I thought this interview went rather well. Often you finish a live interview and worry you didn’t get your points over clearly. I thought for an immediate post election comment, I nailed this one quite well.
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Watching Bloomberg and CNBC when it became clear to big players that Trump had won the Dow Jones Futures hit circuit-breaker limit down over 800 points. The Mexican Peso stopped trading and the international currency markets went mad, It was all falling apart. Then something happened and the Dow shot back up. Rumours on financial channel that Donald Trump was on the phone to China.
I think the turnaround had a lot to do with Trump’s conciliatory victory speech.
Excellent analysis of the result from Corbett and Pilato:
https://www.corbettreport.com/interview-1227-new-world-next-week-with-james-evan-pilato/
Yes Herbie Good Stuff..Seen them Two Before..Cheers .
It’s A heavy heart though.. Bit like the Aftermath of Indy result
Yes Very Good Interview.. keep up the Confident work..especially when the cameras roll.
here is someone saying exactly what Clark said on Sqounk tk yesterday morning..It was one sentence of Brilliant wisdom… Repeated here, by a Zach To Donna Brazile, the interim leader of the Democratic National Committee –
“You and your friends will die of old age and I’m going to die from climate change. You and your friends let this happen, which is going to cut 40 years off my life expectancy.”
A Fuller note of Zach’s exchange with Brazile –
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donna-brazile-democratic-national-committee_us_5824cb95e4b0ddd4fe7954e8?f019736x1ofscerk9
One thing’s certain. Julian Assange will have a few more jaundiced eyes on him.
Damned straight. Not sure he’s made many friends with this blatantly partisan stunt, ably assisted by a Republican mole at the FBI.
Hardly the maverick outsider, the banner-holder for Truth & Justice, that we all thought we knew and loved.
Every single Republican (who’s actually heard of him) would love to see him dead or in jail at best, so there’s nothing to be gained in sympathy from the people he’s assisted here.
On the other hand, every natural supporter he’s had is going to be a bit less interested in the plight of, what is at the end of the day, just another Republican stooge.
All the King’s Horses and all the King’s men, cannot put Killary together again! Tough titty!
Whatever happens, someone will blame Assange.
The Democrats fielded a criminal; credit where it’s due. Wikileaks publishes leaks; that’s its function. It would have been partisan not to publish, albeit partisan in your preferred direction.
If the bottom falls out of the markets, that will do more to save us from climate change than Clinton ever would.
Glenn
“blatantly partisan”
Surely the release seems consistent with WL stated motivation. You only say blatant because you are in a spin blaming anyone who dared to not join your lesser evilism. How about you start seeing where the problems lie. Hey, you might even consider blaming the Clintons for stitching up the primaries, ensuring the one candidate who might have lost ran. Even better start questioning a system that 100% produces elitist war mongering shits to the position of leadership. You whine as if everything is fine apart from this one individual. Get a grip.
WL didn’t manage to get anything out on Trump, though, did it? Assange is a phoney: obviously this was all about getting him off the hook. His fear was that a Democratic presidency would continue to threaten his lioberty, while if he was nice to Trump, and Trump won…Julian’s a right-on liberal but won’t rock the boat of a far-right xenophobe? If he’d found and released emails on both of them, then he’d have been performing a public service, in allowing us to comp[are like with like. But he was just feeding pro-Trump confirmation bias.
Moral: never trust a hippy.
Maybe. But also maybe that’s all they had. We just don’t know. There’s really no “obviuously” about this.
Personally I doubt he struck any deal with the Trump people. He’s too invested, it would be the end of him. Like all these lefty wannabe leaders, cough, he has a bit of the narcissist about him. But it’s possible, he must be under a friggin strain most of us can not imagine. We shall see.
Personally, I know fanny adams about Assange’s politics. I think he’s a cyberpunk, or whatever these encryption fans are called, but beyond that…is he some type of right lib that might self rationalise supporting Trump as something other than self interest?
“Assange is a phoney”
Agreed. I’ve been saying this for years.
Yes, Phil. I reckon Assange’s fan club’s presentation of the man as a champion of (whatever) is rather at odds with his real motivation and ethos, which we don’t really know about. In another life he’d be something like Richard Branson, I guess, riding on the back of rebellion towards his exploitative cash reward. A *bit* of a narcissist? Ok, no comment. Take that line back to Greek mythology and we are in unpleasant mental image country. I think his political position is, well, not as altruistic as he might like us to believe. Still, his fans aren’t going to admit to any moral flaws, and we can expect them to support this heroic narrative until the US and/or Sweden lose patience completely or give up.
