Category: politics

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MYLDN 1937

Slogans this week..why? Well is there anything more truly vacuous than a slogan? Implies everything, delivers nothing. We are currently being bombarded with them here in U.K as the election campaign train pulls into town once more..same empty promises, same bullshit. I mean is there really any point in listening to someone who is literally just saying anything they can think of just so that you will vote for them? Do we really need to pay attention to that at all?

I have decided, no, it is not really necessary. I mean, if manifesto policies actually had to be adhered to, like if you said you were gonna do it, by law you would have to follow through once in government..but that’s never gonna happen so what the fuck do I care what they are claiming they will do..what are they actually going to do? The answer is whatever the fuck they want. And apologies if anyone finds above image offensive (yes people still draw willies on things, that shit never goes out of fashion) but it’s the perfect visual metaphor for what it has felt like over the last 14 fucking years to be shafted by the the fuckwit Tories who brought a country virtually to its knees.

Not sure if this is saying the Tories are complicit in genocide or implying they should all be wiped off the face of the Earth..either way it’s difficult to argue with.

So could someone else do better than the boys in blue? Well those that fit into that category range from a bunch of monkeys to literally anyone who can successfully walk in and out of a door without hitting the frame. But are there any of the opposition out there who actually inspire? Anyone out there who feels like they’lll do what really needs to be done as oppose to just maintain the usual self-serving approach to political decisions?

I have been a socialist my entire adult life but Labour ain’t Labour not more and we all know that. Ironically the Lib Dems are way more radical which just shows you how far right the left have gone, so much so they’ve sailed clean past the middle ground. But the only thing that really matters is the environment and so I guess Green would be the way to go but how far would they actually go? Enough to make it number one priority above and beyond everything else? Enough to ensure a liveable future for the generations to come? Enough to dismantle capitalism and the relentlessness of modern consumerism completely and start again? That is what is required andas much as I would love to be believe they could I really can’t see that happening. And does nothing else really matter? No, of course not, a lot of things matter but they won’t matter at all if we don’t address the climate. Everything will be moot. We’ll all be living in the United States of Moot (which actually sounds quite cool but it won’t be, literally or metaphorically)

Now this might come as a shock based on what you have just read but I have never been more politically disillusioned in my life. I barely go near the world of politics anymore as followers of this blog might have noticed. Mainly because I don’t really see the point of shouting into an echo chamber or hitting my head against a brick wall, which seem to be the only two options available for political discourse in this era of polarisation where truth is an extremely rare commodity.

Rather than end on despair and doomongering I will leave you with the above two slogans which are really the only chance we have got. We must unite as people, not tribes. We must fight together for a shared future. We must choose love over hate. We must put community concerns first, individual needs second. Naive and simplistic statements perhaps but they are the things that are gonna get us out of this mess…

(this post was dedicated to my old blog Rantaclock for those that remember it..back in the good ole days when I was angry about everything haha)

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MYLDN 1730

All shots this week part of my ongoing series: “R u talkin to me“. Now that I am back out and about I am currently getting all my info from the street which are when you think about the original information super highway (that really looked like it was gonna be a keeper for a while). Why don’t I look online or read a newspaper like everybody else? Well this is because I have essentially cut myself off from all news sources, firstly by necessity but now by choice.

For the most part of the last 18 months or so I have been unable to read more than a couple of lines of anything before my brain capsized. So consequently my ability to stay up with current affairs drastically diminished. I quickly went from being a voracious news hound to a lackadaisical (such a good word, really don’t use enough) uniformed mutt.

At first it was incredibly frustrating but overtime a positive emerged. Namely I had been liberated from the doom scroll. I was no longer being relentlessly bombarded by the daily horror show and my mood instantly improved. I felt calmer. More at ease. Less angst ridden. Well not by the news at any rate. I was blissfully ignorant and found I was filled with less daily dread yet as my cognitive ability improved I started glancing back at the headlines. I couldn’t help myself. But every time I did my mood plummeted and it also affected my health. It just made me feel, why am I even bothering to get better? It killed my will to improve and so in the interest of self-preservation I am now keeping the relentless feed of misery at arm’s length. I can’t let it back in yet, not while I am just starting to find my feet again..

