Mick Hartley

Monkey dumpling

Macaques on Shōdoshima Island, Japan:

[Photo: Alexandre Bonnefoy / BigPicture Photography Competition]

Apparently in cold weather macaques huddle together for warmth, forming what’s known as a saru dango, or “monkey dumpling.”

 

In praise of the revolutionary career and exploits of the President

Meanwhile, once again, our very own Dermot Hudson has made the front pages of the DPRK's official Rodong Sinmun - Kim Il Sung to Be Remembered in Britain:

A committee for remembering President Kim Il Sung was inaugurated in London on June 17.

Dermot Hudson, chairman of the British Association for the Study of Songun Policy, was elected chairman of the above-said committee.

The committee decided to hold a remembrance meeting, a photo exhibition and other political and cultural events in praise of the revolutionary career and exploits of the President on the occasion of the 23rd anniversary of his demise.

They already have a committee for remembering Kim Jong-Il, aka the UK Committee For Remembering the great leader comrade Kim Jong Il. Chairman: Dermot Hudson. Where does he find the time?

Hudson's previous Rodong Sinmun appearance was noted here.

Today's entry at Friends of Korea:

Every year the anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War is marked by the start of the month of solidarity with the Korean people. Last weekend NCP leader Andy Brooks joined other comrades and friends picketing the US embassy in London to demand an end to the American occupation of south Korea and the peaceful reunification of the country that has been divided since the end of the Korean War in 1953....

KFA Chair Dermot Hudson took the mike to point out that the US imperialists provoked the Korean War against the young Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and massacred millions of Korean people. They used biological and chemical weapons, and carried out terrible massacres of innocent civilians. American troops continue to occupy south Korea, exploiting and oppressing the Korean people, applying sanctions against the DPRK and threatening the people’s government with nuclear annihilation.

Echoes of Andrew Murray, who had this to say in 2003 at an executive meeting of the Coomunist Party of Britain:

[W]e should also be alert to the very real dangers in the Far east and around Peoples Korea. The clear desire of the USA to effect ‘regime change’ in its second ‘axis of evil’ target could well provoke an armed clash there, too. Our Party has already made its basic position of solidarity with Peoples Korea clear.

Murray, of course, was Corbyn's election campaign chief.

A month ago Hudson and comrades spoke movingly about their recent visit to the DPRK, where everything was, of course, wonderful:

The meeting agreed a letter on congratulating Kim Jon Un and the people of the DPRK on the success of their latest missile test.

Mercilessly cut their dirty bodies to pieces

Even by North Korean standards this joint statement from "the Ministry of State Security, the Ministry of People's Security and the Central Public Prosecutors Office of the DPRK" is quite something. Basically they're calling for disgraced South Korean ex-president Park Geun Hye, plus the former head of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service Ri Pyong Ho, to be brought to Pyongyang, where they'll be summarily executed. Or, to be more specific, suffer "death by dismemberment". On top of that that they put the world on notice that they'll seek out such "terrorists" who threaten the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK, wherever they may be, and will "mercilessly cut their dirty bodies to pieces".

Taken aback by the DPRK advancing at a dazzling speed along the immutable orbit of independence, Songun and socialism despite whatever turmoil of history, the enemies have reached extremely reckless and dangerous phase in their last-ditch efforts.

This is evidenced by a series of disclosure of hideous state-sponsored terrorism hatched by the enemies targeting the supreme leadership of the DPRK.

A revelation showed that Park Geun Hye of south Korea pushed forward the operation of "removing the north's leadership" in collusion with the Intelligence Service during her tenure, in the wake of the recent detection of a group of hideous terrorist criminals who were infiltrated by the CIA of the U.S. and the puppet IS into the DPRK for the purpose of state-sponsored terrorism against its supreme leadership with the use of bio-chemical substance. This is touching off the surging indignation of the army and people of the DPRK.

This claim, of a CIA-inspired bio-chemical plot against Kim Jong-un, is a recent and highly dubious claim which appears to have been concocted from nothing. 

