The main thing concerning me right now, besides all the awful loss of life, is that these Coronavirus lockdowns are getting people used to living in a police state, and elites will jump on this opportunity to massively increase their power over us; internet censorship, mass surveillance, etc.
And I'm scared for struggling small businesses. Are they going to be eaten up by the bigger corporations that have the finances to survive such a loss in trade? Are we going to come out of this crisis with even more of a monopolized corporate tyranny than we had before?
Now is really not the time to have neoliberals in government! They will likely allow all of the above.
We needed Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders in power during this period more than ever.
.....
Read this.
Watch this.
Friday, 10 April 2020
Tuesday, 7 April 2020
Will the powers that be use the Coronavirus to expand their power over us?
After 9/11, we should have reflected re how that attack came about: imperialism in the 1980s - supporting the Mujahideen in Afghanistan, from which sprung al Qaeda.
Instead, we allowed the powers that be to crack down on civil liberties and to wage yet more wars, that killed millions of people.
We should have stopped the war and the plunder. We should have organized to take away the power of the 0.1%.
But instead, we allowed those elite few to wage more war and to expand their power over us and the world.
Please let's not allow them to use the Coronavirus to do similar.
Instead, we allowed the powers that be to crack down on civil liberties and to wage yet more wars, that killed millions of people.
We should have stopped the war and the plunder. We should have organized to take away the power of the 0.1%.
But instead, we allowed those elite few to wage more war and to expand their power over us and the world.
Please let's not allow them to use the Coronavirus to do similar.
Bill Gates is everything that is wrong with the world
Read this article.
Some excerpts...
His foundation has given money to groups that push for industry-friendly government policies and regulation, including the Drug Information Association (directed by Big Pharma) and the International Life Sciences Institute (funded by Big Ag). He has also funded nonprofit think tanks and advocacy groups that want to limit the role of government or direct its resources toward helping business interests, like the American Enterprise Institute ($6.8 million), the American Farm Bureau Foundation ($300,000), the American Legislative Exchange Council ($220,000), and organizations associated with the US Chamber of Commerce ($15.5 million).
...
The Gates Foundation has been a strong and consistent supporter of intellectual property rights, including for the pharmaceutical companies with which it works closely. These patent protections are widely criticized for making lifesaving drugs prohibitively expensive, particularly in the developing world.
“He uses his philanthropy to advance a pro-patent agenda on pharmaceutical drugs, even in countries that are really poor,” says longtime Gates critic James Love, the director of the nonprofit Knowledge Ecology International. “Gates is sort of the right wing of the public-health movement. He’s always trying to push things in a pro-corporate direction. He’s a big defender of the big drug companies. He’s undermining a lot of things that are really necessary to make drugs affordable to people that are really poor.
...
In the absence of outside scrutiny, this private foundation has had far-reaching effects on public policy, pushing privately run charter schools into states where courts and voters have rejected them, using earmarked funds to direct the World Health Organization to work on the foundation’s global health agenda, and subsidizing Merck’s and Bayer’s entry into developing countries. Gates, who routinely appears on the Forbes list of the world’s most powerful people, has proved that philanthropy can buy political influence.
...
Also, watch this.
And read this.
And this.
Some excerpts...
His foundation has given money to groups that push for industry-friendly government policies and regulation, including the Drug Information Association (directed by Big Pharma) and the International Life Sciences Institute (funded by Big Ag). He has also funded nonprofit think tanks and advocacy groups that want to limit the role of government or direct its resources toward helping business interests, like the American Enterprise Institute ($6.8 million), the American Farm Bureau Foundation ($300,000), the American Legislative Exchange Council ($220,000), and organizations associated with the US Chamber of Commerce ($15.5 million).
...
The Gates Foundation has been a strong and consistent supporter of intellectual property rights, including for the pharmaceutical companies with which it works closely. These patent protections are widely criticized for making lifesaving drugs prohibitively expensive, particularly in the developing world.
“He uses his philanthropy to advance a pro-patent agenda on pharmaceutical drugs, even in countries that are really poor,” says longtime Gates critic James Love, the director of the nonprofit Knowledge Ecology International. “Gates is sort of the right wing of the public-health movement. He’s always trying to push things in a pro-corporate direction. He’s a big defender of the big drug companies. He’s undermining a lot of things that are really necessary to make drugs affordable to people that are really poor.
...
