JD introduces a trio on time - two unusual tranches sandwiching a cool slice of Booker T:
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Friday, July 29, 2016
Thursday, July 28, 2016
Local sludge for local people
One fine day in 1973 found me driving through the centre of town in the works JCB towing a trailer load of fresh sewage sludge. I was heading for the local allotment. Not my job but the driver was off sick and I fancied the trip. Or perhaps I was making up for inadvertently driving the Allen Scythe through a rose bed. That wasn’t my job either, but I was young and interested in everything.
The other day, an old work colleague and I were walking through Dovedale asking ourselves when our bit of environmental science went wrong. We both came to the conclusion that the rot set in after local government reorganisation in 1974.
One should not see that trailer load of sewage sludge through rose-tinted spectacles, but for a short time I was working at the local sewage works and I enjoyed it. Effectively we were all working for the Borough Engineer and via him for local people. We knew why we were there, why we did what we did and for whom. By modern standards it may not have been an efficient arrangement but after 1974 a sense of working for people slowly evolved into a sense of working for a salary.
It did not happen quickly but bit by bit small offices, laboratories, depots and workshops were closed and merged into bigger units. Headquarters became bigger, more stratified, more remote and inward looking. The range of work became much wider and the technology much more sophisticated, but in 1973 we did what was thought necessary and if it wasn’t necessary we didn’t do it. That changed too.
Over the following decades regional bureaucracies spawned by 1974 became entangled with national bureaucracies or became national bureaucracies themselves. Later they became entangled with international bureaucracies. From what I saw, doing real work for real people became sidelined in a sense highlighted by that load of sewage sludge.
A degree of local transparency was lost in 1974. As bureaucracies grew they became less visible and less transparent. That is a key word here – transparent. By merely avoiding scandal or political disfavour they could settle down and wallow around forever behind their internal processes. So they did and still do.
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Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Better off mad
Better Mad with the rest of the World than Wise alone. So say politicians. If all are so, one is no worse off than the rest, whereas solitary wisdom passes for folly. So important is it to sail with the stream. The greatest wisdom often consists in ignorance, or the pretence of it. One has to live with others, and others are mostly ignorant. "To live entirely alone one must be very like a god or quite like a wild beast," but I would turn the aphorism by saying: Better be wise with the many than a fool all alone. There be some too who seek to be original by seeking chimeras.
Baltasar Gracian - The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647)
Perhaps we are better off mad with the rest of the world, but it would be reassuring to have the option. Is democracy supposed to sort that out?
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Saturday, July 23, 2016
Support your local curmudgeon
...for they were either politicians or reporters, which, of course, comes to the same thing.
Ford Madox Ford – The Good Soldier (1915)
Almost every morning I use the iPad to run a quick check on news headlines. I used to rely on Ceefax for my daily fix but those days are gone forever. I don’t usually read past the headlines apart from an occasional yen to get some detail, but an outline is usually enough.
I also find myself skipping from headline to comments and if there are no comments I move on. In other words, I’m hardly ever interested in what the average journalist has to say about a story. Only if the story is written by a tough-minded curmudgeon am I likely to read it and there aren’t many of those around, especially in the mainstream media.
Which finally leads to the point of this post, because in my experience there is something important about unyielding scepticism. We are stuck with a major social dilemma where mainstream opinion has to be – well mainstream. Otherwise it could not fulfil its social function, its need to suck up to the establishment and foster political correctness. Fear shapes behaviour, which is why the news is mostly alarmist. Doom and gloom rules the newsroom. Always has.
As a species we are not particularly intelligent and accept the most absurd garbage if it is socially acceptable to do so. A sharply critical outlook is required to detect the garbage but here’s the rub. Detecting garbage ought to be a positive and respected social skill, a welcome addition to the tools of social discourse. Unfortunately it isn’t, because it can’t be, because socially cohesive consensus would flounder if critical analysis were to be valued as a welcome corrective to the garbage and to the establishment viewpoint.
Support your local curmudgeon.
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Friday, July 22, 2016
Friday Night Is Music Night: Hear My Song
JD presents another five singer-songwriters...
Gram Parsons, "In My Hour Of Darkness":
Gene Clark:
Tim Hardin:
Tim Buckley:
Tim Buckley:
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Gram Parsons, "In My Hour Of Darkness":
Gene Clark:
Tim Hardin:
Tim Buckley:
Tim Buckley:
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Monday, July 18, 2016
The Reunification Of Britain & The Struggle Against Empires
"As the UK straps itself back together post-Referendum, deeper issues come to the surface" - latest article on Talkmarkets, here:
http://www.talkmarkets.com/content/news/the-reunification-of-britain--the-struggle-against-empires?post=100591
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http://www.talkmarkets.com/content/news/the-reunification-of-britain--the-struggle-against-empires?post=100591
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A kingdom within a kingdom
Most who have written on the emotions, the manner of human life, seem to have dealt not with natural things which follow the general laws of nature, but with things which are outside the sphere of nature: they seem to have conceived man in nature as a kingdom within a kingdom. For they believe that man disturbs rather than follows the course of nature, and that he has absolute power in his actions, and is not determined in them by anything else than himself. They attribute the cause of human weakness and inconstancy not to the ordinary power of nature, but to some defect or other in human nature, wherefore they deplore, ridicule despise, or, what is most common of all, abuse it: and he that can carp in the most eloquent or acute manner at the weakness of the human mind is beheld by his fellows as almost divine.
Baruch Spinoza – Ethics (1677)
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Friday, July 15, 2016
Friday Night Is Music Night: Singer-songwriters
JD has some singer songwriters for you:
During those far off days of the 1960s there emerged the cult of the singer-songwriter. Some became famous while others wrote songs for other people and remained in the background. Not all of them were good but some of them were very good indeed and remain a lasting influence on musicians, even today. Here is some of that exceptional talent singing their own songs-
Harry Nilsson made this song famous, but here is the the man who wrote it - Fred Neil:
Steve Goodman:
Tim Buckley:
One of the seminal groups of the sixties were The Byrds. Of the three original members, Jim McGuinn with those famous granny glasses and the distinctive sound of his 12 string Rickenbacker seemed to draw most of the attention and Crosby was just a superfluous appendage but Gene Clark was undoubtedly their heart and soul; he wrote most of their songs:
Fred Neil again with one of his most beautiful songs:
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All original material is copyright of its author. Fair use permitted. Contact via comment. Unless indicated otherwise, all internet links accessed at time of writing. Nothing here should be taken as personal advice, financial or otherwise. No liability is accepted for third-party content, whether incorporated in or linked to this blog; or for unintentional error and inaccuracy. The blog author may have, or intend to change, a personal position in any stock or other kind of investment mentioned.
During those far off days of the 1960s there emerged the cult of the singer-songwriter. Some became famous while others wrote songs for other people and remained in the background. Not all of them were good but some of them were very good indeed and remain a lasting influence on musicians, even today. Here is some of that exceptional talent singing their own songs-
Harry Nilsson made this song famous, but here is the the man who wrote it - Fred Neil:
Steve Goodman:
Tim Buckley:
One of the seminal groups of the sixties were The Byrds. Of the three original members, Jim McGuinn with those famous granny glasses and the distinctive sound of his 12 string Rickenbacker seemed to draw most of the attention and Crosby was just a superfluous appendage but Gene Clark was undoubtedly their heart and soul; he wrote most of their songs:
Fred Neil again with one of his most beautiful songs:
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Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Smart beer
Sounds like an updated way of rediscovering bland. Or it that too cynical?
