Angelene Wright 💙💙

Widow of MS sufferer, mother, grandmother, Christian, retired teacher. Now former Labour Party member & feeling politically homeless

[Tiberius @tiberiusfiles]

Musk’s daughter has him nailed

[Steve Chalke @SteveChalke]

Here’s the script from my ‘Pause for Thought’ with @ZoeTheBall for Radio 2 earlier this morning. With thanks as always to those who inspire my thoughts, this time my good friend Mark Oakley @DeanSouthwark & Ephraim Mirvis @chiefrabbi who I don’t know but just love listening to.

[Saul Staniforth @SaulStaniforth]

#BBCBreakfast using the term "anti immigration demonstrations"

Are Ukrainians being attacked? Are white Aussies working in bars being targeted? Or is it black & brown people, regardless of where they were born? & if its the latter is there a better word that can describe that?

[James Foster @JamesEFoster]

.@JamesTalarico:

Look around us.

If this was truly a Christian nation, we would forgive student debt.

If this was truly a Christian nation, we would guarantee health care to every single person.

If this was truly a Christian nation, we would love all of our LGBTQ neighbours.

If this was truly a Christian nation, we would make sure that every child in this state and in this country was housed, fed, clothed, educated and insured.

If this was truly a Christian nation, we would never make it a Christian nation because we know that the table of fellowship is open to everyone, including our Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh and atheist neighbours

[Jules #FreePalestine🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸 @celtjules66]

Racists torching a library.
Probably, because the arseholes haven’t read a book in their pathetic little lives.

[Tim Sigsworth @tjsigsworth]

Serious violence now breaking out at Hard-Right protest opposite Downing Street. Riot police now deploying and a can of lager has just missed my head by an inch.

[sarah @sahouraxo]

In the last 48 hours alone, Israel has dropped bombs on:

Palestine 🇵🇸
Lebanon 🇱🇧
Syria 🇸🇾
Iran 🇮🇷

Not a peep from the “international community”, of course.

[Dr. Doris Grinspun 🇨🇦 RN, PhD, FAAN, O.ONT @DorisGrinspun]

Mr. Trump nominated a disturbed person as his VP. Not surprising given Mr. Trump himself suffers from a sociopathic personality 😳 💔😱

[BladeoftheSun @BladeoftheS]

Keir Starmer has said he is considering scrapping the Two Child Benefit Cap.

RT if he must.

[sarah @sahouraxo]

BREAKING:

Israel is burning villages and farm lands in South Lebanon with white phosphorus bombs. AGAIN.

And not a word from the “international community”, of course.

[Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan]

"Tell Hamas to release the hostages!" pro-Israel people have screamed at pro-Palestinian people on here since October 7th, 2023.

Turns out the Prime Minister of Israel has been working hard to make sure they wouldn't.

Surprise!

[Dr. Jill Stein🌻 @DrJillStein]

AIPAC should have to register as a foreign agent and should be banned from spending money to influence US elections. AIPAC spending has drowned out debate and bought a US government that is aiding and abetting genocide. #Debate2024

[Dr. Jill Stein🌻 @DrJillStein]

Joe Biden could stop the genocidal war in Gaza with a single phone call, just like Reagan stopped Israel’s invasion of Lebanon. That’s because Israel is fully dependent on US funding and US weapons for everything it’s doing. #Debate2024

[Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand]

This is one of the thought-provoking pieces I've read lately on how China manages its economy, and why it ultimately creates more value for society overall.
https://t.co/juDAhbgHYu

Essentially the author - the mysterious Han Feizi (a pseudonym) - argues that the West looks at value creation primarily through the length of profitability and market capitalization, whilst China looks at it from a consumer and externalities standpoint.

He explains this through a couple of examples. For instance solar panels, pointing out the fact that "America’s First Solar recently became the most valuable photovoltaic company" whilst "cutthroat competition in China destroyed margins".

