Layer 535 . . . May Day, May Day . . . and News Corp

It's May 1st, and once again we celebrate International Workers' Day - except in the UK we do no such thing. How could such a celebration possibly happen - in a country that's still ruled by a monarchy and a parliament of toffs and spivs? No, we do things differently here, and we prefer to have a quiet May Bank Holiday on the Monday that follows May Day, when we enjoy a little Morris dancing and a some skipping round maypoles. On May Day itself our workers just keep on working.

International Workers' Day (also known as May Day) is a celebration of the international labour movement and left-wing movements. It commonly sees organized street demonstrations and marches by working people and their labour unions throughout most of the world. May 1 is a national holiday in more than 80 countries. It is also celebrated unofficially in many other countries.  -  Wikipedia*

Just to rub in the message of how we prioritise our affairs in Britain, this is the week when the Sunday Times publishes its annual Rich List - a magazine crammed full of information about the richest individuals in Britain and Ireland. It's clear that the poor are getting poorer in our society, and of course the rich are getting richer.

"The combined wealth of the 1,000 richest men and women in Britain has reached Olympian heights in the past year, setting a Rich List record of more that £414 billion. The figure represents a 4.7% rise on the 2011 total . . . 

The wealth of those with between £750m and £330m (ranked 101 to 250) is up 7.8% this year, with those worth £328m to £151m (ranked 251 - 500) seeing even greater gains of 9%".

So all these millionaires and billionaires are sharing the pain of the recession? Hmmm. And what do all these people actually do with all that wealth? Put it to some good use? No, they use it to make even more money of course. These people ARE the 'money markets'. If all else fails they will lend us a bit of their money, but they'll expect to get back a hell of a lot more than they loaned.

The thing with our UK taxation policy is that everybody supports the idea of a graduated income tax policy from zero to 45% (or so) top rate. And this is fine as long as everybody starts out on a level playing field. The problem is - we don't have a level playing field. Therefore there has to be a separate wealth tax to take into account the fact that it's far easier to make money when you already have money - that's if you believe in a fair society. And even George Posh Boy Osborne now realises that many of our richest citizens use clever accountants and tax lawyers to avoid paying even their basic income tax, let alone anything on top of it.

As George Galloway said in his Guardian interview yesterday, speaking about what he would do if he woke up and found he was Prime Minister, "We would bring all our soldiers home from foreign wars – thus saving billions of pounds. We would scrap the renewal of Trident submarines. And we would pursue what Vince Cable said was the £100bn-a-year-plus tax avoidance and tax evasion industry. Thus, we'd have no deficit. If you do the maths, if we did those three things we not only would have no deficit, we'd be quids in. We'd be £80bn up."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/apr/29/george-galloway-interview-bradford-west

So that's Vince Cable, who's as middle of the road as you can get in politics, saying that Britain has a  £100bn-a-year-plus tax avoidance and tax evasion industry.

Imagine what the country could be like if we achieved an increase in the national budget ( and also greater equality) through a wealth tax? How come no-one's talking about a wealth tax on this side of the budget?

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Thinking about our Parliament, it was interesting watching the entire hour of Cameron answering questions in the Commons yesterday. I've often wished I had the wit and the intelligence to become a politician - the speed of thought, the breadth of knowledge, the smooth command of language, the ability to communicate with confidence, eloquence and nuance. And yes there are many such people in Parliament. On the other hand, there are many - particularly on the Conservative side - who appear to be witless, ignorant, bigoted ranters who simply stand up when called upon by the Speaker and shout out their planted questions and their stupid tirades. So now I'm thinking - I can do that! I can stand up and rant with the worst of them! Gizza job!

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Congrats to Ed Miliband for doing an excellent job yesterday - word-perfect in his delivery, speaking with passion and conviction, and saying all that needed to be said about the Prime Minister's determination to avoid investigating Hunt's improper behaviour as a Minister, lest it also reveal his own improper behaviour as Prime Minister.

