jump to navigation

What you want to say – 1 July 2020 July 1, 2020

Posted by WorldbyStorm in Uncategorized.
trackback

As always, following on Dr. X’s suggestion, it’s all yours, “announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose”, feel free.

Comments»

1. tafkaGW - July 1, 2020

Trump monopolises the entire supply of Remdesivir. The big pharma patent monopolists Gilead charge $3000 for six doses.

That means only rich people in the US with severe Covid19 symptoms will be treated by a drug that makes some statistical difference to survival chances and damage limitation.

This is why pandemic research and development should be controlled by the WHO and collectively owned on a global scale.

Capitalist medicine and ‘America first’ism is killing us, especially during a pandemic.

Time to ignore pharma patents, as India does.

Liked by 1 person

Reply
2. tafkaGW - July 1, 2020

To those who whinge about wearing a cloth mask during the summer heat:

Getting severe Covid19 feels like being on the verge of suffocating and drowning for days if not weeks on end.

Be responsible for the health of other people: wear a mask and put up with a little discomfort. And wear it properly – not with the nose poking out or around your chin.

Liked by 1 person

Reply
3. tafkaGW - July 1, 2020

14.3 million downloads of the Corona-Warn-App in Germany.

https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/1125951/umfrage/downloads-der-corona-warn-app/

The RoI should adopt this free app and encourage its use, and help in making it an EU standard.

Like

Reply
4. Joe - July 1, 2020

Back to the CLR tagline. The campaign for “May the revolution be swift and brutal”- Marianne Sheridan, hasn’t gone away, you know.

A question was asked I think last week as to what is meant by ‘brutal’. I always say that it ain’t socialism if the rich aren’t squealing. The reality is, comrades, that the revolution will be brutal for the ruling class. They will have their ill-gotten gains taken away from them and they’ll have to work for a living like the rest of us. It will be brutal for them. And when they resist and try to impose their counter-revolution we will have to be strong and decisive and, if necessary, brutal, in order to defeat them and consolidate the revolution.

Look, any CLRer who’s a bit liberal wishy washy squeamish about the word ‘brutal’, it was said by a fictional character in a novel and is being so attributed. Surely that’ll save us from being savaged in the IT.

So there it is. Joe proposes “May the revolution be swift and brutal” – Marianne Sheridan.

All those in favour say Tá.
Those against, kneel.

Liked by 1 person

Reply
EWI - July 1, 2020

Look, any CLRer who’s a bit liberal wishy washy squeamish about the word ‘brutal’, it was said by a fictional character in a novel and is being so attributed. Surely that’ll save us from being savaged in the IT.

‘Brits Out’ and ‘West Brit’ both say hi

Like

Reply
5. CL - July 1, 2020

So far….

“For more than two months, the authorities had been urging New Yorkers to stay indoors and keep their distance from others. But after the police killed George Floyd in Minneapolis, tens of thousands of New Yorkers poured into the streets, day and night, to protest police brutality and racism.
Epidemiologists braced for a surge of new coronavirus cases. But it has not come yet…..
The virus spreads far more easily indoors than outdoors, and close contact indoors is believed to be the main driver of transmission, epidemiologists say.”

“In the United States, health officials believe more than 20 million people have likely been infected….
The number of new U.S. cases has risen sharply in recent weeks, led disproportionately by states in the South, the Midwest and the Sun Belt. More than a quarter-million people tested positive for the coronavirus last week, and more than 40,000 tested positive on three consecutive days over the weekend….
Mass screenings in South Korea crushed the spread, and quick action to identify and isolate contacts in more recent hot spots have meant new outbreaks are quickly contained. South Korea, with a population of 51 million, has reported just 316 new cases in the past week, fewer than the number of new cases reported in Rhode Island, a state with slightly more than 1 million residents….
Vietnam imposed mandatory quarantines on contacts, including international travelers, in government-run centers to stop the spread. Among its 95 million residents, Vietnam has confirmed 355 total cases since the outbreak began. Alabama, population 4.9 million, reported 358 cases on Sunday alone….
The United States has begun to open up too but without bending the curve downward, and the results have been disastrous. The number of daily confirmed cases has more than doubled in nine states over the past two weeks and has increased by more than half in 17 more…

