October 2013 Review

Issue 01

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Entertainment Reviews:

The Walking Dead, Panic!

At The Disco, Morrissey’s

autobiography and more!

Don’t Forget

The Pecs! The Truth Behind Sexism in

Cancer Research and

Support Finally Hits Home

Page 5

Scotland

Against

Monsanto “It’s a real

David and

Goliath battle!” Page 8

We’ve Found

a Real Life

Superhero! Page 4

Desmond Tutu,

Celebrating 82 years

of well lived life Page 7

CONTENTS Tim Friede—A Real Life Superhero!

Page 4

The Sexist Truth: Behind Cancer Research and

Support

Pages 5-6

Birthday of the Month—Desmond Tutu

Page 7

Scotland Against Monsanto

Pages 8-9

Working Conditions in Bangladesh

Pages 10-11

ENTERTAINMENT

Panic! At the Disco

Page 12

Morrissey Autobiography

Page 13

My Walking Dead SE4

Page 14

We Are Recruiting!

Page 15

A Note From the Editor Welcome to the first ever edition of KWAM Magazine!

I’d like to think of KWAM as my postgrad brain child so on a

personal note I really hope you like what we have to offer with

this pilot issue.

KWAM is Scottish Internet slang for Ken.Wit.Ah.Mean? And is the

core question we like to put behind our work. Inside every issue

there will be things that make you think, we give you our

opinions and ask you KWAM? Because these are the things we

should know and have opinions on. No ones life will be saved

from you being well informed about who won the X Factor and

no real life changing moment is going to happen to you or

anyone else by reading the latest scoop on who is sleeping with

who on TOWIE.

In this first edition we are supporting and promoting two

campaigns simultaneously; Scotland Against Monsanto & Protect

the Pecs. We honour SAM with our front cover displaying their

logo and double page spread, and PTP with our very deliberate

blue and pink colour scheme.

Get educated and get involved, KWAM?

Melissa Russell

Editor in Chief

Thank you!

To the Writers:

Victoria Tickle

Melissa Russell

Nicholas Reid

Front Cover image:

Scotland Against Monsanto Www.scotlandagainstmonsanto.co.uk

Editorial:

Melissa Russell

Victoria Tickle

Super - of the highest degree or power, of an extreme or excessive degree, very good, first-rate or excellent. Hero - A person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life. Superhero - A figure, especially in a comic strip or cartoon, endowed with superhuman powers and usually portrayed as fighting evil or crime.

Tim Friede fits into each of those definitions and has become both a specimen of a super human and an example of super humanity. He has even been nicknamed ‘Antivenom’ in Stan Lee’s Superhuman TV series.

So what makes a 45 year old unemployed former factory worker from Milwaukee, USA so incredible? He has made himself immune to the most poisonous snake venom in the world.

Tim has achieved this immunity by injecting himself with diluted snake venom over a number of years. It has not been without serious ramifications though. In 2001 he nearly died from letting two cobras bite him to test his theory. One cobra bite can kill a human in under an hour, but Tim sustained two and it left him paralysed and unable to talk or even communicate with doctors for several hours. But thanks to his experiments, he survived the ordeal. It only took 6 vials of anti-venom to fully restore him to his normal biological state, and whilst 6 may sound like a lot it is a considerably smaller number than what an average human would need.

Since then, Tim has continued his research and allowed himself to bitten by over 100 venomous snake species including water cobras, monocle and cape cobras and the green and black mambas. To help put this into perspective, the black mamba (native to East and South Africa) can kill an average male, adult human in less than 20 minutes with just one bite.

Whilst injecting diluted venom was a great way to slowly build up his immunity, it is not an effective way to test out bite theories – injecting venom and receiving it through a bite are two completely

different matters. Tim is now able to survive what would usually be lethal bites from the most venomous snakes in the world, but he does still occasionally suffer some side effects. Sometimes he will suffer anaphylaxis, but he regularly has his liver and kidneys checked to ensure he is not damaging his organs.

So, that’s what makes him super human, but what makes him a super hero is his reason for doing it.

