tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12401082690560700232024-03-13T02:02:35.147+00:00The Proletarian Tide'Touching the Lid of Hyperbole'Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger293125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240108269056070023.post-48806317018089995622015-12-03T08:34:00.000+00:002015-12-03T08:53:09.055+00:00Another Bloody WarOur rulers last night voted to kill more innocent people in the name of fighting 'terrorists'. Corbyn's interventions were reasoned and correct, but the vote was never about what is right or what is reasonable. Today, two things come to mind:<br />
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How badly the British ruling class were beaten last time around.<br />
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And this.<br />
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Admittedly this time the ruling class are attacking people who live a long way away, not Manchester, but the same sense of untrammelled power from an unaccountable group who have decided that they embody God and King and Law pervades this decision. I have seen some praise for Hilary Benn's speech. I am reminded of the line about Fraud's millstone tears and the brains of little children.<br />
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I am also reminded that whatever the Tories and their milquetoast PLP supporters might say, they have not convinced the public that this lunacy is in fact sound policy.<br />
<iframe frameborder="no" height="450" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/235867170&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%"></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240108269056070023.post-54626440406464682552012-11-07T22:29:00.000+00:002012-11-07T22:29:08.409+00:00Sometimes the headline is enough<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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From the Graun's homepage at the moment. Brilliant.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240108269056070023.post-13719890925645248872012-05-20T10:52:00.003+01:002012-05-20T11:44:16.079+01:00Last post on Gove's Bible nonsense (probably)Education has continued to become a more horrible place to work since I last blogged. The proposed changes to Ofsted mean that everyone has to desperately revise the way lessons work in order that we can tick the new boxes that mean you know how to do your job. This is even more tedioius and time consuming than you can imagine.<br /><br />On top of that, the failure of all the teaching unions to keep a coherent strike strategy to stop the pension tax thus far means we're stuck with being screwed even more for at least a while.<br /><br />And now Gove's managed to find some rich Tory fucks to pay for his narcissistic Bible project. I think I'll see if the English department want ours, since it's fuck all use in RE - as I've mentioned <a href="http://leftiehippie.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/oh-for-gods-sake.html">before</a>.<br /><br />Now Dawkins has <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/may/19/richard-dawkins-king-james-bible">chipped in</a> with something fatuous.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><blockquote>I am a little shocked at the implication that not every school library already possesses a copy. Can that be true? What do they have, then? Harry Potter? Vampires? Or do they prefer one of those modern translations in which "Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, all is vanity" is lyrically rendered as "Perfectly pointless, says the Teacher. Everything is pointless"? That is Ecclesiastes, 1:2, as you'll find it in the Common English Bible. And you can't get much more common than that, although admittedly the God's Word translation provides stiff competition with "absolutely pointless" and the Good News Bible challenges strongly with "useless, useless". </blockquote><br /><br />Where to start? Labour decided that not all schools need a library any more and the Tories apparently agree. So the first sentence should probably read 'I am a little shocked that not all schools have a library,' which is a sentence I could agree with wholeheartedly. As it stands, it's little more than petulent whingeing. Our school library doesn't have a copy of Kurt Vonnegut's <i>Slaughterhouse Five</i>, which is surely a crime against literature.<br /><br />Then the further whingeing - 'they don't have a 17th century version of a book that is available in many more accessible versions but which I have a nostalgic attachment to because it reminds me of the old days at public school, but I BET they've got some of those books kids actually enjoy like that Harry Twilight fellow, eh?'<br /><br />I suppose what's getting to me is the way that this whole issue seems to have become a faux-battleground where middle-England can indulge its nostalgia for some mythical Jennings/Mallory Towers-era of education (a world without If... and with no memory of Kes), and engage in yet another defence of white middle-class privilege against the evil hordes of philistines with their 'pointless'es and their 'useless'es on their Klout Twitterbooks - why, public school-educated white men are the *real* oppressed class!<br /><br />And this is the battle they pick? Honestly, what do we all actually, in the sense of 'how does this help education' rather than 'how does it make Mail readers feel', gain from Gove's vanity project, other than the chance to bury a book (with his name printed in gold on the spine, no less) at the back of the stockroom?<br /><br />It's not relevant to Key Stage 3 English or RE. It's not part of any of the major GCSE RE specs and is highly unlikely to form part of the English or Eng Lit GCSE specs either, I suspect. It's not useful for A Level New Testament study either, for the twin reasons of unreliability and inaccessibility. What a pointless, pointless act to become a national priority that requires the intervention of the Secretary of State and multiple comment pieces in newspapers.<br /><br />So that's it. The only national story relating to RE in my memory and it's a bunch of fatuous reactionary dicks belly-aching about whether people should be made to read more 'thees' and 'thous' than they would be expected to if they aren't from Staffordshire. And RE is NOT ABOUT THAT.<br /><br />Trust me, I'm a Marxist RE teacher.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240108269056070023.post-58641047534663192672011-12-01T18:45:00.003+00:002011-12-01T22:34:36.592+00:00Soundtrack to a StrikeVery much a work in progress this. I was trying to think of stuff that should be on an OST for the day. This is what I ended up with:<br /><br />The Workers - <a href="http://www.theworkers.org.uk/lets-work-together-the-video/">Let's Work Together</a><br />The Specials - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WhhSBgd3KI">Ghost Town</a> (h/t <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/perrin124">Perrin124</a>)<br />Rage Against the Machine - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxHIVxz1K5M">Maggie's Farm</a><br />Captain Ska - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQFwxw57NBI&feature=youtu.be">Liar Liar</a><br />Billy Bragg - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwbzxemJZIc">There is Power in a Union</a><br />Manic Street Preachers - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cX8szNPgrEs">If You Tolerate This Your Children Will be Next</a><br />Manic Street Preachers - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWR3l6mOZLg">Natwestbarclaysmidlandslloyds</a><br />The Enemy Within - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF8MzDb6Cgo">Strike</a> (cheers again to Perrin)<br />Luke Haines - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmHySeSJLkE">Never Work</a><br />Radiohead - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yl-pXpXxK00">Electioneering</a><br />NxtGen - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl1jPqqTdNo">The Andrew Lansley Rap</a><br />Marxism 2008 Closing Rally - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrnPpj4YjvY">The Internationale</a><br /><br />Any further suggestions welcome - we'll use it on the next one. Solidarity, comrades.