In a recent blog I said Jeremy Corbyn doesn't intend to nationalise the banks if he becomes the next Prime Minister. This morning, however, he has suggested that rather than selling off RBS as the government is doing piece by piece, the nation as a whole would be better served if it were to remain in public hands.
The sell-off of shares this morning will accrue £1.2 billion, which, according to George Osborne, will be used to reduce the national debt. This despite the fact that the British public will be losing out to the tune of £1 billion because the share price has been set at an unrealistically low figure. Reducing the national debt, George? Really? Most advanced industrial countries have vast national debts, many of them, like us, running at around the same as their GDP. In fact our debt is only 91% of our GDP. For other countries it is a lot higher, like Japan,where it is 226%, or Belgium, where it is 102%. Even the US, with all its vast natural resources and huge manufacturing base, it is 72%. We have had a substantial national debt at least since 1815, yet somehow the nation has not gone down the tubes. Yet now, for some reason, reducing it comes before preserving vital public services like libraries, community centres and many other services now under threat because of the huge cuts in public spending the Tories have introduced. It's not financial prudence we're talking about here, its politics, pure and simple.
RBS is one of the biggest banks in the world, and was when it nearly went tits up in 2008. Understandably, the Labour administration felt it had to protect people's savings, and bailed it out to the tune of several hundred billions. Slowly but surely RBS has climbed out of the pit it dug for itself through its own greed, but now, just when it looks like that, given a couple more years, it might actually be paying a dividend to the people of Britain who own it,, the Tories are selling it off at a discount price.
I find myself in full agreement with JC on this one, only I would go a little further. I say nationalise all the major banks, and the utilities and railways as well. I know the record of nationalised companies hasn't been great, but that doesn't mean it couldn't be done better this time. And as for compensating the present owners, let's do what we've done for at least the last 200 years: add it to the national debt and remain calm.
Tuesday, 4 August 2015
Saturday, 1 August 2015
July 2015 book and film review
BOOKS
FLASHMAN ON THE MARCH, by George McDonald Frazer.
In this episode of the dastardly one's progress through what appears to be all the critical events of the 19th century, we find him in Abyssinia, acting as envoy to general Napier, who has been sent to sort out Emperor Theodore, who has taken a number of British hostages and is threatening to off them, maybe by throwing them off a cliff or perhaps immolating them. He hasn't made his mind up yet. Theodore is a despot's despot, and has committed atrocities that would have even the most vicious IS militant turning away and finding a quiet place to vomit. Can Flashy penetrate his security and do what, strictly unofficially, you understand, he has been told to do: place a bullet in his brain.
As this is a Flashman novel you can be sure to find the usual spicy ingredients: a sulky, gorgeous creature (often more than one) with whom Flashy can practice his famed techniques of seduction, a genuine historical context from which we are able to learn much of our country's noble imperial past, and some truly thrilling adventures which are told with pace and verve.
Auberon Waugh has said Frazer is a far better writer than Ian Fleming, which as a firm fan of the Bond books I find a bit hard to swallow, but what I have to accept is that the Flashman books are highly entertaining, skillfully constructed and represent perhaps the apex of "Airport reading". Try any of them and see for yourself.
THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN, by Thomas Mann
In the early part of the 20th century, a young man travels from the "flatlands" of northern Germany to Switzerland to visit his cousin who is being treated for TB in a sanatorium in the high Alps. There he encounters not only his ailing relative but a whole collection of disparate characters who have been drawn together by their life-threatening plight, and the professionals who are dedicated to their cure. He finds himself stimulated, disgusted and entranced in turns by the inmates, one of whom he finds himself falling in love with, despite his better judgement...
I first read this wonderful book in 2005, and found an afterword written by Mann himself, who, in a rather unusual appeal, suggested that we read the book again. He did not specify whether we should re-read the book immediately, or leave an interval, so I chose the latter and left a full ten years between the first read and the re-appraisal.
The Magic Mountain is widely seen as one of the most important works of literature to come out of Germany in the 20th century, praised for its originality, skill of characterisation and intellectual power. Some see it as an allegory of the nameless forces that circled each other in the run-up to World War I, others as a deeply insightful analysis of health and illness, life and death and the human condition itself. For myself, I have never met anyone who having read it didn't rate it among the best books they'd ever read.
I share this view, which is only being cemented by the re-read. In addition to all its other wonders, as a medical man I found myself continually fascinated by the authentic medical detail, which gives a unique perspective on how TB was treated in the days before antibiotics. I'm afraid that the summary of that has to be, not very well, but then consumption, phthisis, or whatever you want to call this terrible plague, remains a major therapeutic challenge to this day, especially as the bacillus responsible for TB continues to evolve and become resistant to the treatments offered.
In conclusion, what a book!
FILMS
EX MACHINA (2014) D- Alex Garland. An internet trillionaire invites one of his brightest employees to his mountain retreat where he invites him to have a chat with his latest computer to see if it can pass the Turing Test. You know the one: if you have a conversation with something behind a screen and you can't distinguish its responses from that an intelligent human would make, then to all intents and purposes that machine is thinking, or at least performing all the tasks a human being does when it is thinking.
