Started in 1911 by socialists it is now sponsored by three banks and an energy corporation, so that’s how women know they’ve started to be taken seriously, capital is trying to co-opt them. Imperialism certainly is. But then that’s only fair, men and women should get the same chance to be venal, selfish and evil, just as they should get the same chance to oppose them. Men should thank women who oppose patriarchy as it enslaves men as well as women, and women should not be left to the heavy lifting of breaking male privilege on their own. And both should realise gender is a fairly fluid continuum that does not suit a binary approach. And while celebrating 100 years of women’s achievement is useful, I feel it hides an agenda of not focussing on thousands of years of  those who stood in the way and who continue to do so today eg. Budget cuts will fall disproportionately on women. Maybe it’s just me but I find it hard to sit around and sing Kum-ba-yah when conservatives and liberals are once again attacking equality and women especially.

Clinton’s former secretary of labour quickly describes divide and rule

“The Republican strategy is to split the vast middle and working class – pitting unionized workers against non-unionized, public-sector workers against non-public, older workers within sight of Medicare and Social Security against younger workers who don’t believe these programs will be there for them, and the poor against the working middle class,”

Now this is correct but trespasses in the shallows away from making the profound point, that class war under neoliberlaism is to split the vast middle and working class – pitting unionized workers against non-unionized, public-sector workers against non-public, older workers within sight of Medicare and Social Security against younger workers who don’t believe these programs will be there for them, and the poor against the working middle class,

Fair enough he was a Democrat politician so he makes the point for partisan means and yes the GOP are basically crypto fascist at this stage but the good cop bad cop routine of our faux democracies where all major parties are in thrall to corporations and neoliberal orthodoxy is the truly great threat to people and planet. Would that there were a progressive party that was social democratic or eco socialist to back in this fight. But still awareness of the divide and rule strategy, the competition fetishes of the elite is important, the longer people fight against each other the longer the ruling class can laugh like drains all the way to the bailed out banks.

Today it is niece number one’s 21st birthday and my mum’s 80th birthday, they were last seen gargling tequila and ecstasy tabs and heading for the docks. That may not be true, however the oldest and youngest generations of my family are represented in this moment, foolishly no one of my generation thought be born on 20th Feb too. Tsk. My mum lived through war, austerity and the brief blooming of social democracy in Britain, Kim is a good deal freer thanks to feminism but mostly it looks like she gets to live through the same parade of crap as previous generations. Class war continues with neoliberalism offering the elite the chance for a final solution, do what you’re told and here’s a choice of smart phone cases or…fuck off and die, except the damage to the ecosphere may show the human race the planet has other plans that don’t involve us. It’s either gonna be the smart move- sustainable social democracy born of eco-socilaism, or elite domed cities guarded by Blackwater as we play Mad Max meets The Road in the hinterlands, and here’s a choice of smart phone cases. I’m reminded of a great quote by Aldous Huxley

“It is a bit embarrassing to have been concerned with the human problem all one’s life and find at the end that one has no more to offer by way of advice than “try to be a little kinder.”

I think my mum has always tried to do that and that has been heroic of her.

Happy Birthday Ladies.

Richard Neville, May 6th 2009:- In Egypt, where torture seems to be a Government sport, Habib was interrogated by the country’s Intelligence Director, General Omar Suleiman, who is is ranked second in power to President Hosni Mubarak. Back in 2001, Suleiman took a personal interest in anyone suspected of links with Al Qaeda. As Habib had visited Afghanistan shortly before 9/11, he was under suspicion. Suleiman slapped Habib’s face so hard, the blindfold was dislodged, revealing the torturer’s identity. According to his memoir, Habib was repeatedly zapped with high-voltage electricity, immersed in water up to his nostrils, beaten, his fingers were broken and he was hung from metal hooks.

He was again interrogated by Omar Suleiman. To loosen Habib’s tongue, Suleiman ordered a guard to murder a gruesomely shackled Turkistan prisoner in front of Habib – and he did, with a vicious karate kick. Suleiman is expected to be the next President of Egypt.

It seems brave Egyptians have other ideas, so how did Her Majesty’s Government aid Egyptians against the despotic dictator Mubarak and his torture regime? Because we’re like the good guys right? Y’know patriotism, Great Britain, Yay us, The Royal Wedding, The King’s Speech etc. Hmm, well we sold the regime a lot of arms-

And um, we sold Israel lots who then resold to Mubarak

latest government figures for July-September 2010 show arms sales to the apartheid state, of over £800,000 of direct arms sales with £450,000 of further sales which Israel re-exported to Egypt, South Korea, Pakistan, Turkey, United States and other countries. (ht2 Earwicga)

I suspect no one reading this is finding this to be new information.

former CIA agent Robert Baer: “If you want a serious interrogation, you send a prisoner to Jordan. If you want them to be tortured, you send them to Syria. If you want someone to disappear — never to see them again — you send them to Egypt.” (ht2 Chicken Yoghurt)

There can be no doubt that Egyptians struggle while more extreme is also our struggle, to bring our ruling elites under democratic control, to end their sociopathic exercise of power and to reclaim the wealth stolen by these armed and dangerous criminals. As such solidarity works on two fronts, direct support to Egyptians and greater effort applied to reclaim our dormant democracy. If an individual acted as our nation does they would be the most notorious serial killer in our history, they would have endless crappy books, plays, films made about them. They would be infamous, legendary and incarcerated until death in any working criminal justice system.

