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Monthly Report December 2016
Hope you all had a really great Christmas and managed to get out on the bank for a few hours, pre Christmas Day hopefully as since then the temperature has plunged to below freezing most nights making anything other than grayling or chub probably a non-starter. Saying this even the chub have proved difficult and all I can put this down to is the extremely high pressure that has been almost of the scale on my barometer at an incredible 1043mb for the last few days!
I was going to have a moan about the so called fishing programme 'Fishing Impossible' which I had to delete of my series link as after seeing them using bat shit as bait and using dynamite to fire it into their swims guest that the following week they would all cut an arm off just to make the next challenge that much more impossible. What a load of crap! However what with getting really hacked off with trying to load things on my website due to Blogger being a right pain in the arse I have been told by a good friend to stop being the miserable old man of angling and to try a be a bit more happier so as from next month, no more, or far less winging and much more happier angling subjects to discuss!
A quick check on my diary inputs and I have been out either fishing for myself of guiding eleven times this month along with plenty of days also spent on the bank as a freelance photographer creating articles for Anglers Mail. All in all another busy month, one that I will probably remember for the weather conditions, often really cold and foggy and one in which we saw very little in the way of rain which has left every river fished extremely low. Christmas day was also strange as I bet there were hundreds of anglers sitting at home eating turkey and mince pies thinking its 14 degrees outside, I bet the fish are going mad. As for the fishing the Frome has been really consistent in producing two-pound plus grayling, yet I'm now beginning to think that the stretch I'm fishing isn't going to produce a real monster so time to start looking elsewhere. Testwood Pools was a joy to fish once again but we did make a massive mistake and booked it when the tide was out. This and knowing that a vast majority of the game fish had been removed made it a difficult session but any day which sees roach to 1lb 12oz and dace to 10oz taken on the float is still a red-letter day. The two fish that I will remember are the 2lb 7oz grayling taken by my friend Barrie from the Itchen, the biggest I have seen out of the river for a number of years and the 5lb 3oz chub that Tom Aldous caught during a quick-fire session on the Loddon. The river Blackwater continues to produce however a month ago when fish could be caught from most swims have now shoaled up so if you find them expect a really good day, yet trying to locate them does take time and as for the Loddon, well this is a complete contrast to the Blackwater as even the so called easy stretches are now really tough.
I'm not really one for making New Year's resolutions but its time I made a few lifestyle changes, started to look after myself more, get into a routine such as always eating breakfast as well as spreading my fishing time out more productively. Chasing massive fish is a thing of the past, yet I will still continue to fish venues that do contain big fish however whether or not a fish-of-a –lifetime will grace my net in the limited time I get to fish myself is unlikely, all I can do is give each session the best I can and enjoy it to its fullest.
Happy New Year to you all and looking forward to catching a few in 2017.
Day to Day events.
01/12/16 – The third morning on the trot when temperatures have plummeted to around -7 but come 6.30am I was on route to pick up my customer Graeme who was booked in for a day on the Frome. A steady drive saw us arrive just after 8am in a total white-out landscape. Undeterred we headed downstream, yet with the rod rings freezing presenting a bait was difficulty, yet just being in such a winter wonderland was worth it. I have always been a believer that grayling don't get put-back in the cold yet three days of such cold conditions certainly saw a decline in numbers of bites than on milder days so now I'm not a believer! After a few swims and a few small grayling Graeme saw himself bent into a better fish which turned out to be a 1lb 10oz personal best grayling which certainly put some warmth into our bodies and made us smile. Late morning the frost disappeared and the fishing improved slightly and come the end of the day around two dozen grayling and sea trout had fallen. Difficult but certainly not impossible!
Here are a few words from Graeme – Thanks Duncan; Today was certainly a challenge, but a superb day none the less. Managing to bank a few was a bonus! And thanks for the pictures too. Thanks very much for sharing your knowledge and the venue. I now have a new set of tools in the box, so to speak, and am looking forward to getting out again soon. I'll need that fifteen- footer though! Looking forward to heading back in the New Year when hopefully an early start won't be so icy. Have a great Christmas, tight lines, Graeme.
05/12/16 – After a couple of weeks off I'm sort of back in the swing of things yet first job was to sort out the last twelve months accounts, joy!
06/12/16 – A full day in the office sorting out fishy things such as updating a few face book posts, making contact with a few possible article possibilities and banging my head against the wall trying to get into my blogger account to post my monthly blog. Sorry for the delay!
07/12/16 – With three long sessions on the trot starting tomorrow it was all about sorting the kit and bait out.
08/12/16 – At long last I'm out on the bank again this time following up a lead of a few big roach. Arriving at first light I headed to the smaller of the two lakes on this day ticket venue, regularly cast out helicopter rigs to the centre of the lake and constantly got beaten up from small carp. My dad and girlfriends dad were experiencing the same so after three hours and sixteen carp decided to move to the larger lake thinking that I had been thrown a curve ball. Same tactics produced the same result, carp so with an hour left headed back to the small lake and cast my rigs into some fast water coming in from a small stream in the hope that the roach were piled up here but yes you have guessed it, all I caught were carp!
09/12/16 – Probably the once a year day I look forward to the most, Testwood Pools. Arriving at dawn myself and Alan were fishing just after 8am however the tide was running out and after just an hour the water had left the pool leaving us with probably the hardest situation possible. Lesson learnt, next year make sure that high tide is around midday as this creates far better fishing. The first hour saw a number of fish taken Inc a couple of dace around 10oz but strangely no trout. We then found out that the majority of these had been moved into the main river! Things then toughened up, yet Alan managed a 1lb 7oz roach on the float that gave us inspiration to carry on. I managed a few trout and small grayling whist Alan switched to the feeder in the hope of more roach but come the end of the day all he caught were frustrating roach/bream hybrids plus a few trout. Having a bad arm I also switched to the feeder and had another 10oz dace plus trout before switching back to the float which produced a 1lb 12oz roach, hybrid, 3lb chub, a salmon par plus the occasional trout. Together we caught around fifty fish made up of eight different species which goes to show you just never know what's coming next when the float disappears. All in all another enjoyable day but once again the 2lb roach or 1lb dace failed to show. Close again but no cigar.
10/12/16 – On the road come 6.30am this time heading to the Frome in Dorset. The weather wasn't kind with drizzle and fog making the 80mile trip not that pleasurable. Arriving at 8am and knowing the weather was going to come in wet around 3pm we myself and Lewis headed downstream first. Fishing the stick and pin Lewis was soon into fish but with the river running slightly coloured things weren't as easy as expected. Second swim produced a few more grayling to 1lb 10oz plus sea trout and the third grayling to 2lb 1oz along with a couple of similar sized ones slipping the hook. Early afternoon we were back at the car for lunch before heading upstream. The wind had now increased making trotting, even for an experienced angler like Lewis difficult. Knowing the swim held fish but struggling for good presentation we switched to the feeder which bought instant bits from brown and sea trout plus grayling to exactly 2lb. Just as the weather was forecasted to do the conditions quickly changed for the worse and not soon after we were back in the car the heavens opened making it another tricky drive home. Even though this was a guiding day, Lewis is an accomplished angler and puts most people to shame when it comes to fishing a centrepin but had never fished the Frome before so it was more of an introduction to the river than anything else. In fact I have to admit that I learnt a couple of things from him!
12/12/16 – In the office all day sorting fishy related items.
14/12/16 – Left home in the dark and arrived back in the dark, which isn't unusual at this time of year, to create a couple of Anglers Mail features down in Tonbridge with angling guide and top predator angler Rikki Cooper. Keep an eye out in the magazine for these.
15/12/16 – Spent today guiding Barrie on the river Itchen. I have never seen the river so low but this didn't deter the grayling and trout which just kept on coming. Persistence in a swim where Barrie had a gut feeling would produced a big fish proved right as late in the day he landed an old warrior of a grayling which smashed his previous best. She or should I say he weighed 2lb 7oz and this just goes to show, never ignore a gut feeling. Well done Barrie.
16/12/16 – Another day on the Itchen, this time with one of my regulars Mark who had just bought a centrepin and had it modified as he is left handed. Having only fished the pin once before today was all about learning a few techniques to help master the pin and come the end of the day and after landing again well over forty fish his first steps into presenting a bait perfectly were taken. He even managed a personal best as well.
17/12/16 – Picked Chris up at 8am before heading to Wareham for a few hours on the quay that produced just one modest dace. We then headed upstream for a spot of grayling fishing which produced around twenty fish between us, the best 2lb 3oz to Chris.
18/12/16 – On the banks of the Basingstoke Canal with Tom to create an AM OTB.
19/12/16 – In the office writing up a few features.
20/12/16 – More feature writing!
21/12/16 – Spent a few hours organising tackle for the next couple of days on the bank plus tidying up a few of my tackle boxes.
22/12/16 – It was never going to be easy whatever or wherever we headed today as after a spell of relatively mild weather the skies cleared and a heavy frost lay on the ground as I headed out towards the river Blackwater to meet up with my customer for the day. Barrie who had fished with me on the Itchen last week and landed a 2lb 7oz grayling wanted a introduction in stick float fishing small rivers and if roach could be taken then he would be happy. First swim, a known roach holding spot held no roach just a couple of small chub so we headed to another swim and fortunately this one did produce a few roach. In all Barrie managed around 8lb of fish, mostly made up of a 3lb 13oz chub and 1lb 4oz roach plus others up to around 12oz. That swim made the day as every other one was tough, just a couple of fish then nothing. Switching to a small cage feeder late in the day he managed another modest chub which was lucky to escape the attention of a double figured pike that had lunch on its mind. All in all a great learning day, especially when the producing swim died a death. I said that it was either due to us spooking the fish but this was unlikely as we hadn't had enough fish to spook them, a pike entering the swim but then surely this would have attacked a previous roach or that some other bigger fish had moved in and this was proved right with the bigger chub. I have never seen the river so low and even tried to tempt a few fish myself from a previous productive swim without any luck which reassured Barrie that he was doing nothing wrong; it was just that the river was fishing below par!
