There must surely be a point at which the people of any country must turn to the government and say ‘enough is enough’, and I think we have reached that point. I just came across this shocking Guardian article on a UN report due  out next year on the devastating effect Tory austerity has had on the UK. It is utterly fucked up: Britain was in breach of four UN human rights agreements relating to women, children, disabled people and economic and social rights. The limit on benefits payments to only the first two children in a family was “in the same ballpark” as China’s one-child policy because it punished people who had a third child. Cuts of 50% to council budgets were slashing at Britain’s “culture of local concern” and “damaging the fabric” of society.  Between this and the utter stupidity of Brexit, how the hell  can we let these contemptible embarrassments to humanity remain in power.

I’m not sure how impartial  or unbiassed it is, but if true the allegations reported in this Young Turks video are very worrying indeed. It reports that Donald Trump is actively trying to have his political opponents jailed. Apparently according to the New York Times, the  p’tahk wants people like James Comey and Hillary Clinton put in jail simply because they  are political adversaries. If there is even a grain of truth to it, surely this is very  worrying indeed: Trump is acting more and more like a dictator, demanding power  over everything. Surely as a responsible, mature democratic nation, it’s only a matter of time before the US grows up, gets a grip and replaces this insecure child with a proper president.

I just came across this anti-Brexit video/song on facebook, and just had to flag  it up here. It’s very catchy, and will probably be stuck in my head for a while, but that’s cool. More and more  things like this are appearing online every day, to higher and higher standards. I get the impression that a distinct artistic and cultural movement is amassing against brexit; so much so  that it is now just a matter of time before the bollocks is stopped.

I’m heading back to London after a weekend in Manchester and Chester. After visiting Jenny and steve a couple of weeks ago, I decided it was time to pop in on Charlie and Alex. I stayed at their beautiful new Manchester house on Friday night, before we drove to Chester yesterday. Rather awesomely we bumped into our friend Becky while enjoying a kebab at a christmas market in Manchester; and the evening at a barn dance in Chester last night was like nothing  I’d experienced before. I just waved goodbye to C at the platform at Picadilly, tired but refreshed. Although as she told me, it isn’t without it’s problems, Charlie seems to be slipping into life as a teacher well: I’ve always thought my old university friend is a born teacher. She seems to have a boundless, infectious enthusiasm which has left my head buzzing with ideas and a fresh optimism, so does Alex, and I’m travelling home determined to be more creative.. I think this weekend has done me a world of good.

Have you ever noticed how that irritating twit Jacob Rees-Mogg always tries to present himself as a master of language? Not only does he try to sound articulate, but he goes out of his way to correct people on the language they use. Yesterday, for example, when a news anchor asked him if a coup was in ,process, the pretentious little p’tahk replied that it was not technically a coup, giving some facetious bullshit reason. 

It was perfectly obvious that a coup was in progress: Rees-mogg and his chums were, and are, trying to force May from power.JRM was trying to get himself in to a position of power rhetorically. By correcting the reporter so overtly, he was trying to appear superior. He tries to make himself look like a philologist, and so take ownership of the Symbolic. That is the only way the outists life him can present their views as having any credibility, stripped as they are of any other form of logic. In other words, he’s basically saying people should listen more to him because he speaks more articulately, when in truth he is just as moronic as any other outist. By presenting himself as a master .of the symbolic order, he seeks to figuratively dominate what people say. It.’s a cheap trick easily seen though, but I thought it worth pointing out..

Just to divert everyone’s attention away from Brexit a bit, how about this for an interesting new bit of tech. A company in america have found a way to manipulate video to make it look like people have said things they haven’t. I find it interesting to watch how they change the appearance of the muscles  around the mouth so that it matches the sound coming out of it. While you can easily see how  this sort of thing would be useful for dubbing films into other languages, you also have to worry the this would make fraud a lot easier. We can no longer trust video evidence when it comes to what people have or have not said.

I think this New European  story/video is well worth  drawing your attention to.Dutch MEP Esther de Lange was applauded in the European parliament  when she pointed out the hypocrisy of Nigel Farage. The piece of shit just sat there smirking and  shrugging as de Lange stated the obvious. “This is a man who led his party and country to the Brexit vote – only the next day to admit he lied and tricked and jumped his ship and leave his party.” The fact that the p’tahk has the gall to still attend the European Parliament as if he has the right to be there (presumably still picking up his wage) shows us what a despicable  little hypocrite  he is. The sooner he is rotting in jail where he belongs the better.