The life and legacy of Baroness Thatcher

So by now, if you're alive, you know that Margaret Thatcher passed away yesterday morning here in London. Every news outlet, pundit, and commentator – professional or otherwise – has offered his and her assessment of her work and legacy, so I won't offer anything more here. You can find them yourselves, if you haven't already, across the internet. But what I wanted to point out here on my patch of the internet is what's been missing from the commentary.

I watched 4 hours of coverage about Margaret Thatcher last night across the BBC, read countless articles and had several conversations about her yesterday. Not one of them focused on Margaret Thatcher as a woman beyond her being the first female Prime Minister of the UK. I've been fascinated and impressed that the coverage of her life and death has been shaped by her policies and achievements (and failures) rather than her gender.

Regardless of whether you think her actions shaped modern Britain successfully or detrimentally, or whether you're conservative or liberal, or whether you think she was a feminist or not (she absolutely didn't think so), Margaret Thatcher should be celebrated for her achievements in breaking into the old boys school of politics in the UK. In a world where still the US cares more about whether Hillary Clinton wears makeup or not and who a woman is married to, you have to hand it to a woman who achieved a position of political power and accomplishment over 30 years ago. At that point, women were still fighting for a seat at the table in the US rather than commanding leadership at the head.

Debate will continue rage for the foreseeable future, as all of these headlines attest, as to whether Thatcherite policies built or broke the UK. I can't claim to know the truth, and my opinion is clouded by the here and now rather than the experience of living through some of her more dramatic decisions and policies. But I will always respect The Iron Lady who said

"If you want something said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman."

Pizza on a roof

Friday night, The Irishman and I drowned our house sorrows in pizza and wine at one of London's newest pop-ups, Forza Win. I think I've mentioned before that The Irishman's two favorite things in life are pizza and ice cream, so when he heard about Forza Win he jumped right in and got us two seats. It's a good thing as tickets are sold out now.

 The concept is pretty simple: pizza on a rooftop in Shoreditch, straight out of a homemade brick oven.

Unfortunately, due to the recent weather, we didn't get to eat on the roof; instead we had tables set up in an alternate inside space inside the building. But no matter – it was still pizza!

The weather held off long enough for us to have our cocktails on the roof though, so we got to admire the view of the East London skyline, mingle and meet the other guests, and ask questions about the pizza oven. I was gutted that it was so wet I couldn't sit in the bumper car. It was literally filled with water.

Tickets to the event obviously include the pizza, but also a welcome cocktail – an Aperol spritz. This drink happens to be my favorite cocktail of the moment, perfect for a hot summers day (or a cloudy cold summers day if you want to fake it). 

As the sun started to set and the temperatures started to cool down, we headed inside for the main event: pizza. As it's a pop up supper club, you sit at communal tables and share the pizzas. We sat with a few couples and a group, and had a few vegetarians which meant more meat pizza for us! One of the main meat ingredients was a chorizo-type sausage called andouille (I think) – hot and spicy and amazing.

As the meal went on, though, the conversation started to turn slightly odd. One of the women sitting across from me started to heavily criticize America and Americans to the couple sitting beside her. Now. I am not a thin-skinned person, nor am I particularly gung-ho on the USA. As an American who lives abroad, I frequently criticize my homeland myself, find typical American habits to be grating and often apologize to my foreign colleagues for the blithely offensive actions of our New York office. But listening to someone else, a stranger, sound off about Americans right infront of me – definitely within earshot – got my hackles up bigtime.

When she finally addressed me and The Irishman, she made a few pointed remarks about the USA and proclaimed me to be acceptable when I told her where in the States I was from. I disengaged from the conversation pretty quickly at that point, and it sort of soured the rest of the evening for me.

Which is a shame, because we were also treated to a set from a band called Shields from Newcastle. They were set to open for Bruce Springsteen at Hard Rock Calling in Hyde Park later in the weekend, and were really fantastic. As we were actually in the offices of a film production company, naturally the band's performance was being shot for a video.

