A very nice collection of famous phrases. It can be found here
I only detected one glaring error!
Much as I like Margaret Attwood, she did not originate the phrase "Nolite te bastardes carborundorum." It was a favoured phrase of schoolboys in the 1960s and was first used long before that.
Keir Starmer and his front bench have outraged Labour supporters by saying that they will oppose Rishi Sunak’s plan to increase tax on companies and wealthy individuals that have made a fortune during the pandemic – and at the same time, the Labour hierarchy is threatening councillors with severe disciplinary action if they oppose Tory cuts to local government budgets.
The complete article is here
The alignment of the stones with the midsummer sun is well-known but this book also looks at the phases of the moon. It makes the startling assertion that Stonehenge could be used to predict eclipses of the sun and moon.
The accuracy of the alignment of the stones and the tremendous amount of work which must have gone into its construction suggest that the geometry of stonehenge must have been significant to its builders. Whether Robin Heath's conclusions are accurate or not, he makes a closely-argued case.
This book should certainly not be rejected unread. It is fascinating.
The lifting of lockdown will be "cautious and guided by data not dates." With the massive exception of the macho determination to open schools, not cautiously or gradually, all on the 8th of March. The Tories would sooner swallow poison than listen to what the education workers have been telling them.
Nine education organisations have joined together to issue a statement on the wider opening of schools and colleges in England.
Here is the press release:
https://neu.org.uk/press-releases/schools-wider-opening-8-march
The Advanced Research and Invention Agency is a brainchild of Dominic Cummings.
With characteristic bombast, the government announced that ARIA would "help to cement the UK's position as a global science superpower".
It will be free from any Freedom of Information Requests.
This raises a legitimate suspicion that the only questions it will ask are a) Are you a Tory? and b) How many millions do you want?
Up to £800 million of public money will be poured into this body without any accountability. Just the sort of thing the Tories and their cronies adore.
With characteristic bombast, the government announced that ARIA would "help to cement the UK's position as a global science superpower".
They call me "h" but I have no connection with the villain in 'Line of Duty.'
All of these resources are free and one was uploaded today
The link is here
The resources are mainly for English and ICT with a smattering of Maths.
So what happens to a Labour MP who denounced Jeremy Corbyn as an extremist and supports Boris Johnson? They get a seat in the house of Lords and are paid thirty pieces of silver by the Tory Party to equate the left with violent far-right extremists.
Extinction Rebellion has the following to say:
With the government’s response to the pandemic coming under fire, and Boris Johnson being mocked by leading global scientists and politicians over his decision to open a new coal mine during a climate emergency, it seems appropriate today to launch an enquiry into the deaths caused by this government’s policies today and in the future, rather than investigating nonviolent protestors for extremism.
This response from Extinction Rebellion comes as the government appoints John Woodcock to investigate ‘political violence and disruption’, citing Extinction Rebellion as one of the organisations under review.
This all feels a bit deja vu! The Home Secretary has tried labelling us as violent extremists before and it didn’t fool anyone. So as a nonviolent movement that is open to anyone, we’d like to make sure John Woodcock has our number.
Will he be calling up one of the thousands of grandparents, parents and kids who are exercising their democratic right to protest? It feels slightly absurd that yet more public money is being put into useless party political projects rather than on the real crises we are facing.
If he won’t walk into our meetings as police and Daily Mail journalists have in the past, or he won’t call us up, then how exactly will he be investigating us? And how will he know if what he finds is extreme right, extreme left, extreme centre, or one of the ‘Spycops’ the government is in the process of giving immunity to?
It’s time to stop wasting time and deflecting responsibility, and get on with the job of tackling the climate crisis with the urgency it requires.
The full article is here
The government got away with it. That is the biggest scandal. Where was Parliament? Where were the opposition? Does the Parliamentary Labout Party serve any useful purpose?
We need a party of the working class.
On 25 May 2019, what started as a joyous bank holiday for Siyanda ended as a nightmare and changed her life forever. Without any provocation, Siyanda was racially abused and physically assaulted by adults much older than her.
Siyanda and her family expected the police to investigate the incident thoroughly but what they experienced was a litany of failures. To their horror Siyanda who has disabilities, was arrested and then charged with GBH, and she was convicted and sentenced to four and half years on 13 March 2020.
Siyanda’s previous Solicitors lodged an appeal against her conviction. The grounds include the failure by the police to present crucial forensic evidence during the trial; the admission during the trial by police that they failed to investigate the race hate crime against Siyanda; and the complete undermining of the assailants versions of events as evidenced by the injuries sustained by Siyanda. Moreover, it is argued the jury failed to properly understand the directions of the sitting Judge in his summing up.
The appeal was dismissed by a single Judge.
An onward right of appeal to the Court of Appeal has now been lodged and representation has been secured by Siyanda’s new legal defence team Virgo Consultancy Services Ltd who have retained Michael Mansfield QC to advocate on behalf of Siyanda at her appeal.
The national campaign ‘Free Siyanda‘, was launched to right the wrong and ensure that justice prevails in this case.
You can help by:
It seems to me that any Republicans who vote against impeaching Trump forfeit the right to call themselves the party of law and order ever again. They are shooting themselves in the foot. It couldn't happen to a nicer bunch!
On the subject of the flag-waving "strategy" of the Labour leadership, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown hit the nail on the head in her article in this morning's "i":
"The strategy is pathetic. It's fatuous. It's insulting. It's crass. It's dishonourable and it's self-defeating."
She went on to give examples where Labour has given in to "nativism" and paid the price.
