jeudi 1 octobre 2009
Iran and that bomb
If I were the leader of Iran, though a member of CND, I would feel obliged to construct a nuclear missile or two - just to fit in with the neighbourhood...and when the expected regime change comes about, the Shah the second will be supplied with all the materials necessary to build a hundred, all courtesy of the International Community n'est pas.
samedi 19 septembre 2009
Journalism at its best
OK, it's only from the Telegraph but the last sentence here is a jewel... "The Royal Household currently receives £15million a year to keep up the royal residences, including Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, but needs about an extra £4million a year for the next decade to cover essential works – a rise of almost 30 per cent.
The request for more money for the palaces is likely to be controversial at time of cutbacks in the public sector."
I wonder how long it took for the writer to work that out?
The request for more money for the palaces is likely to be controversial at time of cutbacks in the public sector."
I wonder how long it took for the writer to work that out?
dimanche 13 septembre 2009
Fail-outs
The way the rich have money tied up and sussed out is quite sopmething to behold. For many of us, the lack of money might be felt as something of a personal failure. That somehow all these shody cheap goods I am surrounded by, the old clothes and scuffed worn out shoes are a manifestation of one's own personal lack of fit with the best of all possible worlds in which we are fortunate enough to live and breath...if not participate to an optimal degree.
Occassionally though, and more often of late, reality shatters these delusional modes of self-pitying false consciousness. Yesterday in the Observer, we read of tax breaks for rich people and their pensions. So that's where the money goes! Today we read that the Treasury is going to bail out tax haven 'countries' such as Jersey and the Caman Islands so these countries can carry on assisting people to commit fraus on the British tax payer of 25 BILLION pounds - the entire education budget. So we pay to get ripped off.
This whole money scam alone warrants rioting in the streets before one starts on any of the more gross injustices the bastard system revels in.
Occassionally though, and more often of late, reality shatters these delusional modes of self-pitying false consciousness. Yesterday in the Observer, we read of tax breaks for rich people and their pensions. So that's where the money goes! Today we read that the Treasury is going to bail out tax haven 'countries' such as Jersey and the Caman Islands so these countries can carry on assisting people to commit fraus on the British tax payer of 25 BILLION pounds - the entire education budget. So we pay to get ripped off.
This whole money scam alone warrants rioting in the streets before one starts on any of the more gross injustices the bastard system revels in.
jeudi 10 septembre 2009
Racism in context
Everyone's heard of the argumentative technique of 'not taking things out of context', 'understand this in its context' and 'no context no understanding' etc. but in the end how much context do you need to understand something, and isn't there, sometimes, an extraordinary amount of context a priori in a situation that the rolling out of the context argument looks like you're apologizing and covering up for the deed in question?
Take Brice Hortefeux, the French Home Secretary, (please do he's a cadaverous creepy bastard you could use as a prop in some amateur dramatic thing) who has sparked off a huge row in France about some racist comments he made at the ruling party' (the UMP's) summer university festival.
The video is quite clear - he says of the gentleman of North African origin, as if the chap isn't there at all, 'This one's ok, it's when there's a lot of them that there's trouble.'
It's as blatant as that. Any form of racism is a punishable offence in France and Hortefeux's job is under threat from this revelation. I say revelation and not 'lapse', because this remark illustrates the crude racial thinking at the centre of the French ruling party. Hortefeux himself is a close friend of Sarkozy (there is no way he could have got so far politically without extensive support) and so far is being backed up by the little posionous bastard. Thus we can legitmately deduce that this 'thinking' is quietly shared, and often overtly applied, by the party itself.
Yet in the media, the context excuse is relied on to support the Interior minister. Usually, one uses this argument to understand an apparently crptic or ambiguous comment by a philosopher say. "What is known is not seen, what is seen is not known." is a strange sounding quote out of its context. If one says , "It's from The Republic." the phrase becomes less 'alien' and one can begin to say things about it. This Hortefeux remark - well, it's happening right now on screen - there is no context fromo which it is being taken and the remark itself is clear - he definitely meant 'Africans' or 'blacks' or some other rancid term that drifts about in the arid stink of his tiny mind.
Sometimes, you have to understand a little less and condemn a lot more with these people. The UMP types, obviously.
Take Brice Hortefeux, the French Home Secretary, (please do he's a cadaverous creepy bastard you could use as a prop in some amateur dramatic thing) who has sparked off a huge row in France about some racist comments he made at the ruling party' (the UMP's) summer university festival.
The video is quite clear - he says of the gentleman of North African origin, as if the chap isn't there at all, 'This one's ok, it's when there's a lot of them that there's trouble.'
It's as blatant as that. Any form of racism is a punishable offence in France and Hortefeux's job is under threat from this revelation. I say revelation and not 'lapse', because this remark illustrates the crude racial thinking at the centre of the French ruling party. Hortefeux himself is a close friend of Sarkozy (there is no way he could have got so far politically without extensive support) and so far is being backed up by the little posionous bastard. Thus we can legitmately deduce that this 'thinking' is quietly shared, and often overtly applied, by the party itself.
Yet in the media, the context excuse is relied on to support the Interior minister. Usually, one uses this argument to understand an apparently crptic or ambiguous comment by a philosopher say. "What is known is not seen, what is seen is not known." is a strange sounding quote out of its context. If one says , "It's from The Republic." the phrase becomes less 'alien' and one can begin to say things about it. This Hortefeux remark - well, it's happening right now on screen - there is no context fromo which it is being taken and the remark itself is clear - he definitely meant 'Africans' or 'blacks' or some other rancid term that drifts about in the arid stink of his tiny mind.
Sometimes, you have to understand a little less and condemn a lot more with these people. The UMP types, obviously.
lundi 7 septembre 2009
Disintegration
The political terminus in which New Labour is trapped and is slowly rotting away, is the direct summation of all it stood for. The heady days of 1997, which no one really believed in, were a play people joined in with, a collective concealment of what Blairism actuall meant, an unstated anxiety (for those who felt they were on the 'winning side') that nothing was really going to change. The deal Blair struck with the party - I'll win you power, you accept what I say - was always a fool's bargain. By 97 anyone would have defeated the Tories - even Kinnock - and the time since has been a vast wasted opportunity. Maybe that was the point - to show that even after the dreadful Major years that political optimism must be recrushed. That nothing must disturb the 1979 settlement, even when its political dynamic closes down, as it did 12 years ago, and even now, as its economic underpinnings fall apart.
The 2010 general election is already a pointless foregone conclusion. The system will be fortunate to emerge from the debacle looking just hopelessly out of touch with the British electorate. Chances are, the Tories will win a big majority, but with less votes than they received in the 1997 anihilation. How long a political system function in such a context? How long before politics returns...
The 2010 general election is already a pointless foregone conclusion. The system will be fortunate to emerge from the debacle looking just hopelessly out of touch with the British electorate. Chances are, the Tories will win a big majority, but with less votes than they received in the 1997 anihilation. How long a political system function in such a context? How long before politics returns...
vendredi 21 août 2009
Is the Guardian a secret admirer of the BNP?
"Two people have been charged with leaking the names and details of the entire British National party membership.
The list, which identified thousands of people linked to the far-right party, was posted on the web in November 2008. Information included addresses and other contact information such as mobile phone numbers and the names and ages of children in a family membership.
Dyfed-Powys police said a 27-year-old man and 30-year-old woman were charged under the Data Protection Act after a joint investigation with the Information Commissioner's Office. The pair lived in the Nottingham area at the time of the leak.
The fallout included the outing of police, lawyers, teachers and church figures as BNP members, with some complaining the leak exposed them to the risk of dismissal or disciplinary action. Some included on the list, which ran to 13,000 names, complained they had been mistakenly included after only asking for information on the party. Others said they were no longer members.
In one entry of a woman believed to be a serving police officer from Wirral was the note "Discretion required re employment concerns – police officer", along with the names and ages of her children.
The BNP leader, Nick Griffin, claimed at the time to know the identity of a person who had leaked the information, calling them a hardline senior employee who disagreed with the direction of the party and left the party in 2007. The party called in the police and obtained a high court injunction to stop the list being published but was forced to admit it was relying on the Human Rights Act, which it opposes, to protect members' privacy.
The party said the leak was "malevolent and spiteful" but the list was not up to date and only included names of members up to 2007.
The BNP goes to considerable lengths to conceal the identities of members, including dividing lists between different people and encrypting and password-protecting email attachments.
The two people charged are due to appear in Nottingham magistrates court on 1 September."
It's not just me - this report is too sympathetic to the boneheads. Take the bit about the list not being up to date. It's as if the writer wants to illict feelings of sympathy for the goons on the list. It's been like a lot of other reports from the paper that treat the organisation as if it deserves being treated seriously.
The list, which identified thousands of people linked to the far-right party, was posted on the web in November 2008. Information included addresses and other contact information such as mobile phone numbers and the names and ages of children in a family membership.
Dyfed-Powys police said a 27-year-old man and 30-year-old woman were charged under the Data Protection Act after a joint investigation with the Information Commissioner's Office. The pair lived in the Nottingham area at the time of the leak.
The fallout included the outing of police, lawyers, teachers and church figures as BNP members, with some complaining the leak exposed them to the risk of dismissal or disciplinary action. Some included on the list, which ran to 13,000 names, complained they had been mistakenly included after only asking for information on the party. Others said they were no longer members.
In one entry of a woman believed to be a serving police officer from Wirral was the note "Discretion required re employment concerns – police officer", along with the names and ages of her children.
The BNP leader, Nick Griffin, claimed at the time to know the identity of a person who had leaked the information, calling them a hardline senior employee who disagreed with the direction of the party and left the party in 2007. The party called in the police and obtained a high court injunction to stop the list being published but was forced to admit it was relying on the Human Rights Act, which it opposes, to protect members' privacy.
The party said the leak was "malevolent and spiteful" but the list was not up to date and only included names of members up to 2007.
The BNP goes to considerable lengths to conceal the identities of members, including dividing lists between different people and encrypting and password-protecting email attachments.
The two people charged are due to appear in Nottingham magistrates court on 1 September."
It's not just me - this report is too sympathetic to the boneheads. Take the bit about the list not being up to date. It's as if the writer wants to illict feelings of sympathy for the goons on the list. It's been like a lot of other reports from the paper that treat the organisation as if it deserves being treated seriously.
mardi 4 août 2009
BNP give them a name
Should we call BNP members 'scum' 'boneheads' and '[fill in your own insult here]'? On the whole we at REL think that "Yes you should." and not only that. You should also dream up further insulting descriptions lest one forget that you are dealing with (in however an abstract and remote way) the absolute pits of the political universe.
Over at the Tomb, Lenin highlights a piece in the increasingly wobbly Guardian that ends with a quote from a BNP goat fucker, at the end of the article, that gives the impression that the left is somehow responsible for the increase in right wing violence against anti-fascists. One must be clear, the only way to deal with nazism is by total brute force. Alas, working class people turn fascist as well since our political culture is so corrupt. You can reach out and try to turn them away, but face it, they are part of a violent extremist tradition with its roots on the glass strewn streets of 1920's and 30's Germany. If they raise their shrunken heads, then they must be treated as legitmate targets. They have to be crushed with bats, sticks and whatever comes to hand - it's pointless to try to be an anti-fascist and a pacifist.
Thankfully, the BNP are merely a tic crawling over the surface of things and there are far more important things to worry about. Buggering No-mark Party. They'll perish.
Over at the Tomb, Lenin highlights a piece in the increasingly wobbly Guardian that ends with a quote from a BNP goat fucker, at the end of the article, that gives the impression that the left is somehow responsible for the increase in right wing violence against anti-fascists. One must be clear, the only way to deal with nazism is by total brute force. Alas, working class people turn fascist as well since our political culture is so corrupt. You can reach out and try to turn them away, but face it, they are part of a violent extremist tradition with its roots on the glass strewn streets of 1920's and 30's Germany. If they raise their shrunken heads, then they must be treated as legitmate targets. They have to be crushed with bats, sticks and whatever comes to hand - it's pointless to try to be an anti-fascist and a pacifist.
Thankfully, the BNP are merely a tic crawling over the surface of things and there are far more important things to worry about. Buggering No-mark Party. They'll perish.
UK values
The Home Office is pondering the idea that immigrants (not 'ex-pats' as retiree Brits living abroad call themsleves) who protest against the war or at homecoming parades of soldiers should face visa and passport penalties. The specific UK value here, presumably, being the unqualified and open ended support for 'Our Boys' in far away butchery of foreign nationals.
One does not even have to resort to the 'slippery slope thin end of the wedge' type argument here - this is straight forward police state tactics. In the name of spreading democracy abroad 'we' must supress it at home.
In the context of the BNP getting a broader press, this idea (one that for the Tories does not go far enough...) will give the nazis confidence that their ideas are becoming mainstream, thus a further pox on this dying government for dredging this putrid idea into the daylight.
One does not even have to resort to the 'slippery slope thin end of the wedge' type argument here - this is straight forward police state tactics. In the name of spreading democracy abroad 'we' must supress it at home.
In the context of the BNP getting a broader press, this idea (one that for the Tories does not go far enough...) will give the nazis confidence that their ideas are becoming mainstream, thus a further pox on this dying government for dredging this putrid idea into the daylight.
dimanche 12 juillet 2009
They walked in line
The current upsurge in imperialist terrorism in Afghanistan has caused the deaths of 15 British soldiers in just under two weeks. Whilst evidence is sketchy, it has to be assumed that the loss of innocent Afghan civilian lives is far higher and that details about the criminal actions of the illegal occupying forces is being deliberately withheld from the wider world, in order to wring as much diversionary potential from these deaths. The work of the nominally liberal press has been stirling as usual with the Observer uncritically vomiting up MoD statements and government propaganda. What is pitiable though is the 'left wing' Labour MP calling for monies to be diverted from Trident to the repression of the Afghan population.