The threat of a war with Russia has been removed. I would say that’s quite an accomplishment.
Oh right, like Trump bombing the shit out of Iran when he takes over!
If Trump can tweak pussey
I don’t see why Sweden is so concerned that Assange had consensual pussey tweaking in Sweden?
What you need to do is find some leaked emails from Assange stating that he’s helping Trumpet-trousers. That’s how he made his name. Must be easy enough, specially for the geniuses here.
@ Phil Ex Frog November 11, 2016 at 10:42
Any port in a storm. Phil grasps at straws, with no facts to speak of (obviously, he’s not the only one!).
Lie back and think of England!!
So your ‘candidate’ didn’t make it (thank God), tough titty.
Gotta blame someone, why not Assange (who is obviously not only ‘persona non grate’ but is wanted by the ‘Evil Empire’). Leave me out, losers (tossers?).
Paul Barbara
You reply using my name but not to my position. I had no candidate, I didn’t blame Assange and lying back for your country is the opposite of everyhting I have ever commented here.
Perhaps you were replying to someone else?
I can’t play that interview. Does Soundcloud use DRM? I’m not giving away control of my system for an eight minute interview.
Clark Give Fuck all away
Except Your Presence At Doune
Ps Rip An Artist
Leonard Cohen
Played fine on my debian. Maybe I have installed some drm software but don’t think so.
DRM’s been in Firefox for a while now.
It should just use browser html5 audio support without DRM built into the browser. On older browsers it still falls back to trying to use Flash I believe.
Here’s a little giggle for you Craig.
I quoted your comment on the meaning of a possible HRC presidency, to a blog written by Lloyd Kahn in SF Bay area (former Whole Earth guy in his younger years). He took down my post and replaced it with a note that said he was removing posts quoting pro Trump blogs. So there you have it, you are the only person I know who blogs support for Trump and for Corbyn!
I sent Lloyd a note advising that he should stick to his skateboards and forget about politics.
Keep up the good work.
Yes. It’s sad news about Leonard Cohen, He was a highly original performer,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-37946654
It was just a pity he broke the Israel boycott by appearing in Tel Aviv in 2009, in the same year as the horror of Cast Lead.
http://leonardcohenboycottisrael.blogspot.co.uk/
Yes Sharp Ears
i Hold on to R Waters Project… Artists Against israel …. Proud to have met Prof Finkelstein
Great to see ya STRONG
can you Come to Scotland
Obsessional……
@14.24 Yes obsessional on the fate of the Palestinians living under a cruel Occupation.
With Trump supporting the extension of the illegal settlements, the Palestinians will lose even more homes and even more of their land from which many derive their livelihoods.
Top Trump adviser says Israeli settlements are not an obstacle to peace
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-elections/donald-trump-adviser-israel-obstacle-to-peace-a7410446.html
10 November 2016
‘Israelis who support the Jewish presence in the occupied West Bank were buoyed Thursday after a top adviser to Donald Trump told an Israeli radio station that the president-elect does not view settlements as an obstacle to peace.
Speaking to Israel’s Army Radio, Jason Greenblatt, co-chairman of the Trump campaign’s Israel Advisory Committee, said: “It is certainly not Mr. Trump’s view that settlement activities should be condemned and that it is an obstacle for peace, because it is not an obstacle for peace.”
It is widely believed that Greenblatt may be appointed Trump’s envoy to the Middle East.’
++++
Donald Trump’s man on Israel
The GOP nominee gets his advice on the Middle East’s most politicized conflict from someone he trusts: His lawyer.
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/donald-trump-israel-jason-greenblatt-226651
Some still do not get it,
their time has gone.
Some MPs ‘ready to vote against triggering Brexit’
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-37944473
United Kingdom
U.S.A.
Estonia
Austria
Italy
France
and so on.
If you cannot believe, just hang on another six months, then you will believe.
Liberal Democrat, Labour and SDLP MPs have told the BBC they are prepared to vote against triggering Article 50.
Lib Dem leader Tim Farron said his party would oppose it, unless they were promised a second referendum on the UK’s Brexit deal with EU leaders.
Undemocratic filth
It seems the Brexit vote set in motion an anti-EU movement across Europe which won’t be stopped, even if our anti-democratic politicians foil every attempt to leave. If they won’t leave the EU no matter, because the EU is going to leave us. The beast has been mortally wounded. Now it’s just a question of what time its death is declared.