The Ministry of State Security, the Ministry of People's Security and the Central Public Prosecutors Office of the DPRK state as follows as the enemies' moves to stifle the DPRK at any cost have reached the extremely grave phase of committing hideous state-sponsored terrorism targeting the supreme leadership of the DPRK:

1. We declare at home and abroad that we will impose death penalty on traitor Park Geun Hye and ex-Director of the puppet Intelligence Service Ri Pyong Ho and their groups, criminals of hideous state-sponsored terrorism who hatched and pressed for the heinous plot to hurt the supreme leadership of the DPRK.

The supreme leadership of the DPRK is a symbol of the dignity and might of the DPRK and it represents the life and destiny of the army and people of the DPRK.

It is the resolute will of our army and people regarding it as their life to safeguard the headquarters of the revolution to ferret out those keen on hurting the security of the DPRK supreme leadership wherever they might be on the earth and mercilessly cut their dirty bodies to pieces....

2. The south Korean authorities have to hand over traitor Park Geun Hye and former IS Director Ri Pyong Ho and their groups to the DPRK at once under international convention as they committed hideous state-sponsored terrorism against the supreme leadership of the DPRK.

It is stipulated in 1994 UN General Assembly resolution "Declaration on Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism" that in case a international terrorist criminal is within the territory of a country, it should arrest him or her to be punished through its criminal trial or extradite the criminal to the victimized country to be severely punished....

As was made public through a statement of the Ministry of State Security in May, the Park Geun Hye and Ri Pyong Ho group deserve death by dismemberment for their shuddering and hideous state-sponsored crimes committed so far at the instigation and under manipulation of the U.S., kingpin of terrorism....

3. We declare that in case the U.S. and the south Korean puppet forces again attempt at hideous state-sponsored terrorism targeting the supreme leadership of the DPRK, we will carry out summery execution without advance notice on those who organized, took part in or pursued the plot, under wartime law.

The DPRK and the U.S. are in the state of ceasefire and technically at war, in fact, after the armistice agreement was concluded in 1953.

Therefore, wartime law is to be applied for all the hostile acts and provocations between the two belligerent parties.

Accordingly, all the hostile acts arising in relations between the north and the south have to be handled under wartime law.

In fact, terrorist act against the leadership of the other party in belligerent relations can never be tolerated as it is the height of military provocation and the hideous crime that can spark off the worst crisis such as the outbreak of a war.

We officially declare that if the U.S. and the south Korean puppet forces again attempt at state-sponsored terrorism against the supreme leadership of the DPRK, we will track down those who organized, took part in and pursued the plot and carry out the summary execution of them without advance notice under wartime law.

Whether such crime is committed within the territory of the DPRK or outside it, we will mercilessly carry out the punishment in the name of our people in field by our style merciless punishment measure.

We make it clear once again that those who dare challenge the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK should never hope of staying alive under the sky.

We do not hide that should the U.S. and the south Korean authorities defy this warning and challenge our resolute measure, they will be made to pay a dear price in an irresistible physical way.

So, they'll kill anyone, anywhere, who dares to criticise the supreme leadership of the DPRK. Because that is, more or less, their definition of terrorism. 

See Joshua Stanton's analysis here.

I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby

I've posted this song before, but not in colour, and not this quality. A Louvin Brothers classic:

The sheer joy of the singing, the fabulous harmonies, the musicianship. Wonderful. There's even, unusually for the Louvins, a happy ending.

Introduced by Ernest Tubb. Not sure of the date, but I'd guess early Sixties. Ira Louvin - the tall mandolin-playing one on the left with the impossibly high tenor voice - was killed in a car crash in June 1965, so that gives a fairly definite no-later-than date.

This version is dated 1956.