He is building his own immunity up in order to help to create better anti-venoms and snake-bite vaccines based on DNA for use in impoverished countries. At the moment, the anti-venom development process uses horses, but human trials will prove to be a more efficient, affordable and cruelty-free method. The worst type of venom is necrotic cyotoxin; it causes bad scaring and is one of the hardest venoms to beat. In his own words, Tim’s mission is: “'I take diluted injections of venom protein over time to build up my immune system. What that does is build up good antibodies through time that bind to the venom and neutralize it so I don't die. This is the same way they make anti-venom in horses, I just cut the horse out of the picture. I've become the horse. I hope through developing my own resistance to poison some solid groundwork can be laid to build a vaccine for the 125,000 people that die from snakebite every year. At present the poor of Asia and Africa are the majority of the victims.” His attitude towards both snakes (“Snakes were here before us, we need to respect them and not kill them”) and the needs of those in poorer countries is no less than admirable and heroic. He calls his experiments and work “his service to humanity”, and he is proof that what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger. By Victoria Tickle

Tim Friede

A Real Life Superhero!

Page 4

Cancer. It’s a horrific, traumatising and sometimes deadly disease that affects millions of people on the planet. Except for certain types of cancer that are biologically impossible for certain genders to get (such as ovarian cancer in men or testicular cancer in women), the disease is gender neutral. It doesn’t care what gender you are and it doesn’t discrimi-nate – so why do the health professionals treating it and the researchers behind it? In the USA, October is national Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In the spirit of this, a lot of health clinics in Florida offered discounted or free mammograms. One patient discovered a painful lump in their right breast several weeks prior to this and the lump became the size of a golf ball. Lacking health insurance, the patient went to Fawcett Me-morial Hospital to take advantage of their special offer on mammograms in honour of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The patient was refused a mam-mogram. The patient got that very same response from a further six health organisations. Why? Be-cause the patient was Donald Mudd, a man, and men apparently don’t qualify for mammogram can-cer screenings. Men are not perceived to have breasts in the same way that women do, probably because they don’t tend to stick out and or housed in bras. But the cold-hard, medical fact of the matter is that men do have breasts and, although it is rare, the breast tis-sue in men can become cancerous. It’s downright sexist to deny a man any form of medical help based on his gender, just like it would be for women. So why did this happen? There is a common misconception that men cannot get breast cancer, which is moronic. Kathy Shepard of Breast Health Navigator says that there “are more and more men who have breast cancer issues. And the reality is, not too many people are aware of that". Even Donald himself has admitted that he “was a little bit in shock to even find out that men could have breast cancer”.

The stigma, combined with the ignorance, sur-rounding breast cancer and its victims have made it more and more difficult for men to be both taken seriously and treated for their breast cancer. The American Cancer Society states that approximately 2240 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be di-agnosed for men every year, and that roughly 410 men will die annually due to breast cancer. But the sexism doesn’t stop with cancer treatment – it’s in the research too. According to Cancer Re-search UK, the most common cause of cancer death in both men and women is lung cancer (24% of men and 21% for women). The second most common cause of cancer death for men is prostate cancer (13%) and for women it is breast cancer (15%). De-spite the numbers of deaths caused by breast and prostate cancers being so close together, there is much more research and awareness going into breast cancer. When it’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month the col-our pink is flaunted about in and on almost anything to help raise money to fight the disease. Pink cup-cakes, water bottles, clothing, headphones, GHD’s – you name it and there is probably a pink version of it for breast cancer. There are special campaigns for it too, ‘Tickled Pink’ and ‘Wear it Pink’ are two that immediately spring to mind.

When Prostate Cancer Awareness Month occurs (most commonly during September) the colour blue might only be a brief flash in your day. You might see a donation box full of blue ribbons at a till, or perhaps a pair of blue boxer shorts in men’s cloth-ing store. You’ll be hard-pressed to find anywhere that’s puts the same emphasis and importance on helping the men suffering with this disease and stressing the need to cure it than you’ll find for breast cancer. Article Continues on Next Page>>>>>>

The Sexist Truth Behind Cancer Research and Support

Page 5

I am not suggesting for a second that breast cancer is unimportant or unworthy of funding for research. But why should it get infinitely more attention and funding over prostate cancer, whose death toll is only marginally smaller than breast cancer’s? Aren’t men suffering as well as women? It seems that women are held up on a pedestal when it comes to cancer research, and it’s egregious. Take the ‘Race for Life’ campaign -a fundraising event that forbids men from taking part. Men cannot raise money for Cancer Research UK; the campaign is not just for breast cancer, it’s cancer in general. The men are allowed to volunteer on the day, but are not allowed to take part in the event to raise money for a common cause. It seems that cancer research has a tendency to learn towards female privilege and it’s wrong. The developed, modern world would like to think that it has abolished many negative things; homophobia, racism, sexism – but there is always evidence emerging to prove that these abhorrent things are alive and well. The very least we can do is to recognise injustice when it arises and take steps to eradicate it, rather than pretending it doesn’t happen. Cancer is not a female issue, nor a male issue. It’s a human issue. It affects everyone. Hopefully one day segregation like this will end and we can work together to triumph over a problem that is common to us all.