I used to feel you had to be informed, it was some sort of moral obligation and that the old ostrich approach was what has got us into all this mess in the first place. But the way I see it is that the things that really need to be happening aren’t happening, so why do I need to pay attention? Why should I check in just to watch the powers-that-be not doing what they should be doing? And then having to listen to the relentless bullshit as to why they continue to ignore the all encompassing tidal wave that is coming towards us. And obviously this isn’t the first time. They have been ignoring the advice of experts on a multitude of matters for a very long time..a few examples incoming..

When our Government was informed that inequality was the root cause of most of the society’s problems and that equal societies were better for everyone did they listen? did they act? did they fuck..

When our Government was informed that excessive testing harmed young children’s educational development did they listen? did they act? did they fuck…

When our Government was informed that it would be better across the board to legalise drugs did they listen? did they act? did they fuck…

When our Government was informed that we must phase out fossil fuels and invest in renewables immediately to have a chance in hell of maintaining a liveable planet did they listen? did they act? did they fuck!

They ain’t listening to the information being fed to them so why should we waste our time listening to them? They clearly aren’t paying attention to what needs to be done so what’s the point of paying attention to them? They are not concerned with our well being. Or our future. I mean, anyone who wants to ban wind farms in the middle of a cost of living/energy crisis when it’s the cheapest cleanest energy available in this country is not someone who is woking with your best interests at heart It is someone you need to remove. As well as every other elected twat protecting the oil industry instead of the people they represent.

It’s like getting in pest control to fix your rodent problem only to discover they’re in cahoots with the rats. As I have said before our leaders are not leading the way, they are in the way. They are problems not solutions and their actions infuriate me to a level of anger I cannot still currently deal with so until I can I will avoid avoid avoid. Although as you can see I am getting my rant back on so feeling better ;)

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#MYLDN (1690)

Pictures of women going about their business this week and you can probably guess why. I don’t really wanna wade in (sorry) on the American abortion debate mainly because it shouldn’t still be a debate. Certainly not in 2022. However the overturning of Roe vs Wade proves once again that the human race is not going in a forward direction. Progress in our species is not linear and it’s definitely not permanent. We are going back and forth. Battles that had already been won must now be fought again. And just like the regressive Middle ages followed the highly advanced ancient civilisations we appear to be entering into darker more unevolved times.

Not that the oppression of women is new. That seems to have been going on for millenia. Maybe for ever. But it only shows one thing. The old men in power are clearly afraid of women and feel they must suppress them or else they will rise up and take control. And maybe that is exactly what needs to happen. Haven’t we all had enough of insecure alpha males swingin their lil dicks about? Wrecking everything in sight just so they can prove they’re the biggest baddest boy on the block? (yes Putin we are talking about you)

Let’s face it, male dominance has wrecked life on this planet for far too long. We need to rapidly adopt a more empathetic less destructive approach to our existence before it’s too late and women seem to be the only gender that are really capable of that. Step aside menfolk, you had your chance, you fucked it up, time to move over..

And I know we’ve obviously already had women in power and they haven’t all been kind and compassionate (yes thatcher we are talking about you) but often once they reach office they sadly feel they must be even more aggressive and cutthroat to be taken seriously in the men’s club (yes Priti, we are talking about you). But what would a women’s club look like? Men have waged wars, destroyed the environment and are pushing us to the point of extinction..I mean is it even possible do a worse job than that?

And this isn’t some woke virtue signalling proto feminist angle from a self-loathing man (did I hear someone at the back yell kill the patriarchy?) this is just basic common sense. If the men who ruled from this century alone were an employee (which technically they are. they supposedly work for us) they would have been fired a very long time ago as all they seem to be doing with their power is trying to maintain it by controlling (or attempting to) everyone they see as a threat (which is apparently half the human race just for starters).