Personally, I don’t understand the delay. Devil in details? This is the garden variety excuse for timidity or obstructionism. You should just leave. Damn the torpedoes. Isn’t that the local advice for the constituency of a Trump Potentate?
But Michael this is perfect – all these establishment stooges will vote against Brexit and then lose their seats at the next election. It’ll be a humongous clear out of all the old dross the Guardian referred to as extraordinary talent.
You can alway fight for another referendum in the later however this will clear out all the Blairite horrors
Peak Oil
one of the eventualities of The Donald walking the white house will likely be the collapse in the price of oil.
The Ex-Soviet Union/Iran/Iraq/Syria will be construction their fluid pipelines to the Mediterranean, Pipelines will be built between Alaska/Canada and the Americas.
Fracking of oil and gas will continue to grow, Coal will go BIG again.
There may be a bit of a peace dividend in the Middle East.
Expect oil to drop low and stay low.
I don’t think so Michael – petrol just shot up 15p with the news that those mean old oil boys have got the House and the Senate. Everyone is buying oil again.
Oil just shot up to $44 a barrel
Oil will plummet, just WATCH
Jeff Zucker and Steve Bannon….Tweedledum and Tweedledee, a duo of scumbags sitting in a tree.
‘What mischief can we drum up, any notion of good deeds?’
‘Something with meaning and helpful to posterity’
‘Hacking the Witch and and setting her free?’
‘What a genius you are, Tweedledee”
http://www.breitbart.com/radio/2016/05/27/stephen-k-bannon-to-obama-why-dont-you-go-to-pearl-harbor-and-apologize-to-the-dead-still-buried-there/
Quite clear that Gary Johnson and Bill Weld’s Libertarian candidacy for being POTUS resulted in Trump being elected.
They drove all Trump Light supporters out of the party be denouncing him as someone who could not, and should not be elected while objecting to Hillary aggressive foreign policy to the point of no return, leaving its remaining supporters anti-Hillary voters.
Without its votes, she would have won Michigan and Pennsylvania, and become POTUS.
Will be interesting to see if Johnson and Weld end up working for Trump Light.
Don’t go there. Greens (specifically Nader in 2000) and other 3rd party ‘threats’ are tamped down using this excuse.
There needs to be a viable alternative with credibility.
But Johnson and weld supporters would never under any circumstances have voted for Clinton, so I cannot see how their votes harmed her – quite the opposite. Without them, their votes would overwhelmingly have gone to Trump.
Their remaining voters harmed her instead of Trump as they were for their leaders rather than her, making a difference which clearly defeated her in Michigan and Pennsylvania. They never said they wouldn’t support Hillary, though they said that about Trump.
That left their remaining supporters voting against Clinton.
But they could only have helped Hilary if they had voted for her. No one was choosing between Hilary or Libertarian for their vote.
It is not possible to ‘vote against’ someone.
Bernie Sanders would have wiped the floor with Trump. The Democrats shot themselves in the foot by allowing their nomination process to be hijacked by Clinton.
Very true. And the party leadership actively connived to deny Sanders.
Craig; Not everything is about you. The parallels are very limited. Having been back-stabbed as Bernie was is as far as that goes.
Iron law of institutions: apparatchiks within institutions are more concerned about maintaining their power within the institution than they are about maintaining the power of the institution.
Just sour grapes to think that Sanders would have won Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Iowa and West Virginia.
He would have still had to deal with an even largerJohson-Weld protest vote.
Why don’t you claim he would have won every state!
I think any Democrat candidate without Clinton’s baggage would have defeated Trump quite comfortably.
Sanders did not have clinton’s baggage, though he did say he was tired of hearing about all the damned e-mails, and he would have lost even bigger to Trump, given his opposition to coal, guns, sexism, racism, and immigration.
I think you’re under-estimating the magnitude of both Trump’s awfulness and Clinton’s crookedness.
And you are overlooking Sander’s stand on the key issues like coal, guns, climate change, etc.
Johnson-Weld would still not have won any of those states. And the working-class votes that Trump got but a candidate Sanders would have gotten are to be not only added to Sanders’s total but subtracted from Trump’s. A double effect that would easily have wiped out Trump’s narrow lead in those states. Also add to Sanders’s total the votes for Jill Stein from people like me. Who cares what Hillary votes Johnson-Weld might have gotten? They still couldn’t win.
Sanders would have beaten Trump, easily.
Not talking about Johnson-Weld winning any states. Just talking about their votes preventing Clinton from winning Michigan and Pennsylvania, and thus becoming POTUS.