Hollyhocks

Wild flowers in the Olympic Park:

An echo chamber

An interesting Tablet article by Hassan Dai looks at the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), and the role it played in shaping Obama's policy of appeasement towards Iran. Contrary to claims that it represented Iranian-Americans, NIAC was in fact a pro-Tehran advocacy and lobbying organization. In sum:

The White House and the pro-Iran lobby worked together to create an echo chamber to advance a large-scale media campaign designed to overcome widespread opposition to a nuclear deal that was favorable to Iran. A key part of this campaign was the argument the nuclear deal and lifting of sanctions would change Iranian foreign policy and its position toward the US. During a congressional briefing, NIAC Research Director Reza Marashi declared that “Iran is currently seeking to move away from the relationship of animosity it has had with the United States to a state he described as ‘rivalry,’ where mutual interests can be pursued while differences can be managed. Simply put, both sides need each other right now.” In a statement supporting the nuclear deal, NIAC declared that: “This deal provides the Iranian people with the space to push Iran in the right direction: an Iran that respects human rights and pursues moderate policies internally and externally.”....

Yet contrary to NIAC’s claims, the Iranian regime has intensified its holocaust-denying and anti-Jewish hatred. In January 2016, as the world marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Khamenei published a video titled “Are the Dark Ages Over” on his official website which included one of his speeches from two years ago in which he questions the reality of the Holocaust. In May 2016, Iran held another Holocaust cartoon festival inviting the usual despicable cast of characters from Europe and around the world with the supreme leader sending a message to the organizers of the event thanking and congratulating them.

Regarding NIAC’s claim that the nuclear deal and the lifting of sanctions would moderate Iranian foreign policy, there is some consensus that Iran feels emboldened to pursue its radical and hegemonic policies in the region. As CENTCOM Commander General Joseph L. Votel testified before the House Armed Service Committee in March 2017, “We have not seen any improvement in Iran’s behavior since the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), addressing Iran’s nuclear program, was finalized in July 2015. Iran aspires to be a regional hegemon and its forces and proxies oppose U.S. interests in Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon, Gaza, and Syria, and seek to hinder achievement of U.S. objectives in Afghanistan and some Central Asian States.”

What is unquestionable here is that NIAC’s activities since 2002 and particularly during the Obama administration eased pressure on the Iranian regime and helped Tehran to advance its strategic goals.

Warsaw street

Woman looking through the tram window on a rainy day:

[Photo © natalka dovha]

Continuing the passengers-through-windows theme...

Tracey from Margate

And so to this year's Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, where there's the usual mix of the interesting, the imaginative, the dull - and the terrible.

Speaking of which, there are five contributions from Tracey Emin. Three are in what seems to be her trademark style nowadays: neon strip lights spelling out trite messages. For instance:

"And I Said I Love You". The price? £84,000. Oh yes. 

There are two more in the same vein - "Never Again!", and "I Did Not Say I Could Never Love You I Said I Could Never Love", priced respectively at £54,000 and £90,000. The price, it seems, depends largely on the number of words. She could probably do you a "Wanker!" for - ooh - £40,000?

The remaining two Emin contributions are lithographs, in editions of 50 at £1400 each. 

"Not Yet the End":

and "I Was Left Sleeping":

Notice a certain similarity?

Perhaps having tried without success, tongue between teeth, to produce a sketch of a figure on a bed, she decided enough was enough and kept what she felt were the best two. To one she added some shady figures for a death scene; to the other the head of a lover, presumably, creeping away in the night. Bingo! Flog 'em off to the Royal Academy punters. 

Emin was of course, back in the heady days of the Young British Artists, something of a name. I didn't rate her at all, but My Bed became what might be described as an iconic piece, sold for £2.5 million in 2014, and is on long term loan to the Tate. 

The idea for My Bed was inspired by a sexual yet depressive phase in the artist's life when she had remained in bed for several days without eating or drinking anything but alcohol. When she looked at the vile, repulsive mess that had accumulated in her room, she suddenly realised what she had created. Emin ardently defended My Bed against critics who treated it as a farce and claimed that anyone could exhibit an unmade bed. To these claims the artist retorted, "Well, they didn't, did they? No one had ever done that before."

Indeed they hadn't.

It may be awful, self-indulgent, vain-glorious, yet, as Simon Schama admitted, "it does kind of exude a certain smelly power".