It is reasonable to assume, also, that the increase in occupation offensives is tied to the economic crisis facing the British and American regimes. From a day to day policy objective, the deaths play a (small?) role in emotionally blackmailing and corralling the home populations into quietude about their own social and economic greivances. It cannot be too long before striking public sector workers are maligned for downing tools whilst 'our brave boys and girls are risking their lives for our freedom.' It does, clearly, sound ridiculous, but some mouthpiece for the MoD in the above report stated that costs should not matter since 'we' didn't count the cost when we were fighting Hitler. From wider economic objectives, the war is a way of encircling Iran and ensuring China is hemmed in and prevented from intervening in the resource land of the Middle East in the medium to long term future.
We are warned, chillingly, by the current war criminals Brown and Obama, that there is a long difficult Summer ahead. They are saying, of course, that further losses are expected and as far as they are concerned dearly hoped for.
It is reasonable to assume, also, that the increase in occupation offensives is tied to the economic crisis facing the British and American regimes. From a day to day policy objective, the deaths play a (small?) role in emotionally blackmailing and corralling the home populations into quietude about their own social and economic greivances. It cannot be too long before striking public sector workers are maligned for downing tools whilst 'our brave boys and girls are risking their lives for our freedom.' It does, clearly, sound ridiculous, but some mouthpiece for the MoD in the above report stated that costs should not matter since 'we' didn't count the cost when we were fighting Hitler. From wider economic objectives, the war is a way of encircling Iran and ensuring China is hemmed in and prevented from intervening in the resource land of the Middle East in the medium to long term future.
We are warned, chillingly, by the current war criminals Brown and Obama, that there is a long difficult Summer ahead. They are saying, of course, that further losses are expected and as far as they are concerned dearly hoped for.
jeudi 9 juillet 2009
Genocidal maniac
British politics continues to go rotten. A small mordant sign of this drifts over our sickened gaze this morning in the wretched Guardian. That microbe Griffin of the Boneheaded Freak Party has called for boats carrying immigrants from Africa TO BE SUNK. Read that again and let the implications sink in. He's calling for the cold blooded murder of desperate people who are so poor they see no other option than to risk their savings and their lives to escape terrible economic and social conditions that ultimately, the west is responsible for.
But one expects that from this speck of human waste, this fleck of ratshit this slimed coward. What is depressing is that the weasely guardian describes his 'proposals' (proposals! - the correct term would be incitements or 'death threats') as "controversial". Controversail, once was attached to ideas like 'tax rises for the rich' or 'supporting secondary picketing' or 'abolishing the monarchy' or to pop stars who shot their mouths off.
Calling for the murder of people is not controversial - its criminally insane. It's clear, though, that the prediction about the BNP once in power making a total shit-fuck of it's time in the limelight is coming true.
But one expects that from this speck of human waste, this fleck of ratshit this slimed coward. What is depressing is that the weasely guardian describes his 'proposals' (proposals! - the correct term would be incitements or 'death threats') as "controversial". Controversail, once was attached to ideas like 'tax rises for the rich' or 'supporting secondary picketing' or 'abolishing the monarchy' or to pop stars who shot their mouths off.
Calling for the murder of people is not controversial - its criminally insane. It's clear, though, that the prediction about the BNP once in power making a total shit-fuck of it's time in the limelight is coming true.
dimanche 5 juillet 2009
Thinking the Unthinkable
When economies go 'wrong' (in a functional not a moral sense...) the scum at the top demand instant solutions along the lines that everything must be considered and there should be no sacred cows. It's lies and propaganda of course. Here's some insect from some bean counting collective in a report from the increasingly rancid Observer "In a blistering attack, Steve Bundred, chief executive of the Audit Commission, says he has not heard any politician admit that "severe pay restraint" is one of a number of measures necessary to rebalance public finances, which could also include job cuts. "Nothing should be off limits," he warns."
One theing that won't be thought, one sacred cow that won't get sacrificed or be off limits is a serious tax raise for those who have done very nicely out of the last 30 years of neoliberalism. The rise to 50% for top earners was just a sop. The government should - alas by now we should say 'should have' - phased in a progressive tax regime years ago. Now we're going to have to pay for the bank bail-outs and bonuses to keep those snouts in the manner to which they have become accustomed.
In response, the resistance should reinterpret this Bundred wanker's words, nothing should be off limits when it comes to the fightback. If anyone can fucking well rouse themselves......
One theing that won't be thought, one sacred cow that won't get sacrificed or be off limits is a serious tax raise for those who have done very nicely out of the last 30 years of neoliberalism. The rise to 50% for top earners was just a sop. The government should - alas by now we should say 'should have' - phased in a progressive tax regime years ago. Now we're going to have to pay for the bank bail-outs and bonuses to keep those snouts in the manner to which they have become accustomed.
In response, the resistance should reinterpret this Bundred wanker's words, nothing should be off limits when it comes to the fightback. If anyone can fucking well rouse themselves......
mercredi 1 juillet 2009
Business as Usual
The Iranian turbulence has died down, the middle class 'revolt' has fizzled out and the MSM has moved on. A curse on all the ruling factions in Iran and all power to the working class, says the cleaner here at REL offices. She also notes that the papers have been less active in their coverage of the Honduras coup and the in your face corruption carnival that is the Afghan Presidential election and that she's going to go on strike.
dimanche 28 juin 2009
Has somebody died?
There mut be millions of words being written about Michael Jackson right now. This is the most ridicluous I've read so far. From k-punk, who we can forgive almost anything, but even so : "And if you asked me to choose between Off The Wall and the entire back catalogue of the Sex Pistols and the Beatles, there would be no contest."
!!. The argument being that The Beatles were like passé by the early eighties. And Michael Jackson, the vampire's vampire!
!!. The argument being that The Beatles were like passé by the early eighties. And Michael Jackson, the vampire's vampire!
samedi 27 juin 2009
How wrong we were
We said the Iraq war was mainly about oil. They said WMD and democracy. Here's what the NYT says in an article that appeared on Friday. Under the headline, “Warily Moving Ahead on Oil Contracts,” a Times correspondent reports from Baghdad: “When Iraq puts development rights to some of its largest oilfields up for auction to foreign companies on Monday, the bidding will be a watershed moment, representing the first chance for petroleum giants like ExxonMobil to tap the resources of a country they were kicked out of almost 40 years ago.”
jeudi 25 juin 2009
The Iranian diversion
Anything to take people's minds of the horror perpetuated in our names. Sixty people were obliterated by another drone attack in Pakistan and nobody in the West really gives a flying f*ck, diverted as they are by some stooge rallies in Tehran. What does Zizek have to say I wonder? Not that you'd really bother reading what that fraud has to say!
This is why events unnerve me
This on youtube - that deathly archive - a video someone took driving through Manchester in the early 1980's interspliced with other evocative shots to New Order's 'Ceremony'. The time that has past since...
Better news
With current events in Iran only splitting (what's left of) the left further (see the response to Zizek's awful letter on the subject, for instance) it's good to see there is life in the class war in Britain. Seumas Milne's article in The Guardian argues that when workers stand up to their employers, they tend to win and that passivity and inaction lead to wage cuts and redundancies.
He writes "It's now become obvious that only by defying or ignoring the anti-democratic legislation bequeathed by Margaret Thatcher – which outlaws, for example, all solidarity action – will there ever be the political will to ditch or replace it with something more reasonable."
It's about time someone in the MSM said as much.
He writes "It's now become obvious that only by defying or ignoring the anti-democratic legislation bequeathed by Margaret Thatcher – which outlaws, for example, all solidarity action – will there ever be the political will to ditch or replace it with something more reasonable."
It's about time someone in the MSM said as much.
mardi 23 juin 2009
Meanwhile the war goes on
Whatever the outcome of the Iranian elections (REL prediction - the story will fizzle out this week) the military encirclement of Iran tightens. The British army has just launched a raid "on a Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan." Cheer on those brave troops.
Keep Britain wanking
Sorry, but, well - it really does deserve that -http://www.keepbritainworking.com/supporters.aspx
The website has that Ikea Orwellian feel to it. The TUC, the LibDems and Boris Johnson all say how important the site is to battling the country through the slump. There's even some 'propaganda' [sic] postcards for sale...slogans taken from the second world war. Not 'chilling' just sad, really really sad.
The website has that Ikea Orwellian feel to it. The TUC, the LibDems and Boris Johnson all say how important the site is to battling the country through the slump. There's even some 'propaganda' [sic] postcards for sale...slogans taken from the second world war. Not 'chilling' just sad, really really sad.
Kissinger lord of darkness
http://www.infowars.net/articles/june2009/220609Meddling.htm - if you want to get wound up politically. It's the arch Vader himself in usual slippery form not actively openly saying "Send the US troops in now!" but coming down near enough. But my point here is why he uses the word 'crisis'....whatever is going on in Iran, from the actual situation based on political force and regime stability, the Iranian government is not teetering on the brink of collapse. So why use the term - presumably because the US is, as it stands accused of, actively promoting a faux revolution.
lundi 22 juin 2009
Iran
There are experts out there but a lot of us are pretty much in the same place when it comes to Iran - a foggy situation where things are often not what they seem (the BBC fake footage, the Nada killers), a country about which we do not know a great deal but about which it seems clear that some American plan appears to be being played out.
Three points that stick out -
1. Who to support. You've got to bear the crushingly obvious with repect to this. Over in the comments box at LT for instance there's been an extraordinary amount of traffic and theoretical analysing of who the left should support. But what on earth does 'support' mean here - logistical support, air support or just millions of working class organised into militias? It's academic and theoretical support that is 'at stake' - important enough but let's not think that our posistion towards the tumultuous events in Tehran and throughout the rest of the country actually have any material impact. Secondly - the left is stuck between two unpleasant options - if the idea of support means anything - giving (theoretical etc.) succour to an incumbent regime that, face it, is not ideologically to our tastes, yet enjoys significant working class support in Iran or being accused of 'US stoogism'. Then, there is the religious aspect to this and the anti-semitic nature of the regime (the willful misrepresentation of Ahmadinejad's 'wipe Israel of the map' remarks notwithstanding) which all count against 'us' defending the regime. (Imagine these verbs actually being required of you in a proper material sense - weapons, orders and flinging yourself against hordes of US tanks....do you support the Iranian government now?!) Then again - taking this either/or predicament at face value for the moment - who would want to support the anti-government forces of Mousavi, that butcher of the left and obvious US sock puppet - but someone who has mustered popular support that has taken to the streets and has physicaly confronted a less than wholly democratic government.
The 'a curse on both your houses' approach is a comforting one but bourgeois - in the end one need not support the regime wholeheartedly but one can manifestly oppose the clear and present Western interference in Iranian internal affairs and resolutely stand up against any military option. That has to be opposed and not just with puny million strong days out in London - but this time with active, disruptive and violent measures. A military strike against Iran would signal a declaration of war on all working class people in the world, in the current international economic and political circumstances.
2. The elections - it is far from clear whether there was a significant amount of voter irregularities in the elections. It was certainly less obvious and meaningful than the stolen elections of 2000...in the US. So if in doubt in a conversation about who to support it does well to think of it in those terms - just who is using (cardboard) democracy-ideas to stir up instability when closer to home those same 'cherished' democractic values are flushed away. Another point is that the 'revolt' itself is made up mainly of middle class element "It is no secret that many of the demonstrators come from the upper middle class, for whom the priority is not primarily democracy (and certainly not social justice), but the extension of their social privileges, which are currently restricted by the clerical regime." Further, where was the similar media outrage, forensic coverage and calls for action when bloody Israel was murdering Palestinians?
Finally - 3. Learn from the chaos - it will be visiting you any time soon..........
Three points that stick out -
1. Who to support. You've got to bear the crushingly obvious with repect to this. Over in the comments box at LT for instance there's been an extraordinary amount of traffic and theoretical analysing of who the left should support. But what on earth does 'support' mean here - logistical support, air support or just millions of working class organised into militias? It's academic and theoretical support that is 'at stake' - important enough but let's not think that our posistion towards the tumultuous events in Tehran and throughout the rest of the country actually have any material impact. Secondly - the left is stuck between two unpleasant options - if the idea of support means anything - giving (theoretical etc.) succour to an incumbent regime that, face it, is not ideologically to our tastes, yet enjoys significant working class support in Iran or being accused of 'US stoogism'. Then, there is the religious aspect to this and the anti-semitic nature of the regime (the willful misrepresentation of Ahmadinejad's 'wipe Israel of the map' remarks notwithstanding) which all count against 'us' defending the regime. (Imagine these verbs actually being required of you in a proper material sense - weapons, orders and flinging yourself against hordes of US tanks....do you support the Iranian government now?!) Then again - taking this either/or predicament at face value for the moment - who would want to support the anti-government forces of Mousavi, that butcher of the left and obvious US sock puppet - but someone who has mustered popular support that has taken to the streets and has physicaly confronted a less than wholly democratic government.
The 'a curse on both your houses' approach is a comforting one but bourgeois - in the end one need not support the regime wholeheartedly but one can manifestly oppose the clear and present Western interference in Iranian internal affairs and resolutely stand up against any military option. That has to be opposed and not just with puny million strong days out in London - but this time with active, disruptive and violent measures. A military strike against Iran would signal a declaration of war on all working class people in the world, in the current international economic and political circumstances.
2. The elections - it is far from clear whether there was a significant amount of voter irregularities in the elections. It was certainly less obvious and meaningful than the stolen elections of 2000...in the US. So if in doubt in a conversation about who to support it does well to think of it in those terms - just who is using (cardboard) democracy-ideas to stir up instability when closer to home those same 'cherished' democractic values are flushed away. Another point is that the 'revolt' itself is made up mainly of middle class element "It is no secret that many of the demonstrators come from the upper middle class, for whom the priority is not primarily democracy (and certainly not social justice), but the extension of their social privileges, which are currently restricted by the clerical regime." Further, where was the similar media outrage, forensic coverage and calls for action when bloody Israel was murdering Palestinians?
