‘REGISTER HERE: Vulture Capitalism – Grace Blakeley & Jeremy Corbyn In Conversation
Online. Mon. May 20, 6.30pm. Register here // RT here // FB share here.
Grace Blakeley & Jeremy Corbyn will talk about her new book Vulture Capitalism – the book you need to understand what is happening in the world around you – & what you can do to change it. (Order the book here.) Join us for this very special event!
In Vulture Capitalism, acclaimed journalist Grace Blakeley takes on the world’s most powerful corporations by showing how the causes of our modern crisis are the intended result of our capitalist system. It’s not broken, it’s working exactly as planned.
Hosted by Arise – A Festival of Left Ideas. Free event, but solidarity donations essential to hosting & streaming costs – please donate £20 or what you can afford here.
ALSO COMING UP:
1) Class War in Britain – the Miners’ Strike 40 Years on
Online. Sat. June 1, 1- 4pm. Register here // RT here // Invite & share here.
An afternoon of online political education, discussion & debate on one of the most important struggles in our history, including what really happened; the role of the state & media; & lessons for solidarity & socialism today.
With: John Hendy KC, who represented the NUM in the 1980s // Mike Jackson, Lesbians & Gays Support the Miners co-founder // Ian Lavery MP, striking miner in 84/5 & former NUM President // Chris Peace, Orgreave Truth & Justice Campaign // Jon Trickett MP, councillor elected during the strike & campaigner for coalfield communities.
Plus: Sabby Dhalu. Stand up to Racism // Carolyn Jones, Morning Star // Mish Rahman, LP NEC // Matt Willgress, Arise // Sarah Woolley, BFAWU.
Hosted by Arise – A Festival of Left Ideas. Media partner – Labour Outlook. Free event, but solidarity donations essential to hosting & streaming costs – please donate £20 or what you can afford here.
2) IN-PERSON CONFERENCE: A Labour Movement Agenda for a Labour Government
All-day, Saturday May 25, Hamilton House, Mabledon Place, London, WC1H 9BB. Register here // Retweet John here.
John McDonnell MP // Mick Lynch, RMT General Secretary // Rebecca Long Bailey MP // Fran Heathcote, PCS General Secretary // Asad Rehman, War on Want // Ellen Clifford, Disabled People Against Cuts // Danny Dorling, Professor of Human Geography // Lord Prem Sikka // Mary Robertson, Lecturer at QMUL // Andrew Fisher, IPaper Columnist //Jess Barnard, Labour NEC // Johh Hendy KC, IER // Jacqui McKenzie, Human Rights Lawyer // Ann Pettifor, author, The Case for the Green New Deal.
Hosted by Claim the Future. Supported by the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung London Office. Circulated by Arise & Labour Assembly,‘
This is another video from the Beeb Archive channel, and comes from a programme ‘Voice of the People’. It’s about a local crimewave in Formby when people had their decorative garden gnomes stolen. It started with one It began with the theft of one family’s beloved garden ornament, who was cut off at his feet because he was fixed to the ground. The thief left a ransom note demanding 25 pence left in an envelope at the local car park. 25 pence was worth rather more in them days, when I think you could buy cheap chews for half a penny and 2000 AD for 16p. The thief then started stealing others’ gnomes as well. The programme has a naturally jokey approach to the topic, talking about underground coppers hunting the thief and jokes about trying to restore the broken gnome with the National Elf Service. It goes on to speculate about a mad millionaire in his castle determined to have the biggest gnome collection of them all, illustrated by a suitably sinister figure on a piano. Eventually the thief put all the gnomes back. The only clue to his identity was that he had big feet by the foot prints he left behind.
I’m putting this up because there was a craze for such thefts as late as the ’90s, mostly done as pranks. The thief or thieves would steal the gnomes, but pretend it had gone for its holidays and so send back postcards to the family of the gnome from locations around the world. In America there was a similar craze for stealing the pink flamingos with which some families decorated their front yards. The landlords of one house, that had been let to students, found 100 such birds in their basement.
