Daily Review 02/02/2017

Written By: notices and features - Date published: - 36 comments
Categories: Daily review

Daily review is also your post.

This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Don’t forget to be kind to each other …

36 comments on “Daily Review 02/02/2017”

Comment numbers have changed to permanent references. Older quoted numbers may no longer identify the same comment.

    1. 1.1

      Not sure. This is funny though,

      This isn’t the first time Mahon, an advocate for the environment, has taken aim at Smith through his art.

      He sculpted a version of the minister’s head out of cow dung, as well as a modified version of it which opened at the hairline when you inserted a coin to reveal the skulls of dead birds where Smith’s brain should be.

          1. 1.1.1.1.1

            He mentions it himself in the article. I don’t think it’s counterproductive per se, just that there’s little evidence that satire is a vehicle for change.

          2. 1.1.1.1.2

            He was a serious man, and a piercing satire was his weapon. But it worked only because he was funny. And then, first gradually and then suddenly, being funny wasn’t enough.

            Clive James on Karl Kraus.

            1. 1.1.1.1.2.1

              So it’s ok for Mahon to do his political art for a period of time and as along as its funny, but after a bit he should stop? How would that be assessed?

              1. 1.1.1.1.2.1.1

                1. No, so far as I’m concerned he can do it as long as he wants to, and
                2. Assessed by whom? Yeah nah.

                I was struck by Mahon’s remarks:

                “All politicians, they love having themselves drawn, they find pictures of themselves in newspapers – cartoons, drawings – and they stick them onto the walls of their offices, and they laugh about them, they enjoy it.”
                Instead Mahon realised making a giant version that is as lifelike as possible would be more effective.

                They reminded me of James’ essay on Klaus, which I finally tracked down half-an-hour ago.

                1. 1.1.1.1.2.1.1.1

                  In your comment at 1.1.1 the other day you said “there’s the problem” . I still don’t know what the problem is, or indeed what we are talking about 🙂

                    3. 1.1.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.3

                      ah ok. I don’t think the point of the art is to make him change his behaviour directly. Although I don’t believe that he doesn’t feel anything and public shaming is probably appropriate at this stage. The point of the art is to get other people thinking and then acting.

  2. 2

    Bribery it is, then.

    JUST IN: House approves resolution killing SEC requirement for oil, gas, mining companies to disclose payments to foreign governments— Reuters Business (@ReutersBiz) February 1, 2017

  3. 3

    More sycophancy from Audrey Young.

    English and Bennett a complete package

    From the dictionary.
    Pick your own word to describe.

    obsequious
    adjective
    obedient or attentive to an excessive or servile degree.
    “they were served by obsequious waiters”
    synonyms: servile, ingratiating, unctuous, sycophantic, fawning, toadying, oily, oleaginous, greasy, grovelling, cringing, toadyish, sycophantish, subservient, submissive, slavish, abject, Uriah Heepish.

  6. 6

    New national party logo reminds me of the eureka stockade flag, often used these days by far right, anti immigration groups in Australia. Funnily enough originally used by a miners union rebelling against authority.

    1. 7.1

      The outbreak, in August, made more than 5000 people violently ill and has been linked to three deaths.

      A manslaughter charge is probably applicable somewhere along the lines.

  8. 8

    Rents rising faster than incomes.

    Unemployment on the increase.

    Things aren’t panning out good for Bill.

  9. 9

    Libyan Labels: a journey through the Guardian’s coverage of the Libyan disaster

    In this analysis we examine Libya’s recent history looking through the eyes of the Guardian, the flagship of liberal western outlets, and its reporting. As with most other western media, the Guardian was an enthusiastic supporter of the NATO intervention that overthrew Gaddafi and threw the country into the disaster that we are about to describe. Faithful to western interests then, the Guardian remains faithful afterwards as well. But imperial designs are laden with contradictions and sometimes drastically change course, but the Guardian dutifully follows. More interestingly, in light of the complex Libyan situation, the Guardian resorts to labels, adjectives, to distinguish the “good” (i.e. western-supported) actors from the “bad” ones. And as western powers stumble from one strategy to the next, these labels change accordingly.

    Read on……..Libyan Labels: a journey through the Guardian’s coverage of the Libyan disaster

  10. 10

    A brilliant lecture by John Pilger. [April, 2012, Melbourne, Australia. Hosted by Socialist Alternative (AU) and the International Socialist Organisation of Aotearoa (NZ) was held over the Easter long weekend at the University of Melbourne.]

