Nèdeem Elmahjoub's blog

TB outbreak in Bahraini prison Background "The Americans told me honestly: 'we can't affect change in Bahrain unless the British agree. And the British won't agree unless the Saudis agree'," he said. "It is clear that since 2011 our political decisions have been transfered to Saudi Arabia and it will continue there."

No disruption to capital accumulation. Criminalising protest

The ‘same’ headlines, attacks and vilifications uttered and published when I first arrived in England 20 years ago. The difference today is that white Ukrainians are welcome as it was with Polish labour. Johnson warns of the ‘healthy young men’ or ‘economic migrants’ who come here under false pretences, sometimes posing as minors, in place of the truly vulnerable.  Fables of migration

 

Irish law maker speaks out

" The plan seemed to be: Sack 800 staff with immediate effect by three-minute video message ; manhandle those who refuse leave their posts (using handcuffs if necessary); leave customers stranded in various ports because there's no one to crew ships; and replace all staff with cheap labour in a few weeks. What could possibly go wrong?" says Kate Hartley, author of "How to Communicate in a Crisis".   Related “The Office for Budget Responsibility painted a bleak picture of the UK's immediate economic prospects, saying that living standards are set to take the biggest hit since records began in the 1950s .”

 While Shell announced a "momentous year" after making $20bn in profits…

Unwelcome to the ‘civilised’ nation state! “ When we moved into our room on Fitzjohn’s Avenue four years later, it was with the promise that we were finally safe. It had been a devastating journey and here we were in London about to begin a new life. But our expectations of London were impossible. We imagined a life that was easier – that somehow as soon as we arrived here we would put all that had happened behind us and move on – that the uncertainty we felt would evaporate as soon as we landed. So much depended on this fantasy. To survive the journey, we needed stories of hope. For us, that story was safety in London, but the reality was very different. To survive, we needed not only to speak a different language, but to learn new gestures, new stories and, most important, understand the currency that gave you access to society. In a country where your social capital is bound up in class and race, learning the social codes could determine the trajectory of your life.” What it’s reall

“ Whoever controls the institutions that distribute wealth in the world economy controls who gets what.” The pandemic is very bad. Yes, but not for everybody.

Note: A British nation has never existed. A sharp critique of David Edgerton’s Britain

A good summary by Avi Shlaim . He skipped the origin of Hamas though, particularly the role of Israel in its creation.

“ The National Crime Agency has estimated that £90bn of criminal money is being laundered through the UK every year, 4% of the country’s GDP. London has become the global capital of money-laundering and the beating heart of European organised crime. English is now the international underworld’s lingua franca. Crime is an essential part of the British economy, providing hundreds of thousands of jobs, not just for professional criminals – the NCA reckons there are  4,629 organised crime groups  in operation – but for police and prison officers, lawyers and court officials, and a security business that now employs more than half a million people.” Inside the 21st-century British criminal underworld Related   Gangs of London (2020). A British crime drama in 9 episodes

“The University and College Union says the plight of young academics who are desperate to get a firm footing on the career ladder is getting worse. Staff at 146 higher education institutions have until Thursday  to vote  on whether to strike once again – potentially before Christmas – over unfair pay, “untenable” workloads and casualised contracts.” Vicky Blake, the president of UCU, said: “Many people are still shocked to learn that higher education is one of the most casualised sectors in the British economy. There are at least 75,000 staff on insecure contracts: workers who are exploited, underpaid, and often pushed to the brink by senior management teams relying on goodwill and a culture of fear.” Related HE’s casual approach to employment

Historical responsibility for climate change is at the heart of debates over climate justice

What a scandal!         Lebanon 2021       UK 2021

Published in June 2018. It is against amnesia and absolving this or that government. How we all colluded in Fortress Europe Related In reality, “there is a  striking discrepancy between the lack  of feeling aroused  by the deaths of tens of thousands of human beings—in their majority anonymous, unrecorded by the authorities and denied the dignity of a proper burial—with that excited by, say, the 1,000 lives lost in the crossing from East to West Germany during the Cold War. There is one obvious explanation: an African, an Arab or an Afghani who drowns in the Mediterranean, in flight from war, oppression or extreme poverty, is not seen as a human being in the same way as the Germans who were trying to flee ‘communism’ and were hailed as martyrs for liberty. In that sense, the border regime is an extension of the history of colonialism and domination that Europe and the West have exercised over the rest of the world, and to which ‘the construction  of Europe’ now adds a further chapter i

Via Michael Roberts Notice that the two leading states of the neoliberal form of capitalism, US and UK, have the lowest corporate income tax.

After a few days of deliberation, Boris Johnson, a racist PM , has finally managed to show courage and condemn ‘anti-Semitic abuse’ in London. Apparently, some protesters have used guided missiles to penetrate the Iron Dome* of the nation, killing more than 180 people.  The brave PM has also expressed his resolve to hunt down the perpetrators. “We will bring them to justice,” he added with a smile. Courage also means holding your ground as an imperialist with a great empire in your psyche and national pride, standing firm with the state terror of an ally.  * The Iron Dome was developed in the aftermath of Brexit to protect the frontline workers and the healthcare system, to eliminate corruption and nepotism, to prevent any radicalism or any revival of trade union power, and to ward off the undesirable from entering the country. It has been alleged that contracts for construction of the Dome went to friends and associates. I, for one, don’t believe it. 

What an FT columnist means by “economic radical on the left” is Keynesians and new Keynesians. The left is winning the economic battle of ideas