@djr@union.place
@djr@union.place avatar

djr

@djr@union.place

Resident Putney - economist, trade unionist, internationalist/traveller. former activist

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

ChrisMayLA6, to politics
@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar

If you are renting the Resolution Foundation expects rent rises in the next three years to outpace any rises in wages... in other words the squeeze on renters will continue to be a major aspect of the housing crisis.

Of course, we can expect little else from a political class that are either landlords themselves or count landlords among their close associates.

The only solution is to offer renters a way out of renting& that is more social housing!


https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/apr/08/uk-rent-rises-forecast-to-outpace-wage-growth-for-three-years

djr,
@djr@union.place avatar

@ChrisMayLA6

That is exactly what the new regime elected in two years ago has been doing - taking a pledge to build a thousand houses made by their predecessors and altering it make it social housing only - in addition purchasing properties from distressed 'Buy to Let' owners. All this is being funded by borrowing nearly £ 500 million over fifty years from the Public Works Loans Board against present and future rents. It makes getting in feel worthwhile!

djr,
@djr@union.place avatar

@junesim63 @ChrisMayLA6

It is true that only a minority of the thirty five councillors elected then were pale and male - ten at the time - although one more has been added since! However it would be stretching matters somewhat to convincingly portray Councillor Hogg the leader in as a particularly left wing figure!

QasimRashid, to random
@QasimRashid@mastodon.social avatar

Literally took one 20 min phone call in which Biden demanded immediate ceasefire & threatened to cut off aid, & magically a border opens providing critical humanitarian aid to Gaza.

USA always had this leverage. Meanwhile 32K Palestinians killed. smh

Now let's enforce this ceasefire and ensure unlimited aid reaches starving Gazans.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/05/israel-reopen-erez-crossing-gaza-biden-warning-war-netanyahu-palestine?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

djr,
@djr@union.place avatar

@QasimRashid

This is good news as far as it goes. However it remains to be seen how far will go to implement what has been agreed and how quickly. Will the customs authorities in - who report to - actually allow shipments through or will some way - no doubt entirely coincidental and inadvertent - be found to delay or even block them? Assuming that they do get through to the crossing points will they be able to enter or will demonstrators block them?

appassionato, to KindActions
@appassionato@mastodon.social avatar

World Central Kitchen founder's response

“The air strikes on our convoy were not just some unfortunate mistake in the fog of war. It was a direct attack on clearly marked vehicles whose movements were known by the [Israeli military]. It was also the direct result of his [PM Netanyahu’s] government’s policy to squeeze humanitarian aid to desperate levels.”

Jose Andres

@palestine


djr,
@djr@union.place avatar

@appassionato @palestine

It would be unsafe for me to endorse this view. However I am happy enough to draw attention to it.

jdmccafferty, to spain
@jdmccafferty@mastodon.online avatar

1 Apr 1545: The foundation of Potosí (now in Bolivia) a city on a vast mountain of silver Source of much of ’s vast wealth for decades to come.

djr,
@djr@union.place avatar

@jdmccafferty

I visited it early in 1993. The mountain is now a museum. Visitors to it are offered both coca leaves and oxygen to reduce the risk of altitude sickness.

GottaLaff, to legal
@GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️A New York appeals court agreed to slash the amount of the bond Donald #Trump must post to cover a $454 million civil fraud verdict to just $175 million -Bloomberg #legal

granting him 10 days to pay a reduced bond

djr,
@djr@union.place avatar

@GottaLaff

It will be interesting to see if he can come up with the money by Thursday 4th April!

ChrisMayLA6, to random
@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar

I wouldn't normally turn to British Vogue for a strident defence of Diane Abbott, but...

''none of this parliamentary rhetoric about extremism & MP safety has been mobilised to protect Diane Abbott after the Conservative’s biggest donor said he wanted to shoot her. Quite the opposite; the system has moved to shield Frank Hester, a poor man who made a little mistake & needs to be given grace and compassion'!

A (rightly) angry piece

h/t @Karenawokekaren

https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/diane-abbott-racist-frank-hester-british-politics

djr,
@djr@union.place avatar

@ChrisMayLA6 @Karenawokekaren

Much of Diane Abbott's career can and should be seen as a British success story. She was able to go to from a background that was by any standards seriously underprivileged, accepted by the and served as a member of parliament for more than thirty years including a stint on the front bench. It is a matter of shame for that she has experienced not just overt racism and sexism but treatment as well!

Geri, to random
@Geri@mastodon.online avatar

Mark Francois talks about Neville Chamberlain "denuding the British forces of funding until it was too late."

