alanjjohnstone
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"If elected, I would take instructions on how to vote on specific issues from those who elected me."Just to be pedantic about your answer to the cyclists, Kevin…according to the rule book you'll take your instructions from us…the Socialist Party, not your voters….i'm sure that is who you meant by those who elected you to stand as our candidate.
He is also a vigourous critic of Richard Woolf and Gar Alperovitz who are proponents of models for self-managed capitalism and if i was to choose a theme that explored our shared positions instead of highlighting differences (the Matticks, both father and son were also adherents to the declining rate of profit) this would be the topic i would suggest. Too often i come across on the web the utopian aspirations of a "new economy" cooperative advocates and i rather we direct attention to those who seem to believe there can be a humane form of commodity production than get entangled in economic formulas..(i think i said before on another thread, my mind blurs the instant an algebraic equation is used in an explanation)I am sure his views on capitalist crises and their cause may well come up in Q and A or during the post-meeting pub discussion…(I take it we will treat him to one of Clapham High St's excellent Indian meals and few pints of the best bitter.)
Ozy,Did as you ask… i have sent a very self-affacing email to an address on his website which i hope might elicit a response from him. One thing we should always bear in mind that both he and Russel Brand have years of media performance experience between them and make what they do seem so easy that we can be made to believe we ourselves are capable of doing the same with the same effect. Much of their approach to the camera comes as a second nature now, avoiding elementary mistakes that beginners such as we could make.
Quote:Just need someone with a bit of charismaOh, you are truly an impossiblist at heart, aren't you, SP?…a member with charisma?…Next thing, you'll be looking for a member with a sense of humour.But if we wished to be more realistic, we could do a more staid monthly news-round-up podcast and video, while at the same time as a pretext advertising the new month's issue of the Standard going online. Everything we couldn't print but wished we could. Then we only require a member with a good speaking voice…and who can read a script…At a push, i think we could just about manage that. As for imaginative ways of presenting our case have you come across the videos from this "taxi-driver" Chunky Mark who has done many, many videos and interviewed many personalities…i often find it excellent…some times he gives me a headache with shouting but what he demonstrates is passion and fire in the heart of his (and our) politicshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZteqvHqop8
It seems someone has already eloquently posted a reply (you, yourself, perhaps?)http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/msg/1429469798.htmli was for a long time a member of Medialens discussion list from the Iraq War and still a regular visitor but no longer a poster (i have since forgotten my password) before i decided that there were too many conspiracy theorists aka anti-vax and HIV/AIDS deniers. (you'll soon recognise them if you linger).The website moderators have tried to enforce a policy of not permitting the 911 Truthers to dominate the messages, sadly they failed to stop others from promoting other conspiracies in their postings. Another failing is to see our enemies enemies as our friends and not designate all participants in conflicts as equally culpable and adopt a plague on both houses position. Nevertheless they do good work exposing much of the media and particularly the BBC/Guardian faux liberal progressive coverage
Can i ask a very obvious but as yet unclarified question…What is his talk going to be about? What's the topic?What's the title?I think we should ask him so that we can do all that advance publicity
This video of Brand on the American election scene i thought was very good…and well worth a watch and linking tohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf8Tm6vTkXc#t=472(As an aside,when can i expect to see the day that i can post a video clip on this forum without it being such a complicated procedure that i forget the instructions)
A very good suggestion….a collection of stickers , all with a different theme or message…I recall the IWW had several in a variety of designs…(albeit a bit dated looking) but they were useful.And as you say, they are cheap to produce and easy to affix in all manner of prominent places where they would be noticed…and some stay up for a surprising long time.Again this should be on the agenda for the post-mortem review of our election activity…Or the campaigns committee should note the idea
Cheers, now seen it and actually it wasn't too bad and Howard performed admirably. (albeit stumbled with the faux pas at the end calling for a socialist state before quickly correcting himself) and Neil wasn't that aggressive an interrogator either, asking the sort of questions that really do need to be asked in a non-confrontational manner. I know some will say he should have said this or that but we all possess our own approach and style to explaining socialist ideasWell done, Howard, and our Medialens critic simply didn't listen to the answers Howard gave. A useful 5 minutes to our campaign.
Not a very flattering response from someone on Medialens website. Was it that bad a put-down by Neil? None of the issues should have been particualry difficult to re-but. http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/msg/1429271902.html Well done, Andrew Neil: kicking the far left when they deserve it.Posted by rippon on April 17, 2015, 12:58 pm On The Daily Politics just now, Neil did a very good job of making the 'SPGB' ('Socialist Party of Great Britain') look ridiculous. Or, rather than making them look ridiculous, simply revealing their ridiculousness. E.g.: – Enumerating the multitude of parties with 'socialist' in their name, Neil observed correctly that 'many of you on the left seem to hate each other more than you hate the Tories.' – Citing the SPGB's highly restrictive membership rules, which show they want to exclude anyone who can't meet their incestuous standards rather than embrace the most citizens possible. Now, it's a given that Neil's agenda, in general, would be to rubbish the left (I say "in general" because, in this instance, he didn't need an agenda – the SPGB are transparently ridiculous). So the interesting question is: why did the SPGB accept this invitation from the BBC who, presumably, they hate? Perhaps because, in addition to their masturbatory puritanism, they are also narcissistic: can't resist the temptation of a moment and morsel of celebrity fame.
There could be a silver lining…All the rival election leaflets will be delivered in a oner by the postie…ours if not available will be delivered separately…and better chance of being noticed…But more than likely, the postie will be waiting for a quiet day to deliver the lot and ours will be go out with the rest, despite the delay. …Thus Spake Zarathustra the ex-Postie … It is not a matter of the date when the delivery office gets the leaflets but when the individual postie allots a day to visiting each and every address on his delivery round…Its not something done everyday…(Of course, things might have changed from my day says the boring old codger) …Just watch out for some lazy sod doesn't dump the lot in the canal on the sly thinking nobody will complain about non-arrival of boring election leaflets…
That wasn't confusion over our name but what passes for Andrew Neil's wit. But again lets just wait until after May 7th and really start discussing this election campaign, the fruits, both sweet and bitter, of it.I cannot access BBC i-Player so i wait the upload of the interview…try and be quick, please
http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150416-our-ancestors-were-cannibalsOf course cannibalism may not be a result of any violence but simply a utilitarian tactic for survival…why let potential food go to waste.
Another debate win for Sturgeon is the way i saw the tv show…i think that if Labour enter a coalition with the SNP, people will prefer Sturgeon as prime minister, not Miliband I think our own campaign should up the feistiness and express more indignation at what is happening to fellow workers…Let's get angry
