#to do? not watch itv I have to but I physically cannot but I must for the sake of the people

[thefall-mp3]

I can’t do it again. I did it with Castiel Supernatural but I cannot do with Crowley I really just can’t.

[ramen540k]

“Terrorism”: Inequities of Association

Sai Hudspeth

S5126293

Media Production

Level 4 Terrorism has many different yet similar definitions and as such is not wholly defined legally in many areas (Al Jazeera, 2014). Due to the lack of consistent definition, terrorism has often been assosiated with foreign forces, especially post-9/11. A series of attacks were committed by a terrorist organisation known as “Al-Qaeda” on September 11th, 2001 (Bergen, 2020). These attacks went down in history as the single largest act of terrorism in history being live broadcasted all over the world and leaving a lasting fear in the hearts of American Citizens. Since, and to a lesser degree prior to, the attacks of 9/11 the world has experienced a heightened sense of Islamophobia. With heightened fear and a common enemy, an anti muslim rhetoric was adopted in the media and soon after, the “War on Terror” (Bergen, 2020). Even though it has been almost a decade since the the 9/11 attacks, anti muslim sentiments continue to grow while acts of terror committed by white supremacy groups are utterly disregarded, and racial equality organisations are labeled as domestic terrorist organisations (Al Jazeera, 2010).

Post 9/11 showed a 90% increase from 1,171 to 2,227 deployments by federal tactical teams between 2005 and 2014 based on research done by the Congressional Research Service (Grabianowski, 2007). It was SWAT’s initial purpose to be a higher powered response to increases in bank robberies in Philadelphia but later was expanded to cover a range of high risk situations including; hostage situations, search warrants, anti terrorism, and riot control (Grabianowski, 2007). As previously shown in the CRS research, SWAT’s expansion has put in place a large amount of high powered forces across the usa, accounting for around 1,200 teams in total countrywide (Federal Tactical Teams, 2015). It is important to note this as the way the USA and other countries’ media defines terrorism may warrant use of high powered forces on unwarranted situations. By observing race politics, the media’s rhetoric, and the ethics behind the use of the word “terrorism”, we are able to discern when the word “terrorism” should be used.

The war on terror was not confined to the USA, a major defining contributor to islamaphobia were a series of bombings in London that shook the foundation of “British Liberality”. Known as 7/7 these attacks on July 7th, 2005 launched the UK into severe paranoia just as 9/11 had in the USA (Sky News, 2014). Due to two proliferators of this act of terror being under surveillance for two years prior to 7/7, the public was in serious unrest over the lack of decisive action taken by the British Intelligence Service, which many thought could have prevented two of the attacks (Sky News, 2014). In addition to the lack of action, and the fact that the bombers were born and raised in Leeds, UK further instigated anti-immigrant/muslim ideologies of the British public (Al Jazeera, 2014).

As stated in The impact of counter-terrorism measures on Muslim communities, a study done by the research department of Durham University, “There is a danger that Muslims in contemporary Britain may become the new suspect community. Policymakers and operatives are grappling with the old dilemma: it is an inescapable fact that the majority of those suspected of terrorist activities are Muslim, and that counter-terrorism measures are likely to target Muslims.” (Choudhury and Fenwick, 2011) With the rise of hostility the freshness of a home grown attack provided space for people to vocalise and bring physical attacks against both immigrants and muslims alike due to fear. As a caller on LBC said “The population of the third world widens by 5% every year...there are 23000 people among us who are plotting to kill our families” (Ferrari, 2018) referring to people of interest to the British Intelligence Service, representing both the concern for the public's safety and the connotation between people of interest and islamic terrorists. By piggybacking off this fear legislation was pushed by both the USA and UK in an attempt to prevent future acts of terror. This however led to more frequent stop and searches of racial/religious minorities as well as higher levels of police presence in the USA and the UK.

As we move further and further from 911 and 7/7, the definition of terrorism has been used more loosely used and not allocated to some blataint acts of terror. In the USA, there is no “...statute that applies to domestic ideology inspired extremisms...” (Former Acting Assistant Attorney General, Mary Mccord) and as they are not associated with foriegn terrorist organisations they cannot be charged with terrorist crimes (ITV News, 2019). This effectively omits one of the most prolific terrorist ideologies in the USA, white supremacy. A combined disregard for white domestic terrorism combined with hightened conservative media spokes people, tentions have risen contributing further to the race rift as well as provide a normalised culture around white terrorism. Conservative news outlets took up the call to action, during Obama’s presidency, spreading defamatory statements such as “This president I think has exposed himself as a guy, over and over and over again, who has a deep seeded hatred for white people…” (Fox and Friends) and commentary on the economic depression that was “caused by immigrants” further hightening both conservative and white supremacist ideologies (Al Jazeera, 2010).

With the onslaught of antiterrorism rhetoric, and a widening race gap, the USA would face its biggest turning point yet with the inauguration of Trump in 2016. Following his inauguration, incidents in Charlottesville known as “Unite the Right” in 2017 where the largest white supremacy gathering occured, resulting in an act of terror in which a white supremacist drove their car through an anti fascist protest killing one and injuring 20 others (PBS, 2019). Thus, the birth of media’s buzz word “antifa” would become interchangable with terrorism. After this act of terror, Trump would take to live broadcast and condemn “this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence, on many sides…” (PBS, 2019). Following this press conference, the former leader of the KKK tweeted saying he was grateful for Trump to “condemn the leftist terrorists in antifa and Black Lives Matter.” (PBS, 2019) sparing national outrage and further social unrest. Simultaneously with acts of terrorism against minorities, combined with more acts of police brutality caught on video and distributed throgh various media outlets, the single party and democratically fascist government consciously decided to negate any mention of the word “terrorism” in association with white supremacy.

With continued social unrest the ethicality of the use of the word “terrorism” in mass media, is an important conscideration to take. If a country is not willing to define domestic acts of terror as “terrorism” yet uses the word to amplify their own political views as Trump has done by attempting to label antifa (an ideology not an organisation) and BLM as terrorists on national news (France 24 News, 2020). As we take into account the current and past events that led to the condition both the USA and UK are in, associating “terrorism” with minorities and immigrants must be reconscidered when part of the rising threat of terrorism is contributed to by white supremacy as preducated by National Police Chief’s Council lead for counter terrorism policing, Neil Basu in a Channel 4 Interview. In this interview, Basu says 7 of the 22 plots foiled since 2017 have been in association with white supremacy. The only effective way to deal with this and other racial and religious biases, is to elect people into power who provide fair and equal ideas for the betterment of our global society. In doing so, we will be able to provide a clear definition for terrorism and an equal understanding that the treat of terror can not solely be attributed to minorities or immigrants without running into ethical issues as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has stated in her question to the FBI over the double standard that goes into labeling organisations and people as terrorists (Guardian News, 2019). When a topic such as terrorism is spoken about on mass media outlets, we must understand our words have consequences legally, socially, and ethically. Using words such as terrorism in connotation with minorities can have long lasting affects on the legislation of a country, and the ability for the general public to coexist in a multicultural society.

