Is the Guardian worse than it used to be?

the goblins are out of the box and hurtling across the entire board

Putin will steal the election next week he'll have no choice xxxp

Boris is Zelensky's candidate, who is Vlad's?

also boris

russia-ukraine accords reached when they realise they agree on this and build from there: UK fucked, world cheers, biden nukes us

Apologies to anyone who has been offended the "charmlessness" of this particular Goblin, esp the meritorious gyac.

It is connected with the Graun, Matt#2, as the Graun still believes Starmer can deliver, or does at least some of the time.

I don't pretend to have the answers. I think that maybe I look to eloquent people on here for answers because I make the basic mistake of assuming - not logical or rational, but easy to do in the spur of the moment - that being well-read and able to write well about politics equates with having alternative solutions to hand that the individuals would implement if they had the means to do so.

Doesn't mean that they, or I, for that matter, shouldn't speculate on the best ways out of the mess, even if they seem far away, i.e.

- Challenger to Starmer emerges, more aligned with Corbyn politically, but able to exploit optics more than him to win over centrist sceptics. Corbyn's ideas with Blair's slick presentation, if you will, who challenges KS for leadership. Thought maybe Burnham may be that person (tho Calz, whom I trust, doesn't rate him and may have good reasons for not doing so-- AB seems to have done a good job as mayor of MCR, maybe people living there would say different).

- Left leaning PLP members (such as there are, maybe Sultana, Whittome?) bin Labour for good, reach out to unions for support, including those currently unaffiliated with the effete TUC, to form a new party to the left of Labour, take some (many?) members of the Labour membership with them.

Other (please suggest).

the mass assault on Corbyn from the media wasn't because his optics were bad - they would treat Blair himself the same way if he suggested mild economic reforms, and likely with a similar outcome

Kieth's entire project since taking charge of - ok i won't say it - has been to ensure that the mechanisms of that party are permanently closed to anybody who wants to challenge any aspect of neolib orthodoxy or flagshagging. it's Zombie Labour ok that's less arcane i guess.

there is NO HOPE FOR CHANGE thru the current parliamentary system and no hope of anybody winning power who wants to change that system

sorry if this seems bleak, that's because things are very bleak. viewers in Scotland and Northern Ireland have alternative programming

tbf if people want to riot to try and change that, i'm in. a GE isn't that

goblins 4 spümcø labour

GG i dont think of you as a goblin

we are not the same

sorry i kinda skipped over the possibility of a Zarah party. that would be better than any of the alternatives, it's not a short term project, and the SCG have shown a frankly masochistic willingness to chunter under their breath, do nothing and let themselves get picked off one by one

oh and this is all the Graun thread because this is their dream Labour except not enough virulent transphobia

sorry, SCG?

Socialist Campaign Group

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_Campaign_Group

(xpost)

"Corbyn's ideas with Blair's slick presentation"

Post this in 2017, when someone would've cared.

morelike Socialist Landlord Group, amirite?

would recommend watching 70's tv series Bill Brand to anyone who wants a reminder that the Labour Right were also a bunch of cunts well before the Blair era! And also it's rather good.

still technically a group, not so much campaigning

Spüm Cø Goblins

My impressions are:

- There are the odd local groups emerging in certain areas, that might challenge and change the composition of councils from Lab to something else.

- The items listed in that libcom tweet: donate to some unions and their strike funds.

- There are other groups that are carrying out action and risking life and limb.

But to look to Lab and their 20 or so left MPs is to look at...not v much. Nobody is going to influence Starmer, I suspect when he's in trouble he might look for support. It would be foolish to give him any.

Spüm Cø Goblins

Finally a reference I get. You sick little monkey.

I should’ve gone with “bloated sack of protoplasm” smh.

re riots: the lampposts around here have had nov 5th march on government stickers on them for a while, done by the same people who bought you the anti-vax and anti-un stickers. just a time and date and oblig guy fawkes mask on them and a bunch of links to c0v1dtrvth5.com etc. i wonder if their plans have changed? or if more than 5 people and a dog will turn up.