And Sanders wasn’t on any presidential ballots, so what are you going on about!
Because Johnson-Weld could not have won, the only relevant comparisonis between Trump’s votes and the votes for whoever the Democratic candidate was. Candidate Hillary lost enough working-class votes to Trump to lose those states. A double loss. Lost to the Dems and gained by Trump. Candidate Sanders would have retained many of those working -class votes. A double gain: retained by Sanders, lost by Trump.
By comparison, any Hillary votes lost by Sanders to Jonson-Weld would have been only a single loss: lost by Sanders, but gained by candidates who could not win.
In view of the narrowness of Trump’s lead in those states, the result of a Sanders-Trump race is clear: easy Sanders victory.
Just your usual rubbish.
Clinton won big in the blue collar areas, the cities of Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati. and Toledo, and the surrounding counties, so what’s your point among all this gibberish?
She lost to those declining middle class constituencies?
Given that Craig links to this guy I’m rather surprised noboby hitherto has linked to Juan Cole’s sober analysis of Trump’s narrow overall victory (but clear-cut victory with white voters of both sexes)-
http://www.juancole.com/2016/11/rebelled-neoliberalism-literally.html
This will be lengthy so you fans of kief…..just scroll on by and don’t bother to try to comprehend.
” actually encouraging industries to move abroad for higher profit margins (but for fewer industrial jobs at home)– had much the same effect on the white working class as the fall of the Soviet system had on the Russian working class.”
Fifty years ago I went to the school auditorium for an assembly. One guy on the stage with some device and a blackboard. Takes a 2×4 and asks us how many ft/lbs would it take to break it?
Chalks an equation on the board and gives the answer. Then he takes it to a hydraulic press to confirm.
“Now why would they hire some guy to run the press when chalk is so much cheaper”
Of course the message was that manual labor was going away and you’d better prepare for it by EDUCATING YOURSELF while anticipating future change.
How many took that advice? Sorry. But that one’s on YOU. The Industrial age has been acquired by machine as PREDICTED.
Nobody gives a damn anymore about his opinions ever since he revealed himself as a warmongering NeoCon supporter lusting with an embarrassing hard on for the killing of Qaddafi & destruction of Libya; rather surprised that Craig does still link to him.
What secured Mr. Trump his victory was an anti-establishment view that has been developing amongst the electorate, here as well as in the USA, for several years now. Much the same as Brexit. People are fed up with politicians who say one thing to get elected and then, once elected, march to the establishment drummer at the expense of democracy.
Rightly or wrongly, the electorate saw Ms. Clinton as the establishment candidate and voted accordingly. The NeoCon wing of the Republican Party was so certain that this election was a referendum on the establishment that they put their loyalty to the establishment before their party and voted Democrat for Ms. Clinton. 90% plus of the establishment controlled MSM supported Ms. Clinton. The MSM clearly thought that they could decide the election, and the people objected. Trumps victory had little to do with sexism or racism and everything to do with the fact that the people saw Ms. Clinton as the establishment candidate.
And don’t overlook that Clinton still beat Trump by nearly 300,000 votes.
Meaningless figure, since all the candidates were aiming for electoral votes and tailored their strategy with that end in view.
It isn’t a meaningless figure as it shows that more voters voted for Hillary than for Trump, the best test of one’s support in a democracy.
Should finally junk the pre-democratic vestige, the Electoral College.
One if those things that Hillary spent a lifetime not campaigning for, like clean elections, public financing, honest politics and world peace.
Ron Paul, talking sense on Trump, and revealing he’s a big Wikileaks fan;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWrVJHtejkQ
ROFLMFAO !!!
The Donald promised to drain the Washington swamp of K street lobbyists so he’s hired 12 of them for his transition team. He absolutely HATES unemployment..lol.
Craig and regular readers will forgive me going O/T to highlight the latest spectacular fail by Louise Mensch, past subject of, and one-time contributor to, this blog. Once again she has shot herself in the horse’s mouth.
The crass opportunist tweeted : “Leonard Cohen’s death reminds us that America’s enduring greatness is as multifaceted as a diamond. Russia has nothing. Russia is joyless.”
In her haste to exploit Cohen’s death she overlooked his nationality – Canadian. She is the gift that keeps on giving.
http://www.nme.com/news/music/louise-mensch-leonard-cohen-tribute-1846418#J8v1RSU179hhSAi4.99
Not just Canadian either but a Montrealer, just like Saul Bellow.
