This comes from the FT this morning:
Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell called on students to protect democracy while praising American universities as “a crucial national asset”, days after the Trump administration escalated its attacks on higher education.
“We lead the world in so many ways, including in scientific innovation and economic dynamism,” the US's central banker told students in a commencement address at Princeton on Sunday. “Our great universities are the envy of the world and a crucial national asset.”
Don't get me wrong: I am not suddenly becoming a fan of central bankers. I am of the people with the courage to call Trump and his fascism out, and that is undoubtedly what Jay Powell is doing, at some probable risk to himself as a result.
How many will do that in the UK establishment when the time comes to stand up to Farage, as it might?
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Well, at the moment the BBC and much of the media seems to simply pander to Farage not stand up to him
The BBC more than panders to Farage; it takes every opportunity it can to give him air time. Impartiality is a total joke.
Knowing this country and the ancient fealty it likes to see in those who get to be part of the establishment, I’m not so sure. It all depends on how united the rich are in their support for ‘Mirage’. If the money keeps rolling in……………………….?
My nephew would have been in the audience as he is graduating from Princeton having studied History and English. I would like to read his dissertation as that was on the transition of SWAPO from Liberation Movement to Political Party. It is probably a good thing he has now finished before Trump has really got going in his attack on academia. Princeton has stayed small (8000 students) and pretty true to its roots as the Scottish Presbyterian College of New Jersey. Graduation seems to be a four day celebration!
Good luck to him
If the MSM and politicians put as much energy into ruthlessly exposing the truth about Fa***e’s lies, breaches of regulations about use of public funds and electoral spending, (including his time as an MEP), his hypocrisy, his inability to manage a political party without it imploding, or even to avoid lying about buying property in his constituency, his dubious and thoroughly UNpatriotic foreign contacts with American and German fascists, his underhand use of foreign funding, and his failure to do the job parliament pays him to do as MP for Clacton – if they put as much energy into exposing that day after day, as they put into smearing and slandering Jeremy Corbyn, to prevent him becoming Prime Minister then Farage would not be the fascist threat to us all that he clearly is now, and Fiona Bruce could question democrats on BBCQT instead of fascist demagogues.
Respect to Jay Powell. What is needed now in the US to confront to rapid drift towards fascism is collective solidarity. A spirited and principled young student at George Washington University, Cecilia Culver, very bravely used her Commencement address to speak up for Palestinians and attacked GWU’s investment in Israel. For her sins, GWU has barred her from the campus. She needs support now. Another student at NYU did the same, and is similarly persona non grata. At last week’s Commencement ceremonies at Columbia a university in New York dozens of students several times interrupted the ceremonies chanting “Free, free Palestine” And “Free Mahmoud Khalil”, a Columbia graduate kidnapped by the US immigration goons,ICE, from his apartment without an arrest warrant, and currently incarcerated in a jail in Louisiana. Khalil was the go-between for the pro-Palestinian student demonstrators and Columbia administration in the big demonstration sit-in on the campus a year ago. In solidarity, law faculty from the City University of New York (CUNY) are seeking Khalil’s release in pro bono legal defence. This is the kind of collective solidarity needed to stand up to Trump.
Crumble surprise
Don’t be fooled
Blackberries are tasty fruits
To be enjoyed but a few weeks each year
But meanwhile for the rest of the time
The brambles are spreading and growing
Their thorns multiplying
Harsh hedges of hate
Becoming ever larger
Flattening all other plants in their wake
Faster faster
Wider wider
Taller taller
Stronger stronger
The barbs pierce, protrude and penetrate
There will blood
There will be blindness
There will be blight
Beware those who promise sweet fruit and succulent crumbles
Look through and past these promises
To see the matted mesh of pointed pain and spiteful spikes
And keep your secateurs and pencils close
¡No Passaran!
Very good
Every blog needs a poet in cyber-residence!
(Just off to make a rhubarb crumble, last years bramble cheese is still in the cupboard.)
🙂
It’s not just Farage we have to worry about, though he’s definitely in the mix. Here’s a List of the Day of things that the UK is generally regarded as good at, together with some details about how they are being systematically undermined.
1. Higher Education and Research
Being undermined by:
Reduced public funding for universities and research.
Hostile immigration policies affecting international students and researchers.
Culture war narratives targeting universities as bastions of “wokeness.”
2. Creative Industries
Being undermined by:
Arts funding cuts at national and local levels.
Brexit-related restrictions on cross-border collaboration and touring.
Censorship or regulation tied to culture war concerns.
3. Financial and Professional Services
Being undermined by:
Brexit reducing EU market access.
Regulatory uncertainty undermining London’s global financial role.
4. Life Sciences and Pharmaceuticals
Being undermined by:
NHS underfunding reducing ability to act as a research partner.
Overregulation or instability post-Brexit.
Immigration policy reducing access to skilled workers.
5. Soft Power and Diplomacy
Being undermined by:
Reduction in foreign aid budget (from 0.7% to 0.5% of GDP).
Cutbacks at the BBC World Service.
Brexit weakened soft power relationships.
6. Legal and Parliamentary Systems
Being undermined by:
Executive overreach undermining checks and balances.
Attacks on judicial independence or on the Human Rights Act.
7. Aerospace and Engineering
Being undermined by:
Reduced R&D funding.
Post-Brexit talent and parts supply issues.
Climate transition without adequate support for re-skilling or innovation.
8. Tourism and Heritage
Being undermined by:
Cuts to English Heritage and National Trust support.
Visa restrictions for tourists.
Culture wars targeting how history is interpreted.
9. Sports
Being undermined by:
Privatisation of grassroots sports facilities.
Obesity and inactivity due to public health neglect.
Commercialisation undermining community engagement.
10. Charity and Civil Society
Being undermined by:
Stricter regulation or politicisation of charities.
Chronic underfunding of voluntary sector services.
Surveillance or constraints on advocacy.
That is good