News

You may have noticed fewer and fewer political-type posts of late. And possibly a general reduction in the frequency of posts. The reasons are two fold. 1. I am struggling in pretty much all senses. 2. It seems irrelevant to repeatedly comment on what is blatantly obvious other than perhaps to satirise it. The circular nature of social and political life in the UK is, by and large, utterly predictable. Consider these scenarios and then the outcome: - UK has General Election. The incoming government A) make the rich richer and the poor poorer despite promising to do the opposite B) is largely made up of OxBridge graduates C) use their political standing to further their own careers/wealth D) do all this using your money E.g. Start in any year you like and work your way forward through hundreds of political scandals - Police injure/kill suspect/protestor/innocent bystander. An investigation is launched by the relevant 'authorities' which A) will stall and hamper its own investigation B) will actively provide misinformation to 'cloud' the investigation C) will clear the police of any blame D) will institute procedural reform to ensure it doesn't happen again E.g. Blair Peach, Jean Charles De Menezes, Ian Tomlinson & all the other 'low-profile' cases - A child dies due to neglect. An investigation is launched by the relevant 'authorities' which A) will find numerous warning signs over a period of time B) will find numerous failures to act across numerous agencies C) will institute procedural reform to ensure it doesn't happen again E.g. Khyra Ishaq, Victoria Climbie, Baby P and all the others - The UK always has an enemy. Always makes military and intelligence spending more justifiable. From the 2nd World War to date, the UK government has advised the nation to live in fear of... E.g. Communism (Korea, Cold War), Terrorism (IRA, Al-Qaeda), Sovereign Nations (Argentina, Iraq) and the rest - 'Something' is bad for you. At any given time there will be a media, desperate to sell news, advising you of how bad any given things will be for you with A) cancer scares B) obesity scares C) asthma scares D) allergy scares E) child behaviour scares F) flu scares E.g. Read the Daily Mail and keep a track yourself. - Businesses and unions go head-to-head in industrial disputes which A) involve unreasonable demands form the employer B) involve unreasonable demands from the union C) may or may not involve industrial action D) may or may not involve government comment or go to mediation E) result in the worker being sold out by the union at the best possible price the union thought it could negotiate F) don't threaten union full-time officials thus undermining their input/advice/opinion E.g. Again, look back on a century of industrial action and see, for yourself, where exactly the workers came out on top. - A major sporting event occurs. Team GB/Team England/Team Scotland/Team whoever will A) be unrealistically 'bigged-up' by a nationalist media B) even if it has done well, appear to have under-performed thanks to the media in A C) will come home to an under-whelmed reception thanks again to the media in A D) will probably be promised more funding/support to ensure it does better next time E.g. World Cup & 1966, Wimbledon Sprinkle a few 'technological progress' stories into the mix, some 'green issues' to bolster the flavour, possible one or two 'youth crime' items to add a sharp edge and an absolutely fucking massive bucketload of celebrity gossip entrails and I give you the days news. The priority may change from one day to the next and the order will be shuffled. Even the fashions will change over time. But the stories will remain the same. The news is only another distraction to keep your brain from the mind-numbing wage-slavery/consumerism rat race. There is, individually, nothing you can do about it and nothing I can do about it. So why bother keep reading it or commenting on it?

Lines To Ralph Hodgson Esqre.

Lines To Ralph Hodgson Esqre.

How delightful to meet Mr. Hodgson!
(Everyone wants to know him)
With his musical sound
and his Baskerville Hound
Which, just at a word from his master
Will follow you faster and faster
And tear you limb from limb.
How delightful to meet Mr. Hodgson!
Who is worshipped by all waitresses
(they regard him as something apart)
While on his palate fine he presses
The juice of the gooseberry tart.
How delightful to meet Mr. Hodgson!
(Everyone wants to know him).
He has 999 canaries
And round his head finches and fairies
in jubilant rapture skim.
How delightful to meet Mr. Hodgson!
(Everyone wants to know him).

T S Eliot

Zig Zag Dec 1985 - Siouxsie And The Banshees, Kommunity FK, Flesh For Lulu & Yr Anhrefn

Brian Haw's Opinions Forgiven

Apparently he can stay.