The computer in question appears to pass the test with ease; indeed, the internet mogul says "we're already way past that" and states his hidden agenda: that the computer comes in a rather attractive (if obviously mechanical) shape, and the real idea is to see if the employee can form an emotional relationship with a machine.
Stephen Hawking has spoken of the problems that might ensue once we start making computers that are self aware, and oh dear, our computer genius probably should have paid more attention to Hawking's remarks. Or read some of Asimov's robot stories, where, after establishing the three laws of robotics that are designed to keep all humans safe, then made a whole career out of writing stories about how those laws can go horribly wrong.
Channel 4 is currently showing their very good series Humans, which in some ways covers the same ground. Based on a series originally created in Sweden (in which, by the way, there were some explicit sex scenes, which for reasons of sheer prudery were dropped when the English version was made), it too addresses a world where self-aware machines wander the streets trying, just like us, to find a meaning to their existence. Alex Garland has made a fascinating and thought provoking film. I liked Domhnall Gleeson as the wide eyed computer nerd falling for the foxy Alicia Vikander as the thoughtful android, as well as Oscar Isaac as the hubris-laden internet mogul.
Good stuff.
THE BLADE (1995) D- Tsui Hark. 2 men work in a Chinese sword-making factory when they protect a monk being assaulted by a bunch of thugs. Badly beaten, they swear revenge, while the two men, who start out as firm friends, become enemies when one is anointed the new factory boss when the owner retires. What follows is a bewildering array of cinematic techniques, super-tight close-ups, vivid colour washes, balletic violence and lots and lots of blood.
I only saw this film 2 weeks ago and I have already forgotten some of the plot elements- no matter. What remains is a dazzling memory of the look of the film- and I'm not the only one. Numerous actioners since have borrowed heavily from the cinematography and general style of the movie- none more so than Quentin Tarantino, who lifted wholesale many of its techniques into his own films, notably the Kill Bill series.
Ground breaking stuff.
JURASSIC WORLD (2015) D- Colin Trevorrow. Oh no, they've opened another dinosaur theme park, and this time, not content with your run-of-the-mill T rexes and velociraptors, they have genetically created brand new, super dinosaurs with bigger fangs and super-claws. Can you guess how far into the movie you get before everything goes horribly wrong?
I saw the first Jurassic Park movie in 1993- loved it and thought I was witnessing the cutting edge of computer-graphiced special effects. And it didn't hurt that it was made by the film world's top, grand-scale thriller producer. This film owes a great deal to that first offering, and acknowledges it in frequent and sometimes hilarious references. All this adds a rather endearing quality to the picture, which also demonstrates how little progress has been made in computer graphics despite an intervening period of more than 20 years.
KATYN (2007)D- Andres Wajda. In September 1939 Germany invaded Poland from the west. Shortly thereafter, the Soviets invaded from the east, and as the two states had signed a non aggression pact there was an uneasy stalemate which persisted until June 1941 when Hitler ordered the invasion of Russia itself. Once they occupied the whole country, the Nazis discovered evidence of a terrible massacre committed in the Katyn forest. Anything up to 20,000 people had been murdered, doctors, lawyers, academics, the entire officer class of the Polish military: basically the cream of Polish intelligentsia.They were quick to publicise the evidence, but the Russians countered by saying that the Nazis, and not they, had committed the atrocity. And here is the heart of this film: the mystery surrounding the massacre; what was known and who knew it? It is now known, only because Gorbachev released the relevant documents in the late 1980s, that the Russians were indeed to blame. But back in the middle of WWII, who will reveal the truth, and who will find the knowledge impossible to bear?
Powerful stuff, though not for the faint hearted.
ON THE ROAD (2012) D- Walter Salles. Being the life and times of Dean Moriarty, aka Neal Cassady (Garrett Hedlund), key figure of America's 1950 "Beat Generation", who rubbed shoulders with Alan Ginsberg, Ken Kesey and most of the other players in that crazy, excessively talented cohort. If you have read Jack Kerouack's famous book, you will already be acquainted with these figures, and know that their lives, while being doubtless infinitely entertaining for them, left a swathe of disappointed, abandoned people in their wake, and this is well demonstrated in the movie. Kristen Stewart shines brightly as the muse to Moriarty and others; most of the men, however, come over as selfish, hedonistic assholes, which I have to say in the last analysis they were. I have known a few speed freaks in my time, and this is how they live: a high octane, self obsessed existence with little regard for others. In fact, the film shows all this rather well; too well in fact, as it threatens to become a little dull with its repetitive themes.
MAGIC IN THE MOONLIGHT (2014) D- Woody Allen. A famous magician devotes his spare time to exposing fake mediums- until he comes across someone who might actually be the real deal. It doesn't hurt that she is an extremely attractive and intelligent woman. Nonetheless, he will stop at nothing to expose her as a fraud- if she is one, that is.