President Trump has rarely mentioned the virus in recent weeks, aside from using racial epithets and suggesting his administration would slow testing to reduce the number of confirmed case”
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/public-global-health/505353-six-months-in-coronavirus-failures-outweigh-successes

“South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem says the thousands of people who attend the July 3 celebration for Independence Day at Mount Rushmore with President Donald Trump will not be required to practice social distancing”- Masks optional.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/s-dakota-gov-noem-says-we-will-not-be-social-n1232507

Like

Reply
Jolly Red Giant - July 1, 2020

Mount Rushmore is an insult to the native Americans – the heads of two slave owners, a guy who signed the warrant for the mass execution of native Americans (only days after the emancipation declaration), and a white supremacist.

Like

Reply
Jolly Red Giant - July 1, 2020

In fact – it is an insult to humanity

Like

Reply
tafkaGW - July 1, 2020

Seconded.

Like

Reply
CL - July 1, 2020

“Harold Frazier, chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, said in a release that, “Nothing stands as a greater reminder to the Great Sioux Nation of a country that cannot keep a promise or treaty than the faces carved into our sacred land on what the United States calls Mount Rushmore.”…
Oglala Sioux President Julian Bear Runner said last week he also believed the monument should be removed, calling it “a great sign of disrespect.”
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/06/30/mount-rushmore-cheyenne-sioux-river-tribe-removal-harold-frazier/5350231002/

Kristi Noem, South Dakota Gov, said President Donald Trump views his own face going up on Mount Rushmore as no laughing matter.

‘Do you know it’s my dream to have my face on Mount Rushmore?'”-Trump.
https://www.newsweek.com/mount-rushmore-trumpmore-kristi-noem-south-dakota-donald-trump-mt-rushmore-901431

“Noem pushed for the return of an Independence Day fireworks display for Trump’s visit. It will be the first pyrotechnical display at the site since 2009.
National fire experts said the return of the display “is ill-advised” because of fire danger.
The Black Hills National Forest has experienced abnormally dry conditions recently, which increases the risk of wildfires.”
https://www.axios.com/trump-mt-rushmore-native-americans-0ccf4341-cf2e-4b25-b4c2-06f9933643ff.html

Like

Reply
tafkaGW - July 1, 2020

Yes – enclosed spaces – planes, factories, offices, waiting rooms etc. etc. – anywhere without serious ventilation are the main places of transmission.

But if you pack people into a place like the stands at Cheltenham then you’re going to get a significant spreading event.

Like

Reply
Joe - July 1, 2020

“Yes – enclosed spaces – planes, factories, offices, waiting rooms etc. etc. – anywhere without serious ventilation are the main places of transmission.”

I really hope this is true. I want it to be true. And that groups like the people we see sitting out in the parks and by the banks of the canal and so forth, out in the open air, are ok and not a danger.

Any statements from scientific and medical experts supporting this, Schaftler?

Like

Reply
tafkaGW - July 1, 2020

In China, a study of 318 outbreaks found that transmission occurred outdoors in only one of them. In Japan, a study found that “the odds that a primary case transmitted Covid-19 in a closed environment was 18.7 times greater compared to an open-air environment.”

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.04.20053058v1

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.02.28.20029272v2

Now both of these are preprints – as is most of the literature on Covid19 – but they are well-regarded enough to be mentioned by Prof Christian Drosten in his podcast – Germany’s leading virologist for the SARS virus family and advisor to the German government.

He was pushing schools having classes out of doors for as long as possible.

I was cycling through the woods in Brandenburg on a day off an came across at least two junior school classes learning in the forest. Good idea.

Hope this puts your mind at rest Joe. So get a cold bottle of beer and go drink it on a park bench with pals. Keeping reasonably separate. No tongues 🙂

Like

Reply
Joe - July 1, 2020

Great. Definitely good for the mental and physical health to do as much outdoors as possible. Having said that the rain today here is that drizzly sort that would wet ye bad without ye even knowin’ it.

