Thursday, 19 March 2015
TheBlindJournalist: Jack Straw's Life As Blackburn MP
“Blackburn is my soul…”
These aren’t my words but the words of Blackburn MP Jack Straw.
I interviewed the former Home Secretary at his office on Richmond Terrace on Friday 24th January 2014.
After succeeding Barbara Castle in 1979, at the age of 32, Jack Straw has kept his role as MP for an impressive 35 years but has now announced his retirement from politics.
Rather than focus on all the work Mr. Straw has done I felt I would focus on a matter close to my heart and to many fellow constituents of Blackburn; the matter of, segregation between the Whites and Asians in the town.
I am a Blackburn lad born and bred. In my 19 years in Blackburn I was aware that the town was segregated but I never knew that the ratio of Whites to Asians was larger. I thought it would have been equal or that there were more Asians.
I study in Preston and I spent five years at a boarding school in Liverpool so I haven’t spent much time in Blackburn but the shops I go to, the areas I spend time in, the people that I see are all Asians so to me it seemed that there were more Asians than Whites.
I wanted to find out from Mr. Straw what he feels he has done for the town in his 35 year reign and whether his constituents feel he has done a good job. I went into Blackburn Town Centre to do exactly that.
It was a wet and miserable day. Shoppers shopped minding their own business getting done what they needed to. This wasn’t good for me, a random Asian teenager approaching Asians and Whites asking them about their feelings of who they share their town with.
I asked the residents of the town:
What are your views on the matter of segregation in Blackburn between Asians and Whites and what do you think Jack Straw has done about it?
They probably thought I was mad asking about race in a time when people are afraid to say what they really feel as they’re scared of being labelled as a racist.
Gill, a 54 year old retired teacher, hesitantly told me that her parents grew up in the town and her grandchildren now also live in Blackburn. She paused, then said, talking about the Whites, ”It’s not our town anymore. We are getting pushed out slowly but surely. Jack Straw’s done nothing for us Whites, he’s only focused on listening to what them Asians have to say.” She stopped talking probably worried of what she’d just told me. I thanked her and she continued on into M&S.
On my way to Mr Straw’s office for the interview, I passed groups of students from Blackburn College, of which Mr. Straw is a governor. The students were either Asian or White, there was no mix. Even in the restaurant near Mr. Straw’s office, diners sat segregated by their ethnicity. There were only a few tables where there were Asians and Whites socialising and enjoying what looked to be a very tasty meal.
I went into this restaurant and asked the owner, Maqbool Patel, what he feels about segregation. In between food orders, he told me that he loves working at his restaurant; he gets to meet new people every day. But the segregation is clear to him, however he sees this changing because of Jack Straw’s work.
To my knowledge there isn’t a sense of hatred between the races but just a lack of willingness to integrate. Mr. Straw, who was a very calm, open interviewee, sat chewing a mint as I grilled him on his life as the Blackburn MP.
I interviewed Mr. Straw in the room known as the Barbara Castle meeting room. A small room occupied by an oak board room table and framed speeches and pictures of Barbara Castle and Mr. Straw.
From 1981 to 2013 there has been an increase of nearly 25,000 Asians in the town and the population of Whites has decreased.
I shared Gill’s feelings with Mr. Straw, he sat back in his chair and very openly told me that If your elected as MP, regardless of National duties, your constituency is the most important. You treat your constituents and their needs with respect. Your duty is to your constituency and its residents regardless of whether they are White or Asian.
I nodded feeling very taken aback by his answer. My respect for him grew a lot after he said this. He sat forward and continued on, I didn’t invite the Asians to Blackburn but as MP I have to work with all my constituents and do my best to make them happy. If the Asians didn’t come Blackburn would have had another issue of being depopulated.
In Mr. Straw’s defence he has worked very hard for the town not only on the matter of segregation but to help businesses and also the education side of the town. A scheme that Mr. Straw has openly supported is the Blackburn Youth Zone, a large orange coloured futuristic looking building that hosts many different activities aimed at 8 to 18 year olds to help create cohesion between the young Asians and Whites of the town.
Junaid Patel, a 20 year old ambassador for Blackburn Youth Zone, stood in his black ambassador hoody after giving a talk to some youngsters. He very pleasantly told me that Blackburn Youth Zone is a great scheme and it is about time something was done to tackle this issue of segregation. Aiming the scheme at the younger generation of the town is the best way. For the sake of the town and it’s future something needs to be done. He hopes Blackburn Youth Zone is the scheme to create cohesion and a better more loving and integrated town.
From my interview with Mr. Straw it became clear to me he is truly passionate about his town and when he says Blackburn is his soul he really means it.