Could we eventually brew politics this way, or would that be too democratic?
Could we eventually brew politics this way, or would that be too democratic?
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Sunday, July 10, 2016
UK In Chaos Post-EU Referendum
Latest article on TalkMarkets, here:
http://www.talkmarkets.com/content/news/uk-in-chaos-post-eu-referendum?post=99728
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http://www.talkmarkets.com/content/news/uk-in-chaos-post-eu-referendum?post=99728
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Friday, July 08, 2016
Friday Night Is Music Night: Saxophony
JD on the sax:
Invented by Adolphe Sax in 1840 the saxophone was never really accepted in classical music circles but was taken up enthusiastically by the jazz fraternity as explained here by Wikipedia -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxophone#In_jazz_and_popular_music
Here are a few star performers showing how the versatility of the sax makes it suitable for so many styles of music-
Stan Getz:
Boots Randolph:
Johnny Almond:
Moon Hooch are a sort of punk/funky version of John Coltrane or even Roland Kirk!
Woody Herman recorded at Canegie Hall Center New York City November20,.1976 ( The 40th Anniversary) featuring his star soloists- Jimmy Giuffre,Stan Getz,Al Cohn and Zoot Sims:
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All original material is copyright of its author. Fair use permitted. Contact via comment. Unless indicated otherwise, all internet links accessed at time of writing. Nothing here should be taken as personal advice, financial or otherwise. No liability is accepted for third-party content, whether incorporated in or linked to this blog; or for unintentional error and inaccuracy. The blog author may have, or intend to change, a personal position in any stock or other kind of investment mentioned.
Invented by Adolphe Sax in 1840 the saxophone was never really accepted in classical music circles but was taken up enthusiastically by the jazz fraternity as explained here by Wikipedia -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxophone#In_jazz_and_popular_music
Here are a few star performers showing how the versatility of the sax makes it suitable for so many styles of music-
Stan Getz:
Boots Randolph:
Johnny Almond:
Moon Hooch are a sort of punk/funky version of John Coltrane or even Roland Kirk!
Woody Herman recorded at Canegie Hall Center New York City November20,.1976 ( The 40th Anniversary) featuring his star soloists- Jimmy Giuffre,Stan Getz,Al Cohn and Zoot Sims:
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Tuesday, July 05, 2016
Exploding Pianos
An interesting story about exploding pianos, flour and the value of those pianos in an age of instant entertainment.
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Monday, July 04, 2016
Brexit: These Are The Times That Try Men’s Souls
New Fourth of July article on the British Constitutional Crisis of 2016, in TalkMarkets:
http://www.talkmarkets.com/content/brexit-these-are-the-times-that-try-mens-souls?post=99141
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http://www.talkmarkets.com/content/brexit-these-are-the-times-that-try-mens-souls?post=99141
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Saturday, July 02, 2016
Economics and migration
"In Britain new migrants from the EU contribute more to the exchequer than they take out." - The Economist, today.
In my latest piece on TalkMarkets, I ask some questions about that assertion. Can anyone help with facts?
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In my latest piece on TalkMarkets, I ask some questions about that assertion. Can anyone help with facts?
READER: PLEASE CLICK THE REACTION BELOW - THANKS!
All original material is copyright of its author. Fair use permitted. Contact via comment. Unless indicated otherwise, all internet links accessed at time of writing. Nothing here should be taken as personal advice, financial or otherwise. No liability is accepted for third-party content, whether incorporated in or linked to this blog; or for unintentional error and inaccuracy. The blog author may have, or intend to change, a personal position in any stock or other kind of investment mentioned.
Friday, July 01, 2016
Friday Night Is Music Night: Smooth Soothe
JD pours oil on troubled waters:
After the sound and the fury of the Brexit vote it is time to wind down into tranquility with some peaceful contemplative music-
Ljerka - Li Žilavec is a mezzo-soprano from Croatia and has a beautifully pure voice, here singing "Do not dry the ocean of my love." The photo is of Paramahansa Yogananda who wrote the words and music.
...and Snatam Kuar with a musical interpretation of the words of Francis of Assisi:
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After the sound and the fury of the Brexit vote it is time to wind down into tranquility with some peaceful contemplative music-
Ljerka - Li Žilavec is a mezzo-soprano from Croatia and has a beautifully pure voice, here singing "Do not dry the ocean of my love." The photo is of Paramahansa Yogananda who wrote the words and music.
...and Snatam Kuar with a musical interpretation of the words of Francis of Assisi:
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All original material is copyright of its author. Fair use permitted. Contact via comment. Unless indicated otherwise, all internet links accessed at time of writing. Nothing here should be taken as personal advice, financial or otherwise. No liability is accepted for third-party content, whether incorporated in or linked to this blog; or for unintentional error and inaccuracy. The blog author may have, or intend to change, a personal position in any stock or other kind of investment mentioned.
Monday, June 27, 2016
EU: IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT US!
***(Snowflake warning: may contain more than 20 words, also some facts. Worse still, contains no swearing. Find a safe space to calm.)***
Farage is poor at publicity stunts - his recent Cap'n Bird's-Eye sail down the Thames was pirate-raided by a well-heeled tax exile (and an expensively-shod woman). Of course, the media can "help" him be poor at that, and the level of collusion between them and Cap'n Bob (plus Cameron by cellphone) has yet to be coldly dissected.
Besides, what difference does it make? Before, during and after the vote nearly everyone on social media appears to have been howling with their hands over their ears.
But here's a rationality test - for anyone who can receive as well as transmit, how about actually listening to the points made by the same "cheeky chappy" in the EU Parliament a few days ago - the EU failed to listen all the way back to 1999.
The other point I'd make is that there may soon be no EU to go back to, and that won't be just because of the UK (we flatter ourselves). For example we'll be lucky if the Greek Left doesn't get their country to flee to Russia to save it from the prolonged cruelty of their treatment at the EU's hands. Maybe that's why Putin is being so restrained in what he says, and why unlike Obama he kept his nose out of our business.
Italy is going to get interesting too, and we should remember (as after our vote, how can we forget?) that opposition to the grandiose project comes from the Left as well as the Right. Look for example at Democrazia Verde - both sovereignist AND "green".
Hear a punchily-delivered but fact-filled argument from Italian economic journalist Paolo Barnard:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYzlcfhJn1Q
- better than most of what we've heard from either side in the UK.
[Btw I see Soros made another billion out of the Referendum from his betting - while simultaneously publicly saying we should Remain. He delighted in telling us it would be bad for us:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/brexit-latest-george-soros-wins-big-prediction-black-friday-a7102481.html
- but Paolo Barnard's latest article begs to differ (Google translation)...
"And note: after Black Monday in 1987, in two years everything was in place as before .
"Just to inform.
"And ah! Brexit gave a slap than 3,900 billion dollars a multi-billion dollar portfolio of the world. Not bad."
http://paolobarnard.info/intervento_mostra_go.php?id=1531 ]
The word that rang like a bell in Farage's speechlet below was "hubris." But also listen to what he says after that about cooperation and trade.
It's not the end of the world.
P.S. The Parliamentary Labour Party hates Corbyn like a wedgie - but Craig Murray thinks the Blairites are trying to get rid of him before the Chilcot Report is published:
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2016/06/still-iraq-war-stupid/
Well, if you got this far you can't be a snowflake, you must be a hailstone.
So - here's Nigel:
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Farage is poor at publicity stunts - his recent Cap'n Bird's-Eye sail down the Thames was pirate-raided by a well-heeled tax exile (and an expensively-shod woman). Of course, the media can "help" him be poor at that, and the level of collusion between them and Cap'n Bob (plus Cameron by cellphone) has yet to be coldly dissected.