Finally - 3. Learn from the chaos - it will be visiting you any time soon..........
lundi 15 juin 2009
Chronicle of a cover up in advance
A pointless Government initiates a pointless enquiry into a pointless war. Grey on grey indeed. No matter, though, the white wash will "[be] designed on a similar basis, he added, to the Franks inquiry into the 1982 Falklands War, and it would aim to identify "lessons learned". " So it will reveal what a good job has been done, then! Obviously, it will all be held in secret and "people could decline to answer questions they weren't happy with.". What is the point?
vendredi 12 juin 2009
Another ridiculous thing...
From the same paper, this time Martin Kettle, "Europe's left is in crisis. The choice is stark: adapt or wilt The big social democratic parties – not least Labour – must learn from Blair's example. Or accept a role on the political margins"
wtf?
wtf?
jeudi 11 juin 2009
A ridiculous thing before breakfast
You have to read what the opposition thinks every now and then. It keeps your wits sharpened and gives you a good laugh from time to time. Take this, from Dan Roberts in the Grindinglydull "'Don't waste a good crisis." The words of White House chief of staff Rahm Emmanuel ought to be ringing in our ears this week as we contemplate a possible end to the recession. Unfortunately that is exactly what has happened: we've missed a golden opportunity to remake capitalism on firmer, fairer footings."
Where to start with something as outlandish and funny as that? Well, after some cornflakes or something...
Where to start with something as outlandish and funny as that? Well, after some cornflakes or something...
The philosophy of problems
In an attack on Dawkins in LRB a few years back Eagleton remarks on God that "He is the answer to why there is something rather than nothing. "
But how do we know that, really, that there is nothing rather than something? Maybe the universe has yet to be created.
But how do we know that, really, that there is nothing rather than something? Maybe the universe has yet to be created.
mercredi 10 juin 2009
Underground strike
It goes without saying that the tube workers strike is to be supported. Their struggle against bastardmangement is a microcosm of how the whole country is run. The elites make off with the money and in the long run, workers' wages and conditions are reduced and their plight vilified in the dreadful right wing MSM. On another, metaphorical, level the strike takes place out of sight in an unseen yet vital distributional organ of the capitalist system. It is repressed and its functioning transfered to other less efficient (strike busting) techniques. The repressed cannot be crushed for ever. The violence inflicted on them will return, magnified, to the surface.
Grim but not as bad
. . as feared. The BNP election 'success' is fading away rapidly. Their victory depended on a low turn out and a government rapidly disintegrating, but even here their actual vote declined in number. This was not a British, let alone a working class, 'turn to the right' but a unique set of circumstances that allowed the fascists in. That still means the BNP must be confronted, ideologically, politically and physically. The SWP open letter is a good starting point and this conclusion is well worked out too. We should not sit back in despiar and wail on about the 'racist chavs' whilst at the same time whinge on about free speech for the BNP (see comments section on LT) and turn rancid. That's the way fascism wins.
This is a calamity, though, but in terms of the next two years or so, is going to be just one challenge we must take on and defeat. Because even if the Labour party weren't finished, even if they win next year, there are going to be enormous confrontations that we cannot afford to lose at all.
In that vein - hurrah for the tube workers. That struggle is far more significant than some lousy fat fuck winning the right to sit in some neoliberal shitpalace on the strength of some Daily Mail cunts voting for him.
Buck up.
This is a calamity, though, but in terms of the next two years or so, is going to be just one challenge we must take on and defeat. Because even if the Labour party weren't finished, even if they win next year, there are going to be enormous confrontations that we cannot afford to lose at all.
In that vein - hurrah for the tube workers. That struggle is far more significant than some lousy fat fuck winning the right to sit in some neoliberal shitpalace on the strength of some Daily Mail cunts voting for him.
Buck up.
mardi 9 juin 2009
1979
Paul Blackburn was jailed in 1978 for a crime he did not commit and got out 25 years later. But 1979, as k-punk reiterates, was the turning point at which Britain changed, or started to change, from a (tempered) social democracy to a more neoliberal harsher chillier place. His incarceration spanned the two nodal points, near enough. He was jailed just as Callaghan was capitulating to the uninevitable and was released (without apologies, explanation or compensation) just as the neoloib turn started its dramatic collapse. No wonder he remarks " I can be in whatever nasty area of London at 4am surrounded by drug addicts, crackheads and robbers, it holds no fear for me. I've just been living with them all for 25 years... It was a big Asda, I turned round and walked out again. It's all just too much for me. Too much information, too much choice, too much going on."
Interestingly Blackburn turned to words and writing in order to save himself.
Interestingly Blackburn turned to words and writing in order to save himself.
Australia booms
You'll have read that there are 'green shoots' growing in Australia...unsurprisingly, the GDP growth rate is based on dodgy accounting and the fact that imports have declined. But the government are milking it - the social upshot is that the unions are being well behaved and doing their job of policing the working class - "We are all in this together, and that involves the unions as well, and we are working closely, of course, with the business organisations.” said Rudd the PM.
we're all in this together
fuck off
we're all in this together
fuck off
lundi 8 juin 2009
Perspective
Some perspective on the BNP fiasco from www.makemyvotecount.org.uk
"BNP gained seats with fewer votes
In Yorkshire and the Humber, the BNP actually polled 6399 fewer votes than in 2004. In the North West, 2865 fewer people voted for the BNP this time than last. However, the BNP still won a seat in each of those regions.
The BNP has not gained many more recruits at all in 5 years, just solidified the ones it had already. Instead, what we saw was a huge drop in turnout and a large drop in support for Labour. These two factors together enabled the BNP to squeak in to win the final seat available in each region.
It was very close though.
In Yorkshire and the Humber, Labour needed its vote to hold up by 10,270 more votes to keep out the BNP. The Greens needed only 15,683 more votes to have come above BNP and get that final seat instead.
In the North West, it was really tight. If UKIP had received another 1200 votes, than they would have taken another seat instead of Nick Griffin. The Greens tactic of saying they were the ones who could beat the BNP in the NW almost worked: they were within 5000 votes of overtaking them and this winning that final seat.
Therefore, even within very large regions, the result can be very close and a few votes here and there really can make a difference. Unfortunately, people do not seem to have got that message: they stayed away rather than vote. They, and the parties who failed to mobilise them, should hopefully get the message from now on that voting in proportional elections is not just important, it can easily effect the whole result, no matter where in the region you live."
For dickheads to prosper, what needs to happen is for good people not to do enough. But then again, we did vote New Labour once and look where it got us. It'll take more than voting. . .
"BNP gained seats with fewer votes
In Yorkshire and the Humber, the BNP actually polled 6399 fewer votes than in 2004. In the North West, 2865 fewer people voted for the BNP this time than last. However, the BNP still won a seat in each of those regions.
The BNP has not gained many more recruits at all in 5 years, just solidified the ones it had already. Instead, what we saw was a huge drop in turnout and a large drop in support for Labour. These two factors together enabled the BNP to squeak in to win the final seat available in each region.
It was very close though.
In Yorkshire and the Humber, Labour needed its vote to hold up by 10,270 more votes to keep out the BNP. The Greens needed only 15,683 more votes to have come above BNP and get that final seat instead.
In the North West, it was really tight. If UKIP had received another 1200 votes, than they would have taken another seat instead of Nick Griffin. The Greens tactic of saying they were the ones who could beat the BNP in the NW almost worked: they were within 5000 votes of overtaking them and this winning that final seat.
Therefore, even within very large regions, the result can be very close and a few votes here and there really can make a difference. Unfortunately, people do not seem to have got that message: they stayed away rather than vote. They, and the parties who failed to mobilise them, should hopefully get the message from now on that voting in proportional elections is not just important, it can easily effect the whole result, no matter where in the region you live."
For dickheads to prosper, what needs to happen is for good people not to do enough. But then again, we did vote New Labour once and look where it got us. It'll take more than voting. . .
dimanche 7 juin 2009
Black edged day
This poor bugger died on a beach in France fighting it.
These doomed soldiers died along with 25 million of their comrades fighting it.
And these and millions of other 'undesirables'...
So how comes cunts like this get elected to office?
The psephology of the BNP vote will be interesting. No data as yet, of course, but our gut reaction here is that it was the low turn out that allowed the fascists in with a strong middle class Daily Mail vote. And the collapse of the Labour Party. That is, it is important we find out how many working class voters switched to the BNP. It is one almighty "fuck off", not only to the ghostly remnants of the Labour government, but to the whole political system. How has this happened? It is an absolute disaster for every type of politics to the left of Gordon Brown and has humiliated the entire country. More importantly, it is a green light for sections of the Tory party to get more right wing and prepare deeper attacks on the working class upon assuming power next May.
The time has come, now, to physically harass the BNP from the streets. Their moment of glory will not last and long term, will have no significance. They are riven by internal divisions and are political inept and, face it, intellectually challenged. Their success will disintegrate in the next few years into resignation, scandal and politicial impotence. But in the short to medium term this is a very sorry fucking outcome. We on the left, in a way, deserve this - we have never even come close to getting our act together. True, though, we are up against a totalitarian system with all the means of education, persuasion and repression at its disposal. But even so, nazis getting elected.....This wailing siren of an alarm call must galvanise people into not just anti-fascist action but revolutionary socialist action. First they came for the muslims - first they came. They are here..........do something
samedi 6 juin 2009
White supremacists
Police have actually (?) found some terror stuff in a house. But soft...it's not 'Islamofascist extremists' but...some white guys. A big let down for all the MSM - what can they call for, if not rounding muslims up, locking up all the lone white middle aged blokes?....that'd be half their readership behind bars.
Debris sighted
Wreckage seen floating in the Atlantic earlier this morning has been identified as that of Flight New Labour which was last heard of as it flew through huge turbulence off the coast of a banana republic. It is thought that fighting amongst the cabin crew and navigational failure were to blame for the disaster. There are no survivors.
vendredi 5 juin 2009
An article on the new(ish) way to stay in touch. On second thoughts, stick it up your twitter.
unoriginal thoughts no.1457/s4(a)
unoriginal thoughts no.1457/s4(a)
Labour election meltdown
It looks like the results are even worse than expected. Labour at a turning point? Well, when you're turning around in circles, everyday's a turning point.
Materialism versus spirits and gods
It's a beautiful morning outside the REL offices. Cool but sunny, clear skies, birds singing cup of perfect temperature tea. Not hungover, us that is, not the birds. The world seems a more hospitable place. We even feel the impetus to thank someone, somebody, something for this unexpected, doubtless fleeting and illusory sensation of meaning and hope. It surely points to a higher purpose for us all. The God impetus.
Nonsense of course.
It's all down to a rare good night's sleep, good food and a place to live. Mudane material things that don't seem to add up to enough mystery for some people. Some people let themselves be prone to seek an irrational explanation for things when the more prosaic explanation exhausts every other possible theory.
Take ouija boards. One stoned night many years ago, an REL memeber tells us, she joined in a session and decided, for a laugh, to push the wine glass they were using, to spell out all sorts of secret messages and histories and played along in schlock astonishment. The believers were delighted. When our REL volunteer finally told them it was she that had enineered it all, they just laughed and dismissed her account. The spirit exists, they told her and you sceptics should just get your head round it. Somehow, for them, the human element, the desire to take the micky, the 'social experiment' or the group dynamics just weren't seen as important or even relevant to the night's proceedings. The spiritual realm had been invoked and that held all truth. All other accounts were heretical and besides the point.
Why this need for other realms of immaterial forces? It's everywhere. We blame Plato for a lot of it - 'What is seen is not known, what is known is not seen' and all that voodoo poison. It's an attractive philosophical drug that bewitches you into believing in forms, souls and Gods. And aliens.
Take crop circles. Now, there's a very interesting (but mundane) explanation for this. Logistically, socially and economically one could construct an impressive story out of its ingredients. Who does what, when and how. But for some, this is too simple. It has to be aliens.
The Plato impetus compels them to dismiss the material, mundane grind of putting these circles together (and they are quite wonderful artistically) prefering to move straight onto their idea, their impetus and their magical nature. It's an elitist snobbish and ultimately boring account of how things get done.
Next time you feel like worshipping something because something is good, fascinating or even magical - look at the work and workers behind it because it is there that the explanation and interest lie. Not in some spaceship or form.
jeudi 4 juin 2009
Tautology
Prescott criticising some Labour stooge or other - "Not so much a Blairite as a careerite". wtf?
Justice?
"It's political correctness gone mad." I wonder if youy've ever heard that phrase? Usually it's to do with social services reportedly making sure their info doesn't say 'he' or 'white' all the time and some Daily Mailer wailer whinges that those plucky soldiers on D-Day didn't die so all this PC nonsense could destroy the very fabric etc. etc. but really, 'politically correct' should apply to the 'normal' way the system operates, politically, economically, and socially. In fact 'Economically Correct' could be a reverse physcology ironic way of describing how inequality get justified...but this story about an entrepeneur who killed his wife on a scuba dive riled the feminist contingent here at REL. You'll have read the story. So the bloke finally confesses. Now in a PC world (a Daily Mail version of PC) - the guy would be debollocked and flung in jail with hardened lesbian criminals for twenty years. In the real PC world, he gets off with five years and four suspended and will be out before the British general election comes round.
Result: PC 2 Justice 0
Result: PC 2 Justice 0
Politics bollocktics
Whilst all this systemic self-indulgent nonsense continues, the election results, the boring boring MP expenses scandal and even the bail-out corruption - all the time the war machine grinds out more destruction and death in our name. Sure, UK troops have pulled out of Iraq, but they are still there in Afghanistan and face it - our political culture is steeped in blood, guilt and shame for the Iraq debacle.
All this current furore should be seen in that perspective. A nothing happening to political nothings and other political emptinesses profiting for their nothing futures. And ours, if we carry on being so disunited, ineffective and nothing too.
All this current furore should be seen in that perspective. A nothing happening to political nothings and other political emptinesses profiting for their nothing futures. And ours, if we carry on being so disunited, ineffective and nothing too.