And according to the BBC World Service, Mr Cohen, became a Buddhist monk.
This gives details of his Buddhist name etc.
https://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/zenord.html
Pity nobody introduced him to Krishnamurti. Aren’t you lucky?!
As far as I know Leonard Cohen wrote several reasonably successful books, and several hit songs including Hallelujah.
Thankfully he probably never met Krishnamurti, or read his books, though I did read somewhere that Krishnamurti’s books were good for stablising wobbly tables, or sitting tins of paint on, to stop the floor from marking.
Criticisms of Assange are very unfair. So far as leaks are concerned there cannot have been much in the way of criticism of Trump that was not only published but plastered all over the media- from allegations of rape to the publicising of the educational scams associated with his name.
The problem is that all the whitewash of the media could not conceal the fact that Clinton was utterly corrupt. So corrupt in fact that she was quite happy to bring the world to the brink of nuclear confrontation just for the vhance of hauling out those old John Birch Society anti-communist memes that coloured her youth and prompted her to campaign for Goldwater and war in her first essays into politics.
I thought it unlikely that Clinton could lose but I underestimated her: nothing could have been more just than for her to lose Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Ohio, after what she and the DLC had done to them.
I remember driving through those states in the 80s, I remember talking to old people retired from UAW, Steelworker and municipal jobs then too. They had good pensions. Their healthcare was covered- the reason why there isn’t an NHS in the US, historically, is not unrelated to the superb coverage Union contracts used to provide a majority of working class people. They owned property and had savings.
Drive through those states today and things are very different.
Does anyone remember Motown? Well Motown is now bankrupted, the city is being bought up cheap by speculators with gentrification in mind. The jobs are gone, the Unions and pensions and benefits are gone. And the poor- like those in Flint-still drinking leaded water- black, white and every shade in between are getting much poorer.
Clinton was running on a Blairite platform, projecting a Blairite image. She was running against a candidate who could only win against a Blairite. Those who believe that Corbyn is too left wing to get elected, and are confirmed in their belief by the constant cacophony of the pundits and press propaganda, may want to re-consider their beliefs.
But they probably won’t, which is fine: they are going to lose. The ship they sail in is sinking. Just as the good ship Clinton has sunk. Just as the EU is sinking. And the Empire too. Just as the MSM has been exposed as a paper tiger, incapable, after a campaign in which the media was almost unanimous is its support of Clinton, even of winning Michigan and Wisconsin, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Just more inaccuracies. Detroit aka Motown has been out of bankruptcy for nearly two years now.
Out of bankruptcy by trampling on the rights of the working people.
http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2016/10/03/court-rejects-challenge-detroit-bankruptcy-pension-cuts/91479650/
http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2016/10/03/court-rejects-challenge-detroit-bankruptcy-pension-cuts/91479650/
The truth is that the Democratic party was complicit in this extremely shady action which has had devastating consequences for the people of Detroit, as has NAFTA, as did the mass incarceration policies and the welfare ‘reforms’, all of which this dreadful woman espoused. The candidate that you were voting for was ‘by the John Birch Society out of the Solid South” . And she came second.
Craig, I thought your interview was spot on – bringing up most of the points concisely, objectively and fairly.
I have a lot of respect for Jon Rappoport. I think what he has just written is very interesting. As you claim to be a Globalist, I would be interested in what your views are on this.
https://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2016/11/11/will-donald-trump-keep-his-promises/
Phil the ex-frog opined that poverty is the result of low wages caused by the lack of organized labor.
This may well be true – and if it is then get ready for a lot more poverty.
There is low and decreasing demand for labor – in such circumstances it is difficult to see how labor can organize. I read somewhere that there is enough clothing in existence to satisfy global demand for 14 years. Anyone working in the manufacture of clothing can either go on strike for 14 years or more likely be sacked.
China has an installed manufacturing base sufficient to meet 100% of global demand for manufactured products. Anyone working in manufacturing can be dispensed with.
Technology continues apace. Burger flipping jobs are going the way of the dodo. Just around the corner is the advent of driverless vehicles. This gets rid of lorry drivers, van drivers, coach drivers, taxi drivers etc,.etc. Soon deliveries of the trash that you just can’t live with out will be delivered via drone. There is still more to come from drone warfare – that cuts down the need for military personnel.
Most enterprises in “advanced economies” are either totally superfluous to the needs of people or are just exercises in wasting time on a massive scale. So far as the UK is concerned they don’t even want power generation – fill the land with solar panels and wind farms (that need little or no human maintenance) and just import the rest.