Bibliography

Al Jazeera, 2010. People & Power - White Power USA. [video] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8PsZwlv0Uk> [Accessed 31 September 2020].

Al Jazeera, 2014. War On Terror, War On Muslims?. [video] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkJGd22W55o> [Accessed 21 October 2020].

Bergen, P., 2020. September 11 Attacks. [online] Encyclopedia Britannica. Available at: <https://www.britannica.com/event/September-11-attacks/The-attacks#ref301276> [Accessed 4 November 2020].

Choudhury, T. and Fenwick, H., 2011. The Impact Of Counter-Terrorism Measures On

Muslim Communities. [ebook] Manchester: Durham University, p.iii. Available at: <https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/files/research-report-72-the-impact-of-counter-terrorism-measures-on-muslim-communities.pdf> [Accessed 5 October 2020].

2015. Federal Tactical Teams. [ebook] Congressional Research Service, pp.1-3.

Available at: <https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R44179> [Accessed 20 October 2020].

Ferrari, N., 2018. Nick Schools Caller Who Said 7/7 Bombers Weren't British Natives.

[video] Available at: <https://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/nick-ferrari/caller-who-said-7-7-bombers-werent-british/> [Accessed 3 November 2020].

France 24 News, 2020. Trump To Designate ‘Antifa’ As Terrorist Organization After

Unrest Over George Floyd's Death. [video] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrGWjMnHBp8> [Accessed 1 October 2020].

Grabianowski, E., 2007. How SWAT Teams Work. [online] HowStuffWorks. Available at: <https://people.howstuffworks.com/swat-team.htm#pt5> [Accessed 10 October 2020].

Guardian News, 2019. 'Is White Supremacy Not A Global Issue?' Ocasio-Cortez

Dissects FBI’S Terrorism Definition. [video] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HeLL6WC8k0> [Accessed 2 October 2020].

ITV News, 2019. Why Does America Struggle To Call White Supremacists Terrorists?.

[video] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsKFpJ-cyJY> [Accessed 10 October 2020].

Jenkins, J., 2020. Terrorism. [online] Encyclopedia Britannica. Available at: <https://www.britannica.com/topic/terrorism> [Accessed 30 October 2020].

PBS, 2019. Documenting Hate: Charlottesville. [video] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPLvWO_SOgM> [Accessed 30 September 2020].

Sky News, 2014. 7/7 Attacks On London. [video] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFb-gV-6uDo> [Accessed 19 October 2020].

[maatikikhushboo]

Kasautii Flashbacks Aur Promises Kay

Disclaimer: A lengthy frustrated post (2500+ words) on your way. Has lots of grammatical errors and is not proof read. So please read on your own discretion.

After watching 69 episodes of Kasautii Zindagii Kay, I decided that I will quit watching it regularly, but I continued watching it intermittently. I very well knew the implications of signing up for EK’s shows. But still, I wanted to give it a try, and honestly, for the pretty faces of the leads because they screamed chemistry. Look at these pictures launched initially - especially the down section of the picture --

Backstory :

KZK1 was one of those disastrous stuffs ever made for ITV. Pathetic aesthetics, horrible make-ups (that didn’t change for this season as well), lackadaisical writing, multiple assassinations/butchering of characters, having sudden 180 and 270 degree turns and the offscreen dynamics kinda influencing the plot and what not? I used to watch KZK1 because 2001 was when I was residing in Kolkata. My love for Bangla had signed me up for that stupid show which I stopped watching after certain point of time (Waise, there is nothing Bangali except the names in both the seasons, it was just used to make it attractive and avant garde. Bangali people in general don’t wear these Devdas-inspo clothes and jewellery. Every time I see Mohini and Nivi of KZK2, I feel sorry for them because jewellery must be really heavy and wearing them on daily basis is bit uncomfortable even when you are getting paid for it.). The only saving grace of the show were the actors and their performances (which cannot be matched by the new season), otherwise no one was going to watch the show for its stupid story. Except the much popular title song, Shwetha Tiwari’s performance, Moloy-Rajesh’s bromance, there was nothing worthy in KZK1. Anurag and Prerna got united only when they died. Some felt that they were true OTP, and I beg to differ here.  

It is 2019 and everything is so out-of-place with KZK2 since its inception. Ekta’s much ambitious project is a flop show. It was much evident and we all knew that EK is EK and she will take the same S1 way. KZK2 proved itself to be a mere aesthetic-improvised photocopy of KZK1. There are many scenes in the show which are filmed same-to-same. The editing is pathetic and the noticeable bloopers are increasing day by day. These promos and claims of going the different way were just marketing gimmicks. In KZK1, AnuPre getting to know each other, falling in love and getting physically intimate, all happened in just 20-25 episodes. This time they wanted to avoid that and hence went the Naveen way, only to get back to the quintessential track of Anu marrying Komo and Prerna becoming pregnant. Naveen babu and his creepy tactics were much dragged and the writers deliberately elevated Anurag’s character and turned him the great saviour. Even the SitaaraPlus Instagram was full of Anurag’s gun-gaan. I bet that the channels’ PR team are a bunch of fangirls. We see that the so-called smart Anurag Basu is perhaps the dumbest ML of 2018/19 whose all plans were epic fails. I mean come on, Moloy was lot better than him in finding proofs against Komolika. I miss Moloy man, he was such a comic relief (although I must agree that the character has some serious issues like him being okay whenever Nivedita or Mohini badmouths Sharma’s, at least he can knock some sense into them about etiquette if not there, then in private). I keep forgetting that it’s a Hindi TV show and that too a Balaji show. Tellyworld mein itna dimaag kahan kisi ke paas hota hai?  😂

Anurag was given heavy dialogues which were full of promises. Sentence ke aage ek promise and sentence ke peeche ek promise (if possible I would like to go into the TV and smack his head if he daresay that word again 😤) Prerna was shown as that abla majboor naari of 2019 who is so gareeb that she had to resort to marriage to ensure that unke sar par chhat rahe. She was never given the character growth she deserved (why does Hindi TV revolve around shaadi? matlab har problem ka solution either function or shaadi?). It is natural that audiences started feeling that Anurag was the only one who contributed more to this story because we never were shown Prerna’s side of story. During the track, Anurag kept giving Prerna mixed signals (dosti ke liye aaj kal, in 2019 koi bhi itna sab nahi karta like jaan jokhim mein daalna especially when Prerna herself told you initially to back off). Getting engaged to Mishka whom he clearly didn’t love while being so confused about Prerna was the first downfall. Anurag didn’t bother to tell Mishka that he doesn’t want to marry her. On top of it, he promised Prerna of marriage and got physically intimate with her and then asked Veena, her hand for marriage. He publicly insulted Prerna and married Komolika. How ugly is this!!! How do the writers expect people to connect to him, how much ever good or noble his intentions may be? There is no doubt he is selfless and has the best interests of everyone in his heart especially Prerna, but is that enough? He can’t be redeemed after what he did to Prerna, because actions speak louder than words. What makes this sequence worse is the damn FLASHBACKS! AnuPre consummation was shown to a viewer as a FB when a pregnant Prerna recollects this at the hospital. This makes it more weird and gross! Like, how on earth people get busy getting intimate when some gunde are after your lives? I know, that you have confessed your love to each other, but itni urgency kis baat ki? Writers have destroyed that innocence and purity which was there at the time of confession. The editing and song sequence was so terrible. The only thing that is bearable is the actors who are making the characters believable, otherwise the storyline is just chutiyaapa.