One admirable person who is fighting against this

segregation is the Protect the Pec founder Steve

Del Gardo.

“I have been to so many breast cancer events that only have pink with no blue to represent men. I had a friend in LA that went to a breast cancer event and he asked where the blue was and he was told it was a Pink event for which he replied back "I thought this was a breast cancer event". Things like that makes me upset. It is not just a women's disease. We are losing fathers, brothers, sons and grandfathers to this disease, too. Even the drugs are designed for women. Case in point, the drug I am taking now called Tamoxifen is made for women only. I asked my Doctor how long do I need to be on it, he stated that most women today take it for 10 years. I then replied back to him, what about for men? He told me there is no clinical study telling him that. So with that said, I am going to provide funds to research drugs that are designed for men to fight this cancer as well as to raise funds to build a National Male Breast Cancer Institute.” On October 3rd 2013, PTP won the Power of Pink

Award in their hometown of Cincinnati from the

Proscan Fund. It is an award given to foundations

for their exceptional work in helping people with

breast cancer and this is the first time a male breast

cancer foundation was awarded in 12 years. It may

be a small step, but it’s a step in the right direction.

By Victoria Tickle

The Sexist Truth Behind Cancer Research and Support

For more info please go to www.protectthepecs.org

Page 6

Birthday of the Month : Desmond Tutu Nobel Peace Prize Winner and Social Activist

October 7th 1931 Age: 82

“Do your little bit of good where you are; its those little bits of

good put together that overwhelm the world.”

Desmond Tutu

Monsanto the Monster Join the Fight!

If you follow the GM Food Crop debate then you will have no doubt come across the ‘Biotech’ company Monsanto, but do you really know the full story behind this GM giant? Founded in 1901, Monsanto started out as a nuclear and chemical weapons manufacturer (quite the step away from a ‘feed the world’ mantra right?). To this day Monsanto has created some of the worlds most harmful chemicals such as DDT, PCBs, and Dioxin. Nowadays they are responsible for 90% of the worlds GM crops, claiming that their genetically modified technology will ‘feed the world’. If by feed the world they mean feeding the worlds farmers into poverty, allowing us to digest potentially harmful chemicals without thorough independent data and killing millions of bees which in turn disrupts the entire worlds food chain and cycle, then yes they are feeding the world but in the most poisonous way possible. So what can we in Scotland do to stop Monsanto and GM crop companies like it? Simple, join the Scotland Against Monsanto campaign today! We spoke to a SAM spokesperson to get an update on what they have been up to this year and their plans for the future: “Scotland Against Monsanto was formed in May, in solidarity with the global March Against Monsanto movement. We recognised the need to carry the momentum forward and create a united campaign across Scotland. Since then we have been busy; holding info stalls in Glasgow and Edinburgh, dressing up as bees and handing out flyers, promoting a talk in Edinburgh for ‘GM Health Risk Week’ featuring Professor Seralini, and of course making preparations for the second March

Against Monsanto in October to mark World Food Day - in Glasgow and Edinburgh. We’ve been very busy online and behind the scenes too; maintaining social networks, developing our website, and producing flyers; all to help spread our important message. So far the feedback has been very positive and support for our campaign is steadily growing. It’s rewarding to know that we’re providing the people of Scotland with much needed information about the dangers of GM and associated chemicals, which the government are failing to do. The Scottish government is strongly opposed to cultivation of GM crops in Scotland, which is good. But that’s only half the story. With the last few supermarkets lifting their ban on GM animal feed in April, most people are consuming GM via animal products (inc. eggs and dairy), and are completely unaware of this. Then there’s glyphosate; carcinogenic and present in 70% of UK city dwellers urine! That’s why our campaign is essential; and we have to work very hard against the might of the establishment to inform the public. It’s a real David and Goliath battle! As such we need as much support as we can get. To anyone wondering if this affects them... if you eat food, it affects you! We’ll be on the streets again this Halloween weekend with our new ‘Frankenflyers’, urging people to help us kill Monsanto!” By Melissa Russell

For more information about Monsanto and the Scotland Against Monsanto campaign go to http://scotlandagainstmonsanto.co.uk/

