An essay on education, language and class
baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
I watched the Brand-Paxman interview again, and it is actually extraordinary. By refusing to be silenced by Paxman's continued and odious insinuations that he 'shouldn't' be talking about politics, and his suggestions that stating simple, correct truths is somehow naive and unsophisticated, Russell Brand shows Paxman up as the ridiculous bully and defender of the status quo that he is. And I've never seen anyone else achieve that so clearly.
The closing of ranks that Paxman attempts and fails, is reflected in the way John Snow interviews Brand: Tbh, I'm struggling to think of anyone else who has been treated with such contempt from the outset by supposedly 'objective' news interviewers.
But then, my general experience of news journalists is that they are heavily invested in reducing a political arena to a purely technical one, where they can endlessly speculate about the minutiae of what X or Y has said (which means little in a framework in which lying goes unpenalised, and spin is ubiquitous). As soon as someone suggests that the bigger problem is that politics as a whole has been captured by a specific class, overwhelmingly in thrall to the interests of big business, they go into attack dog mode...
Non-voting may not make sense, but it looks a whole lot less stupid when the current political system is a corrupt absurdity. Obviously what the UK needs is a grassroots-bursting-into-the-mainstream politics revolution of the kind Spain experienced (albeit sadly now stalled) - unfortunately the very history that seemingly insulates Spain against the far right doesn't exist in the UK, so the revolution can come from either side. It's hard to avoid the conclusion that things will need to get worse before any significant change happens. May not need to wait long, obviously.
The closing of ranks that Paxman attempts and fails, is reflected in the way John Snow interviews Brand: Tbh, I'm struggling to think of anyone else who has been treated with such contempt from the outset by supposedly 'objective' news interviewers.
But then, my general experience of news journalists is that they are heavily invested in reducing a political arena to a purely technical one, where they can endlessly speculate about the minutiae of what X or Y has said (which means little in a framework in which lying goes unpenalised, and spin is ubiquitous). As soon as someone suggests that the bigger problem is that politics as a whole has been captured by a specific class, overwhelmingly in thrall to the interests of big business, they go into attack dog mode...
Non-voting may not make sense, but it looks a whole lot less stupid when the current political system is a corrupt absurdity. Obviously what the UK needs is a grassroots-bursting-into-the-mainstream politics revolution of the kind Spain experienced (albeit sadly now stalled) - unfortunately the very history that seemingly insulates Spain against the far right doesn't exist in the UK, so the revolution can come from either side. It's hard to avoid the conclusion that things will need to get worse before any significant change happens. May not need to wait long, obviously.
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His book on poetry is singularly free of insight, really quite trite.
Few things in life are as depressing as Bernie Sanders 'fans'.
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
Mystic Tea, calling it a full three years before Brand fell down the right-wing rabbit-hole with the onset of his "plandemic" twattery.
pattycakes_
Can turn naughty
I had a search for him too. He's had some fans on here over the years. Most notably, @luka has consistently talked about his genius and how he wishes him to be prime minister. Interesting.
pattycakes_
Can turn naughty
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
mixed_biscuits
_________________________
Prediction: Trump and Brand to be leading their respective countries from the comfort of their prison cells 3 years from now.
Corpsey
bandz ahoy
Peter, I hope?
mixed_biscuits
_________________________
What's his reasoning?
Benny Bunter
Well-known member
He's basing it mainly on this I think but says he had doubts from the beginning.
dailysceptic.org
Lucy Letby Must Be Allowed an Appeal – The Daily Sceptic
The case against Lucy Letby is far from watertight, says Prof David Livermore. Many more babies died than she was blamed for, and she wasn't even on shift when a key insulin bag was changed. She must be allowed an appeal.
dailysceptic.org
Benny Bunter
Well-known member
And there was a very similar case in Holland which turned out to be a miscarriage of justice
en.m.wikipedia.org
Lucia de Berk - Wikipedia
Benny Bunter
Well-known member
I haven't been following it very closely, but reading that does make me really uneasy about the verdict. What was the motive supposed to be?