03/09/2010

The DWP is pretty broken

The last few days could best be explained by this e-mail that I sent to my local MP this morning.

I am writing to ask you if you could assist me with an issue that I have with the Department of Work and Pensions. I also apologise in advance if this comes across as rambly and long-winded but the situation I’m in is quite bad.

Basically, I have been looking for work since graduating in June and, like so many other graduates, have applied to gain Jobseeker’s Allowance. I made my claim on the 6th August and have since been to the Guildford Job Centre twice (one for initial interview and one for a sign-on). In this time, I also got a letter from the DWP, which was horrifically worded, saying that I wasn’t based to contributions-based JSA. I then decided to apply for income-based JSA.

I received a phone call yesterday saying that I am now not entitled to JSA and, as such, am not entitled to any form of benefit at all. The reason why is because I live with my partner at my mum’s house and she works more than 24 hours per week (income) and that I haven’t paid enough money into the system in the last two tax years, even though I’ve been busy with studying and unpaid work experience placements (contributions). Our current living situation also renders as unable to claim housing benefit.

The DWP are, therefore, expecting us a couple to live on my partner’s full-time wage, which is barely enough as it is. This is ludicrous, since I need money to pay for bills, pay for travel for potential job interviews and, more important, actually be able to live my life.

It is a total joke. It also sums up, in my mind, why I think the benefits system is broken and why I think the DWP is an inept organisation that needs to be shaken up. I feel that the system is not helping the people that potentially need the most support. There are far too many people are on support because they find it easier than facing up to the ‘real world’ of employment and taxes and so on. It’s a smack in the fact to people like me who are trying to find work and trying to get on the career ladder. This has got to change.

I hope that you can help me with this. I literally have no one else to turn to at the moment.

So, that’s the situation in a nutshell. It angers and saddens me in equal measure. I’m still trying to comprehend it really but I’m not sure I will comprehend the fact that not even the government will help me, especially since I know of students who never worked during their time at university and still managed to get help.

I’ve had some pretty disastrous setbacks in life but this really ranks up there with the best of them. This is most definitely a low.

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23/08/2010

District 9

District 9

I have been meaning to see this for ages and it didn’t disappoint in any single way. District 9 is one of the best sci-fi films that I’ve seen recently. In terms of plot, the IMDB summary is:

An extraterrestrial race forced to live in slum-like conditions on Earth suddenly finds a kindred spirit in a government agent who is exposed to their biotechnology

However, the film uses elements of thriller, action, horror and all out gore-fest films to create a very clever and surprisingly emotional storyline. It has a very stellar cast but the two main heroes of this film are the cinematography department and the SFX department. Anyone who has their doubts over whether or not this should have been nominated for the Oscar for Motion Picture should hang their heads in shame since it deserves its place among the serious drama heavyweights like Precious and The Hurt Locker.

It would also make an amazing videogame storyline but I might blog about this at a later date.

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15/08/2010

Have we lost our sense of religious tolerance?

Mosque

This has angered me.

Basically, there are plans to build a new Islamic cultural centre in lower Manhatten very close to the sight of Ground Zero, where the atrocious terrorist attacks took place nearly nine years ago. There has been a sizeable amount of criticism, mostly from the right-wing/Republican side of America, about this. Sarah Palin said it was far too provocative and said that it would ‘stab hearts’ (…ok…) but Newt Gingrich takes the biscuit:

There should be no mosque near Ground Zero in New York so long as there are no churches or synagogues in Saudi Arabia. The time for double standards that allow Islamists to behave aggressively toward us while they demand our weakness and submission is over.

The proposed “Cordoba House” overlooking the World Trade Center site – where a group of jihadists killed over 3000 Americans and destroyed one of our most famous landmarks – is a test of the timidity, passivity and historic ignorance of American elites…

…Those Islamists and their apologists who argue for “religious toleration” are arrogantly dishonest. They ignore the fact that more than 100 mosques already exist in New York City. Meanwhile, there are no churches or synagogues in all of Saudi Arabia. In fact no Christian or Jew can even enter Mecca.

And they lecture us about tolerance.

If the people behind the Cordoba House were serious about religious toleration, they would be imploring the Saudis, as fellow Muslims, to immediately open up Mecca to all and immediately announce their intention to allow non-Muslim houses of worship in the Kingdom. They should be asked by the news media if they would be willing to lead such a campaign…

…America is experiencing an Islamist cultural-political offensive designed to undermine and destroy our civilization. Sadly, too many of our elites are the willing apologists for those who would destroy them if they could.