These aren’t my words but the words of Blackburn MP Jack Straw.
I interviewed the former Home Secretary at his office on Richmond Terrace on Friday 24th January 2014.
After succeeding Barbara Castle in 1979, at the age of 32, Jack Straw has kept his role as MP for an impressive 35 years but has now announced his retirement from politics.
Rather than focus on all the work Mr. Straw has done I felt I would focus on a matter close to my heart and to many fellow constituents of Blackburn; the matter of, segregation between the Whites and Asians in the town.
I am a Blackburn lad born and bred. In my 19 years in Blackburn I was aware that the town was segregated but I never knew that the ratio of Whites to Asians was larger. I thought it would have been equal or that there were more Asians.
I study in Preston and I spent five years at a boarding school in Liverpool so I haven’t spent much time in Blackburn but the shops I go to, the areas I spend time in, the people that I see are all Asians so to me it seemed that there were more Asians than Whites.
I wanted to find out from Mr. Straw what he feels he has done for the town in his 35 year reign and whether his constituents feel he has done a good job. I went into Blackburn Town Centre to do exactly that.
It was a wet and miserable day. Shoppers shopped minding their own business getting done what they needed to. This wasn’t good for me, a random Asian teenager approaching Asians and Whites asking them about their feelings of who they share their town with.
I asked the residents of the town:
What are your views on the matter of segregation in Blackburn between Asians and Whites and what do you think Jack Straw has done about it?
They probably thought I was mad asking about race in a time when people are afraid to say what they really feel as they’re scared of being labelled as a racist.
Gill, a 54 year old retired teacher, hesitantly told me that her parents grew up in the town and her grandchildren now also live in Blackburn. She paused, then said, talking about the Whites, ”It’s not our town anymore. We are getting pushed out slowly but surely. Jack Straw’s done nothing for us Whites, he’s only focused on listening to what them Asians have to say.” She stopped talking probably worried of what she’d just told me. I thanked her and she continued on into M&S.
On my way to Mr Straw’s office for the interview, I passed groups of students from Blackburn College, of which Mr. Straw is a governor. The students were either Asian or White, there was no mix. Even in the restaurant near Mr. Straw’s office, diners sat segregated by their ethnicity. There were only a few tables where there were Asians and Whites socialising and enjoying what looked to be a very tasty meal.
I went into this restaurant and asked the owner, Maqbool Patel, what he feels about segregation. In between food orders, he told me that he loves working at his restaurant; he gets to meet new people every day. But the segregation is clear to him, however he sees this changing because of Jack Straw’s work.
To my knowledge there isn’t a sense of hatred between the races but just a lack of willingness to integrate. Mr. Straw, who was a very calm, open interviewee, sat chewing a mint as I grilled him on his life as the Blackburn MP.
I interviewed Mr. Straw in the room known as the Barbara Castle meeting room. A small room occupied by an oak board room table and framed speeches and pictures of Barbara Castle and Mr. Straw.
From 1981 to 2013 there has been an increase of nearly 25,000 Asians in the town and the population of Whites has decreased.
I shared Gill’s feelings with Mr. Straw, he sat back in his chair and very openly told me that If your elected as MP, regardless of National duties, your constituency is the most important. You treat your constituents and their needs with respect. Your duty is to your constituency and its residents regardless of whether they are White or Asian.
I nodded feeling very taken aback by his answer. My respect for him grew a lot after he said this. He sat forward and continued on, I didn’t invite the Asians to Blackburn but as MP I have to work with all my constituents and do my best to make them happy. If the Asians didn’t come Blackburn would have had another issue of being depopulated.
In Mr. Straw’s defence he has worked very hard for the town not only on the matter of segregation but to help businesses and also the education side of the town. A scheme that Mr. Straw has openly supported is the Blackburn Youth Zone, a large orange coloured futuristic looking building that hosts many different activities aimed at 8 to 18 year olds to help create cohesion between the young Asians and Whites of the town.
Junaid Patel, a 20 year old ambassador for Blackburn Youth Zone, stood in his black ambassador hoody after giving a talk to some youngsters. He very pleasantly told me that Blackburn Youth Zone is a great scheme and it is about time something was done to tackle this issue of segregation. Aiming the scheme at the younger generation of the town is the best way. For the sake of the town and it’s future something needs to be done. He hopes Blackburn Youth Zone is the scheme to create cohesion and a better more loving and integrated town.
From my interview with Mr. Straw it became clear to me he is truly passionate about his town and when he says Blackburn is his soul he really means it.
Tuesday, 3 March 2015
TheBlindJournalist: Be My Eyes Application
Will you Be My Eyes?
