Meet Paul Ryan: Climate Denier, Conspiracy Theorist, Koch Acolyte: here.
Regardless of the outcome of the vote on November 6, the Ryan pick signals that the US ruling elite has decided on a frontal assault on key social programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security: here.
KELLOG, Brown and Root (KBR) is on the shortlist for the ‘Business Partnering for Police’ (BPP) project.
It is the company which pleaded guilty before an American court to engaging in a scheme between 1994 and 2004 to bribe Nigerian officials with significant financial payments in order to secure business.
A letter-before-claim was sent on Thursday to the West Midlands Police threatening legal action over the approach of the authority to selecting its shortlist for the project.
Under the relevant Procurement Regulations, West Midlands Police is required to exclude KBR from the procurement process as a company convicted of bribery offences, unless it considers that there are ‘overriding requirements in the general interest’.
What appears to have happened here is that, in response to a ‘Pre-Qualification Questionnaire’, KBR indicated that it had not been found guilty of bribery offences and West Midlands Police has blindly accepted that indication.
Public Interest Lawyers are instructed by Ms Robina Khan, a resident of Birmingham who is concerned about the type of companies to which vast amounts of taxpayers’ money may be directed as part of the BPP project.
‘Introducing private companies into policing activities will only weaken this trust further.
‘Looking at what companies like KBR and G4S are doing in other countries, it is only right that we question their human rights records, particularly when they stand to benefit from taxpayers’ money.
‘The procurement process is a shambles and consideration should have been given to the human rights records of these companies at the outset. Human rights should be upheld consistently.’
G4S has reportedly extended its contract to protect the British embassy in Afghanistan’s capital in a deal understood to be worth £72 million: here.
The public sector still has “a lot” to learn from prat-falling Olympic privateer G4S, Britain’s Defence Minister said today: here.
“People call me naive for thinking that art can change the world,” he says
Because it is visual and experiential and does not have to be bought, art has the potential to inspire people to want to change things.
“Art’s seeming irrationality can open people up to possibilities. It can be a catalyst to nudge people into expanding their thinking beyond the usual framework, not to be too accepting of the status quo.” …
Rather than working in private towards the finished work, Burgoyne is inviting the public to view the work as he makes it throughout his residency.
This democratic approach demystifies the process of making art, as well as the mainstream idealisation of artists. …
This work is not immediately accessible, but neither is it facile. It provokes thought and active engagement from us, the viewers.
As Burgoyne points out, this work is experimental – it may or may not work out.
Going by his previous work, I have a feeling it will.
What is certain is that Burgoyne is a brave and thoughtful, socially committed artist.
Greig Burgoyne will be in the main gallery of C4RD, 2-4 Highbury Station Rd, London N1 until August 18.
USA: Where Is the Arts Funding to Create a Collective Sense of Beauty and Meaning in America? Max Eternity, Truthout: “So, we have money to spend $30 billion on a fleet of B-2 Spirits, but are somehow supposed to believe that we can only afford to spend 0.05 percent that amount on the 2012 [National Endowment for the Arts] budget?” Here.
Seductive love songs by the “Walrus of Love” Barry White have helped encourage breeding among a group of Chilean flamingos.
Classic tunes by the late Grammy Award-winning soul singer have been piped through their enclosure at Drusillas Park in Alfriston, East Sussex, in an effort to make love blossom.
Staff at the park also played songs by Marvin Gaye alongside pre-recorded mating vocalisations to conjure up a courtship between the flamingos.
London Mayor Boris Johnson promised London Underground cleaners the London Living Wage a year ago. He has failed to stay true to his word and these workers continue to struggle along on the minimum wage in one of the most expensive cities in the world. They work in appalling conditions cleaning up vomit, urine, excrement and even after suicides. They also work nightshifts for no extra pay. RMT says to the London Mayor – Boris Keep Your Promise! Give the cleaners the London Living Wage of £7.60 an hour.
Cyber-pickets are being mounted as London Tube cleaners continue their fight for an Olympic bonus in line with other colleagues and bid to highlight a raft of other grievances.
Transport union RMT has linked up with campaigning website LabourStart to launch the global Internet picket of London Mayor Boris Johnson in tandem with the cleaners’ street presence.
Around 500 staff employed by private subcontractors through the Tube and Transport for London walked out from 13 depots at 5.30am on Thursday for 48 hours – the second solid two-day strike action taken since the start of the Olympics. Other cleaners in the area are getting around £100 a week in bonuses, and the Tube cleaners are determined to fight on.
Similar LabourStart campaigns have helped win victories around the world on workplace rights and pay and conditions.
Pickets were out in force at Stratford and other London locations to publicise their poor wages, lack of sick pay and no free travel as well as claims of intimidation, especially against union reps.
RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: “It will help us apply maximum pressure to end this scandal of poverty pay on London Underground.
“The many millions enjoying the events around the globe must not forget the London transport cleaners on minimum pay rates doing some of the dirtiest jobs in often appalling conditions.
“The Olympics has to be about equality, inclusiveness and social justice and that’s what our cleaners are standing up for as the spotlight shines on London.”
Potential cyber-pickets can go through to LabourStart’s website and sign up to a message of support for the cleaners which will be sent on to subcontractors, TfL and Mr Johnson’s office.
RMT Cleaners Demonstration at Stratford Station; video here.
This photo essay on the London Olympic Games includes a number of images showing the unprecedented security clampdown in the capital: here.
Corporate “Sin-Washing” – Embracing the Olympic Brand Pays Off for Sponsors: here.
Con-Dem attacks on Britain’s social fabric were laid bare again on Friday after it was revealed that one in 10 families struggle to put three square meals on the table a day: here.
The annual Perseid meteor shower should be visible in the night sky for the next few nights, with the peak expected this Friday night/Saturday morning through Sunday night/Monday morning.
If your local weather cooperates, the best night for viewing is looking to be Saturday night— really more early Sunday morning.
This should be a good year for viewing the Perseids, since the waning crescent moon is not really bright enough to drown out the 50 or meteors an hours the shower can produce.
The best viewing hours should be between 11 p.m. and dawn, when the constellation Perseus is above the horizon. Although the meteors appear to come from Perseus, they actually are part of a debris trail left by Comet Swift-Tuttle, which the Earth encounters every August.
To spot meteors, find a dark-sky spot away from street lights. Perseids can appear anywhere in the sky; astronomers recommend looking in whatever direction the sky is darkest for you.
Earthsky.org has a great guide for determining the best time to catch the Perseids in your town.
