As the title says.
This will be my last post at Lansbury's Lido. I've finally decided to retire this blog to the heavenly archive or maybe I'll consign it to the fiery furnace leaving nowt but a shadow on the wayback machine.
It's been a good ride over the years, sharing my lefty thoughts on politics and current events, sharing posts and discussions, meeting some great comrades, and also some not so great, hoping for a great socialist future where peace and harmony reigns supreme!
Alas the wheels came off the bus as they say. Was it my expectations or viewing the possible futures through rose-tinted spectacles of memories past?
My Left was a Left of Keir Hardie, of George Lansbury, of Attlee and Bevan and the NHS, Of Eric Heffer and Tom Mann. A left of strong union leaders working with comrades to realise Clause 4! A Left where those whose labour and brain created the wealth got to share in and control the wealth. A Left open to all, from the hoary handed worker in the field to the academic in the ivory tower.
It's gone. All gone.
The elites in the main political left parties have suited and booted and embraced the creed of the Tories whilst deceitfully leaving the Red Flag flying. Those to the left outside of Parliament have dissolved into internecine disputes of funds and rape. The young have become intolerant caricatures, rallying to the latest sexy trend on Twitter and Facebook and forgetting those, the majority who they should be supporting and fighting for.
Those parties now seen as the hope for the Left are nothing but semi-fascist and engrossed in issues of singular importance to the minority.
¡No pasarán! was the cry to the capitalist behemoth. They shall not pass!
But whilst the Left scoured social media for another 'phobia' they could decry and hang their vendetta masks on the Tories and the economic elite built a bypass. The Left gesticulated from the crumbling B road as private capital roared past on the smooth undulating toll roads.
Modernity has been consumed by a fascist, intolerant liberalism and then vomited up as a postmodern pavement pizza. Facts have been swept under the carpet and tagged as bigotry. This is the Left now. Idiotic, childish and screwed up.
A man puts on lipstick, a dress and high heels and demands to be allowed into the women's changing room at Next. When he's not allowed he screams something ending in '-phobic' and the Left condemns the 'bigots' for not being accepting him as a woman.
Another person decides it's fabulous to suggest that #killallwhitemen is a grand thing to post on a Tweet for a business account and gets the hump when they're called out for it.
A good point to post my favourite graphic methinks.
Homoexuals in Iran swing from cranes at the behest of Shia clerics for the delight of the crowd. In Mosul homosexuals are thrown from buildings by Islamists of Daesh and stoned by the crowd if they have the temerity to survive the drop. In Britain Christians are dragged through the legal system for the heinous crime of wearing a cross or not wanting to bake a cake. And for the left we know which of these events generates the shrillest condemnation and thirst for vengeance.
After venting my spleen in this post I realise that my 'Left' hasn't changed. It's died a whimpering death and the title has been stolen by the fascist liberals. Dreams of economic control by the workers are no more.
It was good whilst it lasted.
Fin.
Saturday, 13 June 2015
Tuesday, 17 March 2015
Animals Matter - PPCs views on hunting
Came across this service from the League Against Cruel Sports where they offer a system where all your Parliamentary Prospective Candidates for the 2015 General Election in your constituency are contacted to find their views on aspects of hunting and animal welfare. The system works by the PPCs clicking on an email sent from me to select their views on the LACS website.
http://www.league.org.uk/our-campaigns/election-manifesto/take-action-for-animals-general-election-2015
Thought I'd give it a punt as it's very easy to do. So I plug in my details and click the button to send.
In my constituency of Aldershot there are 5 candidates that appeared on the LACSs system.
Pah!
http://www.league.org.uk/our-campaigns/election-manifesto/take-action-for-animals-general-election-2015
Thought I'd give it a punt as it's very easy to do. So I plug in my details and click the button to send.
In my constituency of Aldershot there are 5 candidates that appeared on the LACSs system.
- Mr Carl Hewitt - Green
- Mr Alan Hilliar - Liberal Democrat
- Sir Gerald Howarth MP - Conservative
- Mr Gary Puffett - Labour
- Mr William Walker - UKIP
My emails went out at 11am on Saturday 14th March.
By 7:30 that evening I had an email. It was from Gerald Howarth, the sitting MP. As he said in his email he's a supporter of the Countryside Alliance and the British Association for Shooting and Conservation, so he's no fan of the LACS. No surprises there and I don't expect he's shared his views with the LACS. To give him his due though he does respond promptly to communications. I've badgered him about stuff in the past and he's always got back pretty quickly.