    Pilger is recognized the world over for his investigative journalism. His many awards include:
    – British Academy of Film and Television Arts – The Richard Dimbleby Award
    – American Television Academy Award (‘Emmy’)
    – International Reporter of the Year
    – Journalist of the Year

    Today’s liberal feminism is a sinister 21st century variant of historical feminism. It is one key apparatus of many currently being utilized by the capitalist system rooted in patriarchy, misogyny and racism. This nefarious system employs trillions of dollars funneled through the non-profit industrial complex (via foundations) to protect and expand these formidable power structures. Today’s liberal feminism is a racist fascism, bound by whiteness, privilege and class, that markets reformism and accommodationism under the clever guise of grassroots activism.

    Liberal feminism provides an academic, psychological and social construct that subtly reinforces and reasserts the inferiority of non-Anglo, non-western populations in the most effective manner: by not speaking of and thereby not acknowledging their very existence. By choosing to stay silent in response to the decades of brutal invasion, occupation and bloodshed which only accelerated under the Obama administration (carried out by Hillary Clinton) non-Anglo women (and whole populations) of Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, Syria, Iraq, Pakistan, Palestine, Haiti, and countless other states targeted by U.S. imperialism are effectively rendered invisible. Disposable. In eradicating the very existence of these women and their children, the continuation of genocide can continue as it has in the Congo – with no dissent. The underlying, unspoken and agreed upon alibi that unites liberal feminism can be found in the words of Madeleine Albright: “we think the price is worth it”. Liberal feminism reflects James Baldwin’s intuitive observation: “the American idea of racial progress is measured by how fast I become white.”

    1. 10.1

      Note, the liberal feminism that Pilger describes, is one strand of feminism that has been quite dominant in the US in recent decades.

      The title indicates Pilger sees this as one strand of feminism, and is not the original, or truer form of feminism. It has hi-jacked feminism. Thus it is in fact a faux kind of feminism, as described by Pilger.

      Also note, there are other forms of feminism, and the boundaries between them cam become blurred – much as the boundaries between socialism, anarchism, social democracy, liberal democracy, etc.

    1. 11.1

      Earhlings is a 2005 American documentary film about humankind’s total dependence on animals for economic purposes. Presented in five chapters (pets, food, clothing, entertainment and scientific research) the film is narrated by Joaquin Phoenix, featuring music by Moby, and was written, produced, directed and edited by Shaun Monson.

      Earthlings exposes the atrocities committed against animals, that if viewed in human terms would amount to the most evil crimes against humanity, and should (I hope someday will) be considered as such. It is an important and informative film, fueled by horrific images captured through an unflinching camera lens.

      Go into this expecting to be overwhelmed by what you are going to see. I have seen images from the holocaust and the rape of Nangjing and read stories of torture from WW2 and these are frighteningly similar. Much to my surprise it is never preachy – nor does it need to be. The nightmarish images, which to my mind resemble a reasonable facsimile of Hell itself, with the innocent being tortured by their evil overlords, are more than enough. Evil is not the only word that comes to mind when you hear what the workers and trainers say to their sorry subjects as they inflict their torture. But I do not hate the evil men, I somehow pity them, both for the lives they lead and their loss of something I deeply value – empathy and compassion.

      What makes Earthlings so powerfully convincing is actually quite simple if you believe that inflicting pain and suffering on an innocent living being is wrong. This kind of suffering could be the result of something as simple as not spaying/neutering your pet. Unfortunately as history shows us, we have a lot to learn about how to treat each other, let alone the animals that share our world. Earthlings gives voice to those that are powerless and cannot speak out on their own behalf.

      1. 11.1.1

        Ellen DeGeneres speaks about why she became Vegan and the beautiful sentient nonhuman Earthlings that we human Earthlings share this Planet Earth with.

  12. 12

    I know, the daily heil but WTF.

    The yearbook described the ‘Fascism Forever Club’ as an anti-faculty student group that battled against the ‘liberal’ views of the school administration.

    ‘In political circles, our tireless President Gorsuch’s “Fascism Forever Club” happily jerked its knees against the increasingly “left-wing” tendencies of the faculty,’ said the yearbook.

    It is not the only example of Gorsuch’s early conservative political views. One yearbook photo showed the high school senior kicking back in a chair in a button-down shirt and tie while reading William F. Buckley’s 1959 book ‘Up from Liberalism’, a key text of the conservative movement.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4182852/amp/Trump-s-SCOTUS-pick-founded-club-called-Fascism-Forever.html

  13. 13

    I see the House of Commons, by about 4 to 1, has just voted in favour of voting for brexit. This, I think, gives Mrs May the green light to trigger article 50.

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