I have to say that I've never really been that annoyed by someone America bashing, but something about the setting of this interaction saddened me. Maybe because pizza is such an American food, despite being cooked Neopolitan-style at Forza Win; I mean, we wouldn't be having pizza pop up restaurants if Americans hadn't normalized the idea of eating pizza. Maybe because I'm so quick to defend my decision to live abroad while being jealous of the 100°F heatwave hitting the East Coast yet hating the fact that I'm wearing the same outfit I wore in February only it's July. Maybe it's because the longer I live away, the more I realize that nationalistic segregations and stereotypes are barriers to truly understanding people. And maybe, finally, it's because hearing some lady punter verbalize opinions that are so close to my own actually reinforced for me the reality that the US has a lot of work to do to repair its image in the world; the work is far from over on that regard, and as much we Americans still want to believe we are somehow more evolved than other nationalities, it's simply just not true.

And actually, I have to say that one of her comments was very very apt: she was astounded that the US was exporting so many bright, articulate, and interesting people... and she wondered why the US wasn't doing enough to keep them. Which is a pretty fascinating comment – I mean, why isn't America doing more to keep its brainpower within its borders? I don't particularly want to move back, nor do many of my expat friends. So maybe the truth of it is that her comments hit far too close to home.

At any rate, if you can get there, check out Forza Win: the pizzas are great, the spritzes are authentic, the bands are fantastic, and the conversation is nothing less than stimulating.

The Diamond Jubilee weekend

 

I'm sitting on the sofa watching the Queen's Jubilee Concert, arguing with The Irishman over whether The Beatles originally sang Live and Let Die (I was sort of right, it was Wings) and thought it was the right time to update you all on the Diamond Jubilee festivities thus far. That's me above, with my face through a placard in Victoria Station and it pretty much sums up the weekend: flags, buntings, and Corgis galore.

It started Friday on my walk to work. The pub above is my local, where I had my 30th birthday party, getting ready for the onslaught of the coming festivities. It cheered me up and set the stage for the rest of the holiday weekend.

When I got to work, bunting and chalk drawings greeted me. Can you see the theme yet?

We spent Saturday out in East London at a music festival (a post about that later), but Sunday was devoted to the Jubilee flotilla. We decided to go down to the riverside near Tate Britain, and try to find a spot near a large screen. This is what we saw when we met up with friends at a pub near the Pimlico tube station.

And here is what we saw on our way to finding a viewing spot:

The screens were great, as you got to see all of the goings-on down river in Chelsea Harbour where the royal party was boarding their respective watercraft. When the Duchess of Cambridge came on screen for the first time, a massive cheer went up and the flags went wild. All around me I heard "She's gooooorgeous!" A lesser cheer went up for Charles and Camilla. But of course, the biggest cheer of all went up for the Queen.

And then the flotilla procession began. I had to stand on tip toes, but when I did I could glimpse Kate in her bright red dress and get a good view of the royal barge. It was pretty special. 

The rain started not long after the Queen sailed past, so we decamped to a pub near Victoria Station. This is Elizabeth Street.

We sat outside a street party table, with lovely flower arrangements that reflected the flowers of the British nations.

And some unfortunate spelling on lovely decorative bread. 

In Victoria Station, this cheeky sign was a brilliant symbol of the mood of everyone in the city - despite the weather.

Today we went to Oxford Street, and Regent Street was decked out with bunting and flags.

Carnaby Street of course had a more eccentric take on the Union Jack.

And then we had lunch in Chinatown, where the Union Jack hung next to the Chinese flag across the neighborhood.

Even the drag queens were celebrating, with confetti and balloons during an outdoor concert.

And of course, there was the Jubilee concert this evening in front of Buckingham Palace. It was surprisingly emotional, with Prince Charles calling the Queen "Mummy" and the Queen breaking into a smile as her subjects cheered and clapped for her. But the festivities aren't over; tomorrow there is a service at St Paul's Cathedral and procession down The Mall. I don't think we'll try to attend any of those celebrations as the weather will be crap again, and I want to take advantage of some of the Jubilee sales that are flooding the high streets.