What does surprise me is that none of the others have shown that they have even received my email. I know that this is a constituency where you could take a turd, roll it in glitter, pin an I Love Maggie badge on it and it'd soon be sitting on green leather in Westminster, but come on, no one else has even had the courtesy to respond.
Yes, I know the LACS request is loaded one way with regards to hunting and shooting but in an election year there's really no reason why Hewitt, Hilliar, Puffett and Walker couldn't have got off their arses and replied.
By 7:30 that evening I had an email. It was from Gerald Howarth, the sitting MP. As he said in his email he's a supporter of the Countryside Alliance and the British Association for Shooting and Conservation, so he's no fan of the LACS. No surprises there and I don't expect he's shared his views with the LACS. To give him his due though he does respond promptly to communications. I've badgered him about stuff in the past and he's always got back pretty quickly.
What does surprise me is that none of the others have shown that they have even received my email. I know that this is a constituency where you could take a turd, roll it in glitter, pin an I Love Maggie badge on it and it'd soon be sitting on green leather in Westminster, but come on, no one else has even had the courtesy to respond.
Yes, I know the LACS request is loaded one way with regards to hunting and shooting but in an election year there's really no reason why Hewitt, Hilliar, Puffett and Walker couldn't have got off their arses and replied.
Pah!
Saturday, 28 February 2015
Monday, 19 January 2015
Got to love Mujica
Wise words from Uraguayan President Jose Mujica:
'A president is a high-level official who is elected to carry out a function. He is not a king, not a god. He is not the witch doctor of a tribe who knows everything. 'He is a civil servant. I think the ideal way of living is to live like the vast majority of people whom we attempt to serve and represent.'Measure your political representatives against such a statement. None can stand.
Friday, 12 December 2014
Russell Brand and Question Time
| Russell Brand (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
For a long time now I've had zero interest in politics. I suppose I had the stuffing knocked out of me by the incessant stream of left of centre associates that seem to be striving to get their credentials for joining the Soviet Union's League of Militant Atheists. Sadly some people when hearing about 'faith' or 'God' or the like compartmentalise it all into some 'God box' that demands the most strident ripost. They seem to lose the ability to reason and discern whenever God gets mentioned and treat everything linked to faith as a monolithic entity, which it isn't. And in turn they appear to me to become more infantile and stereotypical in their behaviour and manners. One or two excepted of course. But that's why I've had no interest in politics for a long time now.
In the same vein the whole concept of celebrity bores me to tears. Take a 'celebrity' and it all comes down to behaviour to get media coverage and all the while the scenario is being manipulated behind the scenes by Svengali-like men who play the system to line their pockets.
So when Russell Brand appears yapping on about 'revolution', 'occupy' and other lefty mantras my blood freezes. The conjoining of celebrity, infantilism and a new book is just too much for me to bear.
Last night I caught the final few minutes of BBC's Question Time and saw Russell Brand looking rather deflated and perhaps sad amongt the Lab and ConDem clones who were spouting their parties mealy mouthed mantras. I certainly didn't see anything that got mentioned in the reviews or on Twitter regarding clashes and audience heckling. However I did look at Brand's Twitter feed and actually followed the link to his latest blog post where he talks about the show. And I have to say I now see him in a different light. Not the vacuous celebrity and, dare I say it a 'bit of a cock' but someone who underneath the veneer of the media circus actually cares about people. He was able to talk about Christians and people of faith without subconsciously turning into Uncle Joe, and he shows a real passion for humanity and people, as he says:
The Britain of the future will be born of alliances between ordinary, self-governing people, organised locally, communicating globally. Built on principles that are found in traditions like Christianity; community, altruism, kindness, love.It's a breath of fresh air to find that sort of ethos amongst the left and it's really made a mark on me. So much so that I've even resurrected my Twitter account @lansburyslido.
Heartening.
Thursday, 11 December 2014
Tuesday, 15 April 2014
Mami Konneh, Keep on Running!
The headlines at the BBC News website shout "London Marathon runner Mami Konneh Lahun misses flight"
As a tribute to Mami Konneh, the runner from Sierra Leone I'd like to dedicate this fine tune.
As a tribute to Mami Konneh, the runner from Sierra Leone I'd like to dedicate this fine tune.
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Thursday, 6 March 2014
Babi Yar
BABI YAR
By Yevgeni Yevtushenko
Translated by Benjamin Okopnik, 10/96
No monument stands over Babi Yar.
A steep cliff only, like the rudest headstone.
I am afraid.
Today, I am as old
As the entire Jewish race itself.
