Slideshare by Graham Brown of mobileYouth investigates the role of social media in the London riots and also the cleanup campaign. The London Riots – wtf? (Graham Brown mobileYouth) View more presentations from Graham Brown (mobileYouth)Thanks for subscribing to Andy Roberts blogLondon Riots and Social MediaRelated posts:London social media developmentSocial media and musicians wikiThe Critics and Social Media
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London Riots and Social Media
http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/08/10/london-riots-and-social-media
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August 10 2011, 1:44pm | Comments »
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Spain reveals pain over cuts and unemployment
http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/05/21/spain-reveals-pain-over-cuts-and-unemployment
Spain protests: Young protesters in Madrid and beyond have many different demands, but they are united in opposing the Spanish governmentThis article titled “Spain reveals pain over cuts and unemployment” was written by Giles Tremlett in Madrid, for guardian.co.uk on Saturday 21st May 2011 11.59 UTCThe arrival of the table, a battered piece of formica bashed on top of four rough, oversized legs raised a cry of joy. Never mind that anyone on a normal chair would barely be able to see over the top – here was another small triumph of the new Spanish revolution, the gathering of angry Spaniards of all colours, ages and persuasions that is sweeping across the country and beyond its borders.The table that arrived in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol square was part of the swirl of creative chaos, naive enthusiasm and pent-up frustration that has transformed it into a makeshift camp for thousand of protesters who call themselves los indignados, the indignant ones.Tents and mattresses, armchairs and sofas, a canteen, portaloos and solar panels have sprung up in a remarkable display of organisational prowess. And the mass of people jostling around, each pursuing their own dream or demand, or just watching others doing the same, seemed more like something transported from the Arab spring in North Africa than from Europe.As the protests continued to swell on Friday, with 60,000 people defying authorities to obey the campaign’s “Take over the square!” slogan in dozens of Spanish cities, and with copycat demonstrations across Europe, the question was whether this was the new May 1968 – a youth-led popular revolt against an establishment deemed to have failed an entire generation.Esther Gutierréz, an elfin 26-year-old, wandered through the crowd with a battered shopping cart full of fruit.“We’ve got so much food we don’t know what to do with it. People just bring it to us for free and it’s wonderful stuff,” she said. “We want real democracy. Not just freedom for bankers. You’re not from the Spanish press, are you? We don’t speak to them.”Cynical and ingenuous by turns, the Madrid protesters and those who last week refused to obey orders to budge from the occupied city squares have torn up the rule book of Spanish public politics. The heavyweights of old – political parties, trade unions and media commentators – are not wanted here.“I was sacked when the Madrid regional government closed down a women’s centre last year when it imposed cuts,” explained Beatriz García as she bashed a small frying pan with a wooden spoon. “The unions didn’t even bother to turn up.”The political parties were worse, she said. “There is no renovation. There is nothing new or different, just two parties who take it in turn to govern because our electoral laws favour them.”Just a week ago Spain was known for the passivity of its citizens as they put up with one of the most depressing eras in recent history. Despite unemployment hitting 21%, widespread spending cuts and a socialist government bound to obey the diktats of Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the financial markets, they had refused to show their pain. Marches, sit-ins or riots were for the French – or British students. The real drama, anyway, was in North Africa. Spaniards stayed at home.All that changed this week as demonstrations organised via Facebook and Twitter became static protests in city squares, mushrooming into something that caught politicians, unions and the media by surprise.While journalists were following the dull routine of campaigning for Sunday’s municipal and regional elections, the steam was beginning to escape from a pressure cooker of discontent.Many Spaniards had told pollsters they were tired of the same, well-known political faces – especially those who are due to be re-elected despite being mired in corruption scandals. Politicians have rarely been held in such disregard, with the prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, and opposition leader, Mariano Rajoy, of the conservative People’s party, rating lowest. Rajoy seems set to take over after a general election next March.When police forcibly evicted the Madrid demonstrators on Tuesday morning, they came back in even greater numbers later that day. By Friday night authorities had lost the battle to impose rules banning public politics on the day before elections. Police could only look on. “Join us, police officers!” the demonstrators shouted.By the early hours of Friday, it was already elbow-room only in the Puerta del Sol – the square which prides itself on being Spain’s “kilometre zero”, the spot from which all other distances are measured.On the statue of King Carlos III, somebody had pinned a sign that read: “We are anti-idiots, not anti-politicians.” Other placards read: “We aren’t against the system, we want to change it”, “Democracy, a daily fight”, and “Take your money out of the bank!”