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Watching you 2

Posted on March 09, 2019 by

A real advert currently showing on TV:

An older version:

We aren’t the 99% 13

Posted on November 30, 2011 by

It's even happening in Bath. Even in one of the richest corners of Britain – a city so posh that it refused a local organic dairy farm permission to open a boutique ice-cream concession in its expensive new showpiece shopping development in case it "lowered the tone" – there's an Occupy protest. A couple of dozen tents huddle together in Queen Square, a small green space in the middle of a busy traffic junction that's more accustomed to hosting farmers' markets and games of boules.

To be honest, I'm surprised there are that many. Bath's housing, parking and public transport are all so cripplingly costly that poor people can barely get into the centre of town even for a visit. But still, like most of the Occupy protests nationwide (those that still survive at all, anyway), the numbers are pretty pitiful. At a time when the government has all but openly declared class war, when everyone from the Socialist Worker to the Daily Mail is furious at the greed of the wealthy, why isn't the whole country out on the streets, rather than a few little pockets camping in the cold?

The answer is obvious, but for some reason is never spoken aloud. Despite the Occupy movement's catchy and evocative slogan, we aren't the 99%. But that's understandable, because "we are the 33%" doesn't carry quite the same moral punch.

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The Hangman’s Lottery 21

Posted on October 04, 2011 by

A couple of weeks ago, a group of state employees took a man called Troy Davis from his prison cell in Atlanta, Georgia to a small room and strapped him to a gurney. They inserted a needle into one of his veins, hooked up the needle to some tubes connected to a machine and, at a given signal, pressed a button on the machine in the full and clear knowledge that it would cause poisonous chemicals to be pumped into his bloodstream until he died of asphyxiation.

These people – every one of whom doubtless considered themselves an ordinary, decent, caring member of society, living in the most civilised and cultured country on Earth – participated willingly in the killing despite knowing that there was an enormous degree of doubt as to whether Davis was in any way responsible for the death of the man in whose name he was being executed.

Bafflingly, very few people found this behaviour at all odd.

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    • yoon scum on The thickness of blood: “no answer to either question very telling but probably wise under the hate speech laws bought in by the SNP…Feb 16, 05:13
    • yoon scum on The thickness of blood: “I thought one of the big hopes for indy was to massively ramp up immigration to a free ScotlandFeb 16, 05:09
    • WhatRot on The thickness of blood: “Nobody is ‘legitimately going through reassignment surgery’. Nobody.Feb 16, 04:30
    • WhatRot on The thickness of blood: “No you don’t. There’s no such thing. It’s literal nonsense.Feb 16, 04:25
    • twathater on The thickness of blood: “The ONLY good thing to come out of Edinburgh is the road to GlasgowFeb 16, 04:05
    • twathater on The thickness of blood: “There’s nothing wrong with Paisley , and once we get rid of the pish snp crawlers and elect a I4I…Feb 16, 04:03
    • twathater on The thickness of blood: “TBQH I don’t know why anyone is giving that PRICK yoon scum any explanation, he/she/it is only here to annoy…Feb 16, 03:52
    • twathater on The thickness of blood: “Julie Hull has clearly illuminated and broken down the hurried and unconscionable desperation of these female Aunt Lydias in their…Feb 16, 03:43
    • Ian Brotherhood on The thickness of blood: “As a general rule I suppose you could be right but it’s not between Glasgow and Edinburgh.Feb 15, 22:34
    • Mark Beggan on The thickness of blood: “I don’t think Paisley is a good idea.Feb 15, 22:29
    • gregor on For Mridul And Sandy: “New York Post (14/02/25): DOGE says it recovered $1.9 billion in taxpayer funds ‘misplaced’ by Biden admin: “The massive trove…Feb 15, 22:22
    • gregor on For Mridul And Sandy: “Rapid Response 47 @RapidResponse47: “Presidents Obama and Biden clearly love the work @DOGE is doing” Elon Musk @elonmusk: “Literally exactly…Feb 15, 22:16
    • gregor on For Mridul And Sandy: “Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump: “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.”: https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1890831570535055759 UK Foreign Office: British nationals…Feb 15, 22:07
    • Ian Brotherhood on The thickness of blood: “‘Friends of Wings’ is planning a wee social night for early April. It’ll be on or around the 11th (!)…Feb 15, 21:53
    • gregor on The thickness of blood: “re. “‘she wouldn’t meet my eyes’.” Women did not choose their natural female species status (it’s biological human reality) and…Feb 15, 21:42
    • Mark Beggan on The thickness of blood: “The holy Roman church had more sinister, barbaric methods for non believers. Methods that if given a choice I would…Feb 15, 21:37
    • Alf Baird on The thickness of blood: ““colonialism takes many forms” Indeed it does, and what we know from postcolonial theory as ‘colonial procedures’. However the main…Feb 15, 21:24
    • gregor on For Mridul And Sandy: “BBC: Why has a former Tory MP decided to serve in U****ne’s military? https://tinyurl.com/mrx8mrryFeb 15, 20:58
    • crazycat on The thickness of blood: “truly someone born in the wrong body There’s no such thing. The expression presupposes a difference between our “selves” and…Feb 15, 20:47
    • Mark Beggan on The thickness of blood: “It be good to know if NHS Fife had someone in a skirt lined up for the “Champion Whistle blower”…Feb 15, 20:14
    • Lorna Campbell on The thickness of blood: “Cracking piece, Rev. Anyone who has a ‘trans’ identified relatives and who is in public office of any kind -…Feb 15, 20:12
    • John H. on The thickness of blood: “The threat of death by the sword was how he forced people to accept his new religion I understand.Feb 15, 20:08
    • Royston Rickard on The thickness of blood: “To your third sentence – in short, yes. Even 20 years ago, this wasn’t an issue anywhere. Why? Because until…Feb 15, 20:07
    • Mark Beggan on The thickness of blood: “Yes. We are now seeing the results of open doors. How many terrorists, rapists, murderers, paediphiles etc etc are in…Feb 15, 20:00
    • Royston Rickard on The thickness of blood: “A ‘biological’ male: what other kind IS there?Feb 15, 19:57
    • gregor on For Mridul And Sandy: “Shadow of Ezra @ShadowofEzra: “Senator Lindsey Graham declares that Zelensky is the ally he has waited for his entire life.…Feb 15, 19:55
    • Lorna Campbell on The thickness of blood: “Indeed, Mark. I have met some who are exactly like that. As in all races and ethnicities, there are good…Feb 15, 19:53
    • Lorna Campbell on The thickness of blood: “Yes, I think that they would have been very personal. Wouldn’t be at all surprised and come back in July…Feb 15, 19:47
    • Lorna Campbell on The thickness of blood: “Absolutely agree. Most people don’t seem to grasp the sheer viciousness and spiteful reactions of the ‘trans’ identified men and…Feb 15, 19:43
    • Lorna Campbell on The thickness of blood: “If he has a penis, he is a man and he has clearly breaching both the law and moral standards…Feb 15, 19:39
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