I see myself an ancient Israelite.
I wander o'er the roads of ancient Egypt
And here, upon the cross, I perish, tortured
And even now, I bear the marks of nails.
It seems to me that Dreyfus is myself. *1*
The Philistines betrayed me - and now judge.
I'm in a cage. Surrounded and trapped,
I'm persecuted, spat on, slandered, and
The dainty dollies in their Brussels frills
Squeal, as they stab umbrellas at my face.
I see myself a boy in Belostok
Blood spills, and runs upon the floors,
The chiefs of bar and pub rage unimpeded
And reek of vodka and of onion, half and half.
I'm thrown back by a boot, I have no strength left,
In vain I beg the rabble of pogrom,
To jeers of "Kill the Jews, and save our Russia!"
My mother's being beaten by a clerk.
O, Russia of my heart, I know that you
Are international, by inner nature.
But often those whose hands are steeped in filth
Abused your purest name, in name of hatred.
I know the kindness of my native land.
How vile, that without the slightest quiver
The antisemites have proclaimed themselves
The "Union of the Russian People!"
It seems to me that I am Anna Frank,
Transparent, as the thinnest branch in April,
And I'm in love, and have no need of phrases,
But only that we gaze into each other's eyes.
How little one can see, or even sense!
Leaves are forbidden, so is sky,
But much is still allowed - very gently
In darkened rooms each other to embrace.
-"They come!"
-"No, fear not - those are sounds
Of spring itself. She's coming soon.
Quickly, your lips!"
-"They break the door!"
-"No, river ice is breaking..."
Wild grasses rustle over Babi Yar,
The trees look sternly, as if passing judgement.
Here, silently, all screams, and, hat in hand,
I feel my hair changing shade to gray.
And I myself, like one long soundless scream
Above the thousands of thousands interred,
I'm every old man executed here,
As I am every child murdered here.
No fiber of my body will forget this.
May "Internationale" thunder and ring
When, for all time, is buried and forgotten
The last of antisemites on this earth.
There is no Jewish blood that's blood of mine,
But, hated with a passion that's corrosive
Am I by antisemites like a Jew.
And that is why I call myself a Russian!
This translation copied from http://remember.org/witness/babiyar.html
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Labels:
Antisemitism,
Babi Yar,
Jew,
Russia,
Ukraine
Thursday, 20 February 2014
Nick Clegg says Lib Dem-Labour coalition possible
Seems Nick Clegg is touting his party round looking for another host to latch onto.
I wonder what the Labour leader's response will be?
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I wonder what the Labour leader's response will be?
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| Ed MacDonald, or was it Ramsay Miliband? |
Friday, 7 February 2014
The Right to Strike
| Utah Phillips (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
It reminded me of a quote from Utah Phillips which I couldn't quite remember so I posted this on twitter:
The right to strike is not a right conferred upon the masses by the elite and is not theirs to withdrawSummed it up for me. Anyhow, here's the most excellent quote from Utah:
The state can't give you freedom, and the state can't take it away. You're born with it, like your eyes, like your ears. Freedom is something you assume, then you wait for someone to try to take it away. The degree to which you resist is the degree to which you are free...
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Labels:
BBCQT,
Strike action,
Utah Phillips
Sunday, 2 February 2014
Oh the integrity of them all!
Seems that someone else is getting involved in the saga around politicising OFSTED.
Seems that David Laws is accusing Gove of acting politically over the appointments and de-appointments.
Hold on, David Laws?
Yes, that David Laws.
Just to remind ourselves.
Oh the integrity of them all!
Seems that David Laws is accusing Gove of acting politically over the appointments and de-appointments.
Hold on, David Laws?
Yes, that David Laws.
Just to remind ourselves.
Oh the integrity of them all!
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Sunday, 14 July 2013
Making The Rich Poorer
![]() |
| George Lansbury, c1935 (Photo credit: LSE Library) |
The workers must be given tangible proof that Labour administration means something different from Capitalist administration, and in a nutshell this means diverting wealth from the wealthy ratepayers to the poor. Those who pretend that a sound Labour policy can be pursued nationally or locally without making the rich poorer should find another party. - George Lansbury 1922Would that we had someone of the calibre of George or any of the other Poplar councillors with us today!
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Labels:
George Lansbury,
Labour,
Poplar
Tuesday, 9 July 2013
Let's Impeach the President
Listening to Neil Young's Let's Impeach the President when I heard these lyrics. Somewhat apt given the current controversy surrounding Snowden/Prism etc.