How can labor possibly organize in such an environment?
Loony,
There is a solution to this problem that my mate and I came up with when studying for our “A” Levels at Ashton-U-Lyne College of Further Education when we were 16.
We reckoned the coming wave of computers and automation could and should result in most people only having to work say 2 or 3 days a month on average. The rest of the month – other people would be working 2 or 3 days a month.
We came to this conclusion in the 1960’s.
It was never our fault that those in control of our destinies had never done a day’s real work in their lives, and still believed in concepts that were 2,000 years out of date. I blame The Malthusians – and they have still got it (almost) totally wrong. Yes, you can’t have exponential growth on a finite planet, but population growth does stabilise, if all your philosophies are not based on beliefs that are 2,000 years out of date. Check out the Indian State of Kerala – to prove this to yourself.
I think it was Michael Hudson who repeated our arguments quite recently – at a Lecture in Cambridge.
Paul and me worked it out when we 16 studying Maths Physics and Chemistry.
So don’t blame us. We had no desire to be politicians.
I know exactly what we both wanted – but she wasn’t in our class.
Tony
Tony – You are correct in that there is evidence that population will stabilize of its own accord. Indeed, with the exception of Africa, it already has. As you say this is seen as a bad thing. Indeed it is a bad thing if your only priority is maintain exponential growth for as long as possible.
Consequently it is intended that the bounty of Africa will be used to ensure ongoing exponential population growth. Should you have interest, here are some charts that makes it all clear.
http://econimica.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/what-world-looks-like-x-africa.html
Some say you can’t uninvent technology…usually the same people who were quick enough to uninvent steam trains, bi-planes, vinyl discs etc when it was in their interests to do so. So it can be done, it just needs the will, but neo-liberalism does not have the will.
Others fear blackouts will bring doom to us all but the modern control grid is controlled by the microchip which needs electricity 24/7/365. They can’t run their totalitarian state on batteries and generators, so rolling blackouts which last a long time and bring their prison grid down may be the only thing which saves us, first from a totalitarian state, and second, giving us a chance to refashion a new society.
I think their greed and reliance on technology to replace manpower will bring their own downfall.
“How can labor possibly organize in such an environment?”
The answer is very simple. And very old: it must organise politically and secure control over the means of production.
What we have been watching is the failure of non-political ‘business unionism’.
There was a very good reason why the Trade Unions organised a Labour Party. And they didn’t do it in order to supply Parliament with an alternative Tory party defending the interests of the class which became propertied by expropriating the wealth and property of the labouring people.
I really do wish what you say to be the case, but it isn’t.
Take the UK as an example. What are the means of production? Compared to the needs of 65 million people there is no production and hence there are no means of production to take control of.
In the past this kind of thinking seemed to work. There was a need for things like coal, railways and ships. These things have gone and to the extent they have been replaced they have been replaced with things like burger bars and Sports Direct. These enterprises serve no purpose other than exploitation. Without exploitation there reason for existing goes away. What is the point of taking control of enterprises like this? Whoever controls it has to exploit both workers and consumers. Remove exploitation and the enterprise disappears, because its only function is exploitation.
The market capitalization of Facebook is only marginally smaller than the market cap of Exxon. Facebook is a gigantic exercise in narcissistic time wasting. In reality it exists only as a mirage. How can you seize control of a mirage, and why would even bother trying?
Loonie. Deliveroo’s strike was extremely effective in the small time that it ran, just because we don’t have loads of heavy industry anymore doesn’t mean we don’t have plenty of other services – if every barista in London went on strike it would cause mass upset. You don’t seem to be able to think in positive ways. I’m afraid the time to keep pointing out doom and gloom is over – you either get with the program and fight for your right to life or bugger off, throwing out negative bullshit is absolutely pointless whinging.
Who cares if every Barista in London goes on strike? There is an old saying – “no-one can give you self respect, but anyone can take it away from you. All they have to do is to do things for you that you can easily do for yourself”
I can quite easily pour my own coffee, and if I can’t then I will do without.
I try to think in ways that are free of delusion. If you are British then today you are remembering millions of souls lost in the Great War. Do you think that any of these people would have considered pouring coffee to be work?
Loony
Manufacturing jobs have been replaced by beaureaucratic work. David Graeber wrote an interesting article based on this data a few years back: On The Pheonomena of Bullshit jobs
You ask who would care if all the barrista went on strike. Well mostly the coffee shop chains. And the state would share their concern. Class/workplace relations do not change or disappear just because of the type of work.