Besides, what difference does it make? Before, during and after the vote nearly everyone on social media appears to have been howling with their hands over their ears.
But here's a rationality test - for anyone who can receive as well as transmit, how about actually listening to the points made by the same "cheeky chappy" in the EU Parliament a few days ago - the EU failed to listen all the way back to 1999.
The other point I'd make is that there may soon be no EU to go back to, and that won't be just because of the UK (we flatter ourselves). For example we'll be lucky if the Greek Left doesn't get their country to flee to Russia to save it from the prolonged cruelty of their treatment at the EU's hands. Maybe that's why Putin is being so restrained in what he says, and why unlike Obama he kept his nose out of our business.
Italy is going to get interesting too, and we should remember (as after our vote, how can we forget?) that opposition to the grandiose project comes from the Left as well as the Right. Look for example at Democrazia Verde - both sovereignist AND "green".
Hear a punchily-delivered but fact-filled argument from Italian economic journalist Paolo Barnard:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYzlcfhJn1Q
- better than most of what we've heard from either side in the UK.
[Btw I see Soros made another billion out of the Referendum from his betting - while simultaneously publicly saying we should Remain. He delighted in telling us it would be bad for us:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/brexit-latest-george-soros-wins-big-prediction-black-friday-a7102481.html
- but Paolo Barnard's latest article begs to differ (Google translation)...
"And note: after Black Monday in 1987, in two years everything was in place as before .
"Just to inform.
"And ah! Brexit gave a slap than 3,900 billion dollars a multi-billion dollar portfolio of the world. Not bad."
http://paolobarnard.info/intervento_mostra_go.php?id=1531 ]
The word that rang like a bell in Farage's speechlet below was "hubris." But also listen to what he says after that about cooperation and trade.
It's not the end of the world.
P.S. The Parliamentary Labour Party hates Corbyn like a wedgie - but Craig Murray thinks the Blairites are trying to get rid of him before the Chilcot Report is published:
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2016/06/still-iraq-war-stupid/
Well, if you got this far you can't be a snowflake, you must be a hailstone.
So - here's Nigel:
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Saturday, June 25, 2016
Next, electoral reform
Some are trying to get up a petition to invalidate the 2016 EU Referendum and set minimum thresholds of 75% voter turnout and 60% of votes cast.
This would have invalidated the original (EC) 1975 Referendum, where only 67.23% of eligible voters took part. If the proposed principle is to hold, we should already have been out of the EC/EU for over 40 years.
Requiring that level of turnout would also have invalidated the last 5 General Elections:
But there is one vote that we might reconsider: the 2011 Alternative Vote Referendum. The turnout in this was 42.2%, the lowest in national votes by a long way. The media campaign leading up to it was heavily biased and the two largest political parties solidly against AV.
Let's look at the implications for parties and MPs.
52% of EU Referendum voters have just chosen "Leave" but the BBC says:
- 80% of the ruling Conservative Cabinet are "Remain"
- Of those MPs who declared their position (537 out of 650), 71% (379) are "Remain"
As with the EU, the democratic deficit is structural: in the last two General Elections, two-thirds of MPs got their seats on the basis of a minority of votes cast. The way we elect our Members of Parliament is so skewed that no-one should be surprised at how badly Westminster is disconnected from the people.
There is no point in freeing ourselves from EU control if Parliament remains unreformed. If we're going to re-run a referendum, let it be the one on AV.
More here:
http://theylaughedatnoah.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/voting-reform-av-first-past-post.html
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This would have invalidated the original (EC) 1975 Referendum, where only 67.23% of eligible voters took part. If the proposed principle is to hold, we should already have been out of the EC/EU for over 40 years.
Requiring that level of turnout would also have invalidated the last 5 General Elections:
But there is one vote that we might reconsider: the 2011 Alternative Vote Referendum. The turnout in this was 42.2%, the lowest in national votes by a long way. The media campaign leading up to it was heavily biased and the two largest political parties solidly against AV.
Let's look at the implications for parties and MPs.
52% of EU Referendum voters have just chosen "Leave" but the BBC says:
- 80% of the ruling Conservative Cabinet are "Remain"
- Of those MPs who declared their position (537 out of 650), 71% (379) are "Remain"
As with the EU, the democratic deficit is structural: in the last two General Elections, two-thirds of MPs got their seats on the basis of a minority of votes cast. The way we elect our Members of Parliament is so skewed that no-one should be surprised at how badly Westminster is disconnected from the people.
There is no point in freeing ourselves from EU control if Parliament remains unreformed. If we're going to re-run a referendum, let it be the one on AV.
More here:
http://theylaughedatnoah.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/voting-reform-av-first-past-post.html
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Friday, June 24, 2016
Friday Night Is Music Night - Macaronic Musical Styles
JD writes:
Music 'fans' can be somewhat tribal in their loyalties and often react badly when one of their 'heroes' tries something new - Bob Dylan being jeered and booed at the Newport Folk Festival when he used an electric guitar is the most obvious example of it.
Musicians, on the other hand, will listen to all kinds of music and love good music wherever it comes from. Willie Nelson in the fourth video here explains it well.
And when different genres meet the results are sometimes alarming and sometimes charming but there are no boundaries in music.
Pavarotti meets the Godfather of Soul-
Jimmy Page collides with Chopin
Two sisters-
a Highwayman meets a crooner
Menuhin and Grapelli
Hope you enjoy these, selected from countless examples.
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All original material is copyright of its author. Fair use permitted. Contact via comment. Unless indicated otherwise, all internet links accessed at time of writing. Nothing here should be taken as personal advice, financial or otherwise. No liability is accepted for third-party content, whether incorporated in or linked to this blog; or for unintentional error and inaccuracy. The blog author may have, or intend to change, a personal position in any stock or other kind of investment mentioned.
Music 'fans' can be somewhat tribal in their loyalties and often react badly when one of their 'heroes' tries something new - Bob Dylan being jeered and booed at the Newport Folk Festival when he used an electric guitar is the most obvious example of it.
Musicians, on the other hand, will listen to all kinds of music and love good music wherever it comes from. Willie Nelson in the fourth video here explains it well.
And when different genres meet the results are sometimes alarming and sometimes charming but there are no boundaries in music.
Pavarotti meets the Godfather of Soul-
Jimmy Page collides with Chopin
Two sisters-
a Highwayman meets a crooner
Menuhin and Grapelli
Hope you enjoy these, selected from countless examples.
READER: PLEASE CLICK THE REACTION BELOW - THANKS!
All original material is copyright of its author. Fair use permitted. Contact via comment. Unless indicated otherwise, all internet links accessed at time of writing. Nothing here should be taken as personal advice, financial or otherwise. No liability is accepted for third-party content, whether incorporated in or linked to this blog; or for unintentional error and inaccuracy. The blog author may have, or intend to change, a personal position in any stock or other kind of investment mentioned.
ESSAY COMPETITION
You are a speechwriter for Prime Minister David Cameron. Write a TV broadcast to the nation in which you explain that the EU referendum vote was so close that you can't justify disconnecting from the EU.
You will remind the viewers that referendums are merely advisory and that the PM has a duty to represent not the wishes of the people, but their best long-term interests.
You will reassure them that they are not losing their national identity, but weaving it into the great fabric of a united Europe.
References to cricket and warm beer are optional, to ladies cycling to Evensong inadvisable, and kittens strictly forbidden.
