Twelve months ago there was a shop called Woolworths, Michael Jackson was planning 40 nights at the O2 Arena and taxpayers were unaware they had bought a duck house and adult movies.
Yes, 2009 has been a busy year. It has been dominated by MPs expenses and the credit crunch but the last year of the noughties was also the year of swine flu, Somali pirates, the end of the Tamil Tigers and 104 British deaths in Afghanistan.
The expenses scandal, unearthed by The Daily Telegraph in May, has cast a shadow over UK politics from which it seems it may not recover. Numerous current members have been forced to either resign or not seek re-election and Sir Thomas Legg has made no friends asking several of them to pay back expenses retrospectively.
The big name resignation was Speaker of the House Michael Martin, the first speaker to be forced out in 300 years. However, his successor was not without controversy. John Bercow began his career as a staunch right winger but won the election for speaker thanks to support from Labour who favour his maturing moderate tendencies.
However this years Lazareth Award goes to Peter Mandleson.
The EU Trade Commissioner rejoined UK politics after two resignations as a Lord and has been instrumental in keeping Labour in with a shot at next year’s election.As he said at the Labour party conference ‘Tony said our project would only be complete when the Labour Party learned to love Peter Mandelson.’
Although Mandleson has certainly stopped the free-fall in Labour’s polling numbers this year certainly belongs to Conservative leader David Cameron.The Prime Minister elect has been on great form both inside and out of the House of Commons, despite his communications director being implicated in tapping phone calls from members of the royal family while editor of The News of the World.
BNP leader Nick Griffin was a regular fixture this year winning a seat in the European Parliament and contentiously appearing on BBC flagship Question Time where he struggled against some tough interrogation.
Outside of Westminster it has also been a busy political year.
The EU appointed its first President and Foreign Minister in Belgian PM Herman Van Rompuy and Baroness Ashton respectively, a decision heavily criticised for lacking public involvement and ignoring diplomatic heavy weights like Tony Blair.
This was not the first time Europe had caused controversy in 2009.
In August Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, otherwise known as the Lockerbie bomber, was released on companionate grounds from a Scottish prison cell and returned to a heroes welcome in Libya.
This caused a huge stir across the world but most notably in America, where most of the victims had come from. The Secretary of State and heads of the FBI and CIA objected to his transfer despite al-Magrahi suffering from terminal cancer.
Later in the year another trial halfway across the globe caused a stir in the United States when American student Amanda Knox was convicted in Italy of the brutal murder of British student Meredith Kercher. The effects of the American complaints, which are heavily critical of the Italian police and legal system, are not likely to be known soon and Miss Knox will spend a significant amount of time behind bars in Italy.
In America the infamous Washington sniper John Allen Muhammad, who shot and killed ten people over three weeks in 2002, was put to death in Virginia after failing in his appeal to the US Supreme Court.
There has however been some good across the pond. In January the first black President was inaugurated (Twice), but President Obama has since seen his approval ratings crumble. He did controversially win the Nobel Peace Prize for his ‘aspirations’ towards world peace beating Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Recently Obama was forced to deal with substantial backlash from proposed health care reforms which, in a diluted form, now look set to take effect in 2010,
However, he did fail in his attempt to close Guantanamo Bay detention centre by the end of this year, although it may now move to Illinois.
2009 did see one detainee return to England. Binyam Mohammed had been held at the Cuban army base and is now searching to prosecute his captors for prolonged torture over his four year stay.
This his year it was an act of domestic terrorism which shook America to its core. In November at Fort Hood, Texas, 13 were left dead after an American Army psychiatrist went on the rampage. This was followed on Christmas Day with the attempted attack on a Delta Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit where a British educated Nigerian man allegedly tried to blow up the plane. In 2006 the liquid bomb plot caused a similar security scare and the men responsible for the attempted attack were found guilty in the UK this year and were all given hefty prison sentences.
According to Bush, Blair, Brown and Obama a large reason for our presence in Afghanistan is to stop terrorists like this. However it has come at a terrible price this year. 310 Americans and 104 British troops have lots their lives battling the Taliban and al Qaeda this year alone. Their sacrifice was unable to provide a democratic election with widespread rumours of fraud in President Hamid Karzai’s win which eventually were declared after Dr Abdulla Abdulla withdrew. Apparently there is light at the end of the Afghan tunnel with President Obama hoping the latest troop surge from both sides of the Atlantic will see soldiers returning home as soon as 2011.