As part of a concerted drive by Tory London Mayor Boris Johnson opinions, that disagree with government policy, are to be banned within the capital's metropolitan boundaries.

Having previously described Those Who Hold Opinions Different From Him as "nauseating", the Mayor announced today, "As part of a pilot project which we intend to implement across the UK irrespective of the success, or otherwise, of this pilot: I am pleased to declare London is now a Different Opinion Free Zone."

He went on, "Opinions are like drugs. There are good drugs, made by pharmaceutical giants for profit, and there are bad drugs, the ones that make you feel good. In the same way, there are opinions which are similar to mine or Ordinary Dave Camerons or even Nick Clegg and they are good. But there are also bad opinions which are different to mine. And it is those bad opnions that we wish to remove from the city's streets."

The mayor continued, "We will be utilising the full force of the Law against these bad opinions as the Law can be relied upon to have the same opinions as us. We will also be using hired thugs whose opinions we can buy, known as Police or bailiffs, to enforce the removal of these bad opinions. There is no room for bad opinions inside the heads of Londoners. Let me be absolutely clear: if your opinions are not on the Right then you are wrong."

It was not possible to gauge reaction on the streets of London as anyone our reporter attempted to engage either flat out ignored them, swerved out of the way with a shake of the head or, where they did bother to speak, mumbled something about being "in a hurry".

Labour's response was to claim that they had intended to enact the "Anti-Bad Opinion" laws as part of this parliamentary term had they been re-elected and that Boris Johnson was just stealing their ideas. As usual.

Independent groups have questioned how it is that the mayor thinks he can control "whats inside peoples heads, innit". But when the Iraq War WMD example was cited, they replied, "Oh. Ye." For his part, Boris has dismissed rumours of special units, known as "Thought Police", being set up as, "Ridiculous."

The House Of Love - Rapido

The House Of Love - Rapido pwd: c4ctusm0uth

"Telephone" 14th Feb 1967

Here is Mr Wantage.

He is the Telephone Engineer in Trumpton.

You can tell he is the Telephone Engineer because he is holding a telephone and wearing overalls.

Mr Wantage wears a green jacket over his overalls because it has many useful pockets and it keeps out the cold.

Can you think what a Telephone Engineer might keep in his pockets?

That's right.

Screwdrivers, cutters, a handful of crimps maybe, his van keys and a half-smoked doob (that he was saving for lunchtime).

Mr Wantage has been a telephone engineer for quite a while. He has a moustache and years of experience.

Do you notice anything else about Mr Wantage?

That's right.

He's a Revolutionary.

You can tell by the red scarf he has around his neck.

Mr Wantage believes that the ownership of the means of production should be in the hands of the global working class, that production of goods should be directly and solely for use and that everyone should democratically be involved in decision making.

What a silly man.

Zig Zag Dec 1985 - Terry Gilliam & Anton Corbijn

Old Gangsters Never Die

Man of many talents alantru left the following comment the other day:

"Hey Highlander,

Like the new look. Very swank. Hope this is cool but I'm gonna drop a link I'd like you to see. (Sorry, it's the only way I know how to contact you.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Os1jPX8v5BI

It’s called “Old Gangsters Never Die” I suspect you are familiar with it. It’s a comic strip film noir featuring hardboiled gangsters, double crosses and dead blondes. It’s written and animated by Alan Moore and Lloyd Thatcher. The music is by The Sinister Ducks. (Max green from Jazz Butcher and David J.) As you probably know the animated foldout came with the 45. I edited it all together a couple fo weeks ago.

Hope you don;t mind me sharing.

Alan T/Avery Ant"

Go and enjoy.

The Wolfhounds - Cruelty (EP)

I've noticed a few bloggers joining, or rejoining, Labour recently and confess that I marvel at their optimism. The same could be said of a few of the Twitterers I follow.

I tend to focus on Labour and their supporters as they would be, historically of course, the party I voted for. I was at one time a member of Labour and have always been a member of whichever union was pertinent to my work. So you could argue I should be a "Labour Man" so to speak. In much the same way my Dad was, until they lost his vote as well.