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All original material is copyright of its author. Fair use permitted. Contact via comment. Unless indicated otherwise, all internet links accessed at time of writing. Nothing here should be taken as personal advice, financial or otherwise. No liability is accepted for third-party content, whether incorporated in or linked to this blog; or for unintentional error and inaccuracy. The blog author may have, or intend to change, a personal position in any stock or other kind of investment mentioned.
You will remind the viewers that referendums are merely advisory and that the PM has a duty to represent not the wishes of the people, but their best long-term interests.
You will reassure them that they are not losing their national identity, but weaving it into the great fabric of a united Europe.
References to cricket and warm beer are optional, to ladies cycling to Evensong inadvisable, and kittens strictly forbidden.
READER: PLEASE CLICK THE REACTION BELOW - THANKS!
All original material is copyright of its author. Fair use permitted. Contact via comment. Unless indicated otherwise, all internet links accessed at time of writing. Nothing here should be taken as personal advice, financial or otherwise. No liability is accepted for third-party content, whether incorporated in or linked to this blog; or for unintentional error and inaccuracy. The blog author may have, or intend to change, a personal position in any stock or other kind of investment mentioned.
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Forty years on
Haven't the time to watch the whole thing today, but the clip I've seen of Peter Shore is most impressive. In comparison our modern politicians on both sides seem so lightweight, such charlatans and rabble-rousers.
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All original material is copyright of its author. Fair use permitted. Contact via comment. Unless indicated otherwise, all internet links accessed at time of writing. Nothing here should be taken as personal advice, financial or otherwise. No liability is accepted for third-party content, whether incorporated in or linked to this blog; or for unintentional error and inaccuracy. The blog author may have, or intend to change, a personal position in any stock or other kind of investment mentioned.
Sunday, June 19, 2016
An apology
Some weeks ago, looking at the Mail on Sunday, I wondered what had happened to editor Paul Dacre - its Referendum coverage was on full Project Fear.
Fool me, the editor of the MoS is Geordie Greig - sorry, Mr Dacre. According to Private Eye the two deeply dislike one another. Today the MoS charges full tilt at Brexit - something like the first dozen pages! - using the dreadful murder of Jo Cox by a madman as its battering ram.
The name may be a clue. Mr Greig is, as Polly Vernon's 2005 Guardian article about him stresses, "very kind and supportive and Scottish." There are some among Scottish nationalists who desire not only their liberty, but anything that may be to the detriment of their southern neighbours. Even it it means remaining in the EU, which will by degrees leach away what is left of Scottish freedom. [Dacre's paper campaigned for Scotland to stay in the UK.]
The vote looks to be very close. Will the outcome of the most important political decision in forty years be swayed by an emotional spasm heavily triggered by a Sunday paper and its editor's personal animosities?
Only Peter Hitchens talks any sense on the subject today.
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Fool me, the editor of the MoS is Geordie Greig - sorry, Mr Dacre. According to Private Eye the two deeply dislike one another. Today the MoS charges full tilt at Brexit - something like the first dozen pages! - using the dreadful murder of Jo Cox by a madman as its battering ram.
The name may be a clue. Mr Greig is, as Polly Vernon's 2005 Guardian article about him stresses, "very kind and supportive and Scottish." There are some among Scottish nationalists who desire not only their liberty, but anything that may be to the detriment of their southern neighbours. Even it it means remaining in the EU, which will by degrees leach away what is left of Scottish freedom. [Dacre's paper campaigned for Scotland to stay in the UK.]
The vote looks to be very close. Will the outcome of the most important political decision in forty years be swayed by an emotional spasm heavily triggered by a Sunday paper and its editor's personal animosities?
Only Peter Hitchens talks any sense on the subject today.
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All original material is copyright of its author. Fair use permitted. Contact via comment. Unless indicated otherwise, all internet links accessed at time of writing. Nothing here should be taken as personal advice, financial or otherwise. No liability is accepted for third-party content, whether incorporated in or linked to this blog; or for unintentional error and inaccuracy. The blog author may have, or intend to change, a personal position in any stock or other kind of investment mentioned.
Saturday, June 18, 2016
Referendum: 3 for 3?
The Establishment's general strategy is to offer you an opportunity and then do their damnedest to make sure you don't take it.
2011 - Labour and Conservative parties unite to oppose the LibDems' push for the Alternative Vote, which if introduced would have meant that all MPs would have to be validated at a General Election by at least half of the votes cast in their constituency. As it is, in the last two GEs two-thirds of MPs got their seats in Parliament on the basis of a minority vote.
2014 - Labour, Conservative and Liberal parties unite to oppose Scottish independence. [Oddly, freedom-loving Scots seem both to oppose Brexit and to desire for themselves some strange version of independence that is - how? - consistent with membership of Monnet's "ever-closer union".]
2016 - Labour and Liberal parties, together with the Conservatives ex John Major's "bastards", unite to oppose British exit from the EU supranational government.
I keep saying it (and recently I have been seeing others saying something similar), we are seeing the construction of a new Habsburg empire. It suits politicians and businesspeople at a high level...
... plus much of the Fourth Estate (some for idealistic alle-menschen-werden-brueder aspirations) that is prepared to wear their livery. [I'll never forget how Jon Snow allowed Alastair Campbell to march in and take over his news programme.]
They wine, dine and recline with each other. They will intermarry until they begin to look different from the rest of us; perhaps not the Habsburg chin, but the opaque blue eyes of a Blair?
Yet the new European empire is ruinously undermined from the start, because the multinational corporations are even bigger. The status quo is rolling downhill out of control, without brakes or steering. There is no keeping things as they are; the question is whether anyone will try to get a grip.
If - and it's very iffy - this Referendum decides for Leave, and if - and it's very iffy - Parliament then decides to approve the decision, we will have taken only the first step in a long march.
The alternative is to watch matters progress to the point where the much of the world's social and economic system simply breaks down altogether and the wealthy Modern Mayans discover that even their own existence depended on a functioning society.
Seeing much of the writing and comments on social media, I'm not in favour of direct democracy - many people look as though they're not fit to be allowed out on their own, let alone vote - but if the national government of the day goes too far then under the present system the people can collectively vote them out. The EU structure above is an oligarch's dream and represents a final rolling-back of 200 years of widening enfranchisement.
Two centuries ago, most people in Britain couldn't vote, but they could riot. In bad times, they broke windows in Whitehall; in good, they unhitched the Prime Minister's horses and pulled his coach themselves.
Now, exhaustively spied upon and with super-powerful police and military to corral them, the people may commit only such disorder as the Establishment thinks fit to permit in order to justify oppressing them even more severely afterwards.
This vote matters, and it could be the last one that does.
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All original material is copyright of its author. Fair use permitted. Contact via comment. Unless indicated otherwise, all internet links accessed at time of writing. Nothing here should be taken as personal advice, financial or otherwise. No liability is accepted for third-party content, whether incorporated in or linked to this blog; or for unintentional error and inaccuracy. The blog author may have, or intend to change, a personal position in any stock or other kind of investment mentioned.
2011 - Labour and Conservative parties unite to oppose the LibDems' push for the Alternative Vote, which if introduced would have meant that all MPs would have to be validated at a General Election by at least half of the votes cast in their constituency. As it is, in the last two GEs two-thirds of MPs got their seats in Parliament on the basis of a minority vote.
2014 - Labour, Conservative and Liberal parties unite to oppose Scottish independence. [Oddly, freedom-loving Scots seem both to oppose Brexit and to desire for themselves some strange version of independence that is - how? - consistent with membership of Monnet's "ever-closer union".]