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240108269056070023.post-49559716481425377832011-11-30T22:45:00.004+00:002011-11-30T22:55:02.542+00:00All in all, pretty goodRight then. First things first. The government's lines on this have simply got to look ridiculous to most people by now. If it doesn't, I may have to despair of my sunny, optimistic view of human nature. On the upside, the last poll I saw showed a majority of support for our action.<br /><br />From the inside, it was good. I was on two picket lines today and no one crossed at either of them. The demo in the city centre was pretty good:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3z9Gn2DWzPn1pjlm4m31jZW4C0TQmML7LmVaSZvADmTzzzZ3NYgJ-qsYiFUYpRTInK6QXI3gimdaf4NgP8cagMlmWCNiY5td5apwnl-8e4ZqBrfaR7m4-TILV7iBTQiyiROspOpmdNA4/s1600/Derby+Demo+N30.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3z9Gn2DWzPn1pjlm4m31jZW4C0TQmML7LmVaSZvADmTzzzZ3NYgJ-qsYiFUYpRTInK6QXI3gimdaf4NgP8cagMlmWCNiY5td5apwnl-8e4ZqBrfaR7m4-TILV7iBTQiyiROspOpmdNA4/s400/Derby+Demo+N30.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5680924636450813250" border="0" /></a><br />The general turnout seems to have been pretty good - 7,000 in Leicester, 20,000 in Bristol and Liverpool, for example and the strike action seems to have been fairly solid nationally.<br /><br />From my personal experience there was a good level of general support from the public, too. Unfortunately no one particularly amusing was in opposition (unless you count the homeless bloke who shouted 'Get back to work you lazy bastards' at us. Which I don't, on account of its being genuinely baffling.)<br /><br />The biggest problem was that there were a couple of thousand people and the only space that was available for speeches was in a marquee big enough to hold a couple of hundred. That, and the ice rink that was filling most of the space, leaving us wedged up against the Guild Hall. These are, as I'm sure you'll agree, pretty minor complaints.<br /><br />Of course the big thing now is: what next. Personally, I think we should be planning for more action in January. What say you, interwebs?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240108269056070023.post-61216213930397445592011-11-26T16:21:00.007+00:002011-11-26T17:26:32.645+00:00Oh, for Gods' Sake<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkDCUbRt1dfXqEGoDTdRe2y2Ed2b8telwPDkqugvPmHgUMgnsJC3O4Gxyds-b6igmO1sVmmxt_LIX7jES_o0R_c68GUWkvnnSzpNIv1lBEQWQIIfH36JWygVzCawQkzGZ354IoIHTZCqA/s1600/vlcsnap-2011-11-26-16h58m11s196.png"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 301px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5679354451738977538" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkDCUbRt1dfXqEGoDTdRe2y2Ed2b8telwPDkqugvPmHgUMgnsJC3O4Gxyds-b6igmO1sVmmxt_LIX7jES_o0R_c68GUWkvnnSzpNIv1lBEQWQIIfH36JWygVzCawQkzGZ354IoIHTZCqA/s400/vlcsnap-2011-11-26-16h58m11s196.png" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div>There are many reasons not to like Michael Gove. But aside from his elitism, parochialism, incompetence, viciousness, fundamental opposition to the concept of public service, his general meanness of spirit and possession of less charm than Arnold J Rimmer, his stupidity is what is currently annoying me.<br /></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 298px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5679353677823820066" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPnZtUBCnjOz0TGuplrqS-xtMs1C1SZJ_6_l4eOosSgsyGXPbgNTlxmNKPTQXaZySMcWIsY4aW1JUx5SWUsGBT4xN9mM2Dz5j4c8Rh66G6-dhm1oBDYM9-u2679C0gV4dGmE3-EiCcI70/s400/vlcsnap-2011-11-26-16h58m29s147.png" /><br /><br />This isn't actually related to the strikes - that's a whole other seething cauldron of outrage. This is <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/nov/25/michael-gove-king-james-bible?newsfeed=true">his move to put a copy of the KJV in every school in the land</a> - <em>with a foreword of his own</em>.<br /><br />OK, it's only 2 lines, so it's not worth getting too worked up about. But he's not a Biblical scholar. He can't have anything to add to the text other than his own opinion on it - and who the fuck cares what he thinks about the Bible? It's only a few months since he tried to remove the statutory requirement to teach RE from the national curriculum, and has completely opposed including RE in the EBacc. And judging from his behaviour, he clearly isn't much of a Christian either, so sending round copies of his no doubt awe-inspiring thoughts on the KJV just smacks of arrogance.<br /><br />What really annoys me about this is not the redundancy of spending money at a time when he's cutting everything else on a book that all schools have plenty of anyway (as the National Secular Society have pointed out).<br /><br />There are 2 major annoyances that outrank this:<br /><br /><br /><ol><br /><br /><li>He doesn't seem to be in a rush to send out copies of other major religious texts. The excuse for this surfeit of self-promotion is the 400th anniversary of the publication of the KJV. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quran_translations#English">Last year was the 100th anniversary of the first simultaneous English-Arabic translation of the Qur'an.</a> I don't remember a free copy turning up at school.</li><br /><br /><br /><li>The KJV is not a good translation. Most of the NT is based on a single, late, Greek edition and from an educational point of view the NRSV is much better, being a modern English edition based on decades of study by scholars piecing together a representative text based on the widest possible selection of the most accurate available texts. Personally, I wouldn't use the KJV in teaching.</li></ol><br /><br />In short, another day, another <s>reason</s> plethora of reasons to dislike the secretary of state for education.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240108269056070023.post-14324339554333922642011-11-24T19:24:00.005+00:002011-11-24T20:13:20.454+00:00The inevitable pre-strike post.<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BQFwxw57NBI" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe><br /><br />(<a href="http://tktw.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/and-i-like-this-too/">h/t</a>)<br />Phew, we're nearly there. The Tories have obligingly refused to 'negotiate' any further so not even Barber has an excuse to cave in now. We're nearly there.<br /><br />*A scuffling is heard from the back of the crowd. A scruffy urchin forces his way through the press of bodies. Removing his woebegone cap in an automatic gesture of genuflection, the wide-eyed, soot-besmirched imp stares in wonderment.*<br /><br />"What's that, Tide? You <span style="font-style: italic;">wanted</span> the Tories to break off negotiations? Why you left-wing communist with your infantile disorder!"<br /><br />"Young fool", saith I, loftily, "that is not so. For you see, <span style="font-style: italic;">there were no negotiations to break off!</span>"<br /><br />"Why sir, you are a veritable verbal prestidigitator and no mistake! But how so? For surely I heard Mr Cameron this very morn insist that they would make no more concessions. Logically there must have been some in the first place for there to be any more even <span style="font-style: italic;">in potentia</span>?"<br /><br />Ahem. I'm dropping this frankly ludicrous pseudo-literary device now.<br /><br />No. There were no negotiations. There <span style="font-style: italic;">was</span> a bit of clumsy divide-and-rule, trying to hive off the very lowest paid and those closest to retirement from the rest, but it was so appallingly done that no one fell for it.*<br /><br />Even more brilliantly, the government point-blank refused to carry out the triannual review. This is the 3-yearly review to check if the pension fund is OK. The fact that they wouldn't do this review is pretty good evidence that they knew there wasn't a problem. For corroboration you could look at these two interesting facts:<br /><ol><li>The teachers' fund has had £46 billion more paid into it since 1923 than has been taken out.