23/12/16 – Hopefully the last early one for a few days as up at the crack of dawn once again this time to pick up my mate Tom Aldous for a few hours chub fishing. We had very little time when we arrived at the river due to being held up in traffic and knowing that the river wasn't fishing great the previous day and two anglers already on the bank, one in a banker chub swim we headed to the bottom of the beat before working our way upstream in a methodical manner checking out every likely looking area. Second swim and Tom found himself bent into a decent chub which proved to be a venue best for him at 5lb 3oz. I tried a few areas that rarely get explored but with the river low and clear I wasn't surprised to draw a blank. Toms fish was our only bite but we only fished two and a half hours, missed the first hour of light and had to work around other anglers that could well have fished a few of the swims as there were the odd fishy sign around. I was glad Tom caught as he's had a tough time of late what with work and studying and has struggled to get out so all in all I would say job done!
27/12/16 – Met up with a couple of lure anglers on the river Thames. Not the easiest of day, what with a hard frost, cloudless blue skies and a barometer that's almost off the scale at 1043mb! Fortunately after roving around for a few hours we managed to get the job done with a nice perch.
28/12/16 – With a new customer booked in for a day's chub fishing on Friday thought it would be a good idea to go and check a few swims out on the Loddon. Arriving just after 8am I only had one knock, only fished two swims as other anglers around so moved on to the Whitewater, walked the entire stretch dropping bread in a few swims but again not so much as a single touch.
29/12/16 – A days guiding on the Loddon for chub. Really cold and misty, barely rising above freezing all day and fortunately not that many other anglers to contest with. The swim that produced the knock the day before gave Chas a proper pull round after a few knocks and a big fish was briefly hooked before the hook pulled. Gutted as we probably tried a dozen other swims, all of which produced nothing. After yesterday's results I can only put the lack of action down to the extremely high atmospheric pressure which yesterday was nearly of the scale on my barometer at 1043mb! Talking to other anglers it seemed that they were too struggling and it just goes to show how one bite can make a difficult day in to a memorable one, that's if it finds the bottom of the landing net!


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LUPE VALDEZ WOULD RATHER NOT TALK about it anymore. After she won the race for Dallas County sheriff in November, she was deluged with calls and requests for interviews. Everyone from the New York Times and National Public Radio to, well, Texas Monthly wanted to know how Valdez, a Democrat and a lesbian, had managed to get elected to do what seemed like a good old boy's job—and this in an election cycle that saw Republicans prevail nationally and anti-gay-marriage amendments pass in eleven states.
By mid-November she'd had about enough of these interviews. "We're trying to be polite, but we've got to stop doing them pretty soon," she said. "I really need to get to work." Though she wouldn't take office until January, she'd already moved into an empty room in the sheriff's department—a drab warren in the basement of a county courts building—so that she could start to learn how to run a 1,785-person law enforcement agency. For its sheriff to be Hispanic, female, and gay "is a little different image than they've had before," she said, "but what does that have to do with the ability to lead?"
Her victory might not have been big news had it happened in a more liberal city like Austin (where Margo Frasier, also gay, just stepped down as Travis County sheriff), and it might not have drawn much attention had the 2004 elections produced gains for Democrats and gays nationwide. But this was a year when one vague exit poll question planted the notion that an unprecedented number of voters preoccupied by "values" had reelected President George W. Bush and that these values had something to do with opposing abortion and gay rights. (This exceedingly blurry notion persisted despite the fact that no one knew which values the poll respondents might have had in mind.)
In Texas, gay people have long met with disrespect and worse, and this was still the case in the fall of 2004. Two men kissing on the grounds of the state capitol were ordered to desist by Department of Public Safety officers, who told them that "homosexual conduct is against the law in Texas." Gay marriage continues to be a live political issue. In November Terri Leo, a member of the State Board of Education, insisted that sentences be added to middle-school health textbooks defining marriage as between a man and a woman. And state representative Warren Chisum, a repeat author of anti-gay legislation, introduced a bill that would amend the state constitution to define marriage as "the union of one man and one woman," though marriage is already so defined in Texas law.
Valdez's win ran counter to all that. Hers was the kind of story journalists love—who would have thought?—and a reminder of how far our society has shifted, in a very short period of time, in the direction of acknowledging and respecting gays and lesbians. Even in Texas. Eleven states may have passed anti-gay-marriage amendments, but George Bush himself suggested that he wouldn't oppose civil unions if they were approved by the states, and Lupe Valdez won. Could a lesbian have been elected Dallas County sheriff twenty years ago? Ten years ago?
In fact, Valdez's atypical profile probably helped her with some voters. Dallas has seen a little too much good-old-boyism recently: The previous sheriff, Jim Bowles, was investigated after granting a jail food-service contract to a friend and then charged with transferring campaign funds to personal accounts. The indictment was later dismissed, but Bowles lost in the Republican primary to Danny Chandler. In her campaign against Chandler, a 29-year department veteran, Valdez argued that the department needed an outsider to restore its integrity, and the Dallas Morning News agreed, endorsing her. She also benefited from the fact that Dallas County has grown more Hispanic and more Democratic in recent years, relative to its conservative past. Bush beat John Kerry in the county but by a slight margin: 50.3 percent to 49 percent.
Valdez is 57, her demeanor calm and straightforward. Shifting demographics and the sheriff's department scandal may have boosted her chances of winning, but in person it's clear that she had another advantage: She immediately seems trustworthy. A career law enforcement officer—most recently an agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, part of the Department of Homeland Security—Valdez takes in stray dogs, devotes her vacations to community service projects, and makes a spare room in her house available to children from other countries who come to Dallas for medical treatment. If people could vote for their neighbors, she'd be elected all over the place.
The youngest of eight children of migrant workers, Valdez recalls sleeping on the backseat ledge of the car as her family drove from farm to farm, where they picked green beans and beets. When she was eight, her mother decided that the family would settle down, on San Antonio's West Side, so that her two youngest could go to school. One of Valdez's junior high teachers advised her that if she wanted to attend college, she'd be better off going to high school across town, and Valdez followed that advice, taking two buses every day to Thomas Jefferson High School. There, she was the only one who came to class with muddy shoes, because the streets in her neighborhood were unpaved, and often the only one who'd never heard of things the other kids had been taught in lower grades. "I was a C student, and I worked to be a C student. I had so much catching up to do," she said.
Evidently she benefited from that early training in how to adapt to an alien environment. She went on to college in Oklahoma, then joined the Army Reserve—where she remembers being one of fifteen or so women in a several-thousand-person tank battalion—and later became a corrections officer, where she was again one of a handful of women. Typically, some of her male colleagues would protest at first that they didn't know how to work with a woman. "I just let them vent, and then you go in there and you work with them," she said. Over the course of her career Valdez worked as a federal corrections officer, as a government agent for the General Services Administration, for the Department of Agriculture, and finally for the Customs Service.
She retired to run for sheriff while corruption was dominating the headlines, hoping to restore the department's public image and support the "whole bunch of individuals who've just been doing their jobs, doing what they're supposed to," she said. "Instead of standing around griping about it—because that's what a lot of the community was doing, and I was part of that—I decided to get in there and do something."
Emphasizing values like integrity and trust, her campaign targeted precincts that had supported women candidates in the past. Valdez and Chandler debated twelve times ("We didn't know any better," Valdez said of her novice campaign staff). The issue of her sexuality did not surface publicly until the last week before the election, when Chandler's campaign joined forces with the Texas Eagle Forum to attack Valdez for having accepted the support of the Washington, D.C.—based Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund. What that support meant, Chandler charged in a mailer and in a public statement, was that Valdez would promote a gay agenda, and in particular gay civil rights legislation. ("Ms. Valdez's personal lifestyle is her own business and should not enter into the race," Chandler said in his statement. "The difference here is that she is promoting the endorsement of the Victory Fund.")
The Victory Fund's Web site does state that to gain its support, a candidate must "publicly endorse federal gay/lesbian civil rights legislation, and similar state and local anti-discrimination laws or legislation." Even so, the last-minute attack smelled of desperation, an abject play for the homophobe vote. Valdez responded by saying that as sheriff she would not be in a position to influence legislation; her job would be to run the sheriff's department, that is, to oversee a county law enforcement agency and a seven-thousand-inmate jail system. The majority of voters were undeterred by the specter of a gay agenda: Valdez won by 17,825 votes, out of 658,171 cast.
"I've always been honest about who I am," Valdez said afterward, "but I never put it on a résumé." When it comes to the subject of homosexuality, her real agenda seems to be to talk about it as little as possible. I mentioned Chisum's bill to ban gay marriage: What was her opinion of it? "It has nothing to do with being sheriff," she said. That answer might be evasive, but it's also true—and practical. Presumably you don't win allies in the Dallas County sheriff's department by taking positions on gay marriage or any other political issue unrelated to law enforcement.
To judge by the numbers, there are some Dallas voters out there who disapprove of gay marriage but who would agree that the issue has nothing to do with running the sheriff's department. Some 58 percent of Americans oppose gay marriage (though roughly 60 percent support civil unions), so it's probable that many people who voted for Valdez likewise oppose it. While gay marriage is a divisive issue, in large part because it challenges religion-based ideas of what marriage is, there is no biblical injunction against gay law enforcement officials. In the absence of one, many voters in Dallas showed themselves to be open-minded.
Strong strains of live-and-let-live individualism and Bible Belt Christianity have long coexisted in Texas, and both strains are evident in how people here treat their gay neighbors and co-workers and family members. In coming years, Texas is likely to keep shifting, along with the rest of the country, toward greater tolerance. (Polls show that young Americans tend to support gay marriage.) Warren Chisum may well be able to get his superfluous anti-gay-marriage amendment on the ballot, and if so, it will probably pass, but Chisum won't be on the winning side for long.
Meanwhile, Lupe Valdez has got other business on her mind, like how to win over the skeptics in her department. "The honeymoon lasts maybe twenty-four hours, if that," she said. "If I would want any attention, I would want it on the fact that we want to bring humanity and integrity back into the whole system."

subset: commoncrawl


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Date: 13-19 May, 2019
CICA is excited to announce that between 13-19 May 2019, Australians will once again come together to celebrate all things careers through National Careers Week.
National Careers Week aims to celebrate careers, career development, career development practitioners and services and promote the economic, social and personal benefits of career development.