I remarked to The Irishman that I felt sort of weird after yesterday, standing for hours in the rain to crane my neck for a glimpse of a monarch that technically isn't mine. I mean, I'm a native of a country that defined itself by rejecting the British royal family and rule; The Irishman's people were persecuted for centuries and tried to kill the Queen. Yet we both found the Jubilee celebrations to be wonderfully moving displays that we were more than happy to join. The Irishman thought that it was a testament to the Queen's ability to bring people together and lead in such a way that helped mend differences. I think that the Queen is a lovely grandmother sort who has mellowed so much since I moved to the UK. 

There was a lovely piece of footage during tonight's concert that summed up how I see the Queen: in it, she is examining soldiers standing to attention - including William. As she passes him, he cracks a smile and then straightens his face but not before she pauses a moment and smiles herself. That shared look of love through duty is what I've come to see of the Queen in my four years of living in the UK. A lot of articles have been written about the Queen over the last few weeks, many (if not most) of them positively praising her influence on the world and the UK, but I've found the personal portraits the most fascinating. Here is a woman who completely dedicated her life to duty to the Realm, and had to adapt to some of the most changing situations in history. Sometimes she changed too slowly, but at this point, 60 years in, she's found an equilibrium that most of us dream to possess. Whether she likes it or, not, Diana was good for her and the family and you can see her influence in how the Queen treats her grandsons and her subjects.

I'm glad I got to experience the Jubilee, and all of the pomp and circumstance, even if every time I hear God Save the Queen I think of My Country, 'Tis of Thee. It's a special time for a special woman, who sets an example that all politicians around the world should study and heed.

Metal thieves

In a sad and depressing sign of the times, the UK's burgeoning trade in stolen metal has reached its nadir with a Barbara Hepworth statue stolen out from Dulwich Park a few days ago.

Apparently commodity prices for industrial metals like copper and iron are soaring, giving petty thieves an incentive to steal metal from railroads, plaques from statues - basically, anything solid metal has a decent resale value and they're going after it. The Hepworth piece is just the worst – and most high profile – example of the crime. Police are cracking down on the crime, as it is not only just sad to see art being stolen but it's contributing to commuter train disruption and costing the country millions.

At this festive time of the year full of goodwill and cheer, this epidemic is making me despondent. Obviously because public art should be safe through a commonly accepted code of decency in society, but also because the economy is still so bad that more and more people are being driven to crime to try to make ends meet (I'm a fan of believing people are inherently good, and that motives for stealing a beautiful sculpture aren't purely mercenary).

Anyway. Here's to hoping this is the first and last of such crimes in the world, and that the thieves find some Christmas spirit in their hearts to return the sculpture to be restored.

The UK census

Today is the day to complete the UK census. I got very excited when we received our census packet; though there was an option to fill out the census online, I personally, nerdily, love filling out forms and told The Irishman I would take over filling out the bulk of the document. Secretly, I was also excited and intrigued to see just what the government wanted to know about me.

Like the US, the UK census comes around every 10 years and is compulsory. Unlike the US census, the government is surveying households on a particular day (today), so if you're visiting a friend and staying with them you are counted with them as part of his/her household as well. If you're travelling and not at home today, you have to fill out a special section explaining why and get it done asap. The most notable differences in the document itself were questions that pointed towards the UK's more liberal social policy stances: questions about marital status included as many options for gay people as for straight. The race and religion questions also had many more options, as well as write-in opportunities, than in the US. There were questions about health, occupation, and caretaking, and I had a pretty hard time trying to figure out how my academic credentials matched with UK degree levels.

The Irishman found my enthusiasm for the census to be pretty hilarious, but I did find that filling out the form gave me a really good understanding for how British social policy is planned and executed. I any documents that survey people and find the questions to be more telling than the answers. Just one more little peak under the covers of British society and culture.

Tis the season for pickpockets and protesters!

