Dorothea Lange – August 1939. "Great Plains and highway north of Amarillo, Texas."
[Photo: Shorpy/Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Administration]
Not far from Wichita, but I imagine Jimmy Webb's lineman was up taller poles than these.
Of course Amarillo has its own place in pop history with the Neil Sedaka song, made into a hit by Tony Christie. Altogether now…
Is this the way to Amarillo?
Every night I've been huggin' my pillow…
No, not one of pop music's greatest rhymes.
Canada's Trudeau distances himself from Macron:
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended free speech on Friday, but added that it was "not without limits" and should not "arbitrarily and needlessly hurt" certain communities.
"We will always defend freedom of expression," Trudeau said in response to a question about the right to show a caricature of the Prophet Mohammed, as France's Charlie Hebdo magazine did.
"But freedom of expression is not without limits," he added. "We owe it to ourselves to act with respect for others and to seek not to arbitrarily or unnecessarily injure those with whom we are sharing a society and a planet."…
"In a pluralist, diverse and respectful society like ours, we owe it to ourselves to be aware of the impact of our words, of our actions on others, particularly these communities and populations who still experience a great deal of discrimination," he said.
It's clear enough what he means. He doesn't believe in free speech at all – not if it might cause offence. The requirement to not cause offence – and particularly not cause offence to Muslims – is more important than free speech. We should be respectful, or they might get so offended that they're forced to resort to violence and threats to show us how offended they are.
It's notable that this kind of deference is based on the belief that the greater the violence, the more that those committing the violence must have been hurt. To go and cut someone's head off, or to rant and rave against France and Macron, like Erdogan or Imran Khan have done, shows how very deeply these people must have been offended. Which is just the response of the domestic abuser: look what you made me do by your behaviour…talking to that other man, not having my dinner ready, behaving like a slut…it's your fault I have to keep hitting you.
and raped.
Perhaps the most egregious example of her treatment is by the party, though. She became aware of a physical threat to her only because of a leak: Labour had not told her or the police. “I happen to be pretty resilient but that doesn’t mean I haven’t had some very low times over the past three years,” she said.
“I’ve managed to come out on the other side. There are other [party members] for whom this has taken an unimaginable toll; they’re unable to work, or suffer in their relationships.”
The report from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) concluded that Labour could have tackled antisemitism “if the leadership had chosen to do so”. The EHRC served the party with an unlawful act notice, requiring it to tackle the failings. Corbyn, however, insisted that the level of antisemitism had been “exaggerated”, a statement that led to his suspension.
“What was required was a wholesome apology, not another moment when he has chosen to obfuscate and not take that responsibility. This wasn’t just one event — this is a sea of incidents and processes and the culture,” Berger said.
“He and the people around him will not take responsibility and see that they caused this: by the words he said, the lack of action and by not speaking out. He and his supporters can see this only through the prism that ‘this has all been done for political reasons’, rather than acknowledging the facts.”
Berger, 39, believes Corbyn is antisemitic: “Once is a mistake, twice careless; more than that and you are antisemitic. You can’t profess not to be and engage in antisemitic actions. If you seek to deny the experience of victims of racism, you are complicit.” She had been parliamentary chairwoman of the Jewish Labour Movement and last met Corbyn in late 2017: “He wanted to talk about everything [but] antisemitism…"
Corbyn could have chosen to respond to the report with dignity…maybe even an apology. That level of decency, though, is quite beyond the wretched man: an ideologue through and through – and a stupid one at that.
Update: a neat summary of the problem from Andrew Rawnsley:
Mr Corbyn’s vanity simply will not allow him to accept responsibility. Many things have been said about his character over the years, but one thing has not been said enough: he is a narcissist. He cannot deal with criticism because it challenges his self-conceited estimation of his own purity. He can never be the transgressor, he must always be the sufferer.
ndia. Photo: Haryadi Yansyar
Saranrom Palace, Bangkok, Thailand. Photo: Diana Saavedra
State Historical Museum, Moscow. Photo: Vasilmann
Svortuloft Lighthouse, Iceland. Photo: Rod Trevino
Vallo Castle, Zealand, Denmark. Photo @copenhagenbykat
Tauranga, New Zealand. Photo: Jody Hartley
Russell Lee, looking for America in the summer of 1942:
July 1942. "Oakridge, Oregon. Vacationist."
August 1942. "Midway, Bingham County, Idaho. Sanitary facilities."