As Shatnersrug said there is some surprisingly effective action being taken by workers in the servicve/gig economy. You ask how workers might possibly organise in such an environment. Well take a look at how it is being done. Right now.
Re: technology. There is a provocative and much challenged theory, expounded by some young London commie types these recent years, about an egalitarian post scarcity world. Proles and lumps of neverland the future is impossibly bright with Fully Automated Luxury Communism
Looney
could you try to explain to me why the United Kingdom needs Hinkley Point C ?
The UK does not need Hinckley Point C.
Nuclear is base load generation – that means (other than when it is closed for maintenance) it runs all of the time and its output cannot be adjusted to follow demand.
The UK is closing down most of its coal plant which is demand responsive. There are a lot of renewables which are non dispatchable – i.e. you have no control over when they do or do not generate. There are now quite a few interconnectors and it is unlikely that interconnectors are an optimal solution for acquiring mid merit (or demand following) power.
The current market structure will not support new build – and the only thing that could be built is gas. Gas can be used as mid merit in just the same way that you could buy a Formula 1 car to drive to Tesco.
To overcome this problem the UK is adopting incentives for demand side management i.e. getting consumers to cut themselves off at times of high demand or to use more power at times of low demand. This concept will be coming to you too soon with the roll out of smart metering. This policy is being supplemented by a more general policy of destroying industrial demand. The last big consumer remaining is steel and the hope is that the remnants of the steel industry will close.
Given all of this the last thing the UK needs is new nuclear. Unusually for a politician it looks as though Theresa May also realized this. No doubt a lot of pressure was applied to get her to un-realize this.
However the good news is that unless you are Methuselah you are highly unlikely to live to see any power produced by Hinckley Point. Take a look at the sad and depressing history of the Olkiluoto project in Finland. It is now cost more money than the Large Hadron Collider and is yet to produce a single Kwh of electricity.
Meanwwhile, the Brexit bottler, and British foreign secretary Boris Johnson, has spoken with vice-president elect Mike Pence. A spokesperson for BoJo, claims the conversation went well, Boris, at one point during the POTUS campaign that, claimed that Donald Trump was a madman.
Of course, Boris showed just what a poltroon he is, when resigned like a frightened child over Brexit and its weighty responsibilities. BoJo, has also insulted just about every EU ambassador into the bargain.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/11/11/vice-president-elect-mike-pence-speaks-boris-johnson/93636498/?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=usatoday-newstopstories
Boris didn’t resign over Brexit.
The Tory establishment encouraged Gove to stab him in the back which killed his chances. The Tory hierarchy then encouraged Leadsom to stab Gove in the back which killed his chances. Leadsom then realised her choices were being destroyed in the press or quitting the race and getting a cabinet post.
Thus was May maneuvered into 10 Downing St without any whiff off democracy.
This election result was also a reaction to the smug elitism and myopic self interests of the white liberal class. Woman over 45 voted Trump. Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, Pennsylvania and Florida — all Obama states, voted Trump. Non college educated white men voted overwhelmingly for Trump. The white working class, which is mostly NOT working, have been hit as hard by neo liberal economic policies and by trade deals like TPP and TTIP. And by NAFTA, ushered in, remember, by Bill Clinton.
The utter indifference of the DNC to the suffering of vast chunks of the U.S., and the indifference of the smug supporters of Hillary who stigmatized and tried to shame third party candidates and those voting for them, came back to haunt them. They couldn’t imagine why everyone didn’t support their privilege. The logic of lesser evilism became an accusatory intolerance with opinion differing from their own. That they seemed more concerned with Trump’s pussy remarks than with Clinton’s cackling at her orchestrated assassination of Qadaffi, or her planned coup in Honduras, or the CIA led fascist coup in Ukraine began to be noticed.
Many people who voted for Trump did so not because they like Trump, but because they fucking hated the privileged white bourgeoisie that was constantly scolding them and ridiculing them. In a sense this mirrored the Brexit vote. And it is worth noting Bill Clinton’s recent remarks about Jeremy Corbyn (“a person off the streets” “maddest person in the room.”). Inspired by a woman of vision and beautiful to boot, Gunnhild Skrødal Steppling – Thank-you and bless you.
It’s more than that mark – the Chukka Ummama and John McTernans are not only cut from the same cloth – they are the same cloth the labour right have been back and fourth with the clintons and posse for years, they all studied the same election campaign strategy – don’t forget blairism was merely reheated clintonism – all smiles and rock and roll instruments whilst selling the country down the pan. The thing is these peole really do hate their fellow countrymen and women and do think they know best. Everybody hates them.