Writers, have degraded everything just because you wanted to highlight the much-hyped character Komolika? Hina is a pretty woman who has achieved a lot in her career and deserves the love she gets from her fans. I kinda really liked her makeup (it was inspired by Bipasha Basu) as a Bong Bride but the costume was again meh. But the character portrayed by her was an iconic one and she has been a huge let down. I don’t get any vamp feels from her. She appears more of a comic character who only knows to make faces. And a special mention to her style statement which is just like her role. Costume designers, please, rich people like KoMoNi never dress like that. Those costumes are everything but sophisticated and classy.

Also, I think it’s high time that these fangirls stop idolising Anurag Basu 2.0. A person who cannot clarify things and take a stand for his love and keeps listening to all the accusations and taunts thrown at her by the ladies of his family and later justifies it by saying that it’s all because they were concerned is plain bullshit. He may be a gentleman and loves his family, and Prerna, but he is not worth stanning!!! Is this the same Anurag Basu who warned Naveen Babu that “Agar Prerna pe mera dil aa gaya na, toh aap, aapki sagaai, aapki daleelein koi nahi rok paayega mujhe Prerna ko apna banana se.”? If he is, then why did he fall prey to Komolika’s blackmailing? Naveen was also equally creepy, dangerous and comical (Saajan ji ghar aaye dance was EPIC). See what the writers have done!

Even during Naveen’s track, they desperately wanted to introduce Komolika but couldn’t do it due to Hina’s prior commitments. To venture Komolika they again brought Mishka (who was actually that London wali shaadi-shuda ladki whose name is Sarika 🤣 ). To link Prerna and Komolika, they planned Ronit-Shivani’s angle which is long forgotten (Shivani doesn’t remember that she is pregnant 🤣 ). So many loose ends are conveniently forgotten. Also, what kind of a mother is Mohini?😳  She is so ignorant. Can’t she understand what her son wants and I am bewildered by how she accepted Komolika without any problem when technically Anu was engaged to Mishka? Terrible!

At least after Naveen track, they could have explored AnuPre. I remember that one small snippet in Prerna’s sangeet with Naveen where we get to know that Anurag stopped talking to Prerna because she cheated him in a game in their childhood. We could have been shown many such things instead of that stupid Naveen track. Although the journey of AnuPre in KZK1 was only 20-25 episodes, it was satisfying because there were no other parallel tracks going on and they concentrated on AnuPre bonding.

When the channel dropped the shaadi wala promo (only to get transformed into No-Shaadi-Only-Tika later), it became a rage and people were like happy that it is not going the S1 way only to get disheartened. The confession was subtle and beautifully shot. Yet, I couldn’t feel the depth. Dialogues were always out of place and meaningless in this show. Just fire the dialogue writers man, it’s making everything more confusing because there is no sync between dialogues, story and character progression! Also, I knew that you were gonna bring that pandit to legalise the tika marriage, I mean by-the-virtue-of-air-maang-got-filled-by-sindoor-marriage on an auspicious muhurat after 15 odd years. That was a nice move to legalise the existence of Prem.🤣

The AltBalaji’s synopsis of the show was screaming since eons – “An epic saga of Anurag and Prerna’s soul-stirring romance. The story begins with one unintentional betrayal that spoils Anurag’s relationship with his soul-mate Prerna and is followed by the wicked twists added by Komolika. Their lives go through a whirlwind of emotions, trials, sufferings, twists, and terrible confusions, which destiny plays out for them. Only time will reveal how they are destined to live for each other, but not with each other.”. Coming to this unintentional betrayal, let me clarify that there is NO UNINTENTIONAL BETRAYAL here because Anurag intentionally chose this to save his family and business. When two people are in a relationship, one person has no right to take decisions for both. Prerna asked him, begged him literally but he just slammed his decision on her. I don’t give a damn to this stupid sacrifice “Thorn Bird” kinda love. People feel sad for Anurag being the Thorn Bird here, but he is the one who had landed himself into this worthless sacrifice as Anupam notes.

People are excited to see strong Prerna. I could have been happier if they went ahead with S1 way here instead. She was always initially taunted for being stupid, having small brains and of lower class. Proving her mettle and becoming successful on her own would have been a befitting reply. It is so against your self-respect to land yourselves again amidst of those Basu’s. I am not surprised that you like Shivani have forgotten about your pregnancy and how harmful it could be for your child to survive especially when people like Komolika are living in the same house. And there is nothing new in this track. EK's saalon purana same formula hai - Mix and Match. Apne serials mein hi naye serials ke stories revolve hote rehte hai. In her show, Kya Hua Tera Vaada, the same thing happened. When Vihaan married Anika, Bulbul entered along with Anika and did all the grihpravesh rasams and started living with them. Of course, this new Prerna is a treat to watch (she has shown everyone their place with sass) and it is worth watching for all entertainment. Erica nails such scenes and through this track she is gonna get her due. (I loved her stint in KRPKAB post leap). Also, what is with this Anurag planning to get rid of Komolika by getting closer to her? Like really man!? You appear like a milksop. The lollipops of AnuPre flashbacks or eyelocks which they are inserting in the middle of the 21 minutes of bakwaas is not gonna get them TRPs. For me, they have ruined it. Everything is beyond redemption now.