This is wrong. Even while Chamberlain was signing the Munich Agreement in 1938, he was agreeing to a huge increase in spending to increase Britain’s armament in preparation for war.

Mark knows fuck'all

Know your History

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/chamberlain-and-hitler/

djr,
@djr@union.place avatar

@Geri

This is absolutely right. Furthermore in 1932 - even before came to power but after invaded - abandoned the 'ten year rule' - under which no major war was expected for ten years - shortly after becoming . A previous had brought in the rule in during the second government - a chap called !

glynmoody, to london
@glynmoody@mastodon.social avatar

hilarious: know they trashed their brand so badly that a leaflet came through my door for one of their candidates, and the word "conservative" only appears on the last line of the last page - in microscopic typesize.

also uses lots of green colour - despite tories being anti-environment in every respect

djr,
@djr@union.place avatar

@glynmoody

Standard practice I am afraid!

TCatInReality, to random
@TCatInReality@mastodon.social avatar

Someone needed to say it:

The vast majority of Muslims are NOT extremists.

Shame on and radical right talking heads for demonising Muslims and those who support their causes.

BBC News - Attack victims hit out at extremism in open letter
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68526577

djr,
@djr@union.place avatar

@TCatInReality

This is all about the in on 2nd May 2024. It is about the targeting now hat previous claims about have been disproved. A bit more subtle than and but still singing from the same hymn book !

fkamiah17, to UKpolitics
@fkamiah17@toot.wales avatar

Probably the strongest words I've heard from a mainstream UK politician (I don't mean the ones who attend the protests or were suspended)

Guardian: "Former UK foreign secretary William Hague called for the removal of Benjamin Netanyahu. He said: 'The long shot of building trust and a two state solution has little chance without the removal of Netanyah'."

#UKPolitics #SaveGaza #IsraeliWarCrimes

djr,
@djr@union.place avatar

@fkamiah17

Worth remembering that the #UKGovernment imposed a ban on the export of weapons to #israel in 1982 which lasted until 1994. Whatever else #MargaretThatcher may have been she was no #antisemite !

Latter day admirers please note!

HelenG, to random
@HelenG@mastodon.social avatar

deleted_by_author

    •
    djr,
    @djr@union.place avatar

    @HelenG The best reply to this has to be the announcement by that he will not be standing at the forthcoming General Election. Sane enough to know that the game is up!

    djr,
    @djr@union.place avatar

    @HelenG

    And knowing when to quit may count as a marketable skill - of sorts!

    ChrisMayLA6, to DadBin
    @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar

    's under the :

    • over 20% of five year olds are obese or overweight.

    • around 25% have problems with tooth decay

    • Children's levels are falling.

    Prof.Helen Minnis (GlasgowU) & co-chair of a new Academy of Medical Sciences report, says:

    'The science is clear — we are betraying our children. Unless the health of babies & young children is urgently prioritised, we condemn many to a life of poorer health & lost potential. The time to act is now'!

    h/t FT

    djr,
    @djr@union.place avatar

    @ChrisMayLA6

    Meanwhile has been told to cut the budget for 's services by £ 25 million p.a. Cognitive dissonance rules OK!

    simon_brooke, to Israel
    @simon_brooke@mastodon.scot avatar

    So let me see if I've got this right. There is an "International Rules-Based Order". The key institution which underpins this order is the . The ICJ has ruled that must take action to prevent in . The main agency succouring those at risk of genocide in Gaza is . In an apparently-coordinated demonstration of contempt for the ICJ ruling, a number of key nations have withdrawn financial support for UNWRA, citing unproven allegations against some staff. >>>

    djr,
    @djr@union.place avatar

    @simon_brooke

    It does begin to look rather like conscious complicity in a potential genocide through famine. What price a "humanitarian pause" now!

    ChrisMayLA6, to technology
    @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar

    thinks (by which he seems to mean digital technologies) will make the more efficient & means we can stop pouring money into a 'leaky bucket'.

    Quite apart the vacuity of such techno-boosterism, you would have thought in the wake of the disaster, anyone thinking deploying technology is the answer, might want to be more careful.

    Many people are watching Mr Streeting & are getting worried about how he thinks about NHS reform!

