DISCHARGE - Decontrol (studio version) Government science advisors to be replaced by tabloid columnists. The Government has made the controversial move of sacking all of its scientific advisors today in favour of asking tabloid columnists ‘what they reckon about stuff.’
Defending the decision, a Government spokesman said, “We’re really just cutting out the middleman. What’s the point of paying for expensive research and hiring members of The Royal Society, when voters minds’ are made up on complex issues like global warming and drugs policy by reading a five hundred word opinion piece by Richard Littlejohn. “Also, because of the current economic situation, public expenditure has to take priority. A study into climate change could take many years and cost millions of pounds. The public are much more likely to be convinced by Jeremy Clarkson disproving global warming by reporting that he had to put on a cardigan while he was sitting on his patio when it was still late August. Corrigan Click to send this story to a friend Posted: Aug 22nd, 2011 by Corrigan. Democracy Now! Mobile. AMY GOODMAN: Today we spend the hour with legendary British singer-songwriter Billy Bragg.
His music career began in the late ’70s in London when he formed the punk rock band Riff Raff. One of his early records, Brewing Up with Billy Bragg, released in 1984, included the song "It Says Here," a critique of politics and tabloid newspapers that still rings true today in the wake of the News of the World phone-hacking scandal.
This is an excerpt from his 1984 performance of the song on BBC Breakfast Time. BILLY BRAGG: [singing] It says here that this year’s prince is bornIt says here do you ever wish that you were better informedAnd it says here that we can only stop the rotWith a large dose of law and order and a touch of the short sharp shock If this does not reflect your view you should understandThose who own the papers also own this landAnd they’d rather you agree with Coronation Street capersIn the war of circulation, it sells newspapers He’s on tour now in the United States. Occupy: Noam Chomsky's Guide to The History and Practice of Protest. By Maria Popova How to protest intelligently without risking your freedom, or what flower petals have to do with PVC.
Noam Chomsky — political critic, education anarchist, father of modern linguistics — has described the Occupy movement, which began on September 17, 2011, as “the first major public response to thirty years of class war.” His new book, simply titled Occupy (public library), is at once a vivid portrait of the now-global movement and a practical guide to intelligent activism, infused with Chomsky’s signature meditations on everything from how the wealthiest 1% came to steer society to what a healthy democracy would look like to how we can separate money from politics. Alongside Chomsky’s words are some of the most moving and provocative photographs from the Occupy movement. From the very dedication, Chomsky’s stance and conviction reverberate: From his Howard Zinn Memorial Lecture on October 22, 2011: I’m just old enough to remember the Great Depression. Donating = Loving. ColdType - Writing Worth Reading From Around The World - Lunascape.