[Photos: Shorpy/Russell Lee for the Office of War Information]
yle=”padding-left: 40px”>"It was fantastic to meet so many people on their bikes, all of them cycling for many different reasons. It was especially nice to do it at a time when London was a lot quieter – but through the conversations I had with people, what became clear, is that cycling is something that brings them all joy and is a big part of their lives. I think putting them all together in a book, does a great job of showing that."
[Photos: Matthew Johnson]
Johnson's book Cyclists of London is available for pre-order.
ls were always accompanied by menacing counter-aggressions, accusing Jews of trying to silence criticism of Israel and to smear the left. […]
Huge responsibility for Labour antisemitism must be borne by those who did not share the crank politics but who nevertheless allowed it to take the leadership of the party. There are the layers of activists, politicians and intellectuals who think that antisemitic politics was radical Communist chic; then there are those who think that it was really all about Palestine; and those who thought we should rally round the leadership; and those who thought the Zionists were just as bad; and those who thought we should all get along; those who were afraid to get into the fight; those who wanted to keep their jobs and their influence; and those who wanted a seat in the House of Lords.
And there are those who don’t really think that Corbyn was antisemitic but they now believe that Labour won’t have a chance if it doesn’t keep the Jews happy.
The EHRC report is Keir Starmer’s opportunity to peel away those layers from the committed, ideological, antisemitic core and to cauterise the wound. I think he’s doing well. Personally I would vote for Starmer to be Prime Minister tomorrow if I could, in an election against Boris Johnson. I’d be happier still voting Labour if Luciana Berger were my Labour candidate in Finchley and Golders Green. Failing that, she would be a great MP for Islington North.
Ooh yes please. As a North Islington resident myself – with Corbyn my local MP – I might even start voting Labour again.
This deserves to be remembered for its title, if nothing else. The Ikettes, without Ike and without Tina:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87a8nrANb64&w=550&h=309]
Jessie Smith, Vanetta Fields, and Robbie Montgomery, on Dick Clark's American Bandstand, May 1965.
For the Ikettes this was a chance to take it easy. Their usual stage routines with Tina were frenetic high energy affairs with short short skirts.
As the Swinging Sixties progressed, the Ikettes became known for their sexy onstage appearance; minidresses, long hair and high-energy dance routines which mirrored their mentor Tina Turner. "They represent me, and in my act they gotta look outta sight at all times. There’s simply no room for sloppiness and unprofessionalism," Tina told Esquire. "I also believe in the Ikette visual. I don't see it as cheap or vulgar. Nor do I see myself as that. Sex is not cheap or vulgar. And I always loved the look of long straight hair. Ike says he patterned me after Sheena of the jungle. She was white, you know. But I still love the look and action of long hair movin' and the short skirts shimmying. I want action on that stage at all times."
an to seek out information about Israel and Jewish history. […]
Today, Sharansky sees some of the same forces that acted on him in the Soviet Union—anti-Semitic anti-Zionism that demonized the Jewish state, and an expectation that he truncate his Jewish identity to fit the dominant ideology—at work on American Jews. To be sure, the United States is not the Soviet Union; but that does not make these forces any less frightening. I asked Sharansky whether American Jews, who are facing these pressures for the first time in their lives, might not benefit from examining the experience of Soviet Jews in greater depth.
Sharansky agreed. For one thing, there is something to be learned from the Soviet Jews’ “Jewish pride” that developed “as a response to anti-Semitism.” Another valuable aspect is their holistic understanding of anti-Semitism.
“In Russia there was no difference between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism,” said Sharansky. “Soviet Jews knew that both the anti-cosmopolitan campaign and anti-Zionist campaigns were campaigns against Jews.”
Ideological loyalty tests are fast becoming normal parts of American institutional and social life. If the recent trend to “cancel” those who fail to comply is any indication, many may soon be facing Sharansky’s choice: to live in truth or retreat into the splintered life of doublethink. For the Jews, there are additional factors to consider. They include an ability to live in the fullness of their Jewish identity or excising the “undesirable” parts such as their connection to Israel. Sharansky shows that the path of least resistance—self-censorship and doublethink—is not nearly as cost-free as one might think.
"Soviet Jews knew that both the anti-cosmopolitan campaign and anti-Zionist campaigns were campaigns against Jews.” As Alan Johnson notes, left antisemitism started long before Corbyn.
