Standing in the way of control...

Luke


Yesterday was an eye-opener. Despite 8 hours of driving through countryside that looked virtually identical to the Fens, our minds were not frazzled.

We started off the day with Charles Jay from the Boston Tea Party. We met him at his home that he is just moving into, boxes everywhere and the look of a property who's owner is a little pushed for time. He is portrayed in the media as a bit of a crackpot, but we found him far from that.

His views are a little marginal, when asked by a student at a school "What should the government do about climate change?' He replied "It's up to each person to make sure their neighbour is keeping their garden clean."

We spoke to him about the current political system and whether it is really serving the interests of the masses. Charles said it wasn't, and that the Boston Tea Party were here to tell the truth. If I had the truth, I'd write a book about it and make my fortune, not spend money running for office. Each his own, though.

He was a really nice bloke, accommodating, chatty and passionate. The saddest thing about the whole affair was that Charles' party is going through a power struggle, and he feels disillusioned by the whole process. It's sad to see someone who is only standing on a symbolic platform, so brow beaten by in-house fighting.


Brian Moore was next, he is a socialist who lives in a huge house with a swimming pool and a view out onto a lake. (Viva la Revolution, Brian.) We filmed him campaigning in the car park of a local supermarket; he does this full time, his wife is a banker.



But Brian isn't just a poser though, he spent years in the peace corps, and is relishing a potential adoption of socialism that he hopes will come about. He honestly believes we're months away from the system collapsing...which might put his wife out of a job.

But, we've met two more decent and honest, if slightly eccentric ,Americans who just want their country fixed. Even if their remedies won't be taken widely.

Kieron

I'm sitting here in rainy Miami after a whirl-wind tour of the East coast. From Wall Street bankers, in New York on Monday to Charles Jay of the Boston Tea Party today, via a balding journalist in Washington on Tuesday.

We've seen about 50 cultural icons, instantly recognisable from our collective consciousness; absorbed from the world of US television and film - including Lucky Charms. (Whatever happened to them?)

These pages have been neglected we know and we don't want that sort of business to continue. We have deadlines to meet for people who pay better than this labour of love, but that doesn't mean we've stopped caring. (We added pictures didn't we?)

So, the Wall Street bankers we met - Luke touched on it, and I'll finish it. Lovely bunch of people. Not their fault the world is in melt down surely? They were so friendly I won't have a word said against them... Alas, polite (and smiley) as they all were, not one of them doesn't lay the blame at the feet of Wall Street and the Government.

They were surprisingly candid; there was no hurt feelings. As one trader said to me, "It's the laws of gravity; what goes up, comes down and we're watching the shit storm fall." Prosaic but accurate.

Every banker we spoke to was confident things would get better but didn't see the election as a great help. "It's a distraction really..." said a conspicuously young, banker, (no wonder the markets are collapsing. If you put 14 year-olds in charge of it!) The mood is tense and there weren't many smiles but they say it's business as usual (though not too usual we hoped) and they'll bounce back, that seemed to be the message.

They did say, that whoever's in charge of the rebound will definitely benefit from the economic growth eventually, but it won't be because of them. The new guy will just have to watch and hope it gets better in their first term.


From Wall Street to Washington - It's a beautiful city and there was support for both candidates. We went to the White House and spoke to a few people; most were keeping their cards close to their chests. Others were pretty proud of their support. (See left for the goon in the Uncle Sam outfit.)

And for the third time in three days; a different city. Miami - sun, sand, beaches, bikinis, beautiful people practically carpeting the streets... probably somewhere. But, not today. Wind and rain that reminded us of the Yorkshire Dales, and humidity that reminded us of a sauna session down the local leisure centre.

But we did meet, Charles Jay, who's running for President. We're meeting him again tomorrow. Interesting doesn't even begin to describe this guy. It takes a special kind of person to think they are fit for the top job and Charles is special.

Video to follow...

New York, New York

Luke

The Big Apple, an interesting place, to say the least.

It's a great city which looks clean, but is blighted by the occasional overbearing stench of death. We loved it
of course, although we had no time to fully explore as tourists, because of our journalistic exploits.

We spent the morning speaking to Wall Street traders. None of them would go on camera as they all have agreements with their employers stopping them talking to the press. A lot of them hate the media, presumably for pointing out to the world years of greed and mismanagement on their part. Those are not my words, but the words of one Wall Street trader we spoke to (hear more from Kieron on this soon).

Later in the day we spoke to Faiza Ali from CAIR-NY, they work with the Muslim community across the nation and tackle problems related to the Patriot Act (amongst others) and what they claim to be gross invasions of their civil rights .

Despite the concerns raised about the Patriot Act, they said that Muslims in New York still feel very much part of the political and cultural system following 9/11, and that they are proud to call themselves 'American ,'d espite an all-too-obvious attitude of fear towards Muslims from certain sectors.

We assumed that they had, had a really rough time since 9/11 from non-Muslim New Yorkers which would perhaps have left them feeling excluded, but this was not the case. What they claimed was that the Islamophobia in the US today comes mostly from the US federal government, rather than the everyday person in the street.

They were also keen to talk about the misunderstanding of Islam that still exists in America today, especially in the presidential campaigns. And well done Mr Powell for saying something about it the other day.

Whilst out and about in NY, we bumped into a 'Life Coach' offering free advice to people in these difficult times. She was sat outside the New York Stock exchange, with a sign. We had a chat with her, and she agrees with what my parents have been saying for years....'Get a job'.

She was really nice so we decided we had to get a photo.



I'll get a job when I get back.

Hello from the US of A

Kieron and Luke

Hello all...

This is just a brief hello from Luke and me. We arrived in, surprisingly sunny, New York yesterday and have been hard at work ever since...no, seriously. We've met Wall Street bankers and a life coach (see above) and we've spoken to a few Muslim community leaders and other fun things.

They've all got a lot to say on the election and being here you get the feeling that the people are ready for a change - it might be Obama, it might even be McCain if he can work some magic in the next two weeks - but either way a new President means a new way of thinking over here. And a new way of thinking in the US, effects the whole world.

It's been a whirlwind so far; we've drunk pitchers of horrible lager, walked the mean streets of Harlem (which aren't that mean where we're staying, and are really clean and tidy), realised that New Yorkers don't do irony but are really friendly. And most importantly, Luke and I have avoided killing each other. Just.

Here is a little video we made last night, go and have a look at it on the Videos page.

Keep checking back...