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Other articles worth reading in the Guardian today:

Most Israeli citizens don't want a war with Iran

Binyamin Netanyahu and western hawks who seek an early strike are ignoring Israel's security experts and people

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/apr/29/israel-citizens-dont-want-war-iran

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David Cameron must make the Conservative party look like the nationby Neil O'Brien

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/apr/29/cameron-make-conservatives-look-like-nation

This one's a hoot. O'Brien is another of these creepy young men that hang around the political scene who has a first class degree in PPE at Oxford and yet knows jack shit about anything important. He's the director of a creepy right-wing think-tank called Policy Exchange.

Cameronism meant that middle-class people no longer felt guilty voting for a party that had previously looked homophobic, bigoted and old-fashioned. This was a big achievement, made in the teeth of opposition from the right. But there was a whole second thrust to the modernisation project that has made less progress. The "blue collar" dimension of modernisation was about giving ordinary working people a reason to vote Tory. It was about reviving the party in the north, and shaking off perceptions that the Tories were just a party for the rich. However, in polling we carried out in February (long before pastygate or the changes to the top rate of tax), two-thirds of voters still thought the party "looks after the interests of the rich, not ordinary people". Even a quarter of Tory voters agreed.

Their problem is specifically in the great northern cities, which remain Tory-free zones. Despite the party's revival elsewhere, there are still no Tories on city councils like those of Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield and Newcastle.

Firstly, the Conservatives need to look more like the nation as a whole. A new YouGov poll for Policy Exchange asked people how the Tories need to change. Voters want the party to field more candidates who are working class, and have business experience outside politics. Tory swing voters in the north also think the party urgently needs more northern voices. This matters, because if you take people doing identical jobs in the north and the south, our poll shows that people in the north are much more likely to describe themselves as working class. Voters now think even Labour is too middle class, and that problem is even more acute for the Conservatives.

As we observed yesterday, Baroness Warsi has the advantage of being a black woman who speaks with a slight northern accent, and for this reason, as well as her sheer ability to waffle and bullshit, she keeps getting wheeled out by the Tories to speak for them whenever they have a problem (which is most of the time) - even though she's never been elected to Parliament.

Policy needs to change too. Voters' most important priority is to get the economy moving and get people off the dole. One popular way to reduce unemployment would be to increase work requirements for welfare claimants.

Higher unemployment in northern cities explains a lot of the north-south divide in voting patterns. So getting dole queues down is also the key to the Tories doing better in the northern cities.

The Nazis had a similar problem with their economy and unemployment, and look how well they did with compulsory work for the unemployed at (what shall we say?) . . . very low wages.

Ask people about their own lives and the number one issue is the cost of living – particularly for people in the north. People are gobsmacked by soaring electricity and fuel bills, and think politicians don't understand the pressure they are feeling. 

And who was it that privatised our national utilities so as to make huge private profits out of providing basic energy supplies? - oh yes, Thatcher and her pals. Still unforgiven for that, amongst many other things.

How could the government tackle poverty when it has no money?

Er - excuse me? See Galloway's comments above on money wasted on unusable weapons of mass destruction, on fighting useless and counterproductive wars, etc. Let alone the money we've allowed the rich and the super-rich to take out of the country and into tax havens. Let alone the money that could be brought in through a wealth tax and if necessary earmarked for directly tackling poverty. And of course that would also boost tax revenues because the poor are more likely to spend their money immediately, and in so doing generate more tax receipts through extra VAT on all goods and services. And that's before we even get to the fact that employed people don't need dole payments or as much additional support such as housing benefit.

So what else does Tory Boy propose?

Voters overwhelmingly think the real way to fight poverty is to tackle the root causes, like educational failure, rather than spend more on benefits. The government should pilot a successor to Labour's Sure Start programme. 

The 'real way'? The 'root causes'? Which are nothing to do with greedy and corrupt bankers or useless politicians? So let's just re-start the Labour Early Years programme that was slashed by Cameron and Osborne, with a little help from Cleggie and little Danny.

And finally -

How about introducing much tougher penalties for hate crimes? After all, when there is disorder and crime it is not the rich or strong who suffer, but the weak, the poor, and those who are "different". It would be tough and fair. These are the values that should shape the next phase of tory modernisation.

Same old, same old. And that's all, folks. Of course we need punishment for those who commit hate crimes. But what about education and rehabilitation for those who vent their anger and frustration through ignorance and bigotry and sometimes violence? And what does this Tory muppet propose we do by way of meaningful education to tackle the ignorance and the bigotry before it becomes embedded in children's hearts and minds? Nothing?