</li><li>Teachers' pensions are unfunded. The money just disappears into the Treasury.</li></ol>They should really just admit that the extra money would in fact go not on our pensions anyway, but on deficit reduction. <a href="http://yorkshire-ranter.blogspot.com/2011/06/there-is-no-crisis-dammit.html">Because we don't need to put any money into the pension scheme</a>. So while Cameron boasted yesterday about cutting corporation tax and a maximum wage for the wealthy has been ruled out, the poorest paid in society (<a href="http://pensionsjustice.org.uk/mythbuster/pension-myths/">civil service pensions average at around £5,500 annually</a>) are to be taxed to reduce the deficit. Say it again: "<span style="font-weight: bold;">WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER.</span>"<br /><br />I'm not going to be dumb enough to try to predict the future in a situation like this, but I think it's clear that the best chance of breaking this deceitful, manipulative, plutocratic shower of piss that calls itself the coalition has got to be a big day next week. And where possible it has to be whispered: All out and stay out.<br /><br />Because this isn't about protest. It is about <span style="font-weight: bold;">winning</span>.<br /><br />---------------------------------------------------<br />*Here's how it would work. Those earning under £15k would not face an increase in contributions. Hurrah! You might think. But this would include pro-rata posts. So you could work 2 days a week and still face a doubling of your contributions. And guess what? <a href="http://touchstoneblog.org.uk/2011/11/low-paid-women-miss-out-on-pensions-promise/">Lots of low-paid workers are part-time!</a> Clever.<br /><br />At the other end of the scale, the over-50s were told they wouldn't have to face an increase in retirement age. But they'd still have to double their contributions and they'd still have had the RPI measure switched to CPI. So they'd still lose.<br /><br />*Attenborough whisper* The mistake I think the ConDems have made is in assuming that we're as stupid as they are.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240108269056070023.post-29034277640410558372011-11-03T21:27:00.006+00:002011-11-03T21:37:54.513+00:00The Post of Surreal Frivolity, or, Why Kevin Ovenden Has the Head of a Giant FlyThis has nothing to do with anything really, but it's been hanging around the periphery of my mind's eye (not sure where that would be - in the corner next to the Locked Trunk of Teenage Embarrassment?) and tonight seems to be the time to expunge it.<br /><br />Here it is: I think Kevin Ovenden has the head of a giant fly.<br /><br />Wait, come back! Let me explain.<br /><br />I've never met Kevin Ovenden. From what I've seen of his comments on Lenin's Tomb he seems like a sane and interesting commentator. This is in no way a comment on Kevin Ovenden.<br /><br />On Lenin's Tomb he posts like this:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCcbkdKQ2hcZDEftvgDuB-u7jpxUjdBaB3MsFM3Duh1BCH4cIaTycgxduOzpwdoa6da3YbtLcz0Dke5Jx0yhyphenhyphenpIb1IU3bfNK3W0weRFJru2G49mjHqV8bdDNAwfPX6yObTuAdcLHAYlVo/s1600/kevinovenden.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 237px; height: 66px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCcbkdKQ2hcZDEftvgDuB-u7jpxUjdBaB3MsFM3Duh1BCH4cIaTycgxduOzpwdoa6da3YbtLcz0Dke5Jx0yhyphenhyphenpIb1IU3bfNK3W0weRFJru2G49mjHqV8bdDNAwfPX6yObTuAdcLHAYlVo/s400/kevinovenden.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5670885858005809458" border="0" /></a><br />Perhaps some of you already see the problem. For the rest, watch MY MAGNIFICENT BRAIN.<br /><br />In my head, Kevin's ID becomes:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU7Cpo_GjyAME0w9nCEWGnC2LOS1Wu1zKtpkfZF6F8g7OS4dgJ2mkU36lbDwt2wciuPG-ASZnnxvGjZ7af3BaQVHjrewsYzyYTfQOOT2RbX02yjXvjHlWQOk7wtCvTCuZ_8XoY0MYRD70/s1600/Neveroddoreven.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 124px; height: 23px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU7Cpo_GjyAME0w9nCEWGnC2LOS1Wu1zKtpkfZF6F8g7OS4dgJ2mkU36lbDwt2wciuPG-ASZnnxvGjZ7af3BaQVHjrewsYzyYTfQOOT2RbX02yjXvjHlWQOk7wtCvTCuZ_8XoY0MYRD70/s400/Neveroddoreven.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5670885994795014530" border="0" /></a><br />See where I'm going with this?<br /><br />Exactly!<br /><br />See, I'm not mad! NOT MAD, I TELL YOU!<br /><br />KEVIN OVENDEN HAS THE HEAD OF A GIANT FLY!!!!!!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiM1u8zipKYPuZxZQdXBCcoyc5CgjJWX_WyhKneZHEoCgm1bpGiWYHJDBXry5qbJDuk9OtMSVEKySu1QwGjFYsNBm-8mUmLFT1z6Ws6xFNkZWojU4v7KqusJtqi9Rj3ba8FO6ACVJualU/s1600/I-Monster-Neveroddoreven.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiM1u8zipKYPuZxZQdXBCcoyc5CgjJWX_WyhKneZHEoCgm1bpGiWYHJDBXry5qbJDuk9OtMSVEKySu1QwGjFYsNBm-8mUmLFT1z6Ws6xFNkZWojU4v7KqusJtqi9Rj3ba8FO6ACVJualU/s400/I-Monster-Neveroddoreven.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5670886649716360802" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Sorry, Kevin. I'm not entirely sure why I had to share this. Anyway, on a completely unrelated note, I'm off to bed. Like the Dread Pirate Roberts, I'll probably kill this entry in the morning.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240108269056070023.post-39976048675055324922011-10-23T10:31:00.008+01:002011-10-23T15:05:47.059+01:00The Louise Mensch Beverage Scale of Permitted Capitalist CriticismFollowing Louise Mensch's remarkable revelation of a new form of critique of political economy on Friday<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/H3gkYfedUhg" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe><br /><br />I have reflected on this remarkable insight. If she's right, then whilst the liberal left are '<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/sep/30/louise-mensch-phone-hacking-politics?INTCMP=SRCH">swooning at her brio</a>' we're missing valuable research time. As Marxists we are bound by our own credo to rigorous materialist analysis, and beverage consumption is such an obviously materialist habit that it deserves close attention. Let's elaborate this remarkable theory, I thought to myself in my secret underground Marxist lab at Proletarian Towers. And to that end, I have devised the 'Louise Mensch Beverage Scale of Permitted Capitalist Criticism' heretoforeafter referred to as the Mensch Scale.<br /><br />The Mensch scale is a comparison scale between 0 and 4, where a level 4 subject is permitted full criticism of capitalism up to and including promoting anarcho-syndicalism as an alternative means of the self-reproduction of society, and level 0 represents someone whose consumption of beverages enmeshed in the capitalist system of production should just keep their fucking mouths shut, the ingrate serf scum.<br /><br />Like the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaufort_scale">Beaufort Scale</a>, we must have examples so that if we are in conversation with someone we know exactly the point at which any criticisms of the capitalist system or any of its constituent parts goes beyond the permitted maximum. As soon as this point is reached, the correct response is to raise your hand firmly and instruct the vagabond to halt their discourse. 'Cease your mimsy prattle, fool,' instruct the presumptuous ignoramus, 'for the way in which liquids that trickle through your digestive tract AS YOU PRESUME TO PEDDLE YOUR CRITICAL MIND-TURNIPS THIS DAY were produced preclude your being given an attentive ear.'<br /><br />THUS WILL CONSERVATIVE DISCOURSE TRIUMPH.<br /><br />As an alternative, you may use the classic 'T' symbol beloved of basketball sportspersons to indicate a 'time out'. In our case of course, the 'T' will stand for actual tea.<br /><br />Enough elucidation - I realise that you must be gagging to classify yourself, family and friends!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Level 4</span><br />Permitted criticism of capitalism = Total. Academies, Goldman-Sachs, <a href="http://leninology.blogspot.com/2011/10/discovering-capitalist-network.html">concentration of capital</a>, etc.