The objectives of National Careers Week are to:
- Provide a focus on careers and career development to support all Australians.
- Develop community awareness of the concept, benefit and value of career development.
- Raise aspirations, challenge stereotypes, and broaden horizons.
- Highlight the need for ongoing reskilling and upskilling to support careers throughout life.
- Identify the changing nature of work and its impact on Australians.
- Showcase industries and the career opportunities available in them.
How do you become involved?
Visit the website, www.careersweek.com.au and sign up. This will ensure that you are kept up to date with everything about National Careers Week.
Put the dates in your calendar and start planning an activity that you can run during National Careers Week. You will find resources on the website that will help you run an amazing event.
National Careers Week is also on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Links are provided on the NCW website as well at the footer of this email. We would encourage you to like and follow us on these pages for real-time updates and information.
You can also forward this email to a friend or colleague and encourage them to get involved as well. Just click on the link in the footer.
We will be holding National Careers Week events across Australia. Keep an eye on the NCW website and the social media pages for more information and how to register.
We look forward to providing you updates and more resources as we lead up to National Careers Week 2019.


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The material was precious (see Lynx collar above on you-know-who), the event was precious (think swanky cocktail parties), and it was worn by the precious few. Furs!
First there were the fun furs in the rocking 1970's, long hair and funky and inexpensive. Younger people and cheaper prices opened the (vault) door.
The 1980's brought Fred The Furrier who was famous for selling secretaries in NYC mink coats for $1995.00. Anyone walking down the street on a winter's day in The City would see people running to work in their tennis shoes and minks.
The 1990's staged the comeback of the mink stole which was last seen in 1965 suburbia. Now it was being worn by teenagers in Greenwich Village.
The 2000's were a time to swing back against the excesses. Furs, like the country, were suffering from a hangover. Fur was now being remade to look low-key, stay under the fashion radar and be more functional. Lined raincoats were in demand.
Bring in Tom Ford, Prada, Louis Vuitton and the gang and furs moved front and center into the world of fashion. The world's top fashion designers combined their imaginations with the most textural, functional and interesting material, fur. The possibilities became unlimited.
Fur is now a part of every important designer collection year round. Nothing can replace the feel, visual texture, and function of real fur.
Now, welcome to the 2010's where fur has become unimaginably fun and functional at prices ranges that everyone can afford, not just Lady Gaga!
Lady Gaga
Imaged fur made by the world's greatest designers, worn by the stars, the new fur reminds us of the past, inspires the present and makes us wonder about the future.


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AFFIRMATION: I am purified, uplifted, and protected through my connections with the Divine.
Element: Air
Chakra: Third Eye and Crown
Zodiac: Aries, Aquarius, and Pisces
Planet: Uranus
Birthstone: February
To Learn More Read: Amethyst Meaning: Properties and Everyday Use
Stone Details:
• Gemstone: Amethyst Stone
• Diameter: 30-35 mm
• Shape: Flat Disc
• Weight: 10-12 grams
• Handcrafted Item: Gemstones are handled with love and cut from 100% natural stone, please allow for variances in color, shape and size as these stones are nature-made and no two are alike.
Metaphysical Meaning:
Amethyst Meaning
Amethyst is a stone that has been known to help with meditation. The stone brings emotional, physical and psychological harmony. Used for many centuries, amethyst has also been used to bring success and prosperity. Amethyst has also been known to help deal with grieving and letting go of the past. It has a peaceful energy that promotes pure happiness and bliss by enhancing inner strength and awareness.
Chakra - Ajna (Third Eye), Sahasrara (Crown)
Zodiac - universal (especially Pisces, Virgo, Aquarius, Capricorn, Sagittarius, Aries)
Amethyst is a stone of purity and cleanliness. Very good gift for a loved one will be amethyst. This stone promises sweethearts and newlyweds for years cloudless life together, happiness, understanding and undying love. Mineral will teach the owner to subdue and eradicate evil thoughts and intentions will direct the owner to accomplish any good. Amethyst is a powerful protective stone. It reflects the psychic attack, turning negative energy into the energy of love and protection. Amethyst activates spiritual awareness, opens intuition and enhances psychic abilities. It has strong medicinal and healing properties. It calms and stimulates the mind, helping you become more focused, improves memory and improves motivation. Amethyst is a natural tranquilizer, it relieves stress and tension, irritability.
Please note that each disc is unique in appearance as every one of us. Because all of our gemstones are cut from 100% natural stone, there is always color variation. Actual gemstone disc you will receive might not look exactly the same as the one shown in the pictures above, but the color will be similar. We only stock quality gems.
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$30.00 USPS First Class International.
FOREIGN CUSTOMS REGULATIONS AND HOLDS MAY DELAY DELIVERY FOR UP TO 30 DAYS. International buyers may be subject to duty charges. It is the responsibility of the buyer to be informed on the import regulations of their country for duty prices.
**Please note: Customer is responsible for any customs, taxes or duties, if any, related to their order. Certificate of Origin not provided.
Customer Reviews
Beautifully shaped stones shipped fast!
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Political Ideas and Policies
- Shakti Sinha - Director, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi
- Himanshu Roy - Atal Bihari Vajpayee Senior Fellow, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, Teenmurti House, New Delhi
Patel: Political Ideas and Policies comprehensively presents the different facets of Sardar Patel's political life, his ideas and their applications. The book provides a detailed analysis of his perspectives on liberal democracy, nationalism and the state—the three pillars of his political life. Patel's role in the Constituent Assembly, transfer of power, integration of princely states with independent India and their territorial reorganization, administrative reforms, formation of the Planning Commission and creation of India's foreign policy were decisive to the consolidation and the very survival of India as a nation. He played an equally decisive role in the formulation of India's economic policies. After Patel's death in 1950, his contributions to the nation have often been undermined and various negative characteristics have been attributed to him. This book aims to debunk these notions. It is based on the collected works of Patel and attempts to fill in the gap created by the absence of any significant academic work on his life and work.
"A timely book to set Sardar Patel's legacy right… an interdisciplinary study."


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Examining the Role of European Monarchy in the Modern World
In today's world, where monarchies are the exception rather than the norm, the question of the relevancy of royalty often comes up. And just as the governments throughout the world are diverse in their styles of governing, so are the duties of the various royal families. Some serve as a figurehead, with minimal legislative duties, such as King Carl Gustaf of Sweden, while others exercise absolute rule over their kingdoms, such as King Mswati III of Swaziland.
The topic of the role and relevancy of royalty, specifically European royalty, has been in the media lately. Earlier this month, Parade Magazine featured a story about Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark. The article introduced the royal couple, and briefly discussed their roles and future in Denmark.
The British newspaper The Independent compares and contrasts the roles of the European monarchs in a recent article. It also examines the role currently being played by royals from countries that no longer have a monarchy, such as King Constantine of Greece. Arguments on both sides of the issue of the future of monarchy in Europe are discussed.
The subject of monarchy is always a hot topic, and will no doubt continue to inspire debate.
For more information and discussion about the royal families of Europe, please visit the forums and see this article at The Royal Articles.Filed under Miscellaneous
Tagged Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Constantine II of Greece, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, Europe, Monarchy, Mswati III of Swaziland.


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Why Isn't CBD Legal Yet?
The nation is going through a marijuana revolution, but officials throughout the federal government continue to live in the prohibitionist, anti-drug eras of ages past. But that's no longer good enough for many lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
A bipartisan group of Senators and Representatives are increasing pressure on the Food and Drug Administration to release and implement new rules for cannabidiol, or CDB — a non-psychoactive chemical compound found in cannabis — after Congress legalized industrial hemp last year, but lawmakers are increasingly annoyed that officials are dragging their feet. They say it's causing confusion and costing American businesses money.
Last year in the sprawling Farm Bill, lawmakers including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell successfully pushed to include a provision legalizing hemp — a type of cannabis plant that, unlike its cousin marijuana, contains less than .3 percent THC, the psychoactive component in pot — and its derivatives, which some lawmakers say explicitly meant legalizing CBD. But without formal guidance from the FDA, state and local officials from New York to Nebraska have started cracking down on the non-psychoactive compound.
Now, these lawmakers are demanding answers from the agency.
"In light of the aforementioned state enforcement actions and the resulting confusion, we are calling on FDA to swiftly provide guidance on lawful pathways for food products with CBD," Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) and 11 other lawmakers wrote FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb last month. But today he unexpectedly resigned, which could further delay the agency's action.
Hemp production is a growing market for farmers and rural communities across the country. We're urging Commissioner @ScottGottliebMD to provide lawful pathways for hemp-derived #CBD products. #mepolitics
Read our letter ⤵ pic.twitter.com/SSEdlNlFfG
— Chellie Pingree (@chelliepingree) February 19, 2019
Specifically, they want to know when the agency will release guidance for CBD products, and if the FDA is reaching out to the states and localities that are cracking down on CBD and alerting them that the products are now legal. They also are pressing the agency on when it plans to hold its long-promised public hearing on the issue.
The FDA's slow movement on the rules is especially frustrating lawmakers who have waited years for the federal law to change on hemp and CBD. Back in 2012, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced the first hemp legalization bill after going to Costco with his wife and seeing foreign-made CBD products, but not American made ones.
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"If you can buy [it] at Costco you ought to be able to grow it in Oregon, so our farmers end up winning and farmers in Canada and China aren't laughing all the way to the bank," Wyden tells Rolling Stone.
Wyden teamed up with Leader McConnell and others to usher the legalization of hemp through Congress, but now the FDA seems to be the remaining roadblock. Part of the confusion stems from the nation's continued criminalization of marijuana, which is still listed as a Schedule I narcotic, along with heroin. "The bill legalized hemp and its derivatives, which means CBD," Wyden says. "The FDA just hasn't stepped up to affirmatively update its regulations so they comply with federal law."
Wyden says he gets asked a lot if the FDA is going after CBD companies, and so far it seems that only state and local authorities are the ones spearheading these crackdowns. "We don't see evidence of that, but the fact that they haven't updated the law is taking a toll," Wyden says.