And dictating what a woman can or cannot do with her body is the ultimate form of control. It effectively makes women property of the state. Forced pregnancy is slavery. It leaves women with the same reproductive rights as dairy cows. As in none. This is not a political issue. This is not a religious issue. This is a massive infringement of basic human rights. And this is from the land of supposed freedom and democracy.And we all know this is just the beginning. Ultimately it’s not going to end well for anyone. And to prove this point the Supreme Cunts (juvenile I know but very appropriate) yesterday ruled they will block Biden’s attempts to reduce emissions which means the actions of these absurdly powerful unelected dark lords affects us all. And what do they even want these babies to be born for if they aren’t even going to give them a liveable future?

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#MYLDN (1639)

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#MYLDN (1638)

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#MYLDN (1637)

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#MYLDN (1482)

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#MYLDN (1445)

Another aspect of ‘normal’ life which has returned with a vengeance is public protesting. 2019 was a year that was heavily defined by protests across the globe for a variety of different issues so the question must have been raised by fearful establishments everywhere… how do the fook do we stop this? If only we could create a situation where it is forbidden for them to be on the streets and then they won’t be able to join forces and oppose our actions…cue Corona creation conspiracy theory number 46. Yet with almost the entire population of Earth ordered indoors it was clear that the potential for civil unrest had dropped significantly.

I don’t actually believe that they fabricated the existence of Covid-19 to reduce street protesting but it certainly looked like it. And when the BLM movement erupted across the entire planet in the middle of a worldwide lockdown, it not only quashed that theory but also showed that “no force on Earth can stop an idea who’s time has come”. Not even a global pandemic.

The dam has burst. And the tide of change is swept across every continent at once. And yet these protesters converged in the midst of us trying to reduce the devastating impact of the virus when it was at a crucial stage. I watched stunned as thousands congregated regardless and felt that it would jeopardise everything that we had just gone through. And so I stayed away and did what most were doing, I watched it unfold on the internet.

But, watching events transpire online is a very distorting and relatively unhealthy experience as the algorithms in place ensure that you pinball from negative story to negative story, feeding outrage, fuelling anger, creating a narrative where you feel that everything is utterly fucked and hopeless and everyone is against everyone and the world has gone to hell in a hand cart.

The initial explosion of violence in America dominated the news but if you looked deeper than the headlines, the real story was how peaceful protests across the globe, comprised of people from all demographics and all cultures, had united to stand up and declare their unequivocal support for the black community and to state it is a societal problem that will no longer be tolerated. This was a tale of ‘coming together’ not ‘tearing apart’.

As the media were busy portraying the protestors as violent troublemakers I eventually decided I had to see it with my own eyes. And still hopefully be able to keep my distance in the process. These shots were taken at a BLM rally in trafalgar square last Friday. I arrived early and found a very quiet, peaceful gathering. When I looked around at those present I could see that, for the most part, they were just young kids. They were the reps of Generation Z who mix better than any previous generation to date. They show beautifully that race is simply not an issue for them in the way it was for previous generations, and they are living proof that there has been massive progress.

These youths were not looking for a fight at all. They were extremely placid and good natured. Their presence was simply a message to older generations that they have to make way for a new society where systemic inequality is a thing of the past and racial persecution at the hands of the police is, not only, no longer sanctioned, but eradicated for good. To use an enforcement term, a zero tolerance policy is now required.

And so I stood there in Trafalgar square looking at these docile youngsters in face masks with their little cardboard banners and there was even a little stand with fruit and water for any of the protestors and it felt more like a village fete than a protest movement. And then more and more police vans started to show up and coppers piled out of the doors and onto the square. It was very surreal as their presence just seemed so out of place with the scene I was witnessing. Like sending the riot squad to break up a kid’s party. It was the very definition of heavy handed policing, the very thing they were protesting about. And suddenly there was a tension in the air. I then heard from one of the organisers that thousands of people were on their way from Hyde Park and the thought of it being boxed in with all those people made me feel very uneasy so decided not to stick around to be kettled.

The younger generation are there to guide the way. We need to listen to them. The institutions and ideals of the 20th century are no longer compatible with the modern world so we must change them in order to move forwards. The old world establishment is holding back the new era, clinging on to a broken system that needs to come down and it’s resistance and fear of change is making the transition a pitched battle. It doesn’t need to be this way.

