DRUNK PHILOSOPHY JOKE!!!

Why didn't Joe have any friends?

Because according to Thomas Hobbes, man is anti-social by nature, and therefore the only friends that he has are simply to meet his own ends, therefore Joe cannot truly have friends in the way that the word 'friend' is commonly used! x

Radio Bulletin

http://soundcloud.com/samashton2/full-finished-bulletin

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County Council vs District Council

County Council vs District Council

Local government in Britain is divided into tiers. The highest tier belongs to county council which is occasionally divided into districts or boroughs (as is the case with Hampshire county council) and the second tier is district council, these can be ‘unitary authorities’. District councils are then separated into parishes. We attended a Winchester County Council meeting and the themes that were discussed here were entirely regarding Winchester. The articles discussed included Broadband speeds and changes to the local care system.

Hampshire
Hampshire county council is the upper tier in local government in Hampshire, below it are Basi ngstoke and Deane Borough Council, East Hampshire District Council, Eastleigh Borough Council, Fareham Borough Council, Gosport Borough Council, Hart District Council, Havant Borough Council, New Forest District Council, Rushmoor Borough Council, Test Valley Borough Council and Winchester City Council. Portsmouth and Southampton are both part of Hampshire, however they are both unitary authorities,; they are their own council. We spoke to Kelsey Lerney, head of Winchester City Council about the relationship between the city and the county council and she admitted that occasionally there are disagreements between the two councils, with the county council being Conservative run, and the city council having a small Liberal Democrat majority. Parishes in Winchester include Winnal, Badger Farm, Hambledon and Bishops Sutton.

What do they do?
County councils tend to be responsible for services such as education, transport, emergency services, libraries and waste disposal, district councils are more likely to be responsible for areas such as housing, waste collection, licensing, cemeteries and planning permissions. Parish Councils are responsible for feeding back local opinion to higher tiers of government, setting up CCTV and other crime reduction methods and maintaining footpaths and green spaces.

Elections
County councillors are elected every four years, these are voted for in the same way as government elections, anybody is able to stand as a councillor as long as they are 18 or older on the day of nomination, have property in or work connections in the county, are a UK or European Union citizen, have not been declared bankrupt or otherwise disqualified and are not already an employee of the Council. Elections are conducted in a first past the post system. In local government councillors are normally elected every four years. Elected councillors usually employ ‘officers’ who take charge of necessary tasks and engagements.

Finance
Councils are funded by council tax and government grants, county councils receive a lot more finance than district or parish councils as Winchester City Council leader Kelsey Lerney informed us. The county council have an overall yearly budget of somewhere near 1.8 billion pounds whereas the district council has only 12.5 million pounds.

Leaked Reading Festival Lineup

This photo has been removed from official Forums and looks as though it has been taken out of NME magazine. Is it real? We'll find out at 7.15 tonight!

The Communist Manifesto

Karl Marx:
Born in 1818 to a Jewish family
Studied Law, Philosophy, journalism and then Revolution
1844, Met Engels in Paris
1848, Communist Manifesto published

The Communist Manifesto outlines the Communist Leagues aims and ideologies; it focuses largely on criticising capitalism and past class struggles.
According to Engels, Marx’s work achieved a fusion of Hegelian philosophy, British empiricism (particularly the economics of Adam Smith and French revolutionary politics (particularly socialist politics)

The Manifesto begins by stating that “A spectre is haunting Europe -- the spectre of communism.” The reference to a ‘spectre’ is a reference to Hegel’s idea of the ‘Zeitgeist’; the ghost of now, or the spirit of the moment. Marx seems to be implying that the time of writing was the time for communism to happen. The Manifesto outlines that it was created so that communists can ‘openly, in the face of the whole world, publish their views, their aims and their tendencies in a manifesto.’

The first chapter relates to bourgeois and proletarians, and begins with the line “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.” This refers to the way in which class struggles have always affected civilisation. The Bourgeoisie are the wealthy ruling class; the landowners and business owners, as Marx puts it, ‘the industrial millionaires.’ The Proletariat are the people that work for the bourgeoisie, doing hard, monotonous work just in order to earn enough money to simply survive. This chapter claims that the economic structure of each society leads to one part of that society being oppressed.

It claims that oppressor and oppressed have always stood in opposition to each other and that this fight has always ended in the ruin of the contending classes and that the gap between the two classes has been increased by the East Indian and Chinese markets and the colonisation of America, this extension of trade and exchange has led to the disappearance of the division of labour between different corporate Gilds in the face of division of labour in every workshop. New technologies such as steam and Machinery have also helped to further widen this gap, it has caused proletarian labourers to become simple commodities, and their work has lost all individual character. Marx describes them as an ‘appendage of the machine’. The Manifesto reads “the modern bourgeoisie is itself the product of a long course of development, of a series of revolutions in the modes of production and exchange”. This passage again shows the influence that Hegel has over Marx. It is referring to the way that things are constantly changing and developing through war and revolution.

He accuses the modern state of being ‘a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie (This is different to Hegel, who was a big fan of ‘the state’).
The manifesto then says that No sooner is the exploitation of the labourer by the manufacturer, so far at an end, that he receives his wages in cash, than he is set upon by the other portion of the bourgeoisie, the landlord, the shopkeeper, the pawnbroker, etc.

The Manifesto indicates that the proletariat need to rise up and overthrow the bourgeoisie using the ‘tools’ that the bourgeoisie have provided (improvements in transport, technology, communication etc). This would involve the proletariat organising themselves into a political party, during this process, Marx believes that parts of the bourgeoisie would be forced into joining the proletariat. This would happen naturally due to bourgeoisie industry becoming bigger, and therefore more expensive, forcing bourgeois out of their positions. As the proletariat numbers grow and the bourgeoisie numbers decrease, the proletariat can overthrow the bourgeoisie through violent revolution or politically.