Page 9

Bangladesh is the world’s second largest producer of textiles, the first being China. Clothing makes up around three-quarters of Bangladesh's total exports, so you’d think that in an industry that has such a large distribution there would be fair policies, good wages and safe working conditions for its workers. You’d be wrong. Bangladesh has the lowest minimum wage in the world and is known for having rigorous working days. It has been reported that some workers are subjected to 19 and a half hour work days. Unfortunately, low wages and long hours that are close to slave labor aren’t the main problem facing the Bangladeshi textile industry workers. Their safety is often compromised and has, on several occasions, lead to many peoples unnecessary deaths. Four million people work in the Bangladeshi clothing industry in some form or other, and a lot of these people are in the textile factories which have notoriously poor working and safety conditions in place. Cases of fires and building collapses are often reported within the Bangladeshi garment industries and they are so easily avoided. Last November 112 workers were killed in a fire at a clothes factory in the Ashulia district, which is on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital, where most of the clothing industry is based. A further 2500 people were injured in this disaster. Why were so many people injured? Reports of the incident quoted Bangladeshi officials saying that “water shortages” and a lack of “nearby fire stations” had allowed the fire to escalate and burn for several hours – resulting in many needless deaths and injuries. Regrettably, this isn’t an isolated incident. In early October of this year a fire struck Aswad Composite Mills (a garment factory in Gazipur) which killed at least 10 people and left scores more injured. The factory was not due to be inspected for fire and building safety because it didn’t deal directly with the brands that use the fabrics it produces. The factory makes fabrics used by brands such as H&M, Gap, George at Asda, Primark, Next and Morrisons – yet because it doesn’t directly have communications with these brands, it was neglected in terms of basic safety inspections.

A spokesperson for George at Asda has said that: "We are deeply saddened by what has happened and our thoughts go out to the families and victims of the accident. George at Asda has a long standing relationship with Aswad Mill, we do source fabric from there and we are working with the owner to ensure we help them however we can. As part of the Walmart family we have a safety program that rigorously inspects the factories that make our garments and other products. Typically that program does not extend to the facilities that make materials like fabric for those garment factories.” Morrisons and H&M have said they source clothing produced by Palmal's garment factories, which are supplied by the company's fabric mill, but that they had no direct relationship with the mill itself. Next have also said in a statement that the Aswad Mill provided fabric to a separate clothing supplier. That’s basically another way of saying that they (and the other involved brands) don’t feel a responsibility to be ethical because they use middle-men to get their fabrics. Sam Maher, a campaigner at ‘Labour Behind the Label’ (a group for workers' rights) said that the fire illustrated that thousands more potentially unsafe buildings producing goods for the UK could slip through the net. Asda's owner, Walmart, and Gap have signed a document known as the Bangladesh Worker Safety Alliance but it failed to cover the Aswad factory. No worker, anywhere in the world, should have to potentially sacrifice their life for something as banal as a piece of clothing. Since this latest tragedy more than 93 retailers, (including H&M, Next, Primark and Marks & Spencer) have signed a legally binding agreement, which ensures a commitment to carry out fire safety and structural inspections on thousands of buildings. Negotiations are also continuing on how to fund any work to improve factories. Whilst governments do hold some responsibility in the matter, brands should also be made accountable – both ethically and financially.

By Victoria Tickle

ATTENTION ALL WESTERNERS!

Page 10

If you agree that the poor working conditions in Bangladesh is an issue that

needs attention from the West, then please take the time to fill out any or all of these petitions:

Guilt-free clothing: http://www.avaaz.org/en/crushed_to_make_our_clothes_loc/ Ensure safety for workers & compensate victims of building collapse: http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/primarkjobs-mango-matalan-ensure-safety-for-workers-compensate-victims-of-building-collapse Petition River Island to fix their deathtrap factories in Bangladesh: http://www.goingtowork.org.uk/petition-river-island-to-fix-their-deathtrap-factories-in-bangladesh

Stop The Killing! Demand safety for Bangladeshi workers: http://www.cleanclothes.org/action/current-actions/rana-plaza

Join the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh:

http://action.laborrights.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=6280

Page 11

Panic! At The Disco’s NEW ALBUM ‘Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die’