Racism in America is a huge problem and way more prevalent and divisive than in the U.K but we still have a major racism problem within our police force here. I was always proud to be from London as, compared to most other places, it was a very progressive, tolerant and racially inclusive city. And especially in the area of West London where I live. I do know of anywhere else where there is a better mix between racial groups than in this neighbourhood and that is one of the main reasons I love living here. Yet, like all other areas in London, you see racial profiling in ‘stop and searches’ all the time and when I put my mind to it I can’t think of a single occasion in all the years I lived here when I saw them stop someone white. So even though the multi-cultural residents do not, for the most part, have any issue with each other, we are not having the same experience at the hands of law and order and that is simply unjust and must stop.

West London saw a massive influx of Caribbeans after the 2nd world war. The Windrush generation, as they are now known, were invited here by our government to help rebuild Britain after the devastating destruction of the blitz. They thought they were coming to the Mother country, the centre of the Commonwealth of which they were part. And yet when they arrived, they were treated horrendously, because there was no declaration from above explaining to the citizens of the U.K that they were here on our request because we needed them and they should be treated with respect.

The population of this little island should have been told to welcome our new residents with open arms and give gratitude to them for coming to our rescue. This declaration of intent was regretfully never sent to the population of Britain. It was immigration without information which sadly has been a consistent policy ever since and consequently, fear led to hostility and the new members of Britain suffered untold amounts of abuse as a result. But its still not too late to deliver that message. It would bring us all together and diminish the division between us. We must end the populist xenophobic politics, eliminate unlawful persecution of any race or minority and create genuine integration and unity for everyone. That might sound idealistic but it’s not actually hard to implement at all. The truth is, genuine equality for all is really easy, you just treat everyone the same.

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MYLDN LCKDWN 61

People shot from the back this week. Not like murdered obvs, just photographed. Why? Because we can’t go back. And nor do we want to. The path behind us, the one we were on, the path of continuous growth in a finite space with no reduction in consumption or emissions, the path that has been brought to an abrupt stop by the pandemic, was always a dead end for our species…not today but in the ‘almost, not quite here yet but so close you can feel it and it’s definitely coming if we do fuck all to alter our course’ future.

The ‘other’ path which we can now see because we are now actually on it is a path where mass aviation travel is a thing of the past, where our dependence on oil has been massively reduced, where fast fashion and relentless consumerism has lost its grip, where air pollution has dropped enough so that it is no longer harmful…this is the path we must stay on which means not going back to life as it was before Corona.

We must be strong. We must pressurise our governments to be strong. To take us forwards in the 21st century which means abandoning all the drives of the 20th century simply because they are a threat to our continued existence. We must appeal to our MPs not to agree to bail out the aviation industry and to stop funding the fossil fuels. Let them fail if they can’t survive and let us instead invest in renewables because they will save both the economy and the environment. Oil is no longer even a good investment so there is now fuck all reason for govs & financial companies to put their money in it. #defundclimatechange is a current online movement to convince shareholders in the likes of blackrock & jp morgan to divest their money away from the fossil fuel companies that are continuing to destroy any hope of a liveable future.

Recently I was been given a list of every single email for every MP in parliament around 600 or so) so if you would like me to send to you this doc please get in touch via the ‘CONTACT’ button on my website and I will send to you. I have just written a letter along the lines of this blog post. If we all demand they abandon this one way ticket to hell for the kids of today and if we all do it they will have to listen. This is our last chance to change their minds and implore them to do the right thing. Everything hangs in the balance.

  • and just to confirm, that stuffed toy is attached to the top of his helmet. Bold look.

Maybe you think life in the lockdown sucks but whatever has been taken away from us there is still life. So if we can just accept that everything has changed and all the shit we used to do we now can’t do in the way that we did it…we can forwards. We need to embrace it not fight against it and if we do, we can usher in a new era for humanity as oppose to consigning us to the evolutionary scrap heap. Corona will pass, environmental breakdown won’t.

I have watched dumbfounded and fairly appalled at the negligence of the youth to maintain social distance out on the street…this is based on what I have seen with my own eyes so could be specific to my area but here it really feels like they are making zero effort to abide by the rules and don’t seem to give a flying fuck…and then it dawned on me..why should they when our society has clearly proven it doesn’t give a fuck about them?