Iran also struggled to hold elections this year with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad apparent election victory triggering protests in Tehran in which several people were killed. In December Ayatollah Montazeri died casting doubt over the reform movement in this strictly Muslim country.
One conflict did end with the British handing over power in Basra in June and the Americans withdrawing from Iraq in September.
The world was however nearly brought to its knees by the H1N1 Swine Flu virus. Cases started in Mexico during March and spread rapidly across the world. Although the feared global pandemic has not yet come to fruition people still hold reservations it may make a return in 2010.
There were also attempts to curb larger global problems. The G20 in London, marred by violence from protesters and heavy handed conduct by police led the way to the Copenhagen Climate Conference, and also global solutions to the economic crisis. Unfortunately for environmental activists the infamous Climategate e-mails dominated the news in the run up to Copenhagen with revelations of results tampering and selective publishing.
The summit, marred by protesters, police and poor organisation, may not have led to the deal which many campaigners wanted, but may have set the ground work for legally binding deals including financing for developing nations to develop green energy.
Available funds have been an issue now for nearly two years with both businesses and governments alike struggling to find liquid capital. Brown, Cameron and Clegg, along with every other party leader across the world have clashed over the issue of public spending cuts to cure the £820bn deficit. The right argues for rapid deficit reduction while the left believes it should be a more gradual process. Both claim theirs will avoid the dreaded double dip.
Bankers dominated the news with repeated calls for government bailouts and with the full extent of their involvement in the global economic collapse becoming clear. Sir Fred Goodwin, the head of Royal Bank of Scotland at the start of the crisis, retired with a £16million pension pot while unemployment rates rocketed to nearly 2.5million. As Christmas approached the some banks announced they were going to pay bonuses this year despite their taxpayer owned status.
Other countries have made progress with their problems.
In May Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was found dead after bloody fighting in North Eastern Sri Lanka effectively ending 26 years of civil conflict.
Nigeria also saw tentative steps towards peace with the surrender of militant leaders in May. It is hoped this may release valuable oil in the Delta region and encourage tourism in what many see as a failed state.
In other parts of Africa the problems keep mounting. Somali pirates have been a constant challenge regularly hijacking ship off their cost and holding the vessel and crew ransom. They are still holding a British couple snatched from their yacht in October.
Globally the biggest story of the year was the sudden death of the King of Pop Michael Jackson. The often controversial icon passed away in June.
More recently Tiger Woods drove into the headlines after a car crash led to revelations about extra marital affairs which have left his personal and professional life in the rough.
It has been a year of surprises and disappointments, the end of the first decade of the new millennium.
So what will dominate 2010?
Read the New Years instalment to find out.
Colin Rowe
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I was in India recently, and nearing Christmas and engaging in sometimes frivolous conversation with rickshaw drivers and the like, I often asked “what happens at Christmas time here?”. The general consensus was “a really big party”. – Nothing unusual there. But I had to ask, because I had to wonder. There aren’t decorations sprawling streetwards from businesses, or climbing lampposts and strangling trees. Christmas music doesn’t filter from speakers in lifts or lobbies or halls or rooms. There’s very little (if any) advertising for “Christmas bargains!” or anything of the sort.
Across one small span of ocean from India’s east coast however, you will find Christmas has taken on a traditional flavour of the sort we are more used to here in the western world. In Singapore, carols infest almost every space, with version upon version of all of the tunes we’ve come to know. There’s advertising on walls, televisions, radios, buses, trains and their stations – the list is almost endless. And I realise finally, after much detachment from the Christmas that I am used to, that we’re only a matter of days away, and the typical push for consumption and money that we see in the western world is indeed, slowly filtering in to the east.
But why not yet in India? Is this some measure of capitalism’s impression on a nation’s thinking? Is it a sign of just how far Singapore has come, and how far India is from really being the player on the world stage that they are hoping to be? (Don’t tell them). Look up how they celebrate Christmas in for example, Vietnam, Africa, Peru, Samoa or Uzbekistan (all of which aren’t yet dictated by capitalist ideas) and the focus seems to invariably be on celebrating family and feasting (just like India) – not spending and consuming.
The fact of the matter is that now, more so than ever, Christmas is a time when retailers can push consumers to give their profits one last positive kick for the year. It’s the months leading in to it that determine whether or not salespeople hit their targets, and if you’re part of this machine (as we inevitably are in western society), you’ll jump right on to the train of thought that Christmas capitalism teaches. What’s the point of really pushing for that consumer dollar (or rupee, as it were) if they haven’t yet inherited our culture of consumption and growth?