Her career since, though, surely suggests that this wasn't the work of an iconoclast and rebel with an artistic vision, but of a chancer. This latest Royal Academy stuff seems to me to demonstrate merely a cynical trading on her name, alongside a lack of talent and imagination now painfully apparent. The bad smell lingers on.

You can see her RA contributions here. Or all of the exhibits here.

Street politics

The penny drops for Daniel Finkelstein in the Times (£). Labour’s leadership believes, not in parliamentary democracy, but in direct democracy on the street and on the shopfloor - and at rock festivals. 

"Is democracy working? It didn’t work if you were a family living on the 20th floor of Grenfell Tower. Those families, those individuals, 79 so far and there will be more, were murdered by political decisions taken over recent decades”.

You know those police dramas, where the detective stares at a clue for ages before suddenly realising he was looking in the wrong place and missing the real story? I experienced just such a moment while pondering those remarks by John McDonnell at Glastonbury.

At first, like everyone else, I thought the most important part of his statement came at the end, with his use of the term “murder”. And then it came to me. The most important part of what he said was at the beginning.

The shadow chancellor didn’t question if austerity is working. Or if capitalism is working. Or if the government is working. His attack instead is on democracy. The deaths, the “murders”, happened because democracy isn’t working. This, I think, is the key to understanding his approach and that of Jeremy Corbyn....

Democracy is not parliament voting on laws after an election every few years, it is control by working people of their own lives, of the means of production, of the management of their workplaces and of the capital invested in businesses. It is always democratic to insist upon these rights, even if it involves breaking laws made by parliament.

So when John McDonnell calls on a million people to rise in protest on the streets and force Mrs May out of office, he regards it as baffling that anyone should suggest this is undemocratic. Because the demand by protesters that the establishment should yield power can never be undemocratic. And the idea that a government that controls central institutions and governs in the interests of capital can ever be truly democratic he regards as laughable.

It is wrong to argue that he wants violence. Violence is what he thinks the controllers of the state and capital use in order to enforce their domination. What he wants is a surrender to democratic ideas and forces, without anyone having to use violence.

I don’t think this is a caricature of his position. It is not intended as such. It is an attempt to understand and explain the things that he and Jeremy Corbyn say and believe.

The support Mr Corbyn shows for people like Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez, his appearances hosting phone-ins on Iranian state-funded television, or his dealings with Hamas and Hezbollah are much easier to understand when it is recognised that he doesn’t see Britain as a real democracy. The voices of protest and resistance are what he regards as really democratic.

This grassroots socialism was the brainchild of intellectuals of the New Left, people like Ralph Miliband and Robin Blackburn who linked up with Corbyn and Benn in the 1990s through the Independent Left Corresponding Society. It replaced the centralisation of orthodox communism — which they saw as leading to Stalinism — with a pluralistic society of street-level democracy.

What Labour is building now through a mass party and social media should be seen as much more than a formidable election machine. The New Left has always believed that the party should “prefigure” the society it is trying to create. So the anarchism and equality of social media and the enthusiasm of crowds enjoying rock festivals is a model for the sort of society Jeremy Corbyn wants to create.

I can’t pretend that I see this as anything other than hopelessly naive. I believe it will impoverish us all, the vulnerable most of all. I think it will be more tyrannical than democratic. I think it would collapse in lawless chaos. But I also accept it is a powerful and radical idea that deserves to be explained and debated. And if Mr McDonnell and Mr Corbyn would rather not, we must demand that they do.

To consider Jeremy Corbyn’s challenge as being merely on the levels of spending or corporation tax is to miss the point entirely. As Mr Corbyn put it when speaking to his constituency party: “Our job is not to reform capitalism, it’s to overthrow it.”

If we are going to have a big public argument about Corbynism let’s at least ensure it’s on the right topic.

NYC Light

A Manhattan sunset from Queens, across the East River:

[Photo © Lars Sivars / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest]

More of Lars Sivars and NYC light here.