We all know what happens when a thing is excessively marketed/promoted. It unnecessarily increases the hype and expectations of people, which when not met will lead to utter disappointment. EK has hired SRK to do the honours, which must have costed her a bomb. Heavy social media promotion through various videos & BTS scenes has ignited curiosity and they wanted to play with this and all fell for it. Some wanted to explore it as a new show and some were there to draw comparisions because of nostalgia with a hope that things would be different this time coz it’s 2018/2019.  😂 😂 😂 Be it 2001 or 2019 things have not changed in TV. Film Industries are gradually transforming themselves and are producing films with unconventional concepts. They are churning out good amount of content driven/art films every year. We know that TV actors don’t have many choices. Both Parth & Erica are good actors. Actors get paid irrespective of whatever they portray. Still, I sometimes do feel bad seeing all the potential being wasted. But yeah, the casting is on point. The chemistry is so good. But, what we get in the name of the great KZK 2 is just the same recycled shit. Balaji didn’t need to inaugurate, the statues of love everywhere (like really?). If it were other producers, (well, they won’t be spending mammoth, but let us hypothetically assume) and they are not able to meet the expectations, to continue their stint, they would succumb to ratings based instant-noodle-tracks-twists-turns kinda plots. But EK is EK, whose team loves to cook noodles from Day 1, toh itna fizool karcha kyun karna bhai? She could have been a little prudent and invested some money in hiring better script writers and agar kismat acchi hoti hamari aur actors ki toh, acche story mil jaati. Also, many dynamics could have been explored. Khair, chhodo, main bhi kiske baare mein bol rahi hoon 😂 😂 😂 What else can we expect from a Balaji show? It’s just villains, multiple MUs, separations and sacrifices all over the place. I just wish TRPs teach her a lesson.

P.S: Okay, some people say that Prerna should have understood that Anurag has some majboori like she had while almost marrying Naveen babu. No one in their right state of mind would think about majboori and stuff after getting humiliated publicly and getting mocked for her love. And, agar tellyworld mein itna brains leads ke pass hote toh yeh shaadi mandap tak nahi pahunchti.

P.P.S: I just don’t understand what is the problem with SitaaraPlus. Come on man, why on earth do you love showing all the wrong messages to the society under the tagline “Baat Nayi”? Everyone is aware of your partiality towards Gul and Ekta’s shows. However regressive they might be, you just keep extending them and you simply pulled the plug off for the Dopahar shows which were good content wise and concept wise. Everyone here is to do business and so you are, so stop bluffing people under your stupid tagline. Also, don’t mislead people like you did here. Thank God I didn’t subscribe to Star Value Pack of yours. Bye-Bye.

[dailynewswebsite]

BBC presenters share their lockdown entertainment tips

Haprz Kaur, Will Gompertz, Hannah Peel and Mark Radcliffe

With England in lockdown once more, and plenty of others elements of the UK enduring extreme restrictions, folks need to movie, books, music, on-line artwork, podcasts and extra for his or her cultural kicks.

Right here, BBC presenters and journalists share their lockdown picks. It is an eclectic checklist of options for the place to look subsequent when you fancy some inspiration.

Mark Radcliffe

Veteran broadcaster Mark Radcliffe presents BBC Radio 2’s Folks Present and 6 Music’s weekend chat and music present Radcliffe and Maconie .

The Trial Of The Chicago 7 (Netflix)

I like a courtroom drama, I have to say. For individuals who do not know the Chicago 7, they had been college students and hippies and anti-Vietnam protesters who picketed on the 1968 Democratic Occasion Conference and had been arrested for inciting riots.

For those who do not forget that 12 months, it was a extremely highly-charged time. Martin Luther King was assassinated in April, after which Bobby Kennedy in June – so that is a rare snapshot of these instances. It nonetheless has a resonance, significantly in how the one black defendant is handled. Within the time of Black Lives Matter and the George Floyd protests, it reminds you that not the whole lot has modified, by a great distance.

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart (Picador books)

That is set within the time of Thatcherism, and it is a tragic story of this younger lad Shuggie Bain, who’s defending and caring for an alcoholic mom, dwelling in excessive poverty. It is moderately Thomas Hardy-esque, in that everyone seems to be doomed to disappointment or dying, but it surely feels very actual. And just like the movie, one suspects life hasn’t modified very a lot for lots of people.

The novel is nominated for the Booker Prize, though I do not typically take that as an enormous advice. I’ve actually introduced Booker-winning novels and thought they had been dreadful.

The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix)

Anya Taylor-Pleasure performs Beth Harman, who’s in an orphanage at first of the movie, and is intrigued by the janitor who performs chess. He step by step agrees to show her and it seems she’s an absolute prodigy. It is based mostly on a novel by somebody referred to as Walter Tevis but it surely feels prefer it should be true. It is in regards to the connections you make as an orphan – friendships and connections and adoption. And there is plenty of chess.

Story continues

The truth is, we began taking part in chess at house, impressed by it, and my spouse is miles higher than me and she will see a number of strikes forward. We do not play anymore. It obtained too annoying.

Harpz Kaur

The Asian Community presenter has hosted its breakfast present since 2017, having joined the station in 2015 from neighborhood radio.

Strictly Come Dancing (BBC One, iPlayer)

Watching my subsequent door neighbour Clara [Amfo] completely bossing it on display is superb. I am an enormous fan of BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing anyway, however seeing Clara shine like a Queen is nice. Rooting for her little doubt. And I often discover something music or dance associated to be therapeutic for me. It is enjoyable, a straightforward watch and it is an effective way to wind down. Seize some munchies and sit on the couch whereas having your individual social gathering. It is excellent.

Made In Heaven (Amazon Prime)

I’ve additionally simply completed watching season certainly one of Made In Heaven. A few colleagues have been that means to get me into it and now I am hooked. It is extra of a drama sequence, but it surely’s so good and retains you on the sting of your seat on the finish of each episode. Cannot wait to begin the second season.

Sister Sister (Netflix)

And thirdly, I am watching Sister Sister, a 1990s US sitcom about twins Tia and Tamera who had been separated at beginning and reunite 14 years later. It is introduced again my youth. And you may by no means get sufficient. For those who grew up watching Tia and Tamera, you already understand how good it’s. For those who fancy a giggle, put them on.”

Bobby Friction

DJ Friction has been on the BBC airwaves since 2002, and is now presenting the Asian Community’s night present.

House movies (YouTube)

It is the largest type of escapism – neglect pandemics, let’s discuss 1,000-year journeys to different galaxies.

He devours YouTube sequence by scientists and futurists John Michael Godier and Isaac Arthur, who use science reality to look at what may truly be doable past Earth.

They will swing between stuff that is taking place in our photo voltaic system to actual mad stuff like, what is going to the universe appear to be a trillion years from now? After which they will break it down utilizing actual physics and actual science.

The Actual Housewives of America (Sky, ITV Be, Amazon Prime Video)

I do not watch a lot TV or actuality exhibits,” says Friction. “However I fell into this gap of watching The Actual Housewives of Atlanta and The Actual Housewives of Potomac. It wasn’t till the summer season that I went, ‘Wait a minute, they’re the one two actuality exhibits from that franchise that function black girls. Each different present options white girls.

I am subconsciously coping with Black Lives Matter, race and the whole lot that is taking place this 12 months through these actuality exhibits. Imagine me, I’ve fallen so deep into them. Anybody who asks a query in regards to the seasons or the episodes, I’ve the reply.

