Posts by Rob Stowell
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Yeah the press – apart from a late rally at the independent, there was universal distain for Corbyn. Even as he and his close team produced a manifesto that was popular. I just don’t get the uk press.
What struck me most when I looked last was Labour, Lib Dems and SNP together had about 52% of the vote to the Tories 42%. Yet they had fewer seats.
It felt like a fairly clear majority rejecting the conservative agenda, so mandate shmandate. But it also leaves a mess – DUP look like strong and unstable partners. -
Hard News: Friday Music: Asking the…, in reply to Rob Stowell,
oops. wrong thread. sorry. big fingers, small screen, tiny brain. we'll wake up in the morning and Britain will have voted. at the least, it's been fascinating.
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Gary Younge in the Guardian -
"Even as parties anchor themselves to basic principles, they have to adapt their promises to the times they are in. Blairites and Clintonites did not only once understand this, it was their credo. But having crafted a neoliberal agenda that made their parties electable in the 90s and beyond, they apparently believed their work was done: that the shift to the right was both unidirectional – you could never shift left – and unique – they would never have to shift again.The economic crash and the austerity that followed caused a tectonic shift in our political culture; what people wanted from a centre-left party changed. But the received wisdom about electability did not. Its high priests kept insisting elections are won in the centre, without any apparent understanding that the centre can move and, in times of extreme polarisation, disappear. ....
But the principal problem with the notion of electability is that it is promoted on the premise that what has not been tried cannot possibly succeed. It suggests the way people see the world at any given moment cannot be changed through argument and activism and instead erects borders for what is permissible discussion and polices them determinedly. Those who dream outside those borders are utopian; those who speak outside them are fools.
The trouble is that in times of crisis, like this, the cost of thinking outside those borders becomes lower for many than the price of living within them. While received wisdom comes with no receipt, it’s always the same people who pick up the tab. A candidate who has connected domestic terrorism and foreign wars and argued for the redistribution of wealth to shore up public services has been surging. This, we were told, was not possible. It’s why, for the first time in a long time, a significant number of people are excited about an election."
tldr - wake up NZ Labour. It's not the 90s - or 2008 - any more. -
Not exactly music, but related – currently enjoying
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Hard News: Friday Music: Asking the…, in reply to Russell Brown,
Flying Nun’s sole No 1 was Headless Chicken’s wasn’t it? And it was “George” not “Cruise Control”.
I know it's singularly graceless to mention - but there are at least 30 FN songs (including Cruise Control) that would come before George on a 'mostly likely to be a hit' list.
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Hiya Stamper. Can you show us the source for these quotes? I'm assuming you picked them up from the same source, but sources if you've done more than parrot-work.
Try applying these principles and get back to us. -
As if to confound the sceptics, todays crusader - highlander game was just magic. plenty of passion, skill and courage - and a nail-biting finish. Almost got keen on the old game again. :)
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Reckon one of the answers is Neville Purvis aka Arthur Baysting? I remember that wtf moment well!
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Hard News: Stupidity and ignorance have…, in reply to Euan Mason,
It will be up to the rest of us to solve the problem of anthropogenic climate change. The USA can thank us later.
It's not quite that bad. California is still on board. And Washington (state) and New York (state.)
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Hard News: Rugby Now, in reply to Russell Brown,
Or split broadcast and online rights, given Sky’s lack of aptitude or interest in providing an online service.
The difference between the two is getting more marginal by the minute :)