    I'm one of them!

    djr,
    @djr@union.place avatar

    @ChrisMayLA6

    Some of us can remember the disaster of the IT system that formed part of the "NHS Plan" announced with a fanfare in 2000.

    djr,
    @djr@union.place avatar

    @etchedpixels @simon_brooke @ChrisMayLA6

    A very fair and helpful point. The proposed system was centralised to a remarkable extent. Sadly only too typical of

    ChrisMayLA6, to random
    @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar

    John Pullinger (of Electoral Commission) has told FT that he thinks that the have 'opened themselves' up to the charge that a new voter identification scheme is designed to benefit the Tory party, having examined the results of the 'pilot' use in local elections.

    has resisted a widening of the forms of identification that can be used (proposed by David Willets), and so the 'very, very strict' rules are likely to disenfranchise many potentially Labour .

    No surprise!

    djr,
    @djr@union.place avatar

    @ChrisMayLA6

    That fits. It could be worth thirty seats to them in a general election. It also - together with the ending of the supplementary vote for mayoral elections - gives the a sporting chance of defeating in in May this year.

    djr,
    @djr@union.place avatar

    @ChrisMayLA6

    There has been a further change - made by means of secondary legislation - which in theory at any rate could add up to two million voters by allowing UK citizens who have been non-resident for more than fifteen years to vote by proxy where they were last resident in the . It has been billed as giving a further advantage to the . I shall consider how much effect this would have and how far its introduction may affect the timing of the .

    Sherifazuhur, to random
    @Sherifazuhur@sfba.social avatar

    Arnaud Bertrand: This is undoubtedly one of the most extraordinary interviews of a former senior US government official on Gaza.

    This is Chas Freeman, former Assistant Secretary of Defense and former US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

    Key points in the video:

    • He agrees that many of the victims of Oct 7th were killed by the Israeli army in the form of "undisciplined fire by helicopters with hellfire missiles or by tanks with incendiary rounds directed at buildings". In the case of the victims of the music festival he even says they "were largely killed, it appears, by hellfire missiles and by other undisciplined fire by Israeli forces". To him this "disgrace in military terms" stems from a "lack of discipline and training necessary to respond" but also from the IDF's "Hannibal directive", which "says that rather than get into bargaining over hostage exchange you should just kill the Israeli hostages along with their captors."

    https://x.com/rnaudbertrand/status/1743865744218358216?s=12&t=uM8me4uwdP7D0z4nanVVuw

    https://nitter.net/rnaudbertrand/status/1743865744218358216?s=12&t=uM8me4uwdP7D0z4nanVVuw

    djr,
    @djr@union.place avatar

    @Sherifazuhur

    Very interesting points but I am not sure that the 'hannibal directive' is official policy currently

    • although it may be being followed informally.

    If there was a response that was so undisciplined as to kill many of their own civilians it would help to explain why the is reported to be unhappy at the thought of an inquiry into events on that day.

    inquiline, to random
    @inquiline@union.place avatar

    " Is Starving: The chief economist of the World Food Program explains how the scarcity of food may tip the territory into famine"

    https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/gaza-is-starving

    djr,
    @djr@union.place avatar

    @inquiline This looks disproportionate to me. Presumably it will taken into account when the International Court of Justice meets late next week - hearings set for 11th and 12th January.

    simon_brooke, to random
    @simon_brooke@mastodon.scot avatar

    "unless something changes, the world faces the prospect of almost a quarter of ’s 2 million population - close to half- a million human beings - dying within a year. These would be largely deaths from preventable health causes" – Professor @devisridhar

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/dec/29/health-organisations-disease-gaza-population-outbreaks-conflict

    djr,
    @djr@union.place avatar

    @simon_brooke @devisridhar
    This is based on a credible projection. The outcome is avoidable but only if the population in question is fed and housed as a matter of urgency. There were populations in occupied during the second world war which were not so lucky - the in the winter of 1944-5 is a classic example. Technically the loss of a quarter of a population through disease coupled with starvation is worse than but may not quite constitute as such.

    djr,
    @djr@union.place avatar

    @simon_brooke

    It must depend in practice how big a 'part' would be affected but in any case there would be those who would deny that any such calculations had been made by the power responsible and that thus any effects were entirely inadvertent and unintended.

    djr,
    @djr@union.place avatar

    @simon_brooke

    I would not disagree although one would have to expect and be prepared for a barrage of propaganda to the effect that it was!

    inquiline, (edited ) to random
    @inquiline@union.place avatar

    Story about the Houthis' Red Sea blockades/piracy and its effects on with a short 🧵

    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/dec/19/red-sea-shipping-crisis-bp-oil-explained-what-is-happening-and-what-does-it-mean-for-global-trade

    djr,
    @djr@union.place avatar

    @inquiline It was known previously as "The Cape of Storms". A few hundred miles further north lies the Skeleton Coast - not renamed so far by anyone!

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