Godda Speak Down to the 'Ard-Workin' Briddish People

So, 'parently affer Ed Miliband met wiv that Russell Brand bloke, Dave Cameron wuz all like e's a goon, inn'e ?  Makin' 'iself out like 'e's some Cockney geezer ?  It's embarassin' that when these posh politicians try-a talk down to the workin' classes like they weren't all Eton-educa'ed like:

Look at me, I ain't posh ad all.  I represent the ord'n'ry 'ard-workin' Briddish people.  I like 'avin beers down at the pub with the or'd'nry folks like youse.  I listen to Bastille.

It's embarassin', innit ?

That Mysterious 'Milibrand' Meeting

That super-secret meeting between Ed Miliband, and Russell Brand that the UK media have been hyperventilating over ?  Turns out, it was...an interview.  Ed Miliband gave an interview to a celebrity known for his outspoken political views, who happens to have over a million subscribers on YouTube.  Shock horror !  And thanks to all the breathless media coverage, the number of people watching is probably about to go up even more.  Thanks, news-media...

Update: Well, that was a whole bunch of nothing.  Here's a summary to save you sixteen minutes of your life:

Brand: Asks questions, tries to get Ed to say anything concrete.
Ed: Blah, blah, blah, blah.  Change is hard.  Blah, blah, blah.

But yeah.  He showed up.  So there's that.


Update: So turns out Brand did endorse Labour after all, which helps precisely no-one.  Sigh.

2015 UK Elections Rap Parody

I just love everything about this:

Even more than this masterpiece:

OT, it seems that Blogger just got that one little bit shittier in terms of locating and posting videos from YouTube.  Used to be, if it couldn't locate the video (which happens a lot), you could hack off the identifier, pick something random, and edit the HTML with the right ID.  Now, that option's gone.  Why ?  WTF is wrong with you Google ?

TPP & TTIP

And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:

With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

Revelation 17:1-2

TPP & TTIP (the Trans-Pacific Partnership & the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) don't seem to get much coverage in the media, despite their likely impact on so many countries, likely because a) the deals are complicated, and b) the deals are being worked in secret behind closed doors.  These are just 'trade deals' remember, not exactly a nuclear deal with Iran; Totally innocent stuff, and the reason the US, UK, and other governments don't want you to know about what's being discussed, is simply that it's so boring.  They'll tell you all about it eventually, such as...four years after the deals are already done and dusted.

In the meantime, you're just gonna have to trust them that the deals are in your best interest and will result in more jobs, more prosperity, and rising wages, just like...say NAFTA...or say...the MFN deal Clinton pushed with China.  Those worked out really well, didn't they ?  And the PRC is going to turn into a flourishing democracy with respect for the human rights and civil liberties of all its citizens any day now, right Bill ?

Basically, like all 'free trade' deals, the idea is to maximise corporate profits at the expense of labour costs (i.e. your paycheck), civil liberties, national sovereignty, safety, and the environment; to drag every nation slowly down to the lowest-common denominator.  To drag the EU standards down to those of the US, down to those of South America, down to those of east Asia, down ultimately one would imagine to those of Somalia.  And if any national government gets in the way of corporate profits by passing pesky laws to, say protect the safety & wellbeing of its citizens, well fuck 'em. !  They can just be sued, in trans-national arbitration tribunals, run by said corporations, and outside of national law.  Bye-bye national sovereignty.  And you think the EU is the threat, Ukippers ?


Here's a nice summary of the deals for the uninitiated (yes with Russell Brand, sorry):

Sounds good, huh ?

Remember this bit from Last Week Tonight ?  (Might want to skip to 8'05).  Think Philip Morris is the only corporation that does this stuff ?  Think making this shit even easier is a good idea ?

What to do, other than try to find some non-corporatist non-fascist non-cocksucker politicians to vote for ?  Well the first video has some suggestions towards the end.  I don't hold out much hope myself, but you never know.

For the American Sparkle-pony crowd, here's a bonus video, with not-going-to-be-the-Democratic-nominee-for-president-any-time-soon Elizabeth Warren on TPP and the ISDS tribunals back in February.

And if you really want lots more details on TPP, check out Gaius Publius' writings on the subject.  Don't know if Gaius has a dedicated page, but Hullabaloo & Americablog are probably good starting points.