Well, it’s the aftermath of Thursday’s council and elected mayoral elections and the media are going through the results and what it presages for the fortunes of the Tory party. Here in Bristol the Green have become the biggest party on the council. I’m not altogether surprised, as they were only seat behind Labour at the last elections. I think their rise probably has much to do with Keir Starmer trying to remake the Labour party in the Tories’ image as well as dissatisfaction with the administration of the elected mayor, Marvin Rees. I have some reservations of their victory, as elsewhere the Greens have shown themselves to be very woke. Down in Brighton they were teaching Critical Race Theory in schools, which I believe to be just anti-White racism expressed in a postmodernist revision of Marxism. However, we shall see how it all works out in Bristol.
And whoever you voted for, I hope you voted for the person or the party that was offering you what you wanted, rather than go automatically to the two main parties because of the false logical than anything else is a wasted vote.
Away from this, I found this fascinating little video on YouTube from the Inspiro Tech channel. It’s of a man and a woman playing the Pink Panther theme on what is described as the Big Piano/ Il Grande Piano. It’s actually a huge electronic keyboard. The video was put up two years ago, and I think the Big Piano was an Italian invention from hints in the video and its blurb. There seems to have been a series of events around it. One other video has the two playing the anti-Fascist anthem Bella Ciao, and there’s a short video showing two young women also playing the Pink Panther on it.
It reminds me of one of the musical projects of the Russian audiologist, spy and musical instrument maker Theremin. He’s the fellow who gave his name to the electronic instrument that operates by changes in the local magnetic field. It reacts to the proximity of performer’s hands, so they play it without actually touching it. Bill Bailey once played it on the Jonathan Ross Show, and it freaked Wossy out. Theremin also tried to construct an instrument that would be played by the dancer’s movements. However, he was employed by the KGB to construct bugs. One of these was actually installed in the Great Seal undetected. It didn’t have its own power source, but leeched power from the environment and so it was virtually undetectable to the instruments at the time. The KGB, however, felt he was more interested in music than spying, They smashed the instrument, and so one of the potentially most fascinating electronic instruments was lost forever.
This is yet another review of an art book from Lisa Shea and her channel on YouTube. This time it’s of Geoff Emberling’s Nubia Ancient Kingdoms of Africa. Her blurb for this video goes as follows:
‘Nubia Ancient Kingdoms of Africa is an art history book by Geoff Emberling. This was put together in support of an art exhibition held at the Study of the Ancient World at New York University. There are a variety of objects presented here, from statues to jewelry, from wall paintings to smaller sculptures. Here’s a direct non-affiliate link to the book: https://www.amazon.com/Nubia-Ancient-…‘
I think the exhibition was of the material excavated and photographs taken by the archaeologist Riesnick when he investigated the area sometime in the early 20th century. One of the pieces is a painting of one of the temples, showing how it had become partially filled with sand in the intervening centuries and the work Riesnick and his team had to do to uncover the architecture and artefacts that lay underneath. Nubia existed as a series of autonomous kingdoms until it was conquered by the Muslims in the 14th century. From the 9th century onwards it was a literate, Christian kingdom. The book, however, covers the area’s ancient history from 3100 BC to 300AD. This was a period when the Nubians adopted much ancient Egyptian culture, including art and writing. They also built pyramids and were even powerful enough to conquer their northern neighbour, producing a dynasty of Black pharaohs before being driven out. Unfortunately, their language, Meroitic, died out without leaving any related descendants, so although we can read their texts, we can’t understand them! Definitely frustrating! Aaagh!
Many of the pictures and objects show the unmistakeable influence of ancient Egypt. Shea laments that some of the photos are small, but she appreciates why this is so for reasons of space. She also remarks on the contemporary style of some of the pieces. She had a bracelet like one shown, which shows that people now have the same tastes as people then. Although she doesn’t mention it, when ancient Egypt was opened up to European visitors and archaeologists, it produced a sensation and influenced art and architecture in what became known as the Egyptian Revival.
Yay for Bernie Sanders, the Democratic Senator for Vermont. If we lived in a just universe, he’d be in the Whitehouse now, just as Jeremy Corbyn would be in 10 Downing Street. He’s a secular Jew, but he understood the hardships and problems of America’s ordinary working Joes and Joannas. Clips of his presidential campaign showed him being embraced, and comforting all kinds of people, including theologically conservative, blue-collar Christians from the American south, worried about unemployment, healthcare and the destruction of the domestic industries that were their livelihoods.
