NHS, immigration does have its benefits. Unfortunately, the role some media outlets play can influence that vast majority of people’s perception towards a certain group of people. The case of Mesut Ozil will become more and more frequently -not just in football – but sporting stars, who are often the icons of a nation will be under even greater scrutiny.
What is The Common Sense outlook?
The Common Sense Network prides itself on providing opinions from both sides of the debate and coming to a “common sense” conclusion. Matters pertaining to immigration, national identity and acceptance can be complex but what must be done is unbiased, straight-shooting reporting. Immigration has its benefits no doubt, but also no one can argue that it must be controlled. National identity can bring many together but at the same time there are aspects of national identity that are more exclusive than others. Acceptance is something we should all strive for yet unfortunately it’s not something that we can always guarantee.
James Okoli is a contributor for the TCS Network. Currently studying Theology, Philosophy and Ethics at the University of Manchester, you will find James writing on a variety of faith and ethical issues within local and globalised society. James is also a sports and television aficionado so expect raving reviews on television masterpieces or raging rants on football results.
The London Fire Brigade reported that at one point there were around 72 firefighters and 10 fire engines tackling the fire at one time with onlookers and people who lived nearby explaining how they could smell the smoke from inside their houses and describing the streets as filled with smoke.
Michael Cohen, right, watches a speech alongside his former employer Donald Trump (Source: Newsweek)
Successful appellant Tommy Robinson (Source: PA)
Sergio Marchionne speaking at a press conference (Source: Wall Street Journal)
The FCA headquarters, Auburn Hills, Michigan (Source: FCA)
Imran Khan, leader of the PTI party (Source: Getty)