2016 - Labour and Liberal parties, together with the Conservatives ex John Major's "bastards", unite to oppose British exit from the EU supranational government.
 |
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institutions_of_the_European_Union#/media/File:Political_System_of_the_European_Union.svg |
I keep saying it (and recently I have been seeing others saying something similar), we are seeing the construction of a new Habsburg empire. It suits politicians and businesspeople at a high level...
... plus much of the Fourth Estate (some for idealistic alle-menschen-werden-brueder aspirations) that is prepared to wear their livery. [I'll never forget how Jon Snow allowed Alastair Campbell to march in and take over his news programme.]
They wine, dine and recline with each other. They will intermarry until they begin to look different from the rest of us; perhaps not the Habsburg chin, but the opaque blue eyes of a Blair?
Yet the new European empire is ruinously undermined from the start, because the multinational corporations are even bigger. The status quo is rolling downhill out of control, without brakes or steering. There is no keeping things as they are; the question is whether anyone will try to get a grip.
If - and it's very iffy - this Referendum decides for Leave, and if - and it's very iffy - Parliament then decides to approve the decision, we will have taken only the first step in a long march.
The alternative is to watch matters progress to the point where the much of the world's social and economic system simply breaks down altogether and the wealthy Modern Mayans discover that even their own existence depended on a functioning society.
Seeing much of the writing and comments on social media, I'm not in favour of direct democracy - many people look as though they're not fit to be allowed out on their own, let alone vote - but if the national government of the day goes too far then under the present system the people can collectively vote them out. The EU structure above is an oligarch's dream and represents a final rolling-back of 200 years of widening enfranchisement.
Two centuries ago, most people in Britain couldn't vote, but they could riot. In bad times, they broke windows in Whitehall; in good, they unhitched the Prime Minister's horses and pulled his coach themselves.
Now, exhaustively spied upon and with super-powerful police and military to corral them, the people may commit only such disorder as the Establishment thinks fit to permit in order to justify oppressing them even more severely afterwards.
This vote matters, and it could be the last one that does.
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All original material is copyright of its author. Fair use permitted. Contact via comment. Unless indicated otherwise, all internet links accessed at time of writing. Nothing here should be taken as personal advice, financial or otherwise. No liability is accepted for third-party content, whether incorporated in or linked to this blog; or for unintentional error and inaccuracy. The blog author may have, or intend to change, a personal position in any stock or other kind of investment mentioned.
Friday, June 17, 2016
Friday Night Is Music Night - Tango
JD presents a selection of tango... in we go!
This is an excerpt from the film "Tango" by the Spanish film director, Carlos Saura. The whole film is a visual and musical delight and well worth seeing:
"Gotan is, as you will have guessed, just tango with the last syllable placed at the front of the word. It is a style of 'argot' in the Boca district of Buenos Aires.
"I first came across it years ago when I was listening to a girl yakking away over the dinner table and she kept saying Tabogo and the penny dropped eventually when I realised she was talking about Bogota!"
- More to come in the weeks ahead.
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All original material is copyright of its author. Fair use permitted. Contact via comment. Unless indicated otherwise, all internet links accessed at time of writing. Nothing here should be taken as personal advice, financial or otherwise. No liability is accepted for third-party content, whether incorporated in or linked to this blog; or for unintentional error and inaccuracy. The blog author may have, or intend to change, a personal position in any stock or other kind of investment mentioned.
This is an excerpt from the film "Tango" by the Spanish film director, Carlos Saura. The whole film is a visual and musical delight and well worth seeing:
"Gotan is, as you will have guessed, just tango with the last syllable placed at the front of the word. It is a style of 'argot' in the Boca district of Buenos Aires.
"I first came across it years ago when I was listening to a girl yakking away over the dinner table and she kept saying Tabogo and the penny dropped eventually when I realised she was talking about Bogota!"
- More to come in the weeks ahead.
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All original material is copyright of its author. Fair use permitted. Contact via comment. Unless indicated otherwise, all internet links accessed at time of writing. Nothing here should be taken as personal advice, financial or otherwise. No liability is accepted for third-party content, whether incorporated in or linked to this blog; or for unintentional error and inaccuracy. The blog author may have, or intend to change, a personal position in any stock or other kind of investment mentioned.
Thursday, June 16, 2016
They are different
Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me. They possess and enjoy early, and it does something to them, makes them soft where we are hard, and cynical where we are trustful, in a way that, unless you were born rich, it is very difficult to understand. They think, deep in their hearts, that they are better than we are because we had to discover the compensations and refuges of life for ourselves. Even when they enter deep into our world or sink below us, they still think that they are better than we are. They are different.
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Rich Boy (1926)
There is much that one could say about this quote. Few of us would turn down the chance to be rich if there were no insuperable caveats, but few of us would use it well. The rich are still different today and there are more of them, but not only the rich. Celebrities are different too, and as far as one can tell they are often different in much the same way because they think, deep in their hearts, that they are better than we are.
It is something we do to people via money or status, including political status. The problem affects both left and right political classes in that they think they know what is best for us. Those who don't tend to be corrupt in one way or another, apart from a modest few who actually try to leave political life in a better state than they found it.
In Wikipedia there is an interesting quote from Matthew Bruccoli about Fitzgerald's story.
"'The Rich Boy' is a key document for understanding Fitzgerald's much-discussed and much-misunderstood attitudes toward the rich. He was not an envious admirer of the rich, who believed they possessed a special quality. In 1938 he observed: 'That was always my experience—a poor boy in a rich town; a poor boy in a rich boy's school; a poor boy in a rich man's club at Princeton...I have never been able to forgive the rich for being rich, and it has colored my entire life and works.' He knew the lives of the rich had great possibilities, but he recognized that they mostly failed to use those possibilities fully. He also perceived that money corrupts the will to excellence. Believing that work is the only dignity, he condemned the self-indulgent rich for wasting their freedom."
There is much that one could say about this quote. Few of us would turn down the chance to be rich if there were no insuperable caveats, but few of us would use it well. The rich are still different today and there are more of them, but not only the rich. Celebrities are different too, and as far as one can tell they are often different in much the same way because they think, deep in their hearts, that they are better than we are.
It is something we do to people via money or status, including political status. The problem affects both left and right political classes in that they think they know what is best for us. Those who don't tend to be corrupt in one way or another, apart from a modest few who actually try to leave political life in a better state than they found it.
In Wikipedia there is an interesting quote from Matthew Bruccoli about Fitzgerald's story.
"'The Rich Boy' is a key document for understanding Fitzgerald's much-discussed and much-misunderstood attitudes toward the rich. He was not an envious admirer of the rich, who believed they possessed a special quality. In 1938 he observed: 'That was always my experience—a poor boy in a rich town; a poor boy in a rich boy's school; a poor boy in a rich man's club at Princeton...I have never been able to forgive the rich for being rich, and it has colored my entire life and works.' He knew the lives of the rich had great possibilities, but he recognized that they mostly failed to use those possibilities fully. He also perceived that money corrupts the will to excellence. Believing that work is the only dignity, he condemned the self-indulgent rich for wasting their freedom."
Money corrupts the will to excellence, but not money alone. When the political classes become too secure in their status, their generous salary and allowances, their opportunities to mix with the rich and powerful, then they too seem to ape the self-indulgent rich. They too waste the freedom they have been given to make the world a better place. The will to excellence is easily corrupted.
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Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Each Man's Thumbscrew
Find out each Man's Thumbscrew. ’Tis the art of setting their wills in action. It needs more skill than resolution. You must know where to get at any one. Every volition has a special motive which varies according to taste. All men are idolaters, some of fame, others of self-interest, most of pleasure. Skill consists in knowing these idols in order to bring them into play.
