alanjjohnstone
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An article by the informed Juan Cole which should ensure that any sane strategist would not contemplate going to war against Iran….but with Bolton we face an irrational politician.
The darling of the “middle class” liberals, the John Lewis Partnership, promoted as an enlightened employer, shows that when push becomes shove, it acts the same as any other conventional business – cut costs at the expense of its workers.
It is ditching any link to final salary in its pension scheme in a bid to save £80m annually despite any honey-coating excuses for its actions.
US removes its non-essential staff out of Iraq, another ominous sign even though like the UK, the Iraq government also says they have no evidence of any threat to those occupational forces.
It could all still be US sabre rattling but we do know, accidents and incidents can happen in such face-offs, whether intended or unintended.
We also have others with their own agendas…the Saudis and the Israelis, both proved to be unreliable sources of intel.
This is a more a potential conflict than an invasion of Venezuela and it will trigger off a regional war from Lebanon to the Gulf. Its economic ramifications will result in a global recession.
Our movement has been fairly reticent in claiming that the climate crises risks human extinction, restricting ourselves to speculating at most that we perhaps face civilization collapse.
Other authorities are more alarmist.
“…Increasingly complex, growing and related risks, from global warming to pollution and epidemics, threaten human survival if left to escalate, the United Nations warned on Wednesday. A biennial assessment report on how the world is dealing with disasters said the past could no longer be relied on as a guide to the future, with new risks emerging “in a way that we have not anticipated”. It identified a range of major threats to human life and property, including air pollution, diseases, earthquakes, drought and climate change…”
“If we continue living in this way, engaging with each other and the planet in the way we do, then our very survival is in doubt,” said Mami Mizutori, special representative of the U.N. secretary-general for disaster risk reduction.
Am I the only one who considers the attacks on the oil tankers were not by Iran but a false flag op?
And America’s latest scare-mongering is dismissed by a British general on the ground
I think we all realise that within the environmentalists there has always been this mystic presence with Gaia, New Ageism and eco-warriors.
Much of their literature is written in a spiritual tone that makes Neil from the Young Ones appear a hardcore materialist
And of course the “realists” present some sort of economic alternative from the mythological past of capitalism…a return to a Golden Age that never was.
Again with the housing crisis the longevity of the parents is being blamed
https://www.whatinvestment.co.uk/inheritance-may-be-the-only-way-the-young-can-buy-a-house-2616183/
John Porteous, group head of distribution at wealth managers Charles Stanley said, “People are living longer than ever, so relying on an inheritance to get on the housing ladder is a risky strategy as you may get less, and much later than planned.”
Kay Ingram, director of public policy at financial planners LEBC said: “With parents living longer and 20% of those over 80 needing to find care costs, younger generations would be ill advised to wait for their inheritance before buying a property.”
So it is not house building policy or low income stopping the young getting on the first rung of the housing ladder but the fact your mum and dad haven’t died earlier enough to leave you the house (or a share in it if you got brothers and sisters)
Of course, the fundamental issue is a demographic problem A lowered fertility rate and increased longevity means that there is more elderly dependent on less numbers of working age.
So once again the burden has to be placed upon us the workers, or more accurately, us survivors of wage-slavery, lingering on in our frail old age.
Blame the old for being alive.
But that is too brutal for capitalism so the strategy is simply to roll-back all that has been gained by the aged and pretend it is for the benefit of the younger generation which won’t see a penny of the savings.
Labour would trial universal basic income if it wins power, shadow chancellor John McDonnell has revealed.
Pilot schemes would be held in Liverpool, Sheffield and the Midlands, McDonnell told the Mirror.
The plan would do away with the need for welfare as every citizen would be given a fixed sum to cover the basics whether they are rich or poor, in work or unemployed.
McDonnell said people can spend the money how they like, but it is intended for study, to set up a business or leave work to care for a loved one.A couple of encouraging comments on our blog
While Andrew Neil receives praise for challenging an anti-abortionist right-winger, In the US, the suppression of the women’s right to choose continues unabated.
A new Mississippi law survives a court challenge, it will be nearly impossible for most pregnant women to get an abortion there.
Or, potentially, in neighboring Louisiana. Or Alabama. Or Georgia.
The Louisiana legislature is halfway toward passing a law — like the ones enacted in Mississippi and Georgia — that will ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, about six weeks into a pregnancy and before many women know they’re pregnant. Alabama is on the cusp of approving an even more restrictive bill.“For pro-life folks, these are huge victories,” said Sue Liebel, state director for the Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion advocacy group.
For abortion right supporters, meanwhile, the trend is ominous.
“These laws are blatantly unconstitutional,” said Elisabeth Smith, chief counsel for state policy and advocacy for the Center for Reproductive Rights, which also has filed suit over Mississippi’s ban. Many women who are poor and have limited means to travel would have few options other than to try to terminate their own pregnancies, Haddad said, possibly using abortion drugs purchased online.
Others would have to drive or fly across multiple states.The Venezuelan opposition talks to the US military command as Guaido says he accepts the possibility of foreign armies invading Venezuela.
Your blog is much appreciated from this person, who often re-posts or adapts what you put on the web
Keeping up the pressure
The RSA charity wants to see every adult in Scotland given a basic annual income of £2,400, rising to £4,800. Children would be paid £1,500.