<br />To achieve level 4, you must drink untreated mineral water collected yourself from a babbling mountain brook near your hermitage. Of course, you must not boil the water before drinking it, unless you mine the metal to create a kettle yourself. Purchasing so much as a camping kettle with one of those little whistle cap thingies on it basically takes you right back to the level of the <a href="http://www.gregpalast.com/uber-vultures-the-billionaires-who-would-pick-our-president/">Koch brothers</a>.<br /><br />Famous Level 4s: none.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Level 3</span><br />Permitted level of criticism of capitalism = TNCs, sweatshop labour and the military-industrial complex.<br />To achieve level 3, you are allowed to drink water from the tap, despite its being produced by privatised water companies. You *must not* add Robinsons' Barley Water to it to make a <a href="http://youtu.be/XwEVzOegqzw">weak lemon drink</a>, however.<br />Famous Level 3s: basically, this is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Harvey_Kellogg#Battle_Creek_Sanitarium">John Harvey Kellogg</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Level 2</span><br />Permitted level of criticism of capitalism = privatised train networks, quality of the gifts in Kinder Surprise.<br />To achieve level 2, you may drink tap water and fairtrade tea and coffee. On no account must you purchase this coffee from some kind of franchise or drink Ribena. THIS WILL RENDER YOUR UNHAPPINESS WITH TRAIN JOURNEYS NULL AND VOID.<br />Famous Level 2s: Lucy Mangan, probably.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Level 1</span><br />Permitted level of criticism of capitalism = the speed of service in Nando's. AND NOTHING ELSE.<br />Level 1s will drink Fentiman's lemonade at National Trust gift shops, then think NOTHING of washing it down with R Whites. Why don't these people just FUCK OFF AND DIE? They probably drink Ty-Phoo, the despicable BASTARDS.<br />Famous Level 1s: YOU. If you're LUCKY.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Level 0</span><br />Permitted level of criticism of capitalism = What on earth makes you think you can criticise capitalism, you insignificant, smelly turd? IT PROVIDES YOUR BEVERAGES.<br />Level 0s would drink Coca-Cola at a Showcase Cinema, EVEN IF SOMEONE WAS WATCHING.<br />Famous Level 0s: given the size of the sample, it was hard to narrow it down, but here's two:<br /><br />Luis 'Chile' Eduardo, Columbian Sinaltrainal union official working with employees of Coca-Cola bottlers, who routinely receives messages like this:<br /><br /><blockquote>The Paramilitaries of Magdalenena Medio, The Black Eagles, call on the terrorist Coca-Cola trade unionists to stop bad mouthing the Coca-Cola Corporation given that they have caused enough damage already. If there is no response we declare them military targets of the Black Eagles, and they will be dealt with as they prefer: death, torture, cut into pieces, coup de grace. No more protests![1]</blockquote><br /><br />Erol Turedi, one of the Coca-Cola Icecek (Coca-Cola Turkish subsidiary) workers sacked for asking for a wage increase and organising union representation in their workplace. At a demonstration where 200 sacked workers walked into the Dudullu plant,<br /><br /><blockquote>'1,000 police [were] drafted in to cope with the 200 protestors. The Cevik Kuvvet - 'robo cops' in full body armour - mass outside and are deployed into the building in groups. They fill the corridors. They occupy the balcony. They take the floor above the workers. Hundreds of police appear in the atrium, with riot shields and batons at the ready. The police charge nets six arrests and forces the protestors into a corner, the women and children huddled at the back by the walls. The men stand in front of them. They have linked arms together in an effort to protect themselves and their families, but when the assault finally comes their efforts are proved to be instinctive rather than practical. In front of them are 1,000 police and behind them the children have started to cry.<br /><br />Finally Coca-Cola's managers agree to talk to the union. So while the police corner the families downstairs [union] President K and the union lawyer go upstairs for talks. It is late afternoon when they gather in a meeting room, which is small. Around a table, which is large. Alongside the managers, which is essential. And next to the police ... which is baffling.<br /><br />... If events were going badly upstairs, events downstairs took an unexpected turn for the worse. On the frontline Erol looked out at the police - 'they just pulled down the gas masks and that was when we knew.' ... Their eyes widen as they tell of stumbling into each other in panic and blindness, gasping for breath. Thye curse the polie as children were separated from their parents and the men beaten with riot sticks. And they hold out their hands when they talk of being bundled into the police wagons outside, of reaching up to the small windows to gasp for fresh air - only to be sprayed in the face by the police.[1]</blockquote><br /><br />Shut up! You drank Coke! What do you think you're doing, Level 0s?<br />------------------------------------------------<br />[1] Mark Thomas, <span style="font-style: italic;">Belching Out the Devil: Global Adventures with Coca-Cola</span>, 2008Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240108269056070023.post-72009786668978796262011-09-02T21:40:00.003+01:002011-09-02T21:58:05.294+01:00Just so we're clear...<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/sep/01/michael-gove-physical-force-schools?INTCMP=SRCH">This</a> is a <b>BAD</b> idea:<div><meta equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 15px; border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><blockquote>Ministers are scrapping a requirement for teachers to record instances when they use physical force, as part of a wider move to "restore adult authority" in the wake of the riots in England.</blockquote></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 15px; border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; ">Here are some reasons why neither I nor any teacher I know thinks this is good:</span></div><div><ol><li><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 15px; line-height: 15px;">Pupils should not be afraid of their teachers, as this is a barrier to their learning. If you are afraid of your teacher, you are less inclined to view your education as an opportunity, and more likely to view yourself in opposition to it.</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 15px; line-height: 15px;">There are plenty of alternatives to force in dealing with classroom behaviour issues. If you do need to use force, you have already lost your authority.</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 15px; line-height: 15px;">The link with the riots is specious. It is not a coincidence that the riots happened in the most deprived areas of London. The underlying cause is <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Spirit-Level-Equality-Better-Everyone/dp/0241954290/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314996993&sr=8-1">inequality</a>, not a lack of caning.</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 15px; line-height: 15px;">I didn't get into this job to beat children. However annoying it is when a lesson doesn't go to plan, grabbing hold of a kid is not a solution to the problem.</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 15px; line-height: 15px;">This whole thing feeds into the right-wing myth that the primary cause of bad behaviour is a lack of discipline. This is part of the whole hang 'em, flog 'em, dose of national service bollocks. As Lenin <a href="http://leninology.blogspot.com/2011/08/competing-common-senses-of-riots.html">recently noted</a>: Greece has national service. It is not 'discipline' that is the problem. Discipline is an issue for the army and a prison, not a free society. Yes, we need a certain level of co-operation to do our jobs, and yes there needs to be an understanding that there are consequences for poor behaviour, but this has to be based on the understanding that co-operation and good behaviour are beneficial to the individual students and their peers, not 'cos I'll give you a clip round the ear if you don't. Which can be complicated and tedious, but has the benefit of not being neolithic.</span></span></li></ol></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 15px; line-height: 15px;">As you were.</span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240108269056070023.post-50587699716986900022011-07-21T06:51:00.002+01:002011-07-21T06:58:38.433+01:00Slogans?Hello everyone. I'll helping to make placards for Saturday's demo to save Bombardier.<div>