Let's impeach the President
For spying On citizens inside their own homes
Breaking every law in the country
By tapping our computers and telephones
Sunday, 7 July 2013
Len McCluskey in the Daily Mirror
| Unite logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
If your son or daughter fancies becoming a Labour MP, forget it. They have more chance of cleaning in the Commons than being elected to it.That is what the row over Labour selection procedures is really about – who can play a part in our politics. Today, Parliament is increasingly the preserve of an out-of-touch elite – Oxbridge-educated special advisers who glide from university to think tank to the green benches without ever sniffing the air of the real world. That is what Unite is trying to change. We want to give our democracy back to ordinary working people. We say they need to be given a fair crack of the whip in the Labour Party in particular – the Party that was founded to represent working people, because the establishment of a century ago ignored them.The Unite General Secretary lays it on the line about what has happened to the Labour Party over the last few decades. It's been dragged to the right and the strings and levers of power have been populated by the middle-class elitist careerists whose interests rarely extend beyond their own careers, egos and wallets. Let's hope that what comes out of the Falkirk fiasco will be in the interests of the people of this country.
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Falkirk: Labour leader Miliband hits out at Unite's Len McCluskey
Tory bully whips up a frenzy over Labour links to Unite
Labour crisis: Ed Miliband refers Falkirk Unite row to police and dismisses Len McCluckey's claims as 'total nonsense'
Ed Miliband in 'crisis' over feud with Unite boss Len McCluskey

Labels:
Ed Miliband,
Falkirk,
Labour,
Len McCluskey,
Oxbridge,
Unite,
Unite Union
Friday, 5 July 2013
Arrogance, Ignorance and Greed (or MPs Pay)
![]() |
| 4. Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority take part in welcoming and briefing New Members (Photo credit: UK Parliament) |
Give MPs a pay rise or risk another expenses scandal, says IPSA chief
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10161649/Give-MPs-a-pay-rise-or-risk-another-expenses-scandal-says-Ipsa-chief.html
So says the well paid Chief of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, 'Sir' Ian Kennedy.
Here's a third option: Pay MPs the average working wage and let them truly be representative of those whom they represent, not the swivel eyed, money trousering, big business arse licking career politicos that a lot of them are and aspire to be.
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My Debt to the NHS on it's 65th Birthday
And I for one am very happy that it exists. If people like Clement Atlee and Aneurin Bevan hadn't fought for it's creation in the rubble and austerity of postwar Britain then certainly I wouldn't be here. You see, my Dad developed rheumatic fever when he was a teenager through swimming in the Kennet and Avon canal down in Bath. When war was declared he tried to enlist in the Navy but was declared medically unfit as the fever had caused issues with his heart's mitral valve. So he spent the war in the Home Guard guarding a building up at a reservoir overlooking Bath. We say guarding as he had a rifle but no ammunition! One day him and his friend decided to break into the building to see what was in there. Turns out to have been stacked to the rafters with potatoes!
After the war and a short stint at a soap factory he went to work for BOAC's engine plant in Nantgarw. Whilst lodging with a local family at Trelewis he met a young woman who was to become his wife, and my Mum. They married and when my Mum became pregnant with my brothers in 1949 my Dad's health had deteriorated due to his heart problems. When the twins were born he couldn't even climb the stairs to see them.
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| My Dad, 4th from left, white boiler suit at Nantgarw |
At that time the recently created NHS was introducing open heart surgery and he was offered an operation to see if they could repair his mitral valve. His local GP suggested it would be a bad move as the current level of failure for this type of operation was high. He told my Dad that he would likely die during the operation and that he should try and make the best of the likely 6 months that he had left to live. My Dad's response was to tell the GP to bugger off! He had the surgery at the Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr and lived to tell the tale!
It would be a good story about the necessity of the NHS even if it stopped there but it doesn't. Fast forward to 1963 and my mum is pregnant with me and again my Dad develops issues with his mitral valve. So who steps forward to bring hope to the situation? The NHS. In he goes to Harefield Hospital to get his valve repaired yet again.
Move on to 1989 and just as my first son is being born my Dad is once again ill. The mitral valve is playing up and tests indicate it can no longer be treated. Only option this time is a valve replacement. And once again the NHS comes to the fore and operates on my Dad to replace his faulty valve with a plastic one.
If it wasn't for the NHS then putting it simply my Dad would have died in 1950 and I would not have existed. So I wish the NHS a happy 65th Birthday and may there be many more to come!
And to those who seek to destroy the NHS or to open it up to the vultures of private finance, don't ask what I wish for you.

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