No mosque.

No self deception.

No surrender.

The time to take a stand is now – at this site on this issue.

Gingrich should probably check his facts before he starts labelling things mosques, since this isn’t actually a mosque. As Mehdi Hasan describes in his Comment Is Free piece in The Guardian earlier this week:

Cordoba House is not a mosque but a cultural centre, which will include a prayer area, sports facilities, theatre and restaurant. The aim of the project is to promote “integration, tolerance of difference and community cohesion … a place where individuals, regardless of their backgrounds, will find a centre of learning, art and culture”. Nor is it being built at Ground Zero. The proposed site is two blocks to the north.

However, as usual, the Republicans, with the assistance of Fox News, have turned this into from a non-issue into a political issue. If ever you needed an example of blatant stirring up of racial tension then look no further. It’s appalling. The worst thing about it is that if it was a Christian place of worship then there wouldn’t be such a fuss. Instead, it’s an excuse to promote values of ignorance and intolerance into the minds of the American public. President Obama has done the right thing and vigorously defended the plans to build the centre.

The thing that angers and saddens me the most about all of this is that ‘religious tolerance’ is now seen as controversial. This might sound quite simplistic but how is it that we now live in a world where we’ve become increasingly ignorant and intolerant of other people’s religious beliefs (including if they believe in religion at all)? What has happened? Have things really gotten this depressingly dire? I am an atheist but I believe people should the right to practise whatever religion they choose to believe without prejudice. If the Republican cadidate is anywhere near as bigoted and downright racist as Palin or Gingrich, then things will only get worse.

The News Discontent blog has put up a really good piece on this subject that’s also worth checking out.

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28/07/2010

Inception

Inception

So, Inception then. What a marvellous film. To see a blockbuster film this intelligent, this stylish, this well-acted and this ingeniusly created is quite simply heartwarming. Christopher Nolan can be pleased of what he has accomplished. All of the actors on board are extremely solid. The special effects are spectacular and well-thought out set pieces. The soundtrack by Hans Zimmer is phenomenal and acts as an extra component to the story (which is how soundtracks should be as opposed to just a selection of songs from hipster indie bands). Overall, it was outstanding and a contender for film of the year.

But I guess you’ve all got different theories about the ending. Here is mine:

Keep reading →

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26/07/2010

Julian Assange: a complex character

Julian Assange

You might read the headline and think why the hell I’ve chosen to write about this subject, especially when there’s so many things about the Afghanistan war logs I could also talk about. Well, for starters, everything that has been said about it has been said about it and I don’t feel like I can really add anything. It also beats blogging about the film Inception (hint: it’s amazing but I can’t blog about it because it would be hard to avoid spoilers).

So, here we are then discussing Julian Assange, the man who is the ‘editor-in-chief’ and founder of a website – Wikileaks – that has finally broken into the conscious of the mainstream after bubbling under it for so long. Assange’s background is as a computer hacker in his native Australia and he pleaded guilty to 24 charges in Australian court in the 90s. He was released on bond for good conduct after a fine of AD$2100. Now, he is at the heart of what is one of the biggest leaks of US military information ever and a champion for freedom of information. He’s a Web 2.0 activist with direct and blunt views about the media and politics.

Yet, he also seems like an awkward and complex character.

Don’t get me wrong, he strikes me as a very intelligent man but at the same time I can’t help but think that he can be quite cold at the best of times. In nearly all of the interviews that I’ve seen him give and at the press conference at the Frontline Club earlier today he comes across as a person who doesn’t try to be too much of a show-off, too much of a person who likes to make big claims and, quite frankly, too much of a person who is not as inspiring as you would expect someone of his position to be. For an activist, he is very restrained and he comes across as quite tense.

Even when he was on The Colbert Report earlier this year (sorry Brits/possibly rest of the world, I think this can only be seen by US people) concerning the footage that Wikileaks released of the 2007 Baghdad airstrike, despite the best attempts of Stephen Colbert to make him less tense, he still wasn’t completely comfortable. Sure, he got a couple of smirks and some genuine laughter out of him but Assange is a man who quite clearly doesn’t want to waste time nor does he want to play up to anyone and be all friendly-friendly. He goes on TV shows, conferences and whatever else he does to do one thing: get the facts out as directly and as clearly as possible.

It’ll be interesting if this news event, which has made him almost an internationally known individual overnight, changes his character or his attitude. Only time will tell.

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