<br /></div><div><meta equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><img src="http://www.powerinaunion.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/JN-Bombardier-Campaign-A5-Leaflet_Page_2.jpg" /></div><div>
<br /></div><div><meta equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">Any suggestions for slogans?</div><div>
<br /></div><div>So far I'm a bit stuck. Best I've got so far is</div><div>
<br /></div><div>'ConDems - off the rails'</div><div>
<br /></div><div>and the rather more prosaic</div><div>
<br /></div><div>'Save Bombardier workers'</div><div>
<br /></div><div>I'm sure you can do better - help me, intertubez!</div><div>
<br /></div><div>H/T to <a href="http://www.powerinaunion.co.uk/support-bombardier-demo-july-23rd/">Tony Burke</a> for the flyer - my scanner's buggered at the moment...</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240108269056070023.post-80572519429068456952011-07-14T23:37:00.002+01:002011-07-14T23:40:56.465+01:00Bombardier: La Lutte Commence (ou possiblement, Continue)I've just come from an open organising meeting called by the RMT to kick off the campaign to save 1500 jobs at Bombardier (and thousands more support jobs) in the wake of the decision not to award the company the Thameslink contract.<br /><br />There was an amazing display of solidarity tonight. As well as speakers from RMT, GMB, and TSSA, MP Chris Williamson was there, who has been circulating a petition that in less than two weeks has got more than 34,000 signatures.<br /><br />In addition, there were statements of support from the city's Trades Council, Unison, NUT, climate change activists, LMHR and workers from Birmingham. There was also mention of unusual cross-spectrum support, which even extends as far as the *shudder* Di'ly Sexpress.<br /><br />The main thrust of this post is the stuff you can do to help. Here's a list:<br /><ul><li>Sign Chris's petition - it's paper, and the deadline is this weekend so turn up to the <a href="http://derbyphotoscouk.blogspot.com/2011/07/derby-caribbean-carnival-saturday-16th.html">Carribean carnival on Saturday</a> where there will be a stall for you to put your name to it.</li><li>Go to the Right to Work meeting on Tuesday - at The Quad in the Market Place, 7 pm. This is a broad front meeting with speakers from Right to Work, Labour, SWP, the Green Party, the Indian Workers Asociation, Climate Change and trade unionists. This meeting is to help build public support for the Bombardier workers, all are welcome.</li><li>Sign Unite's petition <a href="http://www.unitetheunion.org/campaigns/keep_uk_rail_manufacturing_on.aspx">here</a>.</li><li>Lobby your MP. The Bombardier issue has received unusual levels of cross-party support, even within the Con-Dems, so tell them you want the decision to give Siemens Preferred Bidder Status revoked <b>NOW</b>, <b>before</b> any final decisions are made.</li><li>Go to the rally on the 23rd. This rally is sponsored by all four unions at Bombardier - Unite, TSSA, GMB and RMT. Meet on Saturday 23rd at Bass Recreation Ground, 10.00.</li><li>Lobby the Con-Dems during conference season. Info on the Right to Work campaigns on that <a href="http://righttowork.org.uk/2011/07/invitation-to-support-the-demonstrations-against-the-tory-and-lib-dem-conferences/">here</a>.</li><li>Any other suggestions welcome - just put them in the comments.</li></ul>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240108269056070023.post-11306648415998370372011-07-13T23:07:00.006+01:002011-07-14T06:57:44.055+01:00How Not to Get a Good Night's Sleep<div style="text-align: left;">I was about to go to bed when I thought I'd check up on<a href="http://leninology.blogspot.com/2011/07/red-top-ed-is-dead.html"> Lenin</a>. It turns out he's had an article in today's Graun about the Murdoch implosion, which obviously I'm finding satisfying on a number of levels. Specifically<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jul/13/ed-miliband-labour-murdoch"> he was commenting on Ed 'Twat' Miliband's decision to stick the boot in now the beast is wounded</a>*.</div><div><br /></div><div>Point is, much though I enjoy Richard's writing, CiF becomes an even worse bearpit than usual under his articles. A brief survey of the comments suggests at least 3 sub-species of Trollus Cryptofascistus.</div><div><ul><li>The 'cynic'. This is a common troll endemic to CiF threads. Cynics usually acknowledge that something is not good but then proceed to offer up whatever banal platitudes they use to ensure they don't actually have to do anything about it and lets them drown out the little squeals of guilt that occasionally erupt from the dustier layers of their reptilian hindbrains. These trolls' comments usually have the effect of siding with the aggressor against the victim - ach, you see it every day in the playground, bless them. Typical examples include <b><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/discussion/comment-permalink/11552195">iamaliberal</a></b>:</li></ul><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 11px; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><blockquote><i>Labour - the party with the bravery to kick someone when they are already down.</i></blockquote></span></span><div><br /></div><ul><li>The 'clearly a hack'. Typical examples include<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/discussion/comment-permalink/11552186"> <b>Ilohan</b></a>:</li></ul><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 11px; "><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "></p></span><blockquote><i><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 11px; "><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; ">Whilst the media, liberal commenators, Ed Miliband etc get in a hysterical tizzy about events that happened years ago and are, in any case, a side effect of having a free press....1000s of people are losing their jobs in Derby cos we have no meaningful industrial policy**...</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; ">But some dodgy phone tapping is a national crisis...</p></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 11px; "></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 11px; ">I don't know...but have we al lost our minds?</span></span></i></blockquote><br /><ul><li>The 'Sir Thickington Thickalot'. These are generally just your examples of either pig-ignorance or outright barefaced lying. Possibly a witches' brew of both. Examples include <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/discussion/comment-permalink/11556910">flatpackhamste</a>r:</li></ul><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 11px; border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><i><span class="Apple-style-span"><blockquote>Did you know that Richard Seymour, the author of this article, is an active member of the Socialist Worker's Party? Did you know that his party campaigns for totalitarian rule and glorifies the Soviet era?</blockquote></span></i></span><div><br /></div>The last ones do at least have comedy value. However, it brings out the worst in me.<br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/duty_calls.png" border="0" alt="" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 330px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div>--------------------------------</div></div><div>* For the record, it's great that he is sticking the boot in, long may it continue. However little confidence I have that it will, should Murdoch manage to pull something out of the bag to stop the rot and begin reinflating his rancid bladder of a media empire. <a href="http://leftiehippie.blogspot.com/2011/06/i-dont-think-much-of-ed-millibands-new.html">Maybe he could do something about his unfortunate tattoo whilst he's at it.