One problem for companies who are trying to take advantage of the new law is the fear over selling their products interstate, so until the FDA acts, some lawyers are counseling CBD companies to only sell their products within the states that they're based. That might keep them safe from feds, but it cuts them off from a massive market that's open to their foreign competitors — and that's why lawmakers are trying to pressure the agency to act swiftly.
"These agencies by and large move at glacial speed unless somebody comes along and pushes them," Wyden said.
But so far the agency has only pointed to a statement from Commissioner Gottlieb from back in December on the day the act was signed into law by President Donald Trump. A request for comment since he announced his resignation was not immediately returned.
"Given the substantial public interest in this topic and the clear interest of Congress in fostering the development of appropriate hemp products, we intend to hold a public meeting in the near future for stakeholders to share their experiences and challenges with these products, including information and views related to the safety of such products," part of that letter reads.
The FDA says it also plans to respond directly to the members of Congress, but they've been given no timeline for action.
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"We're planning to seek broad public input on this pathway, including information on the science and safety behind CBD. But we know that this process could take time," Gottlieb said at a conference last week. "So we're also interested in hearing from stakeholders and talking to Congress on possible alternative approaches to make sure that we have an appropriately efficient and predictable regulatory framework for regulating CBD products."
Without strong FDA guidelines, critics say there's another huge problem plaguing the nation's new CBD industry: Mislabeling.
In 2017, the Journal of the American Medical Association examined 84 CBD products and only found that 31 percent of them were labeled accurately, and that 20 percent of them contained THC.
"When we see [studies showing] large swaths of this marketplace are selling products that either contain no CBD whatsoever or contain elements of THC, then those that are seeking therapeutic benefits aren't able to be able to develop a regiment that works for them," Justin Strekal, the political director with marijuana advocacy group NORML, told Rolling Stone. "We wouldn't allow companies to say that they're selling Tylenol and they're only selling sugar cubes."
That's partly why Strekal and others want to the FDA to step in, but merely having rules sent down from that agency won't do a thing to change some state and local government's laws that prohibit CBD. That's why advocates say more work needs to be done at the local level to align their laws with the new federal statute legalizing the substance.
"It's absurd that this would be something that law enforcement prioritizes, when there are so many other issues that they could be spending their time on, but they are enforcing the letter of the law. And that's why it's imperative that we change the laws," Strekyl said.
But having the FDA send down its new guidelines will also help spur states to act, along with providing consumers with the knowledge that they can trust the products labeled CBD at their local stores. That's why lawmakers and advocates continue to exert pressure from every angle they can, which for federal lawmakers starts with pressuring the FDA to act.
"We're really trying to grab this from the grassroots up and make sure that they get out of the bureaucratic mode and actually put out the rules and state affirmatively: You can do it, because guess what? Quaint idea — it's federal law," Sen. Wyden of Oregon said. "It's what Congress said. The law says hemp and its derivatives."


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Top Items:
Women detail drug use, sex and payments after late-night parties with Gaetz and others — 'Bombastic, antagonistic, unapologetic': A look at Gaetz's political career — Orlando, FL (CNN)The first thing some of the women were asked to do when they got to the house parties in the gated community …
Discussion: The Daily Beast, Talking Points Memo, HotAir, HillReporter.com, Insider, Mediaite and Raw Story
Jamie Ross / The Daily Beast: Gaetz Attended Champagne-Fueled Sex Parties With Other GOP Officials, Two Women Tell CNN
Zoë Richards / Talking Points Memo: CNN: Women Who Partied With Gaetz Detail Drug Scene And Payments Provided For Sex
Ed Morrissey / HotAir: Sex, drugs, and payments: Two women dish to CNN on Gaetz' partying in Florida, but ...
Timothy Evans / HillReporter.com: REPORT: Women Detail Drug Use, Sex and Payments After Parties With Gaetz And Others
Thomas Colson / Insider: Matt Gaetz's iPhone seized by the FBI in sex trafficking probe, as associate cooperates with investigation
Ken Meyer / Mediaite: Two Women Detail Drug and Sex Fueled Parties With Matt Gaetz in Interviews With CNN
Brad Reed / Raw Story: Women who say they attended Matt Gaetz parties detail 'drug use, sex and payments'
New York Times:
Indicted Gaetz Associate Is Said to Be Cooperating With Justice Dept. — Joel Greenberg, a former elected official in Florida, has been talking to federal investigators since last year about the conduct of Representative Matt Gaetz and others. — A former local official in Florida indicted …
Discussion: Fox News, Insider, HuffPost, New York Post, Talking Points Memo, floridapolitics.com, Washington Post, The Week, CNN, Eschaton, Raw Story, KDFX-TV, POLITICUSUSA, New York Magazine, Mediaite and Forbes
Marisa Schultz / Fox News: Gaetz connection Joel Greenberg has fed info to investigators since 2020, report says
Sonam Sheth / Insider: Rep. Matt Gaetz attended drug-fueled parties where attendees sometimes had sex and money changed hands, report says
Josephine Harvey / HuffPost: Matt Gaetz's iPhone Is Seized; Associate Talks In Sex Trafficking Probe: Reports
Yaron Steinbuch / New York Post: Matt Gaetz's indicted associate reportedly cooperating with feds since last year
Cristina Cabrera / Talking Points Memo: Report: Gaetz Buddy Greenberg Assisting Feds In Investigation Into Lawmaker
Jacob Ogles / floridapolitics.com: Matt Gaetz under fire: Here's what we know
Matt Zapotosky / Washington Post: Gaetz associate said to be cooperating with prosecutors in investigation of the congressman
Peter Weber / The Week: The girl at the center of the Matt Gaetz investigation also reportedly went on his scrutinized Bahamas trip
Matthew Chapman / Raw Story: Joel Greenberg's cooperation is 'the worst news Gaetz can possibly get': Ex-prosecutor Elie Honig
KDFX-TV: New York Times: Matt Gaetz associate has been cooperating with Justice Department since last year
Jason Easley / POLITICUSUSA: Matt Gaetz's Sex Trafficking Pal Is Cooperating With The Feds To Bring Him Down
Gideon Taaffe / Mediaite: Gaetz Dismisses Question from CNN About Scandal: Your Network Trying to 'Propagandize Lies About Me'
New details shed light on Gaetz's Bahamas trip — MIAMI — The group took off for their Bahamas weekend getaway on three separate flights. Most of the passengers, which included at least five young women, flew out of Orlando on two separate private planes. Matt Gaetz flew commercial.
Discussion: Insider, Talking Points Memo, Mock Paper Scissors, Raw Story, The Week and Florida Politics
Kelly McLaughlin / Insider: A woman who traveled to the Bahamas with Rep. Matt Gaetz in 2018 says no one was underage on the trip, according to Politico
Zoë Richards / Talking Points Memo: New Details Revealed In Gaetz Bahamas Trip
Tengrain / Mock Paper Scissors: PizzaGaetz, Cont. — Long-in-the-tooth Prom King Matt Gaetz' mobile phone was seized by …
David Badash / Raw Story: Federal agents investigating Matt Gaetz obtained a search warrant and seized his iPhone: report
Catherine Garcia / The Week: Report: Gaetz associate has been cooperating with federal investigators since last year
Gaetz's glare stings House GOP — but his future's safe for now
Gaetz's glare stings House GOP — but his future's safe for now
Discussion: Associated Press, Raw Story and RedState
David Edwards / Raw Story: 'I haven't seen him': Matt Gaetz skips GOP conference meeting where lawmakers pretend he doesn't exist
Jennifer Oliver O'Connell / RedState: One Last Piece of Advice for Matt Gaetz: Find New Friends
Abby Livingston / The Texas Tribune:
Republican U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady will retire from Congress at the end of his term — The Montgomery County Republican has served in Congress for more than two decades. — Copy link — WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, announced Wednesday morning that this will be his last term serving in the U.S. House.
Discussion: The Hill
Cristina Marcos / The Hill: GOP Rep. Kevin Brady won't seek reelection
David Mark / Washington Examiner:
Kevin Brady, architect of Trump tax cut law, to retire from the House — Embed: — Rep. Kevin Brady, a Texas Republican who helped write key portions of the 2017 tax cut law pushed by then-President Donald Trump, won't run for reelection in 2022. — Brady was first elected …
Kevin Breuninger / CNBC: GOP Rep. Kevin Brady, top House tax writer for Trump cuts, will retire at end of term
Fox News: Texas Rep. Kevin Brady, top Republican on powerful Ways and Means committee, to retire from Congress
Brian Faler / Politico: Rep. Kevin Brady announces retirement
Reagan McCarthy / Townhall: Top House Republican Will Not Seek Reelection in 2022 Midterms
Luke Broadwater / New York Times:
Capitol Police Told to Hold Back on Riot Response on Jan. 6, Report Finds — Despite being tipped that "Congress itself is the target" on Jan. 6, Capitol Police were ordered not to use their most powerful crowd-control weapons, according to a scathing new watchdog report.
Discussion: NBC News, NPR, New York Post, Talking Points Memo, Associated Press, HotAir, BizPac Review, The Week, Insider, Liberty Unyielding, Raw Story and Political Wire
Claudia Grisales / NPR: Report: Capitol Police Were Warned, 'Congress Itself Is The Target'
Mark Moore / New York Post: Capitol riot report reveals police were told to hold back, weapons failed
Cristina Cabrera / Talking Points Memo: USCP Leadership Barred Officers From Using Strongest Non-Lethal Weapons On Jan. 6, IG Finds
Mary Clare Jalonick / Associated Press: Report: Broad missteps left Capitol Police unprepared Jan. 6
Vivek Saxena / BizPac Review: Capitol riot 'stand down' confirmed: IG report finds U.S. Capitol Police were warned multiple times
Harold Maass / The Week: 10 things you need to know today: April 14, 2021
Lauren Frias / Insider: Capitol Police officers were ordered to not use most aggressive crowd-control tactics against January 6 mob, watchdog report reveals
Bill Sanderson / Liberty Unyielding: IG report: Capitol Police ill-prepared for riot, in spite of prior warnings
Matthew Chapman / Raw Story: Capitol Police were told to stand down from certain riot control tactics during pro-Trump invasion: report
Taegan Goddard / Political Wire: Capitol Police Told to Hold Back on Riot Response
USA Today:
Pelosi on Jan. 6: 'They would have had a battle on their hands' if the mob had caught her — WASHINGTON - On her 100th day as speaker of the 117th Congress, Nancy Pelosi discussed the dramatic events that opened her tenure, when a mob that stormed the Capitol wanted to kill her.