Woody Allen once said that when sex is good it's really good, and when it's bad, it's still pretty good. I'd say the same about his movies. When they're good (Blue Jasmine, Crimes and Misdemeanours) they aspire to genuine greatness; even when they're not so great, like this one, they're still better than most other films you'll see in any given year. Colin Firth is excellent as the wood-be debunker, and Emma Stone highly appealing as the medium who seems to know everything before anyone else.
MIRROR MIRROR (2012) D- Tarsam Singh. An evil queen (Julia Roberts) uses dark forces to keep her realm in thrall, but a beautiful young girl (Lily Collins) threatens to be rather more than a fly in her pot of cold cream. She would murder her rival, but she escapes her assassins and falls in with a gang of diminutive neer-do-wells.
Played as much for laughs as thrills, this re-working of Snow White works quite well. Roberts clearly relishes the chance of playing a super-villain, while the Seven Dwarves ((or Seven Little People as we should now refer to them) warm to their roles with great glee.
Pretty good, really.
FLASHMAN ON THE MARCH, by George McDonald Frazer.
In this episode of the dastardly one's progress through what appears to be all the critical events of the 19th century, we find him in Abyssinia, acting as envoy to general Napier, who has been sent to sort out Emperor Theodore, who has taken a number of British hostages and is threatening to off them, maybe by throwing them off a cliff or perhaps immolating them. He hasn't made his mind up yet. Theodore is a despot's despot, and has committed atrocities that would have even the most vicious IS militant turning away and finding a quiet place to vomit. Can Flashy penetrate his security and do what, strictly unofficially, you understand, he has been told to do: place a bullet in his brain.
As this is a Flashman novel you can be sure to find the usual spicy ingredients: a sulky, gorgeous creature (often more than one) with whom Flashy can practice his famed techniques of seduction, a genuine historical context from which we are able to learn much of our country's noble imperial past, and some truly thrilling adventures which are told with pace and verve.
Auberon Waugh has said Frazer is a far better writer than Ian Fleming, which as a firm fan of the Bond books I find a bit hard to swallow, but what I have to accept is that the Flashman books are highly entertaining, skillfully constructed and represent perhaps the apex of "Airport reading". Try any of them and see for yourself.
THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN, by Thomas Mann
In the early part of the 20th century, a young man travels from the "flatlands" of northern Germany to Switzerland to visit his cousin who is being treated for TB in a sanatorium in the high Alps. There he encounters not only his ailing relative but a whole collection of disparate characters who have been drawn together by their life-threatening plight, and the professionals who are dedicated to their cure. He finds himself stimulated, disgusted and entranced in turns by the inmates, one of whom he finds himself falling in love with, despite his better judgement...
I first read this wonderful book in 2005, and found an afterword written by Mann himself, who, in a rather unusual appeal, suggested that we read the book again. He did not specify whether we should re-read the book immediately, or leave an interval, so I chose the latter and left a full ten years between the first read and the re-appraisal.
The Magic Mountain is widely seen as one of the most important works of literature to come out of Germany in the 20th century, praised for its originality, skill of characterisation and intellectual power. Some see it as an allegory of the nameless forces that circled each other in the run-up to World War I, others as a deeply insightful analysis of health and illness, life and death and the human condition itself. For myself, I have never met anyone who having read it didn't rate it among the best books they'd ever read.
I share this view, which is only being cemented by the re-read. In addition to all its other wonders, as a medical man I found myself continually fascinated by the authentic medical detail, which gives a unique perspective on how TB was treated in the days before antibiotics. I'm afraid that the summary of that has to be, not very well, but then consumption, phthisis, or whatever you want to call this terrible plague, remains a major therapeutic challenge to this day, especially as the bacillus responsible for TB continues to evolve and become resistant to the treatments offered.
In conclusion, what a book!
FILMS
EX MACHINA (2014) D- Alex Garland. An internet trillionaire invites one of his brightest employees to his mountain retreat where he invites him to have a chat with his latest computer to see if it can pass the Turing Test. You know the one: if you have a conversation with something behind a screen and you can't distinguish its responses from that an intelligent human would make, then to all intents and purposes that machine is thinking, or at least performing all the tasks a human being does when it is thinking.
The computer in question appears to pass the test with ease; indeed, the internet mogul says "we're already way past that" and states his hidden agenda: that the computer comes in a rather attractive (if obviously mechanical) shape, and the real idea is to see if the employee can form an emotional relationship with a machine.
Stephen Hawking has spoken of the problems that might ensue once we start making computers that are self aware, and oh dear, our computer genius probably should have paid more attention to Hawking's remarks. Or read some of Asimov's robot stories, where, after establishing the three laws of robotics that are designed to keep all humans safe, then made a whole career out of writing stories about how those laws can go horribly wrong.