Like

CL - July 1, 2020

“New York City has joined New Jersey in shelving indoor dining indefinitely as bar- and restaurant-linked COVID cases surge across the nation”
https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/cuomo-to-reveal-fate-of-nyc-indoor-dining-today-as-city-beaches-finally-reopen-for-swimming/2494249/

“Millions of American workers are suffering from economic whiplash, thinking they were finally returning to work only to be sent home again because of the coronavirus’s latest surge”
https://www.mysanantonio.com/business/article/Workers-getting-laid-off-for-second-time-as-15377041.php

“New York governor Andrew Cuomo excoriated Trump for his continued defense of the administration’s slow and chaotic response to the outbreak,”-Guardian.

“The government’s top infectious disease expert said on Tuesday that the rate of new coronavirus infections could more than double to 100,000 a day if current outbreaks were not contained, warning that the virus’s march across the South and the West “puts the entire country at risk.”-Fauci

Meanwhile Trump says the virus is going to disappear ‘very soon’

Like

Reply
6. Joe - July 1, 2020

I’m a saddo.

Been Facebooking to check out the situation with regard to the two WPs. Seems the West Belfast Workers Party FB page is a page of the northern bit. And this website appears to be theirs too https://workerspartyelection.wordpress.com/.

Meanwhile the WP Youth, of the southern bit, is organising an online summer school – “A weekend of educational talks covering the past, present and future of the struggle for a 32 county, socialist republic”.

So the southern bit does seem to be placing a bit more emphasis on the “32 county, socialist republic”, a formulation it would have in common with, inter alia, SF, IRSP, Éirígí, 32CSM, Saoradh. Don’t think that formulation would be found on the online pages of the northern bit.

I’m calling them the southern bit and the northern bit but it seems that there are some northerners with the southern bit and vice versa.

Jesus Christ, I wish Sally Rooney would publish her next book and give me something better to do.

Liked by 2 people

Reply
roddy - July 1, 2020

I see Lily Kerr (introduced as a commentator with no political affiliations) was able to drag herself away from the Sticky trials and tribulations to have a go at Bobby Storey’s funeral on Radio Ulster today.

Like

Reply
7. sonofstan - July 1, 2020

Uh-Oh…

Jim O’Callaghan heading for the rubber chicken circuit? (though it’s probably samosas or something these days)

“I was asked this afternoon by an Taoiseach, Micheál Martin TD, to accept an appointment as minister of state in the government. Having thought carefully about this offer I have decided not to accept,” he said.

“The reason I am not accepting is because I believe my energy and abilities will be better used as a backbench Fianna Fáil TD rather than as a junior member of government.

“At a time when many of our party’s senior members will be preoccupied with their ministerial duties, I want to devote more time to strengthening our great party by making it a more attractive option for young voters. I also believe Fianna Fáil needs strong voices outside government who can ensure that our party’s identity can be protected during the term of this coalition government.

“I wish Micheál and his government every success in the years ahead.”

Like

Reply
Joe - July 1, 2020

I don’t care how many samosas he eats … he’s no Charlie.

Liked by 1 person

Reply
Tomboktu - July 1, 2020

Joe McHugh and Paul Kehoe both turned down MoS posts.

Maybe the GP won’t be the only ones with a leadership election shortly after going into Government…

Like

Reply
sonofstan - July 1, 2020

And Michael Moynihan feels that he, and the people of Cork NW, have been gravely insulted.

Liked by 1 person

Reply
8. Fear Ug - July 1, 2020

Looks like Kshama Sawant of Seattle is in trouble.
She is a high profile socialist alternative member who has made some high profile errors of judgement.
She appears to have helped protestors enter into the city hall.
She led protestors to the home of the mayor even though that woman is supposed to be protected because of her US attorney work.
She also encouraged the mess st the CHOP and blamed white supremacy for being responsible for CHOP security shooting up a car with two black teens . One of the teens was pistol whipped and may have been executed aka murdered.

