Reasons to be cheerful....nope, can't think of any.
22nd August is Lenny Henry's birthday and that of electronic, atonal music pioneer Stockhausen , but even these anniversaries cannot dispel the smog of despair. It's like living inside 'The Scream' while being made to listen to a tape loop of the speeches of Nigel Farage and watching Boris Johnson walking toward you, tea-tray in hand, a forced smile stretched across his insincere mug. Also, the day we meet, 22nd August, is the official date of the outbreak of the Civil War in 1642 when Charles 1st raised his standard in Nottingham against Parliament . So that bodes well.
Why the misery? Well, since we met last month there's been the worst heatwave in Southern Europe in modern times, Trump is not content with screwing up the USA but wants the rest of us to share the misery vis-a-vis Iran, tariffs and NATO. Boris courts the fascists and bigots by mocking Muslim women (what a guy!) and the Labour Party leadership manages to lose the next election before its been called by getting all pissy and petulant over legitimate complaints of antisemitism. Then, just to show that fate's cruelties come in many forms, Aretha Franklin dies. And Brexit. ..oh, dear, Brexit . I promised a fellow 38 Degrees colleague that I'd lay off the topic but you will be delighted to know that Jacob Rees-Mogg stands to make himself about £11 million out of Brexit, hard, soft or medium. So that makes it all worthwhile, doesn't it?
You will have received some emails from 38 Degrees mostly after money and rarely co-ordinating collective action so I won't recap them here.
So, we have a wide range of issues to discuss and the agenda is all yours. Various matters conspired to delay my meeting with Antonio Weiss but for those of you interested in further debate and interaction here are some upcoming events .
Jumping ahead a bit to September, Conway Hall's 'Thinking on Sunday' programme has a lecture called 'How to rig an election'. Nic Cheeseman of Birmingham University and Brian Klaas of the LSE explain how counterfeit democrats are able to use elections to remain in power, and reveal the six essential strategies that dictators use to undermine the electoral process in order to guarantee victory. Not cheerful nor free but here's the link
https://conwayhall.org.uk/event/thinking-on-sunday-how-to-rig-an-election/
Greenpeace host an event entitled Penguin Café Gig at the Hackney Arts Centre Stoke Newington Road 13 N16 8BH on the 9th October, here are the details below
https://greenwire.greenpeace.org/uk/en-gb/events/penguin-cafe-gig
UCL have an excellent series of events and exhibitions regarding the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage. Given the rocky state of democracy at home and abroad, they are a powerful reminder of the struggle for the right to representation.
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/culture/projects/ucl-vote-100
Hope to see you there next week. Click the attendance button - you know the score
Why the misery? Well, since we met last month there's been the worst heatwave in Southern Europe in modern times, Trump is not content with screwing up the USA but wants the rest of us to share the misery vis-a-vis Iran, tariffs and NATO. Boris courts the fascists and bigots by mocking Muslim women (what a guy!) and the Labour Party leadership manages to lose the next election before its been called by getting all pissy and petulant over legitimate complaints of antisemitism. Then, just to show that fate's cruelties come in many forms, Aretha Franklin dies. And Brexit. ..oh, dear, Brexit . I promised a fellow 38 Degrees colleague that I'd lay off the topic but you will be delighted to know that Jacob Rees-Mogg stands to make himself about £11 million out of Brexit, hard, soft or medium. So that makes it all worthwhile, doesn't it?
You will have received some emails from 38 Degrees mostly after money and rarely co-ordinating collective action so I won't recap them here.
So, we have a wide range of issues to discuss and the agenda is all yours. Various matters conspired to delay my meeting with Antonio Weiss but for those of you interested in further debate and interaction here are some upcoming events .
Jumping ahead a bit to September, Conway Hall's 'Thinking on Sunday' programme has a lecture called 'How to rig an election'. Nic Cheeseman of Birmingham University and Brian Klaas of the LSE explain how counterfeit democrats are able to use elections to remain in power, and reveal the six essential strategies that dictators use to undermine the electoral process in order to guarantee victory. Not cheerful nor free but here's the link
https://conwayhall.org.uk/event/thinking-on-sunday-how-to-rig-an-election/
Greenpeace host an event entitled Penguin Café Gig at the Hackney Arts Centre Stoke Newington Road 13 N16 8BH on the 9th October, here are the details below
https://greenwire.greenpeace.org/uk/en-gb/events/penguin-cafe-gig
UCL have an excellent series of events and exhibitions regarding the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage. Given the rocky state of democracy at home and abroad, they are a powerful reminder of the struggle for the right to representation.
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/culture/projects/ucl-vote-100
Hope to see you there next week. Click the attendance button - you know the score
Starts on
Wednesday, 22 August 2018 at 7:00 PM BST
Ends on
Wednesday, 22 August 2018 at 11:00 PM BST