So which country created more value with regards to solar panels? Well, the author argues, "the fact that China’s photovoltaic companies are slaughtering each other by flooding the world with cheap solar panels is prima facie evidence of stunning policy success and value creation".

Why? Because ultimately the value for society is to have lots of solar panels at very affordable prices, not trillion-dollar market-cap stocks... Much like "what we want from the butcher, the brewer and the baker are beef, beer and bread, not for them to be fabulously wealthy shop owners."

In fact, the author argues, mega-cap valuations indicate that something has gone seriously awry. Do we really want tech billionaires or do we really want tech?"

Same thing with EVs: the US ends up with Tesla which has a US$788 billion market cap, whilst China ends up with a huge ecosystem of over 250 EV models to choose from (the largest player, BYD, has a $93 billion market cap) in an insanely competitive environment. Ultimately Chinese companies sell way more cars than Tesla, they're much more innovative and, more importantly, we end up in a situation where close to 60% of cars sold in China are EVs, whilst in the US that's only 7%... So which system created more "value"? 🤔

As "Han Feizi" cheekily writes: "This writer thinks stupefied fanboys would be better off worshipping Elon Musk a little less and demanding affordable cars a little more, but that’s just my opinion." 🎯

And then there are externalities, which the author rightly says is the "more significant outcomes of industrial policy" in terms of value creation.

When it comes to EV, externalities include "weening China from oil imports and lowering particulates and CO2 emissions". And when it comes to cheap solar panel prices they include "significantly lowering the cost of energy for the Global South with massive geopolitical implications". Isn't that value-creation? Of course it is, but that's not captured in a company's EBITDA or market cap...

In the end this piece makes us go back to first principles: what is economic success, what is value creation? Maybe, just maybe, it's the approach that delivers the most tangible improvements in people's lives, instead of trillion-dollar companies and billionaire CEOs 🤷

[Armando Iannucci @Aiannucci]

The extreme Right are very loud rather than very popular. But as long as the media mistake loudness for popularity, the extreme Right will keep getting more airtime than their rivals. That’s not to underestimate the very real frustrations with politics that many of their supporters feel, but it does give us the first very real sign that the march of the Far Right is not as relentless and unstoppable as they would browbeat us into believing. It’ll be hard work and demand full attention, but they CAN be stopped. And that gives me hope.

[Mark Ruffalo @MarkRuffalo]

Now from within what we have all been saying from the outside. What Israel is doing to the Palestinians is illegal and amoral and Biden’s administration has signed off on the worst of it. There is no end in sight—untold suffering unfolding and a disaster for Americans, Israelis, and Palestinians alike. The resignee statement speaks volumes to this issue.

Article: Exclusive: 12 Biden Administration Resignees Blast 'Intransigent' Gaza Policy
https://t.co/0HCK4uTHcd

[BladeoftheSun @BladeoftheS]

Robert Gros made £27m profit selling useless gowns via the VIP PPE Lane, of course he never paid back a penny, he bought 2 mansions instead.

RT and see if we can make him as famous as Michelle Mone.

[Nicholas Kristof @NickKristof]

In 2015 I met this Palestinian farmer, Abdel-Majeed, on the West Bank. Israeli settlers were attacking him and stealing his land, and I thought the situation was about as bad as it could get.

No, it has gotten much worse. I revisited him last week, during a week-long trip through Israel and the West Bank, and I found that settlers have burned his cars and destroyed his tractor. They have cut down his olive trees and set his sheep shed on fire. They tried to break into his house when his granddaughter was home. Now his wife is arguing that they should give up their home, for fear of being burned alive by settlers.

This is life on the West Bank today. It doesn't get as much attention as Gaza, but the situation is desperate. And the US is largely AWOL. I know it feels a long way away, but this is central to the Middle East crisis and is one reason I fear the crisis will get worse. Here's my report: https://t.co/3sQ0KsASPT

[Nadeem Ahmed @Muqadaam]

Retweet this if you want to see Corbyn back in Parliament.