As for the 'disorder and crime' that impacts so strongly on 'the weak, the poor, and those who are "different"' . . . have we learned nothing at all from last year's riots? Do we still not understand that it's poverty and hopelessness and gross inequality that breed disorder and crime in the first place? (Disorderly and criminal bankers excepted.)

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Dammit - I was intending to write about -

Pay teachers according to performance, MPs propose
Schoolteachers' pay should be tied to the value they add to pupils' performance, MPs are to recommend
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/may/01/pay-teachers-according-to-performance

Bollocks to that. You can read about it for yourselves. You can bet they won't be rewarding those teachers who are responsible for raising young people's levels of social, emotional and spiritual intelligence. When politicians talk about 'performance'-related pay you know very well that all they're interested in is attainment in timed tests and examinations. Fucking outrageous. Thank goodness there are decent people in the teachers' Trades Unions who are speaking out against this bullshit on this grey and grim May Day.

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* Right-wing governments have traditionally sought to repress the message behind International Workers' Day, with fascist governments in Portugal, Italy, Germany and Spain abolishing the workers' holiday, the official May 1st holiday in the US being Loyalty Day, and the Conservative party in the UK currently attempting to abolish the UK's annual May Day Bank Holiday.  -  Wikipedia

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STOP PRESS!

Rupert Murdoch 'not a fit person' to lead News Corp - MPs

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17898029

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17910089

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17905775

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17908839

"If at all relevant times, Rupert Murdoch did not take steps to become fully informed about phone-hacking, he turned a blind eye and exhibited wilful blindess to what was going on in his companies and publications.

"This culture, we consider, permeated from the top throughout the organisation and speaks volumes about the lack of effective corporate governance at News Corporation and News International.

We conclude therefore that Rupert Murdoch is not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company".

'That description of Mr Murdoch by the British parliament as "not a fit person" is likely to have significant consequences.' - Robert Peston

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/may/01/rupert-murdoch-not-fit-select-committee

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/may/01/rupert-murdoch-news-international

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/video/2012/may/01/rupert-murdoch-select-committee-video

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Layer 239 . . . Political Porn, Souls Laid Bare, and All That Jazz

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This weekend has been a high water mark for desperate over-stressed middle-aged male politicians flashing their naked emotions in front of TV cameras.

It was hard to tear one's eyes away from a gasping Alastair Campbell welling up with barely suppressed emotions to the point of choked silence for what seems like almost a minute in the company of Andrew Marr and viewers on live TV this morning.*

To make it more like a proper porn show we should have had viewers phoning in their own questions in an attempt to get Ally C to expose even more of his private "bits". If he has problems with the mild questions and comments of a pretty non-threatening Marrtian then imagine how much more we would get from him coming into contact (even virtual contact) with proper panting punters who long to see what's really concealed beneath the sharp suit and the professional scowl.

Marr's questioning, of course, was not about Ally's new 'novel', the promotion of which was the reason for allowing Marr this opportunity to undress him a little. No - it was about Iraq, Ally's appearance in front of Chilcott and Co, and Blair's continuing denial that he deliberately lied to and misled Parliament.

We should nail this question right now. Ally sees, quite rightly, that Blair is not a LIAR. To be a liar you have to know that what you're saying is untrue.

What psychopathic liars do is convince themselves that the stuff that comes out of their mouths is true, or at least not factually incorrect, as far as they care to see. Not that they care to delve too deeply into what they actually want to believe, and what they want their listeners or victims to believe.

An example of this would be Hitler actually believing that the Jews were responsible for all of Germany's ills. And also believing that the Final Solution was the correct one. ("I did what I thought was right.")

(Incidentally, I wonder what level of collateral damage Blair would have considered acceptable in Iraq. 100,000 killed, injured and made homeless? One million? 2 million? 6 million?)

Did Ally also believe in WMD and the 45 minutes? Does he still? This is hardly the point. He simply believes that his pal Tony believed it. And Tony was not, therefore, a liar.

Does Ally then see, especially with hindsight, that Tone is/was a psychopath?**

Again, it's beside the point. Nobody's asking him that question, and no-one's likely to. And there's no way he'd answer it honestly if they did.