Channel 4 is currently showing their very good series Humans, which in some ways covers the same ground. Based on a series originally created in Sweden (in which, by the way, there were some explicit sex scenes, which for reasons of sheer prudery were dropped when the English version was made), it too addresses a world where self-aware machines wander the streets trying, just like us, to find a meaning to their existence. Alex Garland has made a fascinating and thought provoking film. I liked Domhnall Gleeson as the wide eyed computer nerd falling for the foxy Alicia Vikander as the thoughtful android, as well as Oscar Isaac as the hubris-laden internet mogul.
Good stuff.
THE BLADE (1995) D- Tsui Hark. 2 men work in a Chinese sword-making factory when they protect a monk being assaulted by a bunch of thugs. Badly beaten, they swear revenge, while the two men, who start out as firm friends, become enemies when one is anointed the new factory boss when the owner retires. What follows is a bewildering array of cinematic techniques, super-tight close-ups, vivid colour washes, balletic violence and lots and lots of blood.
I only saw this film 2 weeks ago and I have already forgotten some of the plot elements- no matter. What remains is a dazzling memory of the look of the film- and I'm not the only one. Numerous actioners since have borrowed heavily from the cinematography and general style of the movie- none more so than Quentin Tarantino, who lifted wholesale many of its techniques into his own films, notably the Kill Bill series.
Ground breaking stuff.
JURASSIC WORLD (2015) D- Colin Trevorrow. Oh no, they've opened another dinosaur theme park, and this time, not content with your run-of-the-mill T rexes and velociraptors, they have genetically created brand new, super dinosaurs with bigger fangs and super-claws. Can you guess how far into the movie you get before everything goes horribly wrong?
I saw the first Jurassic Park movie in 1993- loved it and thought I was witnessing the cutting edge of computer-graphiced special effects. And it didn't hurt that it was made by the film world's top, grand-scale thriller producer. This film owes a great deal to that first offering, and acknowledges it in frequent and sometimes hilarious references. All this adds a rather endearing quality to the picture, which also demonstrates how little progress has been made in computer graphics despite an intervening period of more than 20 years.
KATYN (2007)D- Andres Wajda. In September 1939 Germany invaded Poland from the west. Shortly thereafter, the Soviets invaded from the east, and as the two states had signed a non aggression pact there was an uneasy stalemate which persisted until June 1941 when Hitler ordered the invasion of Russia itself. Once they occupied the whole country, the Nazis discovered evidence of a terrible massacre committed in the Katyn forest. Anything up to 20,000 people had been murdered, doctors, lawyers, academics, the entire officer class of the Polish military: basically the cream of Polish intelligentsia.They were quick to publicise the evidence, but the Russians countered by saying that the Nazis, and not they, had committed the atrocity. And here is the heart of this film: the mystery surrounding the massacre; what was known and who knew it? It is now known, only because Gorbachev released the relevant documents in the late 1980s, that the Russians were indeed to blame. But back in the middle of WWII, who will reveal the truth, and who will find the knowledge impossible to bear?
Powerful stuff, though not for the faint hearted.
ON THE ROAD (2012) D- Walter Salles. Being the life and times of Dean Moriarty, aka Neal Cassady (Garrett Hedlund), key figure of America's 1950 "Beat Generation", who rubbed shoulders with Alan Ginsberg, Ken Kesey and most of the other players in that crazy, excessively talented cohort. If you have read Jack Kerouack's famous book, you will already be acquainted with these figures, and know that their lives, while being doubtless infinitely entertaining for them, left a swathe of disappointed, abandoned people in their wake, and this is well demonstrated in the movie. Kristen Stewart shines brightly as the muse to Moriarty and others; most of the men, however, come over as selfish, hedonistic assholes, which I have to say in the last analysis they were. I have known a few speed freaks in my time, and this is how they live: a high octane, self obsessed existence with little regard for others. In fact, the film shows all this rather well; too well in fact, as it threatens to become a little dull with its repetitive themes.
MAGIC IN THE MOONLIGHT (2014) D- Woody Allen. A famous magician devotes his spare time to exposing fake mediums- until he comes across someone who might actually be the real deal. It doesn't hurt that she is an extremely attractive and intelligent woman. Nonetheless, he will stop at nothing to expose her as a fraud- if she is one, that is.
Woody Allen once said that when sex is good it's really good, and when it's bad, it's still pretty good. I'd say the same about his movies. When they're good (Blue Jasmine, Crimes and Misdemeanours) they aspire to genuine greatness; even when they're not so great, like this one, they're still better than most other films you'll see in any given year. Colin Firth is excellent as the wood-be debunker, and Emma Stone highly appealing as the medium who seems to know everything before anyone else.
MIRROR MIRROR (2012) D- Tarsam Singh. An evil queen (Julia Roberts) uses dark forces to keep her realm in thrall, but a beautiful young girl (Lily Collins) threatens to be rather more than a fly in her pot of cold cream. She would murder her rival, but she escapes her assassins and falls in with a gang of diminutive neer-do-wells.