Release Date: October 7th 2013 October saw the release of Panic!’s new album, ‘Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die!’ – and I’m glad to say that they are back on top form. The whole album has a Las Vegas kind of vibe in its lyrics (which isn’t surprising as that’s where Brendon Urie, vocalist and guitarist, is from) but the musical style changes dramatically from song to song throughout the album, which gives the listener a really enjoyable experience. The feel of the album is very much one of care-free living, and embracing life whilst youth is still in your grasps. It clearly advocates the glitz and glamour lifestyle that Las Vegas is known for, but punctuates it every now and then with notes of darkness and realism. As with every Panic! At The Disco album, themes of a sexual nature are interwoven between lyrics. This might not be that rare for music these days, but what is rare is how Panic! Handle the subject

matter. The sexual suggestions are never crude or clichéd like in so many other artists work; instead, they are subtle, enigmatic and at times are just down-right darkly sexy. It helps that Urie’s voice has developed dramatically over the years. Whilst his voice is still recognisable from album to album, he clearly has a lot more control over his voice now than he did back then. He flawlessly changes the tones in his voice to suit the mood of the song, shifting from an excitable, impulsive shout to a deep, velvety liquid-like croon at a moment’s notice. ‘Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die!’ ranks in the higher section of the 5 studio albums that Panic! At The Disco have released so far, and is definitely worth a listen from both long-term fans and fans that left them behind in their teenage years, as their sound has shifted – yet still plucks those nostalgia strings. Top Tracks: ‘Nicotine’, ‘Collar Full’, ‘Casual Affair’

and ‘Far Too Young To Die’.

By Victoria Tickle

ENTERTAINMENT REVIEWS

Page 12

Morrissey – Autobiography Release Date: October 17th 2013 What to expect from Morrissey’s self-told life story? An in-depth, beautifully written discourse on his origin tale and the disintegration of one of the most important bands in British history? Or more of a Mancunian Mein Kampf, (Fifty-something Years Of Struggle Against Lies, Stupidity, Cowardice And Johnny Marr)? In the end, it’s a bit of both. Autobiography (published, at the author’s request, by Penguin Classic, the imprint usually reserved for the works of Aristotle, Austen and Joyce) begins well, although more for the reader than Morrissey himself. His miserable early years in ‘forgotten Victorian knife-plunging Manchester’ are covered with the brilliant turn of phrase that would be expected of a lyricist of his stature. He documents a youthful adoration with The New York Dolls, reacts with disgust when expected to enter the labour market, and lovingly tracks the story of his extended Irish immigrant family as they negotiate the dire poverty of sixties industrial England. At times he nears parody (‘Naturally my birth almost kills my mother, for my head is too big’ he states on page 4 – ‘naturally’, as if even the simple fact of his birth could inflict such misery on those around him) but all is well. Until The Smiths disintegrate, that is. Here the stories descend into petty bitterness and ‘woe is me’ platitudes. A small error in album artwork is met with lines like ‘I sigh a thousand sighs’. His run-ins with NME editors over his allegedly racist

comments in interviews pop up throughout. His disdain for his former band mates, who he at first gushes with compliments for (especially Johnny Marr), steadily increases until it reaches the dry plateau of a 50-page screed about Mike Joyce’s 1989 royalties lawsuit. It’s a section nearly as long as the time devoted to the five-year lifespan of The Smiths itself, and Morrissey feels compelled to drag over the same arguments again and again, as if to further highlight how victimised he was. Battle through this and the reward is a good but occasionally tedious roll call of solo tours where he details how much he is loved more than he is in Britain. Luckily there are enough interesting anecdotes to

keep things moving – his strange love/hate

relationship with David Bowie, his investigation by

Special Branch over the content of ‘Maggie On The

Guillotine’, that his first proper relationship came

in his thirties with a man with an inner-lip

‘BATTERSEA’ tattoo...

By Nicholas Reid

ENTERTAINMENT REVIEWS

Page 13

The Walking Dead—Season 4

Release Date: October 18th 2013 (UK)

For those of you who are completely behind on the

times, The Walking Dead is a TV adaptation of

Robert Kirkmans graphic novel series by the same

name. It’s gritty, horrific, heart-warming and heart-

breaking—all at the same time.

However it’s safe to say that season 3 of AMC’s The

Walking Dead left very little to be desired for

season 4. The plot was slow and the narrative was a

little lack lustre compared to the shows last two

seasons.

But fear not all you die hard zombie fans, TWD has

well and truly risen from the grave. At this point we

are now four episodes into the new season and

things are darker and grittier than ever before.

With a whole host of new characters being

introduced (at the end of Season 3 we saw the

people of Woodbury come to live with the group)

it could easily be assumed that all plot would

unravel. But the truth is far from it. A lot more time

is given to character development of both old and

new characters which gives the season a slow

burning edge to the horror. And it goes without

saying that the gore factor has been amped up to

balance out the side stories.

All in all, The Walking Dead is back, and it’s got a

hell of a lot more bite this time around.

By Melissa Russell

ENTERTAINMENT REVIEWS

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