Today I had three encounters with the sadder side of the holidays. On the bus this morning, the driver made an announcement that two boys wearing bright green gloves had been picking pockets on the 38 bus and urged us to be vigilant. For the record, I think it's slightly ludicrous to wear a noticeably bright color if you're going to engage in bad behavior and I found myself with the urge to tell those boys to keep their hands to themselves.

When I got off of the bus, I saw signs up on the telephone polls warning thieves THE METROPOLITAN POLICE ARE WATCHING YOU and WE KNOW YOU OPERATE IN THIS AREA and WE ARE TARGETING YOU. Scary! I wonder how many break-ins had to happen for the police to make these signs and install them.

And finally, on my way home from work, I passed by a small protest outside of a church hosting Carols by Candlelight. There must have been a MP in attendance, because someone exited the church and they started on their chant of "Make the bankers pay!" and "No ifs and no buts repeal all the cuts!"

I know that the budget cuts in Britain are hard, and I'm lucky that I'm somewhat sheltered from them. Yesterday the government announced just how much each local council was going to receive (or not) from the government, and I can imagine that come April when the cuts truly take effect that I will notice small unpleasant changes in Islington. But today I was reminded that I'm in the minority and that this recession really is affecting people - and they're not going to take it lying down.

The government's "cuts" - OP-ED

I don't typically rant about politics on my blog, but this really annoyed me so I feel like I just have to vent. Proceed with caution.

So the major political parties have had their annual conferences over the last few weeks, and the Tories are the last to go. They are up in Birmingham, reveling in their coalition government and giving the UK a stern lecture on how the economy is still fragile and there is a need to cut benefits. On Monday, they announced their first and probably most controversial move: to cut child benefits.

In the UK, families (of any sort) receive a stipend intended to help cover additional costs incurred by, well, having a kid. I am unsure about the exact amount, but it seems to be about £1,000 per year that isn't taxed. What the Tories have decided is that those families with parents who are high earners will now lose out on the benefit. Which I am, in principle, okay with. However, I'm really upset about the arbitrariness of the income thresholds that will be affected.

Basically, the income threshold is £44,000 per annum. But because tax is in the UK is calculated on an individual basis not households (no joint filing for married couples), the threshold applies to any family where ONE parent earns £44k or more even if their total household income is only based on one person's income. So ostensibily you could have a couple with one child who both work, earning £40k each for a total of £80k, still receiving the child benefit, but then have a couple who have three children, one working earning £50k and the other staying home to care for the kids, and not receiving the child benefit.

Besides being inherently unfair, the bit of this that bothers me the most is that, again, it's single moms who lose out the most. Women typically earn less than men anyway and by evaluating eligibility by individual rather than household, you actually discourage them from seeking raises, promotions, or career advancement. Single mothers have to pay for childcare, unlike couples with a stay-at-home-parent, increasing the cost of care and limiting options.

David Cameron has apologised for the unfairness of this new system as he recognises that people see the incongruent logic behind it; apparently the threshold and the policy are based on the current tax system that does not recognize income on a household basis and it would cost more to change the tax system than to just institute this cut. The Tories are also trying to help by saying they'll give a tax credit to married couples, which is absolutely ridiculous because, again, single moms and those who don't want to be married lose out.

Everyone knows the economy isn't quite stable, and that economic austerity is the way forward, and I'm okay with that. But I really believe, as a taxpayer in 2 countries, that the cuts and policies put forward as solutions to our troubled economy MUST be fair to all. You can't take something away from those who need it most just to keep the solution neat and tidy. I really hope that the coalition government rethinks how it cuts the child benefit and just who is going to make the most sacrifices for our collective economic health.

Global what?

There was an article published yesterday in the New York Times claiming that the UK has become a nation of non-believers when it comes to climate change. It cites some statistics regarding how critical Britons believe the global warming crisis is, and how David Cameron was strangely silent on the issue during the election. But I offer you, dear readers, another theory: the UK is having a life crisis, and the environment is only one part of it.