Played as much for laughs as thrills, this re-working of Snow White works quite well. Roberts clearly relishes the chance of playing a super-villain, while the Seven Dwarves ((or Seven Little People as we should now refer to them) warm to their roles with great glee.
Pretty good, really.
Wednesday, 29 July 2015
Walter Palmer: good dentist, poor quality human being
Walter Palmer has made millions out of his dental practice, some of which he has used to travel to beautiful, exotic places and kill things. This hobby, which he "loves" according to his facebook page, involves seeking out some of the most magnificent creatures on Earth: lions, leopards, rhinoceros and exterminating them, sometimes with a high powered rifle, some times with a high-tec, carbon fibre crossbow.
These practices may be legal, as he has plaintively pointed out in his pathetic attempts at self justification, but to me, and apparently a lot of other people, the problem is not law, but morality. That a sophisticated, intelligent person from an advanced country could take pleasure in such a disgusting practice is utterly sickening, and represents a throwback to a less enlightened and bestial era when no one really cared about such things.
Well, Walter, I've got news for you. Seems you have now become a pariah in your own community by neighbours who agree with me that your behaviour is totally unacceptable in modern society. I hope you find it very difficult to cope with the hatred your actions have provoked. In fact, do you know what? I'd like to see you let loose in the woods and have heavily armed hunters come after you. First we'll shoot you with a crossbow bolt and let you wander about seriously wounded for 40 hours. Then (because we do hunt with compassion) we'll dispatch you with a bullet to the brain. How'd that be, Walter?
I feel I must point out, however, the fact that part of the problem here is the Christian religion. I understand there is something in Genesis where it is said that the creatures of the Earth were put there by God for our benefit. When you start with an idea like that, it isn't a big stretch to find it acceptable, as Walter Palmer clearly does, to kill any dangerous, delicious or endangered animal just because you can and because it's a buzz. Yes, we are the most intelligent animals on the planet, but that should help us to act with restraint and compassion, not brutality and sheer savagery. You want a buzz, Walter? Then try cocaine, like everyone else. Or golf. Or masturbating. Anything but killing innocent creatures who have done you no harm.
These practices may be legal, as he has plaintively pointed out in his pathetic attempts at self justification, but to me, and apparently a lot of other people, the problem is not law, but morality. That a sophisticated, intelligent person from an advanced country could take pleasure in such a disgusting practice is utterly sickening, and represents a throwback to a less enlightened and bestial era when no one really cared about such things.
Well, Walter, I've got news for you. Seems you have now become a pariah in your own community by neighbours who agree with me that your behaviour is totally unacceptable in modern society. I hope you find it very difficult to cope with the hatred your actions have provoked. In fact, do you know what? I'd like to see you let loose in the woods and have heavily armed hunters come after you. First we'll shoot you with a crossbow bolt and let you wander about seriously wounded for 40 hours. Then (because we do hunt with compassion) we'll dispatch you with a bullet to the brain. How'd that be, Walter?
I feel I must point out, however, the fact that part of the problem here is the Christian religion. I understand there is something in Genesis where it is said that the creatures of the Earth were put there by God for our benefit. When you start with an idea like that, it isn't a big stretch to find it acceptable, as Walter Palmer clearly does, to kill any dangerous, delicious or endangered animal just because you can and because it's a buzz. Yes, we are the most intelligent animals on the planet, but that should help us to act with restraint and compassion, not brutality and sheer savagery. You want a buzz, Walter? Then try cocaine, like everyone else. Or golf. Or masturbating. Anything but killing innocent creatures who have done you no harm.
Tuesday, 28 July 2015
OMG, Jeremy Corbyn might win!
Recent polls have put JC ahead in the race to be the new leader of the Labour party, a prospect that has many talking about the death of hope for Labour in any subsequent general election with him at the helm. People have spoken of Michael Foot's disaster in 1983 as being about to be re-enacted. Party stalwarts like Margaret Beckett have voiced their regret at having nominated him to "expand the debate", only to find him now a kind of dreadful Frankenstein's monster now he might actually win. Meanwhile, ultra-left wing militants have been joining up by the drove (allegedly) in order to push the vote through.
But this race will not be decided by the latest incarnation of the "militant tendency" or whatever they call themselves today. It will be decided by Labour party members who have been dismayed by Ed Miliband's woeful performance when it really mattered and who want someone of genuine conviction; someone who really wants to push forward with a new brand of democratic socialism. I note that the nearest equivalent to a Blairite, namely Liz Kendall has all but pulled out of the race due to lack of interest, which is another indicator of the fact that Labour members don't want to go back to a time when it was hard to tell the difference between the policies of Labour and Conservative in all the areas that count.