(also other stickers saying THE TRUTH WILL SHOCK YOU + a QR code are also available)

rude

xp

You know I’m joking right? Probably doesn’t need to be said but just in case.

Reading this thread now worse than reading the UK edition of the Guardian.

Dear Moran,

I’m having a swell time here at the insane asylum. It would be nice if you could come and visit me sometime. Wish you could read.

(That was also an allusion.)

https://media.tenor.com/s6HXPT_n5a4AAAAM/ok-thumbs-up.gif

Reading this thread now worse than reading the UK edition of the Guardian.

― Tsar Bombadil (James Morrison), Saturday, 22 October 2022 bookmarkflaglink

UK Pol chat is popular across the board.

Many ppl are saying this.

huge numbers

James just posted? Wow. I didn’t know that. You are telling me now for the first time. He made some amazing posts. What else can you say. Whether you agreed or not, he was an amazing poster who made some amazing posts. I am actually sad to hear that. I am sad to hear that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYcyacLRPNs

"I'd prefer it if they targeted shitty art only of the Damien Hirst variety"

I realise I'm replying to something from a week and several political aeons ago, but I remember seeing this in a department store when I went to Hong Kong back in 2019:
https://i.imgur.com/gdS0DiW.jpg

I was dimly aware that Hirst had made a crystal skull but I wasn't aware he had a full range of branded perfume bottles and paperweights. I remember wondering what the rich people of China thought about him. In the UK he is a legendary art icon and one of the most widely-beloved public figures of the 1990s - this is true (SOLVED) (2022) - but did the rich people of China read Ray Gun in the 1990s? Why should they be aware of him?

The odd thing is that media coverage of the collaboration seems weirdly timid. After Googling it the only report I could find in an actual newspaper was this, which is essentially a press release:
https://observer.com/2015/07/damien-hirst-lends-his-quirky-touch-to-this-127-year-old-glass-company/

You'd think there would be loads of "this is a pile of cack / he is creatively bankrupt" editorials, but no. Is it too obvious to criticise Damien Hirst for partnering with a jewellery firm? Is it just that he isn't as famous as he used to be? Even the coverage of his recent art-burning-NFT thing has been muted.

i doubt they read ray gun lol but rich ppl everywhere have always enjoyed paying for fancy and expensive art, especially when it's gleaming and show-offy!

so im guessing rich ppl in china are very likely not wildly different? they read glossy investment mags which tell them what art to buy into

ps my entire guide to what rich ppl in china are like is this mainland-chinese netflix police procedural: luxury, criminal decadence, martial-arts cops and profiling on the streets of the people's republic of china: WHEN A SNAIL FALLS IN LOVE

in conclusion they like to murder one another (just like rich ppl in the UK per poirot etc)

"In the UK he is a legendary art icon and one of the most widely-beloved public figures of the 1990s"

I do not believe that these statements are true.

They feel a bit overegged, or referring to a specific audience, yes

But I'd say the YBAs' star has declined since the 90s anyway

Yeah, beloved by whom? Recognisable, but beloved?

renowned art critic Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics considers him a genius ...lol

Some YBAs - Gillian Wearing, Georgina Starr, Jane and Louise Wilson, Mark Wallinger, Yinka Shonibare, Richard Billingham- go from strength to strength as serious artists. Hirst, not so much.

That sounds right Suzy, I suppose I mean as a group

what happened to Sarah Lucas?

Yeah, beloved by whom? Recognisable, but beloved?

The poster in question has a track record of making similarly bizarre statements.

‘Beloved’ is same level horrible-ness as ‘national treasure’ and ‘one of the good guys ‘, and just above the excruciating ‘he’s good people’.

xp yes we seem to be having a recent and unwelcome uptick of similar bullshit

Observer:

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/oct/23/labour-membership-soars-as-party-prepares-to-take-on-failing-tories-in-a-general-election

"Labour membership soars as party prepares to take on failing Tories in a general election

Speed of government collapse prompts a scramble to solve logistical problems and select candidates"