The Longest Economic Recovery in the UK’s History

National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) launched its latest economic review at the organisation’s quarterly press conference yesterday in Westminster,London.

The conference chaired by the organisation’s director Jonathan Portes, began with Dawn Holland’s presentation of “Prospects for the World Economy”. According to Holland, NIESR forecasts 3.7 per cent global growth in 2012 which will accelerate to 4 per cent in 2013.While the organisation assumes a delayed but ultimately successful resolution of the Euro Area crisis, it still expects a mild recession in the Euro Area and UK in 2012.

NIESR’s Director Jonathan Portes,Dr Angus Armstrong, Senior Researchers Dawn Holland and Simon Kirby at the orgnaisation’s latest press conference yesterdat in Westminster in London.

While China and India continue to drive the world economy, although slowing, the US economy will grow by 2 per cent this year, said Holland.

European Central Bank averted the immediate danger of second global crisis that almost occurred in December 2011 by pumping 530 billion Euro into European Banking system in February. However growth, restoration of fiscal sustainability and market confidence are depressed, tax revenues reduced by the fiscal austerity in those countries most affected by the crisis.

NIESR expects rebalancing of global growth as Euro Area recovers, the US economy picks up and China continues to slow. Although global current account remains elevated, it is not yet at pre-crisis level, further explained Holland.

Dr Angus Armstrong, Director of Macroeconomic Research at NIESR, examined the process of household rebalancing in the second part of the conference. According Armstrong, there is a broad agreement that prior to the crisis households increased borrowing and house prices rose sharply. The decline in global interest rates provided a favourable backdrop for borrowing. Armstrong suggested that the rise in households’ income inequality may have been an additional cause for the emergence of imbalances. For total consumption to even rise in line with income this requires more saving to be intermediated from the high to low income households. High income households must save more and low income households borrow more, according to Armstrong.

In the third part of the conference, Senior Researcher Simon Kirby presented “Prospects for the UK Economy”. 50 months after the recession ,the UK economy is still over 4 per cent below its pre-crisis peak and this persistent weakness is unprecedented , said Kirby.

The UK economy will remain flat, growth will be 0.1 per cent this year. Inflation has increased due to increase in oil prices and it is expected to fall below target (2 per cent) by the end 2012. Unemployment rate will increase to 9 per cent by the end of this year. These findings make the question of whether or not the UK economy is technically in a double-dip recession moot.

However this weakness is expected to persist until the end of 2012, said Kirby in the end of the conference.

Review: “Filumena”

If you have never applauded any piece of art until your palms hurt, you definitely will when you see the new version of  Eduardo De Filipo’s Filumena  by Tanya Ronder at Almeida Theatre.

You find yourself in a spring evening of 1946s Naples, as soon as you open Almeida’s door, after a cold andcold- war-like journey to Islington. You feel warm already. Red roses in an orange coloured Mediterranean house’s garden, where we see a romantic table set for two, makes us curious already, it becomes hard to wait to hear Filippo’s touching lines.Soft Italian notes in the background tell you that, you should enjoy this beautiful night even if the most annoying , smelly ignorant person in the world ,even if George W Bush sits next to you. And you do…

Diana(Emily Pulmtree)and Filumena(Samantha Spiro) at Almeida Theatre.

And not long after, Domenico (Clive Wood) appears in his pyjama-jacket, thumbing, slapping himself and calling himself stupid. You smile already, but it is not really funny because he has been deceived by his mistress Filumena(Samantha Spiro) who has lived with him like his wife for 27 years,looked after him and his business without being valued or appreciated.In the end she had to pretend to be terminally ill  to marry him while he was planning to marry her nurse Dianna (Emily Plumtree).He married Filumena as he thought she was going to die.But an illiterate former prostitute, Filumena made everyone, including priest and the doctor, believe that she was so near to death and recovered a minute after priest had wedded them.How could she do that? Her reasons are big enough to soften any stoned heart…

All she wants to get out of this marriage is Domenico’s surname, not for her but for her three sons, who have no idea who their parents are, and not known by Domenico yet. When Domenico brings a lawyer to prove that their marriage can be annulled by law as Filumena ‘s disease was a fiction and  violated law, misled Priest ;Filumena, who invited her sons to tell them that she is their mother,  agrees to leave his house. However she needs only five minutes to tell us something that is womanly passionate and motherly compassionate but socially unjust enough to wet our cheeks…

She tells us how she decided to become a prostitute at the age of 17 while starving in a basement slums with no education. How she felt that she never had a family all her life and longed to have one all the time. How she secretly had three sons for 26 years. And she confesses that she is their mum. That doesn’t seem to bother Domenico, while it shocks the sons.Domenico  still wants 22yo nurse. But Filumena has one more thing to say only to Domenico privately before she goes…

“One of them is yours “says Filumena and continues as Domenico tries hard not to believe her.“It was a single evening of so many we spent that way. But on that particular evening you said, ‘Let’s love each other for real.’ And you turned off the light. And I did that evening love you with my whole self. And at the end you turned on the light on and handed me a hundred lire. I took it you left. But I didn’t spend it, I wrote the date on it. Then I waited like a saint, for you, for months and months.”

Domenico seems to believe her this time and asks which one of three sons is his one. But smart woman Filumena, who foresees the consequences of telling him which one is really his son,says, “Each of them the same. They have to be equal.” She removes her locket, takes out a worn 100 lire note ,tears a corner off and gives it to Domenico: “This is for you.” , she says. “Because Domenico, you do not buy children.” , and she leaves.

From that point on the only thing we observe is that how sensitively Italian philosopher and playwright Filippo tells us what it means to be a parent for an aged selfish gigolo like Domenico and what it means to have a family for a traumatised fighter like Filumena and what it means to have parents for forgotten children like Ricordo(Luke Norris), Umberto (Brodie Ross), Michele(Richard Riddell) as Domenico and Filumena remain married.

The magically impressive stage of Flippo’s play, that will be on at Almeida Theatre until the mid May,is designed by  Robert Jones.“Three Men in Tails” , “I Did it” ,“Saturday, Sunday, Monday” are Filippos other well known plays.

Review: “Can We Talk About This?”

To the reader: This piece is written to protect existing national peace in the UK and international peace in the world from those art abusers who started to damage them both at the very centre of house of art namely at National Theatre in London on 09/03/2012. The story below is written to tell you the truth in a soft language after the author has witnessed how some tried to rape art  and forced it to become a prostitute of  money holders, who blindly and aggressively damaged and is still damaging the peace and freedom of speech in a show titled “Can we talk about this?” while craving for more power and superiority in the world. Not only art, but very precious human mind was also violated by an alleged artist who tried every kind of subliminal manipulation to inject those power hungry money holders’ aggressively divisive ideology.

This piece  should not be considered a review as the work staged at NT doesn’t qualify to be a play but an attack to damage peace in the multicultural British society.The script of this political masturbation masked with art is not sold anywhere in the UK.Why?Is it not the audiences’ right to know what they are going to hear before the show?

He was old,in his late 50s, fame was still a boyhood dream for him. He claimed to be an artist but he was not highly recognised as an artist and couldn’t produce anything last three years. He blamed this bloody global financial crisis. But he was hungry, he wanted nothing but bread, he talked, his breath stank. He was ready to do anything, he even stood up on his head, he became a chair for a woman, but he had insulted her just a minute a go on the other hand. His spirit had sunk, his mind stunk when he spoke. He was ready to do anything, everything, really anything just to stop himself from salivating.

The symbol of Christinaity is insulted subliminaly in this scene.

One day a group of men in black suit approached this fragile artist looking man. Their big black car and secretive manners told him about their power. They offered him bread but not only that also fame around his old and forgotten name. What was he going to have to do in return he wondered?

“All you need to do is to distort the truth and put it into every living human being’s mind. Can you do that?”, they asked. How was he going to do that he wondered? They laughed at his hopeless face and said: “Hey, old boy just go and collect the story of people like you , people who are hungry for bread and fame ,who  can do anything for fame , including attacking their own religion and identity. When you see them, you will know them. They look exactly like you. Start from Salman Rushdie, you know him? “Yes.” , he said quietly. “Great! Here is the money, go now!”

He could not look back even once. He ran to his favourite restaurant in Covent Garden and ordered his favourite dish. He dreamed of those veiled Arabic women after he had finished his food. “They look so sexy even under those black things.”, he said to himself and wished to be a soldier in the US army in Afghanistan.” “ Oh God!” he exclaimed quietly but the Italian waiter looked a bit surprised when she put the bill on the table. He looked at her, she didn’t look so bad but ,“I am fed up with those bigheaded western bitches.” , he confessed.

If it was not a coincidence that he and those men had similar fantasies about Arabic lands  and Arabic women, then what was it? The men in black suits didn’t only fancy Arabic women but they would also die to own oil resources in Arabic lands.They would even kill and die.That night none of them could sleep. They all screamed while they masturbated dreaming of owning Arabic lands and Arabic women in their beds.

While they masturbated in their beds, desperate artist had to look for a way of departing Muslim women from their families, so he attacked them by criticising forced marriage. That was more important than anything else. He could forget about Rashdie for a while. Breaking family union, irritating women in order to take them to his and his patrons’ beds were more important. That (destruction of family union)was successfully done in many Western societies including British which are now sick and still trying to recover as a result.

He did that in the name of woman rights. “Spineless Pussy!” he exclaimed in the middle of the National Theatre referring British Government while looking into British people’s eyes. What kind of idiotic pussy licker could say that to British Government for welcoming diversity and resisting division? How could he insult a government by calling them “Spineless Pussy!” while trying to defend woman rights?Was he insulting women or defending them?

Now it was the time to let Rashdie, who attacked Qoran and offended millions of Muslims around the world in his book “Satanic Verses”, speak: “It is very, very easy not to be offended by a book. You just have to shut it.”, he said in his defence. I would like to ask him, If I said that Rashdie was such a desperado who was never loved since his childhood and in the end he had to that to get the national and international attention he had always dreamed of, would he just hit the “close” button or would he  get offended?

While the men in black suits groan at the backstage of NT, this quasi artist starts talking about the another artist who drew cartoon of Prophet Mohammed, and the case of Theo Van Gogh and another case Florida pastor who attempt to burn copies of Qoran to divert global attention onto himself just before 9th anniversary of 9/11 attack. Another case, and another and all the cases who attacked Islam and Muslims for the same reasons in the last 30 years.

He attacks Christians for their tolerance of Muslims,he claims Western people ,who have been on the streets for their rights since the end of 2010, have been paralysed for a long time. What he actually means by that  is this, those money holders whom I sold my art are going to attack Iran,please West support us in our unjust act.He begs them and violates their minds to convince them.British audiences laugh but not loud as they are always polite.But he pathetically continues and  praises Jews as superior to all the other races in the world, but he selectively forgets to mention how many millions of Muslims have been killed and burnt since 1948 in Palestine. He tries very hard to blind you to Israeli airstrike in Gaza that has started at this very moment.While he trivialises all these attacks against Islam and Muslims, he doesn’t realise that he actually attacks free minds of audiences who are there to enjoy art not a cheap preach as he tirvialises them,too.

He even dares to hand a leaflet to audiences to spread this aggresively divisive ideology in order to complete his job. The men in black suits groan, louder and louder until audiences get restless in their seats and suufer from headache in the end. Suddenly one of them takes off his black suit in the mouth of another fame hungry actor and we see that this documentary combined with dance, that is designed to manipulate audiences’ perception subliminally against Islam is the work of bunch of Zionists. It has got nothing to do with genuine Jews. The fragile hungry artist and the group of Zionists say:“Can we talk about this? , with no orgasm in the end.

I would like to apologise to all the playwrights from Thespis to Shakespeare, from Bertolt Brecht to the ones who are in the process of writing their first plays for writing about this cheap ,peace damaging work which is presented to British people as a play. However I feel obliged to raise awareness of all the art lovers. My dedication to art also forces me to ask why National Theatre agreed to stage this aggressively divisive  work? Can we talk about this National Theatre?

Reminder: This piece is not written to defend any religion but to protect peace between believers of three major religions in the world.

Review: Bingo

“The contradictions in Shakespeare’s life are similar to the contradictions in us. He was a ‘corrupt seer’ and we are a ‘barbarous civilization’. Because of that our society could destroy itself. We believe in certain values but our society works by destroying them, so that our daily lives are a denial of our hopes. That makes our world absurd and often it makes our own species hateful to us.”, says Edward Bond in the introduction of his play “Bingo” that will be on at Young Vic Theatre until the end of March.

Those who experience what exactly Bond says in their chaotic daily lives but can’t describe the situation as clearly as he does, will be leaving their seats with the same question in their minds: “How long have I been dead?” just like Shakespeare does in the end of the play. However when they open the Young Vic’s door to the most absurd world ,where all their human values are trivialised and all humans are valued with the money they have ,after the play will they be able to ask the same question until they find the answer and stop the destruction? Will they be able to afford the truth without being a murderer or dead? Shakespeare could not, in fact, chose not to in Bingo, but that cost him a lifelong inner war and suicide in the end.

Patrick Steward as Shakespeare and Richard McCabe as Ben Jonson in Edward Bond's Bingo at Young Vic Theatre.

When Patrick Steward appears amongst the audiences and walks to his garden all in brown outfit as Shakespeare, real mixes with unreal, past penetrates into present and one year of his life takes two hours of our future. It is 1615 winter, the year when Welcombe enclosure takes place, aged Shakespeare is at his Warwickshire house after long and prolific years in London. He looks tired,withdrawn,all in his own world.All he does and wants to do is to sit in his garden and think,but will people around him let him do that?

Audiences become imaginary and  play becomes real, when a poor woman shouts at Shakespeare for help behind the garden gate , that is placed between two rows of seat.It becomes obvious that stage is not big enough to satisfy the director Angus Jackson ‘s appetite for perfectionism.

The poor woman begs for money ,Shakespeare ,who is too far from where he is,most probably in the world of ideas,reacts  slower than his old gardener. The old man manages to let  her in, touch her breasts and hides her in the back to have sex with later, until Shakespeare goes in to the house to get some money for her. She is beaten and hungry. We see violence, poverty and deep division of the society in her. Will Shakespeare, who hates his ill wife and own daughter Judith, insults them  in every opportunity, tries to love them with money and slowly corrupts them, do something for the people like the poor woman  in the town or will he let them suffer as a powerful artist?

Big land owners Mr Combe and his two friends persistently ask Shakespeare to stand on their side for his own benefit during Welcombe enclosure which  they want  to begin soon.Mr Combe asks Shakespeare to sign a contract to secure his lands and rents but in return not interfere  enclosure of the common fields once in the first scene. When he comes back after six months Shakespeare says:“I want security. I can’t provide for the future again. My father went bankrupt when he was old. Too easy going.” and signs the contract. People in town begin to suffer, violence, poverty increase, Shakespeare begins to die slowly from that point on and he asks himself:

“What does it cost to stay alive? I am stupefied after suffering I have seen.”

He is also  hated by his author friends like Ben Jonson( Richard McCabe) who says: “I hate you because you smile. I hate your health, I am sure you will die in a healthy way. Well at least you are dying.”

Shakespeare lies down in the snow just before the play ends and asks again just like his characters transfer their insights to the audiences in his plays: What is the ice inside me? The plague is hot, this is so cold. Truth means nothing when you hate. Was anything done, was anything done?”

Socialist playwright Bond collected historical facts about William Shakespeare’s acts on Welcombe Enclosure ,that are hardly mentioned in any of Shakespeare’s biographies,from E.K.Chambers.Bond’s Bingo was  premiered in 1973 at Northcott Theatre in Devon and revived many times before it came to Young Vic Theatre last week.

Will Euro Area Solve its Crisis in 2012?

National Institute of Economic and Social Research announced its latest forecast on the world and the UK economy and launched 219^th review at the organisation’s regular press conference in Westminster yesterday.

“Prospects for the World Economy” was presented by Dawn Holland, NIESR’s senior research fellow, at the beginning of the conference. According to forecast, that is broadly in line with “muddling through” scenario from October 2011q3, presented by Holland:

NIESR research fellows Angus Armstrong,Simon Kirby, Dawn Holland and its director Jonathan Portes at the institution's press conference in Westmisnter.

NIESR estimates the global growth to be 3.5 per cent in 2012 which is to increase to 4 per cent in 2013 .However it also expects a mild recession in the first half of 2012 in the Euro Area and the UK. Whether European leaders move towards stronger economic and political integration and in the direction of fiscal union or towards a weaker union, entailing development of an exit strategy from the Euro which will be costly; they have to be decisive to solve the Euro Area Crisis. The Institute assumes that the commitment to monetary union and the benefit this has brought to the area since 1999 will override the commitment to fiscal independence-as proved by 9 December move towards a new fiscal compact. It expects European leaders to reach a decisive agreement by the second half of 2012, which will ensure European sovereigns can meet their borrowing needs at reasonable rates of interest.

While EU searches the best solution for its debts crisis, the US economy surprisingly grows. In the last quarter of 2011, GDP rate increased to 2.8 per cent. The unemployment rate fell from 9 to 8.5 per cent in December. While share prices increased by more than 10 per cent; inflation remained relatively moderate at 2.6 per cent. However GDP growth expected to be 2 per cent in 2012.

Canadian economy, that is sensitive to developments in the US, expanded by 2.4 in 2011 and is expected to grow by 1.9 per cent in 2012.The inflation rate of the country rose from very low level in 2009 to 2 per cent in 2011 and is expected to fall this year.

Brazil’s economy, that has now overtaken the UK as the world’s seventh biggest economy according to IMF World Economic Outlook database, expanded by 3 per cent in 2011 and is expected to grow by 3.75 per cent in 2012 and 4 per cent in 2013. Even though the country succeeded to lower its income inequality from 60.6 to 53.9 from 1990 to 2009 according to World Development Indicators of the World Bank, its inflation rate exceeded the target of 6.5 per cent by 0.1 percent in 2011.

Japan economy has started  to recover from the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami and is expected to grow by 1.75 per cent in 2012 and 1.5 per cent in 2013.

GDP growth of China that dropped from 10.4 per cent to 9.03 per cent in the final quarter of 2011 is expected to grow by 8.5 per cent in 2012 and 8 per cent in 2013.Inflation in the country fell in the second half of 2011 to 4.1 per cent from 6.5 per cent. Since 2007 credit crunch, the world has been witnessing a gradual internationalisation of Chinese Renminbi meaning residents and non-residents use the currency to invest, borrow and invoice outside the home country.

Indian economy grew by 7.3 per cent in 2011 and will grow by 7.25 per cent in 2012 while inflation is estimated to increase to 8.3 per cent in 2012.

Simon Kirby, NIESR’s senior researcher, presented “Prospects for the UK Economy” in the second part of the conference. Kirby explained that:

The UK economy,that  is currently suffering  from deficient demand, is expected to contract by 0.1 per cent  while facing a technical recession this year but grow by 2.3 per cent in 2013.While consumer price inflation falls back to 2.2 per cent this year and 1.4 per cent in 2013; unemployment is to increase to 9 per cent in 2012. The country’s budged will return to its balance in 2016-17.

Senior research fellow Angus Armstrong presented his newly published commentary on Scotland’s currency and fiscal policy ,considering the emerging economic framework for an independent Scotland in the third part of the conference.

Review: The Trial of Ubu

If you have never seen how radical directing can murder every word of an author then you must have missed the new version of Alfred Jarry’s play Ubu Roi by Simon Stephens at West Hampstead Theatre .Every scene of  “The Trial of Ubu” screams Katie Mitchell’s name as Mitchell has stamped them wildly and violently.

Audiences get their first surprise when they watch a puppet show in a metre square window of newly made shiny big wooden stage that outlines the story with a dark humour. It is the story of a dictator King Ubu who oppresses, tortures, kills hundreds and thousands of people to satisfy his greed for money and power like all the dictators in the world’s history. Simon Stephen’s creativity with words during the puppet show gets overshadowed when little puppets have wild sex, betray and greed for more money and power. Audiences don’t even hear Stephen’s  new word “Nobster” as  they laugh during those lines. However  that tells more about them not Stephens.

Interpreters Kate Duchene, Nikki Amuka-Bird in rehersal of The Trial of Ubu.

Following Katie Mitchell’s witty idea of puppet show ,that was done to shorten  436 days trial in the courtroom; only the middle part of the stage opens and two interpreters appear to be waiting anxiously on their highly equipped desk. It is January 2010, The International Criminal Tribunal , sitting in the Hague, day 436.We hear King Ubu’s all kinds of “ CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY” and absurdity of International Justice System that struggles for 436 days to arrest such a grotesque amoral megalomaniac dictator. We only hear what has been said in the court as two interpreters, Kate Duchene and Nikki Amuka-Bird, interpret tirelessly and breathlessly.

In the end of the 436^th day of the trial King Ubu asks Judge: “Is the building this big to keep me inside or is it this big to show everybody how hard you are trying to keep me inside? Is the architecture for me or is it for all the people gathering outside the front gates? Or watching on the television?”

When Judge says architecture is only functional Ubu asks again:

“Do you know what is going on in my head as I stand hear listening to you talking about honour and about law and about justice and about things that I have done? Spion Kop 1900.Guedecort 1916.Constantinapole 1915. St Petersburg 1905.Munich 1923.Gijon 1936.Berlin 1938.Warsaw 1943.Tarawa 1943.Davao 1941.Belsen 1943.Nagasaki 1945.Dresten 1945.Algiers 1957.Saigon 1968.My Lai 1968.Biafra 1969.Phnom Penh 1975.Sharpeville 1960.Tehran 1988.Santiago 1990.Beirut 1983.Kabul 1980.Sarajevo 1992.Nyarubuye 1994.Grozny 2000.Port au Prince 2004.Omagh 1998.Manhattan Island 2001.Baghdad 2003.Gaza 2009.

Prosecuter(George Taylor),Jailor(Rob Ostlere),in rehersal of The Trial of Ubu.

After hearing these golden lines of Stephens that are almost lost in the fastest speech of the interpreters , we get disoriented once more when two other parts of the stage open and King Ubu eventually appears masturbating  in his cell while counsel for the defence and prosecuter smoke outside and think what they do is a moral masturbation.

The play ends without the beautiful transfer of characters’ intense emotions to the auidences as Mitchell has sadly turned them all into robotic creatures in her highly technical play.

Stephens’ satirical play The Trial of Ubu  was first staged  with Ubu Roi at the Schauspielhaus Essen in a co-production with the Toneelgroep Amsterdam on 16 April 2010 and it was transferred Toneelgroep Amsterdam on 1 May 2010. The play will be at West Hampstead until 14 February.

Is There a Resolution to the Euro Area Debt Crisis?Answers NIESR

National Institute of Economic and Social Research announced the world and UK economy forecast for 2011q3 period at a press conference in Westminster, where the organisation also launched its economic review no:218, yesterday.

The conference began with senior research fellow Dawn Holland’s presentation of the prospects for the world economy.

According to Holland’s presentation the world growth is to slow to 4% in 2011 and 2012.While China continues to drive global economy with %9.2 growth in 2011 and %8.6 in 2012; US economy that fell to %1.8 in 2011 will experience another fall by %0.2 in 2012.Japan economy that was damaged by the twin disasters in March 2011 will grow to %1.9 in 2012 from %- 0.3 in 2011.Canada’s economic growth will drop to %2.1 in 2012 from %2.4 in 2011. China is expected to overtake the US as the world’s largest economy by the end of 2018,explained Holland.

Dr Angus Armstrong,NIESR’s director Jonathan Portes,Research Fellows Dawn Holland and Simon Kirby at NIESR’s 2011q3 press conference in Westminster,London.

The probability of double-dip recession will remain high in Euro Zone of which economy will be driven mainly by Germany and France. However Germany’s growth will drop from %3.1 in 2011 to %1.6 in 2012 while France economy shrinks by %0.6 in 2012 due to Greece’s debt crisis and expected second recession in Portugal, Italy and Spain respectively. Japan is also expected to
have second recession in 2012 according to NESR 2011 third quarter forecast.

Global share prices rose sharply in the final quarter of 2010 and first quarter of 2011,but have fallen in the third quarter of 2011 due to deepening Euro Area Debt Crisis and downgrading of US government debt. Share prices in Japan, Canada and the US have dropped by %10-15 since July 2011, while Germany’s shares decreased by more than %20 due to ongoing global financial crisis and intensifying worries of double deep recession, further explained Holland.

Is there a resolution to the Euro Area Debt Crisis?

NIESR’s senior research fellows Dawn Holland and Simon Kirby explained that despite the 26 October 2011 outline of the leaders to tackle the crisis, Euro Area’s financial crisis continues deepen as uncertainties remain. However the Institution has three  possible scenarios for Euro Area .First one is “Muddling Through” where risk premia remain at current peaks up to a year. The second scenario is one of the sovereign default contagion. The third one considers Greece’s exit from the Euro Area.

Despite the fact that some policy makers hinted that allowing or forcing a Greek exit from EMU to the Euro Area debt crisis and some commentators supported it, it is dangerous even to contemplate such a move, as it would cause a run on Greek banks, collapse of the financial system and widespread bankruptcy with possible contagion to other economies, say NIESR’s
research fellows Holland and Kirby.

The UK economy, that has been experiencing the longest recovery since the end of the World War I, is expected to expand %0.9 this year ,%0.8 in 2012 before increasing by %2.6 in 2013.However it will stagnate at the end of this year and in the first quarter of the 2012, explained Simon Kirby in the second part of the press conference.

Consumer spending in the UK is expected to fall by %1 according to forecast while business and housing investments fall next year by %3.5 and %2.2 respectively. Unemployment is to rise to %8.9 at the end of the 2012.

Probability of second recession in the UK is expected to be %70 according to NIESR estimates which don’t take policy responses into considerations.

I Fell Apart When Art Was Attacked

13 days have passed since I saw the art having a heart attack for almost three hours on the great stage of National Theatre, Olivier,but couldn’t resuscitate. I have remembered it at least once or twice a day and wanted to raise my voice to get rid of the guilty feeling of not being able to rescue the art for 13 days, however my mother’s words got louder in my mind. “If you don’t have anything nice to say just keep quiet!”

When I visited National Theatre once again,today, I have decided to ignore my mother’s words and shout back at Mike Bartlett’s play “13”as loud as it shouted at me for two and a half hour. Disturb it as much as it disturbed me with its lack of creativity and artistic sensitivity, cause its makers to lose their sleeps just like they did to me and in the end asked me sarcastically how I am  sleeping these days.

“13″ is at National Theatre,Olivier.

None of us have been sleeping well since we entered the”Awakening Era” .Since we were woken up by WikiLeaks from a long term confusion that had been injected us in the name of Modernism. Since almost every government declared “Information War”against their own people, since uprisings and protests spread the world faster than light speed and bled billions, left millions of dead behind,since we had no voice to stop any of those wars, since we witnessed that laws were there to protect the rich and silence the poor, we lost our sleep. We are all aware that the global turmoil will continue and we will remain insomniac until the world changes in a way we want.

However none of us are ready to look into mirror neither to see our loss or our insomniac face nor the damage of the change which we have been trying to bring to the world , yet.

Have you ever looked into the mirror straight after you had a car crash while you were still bleeding or straight after your surgery while your wound was still recovering? What would be  your reaction if you had to?The expected reaction is that any human being would get scared,panic and naturally scream in that situation.That is what exactly happens when artists mirror the social or political chaos on the stage while it is still ongoing and while people are still trying to recover from it. There is no way of stopping us from screaming unless (s)he suggests  some real solution to the situation in an artistically sensitive way.

Bartlett doesn’t only hold us a mirror to show how terribly we have bled and are still bleeding; he doesn’t only show us how horrible our wound looks after the surgery, but he also excitedly acknowledges us that we have to go through another big surgery, which is Iran War, like an insensitive surgeon, in his new play “13”.At this point he scares the audiences, makes them feel guilty of the situation and distances them from art. Bartlett also undermines the intelligence of his audiences when the play starts to sound preachy rather than witty, maybe without realising.

These are not the only reasons that bring failure to Bartlett’s “13”, the weak connections between too many characters, shaky ground of the plot that lacks a deeper-broader research about Middle East and its connections with the World, judging possible Iran War from only West’s point of view,not inadequate but artificial empathy for the Middle Eastern people whose countries were attacked and who were victimised by the West,whose victimisation stories cashed in by opportunistic Western artists, are the other elements that make audiences even more insomniac when they leave the theatre.

Audiences don’t go to theatre and spend almost three hours to get irritated and preached at too loud on the false basis. Any artist who respects her/his audiences should and would know that. Otherwise they will be attacking even abusing  art as well as art lovers.

Her Inner War

She looked around as if she wanted make sure that they were all safe and accepted where they just entered and sat. I caught her mothering eyes that were maybe expectedly full of self sacrifice, endless hard work and worries. But she smiled just like a mother, I sent her some understanding and admiration in my smile. She stood up, looked around once again with confidence and countless responsibilities on her shoulders. Her children’s hunger and husband’s irresponsible manner took her to Italian waiter in the smell of strong coffee mixed with Vivaldi‘s notes.Her little daughter instinctively followed her.

When we have inner war...

He must have found it too much to smile at his own son. How could he incredibly manage to do that? The son’s eyes were childishly begging for attention maybe more for compassion of his father. How could he break this invisible barrier between him and his father which was as tall as the Berlin Wall? He tried a few jokes first. It didn’t work. He pushed his own chair back and nearly fell, that wasn’t good enough. Surely there was a way to make him feel his father once more…

Her suspicion made by tasteless experiences travelled from the queue ,where she was standing ,to their table, where her son was still struggling to play with his judge looking father, through her glasses hand in hand with her distrust to present that was wounded by the past.  She managed to bring food and drinks of four in one tray just like how she kept her family together for years. After all she was a mother.

She faded their hunger, she warmed their hearts with her stubborn smiles, now it was time to plant beautiful thoughts in kids’ minds. She took them upstairs to get some books but he didn’t bother to move. A man in his late 40s didn’t seem to love anything apart from his cruel self. But what was wrong with her poor self? Was it an irreversible mistake? Why did she have to be with
him? Or did they fail to preserve their love as they changed? Was it that crisis that they were struggling to cope with at their middle age?

He had a break from himself and started to look around in their absence .I so much wanted make him feel ignored, make him feel nothing, but surely time was going to take her revenge. I saw him watching women around him while I was breathing with Seneca. He caught my eyes, I sent him some insult and some shame, and that was my revenge.

They came back with colourful books in their hands and with a little noisy smiles on their faces. She looked at me a little differently this time. I felt her fears, but I know it wasn’t me who she feared ,it wasn’t my eyes that briskly escaped from Seneca’s vague  silhouette on the page and brought the darkest fears to  her face mirroring her inner war. Yes, that wasn’t my eyes that was her inner war. And I sadly knew that millions of other women were sent to the same war…

Nine Years on 9/11

It was a great game to divert  all the international attention to fame hungry Florida pastor Terry Jones, who claimed to burn copies of Quran on  ninth anniversary of 9/11, and blur public vision in the USA  where people are still suffering from the aftermath of the attack.

Americans and citizens of other countries were confused. Some might have asked themselves whether the world was going to have a religious war after deliberately created tension  between Islam and Christianity. But we all now know that confusion is the best policy of every government in the world when they have something to hide  from their publics. So they did.

The moment of 9/11 Attack in New York which has no clear reason of its occurence nor evidence of its criminals yet.

The game’s aim was not to give a chance to the majority of  the world  to question the attack that ruined many Americans’ lives and has been ruining thousands of innocent Afghans’ lives. What exactly happened on 9/11,why did it happen, who really did it ,where were the governors when it happened  ,if they did not do enough to stop it were they also involved, what have they been doing  to answer all these questions and clear up all the fog in the air of last nine years?

“We believe the official account of 9/11 as defined in the 9/11 Commission Report is grossly inaccurate and fatally flawed. We, the numbers of US Military Officers for 9/11, believe that there remains a pressing need for a new ad independent criminal investigation into the events of 9/11.”, stated ,the US Military Officers and launched a  petition for a full unbiased investigation and prosecution of these crimes against humanity at a press conference in New York on the ninth anniversary of the attack according to the press release.

Simultaneously in Los Angeles, similar press conference brought other non-profit organisations such as “Scientists for 9/11 truth”, “ Actors and Artists for 9/11 truth” together and unveiled their websites with evidence based findings which proves that the official 9/11 narrative is not trutful and used to justify the war in Afghanistan.

9/11 truth Movement includes many organisations of professionals such as “Architects and engineers for 9/11 truth”, “Pilots for 9/11 truth”, “Firefighters for 9/11 truth”, “Medical Professionals for 9/11 truth”, “Lawyers for 9/11 truth” which  now have enough evidence to say that the world has been lied to since 2001  and demand a truthful report from US Government.

“9/11 has been excuse to use our brave young troops as cannon fodder in unjust wars of aggression.” ,reportedly said Robert Bowman, former Director of Advance Space Programmes Development Lt. Col. in LA.

Weeks before the anniversary of the attack  Cuban Leader Fidel Castro also explained how Bush administration used 9/11 as an excuse to justify the war in Afghanistan on Communist Party Daily, Granma. “Bush never lacked for Bin Laden(former Al-Qaeda leader)’s support, he was a subordinate. Any time Bush would stir up fear and make a big speech, Bid Laden would appear, threatening people with a story about what he was going to do.”

Nine years on President Obama  blamed Al- Qaeda  for the attack one more time  on the  anniversary yesterday to end the religious tension in the country and in the world.

Who are the Al-Qaeda? How could US Government identify the attackers a few hours after 9/11 and call them religious terrorists?

Al-Qaeda is Taliban backed religious group who fight to  have Islamic Regime in Afghanistan where majority of the population is Muslim. Who are the Taliban? Neither Taliban nor Taliban backed Al-Qaeda existed before former USSR invaded in Afghanistan in 1979 to spread communism.USA created Taliban and supported it against USSR  to spread capitalism as two countries had been in  Cold War against each other for years. When USSR collapsed in 1991 Taliban was strong enough to rule the country  under  Islamic Regime. However that was not what USA wanted or planned. Having an Islamic Regime in Afghanistan meant letting all the other Asian countries to become Islamic according to “Domino Theory”.Therefore they were going to call 9/11 criminals Islamic terrorists.

The world’s democracy distributor USA needed a reason to invade in Afghanistan. How could that be possible as the country like Iraq did not have mass destruction nuclear weapons ?

9/11   was the best opportunity ,which still has no clear reason of its occurence nor  evidence of its criminals , to attack Afghanistan in the name of “War on Global Terror”.So they did.However like Alexander the Great ,Greek King of Macedon,said centuries ago : ”Afghanistan is easy to march into but hard to march out of.”

Since 2001 ,countless soldiers  and civilians have  died and many more will die.No political or ideological reason can be  good enough to justify all that.

Concerned readers who want to join the petition  of nonprofit organisation  US Military Officiers for 9/11 Truth,  which is  not affiliated to any political party, to demand accurate official report of the attack should visit  www.militaryofficersfor911truth.org

Anna Politkovskaya Award 2010 to Darfurian Dr Halima Bashir

“Come here my child ,

I have a heart for you.

Come here my child,

I have my tears for you…

‘You know what rape is?’ The face  is a mask of hatred-eyes closed to mine, his soldier’s breath stinking. ‘You think A second soldier lunges at me, pinning me to the floor. ‘We’ll show you what rape is, you black dog…’”

Three of them took turns to rape me, one after the other. They raped me until I lost consciousness. When I came to my senses I was alone, I wished I was dead.

The second day they came for me again. They raped me until I fainted. ‘You know what we have decided to do with you ?We are going to let you live because we know you’d prefer to die.’”

Darfurian Dr Halima Bashir has won Anna Politkovskaya Award 2010.

This is what Halima Bashir has had to go through simply because of her fight for human rights in Darfur. Darfur, says Bashir in her book “Tears of Desert,” is a word  soaked in suffering and blood now.

Halima Bashir is the first  woman in her village who has become a doctor at the age of 24.However being an intelligent black woman in Sudan , where  Arabs  enslave Africans, deeply troubled her. Treating the girls who were raped by Arab gangs  at the age of eight ,stitching them with no anaesthetic  in a rural clinic and standing up for their rights brought her  three days gang-rape. Every tear made her even stronger however. She has never given up , even  her heart died inside maybe thousand times after seeing Darfurians  killed, raped, ruined.

Doctor Halima Bashir fled Sudan and survived but what about the rest of Darfurians? Are we all going to watch them suffering?

Bashir’s endless battle to protect victims of War in Sudan , which she tells us in details in Tears of Dessert, brought her Raw in War’s  Anna Politkovskaya Award 2010  on 7 October. The ceremony  presented  by Jon Snow, took place at Frontline Club in Paddington. However Dr  Bashir ,who now lives in London ,could not attend the night to accept  the award due to recent threats she received .Audiences  met Bashir with a short interview  filmed hours before the event.

Anna Politkovskaya Award 2009 winner Leila Alikarami had to leave the 2010 award on the table as Dr Halima Bashir could not attend the ceremony presented by Jon Snow.

7 October  was fourth anniversary of Anna Politkovskaya ‘s assassination, who exposed  victimization of Chechens by  Russian and Moscow  backed Chechen officials. Politkovskaya’s murder has not yet been brought to justice and is still being questioned by millions of Russians but not yet by any  authority in Russia. Unfortunately Politkoskaya is not  the only woman  murdered while searching the truth and protecting the victims in conflict . Natalia Estemirova , who  is the first recipient of the award  ,was killed on 15 July 2009  while writing the next chapter of the same  battle  after Politkoskaya .

Afghan woman Malalai Joya  took it over from Estemirova  in 2008.Iranian lawyer and human right activist Leila Alikarami  and finally Bashir  have followed and showed  what can be done to improve women human rights. All of them  have been awarded with a big comma and they won’t be putting a full stop until  truth shines, human rights come to women’s lives ,peace arrives and freedom spreads.

One might wonder why all these recipients are women?

According to Raw in War  violence against women in War increases every day and it is history’s greatest silence . Rape has been used as a weapon against women in Wars. Women human rights defenders like Bashir  are being persecuted ,imprisoned and killed for speaking out on behalf of the victims.

Raw in War ,founded by Marian Katzarova ,in 2006 supports  and resources those  women who are victimized in war and those who defend women human rights in conflicts .

For more information visit:www.rawinwar.org

Egypt’s Democracy Lesson to the West and the US

Every Londoner has become an Egyptian in Trafalgar Square today and celebrated the historical victory of Egypt just a few  hours after Egyptians left Tahrir Square to go home and sleep, with a  new born Revolution in their arms.

The sun was shining and everybody in the square was breathing freedom and smiling at each other as they now knew that they could change their governments if they wanted to. They now knew how much power they actually had, they now knew that democracy was not what their governments told them it was. Their happiness was very contagious just like their courage as Jullian Assange, whose work turned oppressed masses’potential power into revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, said once.

Waseem Wagdee speaks at Celebration of Egyptian Revolution organised by Amnesty Internation UK,in Trafalgar Square.

It was unbearably thrilling to witness that history was happening and we were celebrating our undeniable power in Trafalgar Square. Thousands of people from almost every nationality were standing up for human rights in the core of freedom and democracy. Were they ever going to forget this moment? Were they ever let any government underestimate their power? Were they ever going to have a fear since they realised they can change the world together?

Egyptian-British  activistWaseem Wagdee ,who appeared on our screens on the fourth day of the Egyptian Uprising  in tears and remained in our memories with these words:“This is something that I had hoped against all hope to happen in my life time!”,  said in Trafalgar Square that :”We don’t need Tony Blair or Hillary Clinton to have  democracy!”in his inspirational speech. Wagdee spent last ten days in Tahrir Square and returned to London today.

Please see Wagdee’s  historically emotional speech here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hBV0ApIh_4&feature=feedlik_more

Until the most beautiful date of all times,11.02.2011, this event was scheduled to be  a protest by Amnesty International  UK .However it had to be re-organised as a celebration when Egyptians won their battle yesterday.

What exactly happened that shook the world, thrilled people with hope and left some leaders in Washington and Brussel  in shock which started on  25th January and ended yesterday with the biggest victory?

11.02.2011, on the most beautiful Friday at 5pm Egyptians introduced the real DEMOCRACY to the world in Tahrir Square .That was the most democratic slap the West and the US were ever going to get in their history after corrupting the country with Hosni Mobarak for 30 years in the name of democracy.

When Revolution was born in Tahrir Square last night in Egypt.

Did it hurt Dear US? Did it hurt the best model West? Yes, 30 years of corruption, oppression, human rights violation, unemployment, hunger, poverty, police brutality were also hurting every day. You wanted us to have democracy, here is the real one for you ,the West and the US! Go and correct the fake one you have in your country where you invisibly rape freedom of information ,freedom of press, freedom of thought to control public perception merely for your dearest corporations. Now, go and do your homework! We want to celebrate our victory until we see the dawn just like our new born REVOLUTION!

Were the West and the US ever going to dare to preach democracy at any country in the Middle East again? Were they ever going to play with democratic values while supporting dictatorships anywhere in the world? Were they ever going to play with image of the region’s religion to create artificial terrorism to dominate the area? Was that really democracy or global capitalism they promoted for years? Was the history going to forgive them at all? We all know the answers, but let’s play stupid  for a little longer ,let’s look very confused not to wake them up at least until celebration ends in Egypt and everybody digest the biggest victory.

Write that down Miss and Mr historians, write it correctly, no distortion. If I read anything different from what I witnessed, in the future you will have to deal with me. Because I am writing it, too. I am writing it with my tears, tears of joy and pain, as I know that Egyptians made the history with their bloods.18 days of battle in such a cold winter after 30 years of struggle. Write that down. Write how many people died, how many were tortured and how many are still missing. Yes, FREEDOM wasn’t free.

Don’t forget the journalists, human rights defenders  and all the activists who were there in Tahrir Square , who were arrested and violated just because they wanted tell us the truth while promoting peace and democracy.I watched every minute of their hard work and felt Egyptians’ pain in my guts every day. Their tears went into my heart and came out of my eyes.

What is going to happen next in Egypt is only Egyptians’ business. The world knows that this revolution is the beginning of the PEACE in the MIDDLE EAST and of US Empire’s end that supported Israel-Palestine Conflict since day one. It is also failure of global capitalism that the West and the US were spreading in the name of democracy, violating human rights and costing millions of people’s lives.

Egyptian Revolution is the biggest one in the Middle East that occurred after Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia, but not going to be the last one. Many other countries in Middle East and North Africa like Algeria and Yemen,Palestine,Iran where human rights abuses ignored by very democratic West and US but not their energy sources, will follow Egypt.

Note: Concerned readers who want to show their solidarity for Middle East and North Africa  should visit www.progressivelondon.org.uk    to get registered for the  conference titled “There is an  alternative” that will be held on 19.02.11 at Congress House,Great Russell Street,London WC1H.

A Bird’s Philosophy

“You look too thoughtful and sad for a beautiful young lady!”,said  all of a sudden a white-black and dark blue coloured bird,  in the middle of her spring song.

“You, too, and that makes me think even more.”, replied young lady in her late twenties while the Sun ,that had brought  lovers and kids together  in the green area neighbouring the river earlier, was painting the sky into red in Southbank.

“Why?”,asked stateless bird’s eyes.

Birds in a philosophical conversation.

“You have the best freedom in the world, what makes you think that deep and feel sad? We, human beings, have never fought for anything more than we did for freedom and still we are not as free as we want. Most of us envy you, but you don’t seem to be happy either.

“Oh, I am ok actually. It is only that my eyes and my mind are not happy with each other.”

“You sound cute, but what do you mean by that?”

“I see the world in a way you can never see and I always  try to see nice things but it is still hard for me to understand what you, human beings, do on such a beautiful earth like this.”

“For example?”

“For example, I have always tried to understand why you always fight down here. You said, you think it is all about more freedom? Is it really?

“Yes and about equality!”

“Is that the reason why you kill each other?” asked curiously and landed in her shoulder. One was more beautiful and irritatingly curious than another now.

She had never imagined to be questioned by the most innocent looking species on earth and left speechless for a while .Thames River’s old and cold face, that had the loudest screams of the most tumultuous time, was now locked in her eyes .It had never looked that green before and never had that much moss, but it did in them. One child from Palestine cried and asked where his mother was behind the big wall, the other one from Israel asked why she could not play with him on the other side. None of them understood what made them enemy to each other. A young girl in Iraq couldn’t even find her father’s grave and stayed still her fist on her heart on a Friday. She opened her arms and asked God not to let that happen to anybody again in her pray.

Thames was as restless as her heart and her eyes were as wet as Thames now. Colourful beauty on her shoulder couldn’t dare to leave her in that state and they travelled to millions of other worlds together in the deepest part of the river. She had never felt like that before neither under the whitest clouds in a blue sky nor on top the most magnificent mosque, church or synagogue .Her wings lost their significance on these shoulders somehow.

The sky was blood red like Libya’s streets now and it was getting a little cold. Darkness was going to rule the city for a while from now on but the Sun was going to come back and light this part of the world again. The stars were going to collect the most innocent dreams of the kids one more time and leave them more hope to make them fight better tomorrow. They were soon going to find out that they have to fight for whatever they want in this world. They were going to have to fight for freedom, justice and of course for the universal dream peace which we all failed to provide them when they came to us. Unfortunately they were going to fight even for their basic human rights just like Tunisians, Egyptians and Libyans…Were any of us going to get rid of this guilt and sleep well at all?

“Are you sure it is about freedom and equality?” said and moved her left wing up for a change. Do you kill animals, do you destroy the nature for your freedom, too?

“No that is the result of our survival on earth.”

“I don’t think so young lady .You, human beings, die and kill  just to dominate one another! Do you know why you do that?”

“No!”

“You all love controlling one another and hate being controlled by others. You all have a secret desire to be the one who knows the most  and controls everything and everybody in the world. Some of you call that God, some call it inexplicable power.”

“Not all of us.”

“You all do at different level. Those who are victims of this thought victimize rest of you. Therefore your fight for freedom, justice and peace will never end.”

“It will, we will bring the peace  to the world  that we all dream of every day.”

“Even if you do, I won’t be able to see it.”

“Why?”

“My life is only six months and I am three months old already. I better go now.”

“Wait! I want to ask you something!”

“Yes!”

“Will you promise me that you won’t tell all those things, that  you told me, to any child? We will bring peace and justice to their world, they won’t have to fight for freedom as hard as we do.”

“I can’t promise you that, kids need to know the truth!”  said and flew thoughtful bird.

She was now in her deepest thoughts. “I love your colourful wings!” ,shouted behind her and walked home with the Moon .

“

Women’s History Month

If Aristophanes was alive to re-write Lysistrata in 2011 to show it maybe at National Theatre for the International Women’s Day, he would have had to turn the comedy into a tragedy which would be more about exploitation and silence of women who still face physical, psychological, sexual and financial violence domestically and institutionally in the modern society.

International Women's Day

What if German Socialist Party’s Clara Zetkin who established IWD in 1910 to promote equal rights for women and Russia’s Bolshevik Alexandra Kollontai, the world’s first female ambassador, were given a chance to visit the world one more time? They would have urged to go back to their graves furiously after seeing artificially chaotic lives of today’s women who have lost their voice and become blind, who have not even been allowed to think but  been slave of fashion and idiotic norms.

Last Tuesday, President of collapsing US Empire proclaimed March to be “Women’s History Month” and called Americans to mark IWD by reflecting on “the extraordinary accomplishments of women” in shaping the country’s history. He was right. In the last decade, not just American ones but women of every nation shaped history of the US with their tears and blood. They brought up sons and sent them to Afghanistan and Iraq to kill other women’s sons. Most of them didn’t come back but women kept working hard to shape the history. More women send more sons to the ongoing wars to kill and die every day while they also pay for the bullets with the tax taken from their salaries that they earn after being exploited at work only for being a woman.

President Obama didn’t mention the women who were tortured, raped and killed by American soldiers in the war zones, but they also played a big role in the country’s history. He forgot to mention those who do the same job as men but get paid less in the US, he forgot to mention those in China, Bangladesh and in India who work in the garment firms for as little as $15 a month to grow his country’s  economy. But he was absolutely right; women have been and still are shaping the history but being buried in its darkest pages without being heard.

He almost mentioned War on Women by mistake as it has become his habit to say War on …, War on …, War on …, every time he needs a reason to explain his government’s abusive policy. Yes there is an ongoing “War on Women”.

Women are not accepted with their intelligence, they are accepted with their beauty as this brings more profit to the dearest corporations of the governments. Those who have both are the ones who suffer most. Women have been attacked psychologically every minute on the TV and on every mainstream media publication. They are told that they are not as beautiful as Cheryl Cole to sell the products she advertises let alone all the cosmetic surgeries. They are told that their husbands will leave them when they get old to sell all the idiotic anti-aging products.

They are forced to look their best every minute but when they get raped they are left alone and blamed for looking sexy and provoking the rapist. If the rapist is a movie maker it takes the Justice System to exercise the law on him more than 30 years.However the same justice system invades in to a justice seeker’s bedroom and looks for an excuse to create a rape scene to arrest  him merely because he tries to bring justice to the world by exposing the truth that was supposed to be possesed only by puppet leaders to manipulate the mass.

They are forced to work as hard as men while bringing up children and looking after their families. It is told every minute that it is possible. Those who can’t manage to have a good career and a  family fail to be a good woman. On top of that, some face domestic violence that traumatises women and children. Those traumatised kids who get enough money from their parents but not enough love own the biggest corporations to feel loved when they grow  and drag the country and the world into a chaos. Yes, Mr President was absolutely right, Wall Street’s traumatised kids and their unheard mothers shaped the history by bringing the Greatest Depression of all times.

The women who manage to survive in this war like Christine Assange,who brought  up a child with love and gave  him high moral values are the ones who really shape the history.And this month is the month of  the women who fight against the war on women and injustice like Assange,who brings up a child like Jullian Assange.

Review:The Knot of the Heart

“Would life be boring without any problem?”, “What would we be doing if we never had any?”, “Is having everything in life not good enough to be happy?”, “What is our main need and how should we get the balance in our lives?” are the main questions that English dramatist David Eldridge arises in his new play “The Knot of the Heart” at Almeida Theatre. The play first met audiences on 10^th March and will be on until 30^th April.

The Knot of the Heart is now at Almeida Theatre.