The Beatles

Friction has been rediscovering The Beatles by listening to all their albums back-to-back once more.

“I simply obtained again into it and thought, my God, how did these guys write practically each style of music that we’re nonetheless listening to? And also you’re telling me they launched The White Album and Yellow Submarine and Sgt Pepper inside the area of 18 months? It is ridiculous.”

Will Gompertz

Will Gompertz has been arts editor for BBC Information since 2009 and earlier than that was a director on the Tate Gallery.

What I Love (podcast)

I am loving this podcast, introduced by the award-winning theatre director Ian Rickson. It has a easy format: one visitor with whom Rickson has labored selects three issues she or he loves. Chiwetel Ejiofor included a Michael Kiwanuka tune, Kae Tempest picked a e book by William Blake. Good listening.

Strata: William Smith’s Geological Maps (Thames & Hudson)

Some books are lovely, others are enlightening. Strata is each. Full of beautiful illustrations, it presents the work of William Smith, a 17th Century geologist, who was the primary individual to comprehensively map the earth beneath our toes. It is the most effective non-fiction e book I’ve learn in a very long time.

Name My Agent (Netflix)

French TV would not get that a lot consideration for some purpose – however they produce some nice programmes. Spiral is the most effective police procedural on telly, whereas Name My Agent is the right lockdown escape: uptight actor’s brokers coping with uptight actors in a Paris workplace the place they find yourself both bickering or sleeping with one another. Or each. Tres bon!

Hannah Peel

Musician Hannah Peel presents late-night Radio three present Evening Tracks, which ranges from classical to up to date music. She was Emmy-nominated final 12 months for her soundtrack for HBO’s Video games of Thrones: The Final Watch.

Notes On Blindness (Obtain, Netflix)

This can be a documentary in regards to the author John Hull, who went blind simply earlier than the beginning of his son and began to make a diary of audio cassettes. Within the movie you hear all of the precise recording, and it is simply unimaginable.

You are immersed in a world of sound, as a substitute of being completely bombarded with visible info. It sounds prefer it must be a podcast, but it surely actually works as a movie – delving into the thoughts and the physique and desires and reminiscence. I feel it is a masterpiece.

Bandcamp (Unbiased music retailer)

I am Bandcamp all the best way, for the whole lot. They do an incredible factor as soon as a month referred to as Bandcamp Friday, the place each artist will get 100% of the revenue on their merchandise or downloads or CD gross sales. It is the one place that does that within the music business.

The very last thing I purchased was a compilation by a beautiful little indie label referred to as Salmon Universe, who put out plenty of ambient, digital music. I like compilations since you’re led to artists from all internationally, from Ohio to Japan. It is superb.

Islands (RTÉ podcast)

That is made by the world-renowned sound recordist Chris Watson, who’s teamed up with the author/presenter Luke Clancy to take a journey throughout the atlas of distant islands, from Ross Island to the Galapagos to the probably legendary isle of HyBrasil.

It is filled with tales and sounds, and it is lovely. I similar to the best way you need to use podcasts to specific one thing emotional, moderately than factual. So that you get a way of ethereal escapism inside that.

Mark Savage

Mark has been the BBC’s music reporter since 2015, and introduced 6 Music’s Historical past of Video Sport Music final 12 months.

Ted Lasso (Apple TV)

After Schitt’s Creek ended, I used to be desperately trying to find a TV present that hit the identical candy spot of belly-laughs and heart-warming humour. That is that present.

Starring Jason Sudeikis, it tells the story of an American Soccer coach who involves London to supervise a fictional Premiership workforce, regardless of figuring out nothing about soccer. Unbeknownst to him, the membership’s proprietor (performed with scrumptious relish by Hannah Waddingham) is making an attempt to get the workforce relegated to spite her adulterous husband. I will not spoil the plot, however the present’s relentlessly optimistic tone is simply what I wanted in lockdown.

Pikmin three Deluxe (Nintendo)

Pikmin is not as well-known as Nintendo’s larger franchises, like Mario and Zelda, but it surely’s been made with simply as a lot care and a spotlight to element. You play as a crew of astronauts, stranded on a hostile planet, who need to enlist a crop of plant-like creatures to assist them discover the lacking elements of their spaceship.

You command as much as 100 of the little Pikmin, every of whom have completely different talents (some are fighters, some are swimmers, others are impervious to electrical energy) to resolve a bunch of more and more difficult puzzles towards a time restrict. It is concurrently enjoyable and panic-inducing; however I have been specializing in finishing the much less worrying problem mode with my 10-year-old, who simply likes throwing the Pikmin round and laughing at their cute noises.

Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia (Warner Music)

Rush-released in the beginning of the primary lockdown, that is nonetheless my favorite document of the 12 months. A sweat-glistened hymn to the dancefloor, it by no means fails to raise my temper.

The album is getting the dwell therapy later this month, with a digital gig that is been dubbed Studio 2054 – with Dua promising (deep breath) “a kaledioscopic, rocket-fuelled, journey by way of time, area, mirrorballs, curler discos, bucket hats, belting beats, throbbing basslines and an absolute slam-dunk of the most effective instances in international membership tradition”. See you there. Hotpants elective.

Elizabeth Alker

The BBC Radio three broadcaster presents late-night present Unclassified, which showcases music by composers who may need a classical background but in addition draw from pop, rock, jazz, and experimental music.

Ms Ice Sandwich by Mieko Kawakami (Pushkin Press)

The Japanese writer’s novella is evocative however breezy, conversational and unsentimental. She’s coping with the difficulties and complexity of human life however in a extremely relatable, heat and humorous method.

It is in regards to the relationship between an adolescent and their mom. It is a coming-of-age story and in regards to the anxieties of being a youngster, however you get to see it from either side. You’ll be able to sense what the mom’s feeling as properly. She’s a fortune teller and their grandma’s ailing upstairs. It is a household story about feminine identification in Japan.

Fats Out Fest (YouTube)

The annual music competition from Salford-based underground and different promoters, Fats Out Fest occurred dwell on-line this 12 months, and they’re now placing units on YouTube each Friday over the subsequent month.

They actually do take it to the sting. On 20 November they’re broadcasting Lone Taxidermist – her exhibits are wild. It is efficiency artwork in addition to music. Her new present Marra begins along with her singing alongside to a cattle market. An precise cattle market. Her voice is synced with the auctioneer and Maxine Peake is within the video. It is on the market.

Radiophrenia (Streaming)

Radiophrenia is a Glasgow sound artwork radio station that is streaming 24/7 till 22 November. I used to be listening to an Italian sound artist referred to as Tobia Bandini. He’d interviewed all these folks asking for his or her response to the apocalypse after which he’d combine their tales – they’re all in Italian – with digital soundscapes.

If you wish to tune out of the information then this can be a very nice place to flee to. There’s all types in there, and plenty of it’s simply actually pleasing and fairly hypnotic.

