Yet another critical discussion that really should be on national TV IMO.
But on a side note, while I am much more on Cenk’s side over the issue, I also have serious concerns about his health when he gets riled up by this. As for Ben, I can totally empathise with his desire to defend his people and I have no doubt he truly believes that is what he is doing. But IMO his view is evidence of a biased Israeli groupthink which can only perpetuate the actions of their current government.
I am reminded of what happened in Northern Ireland (different situations I know, but still many similarities) in that Netanyahu’s red line of “all Hamas must be destroyed” is along the same lines as the Unionists’ one of “decommissioning” which stated that there could be no peace until the IRA had given up all their weapons. Neither is a definable position. When would we know the IRA had given up all their guns? When would we know all Hamas members were taken off the board? They are both policies that can only prolong a conflict. BUT – eventually the Unionists did relent after a lot of diplomacy from all sides, so we can only hope that eventually something similar can happen in the Middle East.
My 2024 resolution is to get back to some kind of regular posting on this blog, and it’s not like there won’t be material for me with a US election plus maybe an Irish one as well.
As you can see above, I have something to get me started – I finally got my hands on the new book from Cenk Uygur of the Young Turks so needless to say I will be offering some thoughts here as I go.โI’m only on the 2nd chapter at this stage but it seems good so far.
I am doing my best to be objective and critical where I can and so far my biggest complaint is similar to one I have about their TV show, namely Cenk’s habit of finishing off a well-laid out point by saying something like “if that doesn’t make perfect sense to you, then you must be deluded”.โWe’re not going to win people over by calling them stupid in fact if anything that will have the reverse effect.
Anyway I’ll be back soon with more critiques and I’m also hoping to get Keego back for the odd US Election podcast.โJLP
Following the disgusting and senseless actions of Hamas we are now in yet another time of war involving Israel.
But it’s not merely the reports on the atrocities that instigated this latest crisis that we need to discuss. It’s also the actual reporting of it. Just a couple of weeks ago my wife told me she wanted to watch the movie 1984 with John Hurt and Richard Burton. And while the term “Orwellian” might be overused these days, it certainly has to be said that large portions of the mainstream media have reverted to 1984-style propaganda from the moment news of the (again, reprehensible just in case it isn’t clear how I feel) Hamas action broke.
I could go on about my feelings on this matter but the purpose of this post is to share some media which has been produced by people who understand the situation much more than I do yet find themselves able to approach it with a holistic view rather than a “we stand squarely behind Israel no matter what, and anyone who doesn’t totally agree with us is an anti-Semite” one.
So here they are, I hope you either have the time to watch/listen or at least have been able to find similar open-minded discussions and presentations out there.
Apologies for not posting for so long, I could literally produce multiple posts every single day but most of my online time has to be taken up with rugby, especially now. I’m hoping to start a TikTok account for this site soon. JLP
1. POD SAVE THE WORLD
First we have a podcast from Pod Save The World, an excellent production featuring Tommy Veitor (of parent show Pod Save America) and Ben Rhodes (who worked with the US State Department under President Obama) which generally talks about world news from a US perspective, which some may see as a contradiction as the vast majority of the population is definitely ignorant of anything to do with global politics. They normally have a show during the week but they got together for this special one immediately after the news broke, and this is why I appreciate their extremely balanced view which pointed out the actions of the Netanyahu government as well.
2. THE YOUNG TURKS
Next up we have The Young Turks, generally hosted by Cenk Uygur and Anna Kasparian, but for their first show after the Hamas attack, Anna gave up her seat to occasional guest Ben Gleib, and Israeli-American comedian who is always promoting Progressive values, a fact proven by his very existence as a TYT host. But with a lot of his family members living in Israel and some directly affected by the Hamas attack, he is of course extremely well placed to offer that perspective.
So for this protracted debate, which I would recommend you watch in its entirety, we not only have the standard “anti-Occupation” viewpoint offered by Cenk, but it also comes with strong rebuttals from someone speaking for Israeli citizens in the aftermath of a horrific atrocity.