We have not reigned in our climate fucking ways in any significant capacity despite knowing we are consigning the next generation to a pretty fucked future. So why should they care about protecting the older generations when we have shown through our unwillingness to alter our behaviour that we do not care about them. Our government’s way too late aim to reduce emissions to zero by 2050 is a shunt like no other and is effectively declaring generational warfare so can we be surprised they are ‘fighting back’?

The fate we will give them will be infinitely worse than what Covid has done to the people of this planet and if we allow our society to continue to be driven by fossil fuels, relentless consumption and meat production on the current scale this current global catastrophe will seem like a jaunty jaunt in a very jaunty place.

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    #MYLDN LCKDWN (54)

    The streets of London have spoken. A week of post corona graffiti telling it how it is..or isn’t. A lot of wall scrawlings seem to be the analogue equivalent of click bait, spreading misinformation and provocation. Maybe that was always the point of graffiti with its history of anti-establishment proclamations. In the case of this one I’m not sure whether it’s demanding for the Tories to be wiped out or whether it is laying blame at the Government for the Covid deaths that have occurred in this country…either way it’s difficult to argue against…

    Our current leader is a ditherer. Both in action and word. To have someone who is indecisive at the helm when strong and swift decisions need to be made is far from ideal. He is also avoidant which is also not a great trait in these times. This is the man remember, who hid in a fridge during election campaigning rather than deal with the press. Can we lay blame at his feet for the mismanagement of this crisis? Absofuckinglutely.

    His election to P.M in December convinced me that there was nothing good going to happen in this country during his reign of power and that was before Corona. And this is beyond party politics. This is just based on him being competent (or not) in governing. He showed himself to be a useless clueless fuckwit on numerous occasions during his time as foreign secretary alone, forget about every gaff before that, so it really comes as no surprise that this fuckwittery continued once he was ruling the country.

    And so once again we are being looked at with disbelief and pity from the rest of the world, who are slack-jawed by the incompetent actions of our government. You could say they are doing everything they can in an extremely difficult situation and they didn’t know what was coming but they did and they’re not. The advice from scientific experts was simple as to how to go about containing this virus…extreme lockdown, mass testing and contact tracing and they didn’t and still aren’t doing any of these things to the extent required for them to be successful.

    So now what? Johnson’s recent speech was mocked for its confused and contradictory nature but it feels deliberate as it essentially absolves the government of responsibility and implies that its basically every man for himself. So we have to all just get on with it and hope for the best? Right, cheers for that…

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    #MYLSBN (20)

    And so endeth MYLSBN – which ,for the record, has nothing to do with lesbians contrary to what some might think (yes Tennyson crew, I am talking about you!). The shots over the last few weeks were designed to give you a virtual trip to Lisbon during this lockdown. A way to travel without moving. This pandemic has given our species a golden opportunity to show how we can live differently to how we lived before.

    And now that we have been brought to a standstill we can hopefully see we are at a junction in the road. The path we were on was a dead end and we knew it but we couldn’t envisage an alternative. But now we have been given a glimpse of what life would be like if all unnecessary travel and excessive consumerism and relentless pollution stopped. And as restrictive as it it is, life carries on.

    We can now see a different path because we are effectively on it. Already emissions have dropped all over the globe and it has been proven we can completely change the way we live almost overnight. Those that opposed change convinced us it wasn’t possible but the response to Corona across the globe has proven otherwise. Let’s use this devastating and destructive virus to save mankind by halting the rise in global temperatures and preserving the goldilocks zone on this planet that allows us and most other species to live upon it.

    I know it maybe seemed strange that I was showing you photographs of a former visit to Lisbon as the world went into meltdown but it was designed to serve as a form of escapism from the relentless feed of horror. I realised very early on that it was crucial for us to have breaks from this thing to preserve our sanity. I enjoyed being elsewhere whilst I worked on the pictures and yet, inevitably, they always brought me back to the current situation and all my articles have revolved around the virus rather than the trip they came from.

