It looked like a gigantic tombstone, a monumental rectangular slab looming over the streets of Chinatown in Lower Manhattan, blocking out most of the sky. The great grey hulk was punctuated by tiny slit windows, each marking one of the 1,400 prisoners that would be stacked inside the vertical human storage facility.reforms to the city’s criminal justice system. It depicted an outline idea for one of the four new jails planned for the boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, intended to replace the crumbling, violent, and roundly condemned jail complex on Rikers Island, nicknamed the “Guantanamo of New York”. The height of the new jail towers was later slashed from 45 storeys to a maximum of 29, but the damage had been done. The images of these brutish concrete silos symbolised a rack’em and stack’em approach, attracting criticism from both prison reform advocates and the communities in which these fortified slabs were to be planted. If … [Read more...] about New York’s high-rise prisons: what could go wrong?
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Gamergate is loud, dangerous and a last grasp at cultural dominance by angry white men
As the cultural relevance of angry white men on the internet withers away and ends, their last words – muttered angrily at an empty room – will surely be “Gamer ... gate”. The recent uproar – said to be over ethics in journalism but focused mostly on targeting outspoken women who aren’t journalists at all – is just the last, desperate gasp of misogynists facing an unwelcoming future. But this particular bitter end, while long overdue, is loud, angry and extremely dangerous. Female game developers Brianna Wu and Zoe Quinn have fled their homes in fear after a terrifying barrage of rape and death threats. Feminist media critic Anita Sarkeesian was forced to cancel a talk last week at Utah State University after the school received an email promising a “Montreal Massacre-style” mass shooting if the “craven little whore” was allowed to speak. And despite assurances from Gamergate supporters that they have no problem with … [Read more...] about Gamergate is loud, dangerous and a last grasp at cultural dominance by angry white men
The curry crisis
It's a cold, rainy day in Bradford and the balti restaurants and fast food outlets offering "desi" [Asian] milkshakes, have yet to fill up. But close by, the industrial kitchen of the International Food Academy is already buzzing with activity. Angelo Towse, 33, is frowning in concentration as he carefully folds, and stuffs, samosas. By the stainless steel sinks, former bricklayer Joel Stafford, 26, is patting mince on to skewers for kebabs while Awais Mumtaz, 20, whose father owns Mumtaz, one of Bradford's best-known restaurants, is learning to make a stuffing and roast potatoes. It may not quite equal the heat and noise of an Indian restaurant, but kitchens like this could be the future of the British curry industry. Since May, Bradford College has been training 50 youngsters to make – alongside Chinese and English dishes – curries, rotis and samosas. The dishes are sold everyday in the college canteen to students and staff – and while it may not be … [Read more...] about The curry crisis