Unfortunately the video is age-restricted so I can’t share it directly to the page, so instead I will add the link below.
Even with the terrible nature of a story like this, it is actually possible to turn to comedy for both solace and, most crucially, information.
This clip may not be a current one from The Daily Show (it first aired in 2014), but it is still perfect for illustrating just how polarized the media landscape becomes whenever Palestine is in the news.
โHow much more money do any one of you actually really need?ย Why would you ever consider taking something away from people that means so much to them? This isnโt a game. Football isnโt just a game. Itโs one of those amazing things in life that can make you feel shit one moment and then like itโs Christmas morning the next. It has the ability to make heroes and villains out of ordinary men. People love this game.ย My father used to love this game.ย You all used to love this game, Iโm sure of it…Just because we own these teams doesnโt mean they belong to us. And I donโt want to be part of something that could possibly destroy this beautiful game. Because I would hate for all those little kids and grown-ups out there to ever lose access to that beautiful passionate part of themselves.โ
Rebecca Welton [played by Hannah Waddingham] from S3 E10 of Ted Lasso
She may be talking to the owners of the richest football clubs about the formation of a “Super League” but in reality this speech would be suitable for just about any board of any corporation that produces any product needed or enjoyed by the masses.
Over on my rugby site I recently saw a link on Twitter to an article I wanted to read and to read it I had to get a free subscription to the publication so I signed up with a view to cancelling once the money was about to kick in.
Well, that time is approaching so I thought I’d share this “article” with you because I thought the headline was hilarious.
“BUYBACKS AREN’T BAD”???????????
One of the reasons they ARE bad is that corportions used govt handouts after COVID to buy back their own shares rather than to help their customers by lowering prices. This article tells us it’s a good thing because it helps provide a good dividend for investors. Well DUH!!!! That’s like a bank robber saying the theft was good because it helped him buy a Rolls Royce!!!!
The argument laid out in this argument is essentially “trickle down economics” which is all I need to know that I should NEVER pay for subscription, Shame, because they do have quite a few rugby articles, although if anything that fact helps underline the contradiction of a Progressive following rugby union! Might as well move into golf and Polo as well while I’m at it!!!
I have copied a bit of the article just to show I’m willing to let the author make his own argument, while respecting the firewall by not publishing the whole lot.
When companies buy back their shares, as AIB did two weeks ago, itโs common for them get stick for it. Youโd expect criticism of the practice fromย The Guardian, but even theย Harvard Business Reviewย is pilingย on.
Their argument goes like this: itโs bad when companies buy their own shares back because itโs money that could have been used for wages or investment. The argument is that buybacks reduce wages and investment, so theyโre bad for society.
But buybacks are good for investors. And more importantly, theyโre good for society.
A company is doing a good job when itโs maximising its value. Obviously thatโs true from the perspective of the companyโs shareholders. But itโs true for society too.
When a company is maximising its value, itโs combining a bunch of inputs like land, labour and machinery in such a way that the whole is more useful than the sum of its parts. Society gets more value from a bakery than it does from flour, workers, vans, ovens and land. The extra value created for society is reflected in the value of the combined entity, relative to the value of the separate inputs.
Before I get on with the subject matter, apols for not posting since July 2022, the simple reason is that I completely revamped the rugby site around that time and once the season kicked off there wasn’t a lot of online time for anything else. I have tons of things I’d like to do with FPP going forward but little or no opportunity to do it but at very least I’m hoping to get to a stage where I can at least produce one piece of content per week. We’ll see how that goes in a Rugby World Cup year….
No, I don’t actually condone the action being taken above, nor do I condone the Van Gogh soup thing, nor anything similar. No matter how strongly I felt about a particular issue, it’s very unlikely I’d ever go to those lengths.
That said, I do think a bit of perspective is required. Is anyone at least ASKING why people were driven to plan incidents like this? I mean nothing is black or white, nor is it pink, blue, brown, green, yellow or even orange despite this guy’s best efforts.
So what I’ve done is have a quick Google, found a press release from the Just Stop Oil site and copy/pasted it here.