But probably the biggest problem I have with most things is not necessarily the ideology so much as the hierarchy.

While it may be true (I don't honestly know) that Labour is perhaps the most democratic of the parties, the hierarchy is still there. At the top there are the Oxbridge educated careerists who will happily jump ship from Westminster to Big Business and back again (obviously the same applies to the ConDems) and at the bottom there are rank and file affiliated union 'members' and party members.

And yet both the party and the affiliated unions appear to be at odds with the the rank and file. All of these should be one and the same thing: the Labour party. So surely the needs of the working class should be democratically bought to the fore under Labours mandate? That is, "the result of many years of hard effort by working people, trade unionists and socialists, united by the goal of changing the British Parliament to represent the interests of everybody."

If Labour are supposed to be representing the interests of everybody then I would hate to see them really ignoring their roots. It's like 13 years never happened. We know that you can all point at the coalition now and say, "oh well, we wouldn't have done that" but you would have. Just in a slightly different way.

Because you are hierarchical and you naturally tend to look after those at the top. Same as the ConDems.

Let's take a look at the current attack on Civil Service redundancy rights and please do remember that Labour started the ball rolling here prior to vacating the building. Don't give me any "Labour would never have done that horseshit." The coalition have just "picked up the ball and run with it" to use an appalling business meeting phrase.

The Labour government knew the shit was being jet propelled towards the fan in the shape of massive public spending cuts and lots of redundancies so in order to save a few more quid they thought it would be a cinch to cut the redundancy pay out terms. Nice. That really represented the interests of everybody.

So naturally the unions waded in and told Labour to "back off! You're not shafting our members" Well, one did, the other five plus rolled over on their bellies and had their tummies tickled (their balls having long since been removed). Thankfully the one that had the bollocks to stand up for its members, the PCS, was also the largest by representation at 70%.

Now you may well say, "aahh! But those other unions balloted their members. See. Democratic." Again, that could be the case but because of the hierarchy the union leaders job is to take care of himself and sell the members for the best price he can get for them. Disputes are resolved by sell out so the top encourages it. "Oh that was the best offer we could get. We recommend a 'yes' vote".

Think of your workplace (unless you are lucky enough to work in a co-operative). Consider the times an e-mail drops into your inbox announcing that various odd-bod senior managers are doing roadshows because "they want to hear from YOU!" Oh they really do. At such events the condescension on the part of the senior managers is matched only by the obsequiousness of the middle managers and the complete indifference from the workers.

I glimpsed a TV program the other day where some senior military type (admiral, wing commander, whatever) was visiting a ship/airbase/whatever when he muttered those immortal words, "I want to know whats happening at a grassroots level" while he grappled with the plums in his mouth. I had a kind of flashback to a bored conference room where droning voices uttered similar horrific, empty phrases.

They couldn't give a fuck about you or your grass-fucking-roots. It's part of the corporate sell-out. Or part of the military sell-out. Or part of the....

It's the people at the top of the hierarchy pretending to care about the people lower down the pecking order but all they are really interested in is consolidation of their own position. Once you introduce positions of power then your structure is fucked. Blame, finger pointing, back stabbing, arse kissing - all present and correct in any hierarchical organisation whether it be business, union or military. The concern is never then "what is best for us" but "what is best for me so that I can retain my position". Hence, unions selling out members, Labour selling out the working class, military men sending cannon fodder into battle or businesses selling out their employees for profit.

There is a scene in "Pan's Labyrinth" where the Doctor, having just mercy killed one of the anti-Fascists fighters who was being tortured, is asked by the villianous Captain Vidal why he did not do as the Captain ordered him (i.e keep him alive for more interrogation). The Doctor replies, in a roundabout way, that he can not follow orders without thinking them through for himself and making his own mind up. Blindly following orders is for men such as Captain Vidal.

So you can give or take orders and abide by the rules of those at the top of the hierarchy or you can think for yourself and believe in something better. I know which I prefer.


The Wolfhounds - Cruelty (EP) (The Pink Label PINKY18T 1987) 320kbps

1. Cruelty
2. I See You
3. Whale On The Beach

Cruelty - pwd: c4ctusm0uth