Discussion: The Hill, BizPac Review, TheBlaze, IJR, Louder With Crowder, CNN, POLITICUSUSA, Insider, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, The American Independent and New York Post
Sarah Polus / The Hill: Pelosi says she would have put up a fight against Capitol mob: 'I'm a street fighter'
Jon Dougherty / BizPac Review: 'Street fighter' Nancy Pelosi said she was ready to do battle with Capitol rioters: 'I'm pretty tough'
Chris Field / TheBlaze: Nancy Pelosi says Capitol rioters would have had a fight on their hands had they caught her: 'I'm pretty tough. I'm a street fighter.'
Savannah Rychcik / IJR: Pelosi Discusses What Could Be on the Table if Commission for Capitol Riot Negotiations Fail
Brodigan / Louder With Crowder: Nancy Pelosi Claims She Would've Whacked Capitol Rioters with Her Stiletto, Declares She's a 'Street Fighter'
Devan Cole / CNN: Pelosi says she would be open to abandoning 9/11-style commission for Capitol riot if efforts remain stalled
Alan Ryland / POLITICUSUSA: Pelosi Signals Support for 9/11-Style Commission to Investigate Capitol Riot
Sinéad Baker / Insider: Nancy Pelosi said she would have fought the Capitol rioters if they found her: 'I'm a street fighter'
Ashley Carnahan / The Daily Caller: 'I'm A Street Fighter': Pelosi Says She Would Have Fought Capitol Rioters
Gideon Taaffe / Mediaite: Pelosi Says She Would Have Fought If Capitol Rioters Found Her: 'I'm Pretty Tough. I'm a Street Fighter'
POLITICO Playbook: 'A gaslighting chamber of insanity': Moderate Republicans seethe at Biden — DRIVING THE DAY — "It's a f—ing nightmare." — That was the lament of a staffer working for one of the members of the so-called G-10, the group of 10 Republican senators who insist they're itching …
Discussion: CNN, Reuters, New York Times, Washington Post, Yahoo News, Charlie Kirk, The Week, Raw Story and Defense One
Chandelis Duster / CNN: Schumer praises Biden's 'careful and thought-out plan' for Afghanistan
Marc Thiessen / Washington Post: Biden is making the Trump presidency seem like a golden age of unity
James Pethokoukis / The Week: The GOP's economic confusion
Travis Gettys / Raw Story: 'Constantly rubbing dirt in our face': GOP senators complain Biden keeps passing bills without them
David Ignatius / Washington Post:
History will cast a shadow over Biden's decision to withdraw from Afghanistan
History will cast a shadow over Biden's decision to withdraw from Afghanistan
Discussion: Fox News, National Review, Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy
Brooke Singman / Fox News: Biden faces bipartisan pushback over plan to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11
Zachary Evans / National Review: Biden to Announce It's 'Time to End America's Longest War' in Afghanistan Speech
Carter Malkasian / Foreign Affairs: The Taliban Are Ready to Exploit America's Exit
The Economist:
Joe Biden gives up on the war in Afghanistan, leaving a weak ally
Joe Biden gives up on the war in Afghanistan, leaving a weak ally
Discussion: USA Today, The Hill, New York Times, Al Jazeera, SpyTalk, Outside the Beltway and HuffPost
Joey Garrison / USA Today: 'It is time to end America's longest war': Biden addresses Afghanistan withdrawal today
Thomas Gibbons-Neff / New York Times: Afghans Wonder 'What About Me?' as American Troops Prepare to Withdraw
Jeff Stein / SpyTalk: CIA's Big Afghanistan Problem
James Joyner / Outside the Beltway: Leaving Afghanistan After Only 20 Years
Akbar Shahid Ahmed / HuffPost: Biden Aims To Withdraw U.S. Troops From Afghanistan By Sept. 11, 2021
George Packer / The Atlantic:
Biden Can Redeem His Mistake
Biden Can Redeem His Mistake
Discussion: CNN and Washington Post
Kevin Liptak / CNN: Biden prepares to leave America's longest war
Justin Baragona / The Daily Beast:
Lindsey Graham Claims Biden Is 'Paving the Way for Another 9/11'
Lindsey Graham Claims Biden Is 'Paving the Way for Another 9/11'
Discussion: HillReporter.com, Raw Story and The Daily Beast
Todd Neikirk / HillReporter.com: WATCH: Lindsey Graham Says Biden's Foreign Policy is Opening the Door for Terrorist Attacks
Meaghan Ellis / Raw Story: 'Another 9/11': Lindsey Graham launches an attack on Biden — and Twitter returns the favor
New York Times:
Hundreds of Companies Unite to Oppose Voting Limits, but Others Abstain — Amazon, Google, G.M. and Starbucks were among those joining the biggest show of solidarity by businesses over legislation in numerous states. — Amazon, BlackRock, Google, Warren Buffett and hundreds of other companies …
Judy Kurtz / The Hill: Hollywood stars, business leaders sign open letter opposing new voting restrictions
Mike Brest / Washington Examiner: Hundreds of company executives sign letter defending 'the right to vote'
Hannah Miao / CNBC: Hundreds of corporations, business leaders, celebs sign statement against voting restrictions
Greg Sargent / Washington Post: Inside the GOP playbook: Attack 'woke' corporations, protect their low tax rates
Brian Welk / The Wrap: Netflix, Amazon, ViacomCBS, UTA and Celebs Join Hundreds of Corporations in Condemning Georgia Voting Laws
Michael Hiltzik / Los Angeles Times: Column: 100 CEOs met to discuss opposing anti-voting laws. Don't expect them to do anything
Andrew Trunsky / The Daily Caller: Hundreds Of Corporations, Celebrities Announce Opposition To GOP Voting Reforms
Insider: Hundreds of American companies signed a new statement opposing voting-restriction laws - here's who signed and who didn't
Emily Singer / The American Independent: 'We stand for democracy': Hundreds of companies sign statement against voter suppression
Zachary Evans / National Review: Amazon, Google Join Hundreds of American Corporations in Signing Letter Opposing Voting Limits
New York Times:
The C.E.O.s Who Didn't Sign a Big Defense of Voting Rights
The C.E.O.s Who Didn't Sign a Big Defense of Voting Rights
Natasha Dailey / Insider: Walmart, Delta, and Coca-Cola refused to join hundreds of other companies in opposing restrictive voting laws - here's why
Tony Romm / Washington Post:
Democrats signal limited patience for GOP opposition to Biden infrastructure package — They are warming to the idea of using budget 'reconciliation,' which would allow them to bypass Republicans but could carry other risks — Top Senate Democrats on Tuesday signaled they may have no choice …
Discussion: Washington Examiner, KDFX-TV and Axios
Naomi Lim / Washington Examiner: Biden's 'infrastructure' package sets tax trap for Democrats with few 'pay-for' alternatives
Caitlin Owens / Axios: Democrats, led by Biden, are aiming big on health care
Ronn Blitzer / Fox News:
Biden accompanies first lady to appointment for 'common medical procedure'
Biden accompanies first lady to appointment for 'common medical procedure'
Discussion: Washington Examiner
Andrew Feinberg / The Independent:
Biden's White House communications strategy is driving Republicans insane
Biden's White House communications strategy is driving Republicans insane
Discussion: POLITICUSUSA and Raw Story
Nancy Pelosi / Speaker Nancy Pelosi:
Pelosi Invites President Biden to Address Joint Session of Congress on April 28
Pelosi Invites President Biden to Address Joint Session of Congress on April 28
Discussion: Forbes, The Hill, CNN, National Review, HuffPost, The Daily Caller, New York Times, New York Post, Political Wire, Washington Post and UPI
Jack Brewster / Forbes: How Biden's Approval Rating Compares To Trump, Obama And Other Presidents After Nearly 100 Days
Zachary Evans / National Review: Biden to Push $2 Trillion Infrastructure Package in Address to Joint Session of Congress
Traci Carl / New York Times: Pelosi invites Biden to address a joint session of Congress on April 28.
Taegan Goddard / Political Wire: Biden to Address Joint Session on April 28
Washington Post: Biden laments strain on Capitol Police as he speaks in personal terms at slain officer's service
Peter Weber / The Week:
Late night hosts list things more dangerous than Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, including COVID-19 — "In the last few months, we've gotten all sorts of vaccines — Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Montero — but for at least a little while, it looks like there's gonna be one less," Trevor Noah said on Tuesday's Daily Show.
Discussion: New York Times, HotAir, Washington Post and Vox
Allahpundit / HotAir: Biden COVID transition advisor: Look, just trust the experts about whether pausing J&J was the right decision
Jonathan Cohn / HuffPost:
Why Pause The J&J Vaccine? An Expert Explains The Decision
Why Pause The J&J Vaccine? An Expert Explains The Decision
Discussion: CBS News, Fox News, Indian Country Today and Charlie Kirk
CBS News: Watch Live: CDC advisory committee to vote on "updated recommendations" for use of Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine
Tucker Carlson / Fox News: Two COVID vaccine questions that no one will answer
Press Pool / Indian Country Today: Use of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines paused on the Navajo Nation in accordance with federal recommendations
Tammy Bruce / Washington Times:
Going grifting via Black Lives Matter — Co-opting a serious social issue, leftist groups exact virtue-signal payments — but don't tell Twitter — ANALYSIS/OPINION: — "How to Become Rich Using Marxism, For Dummies" could have been the alternative title for Karl Marx's famous screed …
Andrew Kerr / The Daily Caller:
BLM's 'Marxist' Co-Founder Raked In $20,000 A Month As Chairwoman Of Jail Reform Group
BLM's 'Marxist' Co-Founder Raked In $20,000 A Month As Chairwoman Of Jail Reform Group
Discussion: Breitbart, BizPac Review, Ace of Spades HQ and RedState
John Nolte / Breitbart: Head of NY BLM Calls for Investigation into Cofounder's Million Dollar Home Purchases
Terresa Monroe-Hamilton / BizPac Review: BLM defends co-founder's $1.4M mansion, calls reporting 'tradition of terror by white supremacists'
Diana B. Henriques / New York Times:
Bernard Madoff, Architect of Largest Ponzi Scheme in History, Is Dead at 82 — His enormous fraud left behind a devastating human toll and paper losses totaling $64.8 billion. — Bernard L. Madoff, the one-time senior statesman of Wall Street who in 2008 became the human face of an era …
Discussion: NBC News, The Daily Beast, The Hill, Gothamist, The Daily Caller and Meduza.io
Ethan Sacks / NBC News: Bernie Madoff, mastermind behind largest Ponzi scheme in history, dies at 82
Olafimihan Oshin / The Hill: Bernie Madoff dead at 82
Michael Ginsberg / The Daily Caller: REPORT: Bernie Madoff Dies In Prison
Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
Bad news for journalists: The public doesn't share our values. But there's hope. — Ask almost any group of journalists to name the core values of their profession, and they'll probably deliver a list like this: — Oversight. We're the watchdogs keeping an eye on government officials and other powerful people and institutions.