Seriously though, do we (or does anyone) really need an excuse to encourage consumerism in today’s consumption and growth-driven society? Where over-consumption and the inherent consequences of it (pollution, waste, global warming, climate change, death, greed, hunger, excess, detachment, escapism – the list is almost endless) are continuously and increasingly inhibiting and harming our lives and futures.
Are retail and commercial organisations not simply “cashing in on Christmas” in order to improve their bottom line? Is the fact that India wasn’t gearing up for Christmas (even in December) – where big spending of a commercial nature is only now starting to really grow – some measure of their society’s ability (or current inability) to contribute cash to the machine that Christmas has become?
The point isn’t to get back into church, and pick up your bible and speak to “God” (whoever yours might be) on Christmas day. The point is that the capitalist machine further and further infiltrates more and more aspects of our lives, wherever and whenever it can. Getting back in touch with giving thanks for family, friends and our relationships, and sharing merriment ought to be far more important, especially over the behest of capitalism’s grave desire for growth – or should we call it a majority contribution to the destruction of our earth? I’m sure the rest of the world will soon follow suit, because money is most important, right?
Carlos Hurworth
Golf is what you would call a gentleman’s pursuit. The players have never really reached the levels of celebrity of premiership footballers and you would not expect to see pictures of them falling out of nightclubs. Their clean-cut image has allowed them to maintain a certain persona unlike any other in professional sport.
This was true until the early hours of November 27.
When the news broke of Tiger Woods’ car crash nobody could have expected the repercussions of it not only for him, but for his sport as well. Tiger’s image has been especially important to him since becoming the youngest ever winner of The Master in 1997.
This carefully crafted appearance combined with talent, resulted in him becoming the best paid man in sport with major sponsorship deals from Nike and Gillette. A man who on the face of it really did have everything, including a Swedish model for a wife.
Now after these revelations about his private life he may end up with nothing. Gillette have already said they are scaling back his involvement with the brand and his hiatus from golf may dent his chances of reaching Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18 major victories which the 33-year-old trails by just four.
Tiger’s status does belong to one of those who outgrew his sport. Like Ali or the Williams’ sisters Tiger had unintentionally become a statesman for the coloured community. However is it the tackiness of his departure that is likely to be the lasting legacy?He’s tried in the last two weeks to shield himself and his family from the looming catastrophe. In the days following the crash he pleaded for personal space with his family and even his “confession” was candid apologising for his ‘personal sins’ in a statement not lacking in poetic flair.
An injunction in the UK has also tried to halt his character erosion in Europe, although many have pointed out we are perfectly capable of logging-on to CNN who are not covered by the injunction.
Golfers have been especially quick to jump to the sporting defence of a modern legend. Peter Allis, Steve Stricker and rising star Anthony Kim all praised him as an ambassador of the sport and even more realise how damaging a permanent departure could be both in terms of the sport and financially.
But is it possible for this disgraced legend to tee-off again?
Premiership footballers Ashley Cole and David Beckham have made successful returns after similar disgraces, but the golfing fraternity are likely to be less forgiving. Footballers can have affairs with cocktail waitresses without really raising an eyebrow. In golf clubhouses across the world it is more likely to be rumour mongering behind the persons back.
You cannot deny his effect on a sport seen by many as stuffy and old fashioned and it would be impossible to calculate how many young people have taken up the sport because of Tiger’s influence. His caddy, Steve Williams, has said ‘everyone makes mistakes’, a sentiment many onlookers sympathise with and has been used by many over the years, including President Bill Clinton, to explain away infidelities.
The major change is likely to be the face of the sport. Tiger has not appeared in public since the accident demonstrating he is capable of living away from the limelight. But a return to golf cannot be shrouded in secrecy and a quick high profile return cannot be conducive to saving his marriage or his reputation.
Colin Rowe
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Tiger Woods has placed an injunction on the British media to prevent new details about his private life from surfacing.
The move has been described as “unbelievable”, especially as the information is widely available in the US media.
Woods’ personal life has been intensely reported since he crashed his car two weeks ago.
You can read more on it here
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There are usually two types of reactions that the majority of people experience when confronted with the term “The Turner Prize”.
The first type of reaction involves a certain image springing to mind, usually resembling the notorious “My Bed” kindly contributed by artist Tracey Emin, in all of its blood-stained and defecated glory. This may then induce a grimace, or at the very least a raised eyebrow. The second type of reaction is more complex – drawing subconsciously on society’s depiction of the Turner Prize in recent history, certain words are flung about in the head; words such as “PRETENTIOUS”, “BULLSHIT”, “SADISTIC”, “INCOMPREHENSIBLE”. Thus, a decision not to spend a mere £8 at the Tate Britain is made.