The smartphone market is inundated with
applications or ‘apps’. These applications can vary from games to banking
tools. But this market is also being used to create apps which assist the blind
and visually impaired.
Be My Eyes
is the latest arrival in the Apple App Store, which has been trending worldwide
with 90,957 tweets from January 17th to February 16th –
according to topsy.com
The app has been created by Hans Jorgen Wiberg,
who is visually impaired himself. He showcased the idea in April 2012 at a Startup
Weekend in Denmark. Hans told In
Touch, BBC Radio 4’s disability
programme that:
When I got myself an iPhone I started to use
FaceTime, which is a video chat application. I told a few of my blind friends
about FaceTime and they told me that they use this to gain assistance but that
they needed to make sure someone on the other end was always free to help them.
So I came up with this idea to get a group of volunteers who could answer a
call and help blind and visually impaired users.”
The way that the application works is:
ü When a user downloads and opens the app. Two options will appear – Sighted
or Blind. Volunteers would choose sighted and those who need assistance would
choose blind.
ü You then sign up according to which option suits you – signing up
is free
ü You select which languages you speak and enter your name.
ü For blind users a button will appear that says ‘Connect to sighted
helper’ when they press this a signal is sent from the phone to a server which
randomly connects to a sighted helper, who speaks the same language, and if
that helper doesn’t pick up within ten seconds the server will reconnect to a
different helper.
ü The blind user then points their camera towards the item they need
assistance with e.g a microwave ready meal then the sighted helper will guide
the user until what they are looking for comes into frame e.g. how long to put
the meal in the microwave.
“For blind and partially sighted people who use a
smartphone, Be My Eyes is an important and innovative new development which could make a big
difference to their lives. This is another example of an accessible app which
has a really practical benefit for people with sight loss, and at RNIB, we’re
particularly supportive of initiatives which find new ways to help people
complete everyday tasks such as cooking and shopping.”
However, there have been concerns raised about
possible privacy breaches i.e blind users showing confidential documents to the
helpers but Hans added:
“The blind user should only use this app for
assistance with sensible things”
Currently the app is only available to download,
for free, on the apple iPhone Store however, there are plans to extend the use
to other Android markets. Funding is only secured until September 2015 after
which subscriptions may be introduced or donations could be requested from
users to keep the application running.
At the time this article was written Be My Eyes had 135,000 volunteers
registered to help the blind and visually impaired. There were 12,400 blind
users and 38,600 people helped through the app.
To listen to a demonstration of how this app
works, visit http://orbis.uina.org.uk/
Friday, 16 January 2015
TheBlindJournalist: Honour of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace & Blessings Be Upon Him) in light of the Paris shootings
Following on from the recent events in Paris I have decided to write this post. I am merely a blogger sharing my opinion on goings on. I have no authority or knowledge to state facts or take sides.
However, what I will say is whosoever attempts to mock the Prophet Muhammad (Peace & Blessings Be Upon Him) should always expect outcry from the Muslims.
Above I have purposely used the word "attempts" because this is all that can be done. It is IMPOSSIBLE to mock the Prophet Muhammad (Peace & Blessings Be Upon Him) He is the Best of Creation.
What the world needs to realise is that the Prophet Muhammad (Peace & Blessings Be Upon Him) is more valuable to Muslims than their own lives. Whosoever tries to devalue, mock or belittle the Prophet Muhammad (Peace & Blessings Be Upon Him( is openly upsetting and angering the 1.7 billion Muslims in the world.
Just as it is a crime to be anti-Semitic and to do treason to the Royal Family in the UK, it should also be a crime to be blasphemous towards the Prophet Muhammad (Peace & Blessings Be Upon Him) aswell as all other Prophets.
The hashtag KillAllMuslims #KillAllMuslims made me laugh because this is people's utter narrow mindedness thinking that those whom kill innocent human beings are Muslims. Also it isn't possible to kill all Muslims because Allah States that The Day Of Judgement will only come when there is nobody left reciting Allah's name on this earth.
People get upset when individuals talk badly about the Royal Family or about the Holocaust as it is hurtful to Royalists or the Jews. In the same way openly mocking the Prophet Muhammad (Peace & Blessings Be Upon Him) is going to get a reaction but yet there is no international law against this.
Until a law comes into place which makes this a crime there will remain individuals who take it upon themselves to act.
Nevertheless Islam is a religion of peace and strongly forbids the killing of innocent human beings
Once again. I am a mere individual stating my opinion. Allah & His Prophet Muhammad (Peace & Blessings Be Upon Him) know best.