Knowing any man's mainspring of motive you have as it were the key to his will. Have resort to primary motors, which are not always the highest but more often the lowest part of his nature: there are more dispositions badly organised than well. First guess a man's ruling passion, appeal to it by a word, set it in motion by temptation, and you will infallibly give checkmate to his freedom of will.
Baltasar Gracian - The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647)
Does Cameron keep his hand in his pocket these days? I must check.
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A Turner sunset
...he resembled a Turner sunset, and attracted both admiration and attention.
F. Scott Fitzgerald - This Side Of Paradise (1920)
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Sunday, June 12, 2016
Sunday Serenade - Folk music
JD is back, after his little local IT difficulty....
Before I was rudely interrupted I was compiling a miscellany of English folk music which may not please the puritans but I like them plus a few more I can't find just yet.
Richard Thompson:
Wilson Family:
Florence Welch singing Shakespeare's sonnet 29:
Perhaps not a recognised 'folk singer' as such but... Florence Welch - What the Water Gave Me:
And now for some folkoric dancing(?) - Three man morris:
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All original material is copyright of its author. Fair use permitted. Contact via comment. Unless indicated otherwise, all internet links accessed at time of writing. Nothing here should be taken as personal advice, financial or otherwise. No liability is accepted for third-party content, whether incorporated in or linked to this blog; or for unintentional error and inaccuracy. The blog author may have, or intend to change, a personal position in any stock or other kind of investment mentioned.
Before I was rudely interrupted I was compiling a miscellany of English folk music which may not please the puritans but I like them plus a few more I can't find just yet.
Richard Thompson:
Wilson Family:
Florence Welch singing Shakespeare's sonnet 29:
Perhaps not a recognised 'folk singer' as such but... Florence Welch - What the Water Gave Me:
And now for some folkoric dancing(?) - Three man morris:
READER: PLEASE CLICK THE REACTION BELOW - THANKS!
All original material is copyright of its author. Fair use permitted. Contact via comment. Unless indicated otherwise, all internet links accessed at time of writing. Nothing here should be taken as personal advice, financial or otherwise. No liability is accepted for third-party content, whether incorporated in or linked to this blog; or for unintentional error and inaccuracy. The blog author may have, or intend to change, a personal position in any stock or other kind of investment mentioned.
Thursday, June 09, 2016
The chocolate Referendum
It has become apparent that the Referendum voters do not know what they are voting for. To correct this defect, the EU has commissioned an updated edition of Fry's famous "Five Boys" chocolate bar:
It is only right that the citizens should associate the mouthwatering delight of an iconic luxury consumer item with the sweet five Presidents of the EU who, like Fry's, are there to serve and please them.
Coming soon: bucking the trend of Wagon Wheels and Cadbury's Creme Eggs, the EU plans to make its product even larger (but don't tell anyone yet, it's "under wraps"!)...
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All original material is copyright of its author. Fair use permitted. Contact via comment. Unless indicated otherwise, all internet links accessed at time of writing. Nothing here should be taken as personal advice, financial or otherwise. No liability is accepted for third-party content, whether incorporated in or linked to this blog; or for unintentional error and inaccuracy. The blog author may have, or intend to change, a personal position in any stock or other kind of investment mentioned.
It is only right that the citizens should associate the mouthwatering delight of an iconic luxury consumer item with the sweet five Presidents of the EU who, like Fry's, are there to serve and please them.
Coming soon: bucking the trend of Wagon Wheels and Cadbury's Creme Eggs, the EU plans to make its product even larger (but don't tell anyone yet, it's "under wraps"!)...
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All original material is copyright of its author. Fair use permitted. Contact via comment. Unless indicated otherwise, all internet links accessed at time of writing. Nothing here should be taken as personal advice, financial or otherwise. No liability is accepted for third-party content, whether incorporated in or linked to this blog; or for unintentional error and inaccuracy. The blog author may have, or intend to change, a personal position in any stock or other kind of investment mentioned.
Wednesday, June 08, 2016
Duck luck
A mallard duckling tries to scale a waterfall on the river Dove this morning. Its mother was pecking around on top apparently unconcerned. Could explain why she only had one duckling left.
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Friday, June 03, 2016
Friday Night Is Music Night - there is a fault
Owing to a technical problem, JD is unable to share his latest selection. He suggests a test card placeholder, and so here is the first British tuning signal image, from 1934:
... plus a BBC interlude film:
... and a relic interesting from several points of view. I suppose I should put in a trigger warning about old colonial attitudes, but I hope the visitor to this page can look beyond emotional back-readings to the original intent and the value of historical records:
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 |
| This and more, here: http://www.meldrum.co.uk/mhp/testcard/bbc_tune.html |
... plus a BBC interlude film:
... and a relic interesting from several points of view. I suppose I should put in a trigger warning about old colonial attitudes, but I hope the visitor to this page can look beyond emotional back-readings to the original intent and the value of historical records:
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Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Like twilight on a harsh landscape
Routine comes down like twilight on a harsh landscape, softening it until it is tolerable. The complexity is too subtle, too varied; the values are changing utterly with each lesion of vitality; it has begun to appear that we can learn nothing from the past with which to face the future — so we cease to be impulsive, convincible men, interested in what is ethically true by fine margins, we substitute rules of conduct for ideas of integrity, we value safety above romance, we become, quite unconsciously, pragmatic.
F. Scott Fitzgerald – The Beautiful and Damned (1922)
Behind the endless debates and controversies of the public arena there is a cold and passionless reality. We experience the complexity of it all as intelligence, reason, debate, honesty, dishonesty, integrity, lies, errors, laughter, tears, jokes, tragedies and so on and so on. This is the joy of living, of discovery, of understanding that harsh landscape which is the only one we'll ever know. Apart from those invented to deceive us of course.
As Baruch Spinoza knew, a defence against deception is our ability to observe the workings of natural law. We observe and are influenced by what we see and feel. Those influences feel like intelligence, curiosity, decision making, choice, debate, compromise and options but they are all of these things and yet none of them. They are the effects of natural law.
Only when we understand natural law do we get closer to that harsh landscape because by understanding it we adapt to it and come to know and even love it. Our understanding is an integral factor in its passionless workings, even down to the long forgotten trajectory of a flint tipped spear. That is all the freedom we have but it is enough. In spite of all our limitations it has dragged us from that spear to where we are now.
Elites know all this at an instinctive, grasping, predatory level. They know that if they limit our curiosity and our consequent understanding of natural law then they also limit our freedom and our ability to participate in the way things are and the way they have to be. They limit our ability to distinguish true from false.
To my mind this is why the public arena has become so peculiar, so riddled with emotional blackmail and obvious drivel. Reason has finally become inconvenient, a hindrance to government by elites. They need to preserve their social distance but for some time natural human curiosity has been eating away at the mystique on which their puny Olympus sits.
So they substitute rules of conduct for ideas of integrity.
And they encourage us to value safety above romance.
And we cease to be impulsive, convincible men.
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Sunday, May 29, 2016
Referendum conundrum, simplified
If you don't believe in democracy, don't vote. If you do, vote "Leave".
