'38 Degrees' Survey: Which Campaign Should We Prioritise Most In 2016?

Dear Friends, 2016 could be a beautiful, inspiring year. If we work together, we can truly help make the world a better place. But we know that campaigns like the NHS, bees, and TTIP are going to be tough ones to crack. We’ll be up against powerful forces - self-interested corporations, cynical politicians and shameless media barons. To win, we’ll need a strong plan for the year. 38 Degrees members make great plans - and win great campaigns - through people power. Every one of us gets a say in what we do. So what should be our top priority?

What Superheroes Looked Like In 2015

The ubiquitous superhero finally seems to be growing up and moving on. Eneas De Troya

By Liam Burke, Swinburne University of Technology

The Golden Age of Comic Book Filmmaking began in 2000 when Bryan Singer’s X-Men (2000) dragged superheroes to the centre of popular culture. Today superpowered protagonists are as familiar to cinemagoers as sticky floors and popcorn.

Such awareness saw studios in 2015 going bigger (Avengers: Age of Ultron), smaller (Ant-Man), or back to the beginning (the erroneously-titled Fantastic Four) to reinvigorate the genre.

Somewhere between the mash-ups and redundant reboots, more interesting work has started to emerge. The comic book adaptation, like all good teenagers, is demonstrating new-found maturity. So let us take a look back at the trends and triumphs of this year in superheroes.

The Danish Girl: All Skirt And No Substance

Eddie Redmayne stars as Lili Elbe.

By Clare Tebbutt, Nottingham Trent University

It was with some trepidation that I went to watch The Danish Girl. Prior to its release the film had already attracted accusations of transphobia for director Tom Hooper’s decision to cast the cisgender actor Eddie Redmayne in the title role of Lili Elbe, a trans woman.

Lili Elbe was one of a good number of people in interwar Europe who felt the sex they had been assigned at birth was incorrect. How, I wondered, would a film that had arguably opted to undermine Lili’s womanhood in its choice of actor, handle the complexity of sex and gender at this time?

The answer, perhaps predictably, is not very well.

Canada - Record-Breaking Year For Courage Polar Bear Dip

More than 800 dippers make for a record-breaking year at the Courage Polar Bear Dip in Oakville, ON. (CNW Group/The Courage Polar Bear Dip)

More than 800 enthusiastic dippers  braved below freezing temperatures to ring in the New Year with adventure at the 31st annual Courage Polar Bear Dip.  Fun-loving rookie and alumni dippers of all ages joined dip founders, Todd and Trent Courage at  Coronation Park in Oakville, plunging into frigid Lake Ontario.  

Thousands of spectators cheered them on from ashore. It is the largest Polar Bear Dip in Ontario, and the largest charity dip in Canada.

Happy New Year To All!

Happy New Year to all our readers and friends from Twitter, this blog's Facebook Page, the Bonehill Zone's FB Page, Google Plus, Triberr, Scoop.it, and every other social media sites I'm a member of... 

Without your support and encouragement, this blog would probably still not be around anymore, so a big thank you to all of you and a very happy, productive, out of this world, and fascists/Nazis/Joshua Bonehill/ Donald Trump/Katie Hopkins free, year 2016 to everyone!

Defensive Architecture: Designing The Homeless Out Of Our Cities

Image via www.shutterstock.com

By Rowland Atkinson, University of Sheffield and Aidan While, University of Sheffield

On any one night in London, there around 700 people sleeping in the city’s street. Rough sleeping is a risky decision – and almost always the choice of the most desperate. Yet the response of the state – and our society – is surprisingly hostile.

Rough sleeping – and homelessness more generally – are on the rise. But austerity measures have made things worse, by cutting funds to vital support services. On top of this, rough sleepers have good reason to fear abusive behaviour from passers-by. Shockingly, this has even included physical attacks, resulting in documented deaths.

But beyond the discomfort, the abuse and the absence of social support, there is another factor making life even more difficult for those sleeping on the streets. The very shape of our cities has started to reflect our hostility toward the homeless, in the form of design elements that prevent them from seeking refuge in public spaces. This phenomenon is known as “defensive architecture”.

CINEMOOD Presents an Innovative Portable Projector That Creates New Family Experiences, at CES 2016

Size is not always everything...

 Imagine a gadget that can fit in the palm of your hand, creates a widescreen experience and gives parents new, creative ways to spend more time with their kids.

CINEMOOD, an innovative start-up about to launch an Indiegogo campaign, has developed a handheld, mini-projector that embraces the Internet of Things through its cloud connected projector, preloaded with safe and fun kids-friendly content. A simple user interface and collection of smart accessories makes the product fun and usable for all ages.

The Strange Case of ITV’s Jekyll and Hyde

ITV’s Jekyll and Hyde

By Gregory Tate, University of St Andrews

By the final episode of ITV’s adaptation of Jekyll and Hyde, viewers might be forgiven for wondering if there’s any connection between the series and Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 novella other than the title. Set in 1930s London, the series has found room for plenty of violence, a menagerie of CGI beasts and monsters, an X Files-style secret government organisation, and a demon named Lord Trash.

But the freedom with which writer Charlie Higson has adapted the story is nothing new. Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is one of several late Victorian texts (Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, the Sherlock Holmes stories) that have been so frequently adapted that the leading characters have taken on lives of their own.

Will Donald Trump Get The Schlong? - Petition To Ban Him From Entering The UK Will Be Debated In Parliament!

The following is a quick update on how the petition asking the Government to ban Donald Trump from entering the UK is doing...

And, from what the email I received last night says, it's not doing too badly, somehow. As the petition has over 100,000 signatures., the Petitions Committee will not only consider it for a debate, but they can also "gather further evidence and press the government for action."

Sounds promising...

The full response from the Government can be found below as well as a little humoristic video of mine as a bonus. .

Enjoy!

Loup Dargent

Ten New Year's Resolutions That Will Benefit Both Your Work and Personal Lives

New Year's Resolutions to Benefit Both Your Work and Personal Life
(PRNewsFoto/Real Office Centers)

2016 is quickly approaching, and for many of us that means it is time to come up with our annual list of New Year's resolutions. If you are a busy professional trying to balance work and family life, these ten resolutions from Real Office Centers may help you on both fronts.

Stranger Than Strangelove: How The US Planned For Nuclear War in The 1950s

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) CC BY-SA

By Paul Lashmar, University of Sussex

Those who have written about the nuclear Cold War remain grateful to Stanley Kubrick for giving us the satirical 1964 film Dr Strangelove which captures the madness that swept the world for 40 years. The name Strangelove may be overused but the United States has now released a secret file that really does justify the sobriquet: “Stranger than Strangelove”. Almost anodyne in title, Atomic Weapons Requirements Study for 1959 is a truly shocking document, revealing the scale of the holocaust that would have been unleashed in a nuclear war.

US: Injured Veterans and Families Enjoy North Pole Christmas

Christmas in Ice gave wounded veterans and their families a chance to bond in North Pole, Alaska

From frozen water carved into shapes to hot chocolate shared in mugs, wounded veterans and their families experienced a memorable day in North Pole, Alaska, recently. Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP) brought the injured service members and families out to spend the day together and build camaraderie.

WWP sees engagement as a key pillar to an injured veteran's recovery. Through gatherings, sporting events, and outings, wounded service members can bond with one another and build a larger support network. WWP offers 20 free programs and services to wounded veterans to help their mind, body, engagement, and encourage economic empowerment.