'Stop Vládě' - Union demo in Prague
Submitted by Django on Apr 21 2012 18:37
Over 80,000 people marched and rallied in Prague today in a union-organised demonstration against the government and its austerity program. It took place under the banner of "stop vládě" - "stop the government".
The Czech right-wing coalition government headed by Petr Necas has joined others around Europe in implementing an increasingly harsh program of austerity. The stated objective is to reduce the state deficit from 3.5% to 3%. The Austerity program until now has been praised by global ratings agencies despite hitting domestic consumption and growth.
Party leaders push reform - "[insert adjective here] capitalism" on the way?
Submitted by Django on Feb 9 2012 22:07
The leaders of all three major parties in the UK have been making the case for "reforming" British capitalism, while at the same time digging the grave of the welfare state. What's going on?
There's been some interesting debates on libcom recently about reform and whether it's possible.1
Ben Goldacre on the "evidence" supporting NHS reforms
Submitted by Django on Feb 5 2012 17:37
As the endgame approaches for the governments NHS "reforms", which will in effect privatise the service, Ben Goldacre has a useful survey of the "evidence" supporting reforms. Basically, there isn't any.
I won't recapitulate everything here, but Goldacre shows that Health Secretary Andrew Lansey has been consistently and systematically dishonest when arguing for the "reforms".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/05/lansley-use-word-evidence
Some more thoughts on "the national question"
Submitted by Django on Jan 17 2012 20:40
After almost six months of putting it off, I spent an afternoon reading over Against Nationalism recently, as well as some of the criticism published in response.
I was one of the main authors of the pamphlet when I was a member of the AF in the UK. It's been long enough since I looked at the text to allow to look at it with something close to fresh eyes. In lots of ways I think its sound –there's nothing wrong with the arguments on the historicity of nationalism and the nation-state as a political discourse and its relationship with capitalism.
EDL take on #Occupy, while new light is shed on their supporters
Submitted by Django on Nov 14 2011 18:48
A couple of reports on the English Defence League that have been published by the think-tank Demos recently make for interesting reading.
The first argues that far-right populism is on the rise across Europe, pointing to the new breed of rightwing, anti-Muslim nationalism represented by the EDL, various populist groups and parties, and “lone wolf” terrorists such as mass-murderer Anders Behring Breivik (whose connections with the EDL were broken [url=http://l
Debunking the Islamisation Myth
Submitted by Django on Jul 28 2011 20:00
Fear that Western countries are undergoing a process of 'Islamisation' was the main motivation of Norwegian terrorist and mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik. But it can also be seen in Melanie Phillips' columns in the Daily Mail, in bestselling books, and on the placards of the EDL. It also happens to be nonsensical.
It really shouldn't be necessary to make the argument that Britain is not in the process of Islamic takeover, but sadly, it is.
Alleged Norwegian spree killer has EDL links
Submitted by Django on Jul 23 2011 10:33
The rightwinger allegedly responsible for the Mumbai-style massacre and bombing in Norway appears to have ties with UK-based “counter-jihad movement” the English Defence League.
In online rants, alleged murderer Anders Behring Breivik describes himself as a rightwing conservative opposed to “Eurabia”, the “Islamisation of Europe” and the erosion of Christian values.
In a post on Norwegian website document.no he describes his admiration for the English Defence League, his contacts with the group and aspiration to set up a Norwegian sister organisation:
Bonkers Boris' messy logic
Submitted by Django on Jul 14 2011 09:36
There's an interesting post over on the TUC's Touchstone blog about Boris Johnson's call for strike laws to be made even more restrictive. Boris, who was elected as mayor of London on a turnout of less than 50%, wants strikes to be illegal unless the turnout is greater than 50%.
Quote:
Nigel Stanley - Boris Johnson’s undemocratic proposal on strike ballotsLondon Mayor Boris Johnson has renewed his call for industrial action ballots only to be valid if the turn-out is more than 50%.
Oops... stats show benefit cock-ups cost more than fraud
Submitted by Django on Jun 28 2011 17:33
New statistics released this month have again demonstrated that errors at the DWP cost nearly twice as much as fraud by claimants.
On the 16th of June the DWP released a set of statistics running up to December 2010 in their report "Fraud and Error in the benefit system."
Agent Provocateur in London?
Submitted by Django on Mar 28 2011 18:11
AP have released raw footage from Saturday which appears to show a black bloc member inside a bank shouting "I'm a cop undercover" at onrushing police, who don't arrest him.