Observe us on Fb, or on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts. When you have a narrative suggestion e mail leisure.information@bbc.co.uk.

from Growth News https://growthnews.in/bbc-presenters-share-their-lockdown-entertainment-tips/ via https://growthnews.in

[beardcore-blog]

Circus of Horrors X

Garry Stretch, the man with the world’s most elastic skin.

Here’s the interview I wrote for Naked – Magazine of the Weird and Wonderful.

Roll up, roll up! See the monsters of the midway! Thrill at the strangest show on Earth! Witness the most incredible, the most unbelievable freak of this or any other century! See Garry Stretch, the world’s most elastic man performing mind-boggling acts of physical distortion. Gasp as he pulls the flesh from his very bones, covering his face with his own incredible skin. Witness with awe and mystery as he attaches blood-bursting bulldog clips to his entire body to perform the amazing “Batman.” No trickery is involved ladies and gentlemen, Garry Stretch is indeed a one hundred percent bona fide freak. We dare you to purchase a ticket to the most bizarre experience of your entire life! Yes my friends, today is your once-in-a-life opportunity to feast your eyes upon the world’s strangest living creature…

Well who could resist such an offer? Certainly not the Naked Magazine team. So, when the Circus Of Horrors came to town, we took a trip to the big top. Quietly tucked behind the scenes we found the trailer of Gary “Stretch” Turner and talked to him about life as the world’s stretchiest man. Lincolnshire-born Garry, holder of two incredible Guinness world records (World’s Stretchiest Skin and Number of Clothes Pegs on Face), spoke frankly about his unusual medical condition and revealed a surprisingly positive view about the strange phenomena of the physical freak….

NAKED: Garry, did your parents know from your birth that you had this unusual physical condition?

GARRY: Well no, not from birth. I guess it was from when I was about five or six years old. The other children in the classroom would take hold of me and go “whoah your skin’s strange,” and I’d stretch it about and that. I think doctor’s said that he’s got very soft skin and that, but they didn’t know my condition was EDS (Ehlers–Danlos Syndrome) until I was about thirteen. I used to go for tests in Sheffield. They’d take bits of skin from me and grow them in laboratories all around the world. A lot of the research you see done on EDS is based on the research on myself, which was probably twenty years ago now. In my particular condition it only effects one in five hundred and ninety-three million people, so there’s probably about ten of us in the world and there’s only two of us performing. EDS covers any condition effecting the connective tissue. So a lot of people have Ehlers–Danlos. People who are double jointed say. The way it effects me is a lack of collagen. If you looked under a microscope at your skin cells they’d be nicely rounded and locked together in many places. Mine are more jagged, more squared, so it gives me elasticity. It’s as simple as that.

NAKED: Did you find that you were particularly teased at school? Was it a burden having such a condition as EDS?

GARRY: No. Once people knew I was stretchy and had seen it 2 or 3 times, it was not an issue anymore. I probably didn’t do it for years. When I started comprehensive school I remember making quite a lot of money with my first day at school charging 10p a pull and 20p to do-it-yourself! I probably ­made about £10 every year going around the first year students. They’d all be intrigued to know, so I’d go around and pose and take tens and twenty pences for a bit of a show.

NAKED: You had the idea of making it into a career quite early on?

GARRY: Yeah, and I left school when I was 15. I went to London with my father and learnt the scaffolding trade and got into construction. After about ten years of that I was a plasterer for five years, and I actually started entertaining about four years ago now. I did some snaps for The Daily Sport – I think I was in that every day for nearly a week or so doing a different stretch, a different story. It was hilarious. And I think about two weeks later, Channel 4 rung me up wanting to do a little show for Fortean TV. So I did that and within two months, Hollywood was on the phone, and that was when I went to set the record.

NAKED: You have a world record for pegs too.

GARRY: Yeah. Well obviously because I was in the book I was skimming through one day, and I saw this Swedish guy wearing 88 pegs on his face and I thought “bloody idiot!” I was sun bathing in the garden at the time and I looked up at the washing line and there were a couple of pegs hanging there so I reached up and put them on. I thought, “that’s not too bad, I could put loads on.” So I went to the local shop and bought them out of pegs and decided to do one side of the face and thought, “yeah here’s another record.” And I think I did over a hundred. Because the photos got in the papers it got a load of other people doing it! There’s a guy in Stoke, a couple of Scandinavians, an American and then it became a craze in Ibiza and Tenerife. They all get pissed on Tequila and fire the pegs on! So I started something! NAKED: What happened to you after setting these records?

GARRY: Without trying to find work in the entertainment game it was all coming to me. It was making a whole lot more money than the plastering so I soon put the trowel down. There wasn’t much thinking really; I had to do this. I must admit that at first I did feel quite ridiculed having loads and loads of people watching me. But I think that after having the chance of working the stage and realising that I could make people laugh without stretching as soon as I start my act, I got such a good feeling. By making people laugh at the same time, I just fell in love with entertaining. Four years ago I would never ever be an entertainer, not in my living life. No way would I be an entertainer. So it crept up on me and sucked me in.

NAKED: Does it cause you any physical pain?

GARRY: No, no pain at all. It’s quite natural to do it. The most pain I go through is putting brand new pegs on at the end of the night. When you get a new set of pegs they really do nip in! When you’re wearing about a hundred and fifty and they’ve all been there fifteen minutes they can bring tears to your eyes.

NAKED: Is there any kind of support organisation for EDS or your particular condition?

GARRY: There is the EDS Support Group. But when I started doing TV appearances they complained heavily saying “you shouldn’t be putting yourself on TV ridiculing yourself and ridiculing the disease.” I said, “excuse me, but its people like myself that have done the research for the condition.” For example, its like the Elephant Man, a freak giving themselves to science. That’s why they have all the information they have now. I did a show for ITV and that’s when all the fussed kicked off. Basically it went to a law court but thankfully they said that I was entitled to do whatever I wanted with my body.

NAKED: Really? It went that far?

GARRY: They tried to stop performing on TV! Because I wanted to find out more information about the disorder, my partner Jane joined the support group – they wouldn’t let me join. We sent a donation but they just ignored it. Would you believe that? Here I am with the stretchiest skin in the world – a classic case of EDS! NAKED: An amazing double standard. So do you find people prejudice to the more obvious physical freaks?