The Knot of the Heart is the story of three women (widow mother  Barbara and her two daughters lawyer Angela and TV presenter Lucy)of a middle class family who can’t love each other as much as they love money, but on the other hand desperately seek love in their fake, baseless lives.The victim of the rich in the pocket but poor in the heart family’s incapability to love is the main character Lucy (Lisa Dillon) who loses her TV presenting job due to her drug addiction at the beginning of the play.

29-yo independent woman Lucy, moves to her mother (Margot Leicester)’s house to get financial support while dealing with her make-believe illness (drug addiction). The reason why she takes drug is to relax and perform better while she is in front of the camera and being sick of all the games people play, she tells her mum ,who has no clue how to help other than obeying Lucy. Barbara even meets drug dealers in a cafe and buys her heroin hidden in a cake, after finding Lucy on the floor in the middle of the night  injecting herself heroin and being incontinent.Lucy tells Barbara how she was abused by the dealers and begs her to go back to her womb and stay there.

Angela (Abigail Cruttenden) who leaves her mother after feeling to have always been ignored child in the second scene, comes back on Barbara’s call after a year in a few weeks of Lucy’s disappearance. Angela is the intellectual and virtuous character, who knows all the secrets that Barbara has, as an older daughter, and exposes all the wrong doings of the family every time she appears on the stage but she also suffers from inadequate love and has history of self harm like cuttingher tighs. In her return she says to her mother that she met a man and had an ectopic pregnancy while they were not in touch  which doesn’t sound so interesting to Barbara and causes another conflict and separation between them.

From that point on every scene of the play becomes another auto-confrontation of the characters and confrontation of the  family members  with each other and with their past after Lucy ends up being raped by drug dealers and stays in and out of a Crisis Centre to get her life back. Every attempt of Lucy to get her life back slaps her with another lie that her privileged looking fake life was built on.

Eldridge’s play underlines one reality which unfortunately is not brought to light in the right time is that what it means to have everything in a family where money is the measure of everything including love. The question  audiences must arise is that:“ How considerate was it  for Almeida Theatre  to put this play on while the great majority of the society were and  still are  struggling to survive in the climate of the Greatest Depression of  the last four years? While people outside were tackling with real problems of their real lives, showing this play is not very different from being sarcastic with the society.

However If any member of the working class sees Eldridge’s play which exposes a money oriented middle class family’s baseless, self made problems due to their incapability to love each other and excessive amount of money they most probably stole from the working class people’s pockets legally sometimes illegally , they will appreciate their problems or they will  even think  that social justice somehow takes place somewhere.

The only indisputable fact is that middle class families will definitely learn a lot from Eldridge’s “The Knot of the Heart” and recommend it to their discontented pretentious friends who have no clue how to love their kids apart from spoiling them with excessive amount of money. They might learn how not to tolerate in fact not to ignore  their children when they  take drug at the age of 13 like Lucy did. All it requires is LOVE not MONEY.

The play directed by Michael Attenborough on the oval stage divided with glasses into four parts and each one of them  decorated according to the scenes that are perfectly designed by Peter McKintosh.

Jullian Assange’s first Adversial Debate in London:This House Believes Whistleblowers Make the World a Safer Place

WikiLeaks editor Jullian Assange brought thousands of Londoners, majority of who believed whistleblowers make the world a safer place, to theKensington Hall yesterday at his first adversarial debate organised by Frontline Club and New Statesman.

Assange, the head of Al-Jazeera’s Transparency Unit ClaytonSwisher,NewStateman’s senior political editor Mehdi Hasan were in the proposition of the controversial debate which was chaired by NewStateman’s editor Jason Cowley. In the opposition British diplomat Sir David Richmond, former director of the US Department of Defence Information System Security Programme Bob Ayers needed a miracle to make the crowd believe that world can be a safer place without whistleblowers.

Jullian Assange speaks at the debate on "This House Believes Whistleblowers Make the World a Safer Place"at Kensington Hall in London.

Swisher, who started the debate, talked about ethics of what to disclose and criticised mainstream media’s jealous attitude towards Assange said:”They’re hatingAssange because he got a scoop they didn’t.”and he added “There is no point in giving a deluge of data without contextualising it and saying why it matters. However when it serves their interests, governments have no problem with leaks, thinkof “senior officials” on WMDs before Iraq.”

Speaking about the Palestine Papers, Swisher said thatal-Jazeera’s Transparency Unit has to “Take documents, stand them up, and turn them into TV.People know what not to put out there.”

“Freedom of information isn’t the same as an information free-for-all.” opposed Sir David Richmond and added that: “If the
right balance is not being struck, the democratic way to address this is notwhistleblowing”. However he also said: “Parliament, courts and mediashould be more democratic so there is less need for leaks.”

When Jullian Assange took the stage no one dared to break the silence apart from the cameras that never stopped taking his picture. “The question is if the absence of whistleblowers makes the world a more harmful place?”,asked Assange  after the  loudest applauses in the hall.“How are we going to know if the secrecy process is working or not? The only way we can knowis to know what information is.”When information is secret we don’t know about it. If we’re not talking about what actually happens in the world, whatare we talking about? Myths and hypotheses?

Assange referred to the “original sin” of censorship and claimed that Vietnam and Iraq War could have been prevented if the information had been leaked earlier. 39 years old WikiLeaks editor also stressed that whistleblowers prevented an attack on Iran in 2007 and added that”When whistleblowers speak anonymously they can feel proud that theyhave changed history… and move on.”

Second opposition speaker Bob Ayer called whistleblowers “rat,snitches and sneaks” and talked about legality and technicality of whistleblowing and unfortunately his speech didn’t bring any credit to the opposition.

When Cowley invited Ex MI5 agent Annie Machon to the stage she said: “If we lived in an ideal world where we had transparency, freedom of information and real democracy we wouldn’t need whistleblowers. We need some sort of protection for whistleblowers but until then we have WikiLeaks.” and received personal attack from Douglas Murray who was sarcastic and disrespectful to every speaker throughout the debate.

“Transparency is the key to the truth and it is the truth that gives us freedom. Whistleblowers prevent disasters but they get treated like toxic waste or lepers.”,said HBO’s whistleblower Paul Moore who was invited tothe stage to deliver a short speech about his experience as a whitleblower.

Cowley asked  Assange to explain collateral damage and risk to innocent people as he received the question from NS reader.“We have never got it wrong .” replied Assange and added: “We have the perfect record, no one has ever come to any physical harm because anything that we have published. The Pentagon has more blood on its hands than WikiLeaks.”

The final proposition speaker Mehdi Hasan  who based his strong defence  on Abu Ghraib said:” says that anyone who says whistleblowers don’t make the world a safer place should go and talk to the inmates of Abu Ghraib. Hasan exclaimed passionately at the governments who lie to public repeatedly, “Stop lying to us and we won’t need to have anywhistleblowers!”

The final speaker award winning author and journalist Douglas Murray, who was suffering from clear  symptoms of WikiLeaks Syndrom like  those journalists that  couldn’t  get the scoop also did  as Swisher mentioned at the beginning of the debate, couldn’t  manage to be rational and attacked Jullian Assange’s personal bussiness.Assange’s rational and consistent answers only made Douglas look more fool. However when Assange’s PA reminded him the time ,it was time for him to go to Norfolk where he is currently under house arrest.

Cowley wanted to do the final poll  just when Assange was leaving and the result was not different from the initial one. Opposition speakers’ weak defence was not good enough to make difference in people’s minds which is why none of them  wanted to spend one more second in the Hall after Assange had left.

Review: Kafka’s Monkey

While a sad looking chimpanzee on the screen engages audiences and makes them question their own evolutions one more time, Kathryn Hunter brings a sudden silence to the room when she appears on the corner of the Young Vic‘s stage with a brown leather briefcase in one hand and a black stick in the other, dressed up like a man but still in an apish manner.From that point on, she is the man, she is the monkey but certainly she is the ruler of the stage, her artistic passion oozes and drips everywhere she moves.

Kathryn Hunter in *Kafka's Monkey" at Youn Vic.

His name is Red Peter, which was given him after having being scarred in his face by an hunting expedition’s  shot in the jungle of West Africa, he is there to tell us his story before a scientific conference starts. He tells us how he was shot, captured in his land and caged in the steamship to Europe. That is when his five years battle starts to find the way out to be able move as he wishes again. He observes crews and imitates them not to be a human but to find the way out.

When he arrives in Europe, he is given two choices: Zoological Garden or Music Hall. He chooses Music Hall and gets trained by many teachers to become a performer. He learns handshaking, walking, talking, not only drinking but hard drinking, spitting to become a man. But how can he be happy while fighting against his nature?

Constant anguish and incomplete smile on her face Olivier Award winner Hunter transfers the pain of Red Peter’s inner conflict to the audiences extraordinarily well. While she jumps, climbs and bends backward with the flexibility of a  monkey, she doesn’t forget to ask us what the humanity is. Is it really humanity that allows people to assimilate the ones who are different? However it can be hard not to let her performance overshadow the story, it is because she is Kathryn Hunter. She is not just an actress, she is the master of her talent.

Maybe  Franz Kafka tries to show us assimilation of Jews in the Western world by the story of an ape ,who was forced to become a human, but he definitely bleeds the audiences in their hearts by showing how ruthless they  can be to the  different ones in the name of humanity. However he doesn’t forget to show how one can fight even against his nature until he gets  the freedom he deserves. While Kafka reminds us our origins in the story he also warns us not to overestimate ourselves as human beings by showing the achievement of an ape that gets his way through the bushes as sneaky and smart as us.

“Kafka’s Monkey”, originally “A Report to an Academy” was written and published in 1917 by Martin Buber in German Monthly along with is other stories like “Jackals and Arabs.The monologist and writer Andrew Tansey adapted play as “The Greatest Ape” for the first time and premiered it at the Edinburgh International Festival in 1989.

The story’s was adapted to the stage by Colin Teevan second time, directed by Walter Meierjohann and remarkably performed by Kathryn Hunter at Young Vic in 2009.

An hour long play revived by the same team and will be on at Young Vic until 11 June.

Why Do We Need WikiLeaks?Amy Goodman asks ,Slovaj Zizek and Jullian Assange Answer.

No matter how hard mainstream media attack WikiLeaks to cover their failure in exposing the truth ,thousands of people proved last  Saturday in London that they only care about the publication that  frees the information and opens the governments for them by spending their afternoons listening to the  discussion on “Why do we need WikiLeaks?”.

