Opportunities to question developers and council about Queens Market

Thursday 15 September and Tuesday 20th September, 6.30pm, Forest Gate

St Modwens, the proposed developers of Upton Park's Queens Market, will be speaking at the steering group of the Green Street Community Forum at 6.30pm on Thursday 15th September at Katherine Road Community Centre, 254 Katherine Road, Forest Gate E7 8PN.

Steering Group meetings are open to the public so anyone who wants to come along and ask Asda's favourite developer about their plans for the market are most welcome.

There is also the chance to question Cllr June Leitch, who is pushing the development on behalf of Newham Council, at a Forum public meeting on Tuesday 20th September at 6.30pm. This meeting is also at Katherine Road Community Centre.

Public Meeting against September's ExCel Arms Fair

Monday 5 September, 7pm, Stratford

Newham Opposition to War and Racism is organising a public meeting on Monday 5 September against the world's largest arms fair that will be held in Newham in September.

DSEi (Defence Systems and Equipment International) is the world’s biggest weapons fair, selling everything from battleships and attack helicopters to cluster bombs and machine guns. This year it runs from 13-16 September at the ExCeL Centre in Custom House. Representatives from countries including Israel, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the US, Colombia, China and Russia will be buying and selling weapons, products and services used for repression and terror, in a borough where refugees from all over the world live in exile from armed conflicts that kill around 35 people every hour. Arms sales increase the likelihood of fighting and prolong conflicts once they begin and sales of small arms, the weapons that produce actual mass destruction, kill more than 500,000 people every year.

When: Monday 5 September, 7pm - 9pm

Where: St Francis of Assisi RC Church, Grove Cresent Rd, Stratford E15

Flyer: Download versions in English, French and Spanish

Contact: For more information see the NOWAR website at www.nowar.org.uk

Human Rights Lawyer Helena Kennedy Speaking in Stratford

Monday 12 September, 630pm, Stratford

The human rights lawyer Helena Kennedy, a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers and a life peer who has been described the government's anti-terrorism legislation as “an affront to the rule of law”, will be speaking at Stratford Library on September 12 to promote the paperback edition of her book "Just Law: on the state of Britain today and the Changing Face of Justice and Why it Matters to us All."

When: Monday 12 September, 6.30pm

Where: Hopkins Room, Stratford Library, 3 The Grove, Stratford E15

Contact: To book tickets (£3 each) call Newham Bookshop on 020 8552 9993

Jean Charles de Menezes Vigil and Memorial Service

Friday 29th July, Parliament Square and Westminster Cathedral

The family of the young Brazilian, Jean Charles de Menezes, who was shot and killed by the police at Stockwell station on 22 July, is calling upon the people of London to join them this Friday in remembering Jean Charles.

Newham Monitoring Project is playing a central role in helping to set up the Jean Charles de Menezes Family Campaign and it is vital that as many independent Newham activists as possible get along to the vigil and inter-faith memorial service to show their solidarity.

Where: The vigil will be at Parliament Square from 5.30pm - bring Brazilian and peace flags. The memorial service is 7pm at Westminster Cathedral, 42 Francis Street, London SW1P 1QW. Tube: Victoria/St James' Park. Buses: 11, 24, 148, 507, 211.

The service will include readings from friends and family of Jean and includes a live link to Jean Charles' funeral in Brazil. There will also be readings from Bianca Jagger, Gareth Peirce and Professor Tariq Ramadan.

Flyer: Download here

Contact: Jean Charles de Menezes Family Campaign, PO Box 273, London E7. Tel: 07956 210332 / 07931 337890. E-mail: Justice4jean@hotmail.co.uk

Free NMP Training on Anti-Terrorism Laws for Faith Groups

Wednesday 10th August, 7pm to 9pm, Forest Gate

Newham Monitoring Project is providing free training for mosques and other faith sector groups in Newham on the recent anti-terrorism laws and their impact on local people.