GARRY: I think that the opinions are just split all over the place. “Jesus Christ that is appaling!” to “Oh my God, that is funny.” The reactions are right across the board. You do that first stretch at the beginning of the show and you hear all the different reactions going off at the same time. It amazes people in different ways. Some people really don’t like it. When we get the girls up to pull my skin from the audience – they’re just normal members of the public – and I would say one in ten doesn’t want to do this. She doesn’t want to pull my skin which is ridiculing her, and its getting the audience laughing ‘cus she doesn’t want to do it which makes it good fun as well. But there is one or two that really don’t want to do – but they have too! (both laugh). I do think there was prejudice years ago but people’s thoughts have changed I think. And the freak shows are becoming more acceptable again and slowly but surely they are coming back. You see freaks on the magazine shelves. They’re in everything now. Which is fair enough I think. In the Victorian times people like John Merrick spoke out against the freak shows and the bad conditions. But when the freaks lived and toured together they earned a hell of a lot of money. They were very wealthy people. It was much better for them. The other option was to be in an institution or for the doctors to pull and prod at them. In today’s money, I the top earner was in comparison on more money than David Beckham (laughs). She was on $5000 a week in thirties! Yes, they were very wealthy people and those that didn’t earn as much money, still earned a lot of money in comparison to the average guy. They’d earn a few hundred dollars a week, when the average wage at that time was only about twenty dollars.

NAKED: Do you think despite the benefits you talk about – such as wealth – that it can be hard for a freak who cannot disguise their physical condition? Often freaks become alcoholics or commit suicide.

GARRY: I certainly don’t feel like that. But, I’d rather be how I am than be a dwarf. It doesn’t get me down in any way. No problems.

NAKED: Do you think that looking normal, yet at the same time being a classic example of ‘the freak’ has given you a unique perspective?

GARRY: I would certainly class myself as a freak, though to look at me you wouldn’t know that. I’m only a freak when I want to be, which is ideal. The way I see it anyway. It’s a great party piece. I just get it out when I want. It’s like a costume I’m permanently wearing that doesn’t bother me. I have some good fun with it.

NAKED: Have you been asked to take part in a “classic” freak show?

GARRY: I’ve been invited to Coney Island. A friend of mine Matt Fraser, who is a “thalidomide” and has flippers, did a documentary a couple of years ago about the old freak show artists at Coney Island. And he actually did the routine that they would have done. He re-performed Sealo the Sea Lion Boy’s act, the seal boy who performed in the thirties. He did his old act where he would have to bark and show himself off for fourteen times a day for about half an hour at a time. And I thought, “shit that’s hard work!” It doesn’t bother me, but when I am doing it all day for like photo shoots and then I do two shows it does start to get sore at the end of the night. But I consider it to be part of the job.

NAKED: Has the condition caused any problems? GARRY: The worst thing that has happened to me was about five years ago now. I was getting the traditional birthday bumps, when they throw you up and down by the arms and legs. I felt something strange happening, a sharp pain in my arm. I didn’t think anything of it for a few minutes. I took my coat and shirt off and there was literally no skin on my arm, it had all come down and folded up around my wrists. You could see all the inside of my arm and it looked pretty gruesome really. My skin can tear a lot easier than the average Jack. I think that with me being the way I am you learn to live with it. Sometimes when Jane and I are in bed, she’ll roll over and she’ll be led on my skin, she’ll trap me in (laughs).

NAKED: Do you think you’ll be doing stretching for the rest of your life?

GARRY: I’ll probably be doing this until the day I die. The specialist’s have told me that during old age I will get even stretchier. One of the tricks I do is where I have a half-size basketball and I throw it up in the air with a bit of backspin on it. I pull my belly out and catch it. So hopefully by the time I’m fifty I’ll be using a proper basketball! Maybe I’ll be able to pull my skin over my entire head too! I wouldn’t swap this life for anything else, there’s never a dull moment. I’ve realised that you learn a new thing every night, another reaction to work the crowd. And its such a good feeling when you can work that crowd. It’s a nice feeling to make people happy, make people laugh. People come up to you at the end of the night and say, “that was amazing! Great show!” It makes you feel good about yourself sending people home feeling that way. It’s very rewarding and great fun!

First appeared in Naked – Magazine of the Weird and Wonderful

(Photo and Words Copyright – Mark Berry)

Posted by Mark Berry – Photographer & Graphic Designer on 2007-05-26 12:23:02

Tagged: , mark berry , photography , circus of horrors , gary stretch , garry stretch , vampires , freak , sword swallower , skin , circus , horror , act , burlesque , rock and roll , big top , flickrtate , Anarchistic-Souls , hot cherry , bristol , uk , us , based , los angeles , LA , www.hot-cherry.co.uk , photographer , designer , writer

The post Circus of Horrors X appeared first on Good Info.

[jdawg-14-blog]

og posts on racism in global sport

 Introduction

 Racism is sadly involved in everyday life even currently; however, it has come a long way from how racism was dealt with and how severe the abuse was many years ago whether it was in everyday life, in sport or in the work place in every country around the world. Within this blog, I will be speaking about the issues that racism has on certain sports, athletes and how the media may portray racism, now and how the media may have portrayed it in the past. The two sports I will mainly be talking about in this blog will be football and rugby, I have chosen to look at these sports as I feel that as well as being two of the most spoken about and watched sports in the world, I have also chosen to speak about racism in sport as my topic as I feel passionate about this subject and interested to explore how racism has changed over the years and answering whether it will ever stop?

 What is racism and where does it happen?

 According to Adl.org racism at https://www.adl.org/racism [online] (accessed 27th May 2017) racism is “the hatred of one person by another — or the belief that another person is less than human — because of skin colour, language, customs, place of birth or any factor that supposedly reveals the basic nature of that person. It has influenced wars, slavery, the formation of nations, and legal codes.” The basic idea of racism originated as many as thousands of years where slavery was present and ethnic minorities were used in horrible ways, according to http://abolition.e2bn.org/slavery_40.html (last accessed 27th may 2017)the definition of slavery is where stereotypically richer white individuals or families would ‘buy’ the right to own an individual who then control where they live and what job they work. The ancient Greeks, romans, Incas and Aztecs all had slaves. Farrington et all says, ‘Race has been used as a mechanism to divide human groups based on physical differences such as skin colour, facial features, cranial capacity, etc. using skin colour as a primary marker of ‘race’ has been embraced’ this is another good example of a definition of racism as it can be quite hard when defining such a broad subject. One of the earliest and most famous examples of when racism has occurred­ was at the berlin Olympics in 1936 and is now known as ‘the Nazi Olympics’ due to the huge effect Adolf Hitler had on the world at that time and on those Olympic games. A black male American man had the most successful Olympics and had worked so hard to do his country proud I will be speaking more about Jesse Owens later in my blog. ­Another example of male ethnic minorities standing up to racism and slapping it in the face would be the two male boxers that (Long and Spracken 2010) speak about in their book. Jack Johnson and Cassius Clay, weren’t only elite and incredible boxers but were strong minded men who stood up to the white supremacists, the Ku Klux Klan and were set on gaining social justice.

