Is Facebook’s Frances Haugen a whistleblower? Clearly not in the sense that Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning, Daniel Halesworth and Katharine Gun are. But is there any sense in which she can be said to be one? A month … Read More »
Remembrance Sunday in Moffat, Scotland, 2016 And gentlemen in England now a-bed Shall think themselves accursed they were not here, And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day. Shakespeare – Henry V, … Read More »
Well intentioned but not so well informed people often assert the universality of human rights in ways that unwittingly serve the agendas of power. How could they not? Our awareness of (a) where human rights violations are said to take … Read More »
Spotted just now on Facebook, posted by one Tom Helmesley. This is Jeff. Jeff made his billions by undercutting local shops and shipping stuff halfway round the world. Over the summer, Jeff flew on his private spacecraft so he can … Read More »
For reasons too convolutedly tedious to torture you with, my custom of posting, last weekend of the month, a trio of recommended reads fell into abeyance this spring. Shame, that. Several readers have said they liked this feature. I’m not … Read More »
Bloggers like me are prone to self doubt. Not, I hasten to add, in respect of what we say of the state we’re in, summarised in my open letter on China. There’s too much evidence for there to be any … Read More »
Image from The Guardian, October 3 Here’s how the Guardian opened its coverage of the Pandora Papers. Whose face is the most instantly recognisable? Whose, and by a hefty margin, the largest? You wouldn’t know it from this pictorial smear but … Read More »
The most revolutionary thing we can do is always proclaim loudly what is happening Speaking of Rosa, early Xmas shoppers, methodically placing ticks against the names on their prezzie lists, might consider this gem from cartoonist and writer Kate … Read More »
In her blog post today, Caitlin Johnstone implicitly draws on the great man’s insight with these words: You don’t own your comrades. A lot of people will get angrier about a political ally disagreeing with them on one percent of … Read More »