Aside from the fact that £8 is hardly a fortune, (£6 with a student card, FYI) my fervent argument is that this year’s portrayal of young British artistry is actually quite compelling; with my task to convey this without giving the game away so after reading someone will willingly witness it for themselves (i.e. wishful thinking.)
So this year’s victims shape themselves to be Lucy Skaer, Richard Wright, Enrico David and Roger Hiorns. Collectively their diversity in medium is noticeable – from Wright’s use of paint and gold leaf to Hiorn’s scattering of atomised jet engine.
However it’s how they effectively DEAL with the art they have produced within the gallery space and the response it provokes that is most striking. One would think Skaer’s gargantuan partial adult male sperm whale skull (below) is the focal point of awe in the exhibition, but really it’s the way in which she hides its vastness from view so the only way we can mentally assemble it is through small gaps between the walls.
Labelled by various critics as “a modern fresco painter”, the viewer is naturally drawn to the physical intricacy of Richard Wright’s luxurious work, a wall of pattern convoluting and entangling itself.
Yet, the way in which it is placed speaks decibels louder than the work itself – at the very end of a truly humongous and very empty white room, commanding its own serenity.
Now, perhaps, a better understanding can be ascertained as to why the general public are so quick to judge this unjustly named “postmodernism”. It’s both easy and safe to form an opinion on a static image, but that only half-represents the work of the artist; the other half is the spatial gallery itself. The cliché “you had to be there” doesn’t just apply itself to a past it’s sell-by date joke. Granted, the setting itself is artificial, with major emphasis around the £25,000 prize. But the work, the very fruit of these artists labour if you like, speaks beyond such a competition. So disregard feeble headlines such as the Daily Mail’s oh-so-funny “A whale skull, heap of dust and rocking eggmen? Must be this year’s shortlist for the Turner Prize…” and trek to the Tate Britain yourselves.
Sophie McHiggins
The Turner Prize is announced Monday 7th December and the exhibition runs at Tate Britain until 3rd Janurary 2010.
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Those of you who look keen-eyed over the jobs section in newspapers must have noticed the journalism vacancies advertised by The Guardian over the past month.
With advertising, circulation and staff all being subject to cuts, it’s surprising to see a 12 month freelance position up for grabs. The Guardian is recruiting “beatbloggers” in Cardiff, Leeds and Edinburgh to document happenings in the community, as part of the Guardian Local campaign. While jobs in the media are slim pickings at the moment (does anyone still work in newspapers, or are we just reading archive manuscripts?) it’s reflective of the way the media will evolve in the future.
Citizen journalism, it seems, is the way forward.The ascent of blogging, social networking and rapid upload means that anyone can be a journalist, anywhere.While this raises issues about the quality of journalism being sustained, the fact remains that the media has been democratised like never before. With local newspapers in rapid decline, there is a fear that local authorities will be allowed to become corrupt. However, this hyper-local style of citizen reporting could help keep checks and balances on public institutions, as well as giving opportunity to people who traditionally saw the media as a closed and elitist world.
Getting a job in the media, and in particular as a journalist, has never been more difficult, but at this rate, the balance has somewhat been shifted in the advantage of the individual, not the organisation. The New York Times and Newsweek have announced massive cuts, and are panicking as to what to do next. We’re talking huge companies here, who are scrabbling around desperately to find ways to sustain their outdated business models.
Meanwhile an army of online bloggers provide easily accessible opinion and art available online for free. Granted, the development of the blog as a popular media platform has meant that a lot of self indulgent, narcissistic material gets produced. But at the same time, global networks are being set up between users, content is freely exchanged, criticised and promoted. At last month’s Journalism Leaders conference in Preston, Frederic Filloux, author of Monday Note blog, stated that the future lay in the mobile phone, and once technology was significantly improved, we would truly be able to produce and have access to news 24 hours a day.
I always think that there will be room for good quality analysis and comment in newspapers. I’ve yet to see anything that’s available exclusively online, bar The Huffington Post, that can consistently outclass broadsheet newspapers. But maybe I’m missing the point. Instead, online journalism needs to find it’s own niche. There’s no going back from this, the internet has opened up a whole range of opportunities to the media and to the individual. Where we go from here is unclear, but what is clear is that media corporations will have to gain greater understanding of the way the web works and how people want their news.
Joseph Stashko-Adamaszek
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