Democracy Now’s presenter Amy Goodman opened the discussion,that is organised by Frontline Club in Troxy ,East London saying that “Information is power, it is matter of life.”If we knew what was happening in Iraq and Afghanistan at the time it was happening, millions of people would have not lost their lives, said Americanjournalist and added that it is extremely important to know what is done in our names.

Slovaj Zizek and Jullian Assange discuss why we need WikiLeaks in Troxy,London.Amy Goodman hosts the discussion.

Then Goodman introduced two most dangerous men of the world to the audiences. Political philosopher Slovaj Zizek and WikiLeaks’ Chief Editor Jullian Assange.Slovaj Zizek who published over 50 books on psychology,political philosophy ,political theory ,history and theology was on Goodman’s right side  ,on her left was sitting the most dangerously published man Jullian Assange.

When Goodman asked Jullian Assange to talk about significance of the war logs and why he chose to release this information, Assange said they , as an organisation, have a role to publish materials on what affects  our civilisation. “We have such a role to shape our civilisation. To be able to do that we need to know what decision the institutions make and how they behave and we need
information for that”,said  Chied Editor of WikiLeaks just a day before he turned 40.

Assange added that the Afghan war log is the largest war record in the world history that has ever been published. Exposing and knowing the truth of the wars is beautiful and horrifying thing at the same time according to Assange who explained  that 15 000 people’s deaths in Iraq war was recorded but was unknown to the world and was never reported by British and US Press.

When Political philosopher Zizek was asked to talk about significance of WikiLeaks ,he was happy and proud to be there to tell his views. “WikiLeaks is doing something extremely important and radical in such a crucial time we live in today. Don’t confuse Jullian with Bourgeois  press’s so-called investigative journalism and so on. Jullian ,you are doing something much more radical.You are not only violating the rules, you are violating the way of violating the rules in media.”,said passionate philospher.

Jullian Assange also  talked about his personal and as an organisation WikiLeaks’ experience during the war log releases when Assange and his publication were under constant attack by main stream media and US officials as Goodman asked. Assange told the audiences ,who believe that WikiLeaks should fight to survive and who also fight for it, what strategy he and his organisation followed during that time and how they survived even after Master ,Visa,Paypal,Western Union’s blockade to stop  money transfer to the organisation.

Amy Goodman quoted US officials accusing Jullian Assange for being information terrorist, high tech terrorist  and some New York Times journalist who blamed him for being insensitive when putting the information out and those who wanted him to be arrested under Espionage Act and asked him to respond them all. Before Assange  started to talk ,audience laughed out loud and finally Assange widely smiled and said that  Sarah Palin blamed even his grandmother on twitter.

The most dangerous  philosopher Zizek exclaimed: “If you are a terrorist then what are they?”

Please visit www.democracynow.org to watch the whole discussion .

Those who want to know accuracy of the news about Zizek’s relationship with Lady Gaga, Zizek denied it all and said he had never listened even one song of Gaga.

China and India to Continue to Drive World Economy

National Institute of Economic and Social Research revealed its second quarter review of the UK and the world economy in its regular press conference chaired by the director of the organisation John Portes yesterday in Westminster,London.

The press conference started with the presentation of the world economy by research fellow Dawn Holland. According to the review that is presented by Holland global growth will fall from 5 per cent in 2010 to 4.5 per cent in 2011.This reflects the rise in the oil price which reached $40 per barrel in the last six months; supply-chain disruption due to earthquake in Japan last March; continuous sovereign debt crisis in Euro Zone. The weak domestic demand will continue to keep monetary authorities in the US,UK and Japan reluctant to raise interest rates despite rising inflationary pressures.

The director John Portes,Research Fellows Down Holland and Simon Kirby at NIESR’s 2011Q2 press conference chaired by Portes in Westminster,London.

Increasing   unemployment (8.9% this year,8.3% in 2012)in the US economy and high oil price will cause decline in real wages this year and affect the consumer spending. The US’ budget agreement will be able to stop uncertainty in the market while gradual rise in the debt ceiling leaves no room for unexpected borrowings in the rest of 2011.GDP growth of the country will be to 2.5% in 2011.

Output of Japan economy,  that is contracted by 9 per cent due to the earthquake and tsunami in March, is expected to remain 1.5 per cent below the pre disaster level despite the sharply increased private sector investment. The country’s GDP will decline by 0.3 per cent this year and the recovery to pre-recession level will come three quarters later than expected due to the disaster.

On the other hand China by 9.9 percent and India by 8.7 per cent will continue to drive world growth according to forecast.

Euro Area will continue to suffer from the effects of its sovereign debt crisis caused by Greece, Portuqal and Ireland .The bailout programmes allow these countries to borrow at rates of interest lower that the rates in the open market. NIESR’s central forecast assumes that the second bailout package agreed for Greece is able to contain the sovereign crisis. Costs of Greek restructuring are primarily borne by Greece but it is expected to reduce GDP growth by 0.3 percentage points in 2011-12 with bigger effect in Germany.However in the long term, taxpayers in the rest of the Euro Zone will bear much of the burden of the programmes.

Restructuring Greece has little impact on the UK economy but restructuring Ireland or a larger Euro Zone country like Spain and Italy will be more costly according NIESR’s forecast second part that was presented by research fellow Simon Kirby.  The UK economy which has been stagnant last nine months will grow 1.3 per cent this year and 2 per cent in 2012.The unemployment rate will increase from 7.9 per cent in 2011 to 8.3 per cent in 2012 and the country’s productivity performance will rise by only 1 per cent over the next few years. Consumer price inflation will fall from 4.2 per cent this year to 1.9 per cent in 2012.However low interest rates will continue to affect household fiancés negatively.

The Forecast shows that household incomes in the UK will continue to decline as wage growth has been overwhelmed by the increased inflation and tax rate. This will contract consumer spending by 0.8 per cent this year. Public sector borrowing will fall by 1 per cent of GDP in 2011-212. NIESR estimates that The Chancellor will miss his primary target of balancing the budget by 2015-16 by 1 per cent of GDP.

The press conference ended with the questions of the press members.

Kids Are The Best Mirrors

“If you don’t give me enough love, if you don’t give me enough money, if you don’t give me enough knowledge that brings me wisdom I will be your worst enemy. I will never let you have peace!”, screamed youth , who were left voiceless for a long time, in London Streets. No one can ever know how true this statement is, as much as Londoners now do after being traumatised by the explosive riots of last week and re-traumatized by its governmental fight back this week.

Since the  poor kids broke their silence and showed the world how the country’s policy had ignored them , left them in poverty, left them in silence; the rest, who were shocked, have been woken up by the continuous sirens not by their alarm clocks every morning.

But what were all sirens telling us?

A rioter in Hackney.

They were echoing across the country to acknowledge people that state and its laws were there to punish only the poor as the rich always steal by law. Otherwise we would have heard the same sirens when bankers robbed the country and dragged it to the  harshest economic crisis from which we are still trying to recover, which brought us social disasters like riots. The same sirens  somehow were silent when MPs stole from the state’s budget. They  were muted because MPs stole by law and even if they didn’t they were MPs.

Despite the legitimized theft and financial violence of the rich, the poor kids peacefully took the streets last December to reduce the sky high tuition fees to be able to study and maybe become the one who could make better laws for their country .But they were not heard, all they got was just a bit more violence from the police. Their parents, who can’t even spend time with them due to long work hours, marched to the streets peacefully on 26 March to oppose to pay the price of financial crime of the rich, namely publice spending cuts in austerity package. Were they heard? No!

They were not only unheard ,ignored or violated by the system ,they were also constantly provoked by the colourful ,most of the time immoral but still better accepted lives of others on the TV. No matter how high moral values those kids had, they were not accepted, they were not recognised in their society, where measure of everything was money. They had nothing, they were nothing.  And they didn’t steal like the rich with high status but low morals did, they didn’t know how to steal legitimately like the white collared ones did. They got angry more and more every day. The only thing they looked for was that to communicate with their state that stubbornly ignored them. They rioted, they were violated and they violated just like a rioter said in the scene that: “You got to fight fire with fire!”.

Did they get heard? We don’t know yet.

When London was burning and youth was screaming on the streets that: “Enough is enough! We, too, exist in this society!”Their Prime Minister was on holiday in Tuscan and took three days to return to the country. His reaction was as violent and insensitive as rioters’ actions. He ordered police to raid rioters’ homes that criminalised and punished every member of one family regardless their age, health and criminal records. However that wasn’t the answer that people wanted to hear.

People wanted know why that had happened, what was supposed to be done not to have it again? While rioters were “Facing the Justice” like PM said, leaders were facing these questions of which roots come from social and financial injustice.

Whether it was consequences of financial crisis or moral collapses in every part of society; whether it was the result  of  bad
parenting  or of  indirectly privatized education system; whether it was the result of unseen war on women; whether it was  the rights given with no responsibilities ;whether it was  discontented TV programmes that praise immoral personalities and present them as role models to the youth; whether it was  the partial media that never gives voice to victims of the system; whether they did it for fun or they did because they couldn’t find the way out, it is hard for one not to think and painfully ask that, why do we need explosive riots  to be heard if we live in a democratic society?

If today, leaders are going to inquire the riots to create a better society, whom de we need to thank? Do we need to thank those most of who committed the first crimes of their lives by rioting or leaders who never heard them but claimed to have built a  democratic society? Which ones are the real criminals of this social disaster? Did those kids not victimise themselves for
us to have a real democratic society?

Empire’s Endless Revenge After 9/11

Americans woke up to the memorial ceremony of 3000 people who died in 9/11 attack last Sunday. The criminal leaders, who had nothing to say but repeated the same reasoning of the attack with no hesitation, performed incredibly well to look emotionally diplomatic and innocent in the ceremony while those who lost their loved ones  were genuinely in tears.

The statue of libery in the USA.

The ceremony was part of main news programs of every channel in every country as it was also the best chance for the US to justify its criminal acts of last 10 years. Everyone in the world was supposed to grieve for Americans who were victimised by their own leaders to create an opportunity to attack and take control of the whole Middle East after 9/11. No one on earth was allowed to ask what did Iraqi kids wake up to on the day? How did Afghan women, who had seen heavily armed brutal American soldiers as soon as they opened their curtains, feel on Sunday morning? How about Somalians whose country is also occupied by the US, how about people in Yemen, people in Libya?

