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Find the human – then find some more humans

Avanti Lentemente (forward, slowly) This is the story of a train ticket. It is quite long but it contains a big welfare issue (actually, the biggest welfare issue) and a potential time-saver (actually, a life saver) for humans everywhere. One day back in June, I turned up at Penrith station with the intention of getting…
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Place the blame, move on

Last night, I posted a Jonathan Pie rant on my social media feed, because his traditional five-minute rant had managed to include more of the salient points in our current affairs than the entire week’s output from the BBC. Tory MPs are lining up to say yes, they too have realised Boris Johnson is irresponsible,…
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A memorable week in the end times

***long read for the weekend*** July 2022, UK, planet earth Many of us do not forget we are well past the time we could have dealt with the climate crisis without cataclysmic consequences. Many of us are grappling with the cost of living crisis (that is, our government’s complete failure to address the problem of…
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HILP! HILP! HILP!

Why do we think the UK is no good at radical? A message to my country, and to my local Labour Party. We had our first revolution almost before anyone invented the concept. Just before lunch, we used to gibly say when I was at school – the Magna Carta, 12.15 (actually, that was the…
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What else is the Labour Party being useless at?

(Just to be clear – this is not an advert for any other party. We need to demand better from ALL our politicians) For most of the last five years or so, if I’d said ‘you know that toxic issue in Labour’, people would have thought ‘ah yes, the left-right thing’ or ‘ah yes, the…
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The Good, the Bad and the Greedy

Go on, ban more things! Bad News for Labour Someone tried to launch a book at Waterstones in Brighton during the 2019 Labour conference. The shop cancelled the launch. That was all I knew about the book at the time but, as soon as I got home, I marched into my local indie bookshop and…
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What is the difference between work and slavery?

Freedom of association – that is, the right to organise. The right to join a union. 2. Freedom to withdraw your labour – that is, the right to strike, and 3. An administration that treats the unemployed with respect, and provides for their basic needs. We have already lost the last one – the DWP…
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Let’s try the Alien trick again…

Just landed from Mars. First up, I looked for somewhere to live. Ye gods, rents are expensive! Found out about jobs, and went to look for one – which was puzzling. Most jobs require the applicant to have a car and a mobile phone. Looked at the prices and running costs of cars and mobile…
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Victory to the RMT – Victory for all

Hastings Demands Better 25th June 2022 At Hastings Station Plaza, at midday on 25th June, the RMT rally was mc’ed by Simon Hester of Hastings TUC. He said that, like all privatised industries, the railway companies have money. They have plenty. They have millions for bosses, and for profits. He said that, due to the…
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Red lines are my grey area

***Long read for the weekend*** Some people thrive on passion and drama. Some people believe they need it in order to feel alive. If you like a quiet life, you should probably avoid working with people like that. If you can’t think or act effectively around noise and drama, you should most definitely avoid working…