Yes, I know that makes it look like their stunt “worked”, but the ere’s the thing…between the jigs and the reels, damage to a baize cloth or a bit of Campbells chucked on a glass pane in front of a painting doesn’t QUITE match up to the damage being done by the fossil fuel industry and those world leaders it has bought.
So great cause, shame about their methods, but still here’s to faster progress towards better public ownership of valuable resources. JLP
Two supporters of Just Stop Oil have disrupted the World Snooker Championship, climbing onto the snooker tables and throwing paint over one. They are demanding that the government stop all new UK fossil fuel projects and are calling on UK sporting institutions to join in civil resistance against the governmentโs genocidal policies.
At around 7:20pm, two Just Stop Oil supporters stormed onto the snooker tables at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, interrupting play. The pair proceeded to cover one of the tables in orange powder paint, before being removed by security and arrested.
One of those taking action, Margaret Reid, 52, a former museum professional from Kendal, said:
โI did not take this action lightly, but I cannot remain a passive spectator while our government knowingly pushes us down a path to destruction. They are giving handouts of ยฃ236 million per week of our money, to the most profitable industry on earth, during a cost of living crisis. I can no longer justify watching from the side lines.โ
โI am angry and heartbroken that I have found myself in a position where taking this sort of disruptive action is the only way to get heard.โ
Another of those taking action Eddie Whittingham, 25, a student at Exeter university said:
โI donโt want to be disrupting something that people enjoy, but weโre facing an extremely grave situation. Europe is experiencing its worst drought in 500 years. Weโre seeing mass crop failure right now. Weโre facing mass starvation, billions of refugees and civilisational collapse if this continues.โ
โWe canโt continue to sit back and act as if everythingโs OK. If you want to do something to prevent the greatest crisis weโve ever faced, go to juststopoil.org and sign up for a slow march from April 24th in London.โ
In moments of emergency, we must stand up and be brave, we must stand up for good over evil, life over death, right over wrong. Just Stop Oil is calling on everyone to pick a side. Either you are actively supporting civil resistance, fighting for life, or you are complicit with genocide.
The time is now. Join us and slow march, while you still can. Our indefinite campaign of civil resistance begins on April 24th and will not end until our government ends new oil and gas.
My thoughts on the Irish Left in general and a march/rally in Dublin on Saturday in particular.
Learn more about the Cost of Living Coalition here > https://www.facebook.com/COLCIreland
He clearly believes, like most uber rich probably do, that the world revolves around him. The entire human race is represented by three stick figures on each line and he is one of them.
More importantly for this web page, these varying depictions of the “left/right” nature of political thought are completely different each time, which to me proves that it is completely arbitrary. If Elon is proclaiming that they have these definitions for these particular years, why can’t we attribute our own?
Which leads me conveniently back to the most important point I want to get across in this blog, and you will see me repeat it in several posts. If you come across FPP and don’t leave it at least knowing that I firmly believe this, then I will have failed.
In my humble opinion, no matter what year it is, the true centre of a line representing political ideology is one that contains people who want a democratically elected government to provide equal opportunities for all of its citizens. As you go to the right, you have people who are supporting increasing amounts of inequality. As you move to the left, you have people who are more interested in fighting/punishing those on the right than actually working to establish/maintain that equality. Any other depiction of what is defined by “left” and “right” is an attempt to distort, usually from the “right” because they represent a minority of people but currently have a lot of power which they use to influence the masses.
THIS is what I’d like to talk about when it comes to Elon Musk, not whether or not he wants to add an edit button,. JLP
My thoughts on the Irish Left in general and a march/rally in Dublin on Saturday in particular.
Learn more about the Cost of Living Coalition here > https://www.facebook.com/COLCIreland
PS : It seems The Young Turks agree in this video and of course they put their own spin on it which is worth a listen. But sure what do we know, we’re just “woke progressives” right????
My thoughts on the Irish Left in general and a march/rally in Dublin on Saturday in particular.
Learn more about the Cost of Living Coalition here > https://www.facebook.com/COLCIreland
First Person Plural 