The Israeli authorities, hope that Trump will allow Israel to build more settlements on Palestinian lands, even those already built, are classed as illegal under International Law.
Trump has already been pictured with certain lobby groups in Washington, the usual culprits.
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.752589
Meanwhile human rights groups have sounded alarm bells, after a top Chinese police officer has been elected president of Interpol.
The HR groups, fear that China, which already has a appalling human rights record, wll now be given carte blanche, to issue arrest warrants and detain Chinese, or other dissidents across Europe.
I mean I didn’t think it could get anymore surreal, than a Saudi as head of the UN Human Rights Council, but it has.
What next Marine le Pen and Geert Wilders, as the captain’s of the rescue boats for immigrants/refugees, crossing the Mediterranean?
You think that this is bad?
Britain and the US just voted to make Saudi Arabia the chair of the UN’s Human Rights Council.
whilst ejecting Russia. Comfortably numb- Skulls
I’m sure the usual reasons were given, such as “This will make them consider human rights a lot more!” and other such hokey BS. Standard procedure.
RoS Thanks for that on Cohen…
“Jikan”, meaning “Silent One”.
and yes I think he has about a dozen books.
As I am not allowed to use too many words to for example agree with some of the very best posters on here, I would just like to point out that many of you who have been posting here for even longer than me, rather than portraying your own tribal beliefs and insecurities..and slagging each other off (just because you have different points of views) – chasing brilliant people like Mary away…
You should be Dancing..Even Trump is Better than a Nuclear World War III
“John Travolta Saturday Night Fever – Bee Gees “You Should be Dancing”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSVSbdmrT0U
Mark & Bevin +1 each.
Tony
Heh. Disco Lib/Dems dancing to the beat whilst tone-deaf.
That’s an image I wish I could erase from my mind.
French opposition MPs seek to impeach President Hollande
The BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION
you can’t hide the news – can you?
What are you on about now Norton?
I’m glad someone else said that. 🙂
Seriously; it’s like I’m insane for saying Trump is an unknown calculus. But the majority, KNOWS he’s the real deal and they are the sane ones…lol
He may be trying to alert you to the fact that the next stage in the revolution will commence shortly. Get ready to say a big hello to Marine Le Pen.
Try to remember that Marine is a woman – and the world needs more women in power. Only sexist misogynistic types would possibly seek to impede the triumphal march of Marine Le Pen to the pinnacle of French political life.
I shoulda known you two would be in sync. Holy Moly.
I so wish I had added polyester sans-belt pants with french lace on the cuffs, and bullet-proof hair-dos defying the laws of inertia. I do love the carnival lights.
Mary was gifted much more than commentators here grasp – Kudos Tony_Opmoc
I doubt that Mary’s been chased _that_ far away, Tony.
I think he got this part right. Low-information voters (rust belt unemployable deplorables) got angry when their manual labor jobs got shipped to cheaper venues. It was someone else’s fault they failed to heed continuous warnings about ramping up their job skills. ‘Natch !
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/president-trump-how-america-got-it-so-wrong-w449783
There is an old saying, when you are in a hole, stop digging.
Amazingly, the MSM, having dug themselves into a hole with their ridiculously partisan support for Hillary, hiding every indication of her lies and corruption, and magnifying every blemish of Trump, are continuing to dig. I’ve lost count of the articles in MSM about how the world is about to end, Russia isgoing to over run the planet etc., etc.
Have these intelligent but idiot types utterly lost the plot.
By all means criticise Trump and hold his actions and words under a microscope but do the same to Hillary and having done that, accept that Trump is now president elect, the world is not going to end and quite probably, Trump will be a far better president than Hillary ever could have been.
Uncertainty from the SAKER? I digress. beginquote;
“The worst case? Trump could turn out to be a total fraud. I personally very much doubt it, but I admit that this is possible. More likely is that he just won’t have the foresight and courage to crush the Neocons and that he will try to placate them. If he does so, they will instead crush him. It is a fact that while administrations have changed every 4 or 8 years, the regime in power has not, and that US internal and foreign policies have been amazingly consistent since the end of WWII. Will Trump finally bring not just a new administration but real “regime change”? I DON’T KNOW” endquote
From time to time I will beg forgiveness for my annoying habit of searching for facts, but even worse than that I can also connect the dots. Apologies for those irritating characteristics.