Friday 20 November 2015

Paris attacks reaction, the clash of civilisations narrative and the war machine


This blog is named in reference to the tragic Charlie Hebdo events and the aftermath. You can read the background here. 10 months later and Paris suffered a different kind of attack, targeting random individuals in what these psychopaths identified as typical representations of western liberalism. They are psychopaths because they have no real ideology because what ideology calls for the random killing of fellow followers of that ideology. Many muslims were killed that night yet still we hear how this is a clash of civilisations between two opposing ideologies. The same night "Muslims" trended on twitter bringing about predictable bigotry and hate speak. And there is Ahmed Merabat, the French police officer who was coldly executed defending the satirical magazine that mocked his religion #JeSuisAhmed



Post Paris the agenda of elites consists of divide and conquer, propagating the clash of civilisations myth as an advertisement for war. This is a fake construct because firstly ISIS/DAESH are not muslim and secondly, divisive narratives are short-termist. The lack of hope in mainstream rhetoric is telling. They would prefer a hysterical and fearful public ready to accept blind militarism regardless of the viability. Goebbels used such tactics to great effect  during the Nazi regime.


Here are some revealing reactions from establishment commentators, some while people were being murdered outside Stade de France stadium.



It was also interesting to see bigotry and hate speak from Facebook profiles featuring Tricolour flags under many news articles. Opportunists who on another day are happy bashing the French or whoever else is different. This echoes those who say we should take care of the our own citizens instead of immigrants - while abusing single mothers and benefit claimants because the tabloids tell them to.

In the midst of this there were some other more informed reactions from ordinary decent people that were cause for optimism:



The war machine is grinding into gear with the establishment media doing free marketing for the military-industrial complex delivering profits for the arms industry and its war lords.




For a great ideas-based documentary about the geo-political charade and fog of war, please watch Adam Curtis' Bitter Lake - summarised by himself below:


Fear and mistrust are so often engineered by those with the means to do so. We must not let insidious power agendas on any side create a climate that prevents solutions.

Please support the JSFU Facebook Page hereand friend here


Wednesday 11 November 2015

Tory tactics on voter registration are eroding democracy

Firstly, please register to vote here if you haven't done so. It's as important as it's ever been:



In 2009 the tories changed the way voters are registered so it is up to the individual rather than the head of a household. It was done under the pretence of stopping electoral fraud despite hardly any cases of this. This means that millions will drop off the register. Millions who wouldn't vote tory.

Electoral Reform Society campaign

For such an important democratic change there has been no TV campaign. A recent pension campaign saw Iain Duncan Smith spend £8.5 million of tax-payers money advertising it. 

As a student I was not informed enough to know about the voting process - a complete failure of the school system in a supposedly proud democracy. Being only just past 18 I had never voted before. Luckily universities would register students on mass. Under these rules there is a huge risk that many will be too busy to remember while studying, worrying about finances and generally being students. Those who move house or don't have mortgages with the insecurity of private rented accommodation are also at massive risk. The trend is that it's poorer people who are disproportionately affected. Facts reveal the tories' ulterior motive to gerrymander elections

Voters must be registered by December 1st 2015. The original date for registration was December 2016 but opportunistic self-serving tories rushed the date forward in the summer to deny a voice to those they care little about. Even the independent Electoral Commission has attacked these government manoeuvrings.

The conservatives want to rig their chances at elections next year by introducing the new system when there was no great call for it. This means registered voters will have to re-register if they want to choose the new London Mayor and Scottish & Welsh parliament next year. Why the haste? Of potentially even greater concern are boundary changes, rejected under the coalition (missing the Lib Dems yet?) but since a tory majority they are to become law in 2018 for the following election. These will be based on the electoral register of next month and therefore favour Cameron & co. if non-tories have dropped off the list. These changes are to make each constituency equal size yet shockingly they disregard non-registered voters.

Now to counter blatant tory manipulation the race is on register as many as possible before the coming in a matter of weeks. Labour are leading the charge here. With our antiquated broken voting system it is more important than ever to get involved in the democratic process while vested interests try and engineer a monopoly of power.


Please support the JSFU Facebook Page hereand friend here