Our decimation cannot wait
Labour is over. We will be some 15 years older when some other bright new dawn May Day heralds another Labour government. Meanwhile the disintegration is proceeding normally. "Purnell, a confirmed moderniser, decided, in contrast to Blears, that he would wait until polls closed last night before making his announcement so that he could not be accused of damaging Labour's chances in the elections."
We liked that "...so that he could not be accused of damaging Labour's chances..."
- like, what chances?
We liked that "...so that he could not be accused of damaging Labour's chances..."
- like, what chances?
Headstone
Something to write on New Labour's headstone - "The UK’s experience in the 1980s and 1990s showed that the strategy of hoping that growth in living standards at the top would ‘trickle down’ to those at the bottom did not work."
Poverty, for some, is as high now as it was in 1961 - "Poverty for working-age adults without dependent children is now at its highest level since the start of our comparable time series in 1961,” according to the IFS report."
Do you pss on the coffin or wait for it to be buried and dance on its grave?
Poverty, for some, is as high now as it was in 1961 - "Poverty for working-age adults without dependent children is now at its highest level since the start of our comparable time series in 1961,” according to the IFS report."
Do you pss on the coffin or wait for it to be buried and dance on its grave?
mardi 2 juin 2009
Deflection
The MP expense hoohah has claimed another high profile 'victim'. Jacqui Smith has all but resigned over 'immoral' financial claims. Other despised Labour figures are under the same pressure, pleasingly that odious boil-squirt Gef 'Buff' Hoon.
The hatred towards the government is obvious, omniscient and palpable. For example, British visitors to our obscure little village are seething with indignation, the MSM is full of it and the comment section of the Guardian (ok, not a scientific barometer of public opinion) are universally and viruently anti-Labour. The New Labour phase of Late-Capitalism is giving way to a harsher looking 'postcapitalist capitalism'. The Bank bail-out, is the real scandal, of course. But it is being all but air-brushed out of current political discourse, whilst the Telegraph drip by cynical drip feed the rest of the MSM with further tit-bits and fodder for middle England's rage.
Us here at REL are not evidently, going to come to the defence of MP's a la Joan Smith in the Guardian recently, who argued indignantly that her husband and a lot of her friends are MP's and because of all this invective, hey, you know what, they want to give it all up. How high minded and sorrowful they must look - tempered by the consolation that they'll get 30000 quid pay off next year to tide them over - in the face of all this public outrage. Smith actually concludes that it's not the scandal that is causing the defaith in democracy, but the sanctamonious reaction of the public that's doing all the damage. FTW.
Few here at REL even want to adhere to the argument, put forward by some on the left, that even if this current sty of MP's are gobshites, we should defend the institutional aspects of our current system against toff attack, nor even that we should use this situation to advance reforms like PR. (Things have gone a bit too far for that sop now haven't they?).
What this storm in an HP bottle shows is that the establishment and the ruling classes can create PR and media diversions to obscure past deeds and prepare the ground for the next step. This propaganda campaign is no small matter. Somebody leaked all the details to the Telegraph. Howcome there's been no prosecution? The Wretchograph is effectively given a 'Sword of Dameclese' for each grasping MP and has the Governments bollocks in it hands. For how can a regime govern when the political life of its ministers are in this amount of doubt? This little affair has sent the government reeling whilst the bigger crime, the free money for the upper class establishment, has all but effectively dematerialized, and passed by even as a success (I saved the world!) - given what the IMF said of it (see below).
The disproportionate response can only signal that this whole affair has a wider purpose. We cannot be expected to believe that all this accusation has any moral or principled stand behind it. The owners of all the MSM nozzles are tax evading criminal whores. They just don't do ethics. The scandal is just the dirt and ashes thrown over the crime scene we lived through from October to February.
So, in the last three weeks or so, the 'bail-out' has slipped from the headlines to the by-lines in the Business section to the footnotes. When did you last hear the term 'bail-out' 'billion', 'trillion'? Before this current crisis, that's for sure. The government is to blame for this 'caught with the knob in the jam' farce (in so far as it acts independently of course) but the expenses fluff hides a greater responsibility.
The rest is speculation it is speculated.
The wider purpose of the expenses row, essentially quite boring and prosaic, is to discredit, in the eyes of 'significant voters' not only the government, but the entire facade of liberal democracy and the 'consensus'. The lesser purpose is to ideologically flood the political terrain with the debate about cleanling up British politics, PR constitutional change, holidays...and other all too late ideas in order to somehow 'reform' the British system. But it didn't need dodgy accounts about swimming pools, cleaners and porn films to tell some of us that the British system was rotten. It's been rotten as long at least we've been political consciousness. The big wheeze here is that, in the run up to the GE a nice eleven months or so away - plently of time to change people's voting intentions and guarantee a large swing - a new political narrative is to be thrashed out.
The Conservatives, clearly, are going to come out of this mess looking better than the Labour Party. The polls show it and so too will the European results, already written off long ago by Downing Street. Part of the reason for the Tory's long political exile was their association with sleaze, in fact their total immersion in the slimey stuff. Labour was elected, in part, on the 'Breath of Fresh Air', 'Change' 'Things will get better' 'Honest Tony' ticket (when in fact it would have taken some extraordinary mismanagement to have actually lost in 97). This ideological appearance allowed many of these floating voters to rationalise voting Labour despite their instinctual mistrust of any redistribution politics, unions and 'the left'. But all that has now slipped into the unreality of the past. For the reality of their voting Blair was their assurance that, economically, they would continue to benefit from the system. Blair was on their side and extremely relaxed about being filthy rich. It was reassuring stuff. And everyone else was doing it the floaters must have thought. So they played an important role in bequeathing a huge three term sustaining 200 seat majority. Now, the wider economic crisis cannot be allowed to impinge on political debate any longer. In bare knuckle terms, (the fist is clearly visible under the Tory's bony gloved hand), one cannot ask sensitive middle class types to vote for you by saying "We'll make the oiks pay for it all don't worry just vote for us!" It would be more honest, but more vulgar and so risky. Thus this scandal is a heaven sent opportunity (or a plot...) for the Tories to appear the Rent-o-Kill of British politics and come and clean things up. But once the vampire is allowed in, the real cleaning up will get a lot uglier.
The MSM has used this opportunity and served its masters by deflecting attention from the shifted ground beneath our feet. The bankers have had a fright, but they have been given public money to maintain the status quo and are now pretty much in the clear. But someone has to pay. The only way the capitalist system can maintain profit is to squeeze labour costs. That means the likes of us. Our money and stuff. This means the masses making 'sacrificies' and 'tightening belts' and 'putting up with it' and, who knows, even calling on patriotism to muddle us through. Could a Brown government do the 'necessary' measures? If you were a cigar smoking piggy fat cat, you'd be forgiven for having your doubts. At some point, patience within the party and government might snap, a discredited government limping on for another half-term would lose legitimacy and just one more serious economic shock (as the IMF states) and the whole thing might, just might deteriorate.
Brown has proved to be the dunce all expected and a new leader would just look desperate. Winning the floaters over doesn't take much. Again, the opposition are pushing at an open door. but it needs cover, a story a bait that comes before the switch. Brute fact will scare the horses. (Rather than try to blow peoples' coats off, like the wind in the bet with the sun, the media will turn up the heat and make people take their own coats off. Not that the Tories are representatives of the Enlightenment, it's just an allegory). The MSM will continue to feed us the idea that the government and all it has done (the little it has done for us, though) has also been corrupt and that the country needs 'modernizing' (again). Tha, we think here at REL, is the idea.
Ideas do not affect history as such. But the 200 000 swing voters (maybe they are mythical - all the better) were outside and at the end of history in those postmodern Tony Blair days. Their leader was illusory, their Millenium was illusory, their WMD's were illusory, their wealth was illusory and though naturally born conservative political consciousnesses, they were happy enough to see of the miserable corrupt shower of Major's men and even learnt to love Tony. (The rest of us can either grin and bear it and vote Labour anyway, or abstain). It'll take about a year to convince these, now worried, w/hinge voters to return to their natural constituency and put a cross by the blue flame next year. This sliver of political motivation, was a significant factor in determining the voting behaviour of that section of middle England that maitained Labour in power. Now, with the economic argument quietly buried, a more flamboyant rationale for voting for the stupid party is needed. This fake crisis does the trick.
The rest of us, unfloating useless voters can point all we like at the elephant in the room, but its the flea circus that everyone else is interested in. They know the elephant's there, of course, but they are sure that it's not them who's going to have to deal with it. Postcapitalist capitalism will be brutish, next year and the next, when it rampages over us poor list types.
But who knows, things might turn unexpected.
The hatred towards the government is obvious, omniscient and palpable. For example, British visitors to our obscure little village are seething with indignation, the MSM is full of it and the comment section of the Guardian (ok, not a scientific barometer of public opinion) are universally and viruently anti-Labour. The New Labour phase of Late-Capitalism is giving way to a harsher looking 'postcapitalist capitalism'. The Bank bail-out, is the real scandal, of course. But it is being all but air-brushed out of current political discourse, whilst the Telegraph drip by cynical drip feed the rest of the MSM with further tit-bits and fodder for middle England's rage.
Us here at REL are not evidently, going to come to the defence of MP's a la Joan Smith in the Guardian recently, who argued indignantly that her husband and a lot of her friends are MP's and because of all this invective, hey, you know what, they want to give it all up. How high minded and sorrowful they must look - tempered by the consolation that they'll get 30000 quid pay off next year to tide them over - in the face of all this public outrage. Smith actually concludes that it's not the scandal that is causing the defaith in democracy, but the sanctamonious reaction of the public that's doing all the damage. FTW.
Few here at REL even want to adhere to the argument, put forward by some on the left, that even if this current sty of MP's are gobshites, we should defend the institutional aspects of our current system against toff attack, nor even that we should use this situation to advance reforms like PR. (Things have gone a bit too far for that sop now haven't they?).
What this storm in an HP bottle shows is that the establishment and the ruling classes can create PR and media diversions to obscure past deeds and prepare the ground for the next step. This propaganda campaign is no small matter. Somebody leaked all the details to the Telegraph. Howcome there's been no prosecution? The Wretchograph is effectively given a 'Sword of Dameclese' for each grasping MP and has the Governments bollocks in it hands. For how can a regime govern when the political life of its ministers are in this amount of doubt? This little affair has sent the government reeling whilst the bigger crime, the free money for the upper class establishment, has all but effectively dematerialized, and passed by even as a success (I saved the world!) - given what the IMF said of it (see below).
The disproportionate response can only signal that this whole affair has a wider purpose. We cannot be expected to believe that all this accusation has any moral or principled stand behind it. The owners of all the MSM nozzles are tax evading criminal whores. They just don't do ethics. The scandal is just the dirt and ashes thrown over the crime scene we lived through from October to February.
So, in the last three weeks or so, the 'bail-out' has slipped from the headlines to the by-lines in the Business section to the footnotes. When did you last hear the term 'bail-out' 'billion', 'trillion'? Before this current crisis, that's for sure. The government is to blame for this 'caught with the knob in the jam' farce (in so far as it acts independently of course) but the expenses fluff hides a greater responsibility.
The rest is speculation it is speculated.
The wider purpose of the expenses row, essentially quite boring and prosaic, is to discredit, in the eyes of 'significant voters' not only the government, but the entire facade of liberal democracy and the 'consensus'. The lesser purpose is to ideologically flood the political terrain with the debate about cleanling up British politics, PR constitutional change, holidays...and other all too late ideas in order to somehow 'reform' the British system. But it didn't need dodgy accounts about swimming pools, cleaners and porn films to tell some of us that the British system was rotten. It's been rotten as long at least we've been political consciousness. The big wheeze here is that, in the run up to the GE a nice eleven months or so away - plently of time to change people's voting intentions and guarantee a large swing - a new political narrative is to be thrashed out.
The Conservatives, clearly, are going to come out of this mess looking better than the Labour Party. The polls show it and so too will the European results, already written off long ago by Downing Street. Part of the reason for the Tory's long political exile was their association with sleaze, in fact their total immersion in the slimey stuff. Labour was elected, in part, on the 'Breath of Fresh Air', 'Change' 'Things will get better' 'Honest Tony' ticket (when in fact it would have taken some extraordinary mismanagement to have actually lost in 97). This ideological appearance allowed many of these floating voters to rationalise voting Labour despite their instinctual mistrust of any redistribution politics, unions and 'the left'. But all that has now slipped into the unreality of the past. For the reality of their voting Blair was their assurance that, economically, they would continue to benefit from the system. Blair was on their side and extremely relaxed about being filthy rich. It was reassuring stuff. And everyone else was doing it the floaters must have thought. So they played an important role in bequeathing a huge three term sustaining 200 seat majority. Now, the wider economic crisis cannot be allowed to impinge on political debate any longer. In bare knuckle terms, (the fist is clearly visible under the Tory's bony gloved hand), one cannot ask sensitive middle class types to vote for you by saying "We'll make the oiks pay for it all don't worry just vote for us!" It would be more honest, but more vulgar and so risky. Thus this scandal is a heaven sent opportunity (or a plot...) for the Tories to appear the Rent-o-Kill of British politics and come and clean things up. But once the vampire is allowed in, the real cleaning up will get a lot uglier.
The MSM has used this opportunity and served its masters by deflecting attention from the shifted ground beneath our feet. The bankers have had a fright, but they have been given public money to maintain the status quo and are now pretty much in the clear. But someone has to pay. The only way the capitalist system can maintain profit is to squeeze labour costs. That means the likes of us. Our money and stuff. This means the masses making 'sacrificies' and 'tightening belts' and 'putting up with it' and, who knows, even calling on patriotism to muddle us through. Could a Brown government do the 'necessary' measures? If you were a cigar smoking piggy fat cat, you'd be forgiven for having your doubts. At some point, patience within the party and government might snap, a discredited government limping on for another half-term would lose legitimacy and just one more serious economic shock (as the IMF states) and the whole thing might, just might deteriorate.
