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1591 Blunkett, Damilola -- rank: 1000

The WEEK ending 28 April 2002 JEAN MARIE-BLUNKETT Education and health services in Britain are in danger of being 'swamped' by asylum seekers according to British Home Secretary David Blunkett - echoing the infamous speech by Tory leader Margaret Thatcher that Britain was in danger of being swamped by immigrants, before her election in 1979. Tellingly, Blunkett apologised for his use of language - as if the issue was merely one of offence - but not the content of his proposal: that migrants and ...

Document Size:	8651
Author:	James Heartfield
Date:	Sun Apr 28 03:26:08 PDT 2002

1592 Mau Mao slurred -- rank: 1000

RangerCat67 at aol.com writes: "the fact that you can still make a meal out of likening welfare activists to the Mau-Mau may explain why..." Which is of course an outrageous slur on the Mau Mau, who fought for independence not welfare dependency -- James Heartfield The 'Death of the Subject' Explained is available at GBP11.00, plus GBP1.00 p&p from Publications, audacity.org, 8 College Close, Hackney, London, E9 6ER. Make cheques payable to 'Audacity Ltd'

Document Size:	4954
Author:	James Heartfield
Date:	Sun Apr 21 05:45:43 PDT 2002

1593 UK budget, Israel -- rank: 1000

The WEEK ending 21 April 2002 BROWN BANKS ON HEALTH Britain's Labour Chancellor Gordon Brown broke a promise and raised taxes to pay for increased health spending. Public polls show that the tax raises are popular, inviting comment that 'Essex man' - the semi-mythical voter who will not vote for tax increases - has mellowed in middle age. But opposition to tax-increases was only ever emblematic of the disaffection with government, which has plagued most western elites in recent times. The Chance ...

Document Size:	8649
Author:	James Heartfield
Date:	Sun Apr 21 03:12:39 PDT 2002

1594 autarkic development in USSR (was anti-Semitism) -- rank: 1000

I had to laugh at this, not because its not true. (Indeed everything I've read confirms it): "Soviet economic policy was largely driven by political reasons. The outlying Republics were heavily subsidized to keep nationalist separatism down...." But didn't anyone realise that subsidising outlying republic aggravated nationalism, rather than limiting it. I still think Chris is refusing to grasp the nettle: The Soviet economy could hardly be called a national economy. It had no real tend ...

Document Size:	6093
Author:	James Heartfield
Date:	Sat Apr 20 11:57:14 PDT 2002

1595 Russian anti-Semitism -- rank: 1000

Chris Doss writes: "I don't want to sound like a broken record, but the dissolution of the USSR by its member republics has got to be just about the dumbest geopolitical move I can think of in living memory (that is, if what you care about is conditions in the FSU, and not becoming tsar of your little piece of the FSU, which was what the elites in Georgia, Ukraine, Russia, etc., were after). Gorby (and Bush I, by the way) were both 100% correct in predicting it would be a disaster." Bu ...

Document Size:	5619
Author:	James Heartfield
Date:	Fri Apr 19 03:39:42 PDT 2002

1596 myth of fundamentalism -- rank: 1000

Brad DeLong, replying to this observation: Tariq "Ali seems to over-emphasize the degree to which secular forces exists in places like Pakistan." Brad says: "Those are his people. He's supposed to be willing to face up to the fact that they are a disorganized, demoralized, pathetic, powerless remnant?" I'm not sure what 'his people' means in this context. Tariq Ali lived most of his adult life in England, to which culture he made quite a contribution. I suppose it is probably ...

Document Size:	6097
Author:	James Heartfield
Date:	Thu Apr 18 14:52:14 PDT 2002

1597 Russian anti-Semitism -- rank: 1000

Justin Schwartz <jkschw at hotmail.com> writes "Russian antisemitism is very real" which I feel is probably true, despite Chris Doss's assurances. and recounts an anecdote in which a woman "told me that she got out her passport marked with her nationality (Russian) and waved it about, saying, I am pure _Russian_!" I'm not sure what the point is, but I remember Teodor Shanin recounting that his identity papers marked him as a Jew, where it said nationality. I'm sure othe ...

Document Size:	5368
Author:	James Heartfield
Date:	Thu Apr 18 14:53:09 PDT 2002

1598 Palestinian Arabs??!! -- rank: 1000

Subject: "Palestinian Arabs"??? From: Carrol Cox <cbcox at ilstu.edu> Date: Wed, 17 Apr 2002 15:38:44 -0500 Carrol, citing the Gallup news service's reference to 'Palestinian Arabs', asks "I wonder if a news story on events in France would speak of the "European French"?" Maybe Gallup was trying to distinguish between Palestinian Arabs and Palestinian Jews... (You can but hope). -- James Heartfield The 'Death of the Subject' Explained is available at GBP ...