“We’ve brought tents, food and even Trivial Pursuit to keep us entertained,” said Pablo Cantó, a fresh-faced 23-year-old journalism student. Like many younger protesters, and the movement as a whole, he had trouble expressing exactly why he was here. “We want change,” he said. “Things just can’t carry on as they are.”The heavy clouds of cannabis smoke suggested others had brought their own form of entertainment.“I’ve been protesting for decades,” said 60-year-old school teacher Rosa Marín. “I’m glad to see so many young people here. The questions is this: Is this another May 1968, or are they just here for the party?”A gang of drunken skinheads, mindlessly chanting football terrace slogans, were there for the latter.But a neat, disciplined circle of people intently debating social reform showed many were here in earnest. They took turns to stand up and make their proposals, the audience listening and using the sign language applause of the deaf – by shaking their hands above their heads – to show approval without drowning the speakers out.The proposals, due to make their way through a laborious process of committees, working parties and general assemblies, varied from calls for less spending on the military to helping businesses. “Because it is not just money for the owners. They are the ones who give people like us jobs,” said one young man.For some younger protesters, it was a political baptism. “I don’t know what will come out of this, but it is enough just to show everyone how upset we are,” explained Javier de Coca by phone from the protest camp in Barcelona’s Plaza de Catalunya, where there was a surprising absence of the nationalist or separatist symbols of protest movements in recent years.“It’s as if they’ve realised they have more serious problems to deal with,” said one protester. One of those problems is 45% youth unemployment.On a wall beside the tarpaulin-covered command centre in what some were calling Madrid’s “Republic of Sol” – home to a press office, an infirmary and a legal centre – a list of needs had been pinned up. Toilet paper and food were scratched off the list. Bookshelves, wood, rubber gloves and bottles of cooking gas were on it. Volunteers were needed for a creche.“We process the proposals and try to turn them into something that makes legal sense,” explained a volunteer at the legal centre.However, the open assemblies are painfully slow. Some last for hours, as everybody is given their turn to speak. After almost a week of protests, the demonstrators have failed to come up with a coherent set of demands.Electoral reform to end the two-party system and action to both punish corrupt politicians and limit their luxuries and privileges were the main areas of agreement.So is the Arab spring spreading to southern Europe? “You can’t really compare us to people who were risking their lives by protesting,” said 23-year-old computer engineer Jaime Viyuela. “But yes, you can say that we are inspired by the courage of the Arab spring.” guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010Published via the Guardian News Feed plugin for WordPress.Thanks for subscribing to Andy Roberts blogSpain reveals pain over cuts and unemploymentRelated posts:Zapatero says Spain safe from bailoutProtest march against coalition cuts expected to attract 300,000Anti-cuts campaigners plan to turn Trafalgar Square into Tahrir Square
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May 21 2011, 8:54am | Comments »
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UK Uncut accuses police of politically motivated arrests
The UK Uncut Campaign group are claiming that the police are trying to disband it following arrests at Fortnum and Mason sit-in.
This article titled “UK Uncut accuses police of politically motivated arrests” was written by Mark Townsend, for The Observer on Saturday 2nd April 2011 20.44 UTC Protest group UK Uncut signalled its intention to continue occupying high street stores as police released images of individuals wanted in connection with violent disorder. A spokesman for the tax avoidance campaigners insisted they would not be cowed, despite concerns that the Met is intent on disabling the group’s command structure and has “politically targeted” its ringleaders. The Met has charged 138 people – practically the movement’s entire leadership – with aggravated trespass after a UK Uncut occupation of Fortnum & Mason in central London during the anti-cuts march. A meeting of UK Uncut supporters heard that those charged have had their phones confiscated. The mobiles contain details of the group’s secure networks and email accounts used to mobilise and organise its actions. The group believes the decision to charge all those inside Fortnum & Mason was an attempt by police to crush the movement. Only two of its chief ringleaders were outside the store at the time. “Practically the entire UK Uncut was inside, but it’s definitely not the end of that tactic because most people can see that this is political policing,” said the spokesman. The group is baffled why Scotland Yard, which rejects claims of politically motivated policing, decided to charge its members while previous peaceful occupations had seen officers take no action. Video evidence reveals a senior police officer assuring protesters on the day that they would not be detained upon leaving the store. Meanwhile, Scotland Yard has released 18 images of protesters, unconnected to UK Uncut, that they are keen to identify in the wake of the disorder. The investigation, Operation Brontide, is expected to publicise more images, mainly from CCTV. The Met is eager to disrupt those engaged in “black bloc” tactics, and is believed to have footage showing anarchists removing black clothing, bandanas and scarves before changing into civilian gear to evade detection. Detective chief superintendent Matthew Horne, leading Operation Brontide, said: “A significant minority came to London to cause violence and damage. There is an extensive operation to identify these people.” Fresh claims of politically motivated policing have also surfaced in a report alleging that officers