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Where is ‘the West’ on a ball?
‘The West’ is one of the many charged words the media are using, words that feed into social media conversations about what’s going on in Ukraine, and what we should do about it. This morning, I saw a post from a bloke who’s off to join in the war and ‘fight for the West’ and…
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The behaviour required of our councillors
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a piece for the local paper, asking that we remember borough councillors are our fellow citizens, and should be treated decently. I am now in the rather contrary position of needing to remind borough councillors to treat each other decently. I don’t want to see any of our…
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What kind of country tolerates police seizing people’s books?
Yep, it happened. It happened in Wales. As one woman put it to me recently, surely that’s a red line for everyone. This was a gathering in support of a woman who was arrested, detained for ten hours, and has been messed about ever since. The police searched her house, and took a book they…
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Of miners, gory horrors, and socialism at the sharp end
We were in Wales for other reasons, and in Trehafod in particular only because there happened to be accommodation available there. Well, they say the best lessons are those learned by accident. We had a free morning, and went for a coffee in the Trehafod mining museum. I knew Welsh coalmining was interesting, dreadful and…
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The G-police* and the gender-wars
You cannot stop the women. All you can do is make their lives difficult and harm your reputation by being seen bullying them. These are the armies you are trying to fight (do you want to pick a side?) Mothers, sisters and allies 1. The confabulators Almost all women and girls – the vast majority…
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UBI or bust
A few years ago now, we in Hastings had a visit from Guy Standing, talking about various aspects of the New Economics. One of the ideas that interested me was UBI (universal basic income). I see it doing the rounds again now. Our own borough council have recently been taking steps to get involved, with…
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A message from Mrs Mouthy
We were all anxiously talking about the founding of a People’s Assembly for our town: It’s the People’s Assembly Against Austerity. The purpose is to facilitate a group coming together in each and every town in the country, to defend our services and demand the resources to provide for our people and our environment. It…
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The beginning of a lifetime’s work?
A guest post by Philippa Tudor I first encountered Holst’s music through singing his beautiful 8-part Ave Maria as a teenager, and knew that he had taught at James Allen’s Girls’ School in Dulwich – where I live – but I never got round to discovering more until 2012, when I ordered a secondhand copy…
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Why? We wail, Why?
Why does politics spiral into ever darker pits of cruelty and lies? In an interview by Freddie Sayers (link at the end of the article), author Kate Clanchy, who has recently been the victim of a huge row about what’s racist and what isn’t, has made a good attempt at explaining why some political questions…
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The Mermaid of Black Conch
Life, eh! When you’re tired – years and years tired – of the struggle, of the battering of socialism, of feminism, of the average person’s chance to even earn a crust; when you know you’ve got too bitter and stroppy to do any good, and all but withdrawn from the fight, and a friend passes…
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Kay Green 