In this video, addressed to Benjamin Netanyahu, Bernie tells him clearly not to insult the intelligence of the American people, and states, over and again, that it is not anti-Semitic or pro-Hamas to
point out that in a little over six months that his extremist government has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians and wounded over 78,000, 70 per cent of whom are women and children.
point out that his bombing has destroyed more than 221,000 housing units in Gaza, leaving almost a million people, half the population, homeless
To note that his government has obliterated Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, electricity, water and sewage.
To realize that his government has annihilated Gaza’s healthcare system, knocking 26 hospitals out of service and killing 400 healthcare workers.
To note that his government has destroyed all of Gaza’s 12 universities and 56 of its schools, with hundreds more damaged, leaving 625,000 students with no educational opportunities.
To agree with virtually every humanitarian organisation in saying that your government, in violation of American law, has unreasonably blocked humanitarian aid coming into Gaza, creating the conditions in which so many thousands of children face malnutrition and famine.
He states clearly that anti-Semitism is a vile and disgusting form of bigotry that has done unspeakable harm to many millions of people. But please, he says to Netanyahu, do not insult the intelligence of the American people by attempting to distract us from the immoral and illegal war policies of your extremist and racist government. Do not use anti-Semitism to distract attention from the criminal indictment you are facing in the Israeli courts.
It is not anti-Semitic to hold you (Netanyahu) accountable for your actions.
In a terrifyingly matter-of-fact interview with the Sun’s Harry Cole, Steve Bannon, the architect of Donald Trump’s polarising presidency, gave Farage a glowing endorsement and set out how he would go about succeeding Keir Starmer as Prime Minister.
Bannon believes that Farage could soon ride a wave of populist sentiment all the way to Number 10, especially if the Tories take a drubbing in the next election. (Spoiler: They’re going to.) His strategic advice? Take a page from the MAGA playbook and stage a hostile takeover of the Conservative Party.
And now, in his most recent email to his supporters, Farage has given his strongest hint yet at a potential return to frontline politics.
The prospect of Farage at the helm of a radicalised Tory party, steering the UK down a path of increased nationalism and xenophobia, is deeply troubling. At Open Britain, we’ve been warning about this possibility for some time now. With these brazen comms, it’s starting to look less like a potential distant nightmare and more a well-planned future reality. The 2029 election may seem a long way off, but the foundations for the profound political shift it could bring are being laid now.
We cannot afford to be complacent. It’s essential we spend the next five years growing, organising, mobilising, and fighting for the values that define us as a nation – openness, tolerance, and unity. We need to counter the siren song of populism with a positive vision of a Britain that works for everyone and secure the functional democracy needed to deliver it.
The next five years will be a pivotal period in our history. The decisions we make – and the policies the next government implements – will shape our country for generations to come. Will we succumb to the politics of division and fear in a country that is a democracy in name only, or will we stand together and build a brighter, more inclusive future with a democracy that works for everyone?
It’s up to all of us to get involved, speak out, and make our voices heard. There are more than a quarter of a million of us in Open Britain. We have the potential to be a powerful force for good. Together, we can ensure that the UK remains a beacon of democracy and hope in an increasingly uncertain world.
Let’s do exactly that.
All the best, The Open Britain Team‘
Why am I not surprised the Sun has interviewed Steve Bannon, who was praising the prospect of Farage taking the reigns of government? Way back in the early part of this century, when the Scum got into trouble for printing a cartoon showing pigs demonstrating against being compared with Arabs, Private Eye reminded its readers that Rupert Murdoch’s mighty organ already had 19 judgements against it for racism by the former Press Complaints Commission. It’s probably no surprise then, that they’re backing the man who used to sing Hitler Youth Songs when a boy at public school.
This is nothing to do with politics, but is an example of the way technology that for decades was confined to Science Fiction is becoming reality. It’s a short video from the South China Morning Post reporting that the Chinese government has licensed a flying taxi, produced by Ehang Holding’s Limited, for mass production. The taxi can fly forty miles on a single charge, but at a prices of the equivalent of $332,000 I doubt your average cabbie will be able to afford it.