prevented Muslims from attending counter demonstrations against a major English Defence League rally. Leicester constabulary operated a policy of stopping elements of the Muslim community protesting against the EDL during a high-profile march in the city last October, according to the Network for Police Monitoring (Netpol). It said that the force attempted to dissuade Muslims through mosques and schools from protesting against the EDL demonstration at an authorised protest by Unite Against Fascism (UAF) on the same day, and issued leaflets advising that young people could be picked up and held in “safe areas”. Val Swain of Netpol said: “This is a strategy that we have seen up and down the country, and it appears to have been sanctioned at the highest levels. “The way in which the police are interfering in communities to deter people from organising and participating in lawful, legitimate protest is deeply disturbing. It is not for the police to decide which sectors of society are allowed to protest and which are not.” Saqib Deshmukh, a youth worker in the East Midlands, said it appeared that officers were willing to facilitate the EDL’s right to protest at the expense of the Muslim community, adding: “Certain groups of people are being denied the right to protest. It seems that the government is far more worried about the mobilisation of Muslim people than they are about the EDL.” Police in Lancashire adopted another tactic, imposing a limit of 3,000 on both an EDL march and one by counter-demonstrators in Blackburn to reduce the possibility of violence. The report by Netpol claims the reaction by Leicester constabulary could breach articles 10 and 11, the freedom of assembly and expression, of the European convention on human rights. It also reveals widespread disquiet over why the EDL was allowed to congregate in city centre pubs before the march and move close to Muslim areas. One community worker described their treatment as a “policy of appeasement”. The Leicester force has previously stated that it adopted polices to reduce the risk of public disorder and that it engaged with the Muslim community and acted in its interests.
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April 2 2011, 4:17pm | Comments »
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FE colleges hit by more cuts
http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/02/28/fe-colleges-hit-by-more-cuts
The principal at Barking and Dagenham College and others speak out against the cuts.
This article titled “FE colleges hit by more cuts” was written by Andrew Mourant, for The Guardian on Monday 28th February 2011 17.30 UTC College principals were still reeling from the news that the EMA was being scrapped when the Young People’s Learning Agency (YPLA) announced that so-called entitlement funding, which covers the cost of pastoral care, tutorials and extracurricular activities for 16- to 19-year-olds, was also to be cut. The news, which slipped out quietly just a few days before Christmas, came as a big blow for college leaders. Many were left wondering how they would fund the extras, such as work experience and volunteering programmes, that make all the difference in getting young people into work and higher education. Chopping back the annual provision from 114 to 30 funded hours will hit students hard at all levels, say principals. The most academically able students competing for Russell Group university places could struggle to access the kind of extracurricular activities that impress admissions tutors. Meanwhile, those getting a taste of real work at college – for example, those on enterprise programmes reliant on entitlement funding – may see such opportunities shrink. Asha Khemka, principal of West Nottinghamshire College, has described the move as “more serious than losing the EMA”. College leaders are still working out what may have to give. Nationally, £650m is being cut, although the government claims £150m will be redirected to benefit the poorest learners. Some principals are reluctant to talk about the impact: they are, after all, in the competitive business of trying to woo students. But from those who did speak to Education Guardian, snapshots emerge of rich provision at risk and difficult choices to be made. Alton College Alton is determined its high-flying sixth-formers will continue to get coaching in subjects such as digital photography and Russian to help them get into the top universities, but the principal, Jane Machell, fears “this could be at the expense of other things”. The college may also have to consider ending funding for gifted English literature students keen to attend creative writing and poetry workshops. Alton will also consider whether it can afford to continue running the Duke of Edinburgh’s award scheme and the full scope of its music provision. “We had a student last year who went to Trinity College of Music and played in five different ensembles here,” says Machell. “He wouldn’t have got in without that. We wouldn’t axe all of them, but we have to look at the breadth and range of what we run.” Barking and Dagenham College This college serves one of the country’s most deprived areas. The principal, Cathy Walsh, says entitlement funding cuts of about £1.7m will have “a devastating impact on our ability to deliver educational priorities”. For instance, Barking and Dagenham is one of only a few colleges investing heavily in “motivational dialogue” – coaching sessions where staff work to raise learners’ aspirations by getting them to reflect on the need to change and then helping them to take the necessary steps to do so. Success stories include one student with behavioural problems who changed his outlook on life and went on to lead a fundraising project for Children in Need. The college regards this as essential rather than optional work in a borough that has the country’s third-lowest literacy rate. “Many fall into the ‘at risk’ category and we find this improves