I don't believe Jeremy Corbyn represents the death of hope to Labour's chances of winning the next election. I believe a lot of people are deeply opposed to austerity in a world where Osborne and his ilk allow rampant capitalism to make a tiny number of people fabulously rich while millions struggle to make ends meet. I believe a lot of people care a great deal more about the environment and stemming the worst effects of global warming than do the Tories. His arguments are thoughtful and well reasoned and could strike a chord with many, even in "middle England"- wherever that is. His arguments are not really that extreme: he doesn't want to nationalize the banks and the utilities- although I can't see how the state could do a worse job than the "we're here to make a profit for the shareholders" lot who currently run them.
You go, Jezza!
But this race will not be decided by the latest incarnation of the "militant tendency" or whatever they call themselves today. It will be decided by Labour party members who have been dismayed by Ed Miliband's woeful performance when it really mattered and who want someone of genuine conviction; someone who really wants to push forward with a new brand of democratic socialism. I note that the nearest equivalent to a Blairite, namely Liz Kendall has all but pulled out of the race due to lack of interest, which is another indicator of the fact that Labour members don't want to go back to a time when it was hard to tell the difference between the policies of Labour and Conservative in all the areas that count.
I don't believe Jeremy Corbyn represents the death of hope to Labour's chances of winning the next election. I believe a lot of people are deeply opposed to austerity in a world where Osborne and his ilk allow rampant capitalism to make a tiny number of people fabulously rich while millions struggle to make ends meet. I believe a lot of people care a great deal more about the environment and stemming the worst effects of global warming than do the Tories. His arguments are thoughtful and well reasoned and could strike a chord with many, even in "middle England"- wherever that is. His arguments are not really that extreme: he doesn't want to nationalize the banks and the utilities- although I can't see how the state could do a worse job than the "we're here to make a profit for the shareholders" lot who currently run them.
You go, Jezza!
Sunday, 19 July 2015
Tories on a roll, but don't tell me what to call IS
The decisive election victory of the Tories in May has left them free to enact many of the changes they were stymied from introducing by the Libdems. The latter paid heavily for their perceived duplicity (their U turn on tuition fees, for example) by having their 60-strong parliamentary showing whittled down to just 8. In hindsight the decision to abandon them wholesale might now seem a trifle disingenuous, as the Tries go full steam ahead into their ultra-right wing agenda.
We have seen George Osborne launch his new budget in triumph, his position immensely enhanced by the outright Tory majority and now apparently in pole position to take over from DC when he retires in 2020. Yesterday the end of subsidies for onshore wind farms was announced, and it can only be a matter of time before the green light is given to fracking projects around the country- doubtless with subsidies offered to them instead. So we can see how little the Tories care about the environment, if weren't sure already.
And last week David Cameron registered his objection to the BBC calling IS IS. "It isn't Islamic, and it isn't a state" is the gist of his comments, and seemed to imply the BBC were offering comfort to them by giving them that moniker. I see they have now started calling them "so called IS" which may or may not be what DC had in mind. Of course the Beeb has a lot more to worry about from the Tories than this little detail: there are some in their ranks who would disband the whole socialist project (as they see it) altogether, and even more benign elements say the BBC is too big and should be scaled down considerably.
But back to IS for a moment. The last time I checked IS is a state by any normal definition of the word. They control a huge swathe of Iraq and Syria, four times the size of Britain. They run the schools, the hospitals and much of the infrastructure. They are in charge in Mosul, Iraq's second city. That's like them being in control of Birmingham.
It's no good thinking you can change reality by changing a name. It doesn't work. I recall in the aftermath of 911 when Fox news started referring to suicide bombers as "homicide bombers", even though every bomb I've ever heard of humans making was designed to kill and maim. Truth was they didn't like to admit the frightening reality that certain people were so committed to their cause they were prepared to die for it. I don't know whether Fox still uses this "doublethink" strategy when discussing suicide bombers, but DC's insistence we don't call Islamic State Islamic State is very much in the same ridiculous vein. Hey, David? We're not stupid.
We have seen George Osborne launch his new budget in triumph, his position immensely enhanced by the outright Tory majority and now apparently in pole position to take over from DC when he retires in 2020. Yesterday the end of subsidies for onshore wind farms was announced, and it can only be a matter of time before the green light is given to fracking projects around the country- doubtless with subsidies offered to them instead. So we can see how little the Tories care about the environment, if weren't sure already.
And last week David Cameron registered his objection to the BBC calling IS IS. "It isn't Islamic, and it isn't a state" is the gist of his comments, and seemed to imply the BBC were offering comfort to them by giving them that moniker. I see they have now started calling them "so called IS" which may or may not be what DC had in mind. Of course the Beeb has a lot more to worry about from the Tories than this little detail: there are some in their ranks who would disband the whole socialist project (as they see it) altogether, and even more benign elements say the BBC is too big and should be scaled down considerably.
But back to IS for a moment. The last time I checked IS is a state by any normal definition of the word. They control a huge swathe of Iraq and Syria, four times the size of Britain. They run the schools, the hospitals and much of the infrastructure. They are in charge in Mosul, Iraq's second city. That's like them being in control of Birmingham.