</a></div><div><br /></div><div>**PS - it's not because 'we have no meaningful industrial policy' - at least, not in the sense I suspect Ilohan means. It is, as ever, because of the way <a href="http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=25392">capitalism</a> <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jul/11/decline-britains-train-manufacturing-industry?INTCMP=SRCH">runs industry</a>. And if you want to stop the job losses, <a href="http://www.rmt.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=147208">there's a public meeting next Tuesday</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>UPDATE: Having grabbed a few hours sleep, I've come to the conclusion that in fact this is<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/jul/13/mumbai-blasts/popupcomments?commentpage=1"> a pretty normal CiF crowd</a>. And in some ways, isn't that<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/discussion/comment-permalink/11556396"> the biggest disappointment of them all</a>, eh?</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240108269056070023.post-69494724271277005272011-07-07T18:24:00.005+01:002011-07-07T18:50:19.130+01:00In Praise of Chris Bryant<div style="text-align: left;">Chris Bryant is coming dangerously close to restoring my faith in elected representatives. Yesterday there was <a href="http://www.guhttp//www.guardian.co.uk/media/video/2011/jul/06/phone-hacking-debate-chris-bryantardian.co.uk/media/video/2011/jul/06/phone-hacking-debate-chris-bryant">this</a>, and today there was this!</div><div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div><div><iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/mDYalpZhG_8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> <div>
<br /></div><div>Come the revolution, I for one will aim to miss. His criticisms are so reasoned and substantive that I feel a bit guilty about the following snark aimed at the periphery of his statements. </div><div>
<br /></div><div>Here it is: Astonishing - first he works out that the PCC is a fig leaf, then he spots that Burley's 'a bit dim'. </div><div>
<br /></div><div>Hmm, you know, reading that back, I feel that I've irrevocably lost any claim to the moral high ground ever.</div></div><div>
<br /></div><div>-----------------------------</div><div>There is still going to be a Marxism post. Honest.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>UPDATE: Of course, nobody's perfect</div><div><meta equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG0wv8XWcsVnIOHWzkLdrV2-Q3K9jhzN9k-J7b88VMmyDs8Xvp314GSMXMRh9Y6Fbqs9Er9dTHCm6zEZPiCe22DTGgKMr0-w67yRfUyiIFMDbRvM83dpnBJVarDxeTsmfljO7I0Vjys4M/s1600/Chris+Bryant+TWFY+screengrab.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG0wv8XWcsVnIOHWzkLdrV2-Q3K9jhzN9k-J7b88VMmyDs8Xvp314GSMXMRh9Y6Fbqs9Er9dTHCm6zEZPiCe22DTGgKMr0-w67yRfUyiIFMDbRvM83dpnBJVarDxeTsmfljO7I0Vjys4M/s400/Chris+Bryant+TWFY+screengrab.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5626668929855882290" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 324px; height: 400px; " /></a></div><div>
<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240108269056070023.post-22826751182497624892011-06-30T17:20:00.004+01:002011-07-04T18:57:45.615+01:00Strike!First off, sorry this is late. The strike kept me pretty busy all day, then I was off to Marxism 2011 straight after work on Friday (of which more later). Anyway, this is more of a diary entry than an attempt to analyse, but I hope I capture something of why I think it was a welcome and positive development.<br /><br />We got some good coverage today -here's <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/p00hhb3q">Radio Derby</a> (about 46:00 in - listen for the vile Tory MP proud to be scabbing, but the best bit starts at about 2hrs 20 and there's a great piece from Sue, who teaches at a local PRU, closer to 2hrs 30).<br /><br />Here's how the paper went with it:<br /><br /><br /><blockquote><br /><br /><br /><p>W<a href="http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/Strike-unions-threaten-8216-autumn-discontent/story-12861974-detail/story.html">orkers were told at a rally in Derby's Market Place that more strikes would follow if the Government did not back down on its plans to raise the pension age for public workers to 68 and increase ontributions.<br /><br />Keith Venables, Derby National Union of Teachers president, said: "Strikes after the summer holiday could lead to an autumn of discontent."<br /><br />In yesterday's action, members of the National Union of Teachers, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, and the Universities and Colleges Union joined those in the Public and Commercial Services union for the one-day strike .<br /><br />With other unions preparing to ballot members, including Unison and the National Association of Head Teachers, leaders are confident the percentage of schools shut or partially closed next time could be nearer 100%.</p></blockquote></a><br /><br />Which is pretty positive, really. There's some photos <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/53033401@N06/sets/72157627084238418/">here</a>.<br /><br />All in all, I think this was a good turnout and we have good reason to hope for a wider strike in the autumn. I also think that a healthy proportion of people are not buying the government line on the strikes despite the blanket media coverage and the spinelessness of the Labour leadership. Of course, the key thing is to broaden it out now.<br /><br />Finally, despite NUT and ATL not being a majority of staff members in our school, it was largely shut down on the day, so from a personal perspective there was the added benefit of having an actual effect.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240108269056070023.post-86284554056039733332011-06-30T08:15:00.003+01:002011-06-30T08:24:50.925+01:00HahahaahaaaOff to a strike meeting in a minute, but this tickled me:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2011/jun/29/is-us-tv-too-leftwing">'Is US TV too leftwing?'</a><br /><br />And as an example of leftwing, the Graun's put up a picture of <i>The West Wing</i>. I shit you not.<br /><br />Dear America,<br />Thank you for reminding me how comparitively unfucked our political discourse still is and how vitally important it is that, to paraphrase <a href="http://marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1922/dec/testamnt/congress.htm">Lenin</a>, you be removed from your position and replaced with something which differs in all other respects from you.<br /><br />Yours etc<br /><br />The Proletarian Tide<br />(dictated but not read)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240108269056070023.post-47498000906732684782011-06-25T12:11:00.004+01:002011-06-26T14:03:25.114+01:00Might find this handyI know I'll find a use for it...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyTpAZbrzaIlXOtj5_ZkJ5SiT2-Xa4y1PNwDiu_vFm-0oHRnE6nOHIF11As__ieRRJHw75TctUdwQ2-2-Ro2wMK3hDEZ0SgKDgZCaZDXe1RASgljJbxvQSgXbQnFkUgAiGwzXkB_QDjFw/s1600/261096_164849516878311_1070729_n.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 180px; height: 179px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyTpAZbrzaIlXOtj5_ZkJ5SiT2-Xa4y1PNwDiu_vFm-0oHRnE6nOHIF11As__ieRRJHw75TctUdwQ2-2-Ro2wMK3hDEZ0SgKDgZCaZDXe1RASgljJbxvQSgXbQnFkUgAiGwzXkB_QDjFw/s400/261096_164849516878311_1070729_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622113916151972130" /></a><br />I think it came from <a href="http://educationactivistnetwork.wordpress.com/2011/06/05/strike-the-streets-of-london-on-june-30/">these guys</a> - cheers!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240108269056070023.post-6271906983772441792011-06-25T10:14:00.005+01:002011-06-25T12:18:33.430+01:00I Don't Think Much of Ed Milliband's New Tattoo<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxp7yv9VCIqegvOVaUNWW2y7MujeFBpqfEsFrWoKcymvTlgzOq9GWA45NbRznlwGyb-8myFRiF10ZRQ2f4fgAV7g-pS1t3rjhM1UflJQihndTVAfVYG7jCseonFf2hfV2qWWJpe9JBTEA/s1600/ED.