It was, as planned, a birdwatching day.
Susan Mensforth will recognise where I was:
That is Snape Maltings in Suffolk, now the home of the Britten Pears Aldeburgh Festival.
There were more big East Anglian skies:
And little egret:
And again, because I like their muddy ways and always wonder how they stay so white:
There were also around ten curlew around, making their wonderfully evocative calls that always signal time off to me. They are magnificent birds:
And then there was this kingfisher, who sat on an old, sunken boat for maybe a minute waiting to be photographed. This, I should add, is massively enlarged:
The original looked like this:
I can't be picky, though: they rarely sit around as long as this.
I have a very good day, even if the rain dulled play this afternoon. Tea was taken early as a result.
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Hi Richard,
You mentioned you don’t support the Job Guarantee since you don’t think enough JG Jobs/Shelf contacts could exist. There is a detailed paper here: https://www.levyinstitute.org/pubs/wp_902.pdf I can give many examples of JG Jobs on a shelf from the paper:
JG Jobs include: “Care for the Environment:
“The jobs will tackle: soil erosion, flood control, environmental surveys, species monitoring, park maintenance and renewal, removal of invasive species, sustainable agriculture practices to address the “food desert”2 problems in the United States, support for local fisheries, community supported agriculture (CSA) farms, community and rooftop gardens, tree planting, fire and other disaster prevention measures, weatherization of homes, and composting.”
Care for the Community:
“Jobs can include: cleanup of vacant properties, reclamation of materials, restoration of public spaces, and other small infrastructure investments; establishment of school gardens, urban farms, co-working spaces, solar arrays, tool lending libraries, classes and programs, and community theaters; construction of playgrounds; restoration of historical sites; organization of carpooling programs, as well as recycling, reuse, and water-collection initiatives, food waste programs, and oral histories projects.”
Care for the People:
“The JG aims to support individuals and families, filling the particular need gaps they may be facing. Projects would include: elderly care; afterschool programs; and special programs for children, new mothers, at-risk youth, veterans, former inmates, and people with disabilities. One advantage of the JG is that it also provides job opportunities to the very people benefiting from these programs. In other words, the program gives them agency. For example, the at-risk youth themselves participate in the execution of the afterschool activities that aim to benefit them. The veterans themselves can work for and benefit from different veterans’ outreach programs. Jobs in these projects can include: organizing afterschool activities or adult skill classes in schools or local libraries; facilitating extended-day programs for school children; shadowing teachers, coaches, hospice workers and librarians to learn new skills and assist them in their duties; organizing nutrition surveys in schools; and coordinating health awareness programs for young mothers. Other examples include organizing urban campuses, co-ops, classes and training, and apprenticeships in sustainable agriculture, and all of the above-mentioned community care jobs, which could produce a new generation of urban teachers, artists and artisans, makers, and inventors.”
I can think of other examples: computer programming, community handyman, tour guides, social care.
Please reconsider and support the Job Guarantee!
This is not evidence of anything to do with the practicality of making such jobs available, the s5are of flux around them, or the transition processes. Statements on Warren Mosler’s white board are not the same as real world delivery where a JG is not viable due to time lags, which MMT can no more ignore than neoliberals can. You do yourself no credit by pretending otherwise.
Jason,
Would you rather a talented university lecturer be employed or tenured? True creativity must be self-driven.
And do you remember lockdown? All we had to do was stop running around like crazy bastards for a few months and nature started recovering and healing itself, as it always has done.
I’m not suggesting that we don’t have to do anything to help repair the biosphere, because that would be nonsense, but I am suggesting that trying too hard is a real risk here.
In my opinion some sort of income guarantee (not necessarily UBI) and Universal Basic Services would ensure that “jobs” are no longer needed and we can all instead fully focus on how to stop damaging Mother Nature.
Matthew
Utopianism is not my thing. I will be deleting claims that it exists. The idea that jobs are not needed is, politely, quite absurd in a non-subsistence community. Please don’t waste my time with them, or that of others. This blog is about the real world.
Richard
I apologise to Richard for taking his blog in unwanted directions.
I’ll try not to do that again.
I need to maintain some focus, Matthew.
Richard wrote:
“wonder how they stay so white”
They have downy feathers that shed a talc-like dust from the tips which is used as a dry shampoo, and it works very effectively thanks to their preening (“pectinate”) claw and long bill.
More here: https://www.paperbarkwriter.com/why-is-the-ibis-often-grubby-and-the-egret-always-clean/
Live and learn!
A nice reminder of Aldeborough, which – as lover of Benjamin Britten’s music – I visited a some years ago, both to visit his house and to attend the Festival.
Lovely photos, Richard. I was over at Snape Maltings a week ago. Wonderful birding on that part of the East coast and as you say, the huge skies. Then I drifted over to Orford and watched hordes of swifts skimming over the Alde and then climbing almost vertically to wheel around above me. I think Lesser Black Backed gulls nest on the spit?
I’m always rather conflicted by Orford. The contrast between the marine beauty and the disused U.S. military buildings confuses me. (I’m also strangely drawn to disused military bases!)
My mother studied at the Royal Academy of Music at the same time as Benjamin Britten was at the Royal College of Music. There was a programme on TV about him and as Mum was taking stuff out to the kitchen she said “we always knew Benjy would go far”. Stunned silence. It turned out that she had shared digs with Britten on the Cromwell Road.
Thanks
aaah – memories – Snape Maltings and Britten Pears Arts – and now just back from ‘G & S ‘Iolanthe’ followed by cabaret from the young singers – Strephon was sung by a former Britten Pears young artist, Felix Kemp. Felix was one of the Pilgrims in the 60th anniversary production of Britten’s Curlew River in June 2024. The original production, with Peter Pears in the lead, was staged in Orford Church – the 2024 production was in Blythburgh Church and was televised by BBC – it can now be viewed on YouTube – Ian Bostridge sang the Madwomen, with Duncan Rock singing the Ferryman, Marcus Farnsworth as the Traveller and Sir Willard Wight as the Abbott leading the pilgrims. An incredibly evocative production and great to see one of the chorus of Pilgrims in a lead role in Buxton. Snape Maltings is a fantastic setting and is a tribute to both Britten and Pears – so peaceful yet beset by fears of rising sea levels with climate change. Britten Pears Arts have a huge Capital Programme currently ongoing (and ongoing fund raising!) not only to build flood defences, but a three-year initiative, launched in May 2024, focused on improving accessibility, sustainability, and community engagement across Britten Pears Arts. This £13.4 million program will enhance the organization’s buildings and sites, ensuring they are fit for purpose and promote positive change through the arts. Thank you, Richard, for the wonderful memory – I will again be there next June, enjoying that tranquil landscape, watching the birds, the reed beds, the ripples on the water, and of course enjoying wonderful music. I am so fortunate to have had my schooling there (1954 to 1963) whilst Britten and Pears were still around.
I thought you might like this.
Hmmm
You’ve only just got into this photography malarkey and you already have a shot of a Kingfisher which even after 30 odd years of snapping away I still have none!
Well, this won’t do – Suffolk here I come!
You’ve been warned………….
There was pair today, but poor light and further away. Best birds of the day willow warbler, garden warbler, stonechat, and kingfisher. Last dy of birding tomorrow.