Brown has proved to be the dunce all expected and a new leader would just look desperate. Winning the floaters over doesn't take much. Again, the opposition are pushing at an open door. but it needs cover, a story a bait that comes before the switch. Brute fact will scare the horses. (Rather than try to blow peoples' coats off, like the wind in the bet with the sun, the media will turn up the heat and make people take their own coats off. Not that the Tories are representatives of the Enlightenment, it's just an allegory). The MSM will continue to feed us the idea that the government and all it has done (the little it has done for us, though) has also been corrupt and that the country needs 'modernizing' (again). Tha, we think here at REL, is the idea.
Ideas do not affect history as such. But the 200 000 swing voters (maybe they are mythical - all the better) were outside and at the end of history in those postmodern Tony Blair days. Their leader was illusory, their Millenium was illusory, their WMD's were illusory, their wealth was illusory and though naturally born conservative political consciousnesses, they were happy enough to see of the miserable corrupt shower of Major's men and even learnt to love Tony. (The rest of us can either grin and bear it and vote Labour anyway, or abstain). It'll take about a year to convince these, now worried, w/hinge voters to return to their natural constituency and put a cross by the blue flame next year. This sliver of political motivation, was a significant factor in determining the voting behaviour of that section of middle England that maitained Labour in power. Now, with the economic argument quietly buried, a more flamboyant rationale for voting for the stupid party is needed. This fake crisis does the trick.
The rest of us, unfloating useless voters can point all we like at the elephant in the room, but its the flea circus that everyone else is interested in. They know the elephant's there, of course, but they are sure that it's not them who's going to have to deal with it. Postcapitalist capitalism will be brutish, next year and the next, when it rampages over us poor list types.
But who knows, things might turn unexpected.
jeudi 28 mai 2009
mercredi 27 mai 2009
Why is it all so awful?
Capitalism, of course. But even then, there should be seething resentment and social unrest, social unrest in our favour. The current quietism is deadening. That is what is so awful. Imagine an eternal capitalism where the elites gradually wore everything and everyone else down into fine, fine dust...
lundi 25 mai 2009
The worse the better
"It said an extra 53 million people are at risk of extreme poverty. "
The World Bank fears social unrest. Here's hoping.
North Korea and the bomb
Most of the people in the REL offices were once in CND. We are that old. The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Another successful movement we were part of when young...sigh. There are still thousands of them all poied to destroy the world several times over and are still in the hands of dangerous, unsable meglomaniacs. The latest trmor n the nuclear world, then, of course, is naughty North Korea that has flown in the face of the nuclear free peaceful world and detonated a hiroshima size bomb underground. The response has been predictable. But a quick glance through the history of the stationing of nuclear weapons in the Korean peninsular shows that there were nuclear weapons placed in South Korea from the 50's until 1992 and that today, the US has enough submarines in the area to wipe the north of the map. So given that CND was wasting its (and our) time in the interests of deterrence let the North have its bomb - haven't we all supposed to have learned how to love it and live with it?
Or are our great leaders protesting in the name of peace and a nuclear free world?
Or are our great leaders protesting in the name of peace and a nuclear free world?
dimanche 24 mai 2009
Poor List - Information Dump
Studds nodded at the chairwoman and began,
'The events of 19/11 and its aftermath have changed the country. Before that date, we knew pretty much where we where. [laughter] In the months that have followed, we have to say that Britain, to say the least, has become a different, less hospitable, less secure place. It was the largest and most significant disaster in Britain’s history. The death toll, initially 65, is still rising. The nature of the train’s cargo, the contents of which are still ‘shrouded in mystery’, have elongated the drama. The government and private companies involved have been and remain reluctant to release any information about what freight the 23.50 Birmingham/London express was pulling on that fateful night, citing reasons of national security and ‘prevention of further chaos’. As we are well aware, the public reaction culminated in major disturbances in urban centres as far away as Stoke and Bromich. Disaster management teams, security divisions, state investigators and media are still in the area. Conflicting accounts of the disaster exist. Racially motivated reprisals were reported all over the country and the government, under previously secretly implemented legislation, has introduced a raft of security measures under the all embracing name ‘Sate of Exception’ and called in emergency powers to pacify the effected regions. The transport bombings a few years before have had few real consequences, in comparison. There has been, of course, hundreds of round ups.
The focus of my paper, though, is the interpretation of evidential aspects of the incident. My provsional argument is that the traces of the disaster have a ideologically intensifying effect. But, later. [laughter].
Film of the crash, from the driver’s point of view and from the CCTV from the camera at junction Bm16 shows nothing conclusive to substantiate either the official account or the account sceptical of the official view of the trigger for ‘December occurrences’. The edited footage from the first perspective showed thirty seconds of dimly lit track hurtling under the snout of the specially adapted 47’ diesel. (Other footage, since redacted, showed earlier events inter-weaved with sections from the later offical evidence). The narrative is stark. The tunnel, the cutting then the jolt and the lean to the left, and then a brief final glimpse of slewed track and overhead line as the train ploughs into aggregate, gravel and soil at just over 150mph, and, after a burst of static and colour, the final frozen frame of an estate topped embankment as the train totally derails, all merge into one in an abrupt intensity. Then blankness.
The soundtrack has been just as inconclusive. It is a very postmdern disaster. There are a few dicipherable words the background engine noise and the hiss of the wheels on the track drown out the cabin crew's words. Would we want to hear the last thoughts of a suicide bomber? If that's what it is. We hear the replacemrnt driver, give a time and a speed, figures that corresponded to the CCTV motion drags, and says something that sounds like the final location of the train. Is this piece of phsycogeographical hauntology an insignificant coincidence or luminous clue? After that there are the cries of alarm and panic. The, as I'm sure you don't need reminding, just before the tunnel, is the, that chant. The particular clip has been played and played on thousands of police and public computers, played on hosted sites, web pages, and the like, analysed in syllable fragments and forensically scrubbed, slowed down, and translated but still emerges indiscernible.
It has split the country in two. The biggest man made disaster since Chernobyl.'
He had those academic bastards by their glands.
'The events of 19/11 and its aftermath have changed the country. Before that date, we knew pretty much where we where. [laughter] In the months that have followed, we have to say that Britain, to say the least, has become a different, less hospitable, less secure place. It was the largest and most significant disaster in Britain’s history. The death toll, initially 65, is still rising. The nature of the train’s cargo, the contents of which are still ‘shrouded in mystery’, have elongated the drama. The government and private companies involved have been and remain reluctant to release any information about what freight the 23.50 Birmingham/London express was pulling on that fateful night, citing reasons of national security and ‘prevention of further chaos’. As we are well aware, the public reaction culminated in major disturbances in urban centres as far away as Stoke and Bromich. Disaster management teams, security divisions, state investigators and media are still in the area. Conflicting accounts of the disaster exist. Racially motivated reprisals were reported all over the country and the government, under previously secretly implemented legislation, has introduced a raft of security measures under the all embracing name ‘Sate of Exception’ and called in emergency powers to pacify the effected regions. The transport bombings a few years before have had few real consequences, in comparison. There has been, of course, hundreds of round ups.
The focus of my paper, though, is the interpretation of evidential aspects of the incident. My provsional argument is that the traces of the disaster have a ideologically intensifying effect. But, later. [laughter].
Film of the crash, from the driver’s point of view and from the CCTV from the camera at junction Bm16 shows nothing conclusive to substantiate either the official account or the account sceptical of the official view of the trigger for ‘December occurrences’. The edited footage from the first perspective showed thirty seconds of dimly lit track hurtling under the snout of the specially adapted 47’ diesel. (Other footage, since redacted, showed earlier events inter-weaved with sections from the later offical evidence). The narrative is stark. The tunnel, the cutting then the jolt and the lean to the left, and then a brief final glimpse of slewed track and overhead line as the train ploughs into aggregate, gravel and soil at just over 150mph, and, after a burst of static and colour, the final frozen frame of an estate topped embankment as the train totally derails, all merge into one in an abrupt intensity. Then blankness.
The soundtrack has been just as inconclusive. It is a very postmdern disaster. There are a few dicipherable words the background engine noise and the hiss of the wheels on the track drown out the cabin crew's words. Would we want to hear the last thoughts of a suicide bomber? If that's what it is. We hear the replacemrnt driver, give a time and a speed, figures that corresponded to the CCTV motion drags, and says something that sounds like the final location of the train. Is this piece of phsycogeographical hauntology an insignificant coincidence or luminous clue? After that there are the cries of alarm and panic. The, as I'm sure you don't need reminding, just before the tunnel, is the, that chant. The particular clip has been played and played on thousands of police and public computers, played on hosted sites, web pages, and the like, analysed in syllable fragments and forensically scrubbed, slowed down, and translated but still emerges indiscernible.
It has split the country in two. The biggest man made disaster since Chernobyl.'
He had those academic bastards by their glands.
Money Money Money
Interesting post . John Quiggin on the credit rating agencies. We didn't know the credit rating people were private firms. If we'd thought about it at all, we'd have guessed they were some university like economic board of boffins looking at mounds of data. Instead, they're a load of private corrupty pigs like the rest of the putrid system...
Back from the dead
A rare thing...a decent article by Nick Cohen still writing for the Observer. True, it's an easy target - the BNP - but he makes the point that the drubbing the nazis will get in the European elections will stop the political elite from using the excuse that the British public wil only go and vote far-right if one gives them too much democracy. Not sure that even if the BNP didn't exist that the buggers who run the country would 'give' out more democracy, but at least the piece shows that we were right to think Cohen was a good type all those years ago when he was vaguely left wing.....
vendredi 22 mai 2009
Flight
The economy plane commenced its decent. "But Daddy Daddy, the people really look like ants," the child said and pulled on his mother's sleeve. He smiled and nodded to the hostess and fastened the little boy's seatbelt. The cabin crew announced that the weather would be hot and that local time was half past six. The little boy started to cry. "Toby. Don't cry. Look it's because we're so high up in the sky that the people look so small."
"It's not Mummy. They're ants!" shouts the boy "They really are..."
A woman in a seat in front of them turned round and smiled a sympathetic smile. They felt the decompression in their ears. The plane shuddered and rolled slightly from side to side. The ice slwoly melted on the outside of the window as they flew through the light cloud cover. The boy started to cry. The the ground rushed up to meet them. They landed with slight jolt and there was an atempted cheer from some people at the front. They taxied towards the terminal. The captain's calm atuomated sounding voice thanked them over the intercom. The boy had started to scream.
"Toby be quiet."
Tired from their journey, the passengers around them ignored the noise and got their bags down from the luggage spaces. They queued obediently in the aisle as the steward tried to phone through to terminal control. She shrugged and held her hand over the mouthpiece. There was an impatient hiatus. Another child was screaming somewhere behind them. Another attendant said "Yes. Just open the door." She frowned at the screaming boy.
"Is everything ok Sir, Madam?"
"Yes yes thank you. He's just tired."
The door opened with a rush of compressed air. The small boy struggled to stay in the plane. They half pushed half lifted him out into the packed tunnel. They felt the heat. The boy screamed louder and tried to push his way back into the plane. Angry now the man dragged the boy by his arm round the corner and started up the slope to passport control. The woman shouted something. Passers-by looked blankly at them and pushed past. The clicking and rustling sound grew louder. The boy was flailing in his mother's arms now. Someone at the front of the crowd stopped and looked quizzically at his companion. Then others stopped too. The look on their faces registered no surprise as the enormous ravenous dark coloured ants filling the long dark tunnel hurtled towards them.
"It's not Mummy. They're ants!" shouts the boy "They really are..."
A woman in a seat in front of them turned round and smiled a sympathetic smile. They felt the decompression in their ears. The plane shuddered and rolled slightly from side to side. The ice slwoly melted on the outside of the window as they flew through the light cloud cover. The boy started to cry. The the ground rushed up to meet them. They landed with slight jolt and there was an atempted cheer from some people at the front. They taxied towards the terminal. The captain's calm atuomated sounding voice thanked them over the intercom. The boy had started to scream.
"Toby be quiet."
Tired from their journey, the passengers around them ignored the noise and got their bags down from the luggage spaces. They queued obediently in the aisle as the steward tried to phone through to terminal control. She shrugged and held her hand over the mouthpiece. There was an impatient hiatus. Another child was screaming somewhere behind them. Another attendant said "Yes. Just open the door." She frowned at the screaming boy.
"Is everything ok Sir, Madam?"
"Yes yes thank you. He's just tired."
The door opened with a rush of compressed air. The small boy struggled to stay in the plane. They half pushed half lifted him out into the packed tunnel. They felt the heat. The boy screamed louder and tried to push his way back into the plane. Angry now the man dragged the boy by his arm round the corner and started up the slope to passport control. The woman shouted something. Passers-by looked blankly at them and pushed past. The clicking and rustling sound grew louder. The boy was flailing in his mother's arms now. Someone at the front of the crowd stopped and looked quizzically at his companion. Then others stopped too. The look on their faces registered no surprise as the enormous ravenous dark coloured ants filling the long dark tunnel hurtled towards them.
Bankers
A bank in New Zealand makes an error and credits a bank account with four million pounds. The, hitherto, broke account holders disappear with the windfall. Consternation! Interpol are revved up and the bank spokescock are morally outraged that anyone could expect to get money for free. These dishonest peope!! MSM duly reports the story with ironic smiles and yet stern tonality, for, after all, this is a crime against money.
You have forgotten that the banks have stolen trillions from the people. Everything is as it was. Money, the real money belongs to us. This is a reminder to forget.