Discussion: Twitchy
Steve Contorno / Tampa Bay Times:
DeSantis wants voters' signatures to match. Would his pass the test? — If the Florida governor gets his way, mail-in ballot signatures would have to match the most recent signature on file with the state. His own signature history shows how autographs evolve. — Updated Just now
Discussion: NBC 6 South Florida and The Intellectualist
American Greatness:
Get Ready to Rumble With Big Business — Woke corporations aren't our friends and we should stop acting like they are. If they want to play games with our rights, we should beat them like rented mules when it comes to their bottom line. — Serious question: Who died …
Washington Post:
Trump didn't bring White working-class voters to the Republican Party. The data suggest he kept them away. — White working-class voters had been moving to the Republican Party for years. Trump stopped the trend. — Republican leaders have been hailing a class realignment of the parties.
Discussion: New York Magazine and Raw Story
Daniel Strauss / The Guardian:
The veteran air force pilot hoping to oust scandal-hit Republican Matt Gaetz — Bryan Jones will challenge the congressman, who is under investigation for alleged sex trafficking, in the next primary — A veteran air force pilot is laying the groundwork to challenge the scandal-hit congressman Matt Gaetz …
Discussion: Political Wire
Taegan Goddard / Political Wire: Matt Gaetz Has a Primary Challenger
Radio Free Asia:
China Smears Former Xinjiang Residents Who Testified About Abuses in the Region — Among the 13 is an RFA Uyghur Service reporter Beijing says is on a 'terrorist watchlist.' — China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has denounced more than a dozen former residents of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region …
Anand Giridharadas / The Atlantic:
Welcome to the New Progressive Era — Washington in the first days of the Biden administration is a place for double takes: A president associated with the politics of austerity is spending money with focused gusto, a crisis isn't going to waste, and Senator Bernie Sanders is happy.
Public Policy Polling:
McAuliffe Has Commanding Lead in Primary — PPP's newest Virginia poll continues to find Terry McAuliffe with a strong advantage in the primary for Governor. McAuliffe is at 42% with the rest of the Democratic hopefuls in single digits. Jennifer Carroll Foy and Jennifer McClellan each get 8% …
Discussion: The Hill and Blue Virginia
Anna Peele / Vulture:
The Soul of Bravo A year of national reckonings on race and inequality has tested how real the Housewives should be. — In 2020, Leva Bonaparte considered a job opportunity. Bravo had been pursuing the hospitality executive for years in an attempt to get her to join the cast of Southern Charm.
Maura Judkis / Washington Post:
A minor investigation into the Bidens' Major problem — The Goldwater Rule prohibits mental health professionals from diagnosing presidents from afar. It does not, however, apply to their pets. And so we must respectfully ask: What's the deal with Major Biden?
Charles Creitz / Fox News:
Self-identified Antifa members arrive in Twin Cities area as Brooklyn Center protests continue — 'I saw leaf-blowers out there, different kinds of ... makeshift shields and things,' said Mike Tobin. — FOX reporter Mike Tobin: Some rioters identified themselves as Antifa
Discussion: RedState
Jonah E. Bromwich / New York Times:
Court Vindicates Black Officer Fired for Stopping Colleague's Chokehold — Cariol Horne acted to keep a white officer from using what she saw as excessive force. Fifteen years later, a judge said her firing was wrong. — It was a cold November day in Buffalo when Officer Cariol Horne responded …
"I Felt Hate More Than Anything": How an Active Duty Airman Tried to Start a Civil War — Steven Carrillo's path to the Boogaloo Bois shows the hate group is far more organized and dangerous than previously known. … Co-published with FRONTLINE. — The Insurrection — The Effort to Overturn the Election
Discussion: Defense One
Debbie Kaminer / New York Daily News:
There's no vaccine for hypocrisy — The latest battle in the COVID-19 culture wars involves "vaccine passports," with some Republican leaders taking a surprisingly anti-business and pro-regulation stance. Despite the term's ubiquity, there is no one official vaccine passport …
Washington Post:
The FBI wanted to unlock the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone. It turned to a little-known Australian firm. — Azimuth unlocked the iPhone at the center of an epic legal battle between the FBI and Apple. Now, Apple is suing the company co-founded by one of the hackers behind the unlock.
Washington Post:
Caron Nazario saw Eric Garner, his 'uncle,' die in police hands. Then officers assaulted him six years later. — For a moment, as the video played on his cellphone, Charles Welch thought he was about to watch a White police officer kill one of his family members for the second time.
Discussion: The Bulwark, The Week and Politico
Mona Charen / The Bulwark: Not Every Tragedy Is a Racial Lesson
Tim O'Donnell / The Week: Army officer allegedly assaulted by Virginia police is related to Eric Garner
Brakkton Booker / Politico: Driving While Black is still a death sentence
Katie Glueck / New York Times:
New Target for New York's Ascendant Left: Rep. Carolyn Maloney — Justice Democrats, a left-wing group that fueled the rise of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is backing Rana Abdelhamid's primary bid. — Nearly three years ago, a little-known left-wing organization helped engineer …
Daniel Marans / HuffPost: Progressive Activist Rana Abdelhamid Announces Run Against Rep. Carolyn Maloney
Julia Manchester / The Hill: Carolyn Maloney will face Justice Democrats-backed primary challenger
Gregory Krieg / CNN: Justice Democrats-backed activist Rana Abdelhamid challenges Rep. Carolyn Maloney in New York


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Digital & Technology Trends Influencing SEO in 2017
New demands from users, increasing business competition, and powerful new technologies and processes merge repeatedly in a digital dance that makes it challenging to establish a consistent presence on the search results pages.
Those enterprises will a virtual eye to the future (along with a real footing in the digital space) however know that they need to optimize now for success in the future. Let's take a look at a few of the trend most import to search engine optimization success.
Schema Markup
While adoption of schema markup has been slow among mid-tier and small enteprises, those digital destinations that have made the effort to implement are experiencing big benefits in the form of differentiated listings on the search results.
Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)
In the quest to reduce page load speeds and optimize the mobile experience, Google has thrown its considerable weight to supporting those brands integrating AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages). Those that have adopted the framework are finding their listings in high profile locations such as the carousel on the search results pages.
Content Density & Variance
The Web is built on content and no interactions takes place without users encountering content somewhere along their conversion journey. Enterprises are becoming more savvy and sophisticated in their development efforts so expects to see more in-depth, detailed and focused content in a variety of formats in the future.
Voice-Driven Search
The noise level is about to go up. The volume of queries conducted by voice (thanks to intelligent digital assistants driven in part by AI and machine learning) has exploded and search engines have responded by providing a much more nuanced and immersive experience.
AI & Machine Learning
Search engines have become more powerful than ever before thanks to their investment in machine learning and artificial intelligence. Users can expect a more intelligent and refined search experience based on their personal information journey, and it will be the responsibility of brands to produce content each step along the way.


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A former Arkansas lawmaker has been charged with conspiracy in an alleged bribery scheme with an ex-judge who admitted to lowering a jury's award in a negligence lawsuit in exchange for campaign contributions.
A federal indictment unsealed Friday shows former state Sen. Gilbert Baker was also charged with bribery and wire fraud in connection to the scheme involving former Judge Michael Maggio. Maggio admitted in 2015 to accepting campaign donations from a nursing home company owner, then reducing a judgment against that company from $5.2 million to $1 million.
The indictment alleges Baker conspired with Maggio to direct the owner's contributions to the judge. The contributions were funneled to Maggio through eight political action committees that Baker had an attorney set up.
Baker is a former Arkansas Republican Party chairman who unsuccessfully ran for the GOP nomination for a U.S. Senate seat in 2010. Baker's attorneys said he never asked Maggio, the nursing home company owner or anyone else to do anything improper or illegal, and that no one asked him to do anything improper or illegal.
"All campaign contributions in 2013 were handled lawfully and were transparently reported in public records," attorneys Richard Watts and Bud Cummins said in a statement. "After over five years of investigation Mr. Baker is confident that the truth will finally be made known."
Maggio accepted the contributions during a bid for the state Court of Appeals that he abandoned three months before the election. Baker, who was a fundraiser for Maggio's bid, told the judge over the summer that the nursing home owner "was watching the civil lawsuit and would appreciate Maggio making a favorable decision," according to the indictment.
The indictment names the owner only as "Individual A," though he's previously been identified as Michael Morton. Morton has not been charged in the case and a spokesman denied he sought anything in exchange for his contributions.
"Mr. Morton maintains that while he made campaign contributions to numerous candidates for the 2014 election, he never asked for anything in return from any candidate," Matt DeCample, a spokesman for Morton, said in a statement. "He never discussed reducing a jury verdict in any case with anybody. Morton discussed this at length with the U.S. Attorney's Office in 2014 and it remains the truth today."
The indictment is the latest in ongoing federal corruption cases that have involved Arkansas lawmakers and lobbyists and have compelled legislative leaders to call cleaning up the Capitol's reputation as one of their top priorities this session.
The probes prompted the Senate to overhaul its ethics rules last year. Earlier Friday, legislative leaders and the governor told reporters they expected changes to the state's ethics laws including an increase in fines for some violations.