 Racism within different global sports

Racism happens in a lot of sports around the world, Lapchick 2014 said, the year 2014 was filled with news stories about racism in sports. Although it seems we have made much progress in hiring practices in our front offices and league offices, there are still racial issues in sports we must deal with both domestically and, especially internationally. With 2014 being so recently this quote by Lapchick is supporting my points about racism still being recently present and has spoken about it being present in more than one sport. I feel that now we are growing into a more advanced future and freedom of speech is more blatant, I should compare what different sports do to reduce racism and how they deal with it. ‘kick it out’ is a campaign run within football and was established in 1993 (kickitout.org) they’re set out to ‘work throughout the football, educational and community sectors to challenge discrimination, encourage inclusive practices and campaign for positive change, the organisation is funded by the football association (FA), the professional footballers’ Association (PFA), the premier league and The English Football League (EFL). ‘kick it out’ was established as a body in 1997, and they have done an amazing job since then, making various television adverts and campaigns in other countries to spread this awareness. In 2006 Manchester City became the first club to achieve the intermediate level of the racial equality standard, showing that these premier league clubs are all opting in and taking part in this campaign. With this incident in mind, in 2015 there was a major incident involving Chelsea Football club’s fans when traveling to an away fixture against Paris St-Germain in the champions league. A middle aged black male was abused racially by a large group of these fans and was repeatedly pushed off a train and was chanted at in a racist way, the beam of light that came from this incident was firstly that these football fans were banned from all forms of football at stadiums for 5 years and Chelsea Football Club banned them for life. This allowed the nation to view the video that was captured of this incident and made people realise that racism still hasn’t been abolished via kickitout.org.

           South African Rugby team

 South Africa had the opportunity with a strong squad in the 2015 world cup to go on and win the trophy, however there was speculation when the manager picked his squad that he was racist and picked too many white players, this was a squad of 31 and eight black players were involved in this. Critics are saying that the team SHOULD include 30% of black players via (BBC Sport 2015) Oregan Hoskins said that efforts were being made to promote the game among black people, and he did not need a “lecture” on racial transformation, with Oregan Hoskins saying this according to BBC, critics also said that good black players were excluded and that racism is rife in South African rugby. South Africa was a country as of 21 years ago where white minority ruled and the past and the history the country has had it is understandable that some of the country’s press and leaders would feel upset and blame the coach for being a racist. The word racist can be thrown around sometimes but I believe that when picking a team for such a major sporting event such as the rugby world cup it doesn’t matter if the whole team was black or the whole team was white, if the coach believes that those players are the not only the best players in the country but the players with the most sporting attitude and behaviour also, colour should not determine whether they get into a team or not especially with south Africa’s talent and reputation. South Africa’s first black president Nelson Mandela in 1995 famously wore the jersey in a move at promoting racial reconciliation, from 1995 to now it may be upsetting for the black South African people to see this happening. (BBC 2015) quotes the South African rugby union president saying that it was “frankly laughable” that people were criticising the boss of the South African rugby team of racism and the rugby remains an “exclusive, white-dominated” sport. Mr Hoskins the South African Rugby union president also went on to say, “rugby has massively transformed since legalised discrimination ended”

     Ron Atkinson

The case of Ron Atkinson caught my eye when researching for this blog as he came up so many times and seems to be a hugely spoken about pundit, manager and analyst in football in 2004 he was caught on live television sayingReferring to the underwhelming performance of the French defender, Atkinson said: "He's what is known in some schools as a fucking lazy thick nigger."  This is a different case to the South African national rugby team selection, as this was blatant racism. Ron Atkinson according to the independent.co.uk 2004 ‘What he describes as “a phrase I shall always regret” barely needs recapping, given that it has come to define him. A microphone feed remained on after Chelsea had blown their Champions League semi-final at Monaco in 2004, for which he was an ITV analyst. When he racially denigrated Marcel Desailly half of the Middle East heard his words’ Ron Atkinson was in some ways unlucky to have been saying what he said and it to be broadcast to millions of people across the world, however this should not in any way be tolerated and the right punishment was given, according to the gaudrian.com “An ITV spokesman said: "We don't in any way condone the comments in question, which were not broadcast as part of ITV's coverage but were made in an off-air conversation after the game. It was a regrettable lapse by a respected and experienced broadcaster. "He immediately offered his resignation which we have accepted." Ron Atkinson has also said that ‘If you look at my track record as a manager, I was one of the first managers in the game to give black players a chance." This quote suggests Ron is trying to defend himself but there is no denying what he said, whereas with the other case of racism in the south African Team, there’s arguments and disagreements, Ron Atkinson has ‘held his hands up’ and apologised for his actions, but will always be known to this day as a racist. Now linking back to when I mentioned kick it out campaign they had their say on this incident and said, “I think it is always disappointing to hear someone of his stature make the type of comment that he has” (thegaurdian.com)

  Conclusion

 To conclude this piece of writing, I cannot tell you whether racism will be stopped ever, but racism has been dealt with in the past couple of years, however the incidents are fluctuating constantly with major incidents like I have mentioned above, to smaller racial slurs occurring in everyday life. Jesse Owens is a sporting hero to have achieved what he did in one of the toughest times in history to be of an ethnic minority, and will be remembered by black Americans and in general sporting history for his bravery and attitude. The South African Rugby team in 2015 may be remembered by the people of South Africa as “the team that was too white” and maybe if they had included their best black players they maybe would have won the tournament? South Africa finished 3rd that year and it would be interesting to see what ratio of black to white players they have in their next major tournament. Ron Atkinson may have not been a racist but once silly comment has cost his reputation and job and only he will know if he truly is a racist and has anger towards black people. I hope that racism will become abolished soon and in a way that will not cause more wars and with harsh sanctions if anyone is to be found of blatant racism, so that it will make this world a safer and friendlier place for future generations, with refugees and mixed cultures mixing around the world I feel this will be a hard task for campaigns such as kick it out and generally in the public.

  Bibliography

 Adl.org https://www.adl.org/racism

The Abolition project http://abolition.e2bn.org/slavery_40.html

Sport, racism and social media- Farrington et all pages 30-31

Long and spracken 2010- Sport and challenges to racism

Richard Lapchick 2014- ESPN.com

Kickitout.org. (2017). [online] Available at: http://www.kickitout.org/about/ [Accessed 28 May 2017].

BBC News. (2017). South Africa rugby boss denies racism in World Cup team - BBC News. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-34207135 [Accessed 28 May 2017].

Herbert, I. (2017). A career tarnished by racism - Ron Atkinson only has himself to blame. [online] The Independent. Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/a-career-tarnished-by-racism-ron-atkinson-only-has-himself-to-blame-manchester-united-a7310101.html [Accessed 29 May 2017].

 Herbert, I. (2017). A career tarnished by racism - Ron Atkinson only has himself to blame. [online] The Independent. Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/a-career-tarnished-by-racism-ron-atkinson-only-has-himself-to-blame-manchester-united-a7310101.html [Accessed 29 May 2017].