Taking Out The Trash

The revolution will not be blogged

I feel a bit of a cheat now.

I linked previously to an excellent post at A Very Public Sociologist looking at the wave of strikes about foreign workers and added a couple of minor thoughts of my own.

A shortage of time and AVPS's succinct writing did the job.

Now he's looked at what mainstream political blogs have been saying and it is rather embarassing. Conservatives have been taking the issue on but Lib Dems and Labour blogs have been whistling and looking the other way.

Of course many of the radical left have been taking an interest and have been blogging about it. But is it indifference, incapabability, incoherence or fear (I couldn't think of a synonym begining with in) that stops Labour Party bloggers addressing an issue many of their members will be talking about?

Meanwhile Ministry of Truth which has done some quality digging on how the BNP are using the dispute for their own ends and The Daily Maybe has an interesting round-up on some blogging opnions.

On not rearing pigs

Got sent this by Ricky Knight the prospective Green MEP. Rather amusing.

> Rt Hon David Miliband MP
> Secretary of State,
> Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA),
> Nobel House
> 17 Smith Square
> London SW1P 3JR
>
> 16 May 2007
>
> Dear Secretary of State,
>
> My friend, who is in farming at the moment, recently received a
> cheque for £3,000 from the Rural Payments Agency for not rearing
> pigs. I would now like to join the "not rearing pigs" business.
>
> In your opinion, what is the best kind of farm not to rear pigs on,
> and which is the best breed of pigs not to rear? I want to be sure I
> approach this endeavour in keeping with all government policies, as
> promoted by the EU under the Common Agricultural Policy.
>
> I would prefer not to rear bacon pigs, but if this is not the type
> you want not rearing, I will just as gladly not rear porkers. Are
> there any advantages in not rearing rare breeds such as Saddlebacks
> or Gloucester Old Spots, or are there too many people already not
> rearing these?
>
> As I see it, the hardest part of this programme will be keeping an
> accurate record of how many pigs I haven't reared. Are there any
> Government or Local Authority courses on this?
>
> My friend is very satisfied with this business. He has been rearing
> pigs for forty years or so, and the best he ever made on them was
> £1,422 in 1968. That is - until this year, when he received a cheque
> for not rearing any.
>
> If I get £3,000 for not rearing 50 pigs, will I get £6,000 for not
> rearing 100?
>
> I plan to operate on a small scale at first, holding myself down to
> about 4,000 pigs not raised, which will mean about £240,000 for the
> first year. As I become more expert in not rearing pigs, I plan to
> be more ambitious, perhaps increasing to, say, 40,000 pigs not
> reared in my second year, for which I should expect about £2.4
> million from your department. Incidentally, I wonder if I would be
> eligible to receive tradable carbon credits for all these pigs not
> producing harmful and polluting methane gases?
>
> Another point: These pigs that I plan not to rear will not eat 2,000
> tonnes of cereals. I understand that you also pay farmers for not
> growing crops. Will I qualify for payments for not growing cereals
> to not feed the pigs I don't rear?
>
> I am also considering the "not milking cows" business, so please
> send any information you have on that too. Please could you also
> include the current Defra advice on set aside fields? Can this be
> done on an e-commerce basis with virtual fields (of which I seem to
> have several thousand hectares)?
>
> In view of the above you will realise that I will be totally
> unemployed, and will therefore qualify for unemployment benefits.
>
> I shall of course be voting for your party at the next general
> election.
>
> Yours faithfully,

Getting round the book ban

Craig Murry, ex-ambassador and now full time thorn in the side of the government, had wanted to publish a book about the mercenary Tim Spicer. (As in he arranges soldiers to fight for other people; I've no idea what his attitude to money is).

But then the lawyers Schillings got involved and you can imagine the rest: legal threats, big court costs etc.

Upshot is that Craig's freedom of speech has been curtailed. Sure, he might have made mistakes in his book but we're not going to know and they've not been tested.

If you do want the ability to make your own mind up there's more here.

I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore

While I was cogitating on how I would post about the wildcat strikes A Very Public Sociologist went and did it first and better. So I'll just link to AVPS.
With protests in Greece (linked to the recession but many other things as well), the Baltics, Iceland (the first government to lose power because of it) and France things are moving into interesting territory.
Obama has been clear in his denunciation of greedy bankers and the Conservatives have been quick to feel the public mood and put out a similar message. Brown, meanwhile, seems loathe to take a populist line.
I'm not sure how the Conservative's opportunist approach will hold if such protests continue or escalate. The message will be: get angry, but allow the same failed system to fix it.
In Iceland they've now got their first openly gay PM. So progressive changes can come out of the protests, even if they are unlooked for.