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I once had the ill-fortune to sit and listen to Blair whilst he made a speech. It's the dead eyes that give it away. Dead in the sense of not being able to connect in any proper empathetic sense with other people. Dead as in unable to really look and observe properly. His eyes function only in the service of his own ego and his own ambitions.

It's a bit like the Terminator - a robot who knows he's a robot, whose relentless existence is only for the purpose of carrying out its mission, which is twofold: to survive and prosper, and to defeat its enemies.

There's nothing wrong with its logic circuits - they're probably better, faster and stronger than any actual human - by far. What it lacks, of course, is a beating, emotional heart, a genuine concern for others, and a spirit capable of feeling either transcendental joy and bliss, or genuine sadness and melancholy.

Joy is presumably what Ally feels when Burnley FC occasionally win a match. (Why else carry on going to their matches?) And as of today, let no-one say that he has no feelings or emotions; or call him Mr Angry or Mr Terminator. The more subtle and sincere feelings may be unusually well hidden, on the whole, but they're in there somewhere.

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As indeed they are in Gordon Brown, who appears to have broken down and cried on camera whilst recording a programme this week.

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*
See the relevant part of the interview on video, and read more about it, and about Gordo, here -

Alastair Campbell in emotional defence of Blair on Iraq

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8502730.stm

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**
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopath

Psychopathy is a personality disorder whose hallmark is a lack of empathy. Researcher Robert Hare, whose Hare Psychopathy Checklist is widely used, describes psychopaths as "intraspecies predators who use charisma, manipulation, intimidation, sexual intercourse and violence to control others and to satisfy their own needs. Lacking in conscience and empathy, they take what they want and do as they please, violating social norms and expectations without guilt or remorse".

Psychopaths are glib and superficially charming, and many psychopaths are excellent mimics of normal human emotion; some psychopaths can blend in, undetected, in a variety of surroundings, including corporate environments. There is neither a cure nor any effective treatment for psychopathy; there are no medications or other techniques which can instill empathy, and psychopaths who undergo traditional talk therapy only become more adept at manipulating others. The consensus among researchers is that psychopathy stems from a specific neurological disorder which is biological in origin and present from birth. It is estimated that one percent of the general population are psychopaths.

The prototypical psychopath has deficits or deviances in several areas: interpersonal relationships, emotion, and self-control. Psychopaths gain satisfaction through antisocial behavior, and do not experience shame, guilt, or remorse for their actions.

[Remember Tone was given the opportunity by Chilcott to express some regrets - and totally flunked it. Whoops!]

Psychopaths lack a sense of guilt or remorse for any harm they may have caused others, instead rationalizing the behavior, blaming someone else, or denying it outright.

Psychopaths also lack empathy towards others in general, resulting in tactlessness, insensitivity, and contemptuousness. All of this belies their tendency to make a good, likable first impression. Psychopaths have a superficial charm about them, enabled by a willingness to say anything without concern for accuracy or truth. Shallow affect also describes the psychopath's tendency for genuine emotion to be short lived and egocentric with an overall cold demeanor. They do not . . .  deeply recognize the risk of being caught, disbelieved or injured as a result of their behaviour.

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Also important to have on record Clare Short's efforts to put the record straight last week

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8501087.stm

Clare was on Question Time last week, alongside George Galloway, Charlie ('Lord') Falconer, Melanie Phillips, and the makeweight, Teresa May.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/question_time/8500549.stm

This Question Time, from Coventry, was one of the best ever. Short and Galloway, especially now they're unconstrained by party allegiances, are genuine loose cannons, not afraid to speak truth to power. See it here -

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00qn443#segments

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The Virtual Revolution

Another episode of this excellent series on TV last night.

How 20 Years of the Web has Reshaped our Lives

Good talking heads - Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Al Gore, Stephen Fry, etc.

Discover more about The Virtual Revolution with our exclusive 3D Documentary Explorer. Mixing video from the series, with the web pages that tell the story of The Virtual Revolution, this is a radical new way to experience a documentary.

See all 4 programmes coming up in the next 7 days (including repeats).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/virtualrevolution/

http://alekskrotoski.com/

Al Gore said, "The web is capable of supporting a rising political consciousness. It will have a more profound effect on civilisation than the invention of the printing press."