It's no good thinking you can change reality by changing a name. It doesn't work. I recall in the aftermath of 911 when Fox news started referring to suicide bombers as "homicide bombers", even though every bomb I've ever heard of humans making was designed to kill and maim. Truth was they didn't like to admit the frightening reality that certain people were so committed to their cause they were prepared to die for it. I don't know whether Fox still uses this "doublethink" strategy when discussing suicide bombers, but DC's insistence we don't call Islamic State Islamic State is very much in the same ridiculous vein. Hey, David? We're not stupid.
Sunday, 12 July 2015
Adverts between sets at Wimbledon? Whatever next!
I was watching the ladies singles final yesterday, where Serena won her "calendar" Grand Slam (don't mention it to her, whatever you do, she doesn't want to be jinxed, or something) when at the end of the first set the BBC chose to put a promotional ad for the Great British Bakeoff, I think it was.
I could be wrong, but I think this is the first time this has ever happened on the BBC. I also think that if I know anything about the average British tennis fan, the beeb will have received a slew of complaints about this unprecedented incursion into one of the most sacred of all TV cows- a Wimbledon final. We await 2 pm coming round to see if they do the same thing with the Men's final.
But what we may be looking at here is the first response to the government decision to make the BBC foot the bill for exempting the over 75s from paying their TV licence fee- a bill which I understand
will come in at over £700 million. And this in turn is a precursor to the government withdrawing the licence fee altogether, rendering the BBC just another commercial channel. This is what happens when you vote in a party that is never happier than when it is cutting public expenditure.
As someone who is well off, I find myself in the slightly embarrassing position of benefiting from George Osborne's ideological approach to the nation's economy, one that would fit well into the credo of the conservatives of the mid-19th century, when capital ruled everything and there were few if any benefits offered to the disadvantaged beyond the prospect of a life in the workhouse. It's where we're headed right now. My mum's house is worth nearly 300 grand, and her liquid reserves are also healthy, and we would have had to pay several thousand pounds in inheritance taxes upon her death- but not now, after Wednesday's budget. But this was money my brother and I could have afforded to pay fairly easily, taking away only a small fraction of the large bequest we will both enjoy. For some reason, Mr Osborne wishes to make our progress through life easier, rather than people at the bottom of the wages pyramid. Odd, that...
At this moment people in Cardiff are running a campaign to save our local libraries- another ideological target of the Tories. Where's the profit in libraries? they ask. And so councils, stricken by the cuts they are being forced to make, have perhaps understandably gone after the libraries, which are only bleeding money and offering no hope of any financial return. Unfortunately, this ignores the subtler benefits of libraries, like the fact that they are heavily used by immigrant populations who in them find their only access to the internet or indeed any opportunity to get a grip on the English language and culture, which is something I thought politicians of all parties would wish to encourage. It would seem that I am wrong about that, and that the Tories in particular don't really care about that at all.
I could be wrong, but I think this is the first time this has ever happened on the BBC. I also think that if I know anything about the average British tennis fan, the beeb will have received a slew of complaints about this unprecedented incursion into one of the most sacred of all TV cows- a Wimbledon final. We await 2 pm coming round to see if they do the same thing with the Men's final.
But what we may be looking at here is the first response to the government decision to make the BBC foot the bill for exempting the over 75s from paying their TV licence fee- a bill which I understand
will come in at over £700 million. And this in turn is a precursor to the government withdrawing the licence fee altogether, rendering the BBC just another commercial channel. This is what happens when you vote in a party that is never happier than when it is cutting public expenditure.
As someone who is well off, I find myself in the slightly embarrassing position of benefiting from George Osborne's ideological approach to the nation's economy, one that would fit well into the credo of the conservatives of the mid-19th century, when capital ruled everything and there were few if any benefits offered to the disadvantaged beyond the prospect of a life in the workhouse. It's where we're headed right now. My mum's house is worth nearly 300 grand, and her liquid reserves are also healthy, and we would have had to pay several thousand pounds in inheritance taxes upon her death- but not now, after Wednesday's budget. But this was money my brother and I could have afforded to pay fairly easily, taking away only a small fraction of the large bequest we will both enjoy. For some reason, Mr Osborne wishes to make our progress through life easier, rather than people at the bottom of the wages pyramid. Odd, that...
At this moment people in Cardiff are running a campaign to save our local libraries- another ideological target of the Tories. Where's the profit in libraries? they ask. And so councils, stricken by the cuts they are being forced to make, have perhaps understandably gone after the libraries, which are only bleeding money and offering no hope of any financial return. Unfortunately, this ignores the subtler benefits of libraries, like the fact that they are heavily used by immigrant populations who in them find their only access to the internet or indeed any opportunity to get a grip on the English language and culture, which is something I thought politicians of all parties would wish to encourage. It would seem that I am wrong about that, and that the Tories in particular don't really care about that at all.
Tuesday, 7 July 2015
Riga dispatch
For some reason my wife wanted to visit Latvia, and despite certain reservations I went along with her idea. Tallinn has become a popular destination for stag parties; Lithuania is generally felt to be the most down-market and uninspired of the three Baltic states, so Latvia it was.