The session will provide information and advice on what to do if you are stopped and searched or arrested and detained under anti-terrorism legislation, as well as other aspects of the law that are most likely to affect our communities. Events since the bombings in London have made it vital that communities are aware of these laws and are informed of their rights.

The two hour session will include information from solicitors at Birnberg Peirce, one of the country’s leading human rights law firms, as well as from Newham Monitoring Project.

When: Wednesday 10th August, 7pm to 9pm

Where: Minhaj-ul-Quran International, 292-296, Romford Road Forest Gate, London, E7

Flyer: Download here

Contact: To book one of the limited places at this event, call Zareena Mustafa at Newham Monitoring Project on 020 8555 8151 or e-mail: cdw@nmp.org.uk

Campaign day against the DSEi arms fair

From 3.30pm to 7.30 pm, Wednesday 17th August, Stratford

The Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) will have a stall and will be talking to members of the public in the area around Stratford Station about the arms fair at the ExCel Centre in Canning Town in September. If you can spare an hour or two on that day, then please come along.

When: Wednesday 17th August, 3:30 – 7:30pm (though you don't need to come for the whole time).

Where: Meet from 3:30pm, on The Grove in Stratford (outside the entrance of Stratford Shopping Centre) The stall on the pavement near the war memorial in Stratford centre until 7:30pm.

Contact: If you would like to come along or have questions about the day please contact Beccie in the CAAT office (beccie@caat.org.uk). If you need to contact CAAT on the day, you can call this mobile number: 07903 648 034.

Films in 2004

A LONG TIME AGO, FAR FAR AWAY...

It's been nearly twelve months since my last post and I'm back primarily to answer the question I've been asked a number of times in 2004 - are you still seeing one film every week?

The answer is yes but I have been too busy with other things to continue the reviews. In a way I'm glad I haven't had to analyse the films I've seen this year and write about them every week, but a friend said that in 2003 she used the site to decide what to see and many people have asked me, "have you seen anything good recently?"

So here is the list of the sixty (yep, 60!) films I've seen in 2004, with a crude 'star' rating (out of 5) to give you a hint of what I've enjoyed and what was a total waste of money:

Ratings:
5 stars: Unmissable!
4 stars: Definitely worth seeing
3 stars: Decent film
2 stars: Disappointing
1 star: Pants
No stars: Why was this released?

In date order - five star films highlighted in bold

Mystic River (****)
Lost in Translation (*****)
American Splendour (****)
Last Samurai (***)
Girl with a Pearl Earring (****)
Big Fish (***)
Elephant (**)
The Dreamers (***)
Infernal Affairs (****)
Valentin (**)
Zatoichi (*****)
Northfork (*)
Starsky and Hutch (***)
The Station Agent (*****)
Fog of War (****)
Shaun of the Dead (*****)
Open Range (****)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (*****)
Bus 174 (****)
Carandiru (***)
Kill Bill Volume 2 (*)
The Barbarian Invasions (**)
Van Helsing (*)
Twilight Samurai (***)
Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring (*)
Bad Education (**)
The Day After Tomorrow (****)
Japanese Story (****)
Shrek 2 (***)
Fahrenheit 9/11 (****)
I'm Not Scared (****)
Spiderman 2 (*)
Nathalie (**)
King Arthur (*)
I, Robot (***)
Infernal Affairs 2 (***)
Bourne Supremacy (*****)
The Village (***)
Motorcycle Diaries (*****)
The Terminal (***)
Hellboy (**)
Supersize Me (***)
Carmen (**)
Open Water (****)
Collateral (****)
Dead Man's Shoes (****)
Hero (*****)
Bubba Ho-tep (***)
Before Sunset (****)
The Manchurian Candidate (****)
Mr Smith Goes To Washington (*****)
House of Flying Daggers (*****)
Bad Santa (****)
Finding Neverland (****)
Coffee and Cigarettes (**)
Shaolin Soccer (no stars!)
Old Boy (****)
The Story of the Weeping Camel (***)
The Incredibles (****)
I Heart Huckabees (***)