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 299px; height: 301px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxp7yv9VCIqegvOVaUNWW2y7MujeFBpqfEsFrWoKcymvTlgzOq9GWA45NbRznlwGyb-8myFRiF10ZRQ2f4fgAV7g-pS1t3rjhM1UflJQihndTVAfVYG7jCseonFf2hfV2qWWJpe9JBTEA/s400/ED.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622083506846270834" /></a>Sometimes I can't help but think these kind of things are a mistake. I mean, once it's done, it's permanent. It's the sort of thing that can make you squirm with embarrassment for years if you don't get it done right.<div><br /></div><div>On a related note:</div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; "><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/jun/24/labour-ed-miliband-reform"> <blockquote>[Ed will tell] the public sector unions that it would be a mistake for them to strike next week, saying they need to do more to persuade the public of their argument over the perceived injustices in the government's changes to public sector pensions.</blockquote></a></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div><br /><br />Oh good. I'd hate to think that the leader of the Labour Party would back us, the people who routinely vote for his party, at a time when our livelihoods are under attack by some of the most reactionary hacks ever to disgrace the title of Minister of State. No, Ed, you tell us that it's our fault. Why oh why don't we use our incredible presence in the national media to make our case to the public before we take action to defend ourselves? Shouldn't take much longer than the rest of this century, after all.<div><br /></div><div>And that's before you get to the bollocks about 'opening the Labour Party up' - no, you arse. The Labour Party was founded to defend the working class against the depredations of the capitalist class. It's not MEANT to be for everyone. It's to help the majority organise to defend against the powerful minority in society. It's not going to be able to do that if every branch has to listen to what the local Alan bloody Sugar thinks about every damned thing.</div><div><br /></div><div>Still, I think the tattoo is the biggest mistake.</div><div><br /></div><div>---------------------------------------------------</div><div>UPDATE: Anyways, I've got yer 'case for strike action' right <a href="http://yorkshire-ranter.blogspot.com/2011/06/there-is-no-crisis-dammit.html">here...</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240108269056070023.post-62211540708347284482011-06-22T14:00:00.002+01:002011-06-22T14:03:06.223+01:00Guardian in 'headline that literally cannot be true' oddnessI mean, if you think about it for a second,<br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/22/worlds-oldest-person-dies-aged-114">'World's oldest person dies aged 114'</a><br /><br />can't actually be possible, can it?<br /><br />Just sayin'.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240108269056070023.post-91219842466300800362011-06-14T23:45:00.003+01:002011-06-14T23:59:28.593+01:00One out, all outSo the results are in and barring major government climb downs, we will be on strike on the 30th June.<br /><br />I thought it was just worth reiterating the reasons why we'll be out.<br /><br /><br /><ol><br /><li>We are being asked to work longer, pay more and get less. I won't be able to retire until I reach 68, I will have to pay at least an extra £100 out of my pension every month, and I'll receive a minimum of £168,000 less when I do retire.</li><br /><li>There is no crisis in the pension fund. It is self-sustaining and there is no shortfall.</li><br /><li>The proposed move from a final salary to average salary will hurt many teachers but particularly women - if you take time off to have children, your pension will suffer as a result.</li><br /><li>Our pension money is being used for the purposes of deficit reduction. Workers are being asked to pay for this crisis. I feel like a stuck record at this point, but this crisis was not of our making. This deficit was not of our making. This was a crisis created entirely by the capitalist class and this is an attempt to make the rest of us pay. To borrow a slogan that tells us more than the ConDems are comfortable with, We Won't Pay for Their Crisis.</li><br /><li>As a corollary to that, do not forget: this is class war. The tories are using the deficit as cover to hit our communities and hit them hard. This is a concerted bid to destroy the public sphere in whatever ways they can. The attacks on the NHS, the academies acceleration and the universities show us this. Do not be deceived: they are attacking us and if we do not resist now, our ability to withstand attacks in future will be weakened too. This is capitalism: continual class war, waged by the haves against the have nots and the have lesses. Only a fight back can halt their advances. Only socialism can end the war.</li></ol>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240108269056070023.post-72095328614398223882011-06-12T17:54:00.004+01:002011-06-12T18:16:48.755+01:00Unanswered Questions of Some ImportanceI didn't get to watch AWOBMOLG live this week so I didn't liveblog it. Might well post a review when I've got a bit more time though. However, never mind all that now because Who finished last week and I have Some Questions.<br /><br />Here we go...<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><ol><br /><br /><br /><li>What is the Myth Corporation?</li><br /><br /><br /><li>Why aren't there any ducks in the pond?</li><br /><br /><br /><li>Is Melody <em>really</em> River?</li><br /><br /><br /><li>Is the girl in the suit Melody?</li><br /><br /><br /><li>Who shot the Doctor?</li><br /><br /><br /><li>Who do the Silent work for?</li><br /><br /><br /><li>What's the point of the Headless Monks?</li><br /><br /><br /><li>What does 'Silence will fall' actually mean?</li><br /><br /><br /><li>Just who is fighting this 'eternal war'?</li><br /><br /><br /><li>How are the Cybermen involved?</li><br /><br /><br /><li>Didn't the Doctor go back to see young Amy at the end of the Eleventh Hour? What happened there then?</li><br /><br /><br /><li>Why doesn't Amy remember the Daleks?</li><br /><br /><li>Why did the TARDIS explode in the first place?</li><br /><li>Where can I get the exciting dum-dum-dum dum-dum-de-dum incidental music?</li></ol><br /><br /><br /><p>Other stuff may come up in time.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240108269056070023.post-20382038376676399182011-05-30T20:45:00.030+01:002011-06-01T12:31:13.856+01:00AWOBMOLG: Perhaps not doomed, but probably pointless, liveblog 2Since last week's liveblog worked OK, I'm going to give it another go tonight. I'm quite looking forward to a critique of the idea of an ecosystem, personally.<br /><br />21:03 Interesting start - mainly for the wonderful archival footage Curtis always finds.<br /><br />21:03 Will this lead on to a criticism of the ideas of neural networking?<br /><br />21:05 Ecosystems are definitely not my area of expertise, but it is interesting to compare the idea of equilibrium to Darwin's understanding of a war for survival, constantly being waged and with huge, geometrical, losses for each species.<br /><br />21:07 It seems that Forrester is attempting to capture the very dynamics that Curtis is concerned with illuminating.<br /><br />21:07 Ah, except that he seems to be positing a universal law not just of systems but of the existence of systems. This seems on the face of it to be a bit of a stretch.<br /><br />21:10 This is giving me the urge to re-read some of that <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Neurocomputational-Perspective-Structure-Science-Bradford/dp/0262531062/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1306786357&sr=8-1-spell">Churchland</a> stuff I was bored rigid by 10 years ago... (url added)<br /><br />21:14 I like the way Curtis always assumes that his audience is capable of understanding science without explaining it in breathless Brian Cox-stuff.<br /><br />21:16 Yay for Buckminster-Fuller! Will there be a mention of C60, I wonder?<br /><br />21:18 He's right about 'spaceship Earth' in some fundamental respects of course.