Once the Proletariat have formed a communist party, Marx states that the following would be applicable:

1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.

2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.

3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance.

4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.

5. Centralization of credit in the banks of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.

6. Centralization of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the state.

7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the state; the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.

8. Equal obligation of all to work. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.

9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of all the distinction between town and country by a more equable distribution of the populace over the country.

10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labor in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, etc.

This would apparently lead to the removal of class antagonism, and classes in general and create an “association in which the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all.”

One criticism that the manifesto addresses, is that without private property “universal laziness will overtake us”. Marx claims that if this was the case, laziness would have overtaken a capitalist society a long time ago, because the people that work don’t own anything, and the people that own things don’t work. It has been suggested that Marx can come across as slightly sarcastic in his responses to criticisms of communism.

The third section of the manifesto is a critical review of other socialist and communist literature. These are reactionary socialism, conservative or bourgeois socialism and critical utopian socialism and communism. Marx argues that each of these fails because it misses out on a key part of communist theory. The reactionaries and the conservatives fail to understand the class antagonism that will lead to the eventual downfall of the bourgeoisie and the critical utopians fail to realise that revolution is necessary and that nothing will happen through “fanatical and superstitious belief in the miraculous effects of their social science.”

The final section of the manifesto relates to the communist party’s relationship with other political parties, it states “In short, the Communists everywhere support every revolutionary movement against the existing social and political order of things.” It finishes with the passage:

“Let the ruling classes tremble at a communist revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win.”

“Proletarians of all countries unite!”

The communist manifesto is fairly simple to read, and was clearly aimed at a wide working class demographic, I find that one of the key downfalls of the manifesto is the lack of importance that is given to religion and culture, Marx claims that they are “not deserving of serious examination.” Of course Marx was opposed to religion but it seems silly to give this no consideration, surely it’s something that the proletariat would be concerned by, and something that may divide them or bring them together.

Free Press

An interesting article by Nick Clegg on The Guardian website regarding a shake up of libel laws. Although he'll probably change his mind soon enough.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/15/libel-law-reform-free-press

Daily Stargate

A reporter for The Daily Star has resigned, claiming that the newspaper encourages its journalists to make up lies about celebrities and has an anti-Muslim agenda.

This is something that I have noticed a lot since gaining an interest in newspapers and I am pleased that this young journalist has decided to take a stand. Richard Peppiatt admits in his letter of resignation that he gladly took to the streets wearing a burkha, but claims he had "discovered some backbone" by the time he was asked to pose semi naked with some burkha clad shoppers.

By simply typing the word 'Muslim' into the Daily Star website's search bar, I discover the following results:

Wear Burka go to prison
SHEER HATRED
Curry Boss: Muslim duty to hire illegalsMuslims on top in decades
And even:
Is Maddie a Muslim?

Although not all of these are entirely negative articles, the headlines give off such a negative, scaremongering impression. Peppiatt says in his letter:

"Our caustic "us and them" narrative needs nailing home every day or two, and when asked to wield the hammer I was too scared for my career, and my bank account, to refuse."

He also writes:

"You may have heard the phrase, "The flap of a butterfly's wings in Brazil sets off a tornado in Texas." Well, try this: "The lies of a newspaper in London can get a bloke's head caved in down an alley in Bradford.""

Guardian columnist and personal hero of mine Charlie Brooker, has also written a hilarious and thought provoking piece about a similar topic, which I would highly recommend reading:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/14/daily-star-crude-propaganda

He sums up the Daily Star's reporting by saying "the Daily Star is either grossly irresponsible in its sloppy representation of the facts, or engaging in overt anti-Muslim propaganda."

Peppiatt says that he knew it was time to 'lay down his pen' when the newspaper seemed to be supporting the controversial far right organisation; The English Defence League. The EDL claims that it is a non violent, non racist organisation with the intention of uniting against militant Islam. They like to show how non violent they are by getting together in a warehouse, wearing balaclavas and burning flags.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkKmzNpUBM4
Charming.

The Daily star responded to Richard Peppiatt's claims with this statement:

"Richard Peppiatt worked purely as a casual reporter at the Daily Star for almost two years. Recently he became unhappy after he was passed over for several staff positions. He refers to a Kelly Brook story: in fact, he approached and offered the newspaper that story, vouched for its accuracy, and then asked for and received an extra freelance fee for doing so. Since he wrote his email we have discovered that he was privately warned very recently by senior reporters on the paper after suggesting he would make up quotes. Regarding the allegations over the paper's coverage of Islam, he was only ever involved in a very minor way with such articles, and never voiced either privately or officially any disquiet over the tone of the coverage. For the record, the Daily Star editorial policy does not hold any negativity towards Islam and the paper has never, and does not endorse, the EDL."

Read Richard Peppiatt's full letter of resignation here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/mar/04/daily-star-reporter-letter-full

Phone Hacking allegedly used in all of the 'Murdoch press'

John Prescott used his Parliamentary privilege to accuse the Murdoch press of carrying out phone hacking within more than one of its newspapers. News International, the group owned by Rupert Murdoch, is in charge of The Sun, The News of the World, The Times and The Sunday Times.

"It is a number of papers owned by the Murdoch press and a number of employees who have been involved in withholding evidence and [hacking into phones]," The former Deputy Prime Minister said today during a House of Lords debate regarding Murdoch's takeover of BskyB.

Because this was said in parliament, John Prescott has no fears of sparking a Libel lawsuit. Parliamentary Privilege means that what people say in parliament is protected from libel laws.

News International has denied that any of their publications, except the News of the World are under investigation.

The Full story can be found here.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/mar/03/phone-hacking-prescott-claims-murdoch