In the absence of outside scrutiny, this private foundation has had far-reaching effects on public policy, pushing privately run charter schools into states where courts and voters have rejected them, using earmarked funds to direct the World Health Organization to work on the foundation’s global health agenda, and subsidizing Merck’s and Bayer’s entry into developing countries. Gates, who routinely appears on the Forbes list of the world’s most powerful people, has proved that philanthropy can buy political influence.
...
Also, watch this.
And read this.
And this.
Now that Jeremy Corbyn has gone, nobody cares about antisemitism
Here is a cartoon in George Osbourne’s Evening Standard of the Jewish Labour MP, Ed Miliband, with a hooked nose.
But nobody cares.
Also, Keir Starmer has just given a shadow cabinet position to Rachel Reeves, who has heeped praise on Nancy Astor - a British MP in the 1930s who liked the Nazis and saw Hitler as a solution to the ‘world problem’ of Jewish people.
Again, nobody cares.
Jeremy Corbyn was victim of the most vicious, deranged smear campaign ever. A campaign by those who do not give a damn about stopping racism - THEY are the racists - to smear a committed anti-racist activist, as racist, because he dared to value the lives of Palestinians, and other non-white/western folks.
But nobody cares.
Also, Keir Starmer has just given a shadow cabinet position to Rachel Reeves, who has heeped praise on Nancy Astor - a British MP in the 1930s who liked the Nazis and saw Hitler as a solution to the ‘world problem’ of Jewish people.
Again, nobody cares.
Jeremy Corbyn was victim of the most vicious, deranged smear campaign ever. A campaign by those who do not give a damn about stopping racism - THEY are the racists - to smear a committed anti-racist activist, as racist, because he dared to value the lives of Palestinians, and other non-white/western folks.
Keir Starmer banishes the anti-imperialists
All hope of making Labour a party of peace is dead for now.
Unsurprisingly, the new leader, Keir Starmer, has purged the few anti-imperialists/internationalists/socialists from the shadow cabinet. (Except Rebecca Long Bailey).
He has appointed Lisa Nandy, who think its antisemitic to oppose war crimes, as shadow foreign secretary.
He has appointed Wayne David, who has supported all the Neocon oil wars, as shadow minister for Middle East!
So much for unity. So much for his supposed socialism.
Corbyn was far too nice, sadly. We needed to banish the neoliberal US Empire loyalists when we had the chance.
It’s also just shit strategy electorally. Labour was FAR more successful under Corbyn, than Miliband. But this all seems very much like Miliband 2.0. to me.
Also, once again the antisemitism accusation against Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party has again been exposed for the disgusting, dangerous smear campaign that it always was: Keir Starmer has appointed Rachel Reeves to the cabinet, who has praised a former MP, and Nazi sympathizer - Nancy Astor -who saw Hitler as a solution to the 'world problem' of Jewish people. But the media is silent!
Unsurprisingly, the new leader, Keir Starmer, has purged the few anti-imperialists/internationalists/socialists from the shadow cabinet. (Except Rebecca Long Bailey).
He has appointed Lisa Nandy, who think its antisemitic to oppose war crimes, as shadow foreign secretary.
He has appointed Wayne David, who has supported all the Neocon oil wars, as shadow minister for Middle East!
So much for unity. So much for his supposed socialism.
Corbyn was far too nice, sadly. We needed to banish the neoliberal US Empire loyalists when we had the chance.
It’s also just shit strategy electorally. Labour was FAR more successful under Corbyn, than Miliband. But this all seems very much like Miliband 2.0. to me.
Also, once again the antisemitism accusation against Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party has again been exposed for the disgusting, dangerous smear campaign that it always was: Keir Starmer has appointed Rachel Reeves to the cabinet, who has praised a former MP, and Nazi sympathizer - Nancy Astor -who saw Hitler as a solution to the 'world problem' of Jewish people. But the media is silent!
Saturday, 4 April 2020
Recipe for a long life?
Short film about life on a remote Greek island, which has one of the highest life expectancies in the world.
Main takeaways:
- Stay as far away from western ‘culture’ (careerism/individualism/processed food) as possible.
- Eat mostly local and plant-based diet.
- Drink lots of wine.
Sounds good!
Pity most don’t have time/can’t afford to do any of this. Such is capitalism with its monopoly, exploitation and inequality.
Main takeaways:
- Stay as far away from western ‘culture’ (careerism/individualism/processed food) as possible.