Others said,

* The web tends to lead naturally to openness
* It's impossible for any one government to either police or control the web
* The web allows China's masses to give shape and direction to their spontaneous energy
* The web is "Against the Machine"
* Paypal is one of the means by which barriers between people can be broken down
*The web enables you to contact the kind of people you have something in common with, and people you can learn from.

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Biddles @ Biddles

One of the essentials for a really good live music venue is that it's situated within easy walking distance of home so that you can stroll there after consuming a couple of whiskies, a pint, and a glass of wine with dinner, and still roll home afterwards after drinking more wine, preferably after paying no more than a reasonable £3.20 for a decent glass of house red.

On top of that, if you can get a seat right next to the band, with a clear view of how the keyboard player is playing his Hammond XK3 - which drawbars he's using, etc - then you might find yourself in jazz heaven.

Of course it depends on the quality of the band. The Biddle Brothers Band playing at the bar of the same name were excellent last night. Not perfect, but very good indeed. Well done Biddles for bringing them back, and for continuing to run such a funky venue, late license and all . . .

http://www.hackneycitizen.co.uk/2008/11/29/claptons-community-pubs/

Biddle Brothers
88 Lower Clapton Road E5 0QR

Nestled in a crevice of Lower Clapton Road, the Biddle Brothers pub belies its almost Zen-like external anonymity by its gloriously rich interior, seducing the weary traveller with a warm promise of cold drinks and deep, comfy couches.

Surrounded by paintings from local artists, Biddle Bothers isn’t cheap but it is a beautifully kept and friendly local bar with a thriving community of loyal regulars.

Owned and run by Paco the Dog, the one-time builders’ merchant features a full programme of regular live acoustic and open mic nights, making good use of the obligatory piano-in-the-corner and its pretty good aural acoustics in the tiny hub of a back room.

Think nothing of sitting down, putting your feet up, play with Paco and passing an enjoyable evening forgetting about your worries.

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In a way it reminds me of nights at the Mercer's Arms back in the day, sipping pints whilst listening to great bands like the original Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, up close and personal. That was also the beginning of my love for blues and jazz played on the Hammond B3 with a Lesley cabinet amp - standing just feet away from guys like Wynder K Frog as they worked the keyboard, creating amazing soul-gripping sounds from keys and drawbars. Keith Emerson - when he was still with The Nice. 'America'!

Oh yes! - and Brian Auger (with Julia Driscoll) - Season of the Witch. Unforgettable.

Here's an interesting little musical history -

http://deanocity3.piczo.com/coventrysgigconcertguide1960-85?cr=5&linkvar=000044


There's only one mention of the Mercer's Arms though. Strange.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillfields

Rod Stewart used to sing with Brian Auger's 'Steampacket', along with Julie Driscoll and Long John Baldry: they once played the Hotel Leofric jazz club in Broadgate.

"The Jeff Beck Group snapped him up as lead singer for three years until 1969. Some Coventrians still debate whether Stewart performed with the band when they played the Mercer's Arms, near the old Highfield Road stadium, during this period."

I can clear this up. The confusion stems from the fact that the Beck group didn't actually play there. Auger & Driscoll did, and Rod the Mod definitely wasn't with them.

http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/coventry-evening-telegraph-england/mi_7969/is_2006_Nov_7/cov-rod-40-years-entertainment/ai_n34409181/
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Jazz

Johnny Dankworth RIP

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/feb/07/sir-john-dankworth-obituary

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dankworth

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/tv-radio-obituaries/7180882/Sir-John-Dankworth.html

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Desert Island Discs

Gok Wan this week. The wonderful Gok. I hadn't realised what an amazing life story he has, and that he's a lad from the Midlands.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00qg0r2/Desert_Island_Discs_Gok_Wan/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gok_Wan

He has good taste in music too - Tracey Chapman, Lou Reed, Brian Ferry . . . In fact two songs by the wonderful Ms Chapman.

"It definitely wasn't because I was talented", said Gok, very amusingly, when pondering why he'd been given a place at a school of speech and drama.

And he was another male who this weekend cracked up with emotion - whilst remembering and reflecting on what it felt like to look fat, and to feel ugly.
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