The video below comes from the @XPENG_AEROHT channel on YouTube, and reports that Guangzhou will set up four low altitude traffic networks on Panyu island. This extremely brief video calls it an economic demo, and also refers to Panyu as university island, which suggests that it’s a demonstration of the taxis’ practical abilities in somewhere which, at the very least, has a very strong university presence.
Flying cars fascinated me, but I have reservations about them. The awesome SF artist Jim Burns, commenting on a painting of two flying cars chasing each other he did for a book, said that they’d become a serious problem once they started having accidents and it started raining bit of metal and body parts.
One of the many damaging things about Brexit was its massive impact on young people. The referendum (which the young largely voted against) deprivedBritain’s youth of their ability to travel and study abroad, barricading off opportunities and making their home a smaller, less cosmopolitan place.
Successive Conservative governments – hardly ever a mouthpiece for the younger generations – have routinely left the massive impact on Britain’s youth out of the conversation. Even among those willing to have that discussion, concerns arise over whether the EU would actually be willing to entertain any new arrangement with a country as politically unstable as ours is today.
But now there are signs that the Brexit freeze can possibly be lifted. The European Commission today proposedopening new negotiations with the UK over youth mobility, giving young people a thread of hope. While the Council still needs to agree on the proposal, it’s a sign that there is a real chance of repairing the damage done by Brexit – if we ever get a UK government willing to enter negotiations in good faith.
Therein lies the real challenge. Even Labour now view Brexit largely as a “settled” matter. Despite the fact that 87% of young people want to rejoin the EU, and a majority (55%) of the general population say they’d vote to remain if the referendum was held today, we still seem to be locked into the political choices of seven years ago.
Navigating our post-Brexit relationship with Europe democratically will be no easy task, but it’s clear that our current government is simply not up to the job. To do it properly, we’re going to need a system that actually represents the public’s real feelings about Britain’s role in Europe. We’re going to need a real democracy.
In that sense, the only thing holding us back is ourselves. A real democracy that can collectively own the mistakes of the past and move forward is no impossibility in Britain. We know what we need to do to get there. We just have to make it happen.
This came up for me the other day on YouTube. Before I start, I am definitely not a member of the Reform Party and won’t vote for them in the coming election. They’re just the Tory right on steroids, who want, as well as an end to immigration, the further privatisation of the NHS and the dismantlement of the welfare state. They did say something a few months ago about partially renationalising the electricity companies, but still wanted it open to investment by the financial sector. As this has been one of the causes of the failure of utilities privatisation in the first place, especially in the perilous financial position imposed by the hedge funds on care homes which resulted in the collapse of so many of them, this is another reason not to vote for them. A few weeks ago I ended up listening to their party conference. This had Ben Habib attempting to convince his audience that we hadn’t really left Europe, because we were still bound by their regulations when trading with them, and Anne Widdecombe. Widdecombe wanted us all to believe that Reform could bring back the days when you could walk in to your doctors’ surgery and see a doctor. Yes, I remember those days from when I was at school. This system vanished because of the privatisation and underfunding introduced by Maggie and the Tories, who included Anne Widdecombe. She declared that this return to proper NHS service could be done. Yes, it can, but not by her, Ben Habib and Richard Tice.
I’m putting this video up, however, as it’s a succinct summary of Keir Starmer’s Lies and broken promises. These include his initial opposition to private healthcare in the NHS, tuition fees and international freedom of movement. It also includes his contradictory statements supporting and condemning Jeremy Corbyn, the return of Shamima Begum, the ISIS bride and how he dumped his previous commitment to the nationalisation of the railways and the utilities. It concludes with an audience member asking Starmer at a Labour party conference how they could ever trust him after so many broken promises. This is followed by a clip of Stalin himself saying that if you can’t keep your promises you shouldn’t make them in the first place. The video concludes with the statement that can’t trust Keir Starmer. Which is absolutely true.
I found this short video earlier this morning on @FactualChronicle’s channel on YouTube. It’s a short video about the edge village in China’s Liangxan province which is literally built onto a sheer cliff 1400 to 1600 metres up a mountain. It’s accessible only through a system of extremely steep steps and ladders, which hinders the villagers’ contact with the outside world and their educational opportunities.
I’m putting this up simply because it’s fascinating. But never fear, more serious stuff will be on its way.
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