    The bulk of the pictures from my documentation of Lisbon came from a single procession on the last day I was there and pretty much every shot was taken within a single hour. Sometimes a slice will encapsulate the whole and felt that this event which pretty much the whole town turned out for, gave me an insight into the city and showed what was most important to the good folk of Lisbon, namely community & tradition. The procession was of a religious nature but for me, it was more to do with the people coming together as it was to celebrate their beliefs. It also felt like going back in time to an era where there was more solidarity amongst citizens and from a time when you could be in large crowds en masse together (remember those days?) and maybe that was why I was so keen to stay in this little virtual travel time capsule bubble.

    Hope you enjoyed too. I will back on the streets of London as of next week, well as much as the lockdown will allow me. Stay safe people!

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    #MYLDN (1394)

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    #MYLDN 1393

    The election is upon us and the Tories are still up in the polls but I cannot for the life of me fathom why anyone would want to vote for them unless they were possibly minted, masochistic or mental.

    They have run this country completely into the ground over the last 15 years. They have systematically sold off every asset this country had, run millions into poverty, dismantled public services, crippled the NHS and fucked the country sideways with a referendum no-one wanted or asked for. And yet still people want to vote them back in. And this is after an extended period of relentless misery, uncertainty and back to back fuck ups…so for fuck’s sake, why?? Cos Boris can deliver a good one liner and has a floppy fringe?? Really??

    People used to vote for Tory because they were the party of business and were worried the economy would suffer under anyone else but Brexit will destroy the economy, even more than it has already already, and so that doesn’t even make sense anymore. And yet still people cling onto this outdated notion.

    Labour’s policies will restore care towards communities, create green jobs and reduce inequality. The Lib Dems will ensure we stay in Europe. The Green Party will put the climate emergency at the top of the agenda. These are all good reasons to vote for these parties. What are the Tories going to do other than continue to service the rich and screw everyone else in the process?

    For the climate, for equality, for basic fucking decency…please, I’m on my hands and knees begging you please…anything but tory!!

    If you want to vote tactically go to: https://vote-smart.org.uk/ 

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    #MYLDN (1392)

    This week’s shots feature graffiti and street art plastered across the walls of this city highlighting the importance of the climate crisis in this upcoming election in the U.K. The environment should be at the forefront of the political debate, which it appears to be for every party but the Tories. The following passage is from Naomi Klein’s book on the environment ‘This Changes Everything’ which I am reading at the mo and it explains exactly why Boris did not attend the climate debate on Channel 4.

    “it has become increasingly difficult to discern where the oil and gas industry ends and the British government begins…At least 50 employees of companies including EDF energy, npower and Centrica have been placed within government to work on energy issues in the past four years..the staff are provided free of charge..”

    Clearly no conflict of interest there. No, not at all, not one jot. So we basically live in an ‘Oiltocracy’. Like Trump, Boris is just a fossil fuel flunky (F.F.F) He works for them. A vote for the Tories is a vote to ensure ‘business as usual’ for the oil n gas industries so they carry on as they have been, which is to relentlessly plunder our ecosystem for shareholder profit with zero concern for the collateral damage to humans and all other species.

    And not only will no-one currently in power get in their way but they are actively supporting them, pumping billions in subsidies, paid for with your tax money, which will allow the continuation of planetary devastation. Their actions, if not stopped, will ultimately destroy our ability to live on our spinning spherical host. Doesn’t feel like a good move from what I can see. ..

    The next five years might just be the most crucial time ever for the human race in the entire history of our species as it will determine what path we take, which, for survival, requires putting ourselves on an entirely different path, because this one has revealed itself to be a dead end. The need to radically change our way of life and to confront head on the effects of climate change will require us to have strong forward thinking leaders that will take us in a new direction. Boris has none of these attributes.

    Like Trump & Bolsanaro, Boris is not strong, despite him trying to play the ‘churchill’ card. These FFF’ are weak spineless men because, despite knowing (they’re cunts not idiots) of the consequences they continue to cower to their masters and help them to destroy the resources of this planet which are vital for life to continue. They are not the future, they are the past. They are the weights of yesterday that will drag us down into the depths from which we will not be able to return.