"It's culminated now, and it has to stop," incoming Senate President Jim Hendren said.


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What are the social conditions in Lebanon that are leading people to protest in Lebanon? Can you tell us what happened in the last few weeks on the streets of Beirut? What are the images that struck you most in this street protest?
Before I answer this question, allow me to give you a brief overview of the political economy of Lebanon.
Since its post-independence era, Lebanon has historically been the favoured site for consecutive laissez-faire and neoliberal experimentation. The erection of a robust banking sector that transcended national capital alongside the formation of the state has been one of the hallmarks of state and class formation in Lebanon. Fleeing the formation of the Zionist state, Palestinian capital in the late 1940s onwards, Egyptian, Syrian and Iraqi capital escaping nationalisation back home in the early 1960 and surplus capital from the Gulf from the 1970s onwards has precipitated the solidification of a deregulated banking sector that has, since its inception adopted one of the most unfettered forms of laissez-faire capitalism. The banking sector in Lebanon has been transnational in nature since its inception.
The Lebanese uprising that started on 17 October 2019 is the result of an accumulation of almost 30 years of austerity measures that have exponentially accelerated in the last couple of months mostly manifesting in the instability of the local currency that has resulted in bread and gasoline shortages all over Lebanon. The Lebanese Central Bank has been subjecting the country to countless speculative measures in order to stabilise the Lebanese lira loosely tying it to the dollar solvency. The import/export deficit is, in part, responsible for the disappearing dollar liquidity but this ratio does not tell the whole story. Most of the Central Bank's monetary and financial measures have also been contingent upon the liquidity of the dollar currency, i.e. either a constant flow of foreign direct investments, huge state loans or remittances. Given the increasing shortages in these three forms of dollar flows in the country, due in no small part to the catastrophic public debt that sucks a large part of the dollar deposits and channels them to debtors and local banks, currency instability has become the norm. Last year when local banks (who own most of the public debt) stopped providing housing loans. The housing loans had been frozen between March and September of last year, following the depletion of the support package provided by the Central Bank. In late January, the Central Bank launched a new "stimulus package" worth over $1 billion, the eighth such package since 2012. Against a backdrop of persistent low economic growth and high interest rates, such packages aim to support construction and real estate sectors of the economy through subsidised loans granted through local banks. These packages are nothing more than a reallocation of wealth that aim to postpone the imminent crisis while ensuring that the realisation of capital is reproduced through the local banks-real-estate-construction sector, a financial trilogy that has been benefitting of most of the capital reproduction under the Hariri era. By allocating nearly half of each year's package to housing loans, the Central Bank and the Lebanese government act as an intermediary that ensures the viability of the banking sector's capital reproduction (estimated at $4billion per year), the manufactured shoring up of housing demand and the prevention of a collapse in prices that keeps the real-estate sector afloat. This year, the instability in the currency manifested itself in early October in blocked cash withdrawals and currency conversions by local banks that claimed to be suffering from dollar shortages. This, in turn, forced bakeries and petrol stations to shut their doors, due to the fact that they are obliged to buy their commodities in dollars and are to earn profits in a devalued local currency. Even though this financial crisis was temporarily postponed, a series of wildfires that have ravaged the country in mid October exposed the consequences of austerity measures on the state's response to catastrophes. The straw that broke the camel's back came in the form of last week's cabinet meeting that discussed and approved a new round of austerity measures to be deployed to conform with the IMF and the World Bank's conditions. The CEDRE conference, an international conference in support of Lebanon development and reforms, hosted in April 2018 helped secure soft loans that provide around $10.2 billion and grants amounting to around $800 million to the Lebanese state conditioned by harsher austerity measures to be applied within a year of the conference. The four pillars of the conference include: increasing the level of public and private investment; ensuring economic and financial stability through fiscal adjustment; undertaking essential sectoral and cross-sectoral reforms, including fighting corruption and the modernisation of the public sector and public finance management; and developing a strategy for the reinforcement and diversification of Lebanon's productive sectors and the realisation of its export potential. These pillars, if properly discursively deconstructed, constitute a clear imposition of further privatisation of most of the revenue making sectors of the Lebanese state (mainly telecommunications, which is still profitable due to the fact that it is one of the most expensive services in the world) and an attempt to replace the Lebanese state's infrastructure budget with FDIs (Foreign Direct Investment have dropped from 16% in 2003 to a meagre 0.8% this year which explains the IMF and the World Bank's enthusiasm in filling in the gaps and the economic crisis that has precipitated this revolution). The message at the CEDRE conference was clear: If the Lebanese government is unable to increase austerity measures by increasing taxes, it will then ensure the sale of public property, i.e. large sections of the Beirut Port, the Middle East Airlines, Airport Services, the Beirut Stock Exchange, the Regie Libanaise, the national Casino, future Oil Installations, and others. One of CEDRE's main conditions also implied that the government would refrain from spending on infrastructure projects, i.e. stopping all projects related to infrastructure that stimulates growth and job creation. In essence then, the CEDRE conference aims to monetize the deepening of the economic crisis by imposing privatisation and FDIs as the only viable alternative to what is perceived as the corruption of the public sector. A message that has been clearly adopted by Hariri's latest speech last Monday in response to increasing pressure from the streets where he has vowed to further privatize several public sectors and gave a go-ahead to LINOR and ELISSAR real-estate projects. These huge real estate projects are nothing more than an attempt by Hariri to franchise the Solidere project in the periphery of Beirut and Metn district. Under pressure from the streets, Hariri also declared on Monday that the government would not impose any new direct or indirect taxes, during the year 2020 without giving assurances about later years. Also announcing an additional tax on large bank transactions and profits that amounts to $600 million only applicable during 2020 along with progressive taxation and slashing government and parliamentary salaries by half. These series of reforms were just meant to deflate the momentum and divert the anger away from Hariri, as he claimed that these reforms were part of his initial plan but we derailed due to interferences from other sections in the ruling class. People responded in kind by flooding the streets where they live, regrouping in its biggest squares and demanding the fall of the regime. "We do not trust the government nor do we trust Hariri" was the word of the day on Monday night and Tuesday where it was reported that more than 2.5 million people roamed the streets of Lebanon across more than 30 cities. Since Rafic Hariri came to power in the early 1990s, the economy has been completely reliant on foreign investment because of its over-reliance on the dollar currency that is linked to the stabilisation of the Lebanese lira. Furthermore, the monetary system guarantees a fixed exchange rate while adopting a high interest rate on the differential between the Lebanese pound and the dollar, which allows not only banks to make significant profits but also large depositors who take on debt. dollars at an interest rate of 5, 6 or 7% and place these sums in Lebanese pounds at an interest rate of 25, 30, 35% is organised looting. This over-reliance on foreign investment and dollar solvency has started to bite since 2011 as the effect of the economic crisis has hit remittances of Lebanese expatriates sending dollars back combined with a dip in Gulf investments in the Lebanese economy since 2014 (because of their own economic crises) and an increase of economic sanctions since 2016 when Trump came to power. As a result, SMEs (small and medium enterprises), which constitutes the majority of the Lebanese economy have opted to physically displace this insolvency on the Lebanese working class by opting to hyper-exploit migrant labour from the large pool of labour reserve army within the refugee community. This has further exasperated the formation of the local economy that is reliant on dollar solvency remaining within its borders and not leaving it through counter-remittances or remittances leaving the countries. This, in turn, explains the rise in racist discourse within the Lebanese society that blames Syrian and Palestinian refugees for rising unemployment rather than economic engineering and manipulation by the Lebanese Central Bank and the Lebanese financial sector. Additionally, the import/export balance in Lebanon is a largely negative one that favours import and accentuates the problem by adding $15 billion of expenses every year which is also affecting the Lebanese Central Bank's dollar reserves (since all import expenditures are done in dollars). If the dollar reserves of the Central Bank stood at $35 billion in 2015, it is important to note that the same central bank owned local banks more than $62 billion in local debt. The fact that most of our public debt is owned by a handful of local bank is a huge impediment to the formation of a productive economy. This predicament however is also a blessing in disguise for the agents of neoliberalism. Even though Hariri's economic reforms were overwhelmingly rejected by protesters, which led to his ultimate resignation, the CEDRE conference sponsored by the IMF and the World Bank marked a clear tactical shift from austerity politics to privatisation, a dangerous turn in the logic of financialisation and late capitalism manifesting a major crisis of neoliberalism in its modalities and processes: political unrest and a crumbling monetary and economic system can however constitute opportunities for neoliberalism in crisis for the privatisation of key economic resources comes for cheap.
What is the importance of this protest in the history of Lebanon?
This is truly a historical revolutionary moment in Lebanon's history, as we have finally caught up with the revolutionary wave that has swept the region and is being continuously reignited in places like Algeria, Sudan, Jordan and Iraq. But, as I mentioned earlier, although the revolutionary wave is indeed a continuation of the Arab uprising it also has its discrete material conditions. Without falling into methodological nationalism, we can safely assume that there is a certain specificity to what I'd like to call (borrowing from Mark Fisher) sectarian realism, the idea that it is impossible to conceive a Lebanese subjectivity, a Lebanese economy and a Lebanese superstructure outside of any sectarian affiliation and sectarian structural dependency, to borrow from Mehdi Amel, that has been foundational to the formation of capitalism in Lebanon since the 1860s. This specificity can somehow explain why Lebanon's revolution came this late within the waves of the Lebanese revolution as sectarian affiliation within a neoliberal era combines individualism with competing sects in the market for limited resources. But sectarian realism is only a viable form of capitalism as long as crony capitalism and its clientelist network are able to provide the services they promise. The financial and economic crisis detailed earlier precipitated the delinking of people from the sectarian market due in large part to the fact that this system was not able to fulfil its promise on a much larger scale that now included all sects. This is why Lebanon benefitted from what Trotsky calls "the privilege of historic backwardness", ideologically and from a class perspective Lebanon was not primed for a revolution as the form of financialisation described earlier rendered most of its Lebanese working class (now mostly in the service sector) powerless, unorganised and constantly pegged against a migrant working class which is continuously hyper-exploited. As you might know, the Lebanese economy has, since the early 1990s, centralised the reproduction of surplus capital around the financial and real estate sectors which in turn continually denies the formation of proletarianised labour outside the service sector. But this privilege has manifested itself clearly with the giant leaps that the masses were able to achieve and was characterised by the chants and slogans and novel forms of organising that were adopted.