If you think it doesn't make any difference, you will soon be taught a devastating lesson: the EU is already privately tossing around ideas for Britain's punishment:
https://www.euractiv.com/section/uk-europe/news/house-of-lords-warned-eu-will-punish-uk-if-it-votes-for-brexit/
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If you think it doesn't make any difference, you will soon be taught a devastating lesson: the EU is already privately tossing around ideas for Britain's punishment:
https://www.euractiv.com/section/uk-europe/news/house-of-lords-warned-eu-will-punish-uk-if-it-votes-for-brexit/
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Sunday Serenade: Hoffnung's Horrortorio
Listening to Radio 3 (for a change) yesterday I heard an interview with the composer Joseph Horowitz (it was his 90th birthday and they'd made him a cake). He spoke of being commissioned by Gerard Hoffnung to write a Gothic comedy piece with a clever barrister who "knows nothing about music." Dracula's daughter marries Frankenstein's son:
Hoffnung's legendary wit and raconteurial ability are shown in his 1958 address to the Oxford Union:
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Hoffnung's legendary wit and raconteurial ability are shown in his 1958 address to the Oxford Union:
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Friday, May 27, 2016
Friday Night Is Music Night: tinkling the ivories
JD writes: More musical delightfulness; this time on the piano. Hard to know what to include and what to leave out but these are some of my favourite pianists.
The piano: King of instruments- "No other instrument has been as important to the history of Western music as the piano. Since its invention in Florence three hundred years ago, the piano has become many things to many people—a bridge between the worlds of classical and popular music and the ultimate composer’s companion." http://www.films.com/id/749
And here are some of the finest players of that 'king of instruments' in the world of popular music-
Duke Ellington, Willie 'the lion' Smith, Billy Taylor:
There is added poignancy to this video by Allen Toussaint in that he died a few hours after the show:
And here are two of the best from the world of classical music:
- Glenn Gould who, as usual, is so engrossed in the music he sings/hums along with it. He IS the music:
- and Nikolai Demidenko:
-
Enjoy :)
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The piano: King of instruments- "No other instrument has been as important to the history of Western music as the piano. Since its invention in Florence three hundred years ago, the piano has become many things to many people—a bridge between the worlds of classical and popular music and the ultimate composer’s companion." http://www.films.com/id/749
And here are some of the finest players of that 'king of instruments' in the world of popular music-
Duke Ellington, Willie 'the lion' Smith, Billy Taylor:
There is added poignancy to this video by Allen Toussaint in that he died a few hours after the show:
And here are two of the best from the world of classical music:
- Glenn Gould who, as usual, is so engrossed in the music he sings/hums along with it. He IS the music:
- and Nikolai Demidenko:
-
Enjoy :)
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Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Step by step
Foxconn have been working on this for some time. From the Independent we hear
60,000 workers at Apple supplier Foxconn have been replaced with robots, according to reports.
The figure comes from a local government official, who said employee numbers at one of Foxconn's factories in Kunshan, near Shanghai, have been drastically slashed in recent months.
Harvard Study based on leaked email archives reveals massive astroturfing operation
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60,000 workers at Apple supplier Foxconn have been replaced with robots, according to reports.
The figure comes from a local government official, who said employee numbers at one of Foxconn's factories in Kunshan, near Shanghai, have been drastically slashed in recent months.
Perhaps the Chinese government has an expanding role for all those dumped workers.
The Chinese government plants 488 million fake comments every year
The Chinese government plants 488 million fake comments every year
Harvard Study based on leaked email archives reveals massive astroturfing operation
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Tuesday, May 24, 2016
REFERENDUM CONUNDRUM
Someone who supports Remain in the issue of membership of the institutionally undemocratic EU, is happy with the idea that the people's vote shouldn't matter.
So why would they vote in the referendum?
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Monday, May 23, 2016
AI drama
From alphr comes a story about the literary exploits of Google's foray into artificial intelligence.
One of the reasons why the Turing Test continues to be such a steep bar for AI to clear is because artificial intelligences just don’t talk like normal people. Artificial chatter is often grammatically sound, but feels stuffy, formal and just not quite right. Getting artificial intelligences to sound human has been a tough old nut to crack.
Google has an interesting solution to this, and has posted a paper outlining how it taught its artificial intelligence a flair for the dramatic by what I can only describe as cruel and unusual punishment. Inspired, no doubt, by the seemingly endless streams of Mills and Boon style romance novels cluttering up charity shops around the country, Google fed a neural network model 12,000 ebooks, some 2,865 if which were of that much maligned genre.
Here's an example of its output.
“this was the only way. it was the only way. it was her turn to blink. it was hard to tell. it was time to move on. he had to do it again. they all looked at each other. they all turned to look back. they both turned to face him. they both turned and walked away.”
Not impressive, but what if the researchers eventually succeed and we can't tell the difference between human and machine output? I'm not sure, but take another look at the example above. With a few adjustments and a few key words it could easily be turned into an EU referendum argument because the standard is not high is it?
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One of the reasons why the Turing Test continues to be such a steep bar for AI to clear is because artificial intelligences just don’t talk like normal people. Artificial chatter is often grammatically sound, but feels stuffy, formal and just not quite right. Getting artificial intelligences to sound human has been a tough old nut to crack.
Google has an interesting solution to this, and has posted a paper outlining how it taught its artificial intelligence a flair for the dramatic by what I can only describe as cruel and unusual punishment. Inspired, no doubt, by the seemingly endless streams of Mills and Boon style romance novels cluttering up charity shops around the country, Google fed a neural network model 12,000 ebooks, some 2,865 if which were of that much maligned genre.
Here's an example of its output.
“this was the only way. it was the only way. it was her turn to blink. it was hard to tell. it was time to move on. he had to do it again. they all looked at each other. they all turned to look back. they both turned to face him. they both turned and walked away.”
Not impressive, but what if the researchers eventually succeed and we can't tell the difference between human and machine output? I'm not sure, but take another look at the example above. With a few adjustments and a few key words it could easily be turned into an EU referendum argument because the standard is not high is it?
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Sunday, May 22, 2016
Sunday Serenade - British light classical music
We start in the country, as it used to be....
"Pastoral Montage", by Gideon Fagan (1950):
Ronald Binge - "Autumn Leaves"
Then it's into the outskirts of town...
Knightsbridge March by Eric Coates (1933):
... heading for the West End...
Robert Farnon - Westminster Waltz (1958):
... and a glamorous night out:
Trevor Duncan - High Heels (1950):
BONUSES
Long programmes...
"A Little Light Music - Friday Night Is Music Night" (BBC):
"A Little Light Music - Music for Everybody" (BBC):
... a 77-track, 4-CD compilation "British Light Music Classics" by the New London Orchestra, conducted by Ronald Corp, can be sampled and bought here: http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDS44261/4 ...
... and finally, there's a specialist blog dedicated to British Classical Music: http://landofllostcontent.blogspot.co.uk/
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"Pastoral Montage", by Gideon Fagan (1950):
Ronald Binge - "Autumn Leaves"
Then it's into the outskirts of town...
Knightsbridge March by Eric Coates (1933):
... heading for the West End...
Robert Farnon - Westminster Waltz (1958):
... and a glamorous night out:
Trevor Duncan - High Heels (1950):
BONUSES
Long programmes...
"A Little Light Music - Friday Night Is Music Night" (BBC):
"A Little Light Music - Music for Everybody" (BBC):
... a 77-track, 4-CD compilation "British Light Music Classics" by the New London Orchestra, conducted by Ronald Corp, can be sampled and bought here: http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDS44261/4 ...
... and finally, there's a specialist blog dedicated to British Classical Music: http://landofllostcontent.blogspot.co.uk/
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Who's leaned on Paul Dacre?
Today's Mail On Sunday front page - moronline edition:
BUT in the influential hmm-must read-this-again-have you-seen-this print version:
And there's more - much more - of that sort of thing inside.