    If Boris can’t even be arsed to turn up to a friggin tv studio to discuss it what do you think he’s actually going to do for the environment? Sweet FFF..A! So vote Tory, vote for humanity’s death warrant. That might sound overly dramatic but contrary to the utter inaction of this current government this actually is a fucking emergency. And saying it is one, isn’t actually part of the solution.

    If they aren’t going to act like ‘our house is on fire’ we need to. And that means getting rid of them. We need to get these blocks in the road out of the way for good so we do not consign ourselves to a footnote in history. Many species have been and gone since this Earth formed but none have been dumb enough to wipe themselves out. And we’re supposed to be the most evolved so far. Not really looking that way right now because we are destroying the host that keeps us alive and as I have previously stated, even bacteria know to keep their host alive which means, right now, we are dumber than bacteria…

    I feel like I have said these things many times but now as we get ready to choose our elected representatives it is a chance to remove those dragging us towards the precipice and enlist those who want to initiate a greener future, which means having one.

    #anythingbutory

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    #MYLDN (1391)

    When I was a kid I wanted nothing more than to travel into the future and with 2020 looming I realise I actually achieved my dream, I just did it the long way round, in real time. The future doesn’t look quite as shiny and as optimistic as we maybe imagined back then but it is definitely here, as am I.

    What we do now will dictate what kind of actual future we will have but we must act now… doing nothing will not maintain the status quo. Doing nothing will propel us forwards towards a future none of us want to be in…

    #anythingbuttory

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    #MYLDN (1389)

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    #MYLDN (1387)

    A week of famous bods this week. The celeb endorsements were obvs designed to flog my book (few more to come) but I wanted to also flag up the power and influence that the cult of celebrity has had on politics. It has obviously always had the popularity contest element to it but now, like America, it dominates to such a degree, that nothing else seems to matter anymore. This is nuts when the process involves making a decision about who we choose to govern our country and something that will ultimately affect all our lives so dramatically.

    All I seem to hear in this run up to the general election when discussing potential leaders is whether people like them or not. Not what they stand for. Not their policies. Not their actions. But what does it matter? They aren’t going to become your friend. You’re never going to hang out with them or have them over for dinner so who gives a fook if they are ‘your type of person’ or not? What matters is are they competent, decent, intelligent? Are they going to do what is right? Are they going to put the citizens of their country first? Will they serve rather than be self-serving? They need to be leader material not mate material.

    We also must accept that our opinions of these people are based on how they have been represented by the media and it is the way they are reported that dictates how we feel about them. We have never met them so it is not based on anything real. We don’t ‘know them’ know them. We just think we know them. We are basing our judgment on a flimsy easily digestible version of them, a 2 dimensional construct that has been fed to us.

    We are essentially responding to a ‘character’ that has been ‘created’ to be loved or vilified. It is a perception of a person that has been presented with an intended purpose. The media are deliberately trying to sway you for and against the politicians because they are driven by their own political agenda. They are not objective. It’s not like they just want us to be informed. They are a propaganda machine and not to be trusted. We must see through these motives and we must take this on board before we let it affect the way we vote.

    And if you don’t vote you don’t get to complain after and really isn’t that what we live for in this country? Why take away one of your favourite pleasures in life…

    Posted on

    #MYLDN (1384)

    Statements from the streets this week as part of my ongoing series “R U Talkin to Me”. These ‘messages’ appear to me as we career towards this election in the U.K. Buzzwords abound as sound bites take precedence over facts and personalities are judged more than policies. And trust is at an all time low as we now live in this post truth age where everything can be bent to suit whoever chooses to do the bending.

    And yet I feel its important to remember, as the sign above indicates, politicians have never told the truth. They say what they think will get them votes and they rarely fulfil their election promises so why should we ever listen to them? In the normal day to day you can pretty much discount anything a politician says but in the run up to an election? Forgeddaboudit..

    And so with algorithm bubbles fuelling your feed and fakery lurking at every corner, who can you believe? The answer is yourself. Do your research, disseminate your information, question your sources, go beyond the mainstream media, investigate, and don’t just accept everything wholesale. Every pusher of news has an agenda. Every single media outlet is subjective to a degree so you must factor this in when absorbing the ‘facts’. The answers are all there, you just have to look. And think. And when you are in your next heated political argument passionately pushing your opinion with anger fuelled adamance, ask yourself this question…where did I get my information from?