You have forgotten that the banks have stolen trillions from the people. Everything is as it was. Money, the real money belongs to us. This is a reminder to forget.
jeudi 21 mai 2009
Brief statement of the obvious
"The big lie about capitalism is that everyone can be rich. That's impossible. Capitalism works only if the vast majority of the population are kept poor enough to never quit working, are kept poor enough to accept distasteful jobs society cannot function without. If everyone were a millionaire, who would empty the trash or repair the sewers? It follows that the poorer the general population is made, the greater the worth of the money held by the wealthy, in terms of the lives which may be bought and sold with it." -- Michael Rivero
Dark humour
Alistair Darling, the British Economic Minister, issued a statement on the economy on Monday saying that the recession, "...will be over by Christmas." Perhaps he was being blithely sincere and perhaps even correct. It would take a leap of faith to believe it, though, given the fact that the Labour Party is jammed with people who are constantly 'economical with the truth' and more often than not wrong. But Darling's words must have been chosen with knowledge that the phrase "It'll be over by Christmas," was used by Generals in World War One to justify tactics and offensives and it was a saying that was meant to draw a line under present difficulties, they wil come to an end, and associate a religious element to their policies, for like the Messiah, the fruits of our decisions are on their way. During the Great War, the phrase became a joke, a rightly cynical popular response to the latest suicidal offensive on the front. (In 1914, the Generals should have added "...1918." to the end of the phrase). Perhaps Darling is ignorant of the provenance of the saying. But surely in that case some civil servant would have told him how unfortunate his words sounded. Because REL's prefered interpretation of Darling's words is that he knows full well that the current slump won't be over by December 2009 but that, like the First World War, this recession won't be over for a long time.
He's just taking the piss.
He's just taking the piss.
mercredi 20 mai 2009
Contradiction
There is a surface contradiction in the IMF's advice to the British Government. The main poit is that "[t]he sharp increase in public sector borrowing and contingent government liabilities, together with continued financial sector fragility, are significant vulnerabilities. In these circumstances, a severe shock has the potential to disrupt domestic and external stability." Meaning, of course, that the UK is practically broke and one more tihng could really do for us.
The causes of this financial turbulance are known well enough - neo-liberalism of the last 30yrs., general tendency of recessions inherent in capitalism etc. - but the government decided to spend its way out of this current down-turn in giving money to the banks thus increasing the financial difficulties that are now apparent. Thus, it is curious that further on in the report "The Fund praised the government for its "bold and wide ranging" response to the recession and the global financial crisis, noting that "aggressive actions" had averted a systemic breakdown."
What you did was good, well done but it increased in the chances of not surviving any future knock and that's bad.
What the capitalist class will do to dissolve this contradiction, naturally, is to make sure public services are cut and not that taxes for the rich will increase. They say, kindly that "it is up to the government to decide whether the emphasis should be on tax increases or spending cuts to reduce the deficit, it privately believes that action to cut public spending is a more effective and durable method of bringing the state's finances back to health," [my emphasis] as if New Labour (the current pathetic tax hike of the last budget notwithstanding) needed any encouragement there.
When will revenge happen?
The causes of this financial turbulance are known well enough - neo-liberalism of the last 30yrs., general tendency of recessions inherent in capitalism etc. - but the government decided to spend its way out of this current down-turn in giving money to the banks thus increasing the financial difficulties that are now apparent. Thus, it is curious that further on in the report "The Fund praised the government for its "bold and wide ranging" response to the recession and the global financial crisis, noting that "aggressive actions" had averted a systemic breakdown."
What you did was good, well done but it increased in the chances of not surviving any future knock and that's bad.
What the capitalist class will do to dissolve this contradiction, naturally, is to make sure public services are cut and not that taxes for the rich will increase. They say, kindly that "it is up to the government to decide whether the emphasis should be on tax increases or spending cuts to reduce the deficit, it privately believes that action to cut public spending is a more effective and durable method of bringing the state's finances back to health," [my emphasis] as if New Labour (the current pathetic tax hike of the last budget notwithstanding) needed any encouragement there.
When will revenge happen?
Poor List excerpt
The Doctor took her glasses off and tilted her head to one side. "It's not good news Mr. Glover," she said soflty. "The results show..."
"How long have I got?"
"About six months."
"Oh. Well, I didn't have much planned."
"How long have I got?"
"About six months."
"Oh. Well, I didn't have much planned."
samedi 16 mai 2009
Poor List Ch.11 - Press Ganged
McCabe heard it first as an absence of something. Instead of the city’s subterranean throb there was a lightness where engine noise and traffic seethe should have been. They could hear the crackled voices on the radio. McCabe had slowly moved his hand down towards the seatbelt mechanism by his haunch. Further along the street, they heard percussion and music and a repeated megaphoned noise that gathered into echoing shouted phrases. Then actual voices, raw in the near suspended rain. How could this be happening? They slowed behind some matt black Trooper, its rear window reflecting shifting sunlight into their faces. The seat belt came undone quietly.
“The fuck’s this?” Tony says.
Up ahead some fluorescent and light-stripped jackets of herded police shine and glint. They had driven and plunged through London’s steeped narrow streets towards the river, past Georgian fronts, shame shaded hotel back entrances and boarded up shops and bars, revved past most of the city’s landmarks and splashed through grand, yet too small, streets. McCabe, had half slumped between the two Government Agents and stares from the back seat through the rear passenger window as they slow down. The suspension of freedoms happen in little ways.
He looks around, relaxes and picks at a morsel of dried cement on his jeans, coughs, grimaces, looks around. A radio is tuned in. He lunges clumsily over the woman to try to get to the inside passenger door handle. With a swift trained action, though, she leans forward catching McCabe’s face with a heavy shoulder blow to the left side of his chin and before he even gets within arm’s reach of escape, punches him hard in the groin. McCabe cries out in surprise and pain. Three mounted police canter by at odd angles and hooves clatter.
“…some semblance of order into this stricken country…”
Tony winces and McCabe tries to say something. Lisa turns to him then to Dermott,
“Sorry about that. Some march or other?” She says and scratches the slightly enflamed orbit of her nose stud.
A helicopter clatters overhead and McCabestares at swing swaying in a playground over the way.
They pull up behind the Trooper. Boyd the Driver reaches over to the radio and a procession of static, voices and music pass by.
“I did warn you. Mister McCabe.” Dermott says and, frowning, looks at his watch. “We’re going to be late. There must be another way round Boydy?”
“Might be. Sav a look on the satnav.”
Whistling the chorus of an Irish polka, the driver reaches over to the device on the windscreen front and pushes buttons with his thick set fingers.
“Time for a pick me up. Everyone?” Tony, the man on McCabe’s right, says.
He snaps open a seat compartment and extracts a small cloth bag. A flare amidst the march ahead of them shines incandescent green and smoke pours over the road.
“The fuck’s this?” Tony says.
Up ahead some fluorescent and light-stripped jackets of herded police shine and glint. They had driven and plunged through London’s steeped narrow streets towards the river, past Georgian fronts, shame shaded hotel back entrances and boarded up shops and bars, revved past most of the city’s landmarks and splashed through grand, yet too small, streets. McCabe, had half slumped between the two Government Agents and stares from the back seat through the rear passenger window as they slow down. The suspension of freedoms happen in little ways.
He looks around, relaxes and picks at a morsel of dried cement on his jeans, coughs, grimaces, looks around. A radio is tuned in. He lunges clumsily over the woman to try to get to the inside passenger door handle. With a swift trained action, though, she leans forward catching McCabe’s face with a heavy shoulder blow to the left side of his chin and before he even gets within arm’s reach of escape, punches him hard in the groin. McCabe cries out in surprise and pain. Three mounted police canter by at odd angles and hooves clatter.
“…some semblance of order into this stricken country…”
Tony winces and McCabe tries to say something. Lisa turns to him then to Dermott,
“Sorry about that. Some march or other?” She says and scratches the slightly enflamed orbit of her nose stud.
A helicopter clatters overhead and McCabestares at swing swaying in a playground over the way.
They pull up behind the Trooper. Boyd the Driver reaches over to the radio and a procession of static, voices and music pass by.
“I did warn you. Mister McCabe.” Dermott says and, frowning, looks at his watch. “We’re going to be late. There must be another way round Boydy?”
“Might be. Sav a look on the satnav.”
Whistling the chorus of an Irish polka, the driver reaches over to the device on the windscreen front and pushes buttons with his thick set fingers.
“Time for a pick me up. Everyone?” Tony, the man on McCabe’s right, says.
He snaps open a seat compartment and extracts a small cloth bag. A flare amidst the march ahead of them shines incandescent green and smoke pours over the road.
"Long way round either way," the driver says.
“Take the flyover by Thodsby roundabout." He helps himself to Tony's illegal substance. "So Mister McCabe,” Dermott says sniffing over his shoulder, “How does it feel to be, back on the team again?”
The windscreen wipers whine a rubbery snigger. The man on McCabe’s right breathes in a line of twinkling dust in one smooth rasp.
“Painful. Actually.”
Dermott assesses at the figure in the back seat for a moment and raises his eye brows slightly.
“Take the flyover by Thodsby roundabout." He helps himself to Tony's illegal substance. "So Mister McCabe,” Dermott says sniffing over his shoulder, “How does it feel to be, back on the team again?”
The windscreen wipers whine a rubbery snigger. The man on McCabe’s right breathes in a line of twinkling dust in one smooth rasp.
“Painful. Actually.”
Dermott assesses at the figure in the back seat for a moment and raises his eye brows slightly.
"Try some of this."
There's a calll on his pda and then in a space in the conversation says,
“Look. Everyone has to do their bit in times like these though don’t you think, Lisa?”
“…in connection with the attacks…” the voice on the radio was saying. The engine gunned and a siren wailed from a side street behind them. Tony snorted in derision.
“Absolutely sir. Music Boydy. Music.” the woman says.
McCabe sits up from his crouch and leans slowly back into his seat.
“Be careful.” Says Dermott to them trying to catch their eye in the rear view mirror of the sun shield.
“Yes. We're onto it Ma'am.”He replies into the phone. The cars move forward and McCabe watches up at the glinting towers of glass and metal ten blocks away as they drift by.
“He’s no going to throw up is he Tony?”
“…Regrettably, this involved involuntary human terrain and resource depletion, but ultim…”
“Lisa. Get me the rozzer in charge of this carnival." He hands Boyd the paraphernalia. "Hello. These two’ll do here now,” Dermott says.
“Right.”
“Er, hold on.”
Tony stretches himself and puts the little red bag in his pocket as Lisa presses a button on the car door. The window glides down and McCabe shouts for help. Lisa calls to the pair of police walking towards the demonstration. One of them turns and stops, looking annoyed. McCabe continues to shout. Lisa reaches into her coat and takes out her ID and holds up her cards to them. The other officer fishes out his ID-scan from its holder.
“What’s the hold up here?”
“A march, Madam. What seems to be the trouble?” KG 1654 asks walking over to the window.
There is a bright yellow padded jacket over his uniform and suppression devices hang from his belt and shoulder harness.
“How long is it going to take?”
“Be about an hour I should think. Difficult to say. What seems to be the problem here?”
Static voices crackle from their radios.
“But traffic can get through?”
Lisa turns to the struggling Tony and McCabe and whispers something loudly.
“I’m afraid not.”
The other officer leans towards the car and rests his arm on the roof.
“Look, we’re in a hurry here and we need to get across it?
“I’m Afraid not madam." He frowns. "Regulations. You’ll have to go back the way you came. Is everything ok in here then?” the taller officer says.
“But this is a one way street.”
“Indeed it is madam.”
KG 1653 pulls a face at the struggle going on in the back seat.
“So we can’t. And look…hold on. Sir, this copper reckons we’ll be here in an hour or so.”
Dermott stabs a button on his pda and opens his window and says,
“Listen officer. I’m with Inland Security Division at the Home Office. Here’s my ID”.
The square faced police scrutinises the small heavy document opens it and scans the tiny spray of dots..
“The what? Inland Security…? Can’t say I’ve heard of it sir.” says KG 1653 and turns to his colleague. “Have you?”
“Inland Security Division?”
1654 purses his lips and shakes his head.
“New one on me squire.”
“I don’t want. To pull rank, officer, but I could get you sacked,” says Dermott.
“Right. And I could get transport down here and tow your car away for having what, three persons in the back?”
“And kidnapping! Officer I’m being kidnapped here…against my will.” Shouts McCabe.
“What’s that? Well, if you were being kidnapped sir than I suppose it would be against your will, wouldn’t you say Malcolm?” KG 1653 says to KG 1654 leaning in. He glances down at Lisa who stares back.
“I think you may well be right, Reg.”
Dermott is saying,
“He’s a suspect in an on-going operation officer. We’ve got to get him to HQ right away. Ring your chief if you don’t believe me.”
The officer stands back up and waves to other police down the road. Struggling, McCabe says as best he can,
“That’s not true officer.”
There is some more shouting.
“OK. OK. Calm down. Reg get hold of Dutton Street. See if this Inland bollocks actually exists. An’ hurry up.”
He leans into the car window frame again.
“Now then sir. What’s all this commotion?
Then, everyone is talking over everyone else. McCabe shouts that he is being taken, kidnapped and doesn’t know who these people are. Insulator Tony holds McCabe down by his arm and shouts at him to shut it, whilst Dermott and Lisa, the latter restraining and re-assaulting McCabe, convince the police officer that the person in the back is a dangerous suspect.
“Look. Everyone has to do their bit in times like these though don’t you think, Lisa?”
“…in connection with the attacks…” the voice on the radio was saying. The engine gunned and a siren wailed from a side street behind them. Tony snorted in derision.
“Absolutely sir. Music Boydy. Music.” the woman says.
McCabe sits up from his crouch and leans slowly back into his seat.
“Be careful.” Says Dermott to them trying to catch their eye in the rear view mirror of the sun shield.
“Yes. We're onto it Ma'am.”He replies into the phone. The cars move forward and McCabe watches up at the glinting towers of glass and metal ten blocks away as they drift by.
“He’s no going to throw up is he Tony?”
“…Regrettably, this involved involuntary human terrain and resource depletion, but ultim…”
“Lisa. Get me the rozzer in charge of this carnival." He hands Boyd the paraphernalia. "Hello. These two’ll do here now,” Dermott says.
“Right.”
“Er, hold on.”
