Song by Richard Tuley: Taking Back Control By Richard Tuley Perhaps it’s distasteful to mention Brexit. People are dying in droves, horribly. The Tories got a resounding mandate. Case closed. The British public bought the lie and now we… Read More ›
Month: May 2020
Ideas about Cuba and Che
By Phil Hall When we watched a film about the Mexican revolution starring Pedro Infante in 1997 my wife explained a little about what was going on to our teenage children: ‘Unfortunately, during the Mexican revolution, our family was on… Read More ›
The Poetry of Markets
One of the greatest pleasures in my grandfather’s life was to visit the market in Cannes, to admire the variety and quality of the produce on offer and to chat to some of the stallholders. Covered markets in Spain are… Read More ›
4# Depression
Ars Notoria is pleased to present the fourth episode in the comic series by Dan Pearce.
Abandon the Cities!
The revolutionary environmentalist, Anandi Sharan, argues that to meet 2050 zero carbon emissions the government must give each of us 1/2 an acre of land. By Anandi Sharan Political economy in developed countries has as its aim some version or… Read More ›
DEMOCRACY’S LAST NEWSSTAND
Was Labour’s 2019 Election Defeat a Grave – Even Terminal – Defeat for Democracy Itself? By Richard House Now the dust has settled over five months on from last December’s general election defeat for Labour and all the accompanying whirlwind… Read More ›
Tread Softly Starmer, You Tread on Our Dreams
LISTEN TO THE LEFT STARMER, OR GO! Masks off! Keir Starmer got elected as Labour leader under false pretenses. At the next Labour leadership election he will be sent into oblivion. Keir Starmer, like Tom Watson, got into his position… Read More ›
Are Ofsted’s Days Now Numbered?
A new paradigm for school accountability and improvement is long overdue – and a judicial review against Ofsted currently being led by QC Michael Mansfield may well hasten the process. By Richard House In its manifesto for the December 2019… Read More ›
3# Depression
Ars Notoria is pleased to present the third episode in the comic series by Dan Pearce.
A Personal Vision of Richmond Park and Beyond
by Philip Hall Richmond Park is not far away from us. It’s easy to reach it and to walk in it. We enter by the Kingston Gate and from there walk to the Ham Gate. At the Ham gate there… Read More ›
COMING UP FOR AIR
By Paul Halas Why would a sane person go fishing? How many times have I been asked that question: what’s the big deal about going fishing? For the past few decades I’ve resorted to giving a glib answer slotted into… Read More ›
Poem of the Month
In Search of Salt – by Yogesh Patel There is a jungle in this desert! The baboons of media are having a breakfast of Satyam Shivam Sundaram. Write as much as you wish on the sand from your oasis, where your… Read More ›
Is Keir Starmer a Blairite or a Corbynite?
Take our survey.
Two Tall Trees
Two Tall Trees There’s a window in the bathroom and if you stand at the bottom of the stairs you can see 2 tall trees through it. And if you walk 2 steps up you can see the leaves on… Read More ›
You are in for a big surprise
Sandeep Saxena wants us to grow our food in forests By Anandi Sharan Sandeep Saxena graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology and the India Institute of Management and from a postgraduate in the USA before going to work for… Read More ›
Social Darwinism: the deadly poison at the heart of reason
by Philip Hall The cast system is inhuman. FGM seems impossibly cruel. Look at the Taliban: Malala got a bullet in the head just for going to school. Look at forced marriage, at child marriage. How can that be tolerated?… Read More ›
Road of Dreams
Socialism? What are we talking about? By Dominic Tweedie The communists mean to show the way – as a vanguard – through revolution, to a classless, stateless condition called communism. The agent of revolution is not a communist party. Since… Read More ›
2# Depression
Ars Notoria is pleased to present the second episode in the comic series by Dan Pearce.
Kondratiev and the next K-Wave
By Emil Blake In 1925 a Russian economist, called Nikolai Kondratiev published a book called Major Economic Waves in which he predicted the rise and fall of economic prosperity driven by new, era-defining technologies. The crux of it, according to… Read More ›
We Were Caught in the Neo-liberal Trap
But now we have another pivotal moment. By Bryan Greetham Before the Second World War a German chemist was working to discover what we would call today an antibiotic. Each evening he would leave out Petri dishes with bacteria in… Read More ›
Down with Lockdown!
What do you do when the cure does you more harm than the disease? You stop taking it. Controversially, James Tweedie puts forward an argument for lock-down to be lifted. By James Tweedie, Plymouth, England, Friday May 15 th 2020… Read More ›
Don’t Tear Up your Labour Membership Card
WHAT IS TO BE DONE? By Phil Hall The British Disease is passive aggression. It is class hatred not class warfare. Class warfare is healthy, it leads to revolution and change. Class hatred, on the other hand, results in ordinary… Read More ›
“YOUR BOYS TOOK ONE HELL OF A BEATING!”
The demoralisation of grassroots Labour. By Paul Halas The Stroud Labour CLP meeting to nominate its preferred leadership candidate back in January was packed, yet the atmosphere was sober and subdued. Members were permitted a two minute slot to talk… Read More ›
Holi, Holi, Holi
Celebrations in the streets of Dharavi, Mumbai By Andy Hall The principle practice in street photography, and why I love it, is the immersive experience. That’s the only way you’re going to snatch those serendipitous, split-second moments you long for, as… Read More ›
Humanity’s Rosy Fingered Dawn: 2020
By Phil Hall Covid-19 arrives, We sit at home for a long while. The cities empty, the air clears and bird song seems louder. Translucent jellyfish float up the canal and goats clop through a Welsh hill town. We all… Read More ›
To the undertakers
By Yogesh Patel To the undertakers A preview of myself is a hidden mirror in a selfie mirror. I have always been brutal on the soliloquising Houdini! Yet, I have kept vultures at bay in this Dakhma. The undertakers have… Read More ›
Why Did the Working Class Vote Tory?
by James Tweedie, Plymouth, May 6th 2020 The one-word answer is: “Brexit.” The Labour Party backed the losing side in the 2016 UK referendum on leaving the EU, despite then-leader Jeremy Corbyn’s 40 years of opposition to British membership of… Read More ›
Mon Oncle
By Paul Halas On my very infrequent visits to Paris, passing Drancy Station on the RER suburban line between Orly Airport and Paris is always a poignant experience. My Uncle Ladis – Ladislaw – spent some time there during World… Read More ›
#1 Depression
Ars Notoria is pleased to present the first episode in the comic series by Dan Pearce.
How to defeat Covid-19
By Phil Hall In China the barefoot doctors believed in prevention rather than cure. So how can we make societies like ours more resilient to pandemic infections like Covid-19? Well, we could advocate for a more humane society. That would… Read More ›
CONSERVATIVES’ NHS HYPOCRISY
By Paul Halas Our television has led a charmed life in recent weeks. Every time a Conservative minister appears behind a lectern emblazoned with “Protect the NHS” it’s a miracle the set isn’t smashed by a flying vase. Abraham Lincoln… Read More ›