“Show the people that our Nobility is not noble, that its lands are stolen lands – stolen either by force or fraud: show people that the title-deeds are rapine, murder, massacre, cheating, or court harlotry; dissolve the halo of divinity that surrounds the hereditary title; let the people clearly understand that our present House of Lords is composed largely of descendants of successful pirates and rougues; do these things and you successfully shatter the Romance that keeps the nation numb and spellbound while privilege picks its pocket.” – Tom Johnston, Our Scots Noble Families, 1909 Continue reading Entitled-a critical history of the British aristocracy (Chris Byrant):
‘Rogue’, ‘Failed’, ‘Gangster’ & of course ‘Narco’. As so much of modern politics increasingly defines organized crime (arguably in it’s ultimate form), it’s perhaps best to donate some attention to regions that are afflicted by the ‘classic’ model, or at least the model with the most recognized distinction of this growing phenomenon. Filthy as fuck money, drenched in blood, massive narcotic dividends, major state thievery, larceny & kleptocratic hoardings, are washed through the City of London, New York or Switzerland & stashed off-shore beyond tax authorities & public knowledge (or hygienically converted by ‘investments’ or ‘assets’). 
Well worth remembering. Hiroshima. August 6th, 1945. The USA becomes the first (& still only) country to use a nuclear weapon against a civilian populace (it’s not like you can choose who you vaporize with these things). This very important short book (98 pages) was penned by John Hersey (appearing at first in the New Yorker in 1946), following six victims accounts of the bombing & the immediate aftermath that ensued. It’s a particularly poignant read now, considering the perilous idiocy, doom baying & extinctionocidal misrule being raced forward from the Chump administration & the Blight House. 
An excellent, expansive & very well researched forewarning & investigation into an area that promises to develop into yet another mega crisis, source of survival contestation & immense peril (as if we didn’t already have enough severe threats to be consternated by) – automation, robots & specifically artificial intelligence. Whilst the First World populace is atrophying into an alternative sub-species bereft of Homo sapiens core-qualities & capabilities & also struggling to uphold the remnants of their deteriorating humanness & advanced sentience, the “market” thinks it an appropriate occasion to introduce robots to further isolate, impair & discombobulate the ailing species engineered decline & dysfunction. 