Tony stretches himself and puts the little red bag in his pocket as Lisa presses a button on the car door. The window glides down and McCabe shouts for help. Lisa calls to the pair of police walking towards the demonstration. One of them turns and stops, looking annoyed. McCabe continues to shout. Lisa reaches into her coat and takes out her ID and holds up her cards to them. The other officer fishes out his ID-scan from its holder.
“What’s the hold up here?”
“A march, Madam. What seems to be the trouble?” KG 1654 asks walking over to the window.
There is a bright yellow padded jacket over his uniform and suppression devices hang from his belt and shoulder harness.
“How long is it going to take?”
“Be about an hour I should think. Difficult to say. What seems to be the problem here?”
Static voices crackle from their radios.
“But traffic can get through?”
Lisa turns to the struggling Tony and McCabe and whispers something loudly.
“I’m afraid not.”
The other officer leans towards the car and rests his arm on the roof.
“Look, we’re in a hurry here and we need to get across it?
“I’m Afraid not madam." He frowns. "Regulations. You’ll have to go back the way you came. Is everything ok in here then?” the taller officer says.
“But this is a one way street.”
“Indeed it is madam.”
KG 1653 pulls a face at the struggle going on in the back seat.
“So we can’t. And look…hold on. Sir, this copper reckons we’ll be here in an hour or so.”
Dermott stabs a button on his pda and opens his window and says,
“Listen officer. I’m with Inland Security Division at the Home Office. Here’s my ID”.
The square faced police scrutinises the small heavy document opens it and scans the tiny spray of dots..
“The what? Inland Security…? Can’t say I’ve heard of it sir.” says KG 1653 and turns to his colleague. “Have you?”
“Inland Security Division?”
1654 purses his lips and shakes his head.
“New one on me squire.”
“I don’t want. To pull rank, officer, but I could get you sacked,” says Dermott.
“Right. And I could get transport down here and tow your car away for having what, three persons in the back?”
“And kidnapping! Officer I’m being kidnapped here…against my will.” Shouts McCabe.
“What’s that? Well, if you were being kidnapped sir than I suppose it would be against your will, wouldn’t you say Malcolm?” KG 1653 says to KG 1654 leaning in. He glances down at Lisa who stares back.
“I think you may well be right, Reg.”
Dermott is saying,
“He’s a suspect in an on-going operation officer. We’ve got to get him to HQ right away. Ring your chief if you don’t believe me.”
The officer stands back up and waves to other police down the road. Struggling, McCabe says as best he can,
“That’s not true officer.”
There is some more shouting.
“OK. OK. Calm down. Reg get hold of Dutton Street. See if this Inland bollocks actually exists. An’ hurry up.”
He leans into the car window frame again.
“Now then sir. What’s all this commotion?
Then, everyone is talking over everyone else. McCabe shouts that he is being taken, kidnapped and doesn’t know who these people are. Insulator Tony holds McCabe down by his arm and shouts at him to shut it, whilst Dermott and Lisa, the latter restraining and re-assaulting McCabe, convince the police officer that the person in the back is a dangerous suspect.
"Quiet Quiet or I'll have to freeze the lot of you."
The other police puts his radio back in his belt and says,
“Sir? Apparently this Internal Security Division is for real and they’re all accredited.”
1654 sighs deeply. The noise subsides. He checks Dermott’s ID again and hands it him back.
“Sir? Apparently this Internal Security Division is for real and they’re all accredited.”
1654 sighs deeply. The noise subsides. He checks Dermott’s ID again and hands it him back.
“There you go.”
Dermott looks up at the aged officer,
“Get me through this march, right? Where in a royal hurry here.”
“Well,” the officer sighs and combs his hand through his brushed back wood coloured rug, “the thing is it might be a bit tricky. Hold on.”
He puts his hat back on and talks into his phone. A surge in the noise and chanting of the march drown out McCabe’s muffled pleas.
1654 half shouts, “Apparently, you can get through up there on your right. Watch it though. The way things are..."
They both duck slightly as a mighty firework explodes up ahead somewhere.
“Thank you. You heard the man, Boydy. Let’s go.” He waves briefly at the now wide eyed officer and the windows close."
“Get me through this march, right? Where in a royal hurry here.”
“Well,” the officer sighs and combs his hand through his brushed back wood coloured rug, “the thing is it might be a bit tricky. Hold on.”
He puts his hat back on and talks into his phone. A surge in the noise and chanting of the march drown out McCabe’s muffled pleas.
1654 half shouts, “Apparently, you can get through up there on your right. Watch it though. The way things are..."
They both duck slightly as a mighty firework explodes up ahead somewhere.
“Thank you. You heard the man, Boydy. Let’s go.” He waves briefly at the now wide eyed officer and the windows close."
The two police watch the car speed off.
"You know Reg. Maybe that bloke was being kidnapped."
"What? Nah. Besides too much paperwork."
Boydy shoots the car into the road at an oblique angle and forces a gap in the parallel line of waiting traffic. High up a big plume of red smoke from the firework is swept towards the river. A horn blares then they hit the right hand kerb with a heavy thud. The security measures had seen to it that the last hundred yards of pavement before any march’s route are cleared of parked vehicles and so Boydy is able to speed the tilting car along the glistening pavement. Shop fronts and leaning pedestrians flash past. Boyd laughs,
“City Death Race three.”
“Lamp post Boydy.”
“… me out of this fucking car,” McCabe shouts
“Now, where was I?” Tony says and picks up his little bag from the floor. The muscles in Lisa’s jaw clench and turn rigid. Then hisses to McCabe,
“If you don’t shut it, McDuff or whatever your fucking name is, I’m going to really own you. I mean really. Fucking. Own you. Do you know what that means?
“Kind of.”
“It means I’ll punch you harder than that in your ugly pugly face and you’ll be waking up tomorrow fucking morning even uglier than you are now.”
She takes the small mirror off Tony. A cop on a horse by the junction raises his hand. They brake fifty metres behind some ragged police line.
“Fuck,” Lisa says “Fuck”. McCabe rubs his bruised thigh. To their left riot police run down the side of the road in tight formation.
“Mister McCabe.” Dermott leans back towards them. “You were well warned. Now if you utter one more word in front of his majesty’s finest up here about kidnapping, being detained or other such nonsense, I will authorise Lisa to turn distinctly Guantanamo on your sorry arse. Crystal?”
“Here.” Lisa says to McCabe and offers him the mirror. But he only replies,
“Erh."
“City Death Race three.”
“Lamp post Boydy.”
“… me out of this fucking car,” McCabe shouts
“Now, where was I?” Tony says and picks up his little bag from the floor. The muscles in Lisa’s jaw clench and turn rigid. Then hisses to McCabe,
“If you don’t shut it, McDuff or whatever your fucking name is, I’m going to really own you. I mean really. Fucking. Own you. Do you know what that means?
“Kind of.”
“It means I’ll punch you harder than that in your ugly pugly face and you’ll be waking up tomorrow fucking morning even uglier than you are now.”
She takes the small mirror off Tony. A cop on a horse by the junction raises his hand. They brake fifty metres behind some ragged police line.
“Fuck,” Lisa says “Fuck”. McCabe rubs his bruised thigh. To their left riot police run down the side of the road in tight formation.
“Mister McCabe.” Dermott leans back towards them. “You were well warned. Now if you utter one more word in front of his majesty’s finest up here about kidnapping, being detained or other such nonsense, I will authorise Lisa to turn distinctly Guantanamo on your sorry arse. Crystal?”
“Here.” Lisa says to McCabe and offers him the mirror. But he only replies,
“Erh."
"Oh. Drug surge." Tony says.
They brake behind the police lines and a constable moves towards them. She motions for the window and then orders them to wait. “This should be interesting.” she tells them. She shouts to a team of police to their right and waves them on. The ISD vehicle edges forward between rows of angry UAC police and into the midst of the crowded kettle of herded protesters.
They brake behind the police lines and a constable moves towards them. She motions for the window and then orders them to wait. “This should be interesting.” she tells them. She shouts to a team of police to their right and waves them on. The ISD vehicle edges forward between rows of angry UAC police and into the midst of the crowded kettle of herded protesters.
vendredi 15 mai 2009
Neoliberalism
The sanctity of the individual is meant to be the centre of neoliberalism - in reality the individual is obliterated and meshed into the system's catastrophe.
jeudi 14 mai 2009
Torture photos not that sensational
We read that Obama, that fraud, has supressed the release of photos showing the torture of people the US dislikes. The reason is that these pictures are not sensational but would endanger US troops. You'd have thought he'd try to be a bit more convincing than that. But when your arse is being heated by the forces from the dark side I guess you say anything to keep your snout well troughed. Still, if the pics aren't that sensational, why would they endanger US troops? The people actually engaged in resisting US oppression in the ME are not going to stop because they don't get to see pictures of their 'fellow travellers' suspended from the ceiling with wire, fckd by dogs, piled naked on top of one another with shit smeared copies of the Koran on fire all about them, being electrocuted, waterboarded, crushed under boards piled with stones, hooded, starved, deprived of sleep, stress positioned, raped and murdered - -
- it's not that sensational.
Move on nothing to see here.
'Torture is not incidental to these wars, nor was it merely the preferred policy of the sadists in the Bush White House. It is integral to such colonial-style counterinsurgency campaigns, in which a major aim is to terrorize and intimidate the population. It was employed by the French in Algeria, the British in Kenya, the Belgians in the Congo and the Portuguese in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau. The American military is following in their bloody footsteps.'
- it's not that sensational.
Move on nothing to see here.
'Torture is not incidental to these wars, nor was it merely the preferred policy of the sadists in the Bush White House. It is integral to such colonial-style counterinsurgency campaigns, in which a major aim is to terrorize and intimidate the population. It was employed by the French in Algeria, the British in Kenya, the Belgians in the Congo and the Portuguese in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau. The American military is following in their bloody footsteps.'
Class tensions rise shock!
It's all no surprises at the moment. This is still excellent though. Steel workers storm ArcelorMittal HQ in Luxembourg. This is the way.
MP's are cheats shock!
Excellent piece by Heather Brooke on the system's attempt to cover up its troughing at the tax payers' expense. These people, especially some twat called Andrew Walker, the head of the House of Commons Fees Office, are the curators of British politics. This pathetic half arsed scandal is the whimper at the end of the whole sorry lying charade of UK plc's ideological public face.
We say again and in all sincerity and gravitas, 'Boil them in shit'.
We say again and in all sincerity and gravitas, 'Boil them in shit'.
MP expenses fraud shock
Like us here at REL, I'm sure you too are reeling after reading about MP's ripping off the tax payer. I mean, who would have thought that a political class seeped in neo-liberal ideological hogwash and bereft of any political philosophy or principle would stoop so low as to engage in practices that would only benefit themselves? How utterly shocking and, a priori, unimaginable.
The thing is, it's all our fault for voting and not undertaking political action ourselves. The turn out in June will be witheringly miniscule and that's a good thing. The model of politics that we have at the moment is disintegrating both at a macro level (its neoliberal 'philosophy' has collapsed, unemployment has increased dramatically, the parasites are getting handouts from the corrupt political elites, inequality has grown...) and at the interrelated micro level, its participants (at least a large proportion of the cnts) are filling their boots in disregard for the people they 'represent'. The BNP will not get the surge it craves but that won't stop the leaders of the failed main parties using it as a diversionary threat to try to scare people into voting for the orthodox bloc. Don't fall for it. Do something constructive instead of voting. Deface election posters with agitprop, ferment further discontent, don't go to work, sabotage a computer network. In the face of your passivity lies further degeneration. Fascism is capitalism disintegrated. This is the first phase of that collapse. We act now or are petrified under their corruption.
Put Parliament out of its misery and organise for real democracy.
The thing is, it's all our fault for voting and not undertaking political action ourselves. The turn out in June will be witheringly miniscule and that's a good thing. The model of politics that we have at the moment is disintegrating both at a macro level (its neoliberal 'philosophy' has collapsed, unemployment has increased dramatically, the parasites are getting handouts from the corrupt political elites, inequality has grown...) and at the interrelated micro level, its participants (at least a large proportion of the cnts) are filling their boots in disregard for the people they 'represent'. The BNP will not get the surge it craves but that won't stop the leaders of the failed main parties using it as a diversionary threat to try to scare people into voting for the orthodox bloc. Don't fall for it. Do something constructive instead of voting. Deface election posters with agitprop, ferment further discontent, don't go to work, sabotage a computer network. In the face of your passivity lies further degeneration. Fascism is capitalism disintegrated. This is the first phase of that collapse. We act now or are petrified under their corruption.
Put Parliament out of its misery and organise for real democracy.
mardi 12 mai 2009
Exam cave in
Everyone remembers their worst exam, well we do here at REL, but these poor kids in Gillingham have had their worst (or best if anyone of them were in the processing of tanking it) when the part of the ceiling fell on them. There's a serious issue of structural neglect here, but the bit that caught our roving explorer's eye runs :
"Everyone reacted in a calm and professional manner. The students were very mature and I'm extremely proud of them."
Curtis Ward, 14, suffered cuts and scratches on his left arm. Speaking with a heavily bandaged arm, he said: "We just started the exam when there was this big banging noise. Everybody stood up and looked up and we could see the pipe falling from the ceiling. Everyone was shouting and crying and running for the doors. Some of the pipe fell on my arm and trapped it. I got scratched pulling my arm away. I saw one girl who had a big piece of the pipe fall right on her back."
Another pupil, Sam Millen, 13, said: "It looked like one boy at the front was crushed under a piece of metal and everyone started panicking and screaming." our emphasis.
"Everyone reacted in a calm and professional manner. The students were very mature and I'm extremely proud of them."
Curtis Ward, 14, suffered cuts and scratches on his left arm. Speaking with a heavily bandaged arm, he said: "We just started the exam when there was this big banging noise. Everybody stood up and looked up and we could see the pipe falling from the ceiling. Everyone was shouting and crying and running for the doors. Some of the pipe fell on my arm and trapped it. I got scratched pulling my arm away. I saw one girl who had a big piece of the pipe fall right on her back."