their chances of success by up to 60%,” says Walsh. The college also has a strong focus on personal coaching, setting individual targets to improve academic performance. But all this draws on staff time and money, and the college faces hard choices about how far it can all keep running. Another distinctive programme is the Enterprise Academy, which secures “real work” from within the college and externally. “This helps to shape vocational and professional skills, all of which makes our learners much more attractive to employers,” says Walsh. The scheme currently has 70 projects on its books, from providing artwork and installations for a Metropolitan Police building, to catering and car-park marshalling. It has also won contracts to provide hospitality, and for landscaping and graphic design at Barking business centre. All this offers a taste of genuine work in an area that has the country’s second-highest level of neets (young people not in education, employment or training) and where youth unemployment stands at 18%. But such projects could suffer, says Walsh. Greenhead Sixth-Form College, Huddersfield Greenhead has a strong academic tradition – last year 32 students received Oxbridge offers. The principal, Martin Rostron, says the college will do all it can to maintain the tutorials, coaching and work-shadowing opportunities it offers to help A-level candidates compete with pupils from independent schools. But, he adds, “the little things that make a difference [to education] will have to go, left, right and centre”. The college also has a strong tradition of sporting excellence.Recently, two students were picked for the British Colleges hockey squad, and its football team was crowned West Yorkshire college champions. “Every year we get requests from sports associations asking us to support our students who have made it into the national squads,” says Rostron. “But where I might budget £1,500 for that this year, it won’t be there in future.” Competing at the highest level means Greenhead sports teams have to travel for fixtures. But, with reduced funding, such opportunities will be fewer. Meanwhile, quirky but highly regarded projects such as circus skills, which the college has helped to subsidise, will also be cut back. King George V Sixth-Form College, Southport The Duke of Edinburgh’s (DofE) award scheme, long at the heart of the college’s extracurricular activities, may be axed, a situation described by the principal, Adele Wills, as “very grim”. King George currently has more than 60 students taking part and could probably double that number, says Wills. Three members of staff are involved, along with an alumni association that regularly donates equipment. “Students go on great expeditions that teach leadership skills and endurance,” says Wills. “It’s part of the college’s ethos. It looks now as if the only viable option is to charge them. It’s a dilemma – if you can afford to buy it, you’ll always get it – but if you can’t, then you won’t.” The college faces a double squeeze because Sefton council is also withdrawing funding for DofE activities and Wills is concerned the scheme may disappear from the college altogether. North Warwickshire and Hinckley College This college, which has many students from deprived areas, has a well-developed programme of personal tutorials to discuss sexual health, drug and alcohol misuse, and personal finance that are “all essential to helping young people remain in education”, says the principal, Marion Plant, who faces losing £1.3m in entitlement funding over the next year. She is anxious to protect pastoral care but is now considering running more group rather than one-to-one tutorials, and, on occasion, using volunteers rather than paid staff. Students, many of whom cannot afford it, could face contributing more towards trips. Meanwhile, the college will double its efforts to create extra income through commercial activities such as running a market stall. Wigan and Leigh College Managing work experience for students to support their university applications may have to stop, says the principal, Cath Hurst. “We’ve placed students wanting to do medicine in hospitals, and those hoping for a career in law in the crown court. One who wanted to do a degree in forensic science went to a local undertaker to see if he could cope with dead bodies,” she says. Entitlement funding has given staff the time to arrange all this. They visit placements, check health and safety and hours of work, and, where necessary, carry out CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) checks, essential for working with children and vulnerable adults – all of it time-consuming. “The removal of funding means students will have to arrange these visits independently, and, for some, it will be hard,” says Hurst. “Sports, trips, music, drama, things that help people become a rounded individual, are also at risk.” York College As York comes to terms with entitlement funding cuts of £1.8m this year, it has become increasingly difficult to offer students involvement in volunteering projects, according to the deputy principal, Graeme Murdoch. “As a result, they’re having to use their own time,” he says. “However, due to the rising costs of education, many are devoting their spare time to part-time jobs.” In the past, the college has been able to react to “things that look good on the CV” – for instance, helping to create a local playground, or giving time to a hospice. “We had the capacity within the timetable, but we know we won’t now be able to,” says Murdoch. Careers education and guidance has also been hit, along with work placements and trips to universities that offer a taste of what higher education is all about and the choices available. Cuts will also prevent some students from taking part in sport and music.
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February 28 2011, 11:45am | Comments »
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