It's at around the 1 minute mark. See what you think.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_1pIBLp9lY&feature=player_embedded
The new war on claimants: blaming the victims
Submitted by Django on Mar 17 2011 21:42
With unemployment increasing, and hundreds of thousands more jobs facing the axe as a result of the cuts, the government is setting out new ways to punish the unemployed.
The government is getting tough. Not on bank bosses, whose bonuses are back to pre-crisis levels. Not on tax avoidance by big companies, whose taxes are being cut. No, its the unemployed facing a crackdown.
Police shoot demonstrators in Tunisia
Submitted by Django on Jan 11 2011 12:58
Some thoughts on the UK Uncut demonstrations
Submitted by Django on Jan 3 2011 00:48
The UK has seen a wave of high-street demonstrations under the banner of the UK uncut campaign, many of which have been organised locally following call outs distributed through the internet. The protests have seen a number of stores associated with Tax-Dodging picketed, occupied and flyered in cities and towns up and down the country.
The targets of the campaign have been pretty specific. The most high-profile company to be taken on has been the UK-based telecoms giant Vodafone, which is the most profitable mobile phone operator in the world.
Get on the bus ... to the Jobcentre
Submitted by Django on Oct 26 2010 19:46
Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith may well have blown his carefully-cultivated image as a 'compassionate conservative' with his recent Tebbit-esque comments arguing the jobless should 'get on the bus' and look for work. But new research by the PCS union shows that he's also completely wrong.
The former Conservative leader has reinvented himself as a fighter against poverty since he was booted out of the Tory party's top job in a vote of no confidence in 2003.
A nation of scroungers?
Submitted by Django on Oct 18 2010 17:17
Following up on the Tories' campaign promise to "cut benefits for those who won't work", the government has unveiled a raft of measures to target "benefit cheats", alongside swingeing cuts to welfare. If we're to believe ministers and most of the press, increasing numbers of scroungers who won't work and expect to live on benefits are one of the reasons for the black hole in the nation's finances.
Anglo-Irish aristocrat and current chancellor George Gideon Oliver Osborne didn't waste much time before putting the boot into the poor. In early September he outlined his intent to take on those claiming benefits as a "lifestyle choice", claiming that "the welfare bill is now completely out of control".
A glimpse into the future of outsourced Britain - expensive, inefficient and on its way
Submitted by Django on Oct 4 2010 11:09
Last month the government's spending watchdog, the Public Accounts Committee, published its report on the Pathways to Work Scheme. The programme, brought in at a cost of over £760 million four years ago, was part of the then government's attempt to target 'welfare cheats' and shift claimants off incapacity benfit and into work.
The report is damning. The programme, which was implemented by private contractors led by A4e and Reed, "universally failed by considerable margins to meet their contractual targets for helping claimants." The report describes how "private providers’ performance was universally poor in helping claimants to go on the programme.
Report back from the Right to Work conference
Submitted by Django on Feb 7 2010 19:54
Last Saturday saw the second Right to Work conference take place in Manchester City Centre. Held across two venues; the Methodist Central Hall on Oldham street and the historic Mechanics Institute, it was billed by its organisers as “a conference of resistance and solidarity” in the face of the economic crisis.
The Right to Work campaign has its origins in the SWP, and is a revamp of a similar front it ran in the early 80s. It appears that in the wettest dreams of the SWP central committee, the campaign will be the recession-themed answer to the Stop the War coalition, and provide a similar profile boost.
Music of 2009
Submitted by Django on Jan 17 2010 14:46
For those of you with Spotify installed on your computers (pretty nifty if you can cope with the targetted ads), here's a playlist of some of the best music of 2009:
http://open.spotify.com/user/skumbot/playlist/6AiYIt4Kw7T4MAfl4e8aOU
Alternatively, if you'd rather look for the albums online, here's my picks of the year:
Subway - Subway
Mos Def - The Ecstatic
Ben Goldacre debunks media claims about the Public Sector "gravy train"
Submitted by Django on Jan 13 2010 18:08
Some of you may have noticed a pair of stories in the Sunday Times and the Telegraph respectively claiming that "public sector pay is racing ahead in the recession".
The stories claim that public sector workers earn on average 7% more than their counterparts in the private sector, despite declining productivity. The message is straightforward enough. In the words of Graeme Leach, chief economist and director of policy at the Institute of Directors, “It is ridiculous that pay and perks have risen when public sector productivity has fallen.
Best music of 2008
Submitted by Django on Dec 14 2008 16:12
A selection of some of my favourite music from 2008, and where to find it if you are so inclined.
Some of the best stuff thats been released this year. And no, theres none of that shit that gets produced by politicos who form punk, folk, or, (god forbid) reggae bands to 'spread the message'. Links are to external sites, nothing is hosted here.
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