The full article is here
In other news,
"Keir Starmer faces call for emergency conference amid claims of widespread ‘disillusionment’ in Labour"
The link is here
Republicans claim the election was stolen so Trump is still president. Simultaneously they claim he cannot be impeached because he is no longer president. They are more a comedy act than a political party.
They masquerade as the party of law and order but when it comes to a deadly assault on parliamentary democracy, that's fine with them.
They claim the Democrats are making the most of the opportunity to ridicule them, as if they wouldn't do the same in analagous circumstances.
The drama in the senate is viewed from afar by the working class of America. They do not have a party to represent them. Not yet.
Scottish Socialists have appealed to Labour Party members who oppose the direction of travel of the Labour Party.
The full text is here
There will be people who continue to fight in the Labour Party although Sir Keir Starmer wants it to become another capitalist party. They will resist this. They will be expelled for their pains and accused of anti-semitism into the bargain.
Of course building a party of the working class will not be a walk in the park.
The ILP gained 40,056 votes in 1895. In percentage terms that is 1.1% of the vote
The Labour Party gained 62,698 votes in 1900. That was 1.4 percent of the vote. According to Wikipedia, "total expenses for the election only came to £33. Only 15 candidatures were sponsored, but two were successful: Keir Hardie in Merthyr Tydfil and Richard Bell in Derby."
Remember that when anyone sneers at the results achieved by the Trade Union and Socialist Coalition.
Say not the struggle nought availeth.
According
to legend, Mark Twain once wrote to a friend, "I apologise for the
length of this letter, I didn't have time to write a short one." In
these short stories, everything which is unnecessary is eliminated. The
result is better fiction.
I would suggest reading one story at a
time rather than trying to read the book like a novel. Each story
deserves to be considered in its own right. The range of styles and
subjects is very broad.
You are bound to find some which you
prefer to others. The one I liked most was Lucy Wood's "Flotsam, Jetsam,
Lagan, Derelict." I am providing no spoilers but the way the story
unfolds, the economy of the language and the contemporary concerns which
this short story raises all make it an excellent example of a short
story.
The phrase "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel" is attributed to Doctor Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) who was played by Robbie Coltrane in Blackadder.
He had never met Sir Keir Starmer.
When Trump (remember him?) was elected, a German newspaper had the headline "Horror Clown" which summed up the situation. The DWP are clowns but their callousness is horrific.
And what do you expect from a Tory Government hell bent on making the world safe for the rich and punishing the poor and disabled?
From this Week's "Socialist":
I am standing to be National Education Union (NEU) deputy general secretary because our union needs clear and determined leadership if we are going to withstand the serious challenges ahead of us. More than any other candidate, I have the experience, skills and campaigning record that can make us a stronger team.
Years of funding cuts, pressure from school inspectorates Ofsted and Estyn, and 'exam factory' conditions have already taken their toll. Now teachers and support staff face further attacks from a government hoping to make us pay for their failures.
Making a stand on safety has shown that we can succeed when we act decisively. I'll work to win more gains in future.
As deputy general secretary, I will work to build a union that has the confidence, strength and organisation to defend the pay, jobs, safety and working conditions of education staff and, in doing so, defend education as well.
Every candidate will propose changes that could improve our conditions, and pupils' learning conditions. But the key question is, how can they be won?
The NEU has not been slow to make demands. Our problem has been that they have too often been ignored by employers and ministers. Our 'five tests' for Covid safety were not met - putting our health and safety at risk. For years, we've complained about unreasonable workload, but it keeps getting worse and now we face a 'pay freeze' - are our demands for improved salaries going to be ignored too?
Throughout the pandemic I have consistently argued that to defend school safety we would need to use our collective strength. The New Year 'U-turn' showed what we could achieve. Now we need to make more gains.
I am standing to be a deputy general secretary who works to bring our union together - in our workplace groups, districts and branches, alongside the staff and other resources paid for by your subs - with a belief that we can, and must, succeed in winning our demands.
As a member of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) national executive from 2010-15 and then NEU London regional secretary from 2016-19, I have experience of working within the union at its highest levels.
I have been active within the NUT, and now the NEU, throughout my working life. I became a science teacher, and soon a local union officer, in London in the 1980s.
As Lewisham NUT Secretary for over 20 years, I doubled local membership and supported hundreds of colleagues. I have organised many successful campaigns, opposing cuts and academisation, defending pay and workload.
I am still a teacher and local NEU officer today, now in north west England, experiencing the pressures on members at first hand. I am regularly invited to put our case across to the press and media.
In short, my record shows that I can be a deputy general secretary that can be relied on to provide clear leadership.
The first issue was the failure to provide PPE to front line workers. Ten years of Tory cuts meant the stockpiles of PPE were decimated. It was not possible that a health service which had been cut to shreds by the Tories could deal with the crisis.
If the NHS collapsed under the weight of the pandemic, that is certainly something the Tories would have to be held to account over.
Perhaps one culprit is the government's lack of clarity and constant changing of the rules. A straightforward "Stay at Home" became "Stay Alert". Can you be arrested for not being alert? How do we know if we are being alert or not?
"Eat out to help out" certainly helped out the virus.
The inequality to which the Tories are wedded has meant the rich have done well out of the pandemic while the poor have suffered. Racial minorities have suffered disproportionately. An Oxfam Report highlights this
Then there was the farce over opening schools for a single day then
closing them again. Williamson was more intent on playing macho man than actually listening to what the education unions were saying.
As for Christmas, that was a bit of a pantomime.
The yes/no/don't know relaxation of the rules can only have led to the rise in cases of Covid -19. Thanks again Uncle Boris.
I am glad that the current messaging is coming from Chief Medical Officer for England,
Chris Whitty rather than witless politicians.But the Tories do need to be put on public trial for what they have done and failed to do.