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BUT in the influential hmm-must read-this-again-have you-seen-this print version:
And there's more - much more - of that sort of thing inside.
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Saturday, May 21, 2016
The Empty Brain
This essay from aeon is worth reading.
No matter how hard they try, brain scientists and cognitive psychologists will never find a copy of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony in the brain – or copies of words, pictures, grammatical rules or any other kinds of environmental stimuli. The human brain isn’t really empty, of course. But it does not contain most of the things people think it does – not even simple things such as ‘memories’.
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Your brain does not process information, retrieve knowledge or
store memories. In short: your brain is not a computer
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Friday, May 20, 2016
Friday Night Is Music Night - Poetry into music
JD presents an unusual selection relating to W B Yeats:
One of the comments beneath the video says "it sounds musical" Not surprising because Yeats himself said the rhythm of the verse was so important and "it took me a devil of a lot of trouble to get this poem into verse and that is why I will not read it as if it were prose!"
His poems are indeed musical and that is why so many singers have set them to music, among them Van Morrison and Loreena McKennitt. The best results, in my view, have come from Mike Scott and here is a selection to fortify your soul:
Lastly, "The Stolen Child"::
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One of the comments beneath the video says "it sounds musical" Not surprising because Yeats himself said the rhythm of the verse was so important and "it took me a devil of a lot of trouble to get this poem into verse and that is why I will not read it as if it were prose!"
His poems are indeed musical and that is why so many singers have set them to music, among them Van Morrison and Loreena McKennitt. The best results, in my view, have come from Mike Scott and here is a selection to fortify your soul:
Lastly, "The Stolen Child"::
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The future of austerity
Here is a clip of Jeremy Hunt giving evidence to a Parliamentary select committee, with commentary.
In it, there is a section from a Michael Moore documentary where a guilt-ridden medical finance director explains how she was heavily incentivised to say no - and how her conscience was salved at the time by being told she was not denying care, only payment.
"Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down?
That's not my department," says Wernher von Braun
- sang Tom Lehrer:
I think it's a pattern for public services generally. The rich, and those who promote their interests, are cutting their connection to the plebs.
Watch what happens to school-age education, too. And especially, special needs.
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In it, there is a section from a Michael Moore documentary where a guilt-ridden medical finance director explains how she was heavily incentivised to say no - and how her conscience was salved at the time by being told she was not denying care, only payment.
"Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down?
That's not my department," says Wernher von Braun
- sang Tom Lehrer:
I think it's a pattern for public services generally. The rich, and those who promote their interests, are cutting their connection to the plebs.
Watch what happens to school-age education, too. And especially, special needs.
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Thursday, May 19, 2016
Not welcome in Russia
According to The Moscow Times
Russia is rated the least welcoming country to refugees, according to a survey commissioned by Amnesty International and conducted by consulting firm GlobeScan.
The survey, published Thursday, created a Refugees Welcome Index that ranks countries on a scale from zero to 100, where zero means that all survey respondents would refuse refugees entry to their country and 100 means that all respondents would accept refugees into their neighborhood.
Russia was given an index score of 18, the lowest. China was the most welcoming country for refugees — scoring 85. The median index score was 52.
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Russia is rated the least welcoming country to refugees, according to a survey commissioned by Amnesty International and conducted by consulting firm GlobeScan.
The survey, published Thursday, created a Refugees Welcome Index that ranks countries on a scale from zero to 100, where zero means that all survey respondents would refuse refugees entry to their country and 100 means that all respondents would accept refugees into their neighborhood.
Russia was given an index score of 18, the lowest. China was the most welcoming country for refugees — scoring 85. The median index score was 52.
I wonder if it really matters - do refugees flock to Russia?
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Sunday, May 15, 2016
Sunday Serenade - Quirky Classics
Rossini: Cats’ Duet -
Arnold: Padstow Lifeboat March (brass band version) -
Michael Haydn (formerly thought to be Leopold Mozart): Toy Symphony -
Now one that can't be embedded here, but it's great fun -
Rollinson: Morning In Noah’s Ark Link (1907 recording) on a free jukebox site set up by the US Library of Congress:
Playable link: http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/recordings/detail/id/1279/
A modern (2000) version is on this compilation by the New Columbian Brass Band – the individual track can be downloaded, and the whole album is a pleasure:
Link for scrutiny/purchase (Amazon): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Teddy-Bears-Picnic-Columbian-Brass/dp/B00004STPU?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0
To play you out, a piece that may leave you feeling aerated and giddy:
Lefébure-Wély: Sortie in E flat -
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Arnold: Padstow Lifeboat March (brass band version) -
Michael Haydn (formerly thought to be Leopold Mozart): Toy Symphony -
Now one that can't be embedded here, but it's great fun -
Rollinson: Morning In Noah’s Ark Link (1907 recording) on a free jukebox site set up by the US Library of Congress:
Playable link: http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/recordings/detail/id/1279/
A modern (2000) version is on this compilation by the New Columbian Brass Band – the individual track can be downloaded, and the whole album is a pleasure:
Link for scrutiny/purchase (Amazon): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Teddy-Bears-Picnic-Columbian-Brass/dp/B00004STPU?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0
To play you out, a piece that may leave you feeling aerated and giddy:
Lefébure-Wély: Sortie in E flat -
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Friday, May 13, 2016
Friday Night Is Music Night - Young Jazzers
JD offers a selection of rising talent in the jazz world...
The much maligned younger generation are not all trying to be famous for being famous by caterwauling and prancing about on telly 'talent' shows. Some of them (quite a lot them actually) have real musical ability and are keeping the flame alive in the world of jazz:
Stephanie Trick:
Rachael Price:
Chloe Feoranzo:
Chloe Feoranzo with Stephanie Trick:
Tuba Skinny:
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The much maligned younger generation are not all trying to be famous for being famous by caterwauling and prancing about on telly 'talent' shows. Some of them (quite a lot them actually) have real musical ability and are keeping the flame alive in the world of jazz:
Stephanie Trick:
Rachael Price:
Chloe Feoranzo:
Chloe Feoranzo with Stephanie Trick:
Tuba Skinny:
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Monday, May 09, 2016
Sanity?
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| source |
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| source |
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Sunday, May 08, 2016
Brexit to where?
This piece in the Guardian reminds us of something we already know, that there is more to national independence than leaving the EU.
Hinkley Point: UN says UK failed to consult over risks
UN Economic and Social Council says Britain has not met its obligations to discuss the impact of nuclear accident with neighbouring countries.
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Hinkley Point: UN says UK failed to consult over risks
UN Economic and Social Council says Britain has not met its obligations to discuss the impact of nuclear accident with neighbouring countries.
The Guardian piece links to this UN document.
Economic Commission for Europe
Meeting of the Parties to the Convention
on Environmental Impact Assessment
in a Transboundary Context
on Environmental Impact Assessment
in a Transboundary Context
Shaking off the EU is only part of the story. There are UN tentacles too. Ultimately it may be necessary to accept that the world is changing and national self-determination is and probably always was a romantic dream.
READER: PLEASE CLICK THE REACTION BELOW - THANKS!
All original material is copyright of its author. Fair use permitted. Contact via comment. Unless indicated otherwise, all internet links accessed at time of writing. Nothing here should be taken as personal advice, financial or otherwise. No liability is accepted for third-party content, whether incorporated in or linked to this blog; or for unintentional error and inaccuracy. The blog author may have, or intend to change, a personal position in any stock or other kind of investment mentioned.
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