In latitude about the same as Orkney, in early July this part of Europe tends to enjoy warm, even hot, albeit brief summers, and we arrived to find temperatures in the high twenties. These clement conditions would not last long, we were warned, so make the most of it before the first chilly breezes of autumn arrive, usually in September. By October winter, or what we would call winter, has arrived, so like the Scandinavian countries, the summer holiday here is short.
But when you are basking in low humidity, high 20s temperatures it is hard to think about the snow and ice of their long winters. And so we did make the most of it, travelling up the coast of the Gulf of Riga to find the far point of land where the Gulf gives way to the chilly waters of the Baltic Sea. We found a lovely, near-deserted beach and braved a brief swim. The waters were, shall we say, bracing; certainly it was cold enough to have your feet going numb within five minutes of entering the water.
The next day we drove in the opposite direction, eastwards through lush green countryside to the ancient town of Cessis, which features one of the few medieval buildings not destroyed either by the Germans or the Russians in their various predations of this land which has been coveted by so many other countries for hundreds of years. Here is the old castle, which withstood a siege laid by Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century, having fallen to his predecessor some 70 years earlier, before extricating itself in a bloody war. I love a castle with real history behind it, and here was a fine example, only lightly restored and still showing scars from the huge cannonballs which were fired at it by Ivan's artillerymen.
The principle memory which will stay with me of Latvia, however, is Riga's famous Art Nouveau district, which features fifty or so of some of the most beautiful town buildings I have ever seen. Here Art Nouveau found its most spectacular flowering perhaps anywhere in Europe. You wander down Elizabeta Street with your mouth open in amazement as you pass one after another stunningly adorned building, each one more gorgeously appointed than the last. Seeing them at the "golden hour" which occurs around 6 pm in the summer offers an experience not to be matched by any other northern city- greater certainly than anything to be found in Copenhagen, Oslo or Stockholm. I recommend this wonderful city to anyone thinking of a northern European city break- oh, and it's considerably cheaper than the ones I just mentioned. The people are warm, friendly and many have a grasp on the English language, which is a requirement considering our lack of Latvian or Russian, the latter language remaining a lingua franca despite the passage of nearly thirty years since the Russians moved out. And even now you can still detect a palpable sense of relief among the people that they have been finally left to their own devices.
Finally, I feel I should mention the women. Here cut-off denims are de rigeur, and worn by young women who can get away with them: the obesity epidemic has not yet reached this part of the world- not yet, anyway...
In latitude about the same as Orkney, in early July this part of Europe tends to enjoy warm, even hot, albeit brief summers, and we arrived to find temperatures in the high twenties. These clement conditions would not last long, we were warned, so make the most of it before the first chilly breezes of autumn arrive, usually in September. By October winter, or what we would call winter, has arrived, so like the Scandinavian countries, the summer holiday here is short.
But when you are basking in low humidity, high 20s temperatures it is hard to think about the snow and ice of their long winters. And so we did make the most of it, travelling up the coast of the Gulf of Riga to find the far point of land where the Gulf gives way to the chilly waters of the Baltic Sea. We found a lovely, near-deserted beach and braved a brief swim. The waters were, shall we say, bracing; certainly it was cold enough to have your feet going numb within five minutes of entering the water.
The next day we drove in the opposite direction, eastwards through lush green countryside to the ancient town of Cessis, which features one of the few medieval buildings not destroyed either by the Germans or the Russians in their various predations of this land which has been coveted by so many other countries for hundreds of years. Here is the old castle, which withstood a siege laid by Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century, having fallen to his predecessor some 70 years earlier, before extricating itself in a bloody war. I love a castle with real history behind it, and here was a fine example, only lightly restored and still showing scars from the huge cannonballs which were fired at it by Ivan's artillerymen.
The principle memory which will stay with me of Latvia, however, is Riga's famous Art Nouveau district, which features fifty or so of some of the most beautiful town buildings I have ever seen. Here Art Nouveau found its most spectacular flowering perhaps anywhere in Europe. You wander down Elizabeta Street with your mouth open in amazement as you pass one after another stunningly adorned building, each one more gorgeously appointed than the last. Seeing them at the "golden hour" which occurs around 6 pm in the summer offers an experience not to be matched by any other northern city- greater certainly than anything to be found in Copenhagen, Oslo or Stockholm. I recommend this wonderful city to anyone thinking of a northern European city break- oh, and it's considerably cheaper than the ones I just mentioned. The people are warm, friendly and many have a grasp on the English language, which is a requirement considering our lack of Latvian or Russian, the latter language remaining a lingua franca despite the passage of nearly thirty years since the Russians moved out. And even now you can still detect a palpable sense of relief among the people that they have been finally left to their own devices.
Finally, I feel I should mention the women. Here cut-off denims are de rigeur, and worn by young women who can get away with them: the obesity epidemic has not yet reached this part of the world- not yet, anyway...
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