How can we forget that? Of course the US was in those countries to distribute democracy, wasn’t it? The democracy distributer that supported the dictators for mored than three decades in the rest of the Middle East.The democracy distributer that only gives voice to its rich citizens…

Some well respected authors acknowledged the world about alleged mastermind of 9/11 attack Osama Bin Laden’s original plan on
bankrupting the US with small but expensive wars and presented it like  a valid evidence of Laden’s criminality. But they selectively forgot to ask what forced Osama plan that even if he did? They blamed Laden even after his primitive, wild, unlawful death by the US army last May, for America’s war crimes of last 10 years. If the US had nothing to do with the plot of the attack why didn’t it interrogate Laden by its most democratic justice system in the world to be able to gain a valid evidence of the attack?

Of course Laden was a terrorist, he was supposed be killed .But if Laden was a terrorist, what were G.W Bush and all the others who supported him?

Some national and international debates on 9/11’s 10^th Anniversary focused on whether there was an alternative to the wars after 9/11 which made us feel guilty and regretful for the crime the US has committed for 10 years. It made the real criminals look innocents as if they had no choice apart from getting  trapped by Osama Bin Laden. As if it wasn’t the US that founded Laden’s group and funded it to weaken Soviet Union in the Cold War. Somehow group wasn’t known as terrorist until the end of the Cold War, it was a Jihadist group then. They became terrorist group when they stood up  against the US to protect their country.

However that was none of the Americans interests and it wasn’t supposed to be anyone’s business in the world either .How could it be while the world was revolving around America and Americans?  Now, everybody in the world has to worry about their declining economy. Because all those killings, tortures in Iraq-Afghanistan-Guantanamo Bay, that were perfectly well exposed by WikiLeaks  last year, didn’t destroy  humanity, didn’t damage the peace and justice  in the world, didn’t affect anybody’s psychology, didn’t blacken our art with war stories, but it destroyed the US economy. Forget the Islamophobia the US has been spreading and violently discriminating even the ordinary Muslims all around the world since 9/11. Forget how Americans burnt the Holy Quran to cause and feed the anger in the Middle East. We should all worry about US economy now? The empire is falling just like Saddam Hussein’s statue did, we should do something about it before its execution follows…

China and India have been driving the world’s economy and growing constantly while the US was destroying the world to take 9/11’s endless revenge.

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Review:”The Veil”

It is almost impossible not to see W. Shakespeare’s footsteps in a play that is written by his young admirer. But Conor McPherson seems to have taken his admiration a step further in his new play “The Veil” in which he questions  infinity,death,freedom and our imprisonment in the present and inability to do anything about past and future, while showing us struggle of the true love in early 1800s of Ireland.

The black curtain with white flowery design at the bottom opens and we see grey, old, museum-like big house where Mr Fingal (Peter McDonald) and Mrs Goulding(Brid Brennan)  appear with a kerosene lamp in their hands both looking frustrated.They  soon start to  argue over a simple issue like muddy boots  which tells us about  deep and long term struggle of people in the estate. We soon learn from landlady Madeline(Fenella Woolgar) that they are expecting Reverend Berkeley(Jim Norton) from London who will be chaperoning her 16 years old daughter Hannah(Emily Taaffe) to  Northamptonshire where she will be marrying to Marquis of Newbury. Her arranged marriage is very crucial to everyone as it will rescue them from their deep debt of last a few years even though Hannah  doesn’t really want it.

Ursula Jones, Jim Norton, Emily Taaffe and Adrian Schiller in The Veil at the Lyttelton.

Just after submissive but at the same time angry looking Mr Fingal gets his love letter rejected by Madeline ,Berkeley in his 60s arrives with his friend Charles Audelle(Adrian Schiller) who constantly looks at things harder and deeper than others as he is a philosopher. From that point on Berkeley reveals all the dark and tragic history of the old estate and people who live there without knowing that he and his friend Audelle  are also part of the same tragedy as they are all prisoners of their time.

We learn from Berkeley that Hannah’s mentally unstable father Edward hung himself in the room where they sit and how she found him dead at the age of eight. Since then she has been hearing voices, seeing ghosts and talking to them to be able make sense of the past and know about future. Berkeley thinks that there is something inexplicable about the estate, it seems to trap people who live there and slowly prepares their tragic ends. Berkeley and Audelle plan to get all the ghosts and shadows manifest themselves thorough Hannah’s ability to communicate with them until her wedding in Northampton.

Berkeley and Audelle try hard to organise praying sessions to call ghosts and see what they will say to Hannah while every other character tells us their own stories with ghosts. Madeline, who seems to keep people in the real world throughout the play , also tells us how she saw ghosts when she was sixteen while Mrs Goulding believes that her son was taken away by a fairy woman just like another boy in Jamestown.

A brandy addict philosopher Audelle goes a step further and gives Hannah laudanum to be able to see the ghosts like she does. Their first call to ghosts ends with the collapse of Madeleine’s property in Jamestown which happens simultaneously with a small explosion like gunshot in the house.But no ghost appears. In the end of second call Hannah decides not to marry a man whose father tells us in a letter that he is not mentally stable. However that is not the reason why Hannah refuses to marry him. She believes that she will have a baby and lose her when she marries. In this call she sees a little girl that appears on the stage but only  Audelle and audiences see her.

Although play appears to be story of Hannah who can communicate with ghosts to interpret past and predict the future, it is in fact written to show how human beings are imprisoned in the present  which makes them believe in ghosts.On the other hand McPherson tries very hard to convince us that we have more freedom than any other creatures on earth even though we are trapped in the present which we can’t even grasp.

The stories we hear from all characters which are supposed to reinforce the main theme of the play becomes exaggeration as everything takes place in the same house,but only in words. We only see actions when Hannah sees ghosts which nobody sees and when Mr Fingal comes home with black eye, takes his rifle to challenge everybody and expose their dark secrets while expressing his love for Madeline in a way that fails to get sympathy from the audiences.

“I didn’t hate it but I didn’t love it either.” ,said an audience just on his way out which actually tells that the play as a whole fails to get audiences emotionally involved in the story.

However Conor McPherson is a very successful award winning play whose work includes; “The Seafarer” that is shown at National theatre and Broadway, “Shinning City” at Royal Court Theatre, Broadway, “Port Authority” at Gate Theatre, Atlantic Theatre in New York, “The Weir” at Royal Court Theatre, Broadway and won Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play. Mcpherson has won many other major awards like Irish Film and Television Academy Best Screenplay Awards, Award for Best European Film…

A Hunchback Man

The bus stopped in the rush of a young evening. She left her warmth on the seat by the window off which pearls of nature were dripping. It was dark, it was raining, she ran home with all the bags that she hoped to get a slice of happiness from. She ran home to share her warmth, but why did she look back all of a sudden?

An old man looked up and felt the pain of his aged hunchbackin my eyes. I heard all his screams, tearful words that he silenced with his a little feminine yellow scarf. It was dark outside, it was raining. He found a table but none of the seats were comfortable or soft enough .He touched the cover of his book after he had found the chair that could bear him. He smelled the book and smiled before he read the first line at the bottom of the sky high building’s dim cafe. He looked back and turned the first page, and second and third, the lines murdered his smile. He looked at me and we looked back…

Huncback of our time.

We apologised to Muhamed Bouazizi for not hearing him before he sacrificed himself to end all kind of corruptions from which millions suffered for years. He smiled when we told him what happened after he had gone, how everybody became another Muhamed in Tunisia to break the black chain on the throat of justice and freedom.” Ben Ali is not in power any longer, although the country is not at a better state yet, but it will.”, we said. He smiled and we carried on saying how his courage reached up to Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Syria soon after his death. He dropped his smile, looked down and slept…

An Afghan woman looked frightened when she saw his hunchback getting bigger and bigger there in Afghanistan. She picked her little girl, ran home and closed her door. Dust, blasts, screams and shoots blurred our visions just like they did country’s past and  future. An armed soldier approached and asked why we were there, she opened curtain, looked back and soldier was shot. He looked back when he bled but no one was there…

The stones thrown at his hunchback in Palestine and Israeli soldier shared a bullet with me. I looked back at kids and they came to dress my wound in Palestine. They were angry, they were hurt, they were poor ,they were orphaned but they were still full of love, they had millions of questions in their eyes. A tall boy with olive skin asked “Why? This is our country, our home!” “It has always been our land, our home, where did you all come from?”, shouted back ,the Israeli soldier with gun. Kids threw more stones and they did run. They looked back, tall boy was dead. They looked back anger spread, they looked back justice was dead…

“Where is my dad?” asked him an Iraqi girl when we went to Iraq. He looked at American soldiers who were going home to see their mums, dads and kids. They laughed as his hunchback started to grow. He held her hand and soldiers laughed but somehow they looked back, even the dusts were upset about what they done in the past years. They looked back again but nobody in the land waved…

“Bradley Manning!”, he said,” Jullian Assange!”, he exclaimed , “And people, people who know  that justice can’t grow in the high buildings or it can’t be killed in the smallest cells or in the bloodiest wars, none of the black books nor are the most noble hands good enough to deliver justice. It is in disguise and it always prevails but not always as soon as we expect.” His hunchback got smaller and smaller, it was almost invisible now.“Happy birthday Bradley Manning!” ,said the Iraqi girl and we  waved…

He wanted to smell the book once again after he turned the page hundred and he smelled it but didn’t smile this time. He looked back at the first page and closed the book. Sighs in his eyes, he started to write something on a  card. It was raining outside and it was dark. He put the card in a white envelope and walked out. He didn’t look back but why did he forget to take it? Maybe it was for anyone and that could be me or for the lady next to me or maybe another soul who hasn’t even seen him at all.

“To You!”, said envelope ,there was no name on it. “Those who do right never look back. When they do, they intend to correct those who look back or they know that they have to watch their back” ,said on the back of the card which pictured and old tree with all its roots visible. I put the card back into the envelope, left it on the table and never looked back when I walked out.

It was still dark outside and it was raining. They say it is Christmas soon, not for the man in a sleeping bag on the street. Why did this guy with a silver bag looked back before he got in his car? I just wanted to go home and think, how often do I  look back and why? How do I need to watch my back? Who was that man and why was he hunchback?