We've got Europe dissolving into chaos over both economic and political instability, a volcano we can't control, a flag carrier at war with its cabin crew, and one of the country's biggest company is blamed for the US's biggest environmental catastrophe. To make matters worse, the British youth are lonely. And you want the country to keep worrying about global warming?!

I'm not a global climate change doubter; I think it does exist and I think we're all just putting our heads in the collective sand, trying not to deal with it, and I think that the global economic crisis has given us all a good reason to ignore it. Singling out the British public as having changed their minds about climate change is shortsighted - they haven't changed their minds, just their priorities. Unfortunately for the Earth, there is always another calamity that strikes when we least expect it, and unless the environment is made the priority issue by a group of politicians in charge, nothing will ever change.

Whoa nelly!

As my roommate said yesterday, the country is going to pot! We don't have a government, Gordon Brown has resigned, and to top it off BA's cabin crews are going on strike again! FFS PEOPLE. You'd think this country was a backwards nation of eccentrics. Oh, wait a minute.

Anyway. I find all of the election shakedown to be extremely interesting. The fact that this nation hasn't had a clear winner of an election for over 35 years is causing a total uproar, and the best part of the whole mess is that politicians are now blaming the voters: "The reality is that the voters chose not to give any party a majority so it's our moral duty to form a government based on their mandate". Excuuuuuse me! Well well well!

As negotiations for both the government and the flag carrier progress, I'm struck again by the fact that frankly, day-to-day life carries on just the same as usual. Politicians love to pretend they're integral to the process of living, but frankly, they're only really good for moderately funny entertainment. If that's all they're worth, then I'd vote David Dimbleby for Prime Minister over any of them any day.

The UK election and immigration

So the UK election is tomorrow, and not a moment too soon. I'm sick of the campaign coverage, and the fact that the BBC chose The xx song "Intro" as the theme song of all their Election 2010 commercials - I love that song and now I'll never think of anything besides Gordon Brown, David Cameron, and Nick Clegg whenever I hear it.

I think one of the reasons I am "over" the campaign is because I can't vote. Last week The Irishman asked me who I'd vote for if I could, and I truthfully answered that I didn't know because I hadn't been paying attention. It's so different from during the last American election, when I was glued to the news coverage, soaking up every last detail and freaking out about whether I'd get my absentee ballot in time (even though I knew it really wouldn't count). Here, I know vaguely what each of them are saying: I feel bad for Gordon Brown every time he opens his mouth and makes a horrible gaff; I don't trust David Cameron, and his snake-oil charm; and Nick Clegg just has a really annoying way of delivering a speech.

It dawned on me though that this election has actually revealed a strange truth for me: I am an immigrant. I am a disenfranchised immigrant who threatens British people. Amongst all of the talk about British jobs for British workers, each of the parties has a proposal for lowering the numbers of people who enter the UK to work - people like me. It feels really strange that rather than being an oft-courted demographic (young, single, female mid-range earner), here my views and concerns aren't even registered. It's funny - it's like shut up, pay your taxes and your exorbitant visa fees, and we'll let you stay here with limited freedoms. Wow. What a change.

For that reason alone, I should be paying attention to the candidates to understand what they have in store for people like me. Somewhat ironically, educated skilled workers would suffer the most under the Tories: they propose a cap on immigration and making it even more difficult for companies who want to bring non-EU nationals over to the UK to work. Those of us already here would be okay, but who knows what they would do with the Points-Based System that gave me the freedom to own my visa and right-to-work. LibDems want to send migrants only to cities that need workers (ie, Manchester rather than London), and to be honest I have no idea what Labour is going to do.

So I will participate in the election tomorrow the best way I know how - by watching the election returns and eating takeaway, but it will definitely be sad to know I didn't get to vote and be "part" of the action.