Another pupil, Sam Millen, 13, said: "It looked like one boy at the front was crushed under a piece of metal and everyone started panicking and screaming." our emphasis.
Army turns on its self
The pressures must be great being an American soldier in the criminal actions in Afghanistan. Army life is brutal, America is a brutal place so its troops must have been through a cruel desensitising brutalisation. How else to explain the GI who went on a rampage and killed five other US soldiers in Iraq? The event has been oblitarated in the MSM, with (for them) good reason.
Over at wsws.org - "This outburst of violence was by no means an aberration. Suicide rates among active duty military personnel are at a record high, with 230 killing themselves last year and more US soldiers taking their own lives in January than were killed in combat."
Over at wsws.org - "This outburst of violence was by no means an aberration. Suicide rates among active duty military personnel are at a record high, with 230 killing themselves last year and more US soldiers taking their own lives in January than were killed in combat."
samedi 9 mai 2009
Police check
It's enough to make you want to riot - but the top cop in London reckons that reluctantly he might have to employ 'harsher European' police tactics to 'control violent demonstrations.' The truth behind this does not need reiterating and, it has to be said, water cannon and the like would be useful in keeping the violence down on the next demo - if they're used ON the police.
Get rich quick!
An excerpt from a mail sent from the interesting but capitalistbastard "The Daily Reckoning':
"How many people do you know who have lived through a "real bust?" No, I don't mean the dotcom bomb or the Asian currency crisis.
I don't mean the 9-11 recession or the '87 market crash... or even the '74 market meltdown or the late '70s oil crisis.
I mean a full-on social and economic reversal.
Of course we haven't seen anything on that scale since the Great Crash of '29. And many of the witnesses alive to those events are long gone from our lives.
But do you remember... how your parents or maybe your grandparents talked about those times? They never seemed to forget.
How many "Depression survivors," for instance, still save scraps of paper and bits of string... rinse off tin foil... and wouldn't dare toss leftovers?"
Us povvies at REL always have saved scraps of paper, bits of string and wool, even, and always re-use tin foil - and never have enough to eat to get leftovers in the first place. Poor but happy.
Reading further down the missive, it's clear this get rich quick scheme is, in reality, a get poor slowly scheme. But the one we're on atm, is working out just fine.
"How many people do you know who have lived through a "real bust?" No, I don't mean the dotcom bomb or the Asian currency crisis.
I don't mean the 9-11 recession or the '87 market crash... or even the '74 market meltdown or the late '70s oil crisis.
I mean a full-on social and economic reversal.
Of course we haven't seen anything on that scale since the Great Crash of '29. And many of the witnesses alive to those events are long gone from our lives.
But do you remember... how your parents or maybe your grandparents talked about those times? They never seemed to forget.
How many "Depression survivors," for instance, still save scraps of paper and bits of string... rinse off tin foil... and wouldn't dare toss leftovers?"
Us povvies at REL always have saved scraps of paper, bits of string and wool, even, and always re-use tin foil - and never have enough to eat to get leftovers in the first place. Poor but happy.
Reading further down the missive, it's clear this get rich quick scheme is, in reality, a get poor slowly scheme. But the one we're on atm, is working out just fine.
vendredi 8 mai 2009
Bad writing
A debate about Dan Brown's latest book flares up over at CiF. The usual argument, high art that no one reads pitted against shit that everyone laps up. However, on the evidence, is Brown so bad? I remember reading the Da Vinci Code, but can remember nothing about it, not even if I liked it. Here is an excerpt:
"Renowned curator Jacques Saunière staggered through the vaulted archway of the museum's Grand Gallery. He lunged for the nearest painting he could see, a Caravaggio. Grabbing the gilded frame, the seventy-six-year-old man heaved the masterpiece toward himself until it tore from the wall and Saunière collapsed backward in a heap beneath the canvas."
Assuming it is shit, for the moment, wherein doth its shitness lie? The books on how to write say avoid information dumps. But it can't be just that. Perhaps it's that 'until', that suggests he was trying to pull the painting off the wall, maybe it's that 'heap' that the too long second sentence ends withor the 'heaved' which doesn't seem right at all there The general clunkiness is a given. But then again, the guy's sold 100m copies and really couldn't give a shit.
Is it so much worse than this:
"I SUPPOSE you will be getting away pretty soon, now. Full term is over, Professor," said a person not in the story to the Professor of Ontography, soon after they had sat down next to each other at a feast in the hospitable hall of St. James's College.
The Professor was young, neat, and precise in speech.
"Yes," he said; "my friends have been making me take up golf this term, and I mean to go to the East Coast--in point of fact to Burnstow--(I dare say you know it) for a week or ten days, to improve my game. I hope to get off to-morrow." ?
The start of OH, WHISTLE, AND I'LL COME TO YOU, MY LAD" (1904)
It must be something to with rythmn.
"Renowned curator Jacques Saunière staggered through the vaulted archway of the museum's Grand Gallery. He lunged for the nearest painting he could see, a Caravaggio. Grabbing the gilded frame, the seventy-six-year-old man heaved the masterpiece toward himself until it tore from the wall and Saunière collapsed backward in a heap beneath the canvas."
Assuming it is shit, for the moment, wherein doth its shitness lie? The books on how to write say avoid information dumps. But it can't be just that. Perhaps it's that 'until', that suggests he was trying to pull the painting off the wall, maybe it's that 'heap' that the too long second sentence ends withor the 'heaved' which doesn't seem right at all there The general clunkiness is a given. But then again, the guy's sold 100m copies and really couldn't give a shit.
Is it so much worse than this:
"I SUPPOSE you will be getting away pretty soon, now. Full term is over, Professor," said a person not in the story to the Professor of Ontography, soon after they had sat down next to each other at a feast in the hospitable hall of St. James's College.
The Professor was young, neat, and precise in speech.
"Yes," he said; "my friends have been making me take up golf this term, and I mean to go to the East Coast--in point of fact to Burnstow--(I dare say you know it) for a week or ten days, to improve my game. I hope to get off to-morrow." ?
The start of OH, WHISTLE, AND I'LL COME TO YOU, MY LAD" (1904)
It must be something to with rythmn.
Inequality higher under Labour than under Thatcher
Hidden in a report on the escalation of income inequality in Britain is the nugget of gloom that Britain was a more equal place under Thatcher than Brown.
Unlike under Thatcher, though, there is no real attempt by the current regime to justify this order of things. The Tories tried to convince us by talking about money and opportunity 'trickling down' - like piss down a bitch's leg - and for some that seemed potentially credible. It was hayek of course, as in total shite, since all the money rises and condenses upwards. Even the working poor have increased in numbers. To be working poor is the ultimate aim of the capitalist system of course - it's the obverse of we're we, ourselves, want to be.
1. Poor and not working - bad but at least you've a degree of freedom -
2. working and well off - well you've not much time but at least you can afford things -
3. rich and not working - capitalist parasite or lottery winner - angry lynch mob or drug fuelled death awaits but speedboats and hotels in the meantime
4. Poor and working - really what is the point?
How true the wise words of one of Britain's most just of leaders,
"The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery."--Winston Churchill
(But why shouldn't the misery be equally shared? At least until it's done away with as much as it can be...).
Unlike under Thatcher, though, there is no real attempt by the current regime to justify this order of things. The Tories tried to convince us by talking about money and opportunity 'trickling down' - like piss down a bitch's leg - and for some that seemed potentially credible. It was hayek of course, as in total shite, since all the money rises and condenses upwards. Even the working poor have increased in numbers. To be working poor is the ultimate aim of the capitalist system of course - it's the obverse of we're we, ourselves, want to be.
1. Poor and not working - bad but at least you've a degree of freedom -
2. working and well off - well you've not much time but at least you can afford things -
3. rich and not working - capitalist parasite or lottery winner - angry lynch mob or drug fuelled death awaits but speedboats and hotels in the meantime
4. Poor and working - really what is the point?
How true the wise words of one of Britain's most just of leaders,
"The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery."--Winston Churchill
(But why shouldn't the misery be equally shared? At least until it's done away with as much as it can be...).
jeudi 7 mai 2009
The Poor List Ch.10 (Under construction) - VCS fades into the order of things
Ms. Roscoe, 15 April PT13
Vegetation Control Solutions (Bus.Reg. pt/1/ref. UK2/3 Clemp.134679) - Nature of Business: Removal of weeds from sunburban areas, general logistics, Import/Export.
Chief Exec. James Carlysle Faddon 'Partner': Nicholas Spencer Glover.
The police trertiary report says "Suspected of transporting part of the second detonator and other material substantial to the case, Sept 15 BT12." VCS is a front company for another business called Broadschern Tender run through a shell organisation with two offices in Luxembourg and one in the Caymon Isles.
The following transcripts might help. The department will forward evidence obtained from VCS computer files at a later date.
Taupe
Vegetation Control Solutions (Bus.Reg. pt/1/ref. UK2/3 Clemp.134679) - Nature of Business: Removal of weeds from sunburban areas, general logistics, Import/Export.
Chief Exec. James Carlysle Faddon 'Partner': Nicholas Spencer Glover.
The police trertiary report says "Suspected of transporting part of the second detonator and other material substantial to the case, Sept 15 BT12." VCS is a front company for another business called Broadschern Tender run through a shell organisation with two offices in Luxembourg and one in the Caymon Isles.
The following transcripts might help. The department will forward evidence obtained from VCS computer files at a later date.
Taupe
Where's the upsurge?
A recent 5April 20) Fiancial Tmes editorial notes ", “In no big European country is the main party of the left, in or out of government, surging ahead. The Burson-Marsteller forecast for the European elections in June shows that the centre-right European People’s party will remain the largest group in the European parliament—even if the British Conservatives and the Czech ODS fulfill their aim to leave the EPP.”
There is no direct 'logical' link between the popularity of ideas of a fairer more peaceful world, and capitalist crises. There is an element of relief and condescension in the FT piece. The last thing it's readers and shareholders want to see is angry people on the streets with their anger directed against the likes of themselves.
But these are early days in the playing out of this breakdown in the capitalist order of things and such relief and cheery derision are out of place. What is sufficient for us at the moment, is that the working masses of people on the whole are hostile to the entire political class that is supposed to represent them. That is the starting point for all revolutionary's efforts.
When the upsurge comes it will be at a time when no one expected it over an issue no one thought likely to matter. . .
Thatcher twitches in her grave
“We are drifting back to the old attitudes of the 1960s and 1970s when the public preferred overall mediocrity rather than letting a minority get rich and increase the nation’s wealth. When we finally have the election, Gordon Brown’s legacy will be a bloated and inefficient state built up over 13 years of misguided thinking that showering government departments with taxpayers’ cash would pay dividends. It is time to invoke the spirit of Maggie.” [Sunday Times]
'and increase the nation's wealth' - it is desperate stuff. The whole 30 year experiment in 'capitalism unbound' is, of course, to blame for the last three decades of chaos and the current fiasco. Yet as of 2009 so far, the zombies seem to be getting away with it.
[Just been informed that Margaret Thatcher, is not infact dead. It was wishful subconscious thinking on behalf of the editor apologies].
'and increase the nation's wealth' - it is desperate stuff. The whole 30 year experiment in 'capitalism unbound' is, of course, to blame for the last three decades of chaos and the current fiasco. Yet as of 2009 so far, the zombies seem to be getting away with it.
[Just been informed that Margaret Thatcher, is not infact dead. It was wishful subconscious thinking on behalf of the editor apologies].
mercredi 6 mai 2009
Moscow rules
"In recent months the transatlantic alliance had been trying to re-engage with Moscow. But its efforts have been undermined by last week's spy row and by the Kremlin's strong objection to Nato's decision to hold a military training exercise in Georgia." [Guardian]
We're no fans of the Kremlin (not since 1923 anyway) but this excerpt is politicolinguistically revealing. It's not the military exercises that have undermined re-engagement efforts, but Moscow's objections to them - exercises that will take place right next to Russian territory. So, it's not the provocative war games that are the problem, but the aggressive diplomatic response.
We're no fans of the Kremlin (not since 1923 anyway) but this excerpt is politicolinguistically revealing. It's not the military exercises that have undermined re-engagement efforts, but Moscow's objections to them - exercises that will take place right next to Russian territory. So, it's not the provocative war games that are the problem, but the aggressive diplomatic response.
Fish goes mad from the head down
As far as Brown still is the head of 'what's going on uk' and as far as one can believe the Daily catstrayMail, the pressure is getting the better of the Prime Minister. Some sort of tantrum at a telly interview over the weekend. One would have been forgiven for expecting a more philosophical approach, though. For a chap plunging inexorably to oblivion, he could be showing more ('Scottish'?) stoicism and taking it easy as the ride finishes with him, and just enjoy the view.
A wonderful world
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=A8D7ABBFFCD799C3&search_query=what+a+wonderful+world
I can't do the flash computer stuff to send you straight to the youtube video, but this news was sinking in and it just came on the radio...Play it and look at the picture.
I can't do the flash computer stuff to send you straight to the youtube video, but this news was sinking in and it just came on the radio...Play it and look at the picture.
The horror
The news (see below) should obliterate any other news story. But the global hype about swine flu, from which seven people died, lasted ten days - and this item will be forgotten in less. The news should take up the whole news, not part of the progam that culminates in a story about the Eurovision song contest. The MSM can only do what the MSM is told to do. Mask the horror, tell people to move on, there's nothing to see here.
Defamiliarisation
This once was a young healthy human. 
The news report says 'dozens' may have died. "US air strikes in Afghanistan on Tuesday killed dozens of civilians including women and children, officials from the Red Cross have said.
Afghan officials in the western province of Farah told the BBC as many as 100 civilians might have died."
Afghan officials in the western province of Farah told the BBC as many as 100 civilians might have died."
Still, no worries the US 'deeply regrets' no sorry 'deeply deeply regrets' the incident. Just one 'deeply' isn't enough - the other covers it nicely.
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