The efficacy of grassroots organising, combined with the failure of the neoliberal sectarian state to fulfil the false promise of competitive prosperity, generalised a sense of class-for-itself specifically in rural areas. If sectarian neoliberalism's original raison d'être lies in the premise that sectarian divide is not only inevitable but crucial for communal prosperity, what a new round of austerity measures has proven in less than a week's time is that these premises were conditioned on sectarian competition continually bearing fruit.
The spread of the revolution was instant as it set about to settle long overdue scores with its detached ruling class refuting in its way years and years of empty analysis by most political scientists, who had long buried any revolutionary potential under the rubble of what they've collectively agreed to call "the conviviality between the oppressed and the oppressor" and the "overwhelming sectarian nature of Lebanese people and institutions".
An observation they claimed was now a reality that should be accepted. In the face of these liberal acolytes' deep and undying faith in institutional progress and stageist strategies of "dual power", the class struggle has prevailed in the streets, as roadblocks were erected across most working-class neighbourhoods within hours.
In this context, decentralised roadblocks are not just temporary alternatives to a call for a general strike by a centralised trade union but aimed at flipping the central and peripheral paradigm on its head. Beirut is no longer the centre that is relied upon to inject revolutionary fervour, as the beating heart of this revolution moves from one rural area to the other following the state's coercion of roadblocks. Roadblocks become then a monument that celebrates the very refusal of participating in the labour market through sectarian subject formation.
The deepening of class consciousness through a reconfiguration of the Lebanese subjectivity in peripheral rural areas such as Nabatieh, Sour, Tripoli, Jal el Dib constitute, following from Dan La Botz, rural laboratories searching for the cure for capitalism where peripheral working class scientists mostly serving in the service, financial and educational sectors experiment on the streets in an attempt to revive hollowed trade unions waiting to be born again.
These rural areas do not constitute anymore impenetrable sectarian cantons that are religiously homogenised, essentialised and atomised as competing sectarian strongholds in the Lebanese psyche but direct battlegrounds of confrontations with the state and its complementary sectarian militias that continuously reaffirm the centrality of the class struggle. The more violent, repressive and humiliating sectarian militias are, the more they reaffirm their role as agents of the ruling class. By insisting on taking down the sectarian system through generalised road blocks across Lebanon, protesters have actually dismissed the logic of the market, the logic that continually reaffirms that there is no alternative to sectarian competition that vertically binds the atomised individual with his/her sect, and, by association, the sectarian ruling class.
What are the main slogans and claims of this protest? Are there connections with the 2015 street protests?
Since day one, the masses have chanted "The people want the fall of the regime", a slogan that has been inspirational in the Arab uprising since 2011. A more popular slogan that is almost a decade old in Lebanon but was popularised by the 2015 protests was "All of them means all of them" and a lesser chanted one, but equally poignant, "If Syria and Sudan have one dictator we have 100" - which is a reference to the fact that the neoliberal sectarianism in Lebanon conjoins all members of the ruling class who have dominated the power for decades. "We are the revolution of the people, you are the civil war!" is another more recent chant that refers to the ruling class' imbrication in the civil war and its role in destroying the very social fabric that is being knitted again by the protesters on the streets. Another important chant comes from the university and school students who took it upon themselves to reignite the revolution as participation was dipping during the second week. Their participation was as crucial as their chants were also on point: "We are not here to study history, we are here to write it", as students rewrote the history of the revolution and gave it another lifeline.
The beautiful images of crossborder solidarity with other revolutionary comrades across the Arab world in Sudan, Syria, Iraq, Egypt and other countries should however not keep us from asking about the lack of participation of migrant labour in the revolution. Our revolution will not be one that is marred with methodological nationalism that forgoes our Syrian, Palestinian, Egyptian, Sri Lankan and Ethiopian comrades in the name of homogeneity and finding a "common denominator". Our comrades have been sidelined, over-exploited and alienated from politicisation and organising for far too long. Their upcoming revolution should be the base on which we build the second and third waves of revolutionary momentum.
What will be the prospect of this protest? Do you think the government will increase repression?
Contrary to Iran, Iraq, Chile and other countries that are witnessing historical revolutions, the Lebanese government has not yet unleashed the full power of its repression on the protesters. Although the number of dead now stands at 7 martyrs, the Lebanese government has opted to use its security apparatus for crowd control purposes opting to outsource violence against protesters to the complementary sectarian militias. This form of organised racketeering serves two purposes, it first pegs working class constituents against each other and momentarily relieves the state from its repressive duties. Racketeering, as Charles Tilly reminds us, is not exclusive to para-state organisations that challenge the state but is the original modus operandi of the state that is frequently later outsourced to sectarian militias in order to defend order, legitimacy and the original act of dispossession. Tilly helps us cast doubt over the "failed state notion" that is often paraded in political circles when describing states in the global south as sectarian militias during the Lebanese civil war played the role of reifying the Lebanese state rather than compromising its authority. The incremental incorporation of belligerent militia groups into the state's security apparatus only proves that their motivation behind their racketeering civil war was a continuation of politics rather than an absence of it. It is this incorporation that paved the way for the organic and yet violent passage from unfettered laissez-faire capitalism to savage neoliberalism headed by Rafic Hariri. the sectarian militia's role in hollowing out and colonising of state structures went hand in hand with Hariri's financialisation of the Lebanese economy.
Hezbollah stands as a major poll of counterrevolutionary repression and organised racketeering. Hezbollah and their satellites have taken up the primary role of the counter-revolutions as a continuation to their role in Syria, the so-called resistance bloc had nothing to offer the protesters but conspiracy theories about embassy funding and physical coercion in Beirut and the south of Lebanon. In his infamous second speech, 9 days after the revolution began, Nasrallah questioned the very legitimacy and the spontaneity of the people on the streets deploying conspiratorial narratives around 'embassy funding', reviving civil war tropes, humiliating the protesters for being leaderless and confused in their demands and reminding his followers and protesters alike that the Syrian civil war could be a likely scenario if the protests continue. By doing so, Hezbollah, through Nasrallah's speech, embodied the historical role of petty-bourgeois politics, increasingly reflecting the backbone of its constituency.
Hezbollah has historically played the role of the intermediary that carefully resolves tensions between sections of the working class and the ruling class and further abstracts the class struggle by constantly projecting it into an unknown, unresolvable future while national liberation remains a constant priority.
As Joseph Daher has shown in his book on Hezbollah, the party continues to receive support from people from different classes, but the party's priorities are increasingly oriented towards the higher classes. This has created friction within the Shia community and specifically within Hezbollah supporters, where lower-class supporters have realised that they are not Hezbollah's priority, but constituted the recruiting base for Hezbollah's war on the Syrian people, a war that is bound to benefit to higher classes of Hezbollah's cadres and their entourage that are increasingly constituted from the upper middle classes and the Shia bourgeoisie. This is why Hezbollah has opted to channel that friction away from within its community and reignite a sectarian tension by pushing lower-class Shia supporters against the 17 October revolutionaries. By doing so, Hezbollah not only momentarily solves the growing class tension within the Shia community by redirecting and physically displacing the class contradiction towards a sectarian struggle and dissipating the anger of its working class as regards Hezbollah's alliance with other members of the ruling class, but Hezbollah is also able to push against any talk of a technocratic government that is being branded by Hariri and other (backed by the US). By sending its lower-class supporters to clash directly with October 17 protesters, Hezbollah aims to redeploy and magnify the sectarian tactic that was lost on October 17, a tactic that says that the general public is still entrenched in its sectarian allegiances and is still not ready for a technocratic government. Reifying sectarianism as a counterrevolutionary tactic serves then Hezbollah on two fronts, both internally and externally and helps salvage its alliance with the President's front that secures the status quo.
The Lebanese army, rarely mentioned as the other major component of the counterrevolution in Lebanon, has also historically played both a passive and an active role complementing the role of militias. Since the ascension of Fouad Chehab to power in 1958, a move orchestrated as a compromise between Nasserist and US hegemony, the Lebanese Army has been a major component of counterrevolutionary practice that has tactically stood on the fence until it was able to take power. Although it is now shackled by its funders (the US and Saudi Arabia), the ruling class is still able to rely on some generals within its ranks that are able to manoeuvre political frictions in order to repress some areas (Jal el Dib, Zouk and others) or ignite sectarian tensions within others (Tripoli).
Can you tell us more about the campaign you're working on?
There is one slogan that I have failed to mention earlier which has to do with what the general public is calling "reclaiming the stolen capital" and what they're referring to is, in small part, corruption by the crony capitalist ruling class but, in large part, the ever-growing public debt that is eating up more than 40% of the government's yearly budget to cover the compound interest rate of this debt. The majority of the public/private debt, i.e. more than $50 billion of this debt (out of approximately $85 billion) is owned by local private banks. For this reason, we decided, as a group of leftists, to organise around the issue of nationalising the banks, which is, given the historical prominence of the banking sector mentioned earlier, not only novel but would have been usually frowned upon pre-October 17 revolution. We also felt that the socio-economic demands that were part and parcel that drove the masses to protest the first two days were getting drowned out by more populist demands around corruption and the application of the constitution. The demand for the nationalisation of banks, in an era of neoliberal crisis caused by public debt (sponsored by CEDRE, the World Bank and the IMF) not only signifies transfer of ownership of private banks to the public sector - meaning banks to become a public domain, the property of the people, without compensation to their owners - but also reverses years of privatisation and austerity measures. Private banks (partly owned or close to the ruling class circles) have loaned the state tens of billions of high and compounded interest rate debt using state sponsored treasury bonds. Our campaign has camped in front of most of the bank branches distributing leaflets on the necessity of nationalising the banks, free food and open discussions on the economy. People's reaction to the campaign has been largely positive and encouraging as the repressive measures private banks have taken in the last couple of weeks to pressure both the masses and the government have increased the animosity of people towards the banks. We are tapping into this specific anger that comes out of the interaction with the bank to politicise it and direct it towards the centre of capital reproduction and dispossession in Lebanon.