I was a guest at David Grace’s 60th birthday party in Cambridge at the weekend. I gave him a copy of Kropotkin’s “Mutual Aid” as a present. In writing it to him, I was hit with what I think was a happy inspiration:
“You are always as young as you are radical.”
I intend to hold on to that thought for the rest of my life.
I am sorry that comments are off at the moment while the Intense Debate people try yet again to load up all the comments from the old site. As the interest of this blog for me is the conversation, I apologise that I find it hard to get up energy to blog when nobody can reply!
[Moderator’s note 2011/06/01 at 9:10 pm: the comment system is disabled while the old comments are imported. In the meantime, incoming comments will be appended to their parent article periodically. Submit comments in the usual way; they will be copied into the original post maybe twice daily. This is a time consuming process so please be patient; test comments and flame wars will not be supported! Comments will only be appended to this post and newer articles; older posts will have to wait for the system to be fixed.]
[Moderator’s note 2011/06/08 at 2:40 pm: the comments system is now working again, and comments submitted since 2011/06/01 are now displayed. The copies of comments pasted into original posts have now been deleted.]
A man is only as old as the woman he feels – that's my motto!
Is it this David Grace? http://disgruntledradical.blogspot.com/
test
Well I shall reply anyway. Great motto. Thinking about my tree climbing days in twyford down, Newbury, batheaston, Wymondham, too numerous to mention all, then I suppose some of that physical and mental input does make you more prepeared for old age. Engagement is the key, sadly I find that the FB campaigns and internet soldiers, once emerging from their rooms into blinding sunlight, are not that well disposed to physical campaigning, resisting arrest, or making non violent direct action work. Solitude in front of millions has changed communication and trust for each other, drastically, both are vital for any activity that is to make sense and achieve its goals.
Webster Tarpley on fire this week!
http://tarpley.net/world-crisis-radio/
you know Craig, there is one thing that just plainly aggravates me.
Why is voting secret? Everyone’s voting should be made public. End of vote rigging….’discuss’
@TFS…
Why anonymity? Because it’s lack of anonymity that almost guarantees vote-rigging – not the other way around.
When I first moved from England into S.Scotland about 40 years ago (I’m still here and still an ‘incomer’!) the political system throughout most of the Borders was a disgrace. Many local authority seats hadn’t been contested in decades – people were often simply told who their new councillors were, and that was that.
In one notorious case, a local factory-owner stuffed paypackets just before a parliamentary election with messages warning of dire consequences if they didn’t vote ‘sensibly’ for the Tory candidate. It took a court action to put a stop to that kind of behaviour.
On another occasion, I entered a polling station at council election time to find one of the candidates actually patrolling the area between the polling clerk and the booths! With an attending police officer – temporarily blind and deaf – whistling to himself outside.
Thankfully, especially with the immigrant population rising sharply over the years, such behaviour is no longer tolerated – though it is still tried.
Heaven save us all from ever having to account for how we vote. Even the straw-pollsters outside the stations always get the same answer from me – mind your own business!
@ Jack
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No choice for some electors in Waverley Borough Council this year because of the ConDem coalition. I wonder how many other cases there were around the country. Our democracy is illusory in any case.
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'For the first time many people will be left without a say in the outcome of the borough council elections as nine wards containing 16 seats are being uncontested. This means the sitting councillors, or their replacements, in Blackheath & Wonersh'.
. http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/s/2091992_electio…
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Incidentally Waverley is the constituency of Mr Jeremy C(H)unt, Con
Craig,
“You are always as young as you are radical.”
I recently did an interview with a nonpolitical Libyan from west of Benghazi…
http://wp.me/p1yHT0-4g
…in which, thinking of you, I managed to mention Murder in Samarkand.
And, now all of it is in a Chinese media outlet: http://en.m4.cn/archives/10333.html !!!