I advise you to watch this video below and also sign the petition proceeding it.
Thank you for reading.
Video:
Petition:
We want to know the boundaries and limits to the term "Freedom of Speech" in the UK.
When Jews are ridiculed, it is Anti-Semitism. When ethnic minorities are targeted, it is racism. When Islam is defamed, it is "Freedom of Speech"
We call on the British Government to draw the lines for us, what is acceptable, what is not?
We want a common law for ALL.
We want to detach ourselves from these never-ending Double-standards.
It is the least we can do.
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/73584
We need 100,000 signatures for it to go further.
Sunday, 23 November 2014
Thursday, 13 November 2014
TheBlindJournalist: Space Camp
“One small step for a
man, a giant leap for mankind.”
These were the famous
words Neil Armstrong said when he stepped onto the moon. That leap is simply
now a flight to America.
To go to space is a
dream many people have. But with the many years of vigorous training and
commitment involved, along with the financial setbacks, this dream cannot be a
reality.
However, a space camp
which has been running in Huntsville, Alabama for the past 32 years aims to
give this very opportunity to aspiring astronauts.
The camp was set up by
Dr. Wernher von Braun in 1982. The opportunity allows individuals to experience
the real-life jobs of astronauts through simulators. The camp which runs for 49
weeks out of the year aims to teach attendees the preparations astronauts make
before going into space and undertake various roles over the duration of the
camp. Roles include manning mission control, constructing and launching your
own rocket, designing your own space patch and climbing the simulated Mars
climbing wall.
Although the camp was
originally designed for young children to improve their Maths and Science
skills as well as improve on their teamwork; it also has camps for adults and
families.
Andrew Rechenberg,
Senior Systems Engineer at Sherman Financial Group, who attended the adult
space camp said:
“Adult Space Academy was
one of the most rewarding things I have done for myself in my adult life. Most people I've spoken to about it have said
something to the effect of "I always wanted to go to Space Camp as a
kid." After they say those words I
tell them about my experiences and make sure they know that they can still go
as an adult.
It actually FELT like I
was a kid again.”
There are also camps
especially for those who are blind\visually impaired or have other special
needs.
Dan Oates, who is the coordinator
for Space Camp for Interested Visually Impaired Students Said in an interview
over email:
“As a result of Dr.
Wernher Von Braun touring the U. S. Space & Rocket Centre in 1982. He saw a need for children to attend a camp,
similar to soccer camp, band camp, etc., where they could learn about science.
This is why he created the camp.”
To date Space Camp has
had over 650,000 graduates with 6 of those graduates actually going on to
become astronauts.
Jennifer Linchy, who
attended the camp in October, said:
“Ever since I was a
child and I saw the movie "Space Camp" it was my dream to go and it
initiated my interest in the sky above. I gave up on my dream to go to space
when I was older but the Adult Space Camp allowed me to make my lifelong dream a
reality. I am now moonstruck and I am counting the days until I can return again”.
Dan Oates, furthered:
“Space Camp is not for
amateurs. While there are many
independent companies looking at flying civilians into space, the industry
isn’t ready to take that step yet. For interested individuals who wish to go on
camp. Simply go to http://www.spacecamp.com and register.”
Brian Simmons, from
Illinois, who also attended said:
“I've always had an
interest in space and Adult Space Camp brought together a group of sixteen
people like me and taught us about teamwork, leadership and most importantly,
building friendships”.
To go on the Adult Space
Academy camp for three days it would cost $500, and for 4 days it is $600. The
camp is open to anyone from any country but a good level of English is needed
to fully participate in the program.
Extended Comments
Jennifer Linchy furthered:
“Last year I liked Space Camp's Facebook page. They
posted about their adult programs and I had commented that it was on my bucket
list and I dreamed of going”.
Andrew Rechenberg furthered:
“Living on the Space Camp campus makes you experience the
same wonder and awe you felt when you thought about being an astronaut as a
child. That feeling alone is worth the price of admission.
If you can take 3-5 days away from your
"regular" life, you won't regret spending them like an astronaut at
Adult Space Academy”.
Monday, 3 November 2014
TheBlindJournalist: Inventor of Vimto To Be Remembered
The cordial, Vimto is a much loved drink across the world. But did you know the inventor was from Blackburn? John Noel Nichols is to be remembered by a plaque which will be placed outside his house on Adelaide Terrace.
In this post you will find an audio interview with Ray Smith from Blackburn Local History Society and a Piece To Camera from myself outside the house of John Noel Nichols.
In this post you will find an audio interview with Ray Smith from Blackburn Local History Society and a Piece To Camera from myself outside the house of John Noel Nichols.
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