Monday, 25 January 2010
Burns: Revolutionary, internationalist, lover and poet
On a visit to a hospital the Prince of Wales goes up to a bed and asks the patient how he’s doing. The patient whispers “We sleekit cowerin, timourous beastie”. At the next bed, the patient answers, “A man’s a man for a’ that”. Puzzled, the Prince of Wales moves on to the next bed and the patient says, “My luve is like a red red rose”.
A Man's a Man
An unorthodox take on the famous Burns poem by the great Scottish poet Hugh MacDiarmid.
Public sector unions targetted in California's deficit reduction plan
Schwarzenegger's proposals would cut the size of the union workforce, reduce pay, shrink future pensions and roll back job protections won through collective bargaining. Labor and the unions' Democratic allies are already girding for battle, reports the Los Angeles Times.
The Slave's Lament by Robert Burns
Here's the song lyric Robert Burns wrote to express the perspective of a slave, thought to be the first in the English language.
Sunday, 24 January 2010
New war for oil? Conspiracy theories abound amidst the tragedy
We know that large amounts of oil had been discovered in Cuba as reported in a Guardian article on Saturday, October 18th 2008. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/18/cuban-oil.
Instructions from England - a response
Valentine Ackland’s poem is a moving and powerful indictment of the British Government’s non-interventionist policy in the Spanish Civil War - during which Ackland heroically worked for the Red Cross.
Notts County Council reverse £4.6m of their proposed cuts
We have reported previously about the savage and unjustified £33m cuts proposed at Notts County Council. The East Midlands region's Local Government Matters blog reports here about the success in getting this hardline Tory council to reverse £4.6m of their proposed cuts. It's not the full £33m but it means that some jobs have been saved and some services to vulnerable people will be protected.
UNISON Active ANALYSIS - NJC Pay Freeze: Issues and Options
With the ‘big freeze’ melting and grit no longer like gold-dust thoughts start wandering towards spring. But as local government members get back to normal working after battling the elements to keep services running they are faced with another big freeze. A pay freeze. And this one could well last several years.
Instructions from England by Valentine Ackland
Instructions from England (1936)
Note nothing of why or how, enquire
no deeper than you need
into what set these veins on fire,
note simply that they bleed.
Note nothing of why or how, enquire
no deeper than you need
into what set these veins on fire,
note simply that they bleed.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