Like

Reply
Jolly Red Giant - July 1, 2020

The GOP, the Democrats and Amazon have been attacking Kshama Sawant and Socialist Alternative every since she was elected.

It is bullshit to say that she has made ‘high profile errors of judgement’.

Yes she opened the doors of city hall to allow protesters to enter – it is a public building and it belongs to the citizens of Seattle.

Kshama Sawant was not and organiser and did not ‘lead’ protesters to Durkan’s home – she was invited to speak at the protest which marched through the ‘Ritchie Tich’ neighbourhood of Seattle. And Durkan has been responsible for defending the cops in several racially motivated murders of black civilians in Seattle and the signing of a high devisive contract with the police union only 2 weeks ago – Kshama Sawant was the only councillor to vote against it. There is currently a petition demanding the resignation of Durkan that is supported by 34,000 people.

Like

Reply
Jolly Red Giant - July 1, 2020

The CHOP is not a mess – it was mostly very well organised – the portrayal in the media is designed to denigrate the BLM and undermine demands for defunding of the cops. The CHOP has been subjected to repeatedly attacks by white supremacists, including on 7 June when an armed white supremacist drove a car into a crowd of protesters and opened fire.

Sawant did not claim that the shooting at the barricades in CHOP on Monday was the work of white supremacists. The previous shooting on 20 June had the hallmarks of a white supremacist attack, but upon later investigation it did not appear to be racially motivated. the other shootings occurred outside the CHOP and weren’t connected with the protest. And by the way – the CHOP has been pretty much live streamed from dozens of cameras since it started.

Like

Reply
Jolly Red Giant - July 1, 2020

Socialist Alternative, while having a significant membership in Seattle, does not have ‘control’ of CHOP and does not have anything approaching majority support within CHOP. For more than a week Socialist Alternative members have been arguing of an organised scaling down of CHOP, supporting the proposal to operate CHOP as a community based section of the city between 8am-8pm. This is partly motivated because of the dangers of armed attacks on CHOP during nighttime hours. The numbers in CHOP since before the weekend have been significantly lower than previously – which unfortunately has led to increased attacks on the CHOP. It should also be noted that each time an attack takes place the cops are called – and they never show up (at least until more than an hour later and sometimes several hours) – no investigations and no arrests despite a large number of shootings – including drive-by shootings (until now – and now of protesters within CHOP).

Like

Reply
Colm B - July 1, 2020

Darn it, right-wing trolls are so hard to spot these days! They’re so subtle, it’s almost impossible to spot them. How easily they own us poor libtards.

Now why don’t you Fud off back to whatever swamp you crawled out of.

Liked by 1 person

Reply
Fear Ug - July 1, 2020

It was mean spirited of me. I saw Jolly And I knew he’d leap at it.
I’ll be honest. Maybe I was just pissed off today and that motivated it. Also , watching that video of the fools shoot that kid while yelling about pistol whippings didn’t help.
The CHOP was nothing but a mess. Multiple people were shot and some kid 16 year old kid got riddled with bullets by some gun toting fantasist. That’s a mess.

But my posting that was as much snark as anything and that wasn’t the right approach

Like

Reply
9. Tomboktu - July 1, 2020

Might interest some here: A new, open access issue of Studi Irlandesi A Journal of Irish Studies is out. Lots in it, including a “monograph section” on “Minorities in/and Ireland”. https://oajournals.fupress.net/index.php/bsfm-sijis/issue/view/497

If you enjoyed TWIMBLT on Saturday, you might be interested in a paper by Daryl Leeworthy entitled ‘Rainbow Crossings: Gay Irish Migrants and LGBT Politics in 1980s London’ which focuses on three Irish migrants in London’s 1980s lgbt politics, one of whom is Mark Ashton.