Now maybe I shouldn’t tell you this, but this is how you get away with it:-

• You are in power, either elected, civil service, intel/military, corporate or appointed by patronage.
• Your crimes advance the interests of the ruling class.
• All rapes, killings, tortures are committed through a chain of authority with no one decision maker directly performing the atrocities.

Also handy is on the rare occasion you have to explain yourself you say things like ‘realist’ ‘pragmatic’ ‘security’ terrorism’ ‘allies’. These are magic talismans that neuter all the powers of your access craving journalist inquisitor, also suits, always suits, women must be smart corporate, men always conservative, open neck is still a bit too daring for steely authority mode (reserve it for appearing friendly to the slow of thinking). Do not at any price attend media engagements soaked in blood and then recount particularly enjoyable and profitable rape and murder sessions on air. This is usually avoided by the third clause, chain of authority, no direct performance, however as Suleiman shows sometimes the temptation is too high and you may inadvertently find yourself chatting to Andrew Neil with some speck of shredded genitalia on your collar. This also breaks the golden rule of realism, pragmatist etc talismans, the illusion is based upon nice speaking people, in expensive clothes, lying a lot. If for a moment the reality that privilege and power rest upon rape, murder and torture the game is blown and ‘moral’ authority is lost, then all you have is a well armed security force to keep you in place. And as we are seeing, this is not always enough to keep things ticking along nicely for your organised crime gang. Now off you pop, talk up that Royal Wedding, that splendid KIng’s Speech film and Cut Cut Cut, we are still at the stage of a well armed security force being able to keep you in business.

Upgraded to latest wordpress and some of my hot rodded tweeks to the site seem to have gone for a burton, hmm also does anyone know what stops this from turning up at the top of my dashboard-

Warning: session_start() [function.session-start]: Cannot send session cache limiter – headers already sent (output started at /var/www/web134/web/wp-content/plugins/portable-phpmyadmin/wp-phpmyadmin.php:166) in /var/www/web134/web/wp-content/themes/constructor/libs/Constructor/Admin.php on line 31

Of course this could be an opportunity for some redesign shenanigans, hmmm. So if things are odd or going wrong, please let me know and suggestions are welcome.

Update: solved that portable phpmyadmin shizzle.

Off the top of my head based on what is being said:-

Turning online into offline activity, linking blogs with local grass roots groups.

Online activism by the housebound: As Broken of Britain shows there is a pool of talent online that also represents people who could be the worst hit by the Coalition’s Shock Doctrine. A Broken of Britain workshop/session should be a definite.

Flowing from that there seems to be (to put it roughly and broadly) skepticism from long time left campaigners of Netroots and their politics ( I can see how when we had a New Labour govt. Tory blogs bloomed and now Labour wants the same thing, but is it a Labour still packed with Blairite centrists/Neoliberals who want to slant the online terrain in their favour?). Also skepticism that online activism has much worth, but you know firstly online can sometimes be all people can do, because of time, work or health issues, secondly it does create networks and does increase the general level of activism in both spheres I would argue. And teenagers & tweenagers are far more online by hook or by crook, if online territory is conceded to the right, if the net is a corporate run Sky like set of pay for channels and Net Neutrality a distant relic it will be even harder to make your case.

There is also the ‘Digital Divide’, poor people have less access to computers and the net. This will also inevitably affect the subjects for discussion and campaigning online. Certainly wonky or topical issue arguments gain more audience than pointing out thousands are about to be made homeless and what can be done. I also suppose some people whose personal circumstances are relatively secure can enjoy a good argument/debate and that pushes out discussion of pressing violent deprivation of thousands if not millions of people.

Politics is maybe easier to talk about online than off, I know I’ve wondered how the hell to have a conversation with someone who’s just put down their copy of The Sun & moaned about immigrants and scroungers, a workshop on how to engage in real world without getting to confrontational impasse would be handy.

I think all of Luna 17′s comments are fair in Netroots UK and the limits of ‘online activism’ but seeing online as having limits is back to an online/offline antagonism, both have things they cannot do, but both have qualities the other does not possess. Don’t see limits, see how they complement each other, adapt and overcome.

This is just thinking out loud, rather than take Netroots as written in stone I think it should be taken as an evolutionary project that will play a role in opposing the Coalition and figure some plans for the future. If you don’t like it, help to change it, I don’t want the conspicuous online ‘Left’ to be a soft centrist institutionalised globule pimped into supporting uncritically whatever Labour does. But it also has to something that to the casual unsuspecting surfer is interesting and welcoming and has a positive hopeful message that cuts and the profit motive are not all there is to human existence, that there is an alternative that works.