The first UK election debate

So last night was a historic moment for UK politics - the first election debate. I watched 2/3rds of it, and while I wanted to be interested in what they were saying it was all a big yawnfest. Debates are debates are debates, and they didn't say much more than they've been yapping about on the news up to now. But what WAS interesting was the commentary afterwards. Confession here: I'm a nerd and I like listening to the talking heads dissect speeches and campaign events. In the US, those talking heads tend to be really brash, arrogrant and out to make a name for themselves more than anything else. Here, they just get other politicians who support the candidates to do the post-mortem. So I stayed up to watch Question Time with my new fave, David Dimbleby (who I like to call David Dingleberry tee hee), and a raft of politicians from various parties discuss the campaign issues and the debate in depth. Outcome? Well it's agreed that Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems won the debate simply because he a) was the most likeable and normal politician up there, and b) because no one thought they were a legitimate party until he appeared likeable and normal compared to the Tories and Labour. Other than that, nothing much came from it besides my realization that we have 3 more weeks of this nonsense to live through. It may be shorter than a US presidential campaign, but it's a good deal more concentrated.

Here's a video of the candidates discussing education reform if you're at all interested.

The UK Election

I'm still trying to recover from the Obama election in 2008 when lo and behold, it's election time in the UK. A week ago today, Gordon Brown announced that he was going to drive to Buckingham Palace (I suspect a helicopter might have filmed the motorcade) and asked for the Queen's permission to dissolve Parliament so they can go on campaign. The election is scheduled for May 6th and therefore it's the only topic of conversation on the news every morning, noon, and night. There are so many differences between the US and the UK in terms of elections that it's difficult to know where to start explaining, but it's also safe to say that from my untrained eye the whole thing is shifting to a much more American style of doing things.

First of all, hilarious that British politicians can't multi-task and do the job they are elected to do (govern) and simultaneously seek re-election. So they literally shut down the government for four weeks and hit the campaign trail. Going to the people on their doorsteps is a really strong sentiment here; every single candidate talks about hearing from people and speaking to them at their homes, so perhaps they need the time to drive around the country and find the most far-flung country cottages. Or not. When I mentioned this oddity at work, someone did point out that okay fair enough they shut down government for a month, but at least the election doesn't drag out for 2 years and cost $500 million in advertising like it does in America. Fair enough.

While in the US the elections are about the personalities - the people who are running - the election here seems to be much more about the parties. Yes Gordon Brown is the face of Labour while David Cameron is the face of the Tories, but it doesn't feel nearly as much as of a popularity contest here, where people are voting for the man and less of the party as does in the US. Here, each party releases a printed manifesto explaining what they will do for (to) the country if elected. Reporters are actually digging out the Labour manifesto from 2005 or whenever the last election is and judging whether the party has achieved them! No one really holds parties to tasks in the US, as the goal posts always seem to be shifting.

Yet, as I mentioned before, there are changes afoot. For the first time ever, there will be live televised debates between the Prime Minister candidates in the UK. References are being made to the first US presidential debate between Nixon and JFK, as the similarities in style and appearance between Brown and Cameron are shockingly close. Some are deriding the fact that American-style Hollywood-type politics are encroaching on the UK, while others welcome the fact that all three candidates will be in one place discussing their opinions together. Personally, I want to see just how different they all are - because they all seem pretty much the same.

And, of course, there are many of "them." They being parties. The UK, while a democracy, runs in the Parliamentary multi-party system, and there are no less than 5 political parties with seats in Parliament. The major parties are the Conservatives and Labour, but there are also regional parties like the Scottish National Party, the Welsh National Party, the UKIP, the BNP (neo-conservatives that are not nice) and then there is an alternative-sort-of-major-party called the Liberal-Democrats. I don't know who they are. Or what they stand for. Or why I should (if I could) vote for them. The most interesting part of this multi-party system is that if, after May 6th, there isn't one party with a majority of votes (or seats in Parliament), then there is a hung Parliament! And there might be a coalition government! I learned about all of this during my freshman year of college... and promptly forgot. I'll deal with it if it happens... stay tuned.

And the worst difference? Annoyingly, to be different, just like driving on the opposite side of the road from the rest of the world, in the UK blue = conservative, red = liberal. WTF. For a visual person like me, it really makes things difficult when looking at the poll maps. Oh Britain... always have to be different.