Rebecca Riots "Better remain silent, better not even think, if you are not prepared to act". So wrote Annie Besant, who was born in London in 1847. Radical sentiments for a radical woman. She might have had Jessie Donaldson in mind. Jesse was born in Bristol in 1799 and later moved to Swansea where she … Continue reading Jessie Donaldson, Annie Besant, Rebecca, Bessie Smith, and all that jazz.
Category: propaganda
Someday my plinth will come…
Or welcome to my Hall of Shame I have often casually wondered about statues in an uninterested kind of way. Ever since I was a kid, I was subjected to a forest of the bloody things. There seemed to be one on almost every street corner in central London; the parks and public spaces were … Continue reading Someday my plinth will come…
Keir Starmer: Labour’s Rising Lion or a Pink Panther with a blue rinse?
It may not deserve one, but this country needs a real opposition, and it needs one now! Not polite and respectful but loud, angry and responsive to people’s demands. Given that the government has a large majority of moral-free members, prepared to vote through any old line that they are told to support, I would … Continue reading Keir Starmer: Labour’s Rising Lion or a Pink Panther with a blue rinse?
Old Man Cummings had a farm…
I lie, you lie, low. Brought to you by Dom and Dummer – as straight as a hairpin bend on the A67 - with support from The Cabinet of Curiosities A song for the easily-led, concocted in just one afternoon but no-one can remember the details of quite how it was done. I intended to … Continue reading Old Man Cummings had a farm…
♫ No, you’re not too late to isolate, the natives are just dying♫
Apologies to Bruce Springsteen and to Mary, Queen of Arkansas This line, the original being No, you're not too late to desecrate, the servants are just rising, has been one that has stuck with me for years. It and its variants, have sprung, unbidden, into my head at all sorts of times, including in an … Continue reading ♫ No, you’re not too late to isolate, the natives are just dying♫
I gotta get outta this place, if it’s the last thing I ever do!
Journal into the unknown...(7) Don't fence me in... It is certainly reasonable to argue that the UK Virus episode started with a belated recognition that we were to be swept up in a Pandemic, which has rapidly progressed to a state, best described as Pandemonic. That is from a state where the virus was prevalent … Continue reading I gotta get outta this place, if it’s the last thing I ever do!
Language is just a virus – and there is a new wave of “Emics” on the way!
Laurie Anderson once spoke about language being a virus from outer space, but I don't think even she was fluent in Covid. Big Science, and let's face it, these days Epidemiology is THE Big Science, is revelling in its new found spotlight. You have to admire the gusto with which its exponents polish up old … Continue reading Language is just a virus – and there is a new wave of “Emics” on the way!
This Welfare State, This Septic Isle, This little England.
Whoa there! Who's in control? Who says so? Telegraph breaks cover Prompted by the 6th November front page Tory party puff in what used to be a newspaper, namely The Daily Telegraph, the prevalence of the propaganda machine running in the UK has been brought home to me. In fairness, it may just be in … Continue reading This Welfare State, This Septic Isle, This little England.
Peddling Twaddle or Taking Back Control!
Here in the UK, the expression “Take Back control!” has been widely abused by those who should, and do, know better. It has been promulgated and promoted by those who know exactly what they are doing, and they have been steadily building on their control for decades. They are using the familiar propagandist’s ploy of … Continue reading Peddling Twaddle or Taking Back Control!
As they say in London ‘ave a proper gander!
Colloquially, a proper gander means have a good look, but I’m interested in the phonetic similarity to Propaganda. So, I’d like you to have a proper look at where our news comes from. Is it news or is it propaganda? Who controls it? Where does it come from? Just how balanced is it? So, who … Continue reading As they say in London ‘ave a proper gander!
Mickey take and more 