    This all might sound very cynical but you cannot afford to be just take things at face vaiue and it’s very hard not to look at our political system and feel its kinda broken. It’s not that there aren’t any politicians or parties worth voting for but the whole opposition 2 party politics feels very outdated and after recent experience, just doesn’t feel like a forward thinking solution. It feels like a dead end.

    However, I think the vote is the most important thing we have and we have to use it and we have to use it. And use it wisely, even if its tactical. It might feel you are supporting something you are essentially against and perpetuating the people in power who are a problem but the vote is the only power we have.

    There is a lot of use of the phrase ‘the lesser of evils’ these days and I subscribe to it. This system might be geriatric and in need of a major overhaul but there are definitely worse versions of it depending on who is at the helm.

    In this day and age its more crucial to know what you are against than what you are for. And vote with your head, not your heart. Vote with information not instinct. Vote with facts not fear. But whatever you do, just vote. It ain’t much but it’s all we got.

    If that is all a total brain drain please accept this soothing mattress message…with a sweetie on a stick thrown in for good measure…

    Posted on

    #MYLDN (1250)

    Angry and frustrated by the relentless nonsense masquerading as democracy, the Maybot’s circuits heated up so much they melted her skin suit, revealing to the House her true form. Realising she was in fact an intelligent killing machine hellbent on human destruction the MPs duly agreed to back her deal. As she declared death to our species they cowered in fear and begged for mercy and she realised that she should have probably done this a long time ago. Bolstered by the success of this tactic, Maybot now plans to continue with her domination of our race and bring about Earthxit. You have been warned.

    Posted on

    #MYDBLN (05)

    Dublin was my last stop on my whistlestop tour or Europe before the portcullis came down. And now it looks like it might not. It appears the lever is stuck. And the guy pulling the lever has gone on his lunch break. And all the Maybot’s horses and all the Maybot’s men can’t seem to get their shit together to work out how to make it work, mainly because it shouldn’t be coming down in the first place. We might officially be in the midst of the greatest period of ‘fannying about’ in world politics in the history of mankind. And most of us here can’t bear to watch or listen anymore. We are the dying animal, shot by the hunter, just praying we will be put out of our misery sooner rather than later. But the hunter’s having  a fag and doesn’t give a shit what pain he is causing to his wounded victim. And…and that’s probably enough metaphors to be going on with in one post..basically, we’re still fucked and looks like we will remain so for the foreseeable future, not that it looks like we really have one anymore.

    We are teetering on the brink and after all the nonsense of the last two years its difficult to believe that this  god almighty shit show need never have happened. And despite all  the appalling mismanagement of Maybot and the MPs to resolve this it is not really their fault as Brexit was an impossible puzzle, ‘ a fucking riddle that can’t be solved’ as Danny Dyer so eloquently put it. There is still really only one person to blame for all of this and that is Cameron who called the referendum on the biggest and most incorrect assumption of all time. Namely that no-one would want to rock the boat and would play safe. And this is because he was basically relying on people following the old maxim: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. But what he didn’t realise was that Britain was in fact broken. And he had personally broken it. His (and Osborne’s) destructive policy of austerity had ripped out the framework of our society in the decade leading up to this idiotic decision and he was painfully unaware of the misery he had caused. Not that its about blame at this stage. We are way past that but we should all at least agree that Brexit was a symptom of the problems present in the country, not the cause but it was very much like bringing a match to a paraffin party.

    Tip-toeing back from the abyss of Brexit despair, I found myself in a very cool buzzing city. Dublin has a great vibe and there is a lot to love about it and not much at all to dislike. It feels like a city on the up and up. Had a great time although I did spend most of my time there begging people to marry me and Mrs. Romero so we can get a European passport. Some interest but no firm commitment, much like Labour’s response to the People’s vote. Bada bing!

    I will be back in London next week to document the continued crumbling of our country…anarchy in the u.k might soon not just be a song title. Altogether now..I am an anti-christ!

    p.s here is a petition to revoke article 50 which already has over 2 1/2 million signatures in just over 24 hours – last chance at the saloon: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/241584