There is plenty is it. The following is taken from Patrick McDonagh’s introduction:

“Minorities in/and Ireland” comprises ten essays divided up into four sections: “Queer Representations in Literature”; “Home and Away: Notions of Irishness”; “Theatre and Minorities’ (In)Visibility”; “Resilience: Travellers and Magdalene Survivors”, which broadly address issues such as: the representation of LGBT individuals, exiles, migrants, and refugees in Irish literature; LGBT migrants and political activism; the role of theatre as a medium of giving voice to minorities like Ireland’s Jewish community and those with disabilities; and the resilience of Ireland’s Traveller community and survivors of Magdalene Laundries. The essays are not confined to one period, instead, they span from the late 1800s to the present day, covering both the North and South of Ireland as well as regions outside Ireland.

Liked by 1 person

Reply
10. ar scáth a chéile - July 2, 2020

This is up there with the immigration controls mug:

Starmer launches new Labour Friends of the Forces programme on Armed Forces Day – The Labour Party
https://labour.org.uk/press/starmer-launches-new-labour-friends-of-the-forces-programme-on-armed-forces-day/

Liked by 1 person

Reply
EWI - July 2, 2020

Starmer launches new Labour Friends of the Forces programme on Armed Forces Day

JFC.

Like

Reply
EWI - July 2, 2020

“As we celebrate Armed Forces Day, I say thank you to our forces communities for the role they play both at home and abroad. I will make sure we listen to you and learn from you.”

No anti-war or anti-imperialism critique to be found here from ‘Keir’ Starmer.

Like

Reply
sonofstan - July 2, 2020
11. Jolly Red Giant - July 2, 2020
12. Jolly Red Giant - July 2, 2020

While all the focus in Seattle has been on CHOP, Socialist Alternative have been running a major campaign on a proposal to implement a Business Tax (effectively the Amazon Tax). On Tuesday Seattle city council voted to implement a tax of the largest 2% of companies in the city that will raise over $240million for covid 19 relief and for social housing.

This is a massive win for the working class in Seattle – and a huge credit to the work of Socialist Alternative over the past few years. This success came on top of the proposal from Kshama Sawant, passed by the city council, banning the police from using tear gas, plastic bullets, pepper balls and other chemical and ‘non-lethal’ weapons. The next proposal on the agenda is for the defunding of the police in Seattle by 50% with the money to be spent instead on community development and social housing – a proposal that has huge support among the working class in the city and has been forced to the top of the political agenda by the BLM protests and CHOP.

Like

Reply
Jolly Red Giant - July 2, 2020

for some reason or other I cannot post a link to the response by Kshama Sawant to the attack this week by Mayor Durkan and the Democrat establishment in the city.

Like

Reply
WorldbyStorm - July 2, 2020

its’ WordPress. It hates links in comments. Thinks they’re spam. I’ve released that now.

Like

Reply
13. CL - July 3, 2020

“Nearly all of the Democrat leadership who “took a knee” against racist policing, have openly opposed Medicare for All, free higher education, and the expansion of other public goods, but their technical reforms to reduce excessive force incidents and prosecute police for misconduct are the perfect way of displaying commitment to racial justice, while perpetuating the very pro-market logics and class relations that stress policing and mass incarceration were invented to protect…..

Like Occupy Wall Street protests before… Black Lives Matter is more of a sentiment than a fully formed political force….

Black Lives Matter is a cry for full recognition within the established terms of liberal democratic capitalism. And the ruling class agrees….

white guilt and black outrage have limited political currency, and neither has ever been a sustainable basis for building the kind of popular and legislative majorities needed to actually contest entrenched power in any meaningful way.”
https://nonsite.org/editorial/the-triumph-of-black-lives-matter-and-neoliberal-redemption

Like

Reply
14. Bartholomew - July 3, 2020

For the League of Ireland buffs here – ‘Des’s Island Discs’ last night was with Paddy Mulligan and gave a real blast of the league in the glory days in the 60s. He remembers every name, every goal, every result, even who sat where in a cinema in LA in 1967 when Shamrock Rovers were on tour. Fantastically entertaining, even for a non-fan.

You can listen back here:

https://www.rte.ie/radio/radioplayer/html5/#/radio1/21796561

Liked by 1 person

Reply

Leave a comment