<br /><br />21:19 Oh, is that what Clarke was on about in his godsawful <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rama-Revealed-Arthur-C-Clarke/dp/1857232526/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1306786899&sr=8-1">Rama</a> series? Rama linky added.<br /><br />21:21 Hm, an old hippy friend told me that I was born too late and I should've been a student in the 60s. He may have been right, though since (cheers, hindsight!) it was doomed maybe it's better that I wasn't.<br /><br />21:25 How awesome is this? Video windows, mice and everything! This reminds me of a TED talk - I'll see if I can find it...<br /><br />21:30 I'll look for it later - distracted from doc now!<br /><br />21:31 Just think about the maths required for that model - incredible. Humans are wonderful.<br /><br />21:37 Initial thought on the ecosystem as natural Toryism - if you've not read Richard Seymour's The Liberal Defence of Murder, I recommend you get hold of it - imperialism is subsumed into ideas far more frequently than it often appears on the surface...<br /><br />21:43 I remember at school being told that this was how nature worked - natural systems that balnce over time. David Attenborough's Life on Earth is a good antidote to this.<br /><br />21:48 Looking at the Twitter feed, what a lot of people seem to be forgetting is that Curtis likes to present a thesis. He may not be correct in all his assertions, but he is doing what no other mainstream documentarists are doing at the moment - presenting an intellectual argument as an intellectual argument and forcing you to engage with his ideas. His continual insistence on exposing the narratives elites and other influential groups tell themselves and the world rather than showing his own views or asserting a truth (other than that the universe is stranger than you expect) is what makes him remarkable.<br /><br />21:52 *cough* NED *cough*<br /><br />21:53 Also, vets often put holes into ruminants' stomachs - when you've got 4 stomachs there's lots of stuff to go wrong. Not as weird as it looks.<br /><br />21:55 Curtis talked about this problem with communes in his <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2011/may/06/adam-curtis-computers-documentary?INTCMP=SRCH">Graun interview </a>the other week.<br /><br />21:59 Did I miss the thing about part 3? I thought this was a 3 parter!<br /><br />-----------------------------------------------<br />UPDATE: Here's that TED talk, <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/pranav_mistry_the_thrilling_potential_of_sixthsense_technology.html">Sixth Sense Tech...</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240108269056070023.post-23871531040884227652011-05-23T21:01:00.022+01:002011-05-25T20:15:03.545+01:00AWOBMOLG Doomed Liveblog Attempt9:07 Adam Curtis is now highlighting for all the Bioshock players who didn't get it exactly what the game was satirising. For other good summaries of Her Bonkersness, see Action Philosophers (sample here - <a href="http://scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/744775.html">http://scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/744775.html</a> )<br /><br />9:08 Randians against Burke, eh? Ooh a bit of Clint Mansell - good one Adam!<br /><br />9:10 This reminds me a bit of some work on folk-psychology I did once. Boiled version: just because everyone agrees that the same thing is happening, doesn't mean that it actually is. If you pay attention only to the agreed-upon phenomena you can ignore the deeper structure that pre-determines the options for action.<br /><br />9:12 Interestingly this (sickly marrying of neoliberalism with 'freedom') is exactly the kind of bullshit the Graun's tech weekly podcast often slavishly repeats.<br /><br />9:15 Hoo - Atlas Shrugged! Any Sadlynauts will be familiar with the US right's response to the financial crisis a couple of years ago - threatening to 'go Galt'. Strangely they never did. Wonder why?<br /><br />9:19 Bit disingenuous to say they were asking for a 'totally free society' since a central tenet of Objectivism was contempt for the majority of people. I know this isn't an original point, but it's probably worth repeating.<br /><br />9:22 I was never convinced that those who professed belief in the 'new economy' guff weren't being somewhat disingenuous to be honest. I always kind of assumed that those who pushed it were the same ones who push every boom - the ones who are convinced they'll come out ahead.<br /><br />9:28 Ooh it's the bit off the trailer.<br /><br />9:31 From Rand to Monica Lewinsky - bit of a stretch?<br /><br />9:35 The problem I'm having is that this is a very familiar story. I'm sure it's an essential par, but I've known this since I were a teenager...<br /><br />9:37 She's* right, of course. Luckily, since no one ever reads this blog I'm in the privileged position of creating a commodity no one wants to buy.<br /><br />9:40 The face on that IMF negotiatior...urgh...<br /><br />9:42 IMF riots ... that takes me back...<br /><br />9:45 Interesting that this time round the bankers don't seem to be even pretending that they have a solution. They've learned not to trade in optimism, at least.<br /><br />9:51 Whod've thought that Objectivism was thinly-disguised, vainglorious hubris, eh?<br /><br />9:54 Nice tying in to Power of Nightmares and Century of the Self.<br /><br />9:56 I don't know, Adam. How many people really believed their own hype about permanent boom? It would require an astonishing level of naivety on the part of financial elites...<br /><br />10:00 Well, I'm fully satisfied. Lovely bit of Curtis, was that. What is the theme over the end credits?**<br /><br />-----------------------------------<br />UPDATE<br />*Just to be clear, 'she' in this case refers to Carmen Hermosillo, not Ayn Rand.<br /><br />** It's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35MeZ1wP6vU">Stereo Total - Aua</a><br /><br />*** Title fixt<br /><br />**** Intriguingly, Virgin catch up lists AWOBMOLG under 'Drama and Soaps', rather than documentaries. How odd.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240108269056070023.post-76843966666374292792011-05-21T19:47:00.005+01:002011-05-21T19:54:48.674+01:00Something to make teachers angryIf you're a teacher and you're being balloted about whether to strike, there's a handy <a href="http://www.teachers.org.uk/node/12872">thingummy here</a> that will allow you to calculate exactly how much you're being screwed by proposed Government changes to the pension scheme.<br /><br />For example, I'm going to lose over £166,000 over my working life. In other words, a house.<br /><br />I don't like Tory scum for many reasons, and few of them have to do with my personal situation as a worker under attack, but this is a nice illustration of the viciousness of what they want to do to me and thousands like me.<br /><br />If your union hasn't yet balloted, speak to your rep and put pressure on them to do so. Together, we are strong. Divided, we will be screwed by total and utter bastards.<br /><br />Remember, we're not all in this together - they are attempting to make us pay for their fucking crisis.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240108269056070023.post-55504100798849364482011-05-21T09:09:00.002+01:002011-05-21T09:12:24.178+01:00Public Service AnnouncementJust in case you've been living in a Chinese pipe, I thought I'd alert you to Adam Curtis' new documentary All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace (AWOBMOLG, as all the cool kids are calling it).<br /><br /><object width="640" height="481"><param name="movie" value="http://www.bbc.co.uk/emp/external/player.swf"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><param name="FlashVars" value="playlist=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ebbc%2Eco%2Euk%2Fiplayer%2Fplaylist%2Fp00gvlyf&config_settings_showFooter=true&"></param><embed src="http://www.bbc.co.uk/emp/external/player.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="481" FlashVars="playlist=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ebbc%2Eco%2Euk%2Fiplayer%2Fplaylist%2Fp00gvlyf&config_settings_showFooter=true&"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1