Document Size:	5180
Author:	James Heartfield
Date:	Thu Apr 18 01:03:07 PDT 2002

1599 European attitudes on Israel-Palestine -- rank: 1000

CB: "The world could use a big dose of interimperialist rivalry short of war, especially splits with the U.S. by other big powers." Well, I wouldn't want to shy away from inter-imperialist rivalry, since it exists whatever I think of it. And all contradictions are productive in the long run. But in the short term, this just means destructiveness, and sadly no alternate authority to capitalism is on hand to clarify the meaning of it. -- James Heartfield The 'Death of the Subject' Explai ...

Document Size:	5238
Author:	James Heartfield
Date:	Thu Apr 18 01:13:44 PDT 2002

1600 'outside the circuits of trade and capital' -- rank: 1000

Doug writes: "Many poor countries are poor not because of foreign investment, but because they're largely outside the circuits of trade and capital. I can think of at least one person who gets very upset when I say that, but it's true." You can say that, but I don't think it is right to take the next step and argue that these areas of the world are outside the capitalist system altogether. Rather the terms of their integration into that system are those of uneven development. All the c ...

Document Size:	5587
Author:	James Heartfield
Date:	Thu Apr 18 01:09:35 PDT 2002

1601 Russian anti-Semitism -- rank: 1000

Chris Doss's post was very interesting on the topic. I am prepared to accept that there was a lot of Cold War propaganda about anti-Semitism. But surely under Stalin the Doctor's Plot was an anti-Semitic campaign, as alleged. Shouldn't one expect anti-Semitism to flourish where nationalism is amplified. Would Chris's informant say that anti-Semitism declined in time, or that it was not so bad in the fifties either? I'm a little sceptical about claims that Jews would make up fifty per cent of the ...

Document Size:	5475
Author:	James Heartfield
Date:	Wed Apr 17 08:12:21 PDT 2002

1602 European attitudes on Israel-Palestine -- rank: 1000

Listers might be interested to know that the events in Jenin are playing very differently in the British press and parliament. A middle of the road Labour MP, very pro-Blair, and a long-term supporter of Israel accused Sharon of ordering his troops to use barbarous means in the occupied territories. He said that Sharon did not own the Star of David, but he was soaking it in blood. For the Tory opposition John Gummer said that Israel was a properly constituted state, and as such ought to be held ...

Document Size:	5875
Author:	James Heartfield
Date:	Wed Apr 17 04:51:55 PDT 2002

1603 "it's nice to tally up deaths" -- rank: 1000

Nathan Newman writes, inadvisably "while it's nice to tally up deaths on each side and note that the body bags are piling up higher on the West Bank" If you don't mind me saying, I think your cynicism about the press-war got the better of you here. Most people would prefer not to be tallying up body bags at all. -- James Heartfield The 'Death of the Subject' Explained is available at GBP11.00, plus GBP1.00 p&p from Publications, audacity.org, 8 College Close, Hackney, London, E9 6E ...

Document Size:	5069
Author:	James Heartfield
Date:	Wed Apr 17 05:07:07 PDT 2002

1604 newman on china -- rank: 1000

Nathan Newman <nathan at newman.org> writes "for the Nth time- THE RULING CLASS IN THE US SUPPORTED PNTR. The AFL-CIO was opposing the US ruling class when it opposed PNTR." But the AFL wouldn't be the first union to argue a version of 'what's best for the nation' that did not find favour with the ruling class. (In Britain unions lobbied hard for import controls throughout the 80s, but were rebuffed.) Nathan continues "I've noted that I am anti-protectionism but" and it ...

Document Size:	7267
Author:	James Heartfield
Date:	Tue Apr 16 00:03:50 PDT 2002

1605 newman on china -- rank: 1000

Nathan arguing with Tim: "So let's settle this and see if my characterization is unfair. Do you agree or disagree that China has the worst antiunion policies of any large nation in the world?" Well, yes it probably does. But is it right that those policies can be addressed by US government economic sanctions? Sounds to me like a left-wing justification for old-fashioned economic chauvinism. An example of the union movement making common cause with its own ruling class to fight off the ...

Document Size:	5601
Author:	James Heartfield
Date:	Mon Apr 15 12:27:47 PDT 2002