- Eat mostly local and plant-based diet.
- Drink lots of wine.
Sounds good!
Pity most don’t have time/can’t afford to do any of this. Such is capitalism with its monopoly, exploitation and inequality.
Wednesday, 1 April 2020
Thank You, Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Corbyn has devoted his life to fighting for other people; for the oppressed, the exploited, the marginalized, always putting himself on the frontline, be it to oppose Apartheid in South Africa, the fascist National Front, the invasion of Iraq, the persecution of Palestinians, austerity, etc.
He is an extremely rare kind of politician: uncorrupted, informed, honest, dedicated to helping humanity; an internationalist who values all life equally; who bravely speaks out against all the bloody criminality that Britain, under American leadership, wreaks all over the world. And he unashamedly opposes the underlying disease at the root of our problems - free market capitalism.
In my view, he's probably the greatest missed opportunity in British history, and I'm sure all those around the world impacted by British/corporate imperialism would agree.
Is he infallible and was he perfect as a leader? Of course bloody not! But his principles and his commitment to them made him a million times better than any other UK leader, that I’m aware of.
He has always kept fighting, despite constant abuse from our rotten establishment/media, and thus, much of the public - he has even been physically assaulted. It seems that this is the price you pay for seeking peace and justice in this twisted society. He is immensely courageous, but gets little appreciation for it, (in the mainstream, at least).
Despite failing to get into government, it is surely undeniable that he and the movement he led these last few years has shifted the debate in our politics significantly, with the Tories’ latest budget seemingly abandoning a decade of totally unnecessary and deathly austerity, and now pledging to invest in the country even more than Labour was planning - but of course, facing none of the same ire from the media for doing so.
Many of the ideas that seemed so radical to many just a few years ago, like ending austerity, taking essential utilities/services back into public ownership, major state intervention in the economy, embarking on a green revolution, etc, are now mainstream, and this is surely a massive achievement.
But Corbyn will get little credit for this. That the ounce of civility we have in society comes from the activism of 'radical' socialists, must remain under wraps. Can’t have everyone figuring out that it is pressure from socialists, not capitalism, that helps us to progress! And we definitely can’t have everyone figuring out how much saner things could be (see Finland) if those nasty leftists actually gained power! So they must remain demonized.
The establishment will also try and wipe from history that in 2017, Corbyn-led Labour achieved its biggest vote increase since 1945, taking back many of the voters lost during warmonger Blair's tenure, and coming within 2,200 votes of forming a government. And of course, the vicious propaganda against Corbyn and the movement, will barely be acknowledged by the mainstream pundits who waged that vicious campaign. Nor will the fact that the 2019 election was very much a Brexit election, or that it was the Blairite-demanded policy of backing a second referendum that was the biggest reason for Labour's huge loss.
He really exposed how rotten our system is, particularly the media that upholds that system; Across the board, from the Mail to the BBC to the Guardian, mainstream journalists went on the attack, all to prevent a mild-mannered social justice activist - who wanted to begin making the UK about as 'radical' as Scandinavia - from reaching power. Those who consider themselves 'centrist liberals' have been well and truly exposed as the imperialists and free market extremists, that they've gradually become in recent decades as they've submitted to Thatcherite ideology.
Had Labour succeeded with Corbyn, we could have begun taking power away from the elite few; we could have started redirecting our resources away from for-profit wars and ecocide, towards creating a peaceful, sustainable future for all. We could have opposed American-led thuggery/imperialism on the world stage and stood up for human rights. We could have had a PM who was one of literally a handful of politicians who has opposed the austerity/NHS privatization that has left us poorly resourced to cope with the Coronavirus. Having a socialist leading the sixth largest global economy could have been revolutionary for the world.
I hope that perhaps as a result of having a truly progressive opposition party these last few years, that we’re now a step closer to making the above a reality, as many eyes have been opened to the idea that another future is possible. But the extreme 'centrist' Blairites, having consistently undermined the party since Corbyn took over - thus playing a major role in making the party unelectable - now feel emboldened, and the likely new leader, Keir Starmer, seems very weak.
On a personal note, I got deeply interested in politics around the same time as Jeremy became leader; having been made aware of the west’s monstrous intervention in Syria, which set me off on a distressing but ultimately enlightening journey of learning; about the system that we live in. Most of our politicians either support that system, are ignorant to it, or aren’t brave enough to oppose it. My journey of discovery was made much less distressing knowing that we had a political leader who was both informed and brave enough to have spent his life opposing it. It gave me hope.
Anyway, I just wanted to say... thank you Jeremy Corbyn! The world is a slightly less terrible place only thanks to people like you!
He is an extremely rare kind of politician: uncorrupted, informed, honest, dedicated to helping humanity; an internationalist who values all life equally; who bravely speaks out against all the bloody criminality that Britain, under American leadership, wreaks all over the world. And he unashamedly opposes the underlying disease at the root of our problems - free market capitalism.
In my view, he's probably the greatest missed opportunity in British history, and I'm sure all those around the world impacted by British/corporate imperialism would agree.
Is he infallible and was he perfect as a leader? Of course bloody not! But his principles and his commitment to them made him a million times better than any other UK leader, that I’m aware of.
He has always kept fighting, despite constant abuse from our rotten establishment/media, and thus, much of the public - he has even been physically assaulted. It seems that this is the price you pay for seeking peace and justice in this twisted society. He is immensely courageous, but gets little appreciation for it, (in the mainstream, at least).
Despite failing to get into government, it is surely undeniable that he and the movement he led these last few years has shifted the debate in our politics significantly, with the Tories’ latest budget seemingly abandoning a decade of totally unnecessary and deathly austerity, and now pledging to invest in the country even more than Labour was planning - but of course, facing none of the same ire from the media for doing so.
Many of the ideas that seemed so radical to many just a few years ago, like ending austerity, taking essential utilities/services back into public ownership, major state intervention in the economy, embarking on a green revolution, etc, are now mainstream, and this is surely a massive achievement.
But Corbyn will get little credit for this. That the ounce of civility we have in society comes from the activism of 'radical' socialists, must remain under wraps. Can’t have everyone figuring out that it is pressure from socialists, not capitalism, that helps us to progress! And we definitely can’t have everyone figuring out how much saner things could be (see Finland) if those nasty leftists actually gained power! So they must remain demonized.
The establishment will also try and wipe from history that in 2017, Corbyn-led Labour achieved its biggest vote increase since 1945, taking back many of the voters lost during warmonger Blair's tenure, and coming within 2,200 votes of forming a government. And of course, the vicious propaganda against Corbyn and the movement, will barely be acknowledged by the mainstream pundits who waged that vicious campaign. Nor will the fact that the 2019 election was very much a Brexit election, or that it was the Blairite-demanded policy of backing a second referendum that was the biggest reason for Labour's huge loss.
He really exposed how rotten our system is, particularly the media that upholds that system; Across the board, from the Mail to the BBC to the Guardian, mainstream journalists went on the attack, all to prevent a mild-mannered social justice activist - who wanted to begin making the UK about as 'radical' as Scandinavia - from reaching power. Those who consider themselves 'centrist liberals' have been well and truly exposed as the imperialists and free market extremists, that they've gradually become in recent decades as they've submitted to Thatcherite ideology.
Had Labour succeeded with Corbyn, we could have begun taking power away from the elite few; we could have started redirecting our resources away from for-profit wars and ecocide, towards creating a peaceful, sustainable future for all. We could have opposed American-led thuggery/imperialism on the world stage and stood up for human rights. We could have had a PM who was one of literally a handful of politicians who has opposed the austerity/NHS privatization that has left us poorly resourced to cope with the Coronavirus. Having a socialist leading the sixth largest global economy could have been revolutionary for the world.
I hope that perhaps as a result of having a truly progressive opposition party these last few years, that we’re now a step closer to making the above a reality, as many eyes have been opened to the idea that another future is possible. But the extreme 'centrist' Blairites, having consistently undermined the party since Corbyn took over - thus playing a major role in making the party unelectable - now feel emboldened, and the likely new leader, Keir Starmer, seems very weak.
On a personal note, I got deeply interested in politics around the same time as Jeremy became leader; having been made aware of the west’s monstrous intervention in Syria, which set me off on a distressing but ultimately enlightening journey of learning; about the system that we live in. Most of our politicians either support that system, are ignorant to it, or aren’t brave enough to oppose it. My journey of discovery was made much less distressing knowing that we had a political leader who was both informed and brave enough to have spent his life opposing it. It gave me hope.
Anyway, I just wanted to say... thank you Jeremy Corbyn! The world is a slightly less terrible place only thanks to people like you!
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