Marx2

Review: “The Production of Money: How To Break The Power Of Bankers” Ann Pettifor

Posted by admin in Activism, Development, Ecology, Economics, Feminism, History, Politics, Reading

This is a short and unusual book, very down to earth, while aiming to provide a concise and coherent explanation of today’s complex global banking system. For political analysts, her comparative analysis of the UK’s many weird alternatives proposals for quantitative easing is particularly interesting – it seems that in the UK everyone would like a piece of the “free” money. And she manages to connect banking reform to global development, feminism and climate change! Pettifor begins with this summary: “So what is to be done by the forces of…read more

Mar.25

Interview: Kamila Shamsie, author of “Home Fire”

Posted by admin in Activism, Culture, Feminism, Politics

Mar.25

Caesarean and vaginal births compared

Posted by admin in Economics, Feminism, Health, Politics

This is not a simple choice. Much is at stake for medical insurers, practitioners and professionals which colours the information provided to women. Consider the following typical newspaper article: “Headline: One in six NHS trusts do not offer caesareans on request – Birthrights charity suggests blanket bans could be incompatible with human rights law: Almost one in six NHS trusts in the UK do not offer women caesarean sections on request and many more have inconsistent policies, a charity has said. Official guidance states that women should be offered a…read more

Aug.23

“There are crooks everywhere you look”

Posted by admin in Activism, Economics, Feminism, Politics

Investigative journalist Caruana Galizia, 53, was murdered in Malta on Monday. Her car exploded, spinning in the air and landing as a fiery hulk in a field, right after she left her home. Caruana Galizia relentlessly investigated Joseph Muscat, a politician who is now Labor’s prime minister, exposing Maltese links to offshore tax havens through the Panama Paper leaks. She wrote that the wife of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, the country’s energy minister and the government’s chief of staff had offshore holdings in Panama to receive money from Azerbaijan.

Oct.18

What’s next for this blog…

Posted by admin in Activism, Culture, Ecology, Economics, Feminism, Politics

The lack of recent new content is due to my retirement, giving me the chance to trek in the French alps, visit Athens and rural France. Between loving the views and getting fit, I have been pondering this blog. Originally designed as a re-think of Marx to show the relevance of his analysis of inequality without his dated political views, it spells out his method in plain language, then talks about how to extend it to include feminist, green and anti-authoritarian perspectives. That emphasis on method is rather dry. I’m thinking…read more

Jul.26

Colossal – a monstor movie with big ideas

Posted by admin in Culture, Feminism, Humour, Politics

Trailer 1 Trailer 2 – but there’s much more to this movie than you’d guess from these… Below, a thought-provoking interview with the director, including leaving the audience to find their own message, and what’s wrong with most romantic comedies: