Bromsgrove Labour leader quits his role and the party over national policy – Bromsgrove Standard

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THE LEADER of Bromsgrove Labour Group has resigned from the party and will continue as an independent.

Coun Michael Thompson, who also stood as the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate (PPC) at the last general election has taken the tough decision because of Labours general election manifesto commitment to integrate all private schools into the state sector.

Coun Thompson has made no secret of the fact he works at Bromsgrove School which is in the independent sector which he said made his position untenable.

He added: The motion has placed a number of Labour Party members who work at independent schools, or whose children attend or have attended independent schools, in a difficult and arguably untenable position.

I do not to intend to stand down as a councillor I will remain and serve those who elected me to the best of my ability.

I have been a tireless activist for the Labour Party for many years.

The party is many things to many people but, to me, it was always the Party of kindness, compassion and understanding and it is with these values in mind that I will continue my work for the people of Charford and wider Bromsgrove.

On leaving the party, I am simply devastated.

I would like to thank all the wonderful, wonderful members of the Bromsgrove Labour family, past and present, for their support and friendship, which I will cherish always. It breaks my heart more than you will ever know to leave.

The Labour promise in its manifesto would include, but would not be limited to, the withdrawal of charitable status and all other public subsidies and tax privileges, including business rate exemption.

The policy would also ensure universities admitted the same proportion of private school students as in the wider population (currently seven per cent).

Under the scheme endowments, investment and properties held by private schools would be redistributed democratically and fairly across the countrys educational institutions.

The motion has been widely interpreted as an abolition of independent schools.

Rory Shannon, the chairman of Bromsgrove Labour Party, said: Its not the decision we would have wanted and it might not be one we agree with but we respect him for it and wish him well.

Michael has been a great councillor for us and Im sure he will continue to be.

The decision he took was on his own personal circumstances it is something which has come up and he has had to act on it.

He hasnt changed his politics or crossed the floor and Im sure he will work with Labour members going forward.

We show him no animosity.

Its a difficult time for us but we have plans in place and we will deal with it and move on.

Mr Shannon added claims on social media Mr Thompson was due to be Labours Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Bromsgrove at the next election were incorrect.

He was the partys PPC at the last national vote but when that election ended, he ceased in that role.

Mr Shannon added several people had put their hats in the ring to be the next Bromsgrove Labour PPC but Mr Thompson had not been one of them.

Coun Peter McDonald Picture by Marcus Mingins 3918022MMR http://www.buyphotos247.com

FOLLOWING the announcement by Coun Michael Thompson, the Bromsgrove Labour Party met last night (Monday) to elect a new leader.

Coun Peter McDonald who has held the post previously as well as the leader of the Worcestershire County Council leadership was elected to the position.

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Bromsgrove Labour leader quits his role and the party over national policy - Bromsgrove Standard

11 of Ava DuVernay’s Must-Watch Movies and TV Series – Oprah Mag

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A director, writer, producer, and rapper (!), Ava DuVernay is a one-woman movement. From the beginning of her stage career dropping rhymes in the musical duo Figures of Speech to her visits to the Emmys and the launch of her Array Alliance's curated film series this fall, DuVernay has amassed a body of work that aims to go beyond just entertaining an audience. Rather, DuVernay has set out to shift cultural perception and reshape the entertainment industry as we know it. The womanto say the leastis very busy.

Here, we take a look at that body of work: movies, videos, and TV series shes either produced, directed, starred in, or all three. Its an impressive resume. Over the years, the extraordinaire has helmed a powerful hip-hop production starring the music industrys most notorious power couple (Beyonc and Jay-Z), offered a different take on a historical figure everyone thought they knew through and through (Selma), secured a cameo in one of 2018s most notable additions to the female-fronted raunch comedy (Girls Trip), and so much more.

With the announcements of The New Gods, her DC Comics adaptation, and Battle of Versailles, a historical fashion film housed by HBOboth of which shes writing and directingher decade-plus-spanning career isnt slowing down anytime soon. Read on to see all of the critically acclaimed pit stops the filmmaker and television producer has made along the way.

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1This Is the Life

This Is the Life, DuVernays very first foray into helming a feature-length project, is a documentary that lends the mic to the emcees of The Good Life Cafe and their movement of unprocessed hip-hop that found its voice during the '90s, a time when artists like Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg dominated the West Coast music scene.

Then a member of the rap duo Figures of Speech, DuVernay and her film focused on bringing forth the sound emanating from a Los Angeles hot spot (including her own, as she makes an appearance in the film). But its the praise coming from critics one cant drown out: Rich, thoroughly enjoyable, and exceptional are just a few of the descriptors film critics use to refer to the film.

2I Will Follow

A shoestring-budget film that explores every facet of a single human emotion, grief, this early-career DuVernay gem doesnt skimp on quality storytelling. In what feels like a more soulful and independent Waiting to Exhale, one woman (Beverly Todd of Crash and Lean on Me fame) packs away the life of her aunt who only recently died from breast cancer.

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3Middle of Nowhere

Before marching in Selma with David Oyelowo and sowing a wrinkle in time with Oprah, DuVernay was getting her bearings in the Middle of Nowhere. One of her earliest films, the 97-minute drama written and directed by DuVernay is also one of her best.

Emayatzy Corinealdi stars as Ruby, a woman who spends every waking minute either working a nursing shift or tending to the needs of her incarcerated husbandwhich includes making the four-hour trip weekly for visits. A journey to self-discovery, the film watches Ruby go from somebodys wife to her own person. And just like everything DuVernay touches, Middle of Nowhere found its way into many a winners circle.

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4Selma

DuVernay is the first Black female director to score a Best Picture Oscar nomination. And she rightfully did so with Selma, a peek into the moral and social complexities of Martin Luther King Jr. during the time when he led the 1965 civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. It also features a glorious cameo by Oprah, who plays activist Annie Lee Cooper. The film did take home a statue for the best original song, Glory, performed by Common and John Legend, not to mention a slew of other awards and accolades.

But, really, this is all just to say that Selma is a groundbreaking film the helped to shatter cinema walls and usher in Black stories. While it glimpsed our nations history, it was making history of its own. And with a woman leading the way.

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5Queen Sugar

Recently renewed for a fifth season on the OWN network, the female-directed Queen Sugar follows the lives of Nova (Rutina Wesley from True Blood), Charley (Dawn-Lyen Gardner from Unforgettable), and Ralph Angel (Kofi Siriboe from Awkward), a trio of Bordelon siblings living in Deep South Louisiana.

Show creator DuVernay shares executive producer responsibilities with the Oprah Winfrey and told Variety that shes thrilled to further explore the beauty, pain and triumph of this African-American family, with hopes that their story will continue to resonate with audiences who see themselves in the Bordelons. Its a real honor to create this work with Warner Horizon and OWN as their support is rock-solid and wonderful.

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6Girls Trip

No, DuVernay doesnt direct the comedy about a group of best friends who converge on the streets of NOLAthat job went to Malcolm D. Lee. And, no, shes not one of the executive producers of the hit that made Tiffany Haddish a household namethose gigs went to the makers of Birth of a Nation and Think like a Man. Girls Trip is actually included on this list, thanks to a DuVernay cameo.

When the women are at the Essence Festival, DuVernay can be seen being interviewed onstage. In real life, she had this to tweet about the films insta-success: History: Film centering four black women having fun with no big cause, mission, problem or catastrophe hits big at box office, and included a GIF to depict a stunned Hollywood.

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713th

A searing portrait of a prison system that not only isnt working, its enslaving the American population, 13th is DuVernays return to nonfiction. Posing the idea that todays prisons just might be the new plantations, the film traces the roots from the abolition of slavery in 1865 to the current system of locking up as many Black Americans as quickly as possible.

Through interviews with leaders in their industries, including Senator Cory Booker, news commentator Van Jones, and activist Angela Davis, the Oscar-nominated film takes a no-nonsense approach to exploring mass incarceration and the 13th Amendment.

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8A Wrinkle in Time

A delightful and visually impressive time-hopping addition to the Disney Vault, A Wrinkle in Time has serious star power in the form of its three magical beings: Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, and Mindy Kaling play a trio of Mrs. who help a 12-year-old and her younger brother navigate, bend, and fold the layers of time in a quest to find their missing father.

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9Family Feud

Lest we not forget, DuVernay has roots in hip-hop: As we mentioned before, she was one-half of the duo Figures of Speech and went by the stage name MC Eve.

Here, MC Eve directs a fellow 90s-era hip-hop artist, Jay-Z, in a nearly eight-minute music video thats titled Family Feud and features his wife, Beyonc. More a cultural-event short film, Family Feud employs an all-star castincluding Michael B. Jordan, Thandie Newton, Jessica Chastain, David Oyelowo, Brie Larson, Constance Wu, and Emayatzy Corinealdito depict a future after women rewrite the Constitution.

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10When They See Us

Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise, the men who were falsely accused of rape and assault in 1989 and became known through news headlines as the Central Park Five, have had their stories adapted for the masses in just about every form, from book to documentary to miniseries.

DuVernay applies the latter to When They See Us, a loosely based-on-truth reenactment of the events that have forever changed the Black and Latino men who spent years behind bars, serving time for a crime DNA proved they did not commit.

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11The Red Line

As executive producer on the CBS cop drama that premiered just this past April, DuVernay threw her creative weight behind a project that once again explores criminal justice through a racially charged lens.

I read the script to the first episode and thought it was really beautifully done. It had a story that touched points across race, gender and sexual identity. I wanted to support it, so I came on board with [co-executive producer] Greg Berlanti to help get it on air, DuVernay said to Rolling Stone in April.

Even though Deadline has reported that The Red Line has aired its final episode, the limited series, which stars Noah Wylie (ER) and Emayatzy Corinealdi (Middle of Nowhere), is a valiant effort at exposing the aftermath of a police shooting.

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11 of Ava DuVernay's Must-Watch Movies and TV Series - Oprah Mag

Opinion: Land reform needs more action and less talk | The Star – Independent Online

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Opinion & Analysis/1 October 2019, 1:34pm/Douglas Gibson

EFF leader Julius Malema opined: Heritage Day means nothing without the return of the land.

Both were exaggerating. Land does not necessarily confer dignity. Our Constitution protects and promotes human dignity and the rights and freedoms of all of us. Nowhere does it provide that if we have no land, we have no dignity.

Malemas idea of the return of the land is the abolition of private ownership, with each of us becoming tenants of the state. Hardly the recipe for dignity. Despite this, it is one of the hallmarks of free societies and constitutional democracies that people should be able to own, occupy, sell, lease or mortgage land, and have their rights protected.

Land reform has been a disastrous failure. Anyone who expects it to improve will be disappointed. One read over the weekend about hundreds of thousands of properties the state owns but does not know the addresses, the extent or the value. Many could be sold or given to landless people if we really do care.

Land does not only mean farm land. It also includes land in townships, rural and urban.

Almost 40 years ago, the PW Botha government, realising that change was necessary, appointed a commission of inquiry, known as the Venter Commission, into township development. Colin Eglin and I were appointed to represent the PFP, together with a swathe of National Party politicians. Eglin was a senior parliamentarian and a practising land surveyor. I was the leader of the opposition in the Transvaal Provincial Council, and also a practising attorney and conveyancer.

I started off as a minority of one determined to persuade the commission to recommend the marriage of the two deeds registry systems into one system for all. South Africa had one of the best deeds registry systems in the world for white people and an unsatisfactory system for black people. At the end of a year or so, the commission unanimously recommended that there be one system for all.

One of the problems we encountered was that much of the land occupied by black people had not been surveyed and, as a result, was not registrable and title deeds could not be issued. We made recommendations about overcoming the surveying problem and expediting the survey of land.

Forty years later, the ANC has done little to fix the problem. I understand that many RDP houses were built on unsurveyed land, perpetuating the problem that could have ceased to exist decades ago. The result is that, every now and then, 1 000 or so title deeds are handed over but hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people who could become home owners are forgotten. Time for another Venter Commission of Inquiry?

I have not touched on the tribal land that ought to be made available to those who live on them and work them. The Kgalema Motlanthe recommendations, eminently sensible, have been dumped. Nor have I dealt with the looming disaster of the theft of private property under the guise of legitimacy by being called expropriation without compensation.

Why dont we tackle what can be done and stop faffing around about land while doing nothing more than mouthing platitudes and idle promises?

Douglas Gibson is a former opposition chief whip and a former ambassador to Thailand. His website is douglasgibsonsouthafrica.com

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Opinion: Land reform needs more action and less talk | The Star - Independent Online

Op-Ed: James Madison’s nightmare is becoming a reality – The Center Square

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In all very numerous assemblies, of whatever characters composed, passion never fails to wrest the scepter from reason.

James Madison, co-author, The Constitution and The Federalist Papers

In 1786, a Massachusetts tax protest revealed our central government lacked authority when it took a private state militia to put an end to Shays Rebellion. This demonstrated the need for reforming our central government. James Madison and George Washington reacted by scheduling a meeting with founders to update the Articles of Confederation. They mutually realized updating the Articles would not be easy and called the colonies to send delegates to Philadelphia Hall to deliberate the rewriting of the Articles. And this was the defining moment that would change the course of history.

James Madison, a lawyer and a philosopher, was our most theoretical founder and is the primary author of our Constitution. He spent years analyzing past democracies in order to gain the insight to write a document that would protect the independent states and create a central government. He studied the past democracies of Rome and Athens to draft a constitution that sheltered us from the fate that brought down past republics. He concluded: the recurring theme that destroyed every past democracy was that each succumbed to demagoguery from misfits, and crumbled from mob rule.

Madison learned that ambitious politicians persuaded Athenians to protest debt and rebel against law and order. He said renegade assemblymen encouraged mob violence and forced Solon to cancel debt and debase the currency. Shays Rebellion convinced him America would fall prey to mob rule if it had a government similar to Athens. He told other founders: When a band of debtors can force the abolition of debt, and equal division of property, a mob can destroy the government by populist rage. If Madisons view of history is discriminative, America is proving history does repeat itself.

Madisons ideal government was a representative republic rather than a pure democracy to protect us from mob rule. By keeping the mischief of factions from distorting public policy, he believed that a conclave of enlightened delegates, chosen by the people, would serve us best. Since these wise and patriotic men would be our voice, this would prevent misfits from disrupting the governing of our nation. The people would therefore carefully choose who would work in their best interests.

In a republic, a majority of the whole cannot disrupt or invade the rights of another.

James Madison

During the first Congress, the devices our founders created to prevent coalitions of majorities from disrupting government didnt work. Their greatest failure was not anticipating the development of political parties. By the early 1800s, the Electoral College became a rubber stamp for candidates that political parties wanted; not the people. Politicians undermined true Constitutional objectives with populist reforms. These included the direct election of senators, the popular-ballot initiative, direct primaries and party caucuses dictating law that favored their party but violated the rights of others.

Madison feared that Congress would be the most dangerous branch of the federal government.

Since Congress wrote the republics laws, it could easily over-power the other branches if citizens did not prudently manage those they elected. But by the 20th Century, not only did Madisons worst nightmare come true, the Supreme Court had become politically divided too. The court struck down federal laws only twice in its first six decades. Since then theyve nullified more than 250 laws. The Supreme Court is no longer the guardian of the Constitution. Its known as the court of last resort.

If we consider todays dysfunctional Congress, with a House filled with combative socialists and leftist progressives, is there any hope of returning to Madisons majority rule for the people rather than political passion? Dont hold your breath.

Avenging political self-sorting has produced voters and politicians who support the party line at all costs. The defining congressional achievements of Barack Obamas Obamacare and Donald Trumps tax cuts were passed with nary a vote from the minority parties.

People are tired of seeing politicians as all talk and no action.

Donald Trump

Perhaps it is an irony that James Madison once said: For the people to rule wisely, they must be free to think and speak without fear of reprisal. The Internet has allowed geographically dispersed citizens to isolate themselves into parallel factions and communicate with like-minded proletariats. This enables them to contravene political demagoguery and support mutinous politicians who share their dissenting beliefs. The once information highway that educated people on everything from A to Z has turned into a forum that spreads misinformation and fosters turbulent political partisanship.

The passions of split-second-decision hyper-partisanship and mob rule that Madison feared from direct democracy is exponentially greater today than ever in our history. Agitated groups of political bird dogs praise the actions of renegade members of Congress on a national social stage. And this encourages those hell-bent on destroying every rule of law and order in our Constitution to spout ludicrously nonsensical rhetoric.

The core structure within America and the entire Department of Homeland Security are huge threats to American civil liberties.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

A recent Emerson law study examined the impact of social media on democracy. They noted the most salient problem with these sites is the clickbait postings. Sensational captions are used to lure users to open up headlines that have nothing to do with the content of the article in question. Over 90% of these got yas are never read past the headlines. But the damage has been done as Facebook addicts share them along with their conspicuous comments. These rumors quickly turn into social media fact. This mischief of factions has made Madisons greatest nightmare a reality.

Federalism continues to be the most robust equalizer in Madisons democratic equation. It steadily promotes ideological diversity; both good and bad. Currently, the combination of low voter turnout and political extremism has favored very liberal candidates. Those who say the most un-American things and are least qualified for public service end up as candidates by default. The safe districts created by geographic political self-sorting allow these extremists to easily win the general election.

Democratic socialists have begun a political revolution to transform America.

Bernie Sanders

Madison wrote, We need a plan of education that embraces every citizen. The only way to return to Madisons ideal republic is to fix public education. Madison identified constitutional education as the most important element in maintaining true republicanism. He told us when past republics quit teaching citizens about the dangerous encroachments on public liberty by ambitious politicians, the people allowed politicians to run government instead of them. And thats what caused it to fail.

The future of America depends on public education. If we do not return to teaching our youth about the dangers of political radicalism and the merits of republicanism, the efforts of Madison and other founders that gave us the liberties we enjoy today will become lost chapters in history. Our republic is at a dangerous crossroads. If we dont make the right turn, James Madisons greatest nightmare will forever haunt us.

Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.

James Madison

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Op-Ed: James Madison's nightmare is becoming a reality - The Center Square

The Gandhi you know, and the one you dont – Livemint

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Married as teenagers, and jealously possessive till her death decades later

Gandhi and Kasturbaboth born in 1869were married in 1883. Back then, it was a five-day bullock-cart journey to cover the 300kms between Rajkot, where he lived, and Porbandar, the wedding venue. Gandhi and Kasturba were married for 61 years, and he often describes himself as a jealous and possessive husband. She died in 1944 at the Aga Khan Palace in Pune, where she was imprisoned with Gandhi from 1942 onwards for participating in the Quit India movement.

London calling, and the experience of life on a broader canvas

In 1888, Gandhi moved to London to study law, convincing his mother and brother that his religious values would not be compromised. This was a period of exposure not just to bad weather and worse food, but also to ideas and people who would influence his personality. He tried French, dancing and violin lessons, worked on his English and etiquette, attended meetings on Christianity, and started his experiments with truth, diet, religion and value-based living.

Life hack for the overseas student is simple: live the simple life

Money is always short for a student abroad, and it was no different for Gandhi. After his initial indulgences in efforts to be an English gentleman", he buckled down and started counting pennies, feeling the guilt of having to ask his brother for money. He moved to cheaper lodgings, began cooking for himself, and kept careful account of expenses, a habit that would continue all his life even when lakhs passed through his hands as part of the freedom movement.

Finding religion again, in a foreign land

Oddly reminiscent of NRIs today, Gandhi rediscovered Hinduism abroad, in London. His faith had largely been prescribed by customuntil he read Sir Edwin Arnolds translation of the Gita, The Song Celestial. He later met Madame Blavatsky and Annie Besant, who inspired him to read more on Hinduism. He also spent his time with Christian friends, understanding their books, and reading on Islam, exposure to all of which led to a syncretic way of thought.

An unenthusiastic vegetarian finds his vegetarianism bible

Early in his London years, Gandhi came across Henry Stephens Salts A Plea for Vegetarianism in one of the few vegetarian restaurants in the city (hed been subsisting on bread). From the date of reading this book, I may claim to have become a vegetarian by choice," wrote Gandhi in his autobiography. Later, his obsession with vegetarianism, purity and the rather harsh language with which he describes meat-eating earned him bitter critics.

The rebirth of Gandhi as the researcher of multiple diets

Until he went to London, Gandhi was a reluctant vegetarian, kept to the path only by the dictates of his father and vows extracted by his mother. As a teenager, hed eaten meat for a year on the sly, wishing he could one day do so freely and openly". In London, often hungry, he managed to find and sign up with the Vegetarian Society. This was the beginning of his experimenting with dietfruitarian, veganism, intermittent fasting, and more.

A lawyer at last and back in India, but without the skills to practise Indian law

Two days after he was called to the Bar in 1891, and three busy and educative years in London later, Gandhi sailed for India and tried to establish a practice. It was a long haul as he hadnt practised or apprenticed in Britain. He was well-versed in Roman law, which helped him later on in South Africa, but in court in India, he found himself at a loss. He was painfully shy and afraid, said Gandhi, and unfamiliar with Indian laws, having studied in England. He tried setting up a practice in Bombay, but eventually gave up and moved to Rajkot where his familys connections helped him secure work such as drafting memos and documents.

The doctor who fired up a leader and funded the freedom fighter

Dr. Pranjivandas Mehta was the reader" to whom Gandhi addressed his sermons in Hind Swaraj", based on a conversation the two had in London in 1909. Mehta, who shaped Gandhis ideas and backed him financially, was a doctor, lawyer and diamond merchant in Rangoon. They met when Gandhi was a student in London. More than a decade before the Dandi March in 1930, Mehta wrote to him about the need for action against repressive tax laws. Mehta died in 1932.

THE SOUTH AFRICA YEARS

A new continent, a chance for a new beginning, yet some old failings

When an opportunity to work for Durban-based businessman Abdulla Sheth came up, Gandhi saw it as a chance to see the world. The jobhelping Sheths lawyerwas for a year and the pay, first-class return fare and 105. Gandhi moved to Durban in May 1893. There, too, his fear of public speaking kept him from going to court, but he built up a successful practice drawing up documents and working for rich businessmen of the region.

Getting on board the train to fight racial discrimination

After he was famously thrown off a train for refusing to move to a third-class carriage in 1893 at Pietermaritzburg railway station, Gandhi began closely observing the entrenched racial discrimination. Over the next few years in South Africa, he met more Indians from all classes and communities, learnt what it meant to be a coolie", and began petitioning the government for rights and peacefully protesting against unfair taxes.

A farewell party 19 years too early turns into a struggle for Indians rights

Gandhi was set to return home when a newspaper article caught his eyea Bill before the House proposed to deprive Indians of their right to elect representatives to Natal Legislative Assembly. When he realized Indians knew little about this and didnt plan to oppose it, he decided to stay. And his farewell party turned into a working committee meeting for the new resistance. Gandhis year-long stay in South Africa would turn into a 20-year one.

Organizing the local community

He founded the Natal Indian Congress in 1894, worked for the rights of indentured labourers, protested against the system of passes for Indians and organized the local Indian community, both rich and poor, into a force for passive resistance. It was in these movements that Gandhi learnt his first lessons in community building and peaceful protest, besides opening his eyes to the deeply entrenched inequality, both in South Africa and India.

In a sign of the times, petition collects 10,000 signatures

To begin their protest against the proposed disenfranchisement of the Indian community, Gandhi sent telegrams to House representatives asking them to postpone the Bill. Overnight, he drafted a petition to be presented before the House, and volunteers wrote up multiple copies. The Indian community crisscrossed the city and collected 10,000 signatures. The Bill was disallowed then, but reintroduced and passed into law in 1896.

Crushed under the substantial weight of the 3 tax on Indians

In 1894, the Natal government proposed an annual 3 tax on Indian indentured labourers and their family members. The genesis of the tax, says Gandhi, was in the fear Europeans had of Indians, many of whom came as indentured labourers, served their tenure, bought land and made a success of themselves. It was a long battle against the levywith 10,000 jailed and many killed in police firingwhich they lost. It was only 20 years later that the tax was rolled back.

The importance of public support and the art of managing public institutions

Perhaps this holds true today as well. Based on his experiences in South Africa, Gandhi wrote: It has become my firm conviction that it is not good to run public institutions on permanent funds. A permanent fund carries in itself the seed of the moral fall of the institution... Institutions maintained on permanent funds are often found to ignore public opinion The institution that fails to win public support has no right to exist as such (The satyagraha in South Africa extended) over six years, was carried on without permanent funds though lakhs of rupees were necessary for it."

An unread man, perhaps, but a very good reader of men

Abdulla Sheth, or Dada Abdulla, wrote Gandhi, was practically unlettered" but had an acute intellect and was conscious of it". The shipowner ran the biggest Indian firm in Africa at the time, having made his fortune selling gold from South Africa to India. Abdulla, who hated racism, quickly saw the young man hed hired was a sharp organizer and supported Gandhis many campaigns. It was in Abdullas house that the Natal Indian Congress was launched on 22 May 1894.

An Indian holiday, and Europeans see red about the green pamphlet

In 1896, Gandhi returned to India for six months, where he met a number of newspaper editors, Congressmen and influential citizens and explained the plight of Indians in South Africa. A pamphlet on The Grievances of British Indians in South Africa", better known as the Green Pamphlet", got picked up by news agencies around the world. This didnt go down so well back in Durban, and Europeans there began a campaign against Gandhis return.

The return, a hostile welcome, an exemplary act of forgiveness

When the ship with Gandhi and his family reached the port of Durban on 18-19 December 1896, it was not given permission to berthmuch like migrant boats that often remain at sea today as they try to enter European waters. Finally, on 13 January 1897, he was allowed to come ashore but was met by a mob that assaulted him. Friends in both civil society and the police helped him escape. He decided not to prosecute his assailants although the police were willing to support him.

Getting on the same track as the ordinary citizen

Gandhi spent a year in India from October 1901. He attended a Congress session in Calcutta, and spent a month with his mentor, Gopal Krishna Gokhale. He travelled home to Rajkot in a third-class compartment the start of a lifelong habit. He described the compartments as filthy, crowded and uncomfortable, and compared them unfavourably with third-class carriages abroad. It was train travel that made Gandhi aware of the travails of ordinary citizens.

An Indian with a defined opinion on equality and human rights

Gandhi continued to mobilize Indians to agitate against discriminatory policies and laws, and enrolled in the Transvaal Supreme Court as an attorney in 1903. He also launched Indian Opinion, a weekly paper, to spread the message of civil rights. The paper highlighted the poor conditions under which indentured labourers worked. Indian Opinion formed the basis for Gandhis later publications, Navjivan and Harijan, to build on themes of equality and freedom.

Divided loyalties during the Second Boer War

Gandhi raised an Ambulance Corps during the Second Boer War. Though he sympathized with the Dutch, he backed Britain. This was before Gandhis ideas about resistance to imperialism took shape. He believed that if Indians demanded rights as British citizens, it was also their duty to participate in the defence of the Empire. It was this reasoning that made him volunteer the services of Indians during the World Wars as well.

The influential Parsi backer who opened up purse and home, and then kept on giving

Rustomjee Jivanji Gorkoodhoo, or Parsee Rustomjee, was a prominent businessman and a supporter of Gandhi. His house in Durban was a centre of public activity and a resting place for strangers from India", writes Gandhis friend Albert West. In 1893, Rustomjee helped collect 10,000 signatures for a petition against the bill to deprive Indians of their vote. Income from trusts he set up continued to fund Indian schools in South Africa as well as famine relief and other causes Gandhi took up after his return to India in 1915.

JAN Smuts finds out that he has some very big shoes to fill

From the early 1900s till he returned to India for good, Gandhi faced off against Jan Smuts, the then colonial secretary. As with most of the people he went up against, Gandhi earned Smutss grudging respect. Gandhi presented him with a pair of sandals he had made, which Smuts would use, return on his 70th birthday, and remark I have worn these sandals for many a summer...even though I may feel that I am not worthy to stand in the shoes of so great a man."

Hind Swaraj and criticism of imperialism, technology, railways

In 1909, while travelling from London to South Africa, Gandhi wrote in one sitting Hind Swaraja manifesto for self rule that was especially critical of Western civilisation, modern education, international trade, and the role of the railways in enslaving populations. The British banned it as seditious. Many years later, he explained that his comments in Hind Swaraj related to imperialism and exploitation and the role the railways had played in it.

The true Tamil tiger in the form of Thambi Naidoo

Among the first satyagrahis between 1906 and 1914 in South Africa were C.K. Thambi Naidoo and his familyincluding his wife Veerammal, their seven children and his mother-in-law. He was a cartage contractor and the owner of a fodder store, but jail time left him in penury. The family eventually moved to Tolstoy Farm, where he was in charge of sanitation and Veerammal was the cook. He continued on the path of passive resistance until his death in 1933.

Clothing as a symbol and a tool for policy

In London and South Africa, Gandhi was fastidious about how he dressed. In Volksrust prison in 1908, he sewed the caps black prisoners worewhat we know today as the Gandhi capand took to wearing it. In 1912, he adopted the clothes Tamil indentured labourers, whose interests he represented, wore. Once back in India, he went back to wearing Gujarati clothes, but in 1931 adopted the loincloth and shawl. Clothes, for Gandhi, were also a tool of political strategy.

Reaching a settlement on the Indian question

It took till 1914, and many protests, much violence, deaths of satyagrahis and long jail terms before Gandhi and Smuts reached an agreement on the Indian Question". This led to the passing of the Indian Relief Bill that gave in to all the demands of the South African Indian community: the 3 annual tax was abolished, marriages considered legal in India became legal in South Africa as well, and the domicile certificate became sufficient right to enter India.

The great march in South Africa before the great march in India

A precursor to the Dandi March was Gandhis Great March in South Africa in 1913 to protest against the tax on indentured labourers and a Hindu-Muslim marriage ban. On 15 October 1913, Gandhi, Kasturba and 15 others left the Phoenix settlement for the Natal border with Transvaal, with 3,000 workers joining them en route. Police beat up, detained and killed many but they pressed on, making world headlines and forcing the government to look into their demands.

Architect, sponsor, follower, soulmate, dissenter: a man of many parts

A wealthy architect, Hermann Kallenbach owned the 1,000-acre Tolstoy Farm, where Gandhi launched his first satyagraha in 1910. Influenced by Gandhi, he became a vegetarian and participated in experiments in cooperative living, diet and politics. Gandhi described Kallenbach as his soulmate". He went on to become a Zionistpolitics that they disagreed onbut the respect remained. He visited Gandhi at Sevagram before moving to Israel, where he died in 1945.

Secretary, loyalist, treasurer, editor, teacher: a woman of many parts

Sonja Schlesin was Gandhis efficient, outspoken and committed secretary in South Africa. She drew much praise from Gandhi, his clients and fellow satyagrahis. Schlesin started working for Gandhi at the age of 17, and not only managed his law practice but also the satyagraha campaign and the Transvaal Indian Womens Association. She kept track of donations, edited Indian Opinion, visited satyagrahis in prison and was one of the trustees of Phoenix Settlement. After Gandhi left South Africa, she went back to university, and in 1920, became a high school Latin teachera position she held for 23 years. She died in 1956.

A return delayed by world war i, but back to India for good in 1915

Gandhi finally left South Africa after more than 20 years, and arrived in India in January 1915, having been delayed by the outbreak of war in Europe. Gandhi and Kasturba looked for a place to settle their Phoenix family". They had reached India before him and were staying at Santiniketan. Gopal Krishna Gokhale promised to cover all the expenses for a new ashram, and Gandhi felt great relief that hed not only be freed of the stress of fund raising but would also have a guide.

Fighting the good fight but also knowing when to give ground

Be it dealing with Smuts in South Africa, the Kheda and Champaran satyagrahas, leading the Dandi March or a fast to secure the rights of mill workers, Gandhi knew how to yield before people were spent by hardship and the patience of the authorities wore thin. In Kheda, he gave in when he saw farmers wavering and a landowner presented a compromise. The farmers had been awakened politically, he said, and a campaign was worthy" only if satyagrahis emerged stronger.

From phoenix to Sevagram via Kochrab and Sabarmati, the rise of the ashram

The idea of a community with a common goal was central to Gandhis ideals. After experiments at Tolstoy Farm and Phoenix Settlement in South Africa, he set up his first Indian ashram in Kochrab in May 1915, where he settled followers who had come with him to India. However, the plague broke out two years later and the ashram was shifted to Sabarmati, from where he led the Dandi March in 1930. In 1936, he moved to Wardha, set up Sevagram, and made it his headquarters.

A first-hand experience of poverty in the villages of Bihar

In Bihar, Gandhi and a team of volunteers that included Acharya J.B. Kripalani and Maulana Mazharul Haque, opened primary schools in six villages. It was also among his early experiences of coming face to face with dire poverty. When he got his wife to ask a woman why she did not wash her clothes daily, the woman replied, The sari I am wearing is the only one I have. Tell Mahatmaji to get me another one and I shall bathe and put on clean clothes everyday."

The Cantabrigian as a firm apostle of Indians

A close friend of both Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore, C.F. Andrews was a priest from Cambridge who came to Delhi in 1904 to teach at St Stephens College. Over time, he came to identify closely with the problems of Indians around the world, became a critic of imperialism, and wrote prolifically on the problems faced by Indian indentured labourers. Gandhis nickname for him was Christs Faithful Apostle, taken from his initials. He died in 1940 in Kolkata.

Before discovery of India, a rediscovery of India

After returning to India in January 1915, Gandhi and Kasturba spent close to a year taking the train around India and Burma, third-class all the way, as he wanted to reacquaint himself with people. They travelled to Poona, Porbandar, Rajkot, Delhi, Wadhwan, Burdwan, Shantiniketan, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Mathura, Vrindavan, Madras, Rangoon and more, talking about their struggle in South Africa and the gains made by the Indian community there.

One of those rare occasions where great minds did not think alike

An industrialist with diverse interests, Ghanshyam Das Birla first met Gandhi in 1916, and was influenced by his sincerity and search for truth". The two had differences of opinionBirla being a pragmatic businessman and Gandhi an avowed dissenterbut were close and Birla played the role of an unofficial emissary between Gandhi and the British. Birla supported Gandhi for over three decades, and was the founding president of the Harijan Sevak Sangh.

POLITICAL LIFE IN INDIA

The start of active politics and his first arrest in his homeland

Gandhi became president of the All India Home Rule League in 1920. A year later, when the Prince of Wales visited India in 1921, people emptied out of the streets and boycotted him after Gandhis call. Gandhi addressed a meeting in a mill in Bombay and lit a massive bonfire of foreign-made cloth. But what was to be a peaceful meeting ended in riots with 59 dead. In 1922, Gandhi was arrested in India for the first time for sedition over three articles he wrote in Young India, and was released in 1924.

Indias very own version of the roaring twenties

Throughout the 1920s, Gandhi led the Congress to adopt Purna Swaraj" as its goal and the path of non-violence as the means. At the 1924 Belgaum Congress session, he was elected party president and served for a year. Under him, civil disobedience intensified, he led the boycott of the Simon Commission, demanded restitution for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, and an apology for the Khilafat movement. He also founded Gujarat Vidyapith at Ahmedabad.

The Mahatama Gandhi national rural employment scheme 1.0

The slow movement would certainly have appealed to Gandhi who wrote that when production and consumption become localized, the temptation to speed up production indefinitely and at any price disappears". Following this line of thought, he advocated a revival of village industries, such as ginning, spinning, oil extraction, husking and grinding, because there is no other way of giving employment to the millions of villagers".

A time to connect and reconnect with friends

After the Salt Satyagraha of 1930, Gandhi and over 100,000 others were jailed, and released a year later. For him, the Second Round Table Conference in London in 1931 was a time of serious business as well as a chance to meet friends hed left behind years ago. He also met the mill workers of Lancashire. On his return, he was arrested and began a fast unto death" in jail for the abolition of separate electorates for Harijans, a demand that was granted.

Duty as the bridge between the concept of ahimsa and war

Gandhi preached non-violence and peace yet mobilized Indians to support the British in the Boer War, World War I and World War II. He was in London when World War I broke out, and volunteered Indians for service. When friends mentioned ahimsa, he said participation in war is against ahimsa but fulfilling ones duty is paramount. A votary of ahimsa remains true to his faith if the spring of all his actions is compassion," hed write in explanation later.

A statement of retirement but no retirement from activism

In 1934, he announced his decision to retire from politics and resigned from the Congress to focus on the development of village industries, Harijan service and vocational and skill-based education, and moved to Sevagram. Despite his announcement, he continued to meet British and Indian leaders, and go on fasts to draw attention to rights abuses. He was in and out of prison throughout the 1930s, and toured Orissa on foot, talking of the need to abolish untouchability.

The curious case of the libran who fell under the sway of Leo

Leo Tolstoys writings and ideas about renunciation as a means of opposition and a force impressed Gandhi and were akin to his own. He had read Tolstoys The Kingdom of God is Within You in 1894 in London, which started him on the path of the search for truth and non-violence. In prison in South Africa in 1908, he reread the Russian writers works and began writing letters to Tolstoy the next year. Tolstoy confirmed that passive resistance was crucial not just for Indians but for the world. He described in it the struggle of the Transvaal Indians, and the two corresponded till Tolstoys death in 1910.

The millowner Gandhi took on, but their ties didnt unravel

Industrialist and textile merchant Ambalal Sarabhai supported Gandhi financially on his return from South Africa. He made a generous but quiet donation of 13,000 to save the Satyagraha Ashram at Kochrab, which was foundering as funds had dried up after Gandhi took in a family of so-called untouchables. During the Ahmedabad labour strike of 1918, led by Ambalals sister Anasuya, Gandhi went on his first political fast and got Sarabhai, the head of the millowners association, to give workers the benefits they had been demanding.

THE QUIT INDIA YEARS

Do or die, and years spent in prison after a call for the British to leave

Do or die" is now a pop slogan, but its Gandhis call for the final push for freedom, Quit India". After the failure of the Cripps Mission, which was to discuss devolution of powers but didnt give space to Indians demands, Gandhi called on people to demonstrate peacefully and persistently for withdrawal of the British, who were embroiled in World War II. Most Congress leaders were arrested, and jailed till the end of the war. Strikes continued and thousands were jailed.

The loss of a close friend and a life partner in the span of two years

In 1942, Gandhi, Kasturba and their followers were arrested for their role in the Quit India movement, and interned at the Aga Khan Palace in Pune. Gandhis friend and personal secretary for 25 years, Mahadev Desai died in prison less than a week after they were arrested. Desai and his wife Durgabehn joined Gandhi in 1917, and worked closely with him, translating his work and doing every task Gandhi asked him to. In 1944, Kasturba also had a heart attack and died in the palace.

The charkha at the centre of swadeshi, self-sufficiency and freedom

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The Gandhi you know, and the one you dont - Livemint

Google is taking over DeepMind’s NHS contracts should we be worried? – New Scientist News

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By Adam Vaughan

Ian Miles-Flashpoint Pictures / Alamy Stock Photo

This month, the NHS signed its first deals with Google. Five NHS trusts have agreed contracts with Google Health, after it swallowed up its UK sister firm DeepMind Health, nearly a year after signalling its intention to do so.

New Scientist first revealedthe extent of DeepMinds access to the sensitive data of more than a million National Health Service patients back in 2016, in a deal that the UKs data watchdog later found breached the law. The partnership has yielded interesting research,including using artificial intelligence to detect eye disease from scans with an accuracy that matches or exceeds human experts.

But is there a material difference now the deals are with the US tech giant rather than DeepMind, and should people who use the NHS be concerned at the change?

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Five trusts, including the Royal Free Hospital and Moorfields Eye Hospital, have transferred their contracts over to Google Health. Taunton and Somerset NHS trust is among them, but will not use the companys Streams app, which helps keep track of patients test results. Yeovil District Hospital NHS trust chose instead to end its contract, saying it didnt find the app necessary.

We dont know exactly what data sharing is occurring with Google Health, but the Royal Frees old deal with DeepMind included anonymised data such as treatment dates, medical history, diagnoses, ethnic origin and religion.

Transparency is paramount here. Is Google Health going to be as transparent as DeepMind was? asks Phil Booth of campaign group MedConfidential. DeepMind took the unusual step of publishing its contracts, but Google Health has not. It says the public can access the documents by asking individual NHS trusts.

Dominic King of Google Health says: There are very minimal changes to the contracts as they moved over. The updates have been about changes related to the GDPR [EU data law], which wasnt in force when some of the contracts were done a couple of years ago.

David Maguire of The Kings Fund think tank questions why the contracts arent being published. It creates an unnecessary uncertainty, which isnt great for assuaging peoples fears. Theres a legitimate thing about people feeling nervous about how their data is used.

One change is the data is no longer being stored by a third party contracted by Google. It is now on Googles cloud infrastructure, which NHS guidelines allow for, stored on servers in the UK, and backed up elsewhere in the EU.

Another shift is the abolition of the independent ethics panel that DeepMind established, but that Google Health says doesnt fit with its international scope. Booth says that although the panel was a damp squib, it provided a level of reassurance on oversight. King says the firm is heavily scrutinised by its executive board, its partners and regulators.

While patients can opt out of their data being shared with Google, under the NHSs national data opt-out, hospitals dont have to be compliant with the opt-out until next year.

Some observers also have concerns over potential cultural changes during the switchover to Google Health.

Previously the DeepMind Health leadership involved in the actual work in London were well known on the internet scene in the UK as being very ethically minded, says Tom Loosemore of consultancy Public Digital. They have now left, because of Google Health taking over.

However, King says: The same team that I led in DeepMind Health is the same team that will be working with our partners going forward.

Whether patients at the five NHS trusts should be worried is ultimately hard to say. The problem is: how can I know?says Loosemore. Would I personally trust Google? No I damn well wouldnt, Id want that transparency.

We have corrected the research attributed to the partnership between DeepMind and the NHS.

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Google is taking over DeepMind's NHS contracts should we be worried? - New Scientist News

10,000 People a Day Must be Freed to End Slavery by 2030 – Pressenza, International Press Agency

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GENEVA, Sep 27 2019 (IPS) Six years after initiating my term as Special Rapporteur, it is sobering to say that the way to freedom from slavery remains long in spite of the legal abolition of slavery worldwide, said UN expert on contemporary forms of slavery, Urmila Bhoola.

Clearly, preventing and addressing slavery is not as simple as declaring it to be illegal but much more can and must be done to end slavery by 2030.

According to the International Labour Organization, over 40 million are enslaved around the world. While presenting her latest report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Bhoola pointed out that servitude will likely increase as the world faces rapid changes in the workplace, environmental degradation, migration and demographic shifts.

Slavery is economically clearly unprofitable; it leads to broader public health costs, productivity losses, negative environmental externalities and lost income,Urmila Bhoola, UN expert on contemporary forms of slavery

She further indicated that over 64 percent of those enslaved work in the private sector, a quarter of global servitude is of children, and a chocking 98 percent of enslaved women and girls have endured sexual violence.

People in the informal sector, which represents 90 percent of the workforce in developing countries, are at higher risk of being exploited or enslaved, Bhoola added.

By 2030, some 85 percent of the more than 25 million young people entering the labour force globally will be in developing and emerging countries. Their perspectives to access jobs offering decent work will determine their level of vulnerability to exploitation, including slavery, Bhoola said.

The figures she presented were a wake-up call for countries to prepare themselves to tackle slavery more effectively as 10,000 would need to be freed each day if we are to eradicate contemporary forms of slavery by 2030, she added quoting recent figures from the NGO Walk Free.

Bhoola said that some States had already elected to exclude from public contracts suppliers whose supply chain presented risks of slavery. Other Governments were using anti-money laundering systems to encourage companies to prevent proceeds of slavery from entering the financial system.

The expert regretted, however, that efforts to end slavery had been insufficient. She pointed out that convictions against perpetrators and their risk to face justice remain minimal.

Slavery is economically clearly unprofitable; it leads to broader public health costs, productivity losses, negative environmental externalities and lost income, Bhoola stressed, proposing a new approach against slavery that is systematic, scientific, strategic, sustainable, survivor-informed and smart.

Bhoola urged States to commit more resources to end slavery, and adopt and implement public policies that effectively address that scourge.

This story wasoriginally publishedby the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

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10,000 People a Day Must be Freed to End Slavery by 2030 - Pressenza, International Press Agency

Eighty-two years since the victory of the Flint sit-down strike – World Socialist Web Site

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From the archive of the World Socialist Web SiteEighty-two years since the victory of the Flint sit-down strike By Jerry White 1 October 2019

With 48,000 General Motors workers engaged in the longest nationwide auto strike in nearly a half century, it is valuable to study the heroic struggle by GM workers during the 1936-37 sit-down strike in Flint, Michigan. February 11, 2019 marked the 82nd anniversary of the victory of the strike, which was a major turning point in the long fight for the industrial organization of workers in the US.

Below we repost the two-part article, which originally appeared on the WSWS in February 2017, marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the strike.

***

February 11 marked the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Flint sit-down strike. The 44-day battle by autoworkers lasted from December 29, 1936, to February 11, 1937. It forced General Motors, then the largest industrial enterprise on the planet, to recognize the recently founded United Auto Workers union.

The revolt, which no bureaucracy could contain, was spearheaded by new peoplethe young mass production workers, the new young militants whom nobody had ever heard of, wrote American Trotskyist James P. Cannon about the strike. This revolt of the men from nowhere, Cannon said, was driven by the bitter and irreconcilable grievances of the workers: their protest against mistreatment, speedup, insecurity; the revolt of the pariahs against their pariah status.

The workers who were the real creators of the new mass industrial unions, Cannon added, had to split with the conservative labor fakers of the AFL before they could consolidate unions of their own.

Long known as the strike heard around the world, the Flint sit-down was led by socialists and left-wing militants who understood the irreconcilable conflict between the interests of the working classwhose collective labor produces societys wealthand the capitalist owners whose profits are based on the exploitation of labor. The most politically conscious also understood that both the Democrats and Republicans were capitalist parties that would employ violence to defend the property and profits of the ruling class.

Todays autoworkers and other workers have been largely cut off from this history due to the decades-long efforts by the UAW to eradicate any semblance of class consciousness, let alone socialist opposition to capitalism. UAW officials endlessly promote the sickly gospel of labor-management partnership, which denies that workers have any interests apart from and antagonistic to the capitalists. This goes hand-in-hand with the UAWs support for the pro-capitalist Democratic Party and its promotion of nationalism to divide US workers from their class brothers and sisters around the world.

Marking the anniversary, UAW President Dennis Williams said, There are many lessons to draw from the Flint Sit-Down Strike, but the biggest one is that worker solidarity is how we keep our seat at the bargaining table. Such comments would make the original sit-downers roll over in their graves.

The UAW has kept its seat at the table by colluding with the auto bosses to destroy everything an earlier generation of workers fought for. It has collaborated in the closure of hundreds of factories and the decimation of entire cities, including Flint, dividing workers against each other with multi-tier wage and benefit systems. With the help of the UAW, GM has created a largely disposable temporary workforce that has as little job security as the workers GM hired and fired at will before the sit-down strike.

The UAW does have a seat, however, on GMs board of directors, which voted last month to increase its multi-billion-dollar payout to rich investors while it wipes out the jobs of 3,300 GM workers, including 1,300 at the GM Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant next month. After decades of degeneration, the UAW has become a businesscomplete with ownership of the largest block of GM shares. A new generation must build genuine fighting organizations, rank-and-file factory committees, to wage a fight to defend their jobs, living standards and social rights.

The fledgling UAW in 1936, however, was a very different organization. It had a level of internal debate and rank-and-file democracy, including active socialist factions, that would be unrecognizable to any union member now. That year, delegates to its national convention voted to support the formation of a Labor Party, independent of the two capitalist parties.

What were the conditions GM workers faced in 1936-37?

Fifty thousand of GMs 150,000 hourly workers labored in Flinta company town where GM controlled the police, the judges, the politicians and the news media. Workers were essentially day laborers with no job security who were subjected to brutal speed-up. As one witness described, The men worked like fiends, their jaws set and eyes on fire. Nothing in the world exists for them except the line chassis bearing down on them relentlessly. In July 1936, when temperatures soared over 100 degrees, deaths in Michigans auto plants rose into the hundreds.

The average worker took home $900 a year, at a time when the government reported that $1,600 was needed as the minimum income for a family of four to live decently. Workers had no guarantee that they would be rehired after the annual change-over from the old to the new models, which would last for three to five months with no unemployment insurance. Instead, they would be forced to take loans from the company that they would be forced to pay back if rehired, resulting in a de facto 10 percent wage cut.

As an original sit-downer, Ken Malone, told the Bulletin, one of the forerunners of the World Socialist Web Site, in 1986, workers also faced terrible extortion under the foreman system. To keep your job you did anything the foreman asked. If you went hunting you brought him a piece of venison; if you went fishing, he got the largest fish; if you had a garden, he always got a basket of vegetables from it. And women, the foremen chased after your own wife, and if you wanted a job you let him.

Malone continued, We were worse than a chattel slave because I know from what I read about them they had at least a barn to sleep in. There was mass unemployment. Not only was there hunger, but people wore badly torn shoes, with no coats. They were wearing rags. There was no unemployment insurance. There was no such thing as pension funds or welfare, and no one heard anything about someone retiring.

GM was determined to oppose unionization, which its top executives Alfred Sloan and William Knudsen saw as a threat to private property and management rights. The company hired hundreds of management spies, spending $839,000 on detective work in 1934 alone. GM also used the services of the Black Legion, a split-off from the Ku Klux Klan, whose black-robbed thugs beat, tarred and feathered, and murdered suspected unionists and socialists. The company controlled the Flint Journal, which continuously railed against reds.

The business owners did everything they could to sow ethnic and racial divisions among the workforce, which included native-born whites and blacks from the southern US states, along with large numbers of immigrants who did not speak English from Russia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Italy and other countries. Of the 12,000 workers employed by Chevrolet, only 400 were black, and they were confined to the foundry at Buick and to janitorial work, with no hope of getting a raise or promotion. The socialists fought against racial prejudice and nativism, issuing leaflets in many languages to fight for the unity of the working class.

The 1929 stock market crash and the Great Depression that followed led to mass unemployment and poverty, with GM laying off half of its workforce between 1928 and 1932. An uptick in employment in 1934 led to growing worker militancy. There were general strikes in Toledo, Ohio; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and San Francisco, which were led by left-wing workers in the Communist and Socialist parties, and, in the case of the Minneapolis truckers strike, by Trotskyists. By the time of Flint, sit-down strikes had occurred in Akron, Ohio; Detroit and South Bend, Indiana, and in France and other European countries.

Among the key leaders in Flint were Wyndham Mortimer, a Cleveland autoworker and a supporter of the Communist Party, and Socialist Party members Sol Dollinger, Kermit Johnson and his 23-year-old wife, Genora (see BBC video). The latter three were influenced by the writings of Leon Trotsky, the co-leader of the Russian Revolution and opponent of Stalinism. In 1938 they joined the Socialist Workers Party, the Trotskyist movement in the US. Walter Reuther, who also called himself a socialist and would become the president of the UAW in 1946, played a marginal role.

In an October 6, 1936, Mortimer wrote an open letter to Flint workers, saying:

ALL THE EXPLOITERS OF LABOR HANG TOGETHER. THEY ARE CLASS CONSCIOUS. They are aware of the fact that the interests of their CLASS is involved, and all the patriotic blah blah is for the consumption of fools, and they are hoping we are fools. We as workers must too become aware of CLASS INTEREST. It is only in this way we may get the true picture and understand all the move[s] being made on our political and economic checker board. Under our present economic system, we as workers can only improve our condition by improving the condition of the entire working class.

The sit-down strike began less than three months later.

On December 29, 1936, the day after Cleveland GM workers began a sit-down strike, workers in Flint sat down in the plant after five union leaders at GMs Flint Fisher Body Plant Number Two were fired and management tried to move critical equipment to other plants. With the strike spreading to other GM plants in Detroit and elsewhere, 200 UAW delegates convened in Flint, elected a board of strategy headed by Kermit Johnson, and issued their demands. These included: union recognition and a signed contract; abolition of piecework; the 30-hour-week and six-hour day; time and a half for overtime; minimum pay rates; reinstatement of victimized workers; sole collective bargaining rights for the UAW; and union participation in regulating the rate of the assembly line.

Knudsen denounced the strikers as trespassers and said there would be no talks until the plants were vacated. GM obtained an injunction from County Judge Edward Black, but it was revealed that the judge owned 3,365 shares of GM stock worth $219,000. Since Michigan law prohibited a judge from presiding over a case in which he had an interest, the injunction became invalid.

On January 11, 1937, the Battle of the Running Bulls (aka Battle of Bulls Run) took place after GM shut off the heat and sent guards and police to block supporters from delivering food to the strikers inside. Other workers then charged, overwhelming the cops, i.e., bulls, and opening the way for the delivery of food. After several police counter-attacks were repulsed by workers inside the plant firing bolts, car hinges and other metal missiles, plus freezing water from a fire hose, the cops retreated.

Afterwards, however, Michigans supposedly pro-labor Democratic governor dispatched 1,300 National Guardsmen to Flint, with machineguns and 37-inch howitzers. He then restarted negotiations, reaching a deal with UAW President Homer Martin to pull the workers out of the plant for 15 days, while negotiations took place, during which time, GM would not try to operate the plant. The deal fell through, however, when a telegram was discovered from GM to the right-wing vigilante group Flint Alliance, which indicated that it would recognize both the Alliances company union and the UAW as representatives.

Workers refused to leave the plant and devised a plan to seize Plant Number Four, the engine assembly plant that supplied Chevrolet operations all over the country. Well aware that GM would have spies everywhere, they leaked information instead that they had planned to seize Plant Nine. After hundreds of guards descended on Plant Nine to accost the strikers there, workers in the real target seized the engine plant, bringing GMs empire to a halt.

As historian Robert Conot wrote, There was a widespread conviction that Americas 1917 was at hand For Sloan and Knudsen, the coup represented Bolshevism unbridled. The UAW had taken over by force the property of General Motors. If this were not a revolution, then it was the prelude to a revolution. Most liberals, while backing the workers, were almost as horrified as management by the sit-downs and, especially, by the seizure of the plant. AFL President Green thought it outrageous. President Roosevelt was shocked. Governor Murphy regarded it as a betrayal of his own studied impartiality. Furious he told union leaders that if they did not order the men out, he would order the National Guard in.

As the deadline approached, the sit-downers issued a defiant statement in the face of another violent attack. But they were defended by workers who poured into the city. All roads into Flint were jammed with cars loaded with unionists from Detroit, Lansing, Pontiac and Toledo, wrote Art Preis. More than a thousand veterans of the Toledo Auto Lite and Chevrolet strikers were on hand. Rubber workers from Akron and coal miners from the Pittsburgh area rallied to defend the Flint strikers.

We threatened to burn the plant if the National Guard came in, Malone said. At Plant No. 8, the National Guard tried to bulldoze the back door. We used slingshots, monkey wrenches and clubs, anything we could use. Our feelings toward the Democratic Party were the same as for the Republicans. They were both for big business.

On February 11, after a week of continual maneuvering and bargaining, a six-month agreement was signed. GM would not recognize or deal with any other organization in the 17 plants closed by the UAW; all unionists and strikers would be rehired; unionism could be discussed on company property during lunch and rest periods; and negotiations would proceed at once on wages, hours, production speed-up, and other issues.

The workers elected the only black sit-downer in the Flint strikes, Roscoe Van Zandt of Plant 4, to lead them out of the occupied plants in a victory parade.

The ruling class made a tactical retreat. Roosevelt had asked GM to bargain with the UAW to end the strike and the governor wired county sheriffs to take no action against strikers.

What we did was the seizure of private property, the cardinal sin of society, Malone said. Roosevelt saw the danger of losing capitalism and like any skilled driver, he threw out a bone. He saved capitalism. I dont believe he was pro-labor. You can go back as far as you want, the Democrats and Republicans have always been a tool of the ruling class.

Roosevelt had facilitated legal recognition of the unions when he signed the Wagner Act into law in 1935. He then worked with leaders of the new Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) unions, like John L. Lewis, to convince workers that a revolution and socialism were not necessary because their grievances would be addressed through the vehicle of the trade unions, the Democratic Party and American capitalist democracy. For the government to openly side with the corporations and violently crush the new unions would discredit the entire political system and radicalize workers even further.

The workers marching in Flint were determined they would not be pushed back into the ranks of the economic dropouts, Conot wrote. To fire on them, and on a man of Lewiss stature, would be to push America to the brink of revolutiona revolution not of scattered bands of farmers, but of tens of thousands of workers under organized leadership in key industrial centers. As in Spain, or Italy, or Germany, the consequence might well be the division of the country between the extreme right and the far left.

The ruling class never forgave the Flint strikers. Thirty-five years later in a 1970 interview with historian Studs Terkel, Charles Steward Mottlong-time GM board member and three-time Flint mayorbitterly complained that Governor Murphy didnt do his job during the sit-down strikes. He didnt protect our property. They should have said [to the strikers], Stop that thing. Move on, or well shoot. And if they didnt, they should have been shot.

The victory at Flint was an enormous breakthrough for the American working class, which had been fighting for the elementary right to organize for nearly a century. An immense impulse to this achievement was the first workers revolution in Russia in 1917, which served as an inspiration for the most class-conscious workers. It was the specter of Americas 1917 that convinced the ruling class to adopt, at least temporarily, a policy of class compromise and social reform based on the immense wealth accumulated by American capitalism.

The rise of the CIO unions demonstrated the revolutionary tendencies in the American working class, its tenacity and self-sacrifice. But the great weakness of this heroic movement was its politics and political program.

If the class struggle is not to be crushed, replaced by demoralization, Trotsky wrote in a letter to his supporters in the Socialist Workers Party in 1938, then the movement must find a new channel, and this channel is political. On this basis, the SWP fought against the efforts of the CIO leaders and the Stalinists to subordinate the new unions to the Democratic Party by calling for the building of a Labor Party based on socialist policies to fight for the perspective of socialist internationalism among American workers.

Lewis, Walter Reuther and other CIO leaders fervently opposed a Labor Party and tied the working class to the capitalist Democratic Party and the national and international interests of the US corporations. This included the unions collaboration with American imperialisms intervention in World War II and drive for global domination.

In the immediate aftermath of the war, Reuther carried out a purge of the socialists who played the leading role in building the UAW. In 1954 he would declare that there was no need for a labor party because unlike Europe, America did not have a rigid class structure and in the US, the unions could work within the two-party system to bring about a fundamental realignment of basic political forces. The next year, Reuther would engineer the merger of the AFL and CIO unions based on Cold War anti-communism and the integration of the unions into the apparatus of the national-security state.

The anti-socialist purges in the unions paved the way for their decades-long degeneration and transformation into direct instruments of the corporations and the state. The pro-capitalist unions had no answer when the ruling class, entering a long period of economic decline and facing the rise of powerful competitors, returned to its traditional policy of class warfare in the late 1970s and 1980s. In the face of the globalization of capitalist production the unions in the US and around the world, hostile to an international socialist policy, joined with their own capitalists to stamp out working-class resistance and force workers into a race to the bottom.

A new generation of autoworkers, along with every other section of workers, is being thrust into rebellion once more as the global corporations and the Trump administration move to roll back every achievement won by the working class in over a century of struggle. To prepare the coming battles of the working class it is necessary to assimilate the political lessons of history, including the great Flint sit-down strike 80 years ago.

The author also recommends:

What is the UAW? [11 September 2015]

Walter Reuther and the rise and fall of the UAW [24 September 2019]

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Eighty-two years since the victory of the Flint sit-down strike - World Socialist Web Site

Putin: Agreements will come into force on formation of single Eurasian Union electricity market – Information-Analytic Agency NEWS.am

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Integration processes within the Eurasian Union have the most favorable effect on the growth of the economies of the participating countries and contribute to improving the living standards of our citizens, said Russian President Vladimir Putin Tuesday at a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Yerevan.

According to him, the aggregate GDP of the EAEU states continues to grow, and industrial and agricultural production increases.

At the same time, our association faces new large-scale tasks. Special attention should be paid to systematic work to remove barriers to trade in goods and services, and in various sectors of the market. The introduction of all-Union regulation in the financial sector is among the priorities. Based on the results of the current meeting, it is intended to approve the Concept for the formation of the EEU common financial market, he said.

This document will become a road map for the development and approval of universal rules for the provision of banking and insurance services, operations with securities. Implementation of the measures stipulated by the road map will simplify the access of citizens of our countries to financial instruments and make this market segment unified and transparent, the Russian president noted.

According to him, the process of improving the Union legislation in the energy sector is at a good pace. In the near future, agreements will come into force on the formation of a single EAEU electricity market. A common electric power space should be formed simultaneously with the creation of the allied markets for gas, oil and oil products in 2025. First of all, it is necessary to complete the process of unification of the laws of the Member States in the field of gas supply and transportation.

We attach great importance to the speedy implementation of the agreement on the traceability of goods imported into the customs territory of the EEU. The Eurasian Economic Commission, according to our decision today, will receive corresponding additional powers.

It is important to ensure transparency in the circulation of products on the Union market, therefore, it is necessary to establish a full exchange of legally relevant electronic accompanying goods documents, as well as more vigorously introduce electronic labeling of goods. By the way, a pilot project on labeling a number of products confirmed the effectiveness of this measure in the fight against counterfeit products, and increased tax revenues, he noted.

Putin said that an interim agreement will come into force late October for the formation of a free trade zone between the EEU and Iran.

Its implementation will lead to a significant reduction in import tariffs, the abolition of other restrictions that impede the movement of goods flows. All this will undoubtedly contribute to the growth of mutual trade and investment, he said. In general, the geography of contacts of our Union is constantly expanding. The association is conducting substantive talks on cooperation with 13 countries and over 20 international structures and organizations such as Serbia, Israel, and Egypt. Soon, similar negotiations will begin on a free trade zone with India with its colossal, huge market. A fast-growing economy, today it is the number one in the world in terms of pace.

Putin noted that the EEU has long and fruitfully expanded its interaction with the dynamic economies of the Asia-Pacific region. It is necessary to further establish close ties between the Eurasian Union and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and ASEAN, and work in favor of a large Eurasian partnership.

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Putin: Agreements will come into force on formation of single Eurasian Union electricity market - Information-Analytic Agency NEWS.am

Govt urged to provide incentives to youth in agriculture | Borneo Post Online – The Borneo Post

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KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Youth Council (MBM) expressed hope that the government, through the 2020 Budget which will be tabled on Oct 11, will provide incentives to youth who are involved in agriculture, similar to the ones previously practiced by the federal land development authority (Felda).

MBM secretary-general Hasnul Haniff Harun said among the proposals was a more organised and efficient housing system similar to the one implemented by FELDA.

Government reserve land should also be gazetted for agricultural purposes for the youth to work on, as this will facilitate the process of land exploration by the youth without having to go through the complicated bureaucratic process, he told Bernama recently.

Apart from that, MBM also proposed for the abolition of road tax and the reduction of car prices through the removal of the import duty on cars.

He said from the youths perspective, the people were burdened with rising cost of transportation, coupled with the toll charges which contributed to the overall cost of living.

MBM understands that the elimination of toll charges is impossible to do, but the cost of using vehicles by the youth should also be reduced at least through the abolition of road tax, he said.

In terms of prices of cars which are now a necessity, it could be reduced by removing import duty on cars which could lead to lower price of local car.

Despite the fact that the move would be detrimental to the local car industry, the benefit would be felt by the people, especially the youth, with the reduction of car monthly instalment to as low as RM250, he said, adding that car prices in Malaysia were among the most expensive in the Southeast Asia region.

At the same time, Hasnul said the government should also reduce the bureaucratic hurdles, particularly, in the process of building affordable housing projects by appointing the Public Works Department (PWD) as the main contractor to help reduce house prices that currently seen as high.

The cost of managing the housing project can be handled more transparently through the PWD and the cost of the contractors can also be reduced, he said.

At the same time MBM, as the parent body coordinating 41 youth organisations in the country, also hoped that the government not to cut the funding for youth organisations programmes and operations as that would only impede the development of the group.

Understanding that the country currently facing major debt crisis, Hasnul said the reduction in allocation would lead to the reduction in social programmes and activities for the youth who were the backbone of the countrys future.

Through the 2020 Budget, MBM also hoped that the development allocation for youth organisations in rural areas would be increased especially in the east coast states as well as in Sabah and Sarawak as they were lagging behind in terms of youth programme development.

In an effort to identify the potentials and needs of youth, a systematic and comprehensive profile should be developed to keep up-to-date with the latest information on youth and problems they faced, apart from a citizen card could also be created to keep records of government aid such as zakat (tithe), MySalam and i-Suri, he said. Bernama

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Govt urged to provide incentives to youth in agriculture | Borneo Post Online - The Borneo Post

The Labour party is unfit for anything but protest – City A.M.

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These are heady days for political junkies, what with Supreme Court rulings, the hasty return of MPs to Westminster and, through it all, the spectacle of party conference season.

The Tory party conference is up in the air since MPs decided yesterday not to allow for a mini-recess that would let the Tories gather in Manchester, but the Labour conference in Brighton last week offered us some real treats.

Jeremy Corbyn is obsessed with party democracy, in the way that old socialists so often are. Nothing thrills them quite like a contested floor-vote or a packed local meeting of activists quibbling over the branch constitution. In this spirit he vowed to let party members determine party policy.

But who are these members?

Youll have seen them on the news, chanting Corbyns name and reaching to touch him as he walks past.

In a bid to understand them, YouGov surveyed the Labour membership in the run up to their conference and heres what we know: 62 per cent of them would do away with the monarchy, 43 per cent are ashamed of Britains past, 70 per cent support nuclear disarmament, a serious chunk of them remain sympathetic to the IRA and almost half agree that nations should remove all borders. You get the picture.

Having given these people the power to shape Labours next manifesto (and so potentially the country) its little surprise that vote after vote in Brighton committed the party to such nuanced and considered policies as the abolition of private education, the closure of all immigration detention centres, the expansion of free movement and the ruinously (almost hilariously) expensive policy of achieving zero carbon emissions by 2030.

Labours conference did not reveal a government in waiting. Instead it revealed a self-indulgent student union masquerading as a government in waiting. It was farcical, funny and frightening.

Jacques Chirac leaves a colourful and varied legacy. Taking France into the euro, opposing the Iraq war and, of course, corruption scandals.

I have a lawyer friend who, through the course of his work on a particular case, identified a luxurious north African retreat where the former French President would stay and (allegedly) conduct some lucrative extra-curricular activities.

My friend was so taken with this hideaway that he booked it for his honeymoon.

Congratulations to my friend Mervyn Metcalf, founder of boutique investment bank Dean Street Advisers, who on Thursday celebrated 25 years of working in the City.

To mark the occasion he took his team for a long lunch at the Ned but had started the day with a client briefing on the potential impact of a future Corbyn government.

So it was a case of strong drinks at breakfast followed by champagne to revive the spirits over lunch. Sounds like not much has changed in Mervyns 25 years.

Nobody comes out well from the debate over language currently gripping Westminster.

The PM was crass in response to concerns raised about threats sent to female MPs and he should be held to a higher standard.

However, its a bit late in the day for Labour to realise that words have consequences. John McDonnell once praised the bombs and the bullets of the IRA and infamously joked about lynching the b**ch Esther McVey.

He vows to jail Tories once hes in office, has openly fantasised about killing Margaret Thatcher and has accused the Tories of social murder.

Anyone whos ever braved the hard left protesters outside a Tory party conference will know that some people feed off such comments.

Labours Jess Phillips, so vocal on this issue, once declared that she would knife Corbyn in the front.

Each side is capable of whipping up their supporters and they do so deliberately. There is very little room on the moral high ground for all the MPs currently seeking to occupy it.

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The Labour party is unfit for anything but protest - City A.M.

What Meghan Markle Is Saying with Fashion on the Africa Royal Tour – The Kit

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The Duchess of Sussex has deployed some clever fashion diplomacy on her and Prince Harrys royal tour of Southern Africa. The 10-day tour is a plum chance for the couple to reinforce their desired image as hard-working, hands-on game changers (to borrow the concept of Meghans recent British Vogue issue), and theyre making the most of it.

Meghans two-year couture streak peaked last weekend with a $13,200 bejewelled tulle Valentino gown for designer Misha Nonoos wedding (though she paired it with $6 flea-market earrings). But the mandate for this tour wardrobe is clearly affordable, casual and approachable, with nods to ethical production and sustainability, including multiple reworn looks. All the better to keep the focus on the messaging, drawing eyeballs to the pressing social issues of Southern Africa and the organizations working to create positive change.

Still, theres plenty to say about the duchesss outfits. Right out of the gate, she chose a black-and-white printed wrap dress by Mayamiko to discuss the urgent topic of femicide with women of The Justice Desk in Nyanga township, known as South Africas murder capital. The dress checked every possible box: It was made by a collective of artisans in Malawi who hand-dye and manufacture small-batch collections in solar-powered facilities, and it costs about $115. She accessorized with a favourite pair of $130 cloth wedge espadrilles from Spanish brand Castaner.

On day three, Meghan colour co-ordinated with her boys to meet Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Prince Harry wore a slim blue suit and skinny tie;baby Archie was in blue-striped overalls from H&M; and Meghans floaty $380 Club Monaco dress winked toward batik with its abstract navy and white print. The silk dress is one of those brilliant solution items we all need in our travel wardrobes: It would work day through night, it reads as elegant and relaxed at the same time, it looks wrinkle-resistant and probably packs down to nothing. (Not that royals have the same suitcase size and weight restrictions as the rest of us, even when they fly commercial.)

Then there are the repeat pieces. There was the sustainably produced Everlane jumpsuit Meghan wore on a solo visit to Woodstock Exchange, a members club for creative types such as photographers, filmmakers and writers. She was there to meet with female entrepreneurs, as her stated aim this trip is to highlight womens issues. Markle previously wore the jumpsuit in a social media video for the launch of her British Vogue issue; this time she glammed it up with gold statement earrings and Manolo Blahnik pumps. Is there anyone who hasnt looked up the sleek $160 piece and thought, I need that?

Two more re-wears were first seen on the couples first royal tour to Oceania in 2018, when Markle was pregnanthows that for getting more wear out of your maternity wardrobe? Theres the sky-blue Veronica Beard wrap dress, first worn in Tonga, and the striped Martin Grant maxi-dress that we saw on the beach in Sydney. That tour featured much more designer fashion, complete with finery for state dinners, as did the glitzy Givenchy, Dior and Carolina-Herrera-filled Morocco tour. This time out, the pair are reserving most evenings for bed and bath time with Archie.

Meghan, who described herself as a fellow woman of colour in her speech on day one, and who views the world through an American lens, seems especially keen to avoid any hint of colonialism. Clothing can help her do that.

Theyre also working hard to blend in. The two items that really stand out on this trip are wardrobe staples notable because they are rarely seen on a royal. The first was the Madewell jean jacket Meghan wore to meet with Waves for Change, a group of surfers addressing violence among youth with sport and mindfulness practices. Shes had this classic piece since back when she was an actress off-duty in Toronto, not yet dating a prince. For this outing, she paired it with black Mother skinny jeans, an Oxford shirt tucked just-so at the waist, and huarache flats designed by Canada-raised cool girl Aurora James for her African-artisan-made accessories brand Brother Vellies (because sand, and there was dancing to be done).

The other piece that will define this tour was the soft beige headscarf she wore to visit the Auwal Mosque in Bo-Kaap, a predominantly Muslim Cape Town neighbourhood known for its joyfully coloured houses, which have been painted in bright colours since the abolition of slavery in the mid-1850s, prior to which the homes were mandated white. Meghans hair was down, and the scarf tucked just so, framing her face. More importantly, it was a gesture of respect as the couple met with religious leaders.

One accessory we havent seen on this tour is Meghans engagement ring, which features a centre diamond from her late mother-in-law Dianas jewellery collection and two flanking diamonds from Botswana, a country Harry will visit this weekend. The $225,000 ring has been a no-show because, so the rumour in the tabloids goes, Meghan wanted to keep things low-keyshe actually subbed it out for a delicate Jennifer Meyer gold and turquoise stacking ring. And yes, waving around a sparkler of that wattage in poverty-stricken countries would feel show-offy. But then, the ring is as famous as she is, and leaving it at home might be considered a bit insulting.

Meghan and Harry have been using their voices plenty on this this trip, but still, royals chiefly communicate through photographs and actions rather than words, and there is a lot you can say with your clothes. And the stakes are high here. At a time when trade ties and cultural exchange among nations are being thwarted by nationalist populismnot to mention the always-present threat of small-r republican, as in anti-royal, sentimentthe Sussexes have been dispatched by the Queen to shore up ties and pave a new, modern relationship between Britain and the Commonwealth nations, an organization based on colonial ties.

Meghan, who described herself as a fellow woman of colour in her speech on Day one, and who views the world through an American lens, seems especially keen to avoid any hint of colonialism. Clothing can help her do that. After all, one of the strongest ways in which classes and cultures have historically been delineated is by costume. Think of the pith helmet and white safari jacket Melania Trump wore on her own ambassadorial visit to Africa in 2018. That ham-handed choice hailed back to the days of big game hunters, white masters and Black servants, or slaves.

In the end, what is most appealing about Meghans style for this tour, is how normal she looks. She looks like herself, the way she used to before she joined the royal family, hanging out in her neighbourhood with a yoga bag slung over her shoulder and her hair up in a ponytail.

Markle has a hairstylist with her on this tripat the couples own expensewho seems mostly to be doing hard-working buns and relaxed waves. Her makeup has been simple and neutral, but the main beauty message is a healthy glow and a big smile. This is clearly what she likes to do best: talk with real people in a setting where there are no curtsies and first names only.

Leaving the tiara collection at home this time seems to be hitting exactly the mark that was intended. Shes just wearing clothes, regular clothes, and the classic shapes and comfort-forward pieces are giving us mere mortals some great outfit inspo for our own next vacation.

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What Meghan Markle Is Saying with Fashion on the Africa Royal Tour - The Kit

Singularity Unleash Serpentes, Eternal, the Latest From Their Upcoming Tech-Death Masterpiece – Invisible Oranges

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As the grueling summer heat gives way to the brisk air of autumn, a shift in energy is beginning to take hold of the extreme metal world. Though the most prominent death and black metal releases over the past several months have displayed a marked focus on grimy, old-school, meat-and-potatoes interpretations of their genres, the final months of the year are soon to reveal gems of a more coldly calculated, hypermodern ilk, hinting at a new surge of highly technical material. Leading this hallowed return to fine-tuned complexity is Arizona four-piece Singularity, a long-running group whose bizarre yet neatly-defined stylistic crossover sees masterful tech-death riffwork colliding headlong with lush, orchestral black metal soundscapes. With their upcoming sophomore album Place of Chains, the group have pushed their sound even further into its own arena of innovation, achieving a truly progressive sound despite its clear-cut ingredients.

Formed in Tempe in 2010, Singularity have since chosen to favor the quality and refinement of their output over its volume. The follow-up to their 2016 Void Walker EP, Place of Chains sees the group streamlining the structure of their approach, yet also embellishing it with crisp, polished production and greater depth in its layered soundscapes. Mixed by Inferi guitarist Mike Low and mastered by Anagnorisis guitarist Zak Denham, the record takes on much of the orchestral, neoclassical grandeur of its producers work, giving Singularitys already spacious compositions an even more expansive atmosphere. With guest appearances from a stacked list of subgenre-specific musicians including Inferi guitarist Malcolm Pugh, Equipoise guitarist Nick Padovani, and Arkaik vocalist Jared Christianson, the record will shape up to be a hearty serving of masterful death metal. In anticipation of the record, Singularity have now unleashed its seventh track Serpentes, Eternal which you can stream at the link below.

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A perfect microcosm of Singularitys special tylistic amalgam, Serpentes, Eternal presents a fascinating integration between the hyperspeed clockwork of tech-death and the diminished gothic tonalities of black metal. As the jagged precision of its spiraling central riff meets piano arpeggios and synths lurking beneath pummeling double bass, the interstellar prison-world setting of Place of Chains is illustrated in bleak detail. Much of Singularitys approach is rooted primarily in tech-death, of course, especially in the guttural and staccato texture of the bands vocals and percussion, the latter of which is provided by Nathan Bigelow of tech-death stalwarts Arkaik.

In a welcome fusion, however, black metal tonalities and harmonic inflections are woven between these sharpened bursts of technicality, with the dense synthesizer acrobatics of late keyboardist Nick Pompliano providing a the groundwork for the records symphonic splendor. The final moments of Serpentes, Eternal shift gears into a freakish hybrid between an arachnid breakdown and a frozen tremolo march of black metal percussion, providing compelling proof that Singularitys recipe is as versatile as it is novel.

With a pulse of virtuosic musicality, Singularity seize the most potent elements of each the two subgenres they have set out to combine in order to eschew the sterility that is present in each. Utilizing the polished poignancy of tech-death without any of its gratuitous convolutions and combining this with a grandiose but never campy black metal ambience, they have curated a healthy balance between two largely immiscible genres.

Place of Chains releases October 11th via The Artisan Era.

From the band:

Place of Chains lyrically illustrates the emotions of being wrongfully imprisoned. Considering that many of the songs on this record lyrically are about enslavement, we felt it was a good over-arching title for the album. With every record, we try to further hone in on what the core of Singularitys sound is and what we want to bring to the world of metal.

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Singularity Unleash Serpentes, Eternal, the Latest From Their Upcoming Tech-Death Masterpiece - Invisible Oranges

Is Artificial Intelligence a danger to humanity? Take a look at the truth – India Today

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) is poised to disrupt our world. With intelligent machines enabling high-level cognitive processes like thinking, perceiving, learning, problem-solving and decision making, coupled with advances in data collection and aggregation, analytics and computer processing power, AI presents opportunities to complement and supplement human intelligence and enrich the way people live and work.

On the other hand, some of the leading scientists and thinkers have warned about 'technological singularity'. Technological singularity refers to the belief that ordinary humans will someday be overtaken by artificially intelligent machines or cognitively enhanced biological intelligence, or both.

It is a technology that takes in huge amounts of information from a specific domain and uses it to make a decision in the service of a specified goal.

For example, AI technology can be used to analyze loan repayment histories (information) of a person to decide whether to give an individual a loan or not (decision) so as to maximize the profits for the lender (goal).

In 2016, Google-run artificial intelligence (AI) programme "AlphaGo" defeated legendary player Lee Se-dol in Go - a complex Chinese board game that is considered the "quintessential unsolved problem" for machine intelligence.Though the AI has many benefits, it has sparked up a debate about its dangers to humanity.

AI machines are like other human beings in terms of their capacities for decision and action. They cannot be compared to other machines as the degree of independence that AI technologies have is much more complex.

AI is an attempt to reproduce super intelligent humans. It chooses one aspect of human beings, namely the intelligence, and artificially magnifies it to an extent that allows the machine to do things far better than humans can.

AI is associated with superlative memory, calculative power, decision-making capacity, high speeds of action, etc. These machines thus become super-beings, and a society filled with many super-beings is a recipe for disaster.AI machines are a mirror to our desire for immortality and the absence of human weaknesses.

Most importantly, the AI has not been used to get rid of poverty, to have a more equitable distribution of wealth, or to make people more content with what they have. Instead, they will primarily be dictated by profit for the companies that make them.

Healthcare and medicine become affordable and accessible with AI taking centre stage in telemedicine and quick diagnosis. Water and energy networks become accessible and widely usable when AI can mediate the use of different sources.

Unlike the Industrial Revolution and the computer revolution, the AI revolution is not taking certain jobs (artisans, personal assistants who use paper and typewriters) and replacing them with other jobs (assembly-line workers, personal assistants conversant with computers).

Instead, it is poised to bring about a wide-scale decimation of jobs - mostly lower-paying jobs, but some higher-paying ones, too. This transformation will result in enormous profits for the companies that develop AI, as well as for the companies that adopt it.

For example, imagine how much money a car-aggregators make if they remodel their business to userobots as drivers.

Thus, the world is facing two developments that cannot be placed together: enormous wealth concentrated in few hands and large numbers of people out of work.

Part of the solution lies in educating or retraining people in tasks that AI tools aren't good at. For example, artificial intelligence is not suited for jobs involving creativity, planning and "cross-domain" thinking.

A more promising solution is creating lower-paying jobs involving the "people skills" that AI lacks, such as social workers, bartenders etc. these professions require nuanced human interaction. But the question is how many such workers does a society really need?

The NITI Aayog has published an ambitious discussion paper on kick-starting the artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem in India.

The paper talks about powering five sectors - agriculture, education, healthcare, smart cities/infrastructure and transport - with AI.

The discussion paper accepts that adoption of AI till date has been driven primarily from a commercial perspective.Further, it notes that technology disruptions like AI are once-in-a-generation phenomenon, and hence large-scale adoption strategies need to strike a balance between narrow definitions of financial impact and the greater good.

Data is one of the primary drivers of AI solutions, and thus appropriate handling of data, ensuring privacy and security is of prime importance. In order for India to ride the AI innovation wave, a robust data protection framework and intellectual property framework are required.

Despite the beneficial uses of AI, scientists and leading thinkers like Stephen Hawking, Nick Bostrom, and Elon Musk warn us about the dangers of AI and the coming technological singularity.

It is believed that the purely intelligent creatures, whether people or machines are bad for humanity.

On the other hand, AI, by itself, is not looking to destroy humanity. Whether we use AI to augment ourselves, create new species, or use it to destroy lives and what we've built is entirely in our hands - at least for now.

No matter how dangerous AI might be for humanity, it's clear that there's no slowing down the pace of progress. Regardless of how many deponents come out against AI, there's no way to stop its advancement.

Future discussions will help in directing AI for good rather than bad, but no matter what happens, there's certainly no stopping the wheels of progress as they slowly grind forward.

(Article by ClearIAS Team. ClearIAS.com is a popular website which helps IAS aspirants to prepare for UPSC Civil Services Exam online)

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Is Artificial Intelligence a danger to humanity? Take a look at the truth - India Today

X-Bet.co becomes the main sponsor of Team Singularity – TalkEsport

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Live esports-dedicated betting platform X-Bet.co has partnered with the acclaimed Danish esports organization Team Singularity also known as SNG Esports.

As part ofthe arrangement, the partners will offer a 12-month sponsorship contract for SNGTeams, or a competitive player, or streamer to play under the X-Bet.co tag,with the X-Bet.co logo also featured on all SNG team jerseys in Dota2, CSGO,Fortnite, PUBG, COD, APEX, Hearthstone, Overwatch and the Team Singularity SIMRacing team and GT Racing Car.

Team Singularity is home to many world-famous players such as Alan Shakezullah Hardeman, Steve Excalibur Ye and Cameron Hydrex Kern. With the new CS:GO roster to be announced shortly, many more stars will be wearing Team Singularity jerseys.

We are very proud to be the main sponsor of Team Singularity. Considering the exponential growth both Team Singularity and X-Bet.co have enjoyed over recent years it is a natural fit for SNG and X-Bet.co to start cooperation. Having worked with Atle for a while now, his vision for the future, strategy, level of execution and management style of the SNG esports teams, is truly inspiring. I am certain over the coming years of our partnership Team Singularity will enjoy major victories in multiple esports disciplines and will exceed our expectations. As the leading live esports betting provider, we look forward to offering the best live odds for all Team Singularity matches commented Daniel Miller, CEO of X-Bet.

For both SNG and X-Bet.co the key behind this partnership is to bring esports to a wider audience by leveraging on their combined strengths and cross-promoting teams and events.

I am thrilled to welcome X-Bet.co into the Team Singularity family. We have been looking for a while for the right betting partner to support our vision and ambitions for the future, and now we found them! We are aligned in our thinking, and I cannot wait to get started on some of the projects to come. This is the start of a new chapter in Team Singularity, and I am looking forward to carrying the X-Bet.co banner around the world with all our teams and achieve greatness together. commented Atle Stehouwer, CEO & Founder Team Singularity.

X-Bet.co is aBulgarian based esports betting provider founded in 2016, headquartered inSofia, specializing in live esports betting and esports content.

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X-Bet.co becomes the main sponsor of Team Singularity - TalkEsport

Stunning Nasa photo reveals three black holes smashing into each other in rare cataclysmic collision – The Sun

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NASA has released a stunning image of three black holes about to collide with each other.

The ultra-rare is the best evidence yet of a so-called "triple system" three active supermassive black holes smashing in to each other.

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Each of the black holes is at the centre of its own galaxy.

They're all merging together roughly one billion light years from Earth.

It's not uncommon to find two black holes joining together, but spotting three is a rare feat.

In this case, astronomers using Nasa technology spotted the triple system by accident.

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"We were only looking for pairs of black holes at the time," said Ryan Pfeifle, of George Mason University, who led the study.

"And yet, through our selection technique, we stumbled upon this amazing system.

"This is the strongest evidence yet found for such a triple system of actively feeding supermassive black holes."

Researchers didn't take a straight photo of the black holes.

Instead, multiple observations using several different scientific instruments were used to piece together the galactic smash-up.

New Mexico's Sloan Digital Sky Survey first imaged the system in optical light.

Then Nasa's Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer spacecraft examined infrared light coming from the system.

And then researchers used X-ray observations to confirm the presence of gas and dust being consumed.

That's a sign that black holes are feeding, effectively confirming their existence.

What is a black hole? The key facts

Here's what you need to know...

What is a black hole?

What is an event horizon?

What is a singularity?

How are black holes created?

"Through the use of these major observatories, we have identified a new way of identifying triple supermassive black holes," explained Pfeifle.

"Each telescope gives us a different clue about what's going on in these systems.

"We hope to extend our work to find more triples using the same technique."

Each supermassive hole is roughly 10,000 to 30,000 light years apart, which is tiny as far as space goes.

And their locations mean their eventual merging is inevitable a cataclysmic event that will transform the entire region of space.

Earlier this year, astronomers spotted an "impossible" black hole that breaks the "current theory of our universe".

The huge black hole at the centre of our galaxy was caught mysteriously "glowing" in an eerie video.

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And in April, scientists unveiled the first-ever photo of a black hole.

What do you make of this mind-blowing image? Let us know in the comments!

We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online Tech & Science team? Email us at tech@the-sun.co.uk

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Stunning Nasa photo reveals three black holes smashing into each other in rare cataclysmic collision - The Sun

The 8 Best Moments From Day Zero Masada: Dwellers of the Dead Sea, an Israeli Desert Rave For the Ages – Billboard

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In terms of both distance traveled and energy exerted, it was a long haul, but by the time the sun rose over the Judaeandesert at 6:41am on Sunday, it felt that the 15,000 people gathered at the base of Masada had accomplished something special.

Indeed, the event for which we were gathered, Day Zero Masada: Dwellers of the Dead Sea, was a singular feat. Of permitting. Of organization. Of music. Of ambition. It presumably wasnt easy to gather a crowd of this size for 16 hours of electronic music at the base of theancient palace complexbuilt by King Herod in the last century B.C. Therewere presumably many talks with government officials, historians, police and others invested in the sanctity of the UNESCO World Heritage site.

But if the success of a festival is at least partially defined by the singularity of its venue, Dwellers Of the Dead Sea will rightfully be folded into the already historical record of the place. After Herod, the complex was inhabited by survivors of the Jewish Revolt, who carriedout their lives while 8,000 Roman soldiers intent on conquering themsatcamped at the bottom for seven years. In 73 A.D., as these Romans finally made their way up the hill, most the remaining occupants of Masada took their own lives rather than getting captured and living as Roman slaves. Millions of tourists have sincetrekked up the hill at dawn to appreciate the site -- and 1,946 years after the siege,a crowd of electronic music fans, from Israel and beyond, gathered to dance.

This incarnation of Day Zero was the first expansion of the events flagship show, which has taken place in the jungle outside Tulum, Mexico for the past sevenyears and which has distinguished itself as one of the most alluring parties on the international circuit. Created by venerable producer and Crosstown Rebels founder Damian Lazarus, Day Zero is intended to connect modern dance music crowds with ancient cultures through music, location and the intersection of the two. In Mexico, this relates to Mayanhistory, with the one-night party falling just after the new year, hence the name Day Zero.

In Israeli this connection came via Masada, with the show falling on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year.While Masada has previously hosted opera events and more low-keygatherings at the base of the desert mesa on which the fortress is perched, Day Zero was the first time the site hosted an electronic dance music festival.

"Its the most magnificent place, and obviously in a very historically important part of the world," Lazarus told Billboard Dance of the show."My idea was to kind of veer it away from the Judaism and get in connection with the Bedouin tribes and the wandering nomads of that area people who have kind of traveled across the Dead Sea for thousands of years. Thats essentially how I thought Masada was the best possible follow-up to working with the Mayans in Tulum."

Lazarus and his team collaborated withIsraeli event producers Tripping to make ithappen, and the endeavor worked, brilliantly, withmore than one person in the crowd callingDay Zero the best rave to ever happen in Israel. Altogether, it felt like history in the making.

These are the eight best things we saw at the show.

One Stage to Rule Them All

Rather than spreading the lineup out over multiple stages, Day Zero kept the vibe cohesive with a single stage hosting the full lineup: Ae:Ther, Bedouin,Chaim, Davi, Magit Cacoon, Monolink Satori, Gorgon City, Jamie Jones, Marco Carola and Lazarus himself. And unlike the LED monoliths or standard truss structures seen at so many large-scale electronic events, the Day Zero stage was an artfully designed amalgamation of projection mapping and wooden coves, with a crowningfeature that pointeddirectly to the ancient fortress above it and reflected the sun when it finally came out.

The Sound

It might not have been easy to get the sound right in vast desert landscape, but whoever was responsible for the acoustics did a masterful job in ensuringthe bass andbeatsall came through in hi-fi. While the sound did cut out a few times early in the evening -- sending production staff sprintingto the stage --by the time the party really got bumping, the music not only stayed on, butsounded impeccable.

The Slow Build

The 15-seconds-of-this-song and 15-seconds-of-that-song world of dance music is nottypically defined by its patience, but Day Zero was an exercise in a thoughtful slow build that took place over the course of the 16-hour show. Performing earlier in the evening, Chaimand Monolinkkept their sets relatively low-key, dipping largely into deep house and tech-house. Then, as the stage itself lit up with increasingly more elaborate lights,lasers and smoke, the music itself became grander as well. By the time Marco Carola blew the metaphorical lid off the place around 4:00 AM, with a set that spanned house to electro to techno and back again, the lights were shining on Masada,the crowd was spinning, twirling, bumping, grinding and throwing its collectivehands in the airwith peak time enthusiasm andthe partywas quite likely visible from across the Dead Sea.

The Show Within the Show

As the energy of the music ramped up, so too did the scope of the production, with aerialists, costumed performersand other whimsically attired dancers, drummers and contortionists moving throughthe crowd,adding a sense ofjust-because whimsy and getting the crowd more aligned with the spirit of the show.

The Sunrise

Of course, Day Zero's culmination was a light show only mother earth can provide, with the crowd turning its back on the stage and gazing over the Dead Sea towards Jordan at dawn as the sky above turned pink and gold.It was at this point that Lazarus played a medley of impeccably selected tracks --a sweet remix of Bill Withers "Lovely Day," an a capella verse of Here Comes the Sun, thespacious intro to Fly Like An Eagle the iconic soundtrack to 2001: A Space Odyssey, and then, finally, triumphantly, Chics enduring I Want Your Love. It was a delightful series of non-sequitur tracks that felt not only ideal for the moment, but entirely unique to thisshow.

The Little Things

Even better than watching the sun rise over the desert while the music plays and everyone around you smiles towards the horizon was doing so while the Day Zero staff moved through the crowd, passing out singlered flowers. The thoughtfulness of Day Zero is captured in simple, elegant touches like these. In tandem with thegrandiosity of the production and music, they alsodemonstrate why Day Zero is so often called one of the world's best parties.

The Heat

While it was already too hot to be outside by the time everyone was heading home around 9am, the night before was a terrifically balmy evening that gave everyone in attendance a dewy sort of glow. The shuttles back to Tel Aviv and down to the Dead Sea resort strip were blessedly efficient, leaving no one to melt in the sun. Food did seem to be a bit of an issue back at the bottom, however, with the Dead Sea McDonald's having to push out patrons and lock its doors after getting swarmed with party people and running out of food.

The Locals

The show closed with a performance by a group of local Bedouin musicians who played traditional instruments on top of a computer-made beat. (With research, experience and experiments I think it is possible to fuse some musical traditions and cultures with electronic music in a way that is cutting edge, beautiful and not cheesy, Lazarus told Billboard of Day Zero in 2016.) Ending the showwith music native to the area was another thoughtful touch that encapsulated the cultural conversationsthat's core to the show'sconcept.

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Remembering Glenn Tutssel: I am in the business of the big idea beautifully crafted – Design Week

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We look back at the life and work of the designer Glenn Tutssel, who has died aged 68, following a 50-year career in the design industry, marked by iconic packaging and branding and a legacy of young designers.

Glenns standards were higher than you could imagine it was the best thing about him, Garrick Hamm says of Glenn Tutssel.

Tutsell the designer acclaimed for his drugs and drinks packaging was known for being a taskmaster but it was that persistence, combined with a singularity of vision, that led him to become such an influence in the industry. I cant think of anyone else who touched so many designers, and helped them succeed, Hamm, his frequent colleague, adds.

Tutssel, designer, husband and father died this week, aged 68 following a battle with cancer. He is survived by his wife, Jane, and his two children, Leon and Lauren.

Over his 50-year career, he worked with a wide variety of brands, from BP to Boots. Tutssels particular interest though, was drinks; he helped create identities for Bacardi, Guinness and Peroni.

Hailing from Glamorgan in south Wales, Tutssel was inspired by design at a young age by his school art teacher, Doug Sutton who he also took judo classes with. With Suttons help and inspiration, Tutssel took a foundation course at the West of England College of Art in Bristol. Talking to Design Week, Tutssel spoke of the importance of Suttons mentorship, saying, You only need one person to believe in you to succeed.

From there, he went to the London College of Printing to do a BA in Graphic Communication. His tutors at this time, David Lock and Tom Petterson, ran a design company, Lock Petterson, where Tutssel freelanced. Following his time at college, Tutssel went to work for them calling it a natural progression designing brochures, corporate identities and annual reports for clients like Esso.

The next two decades saw Tutssel reach the top of his game twice. He became a director and senior designer at Lock Pettersen, and then moved to Michael Peters, where he eventually became the creative director. It was there that Tutssel hired Hamm in 1989, a moment the latter describes as walking on air. It was also where Hamm learned that Tutssel was a hard boss.

On one particularly difficult project, Hamm recalls how Tutssel gave him an ultimatum: If you dont crack this project today, Ill fire you. As the day went on, it became apparent that Hamm was sinking not swimming. Glenn came up to me, and said, come to my house this Sunday and so I turned up in the morning and we worked through it together at his home. When we finished, he took me to the pub for a couple of pints.

This became a tradition on Sundays while Hamm was a junior designer. And it is during this period where he saw a different side of Tutssel; a charming, warm-hearted family man. Tutssels natural inclination towards mentorship was also made obvious to Hamm at this time.

What Glenn taught me is that if you want to be successful in design, you have to put in the time. If you wanted to compete on his level, you had to get in early, work hard, and have ideas. Otherwise it was curtains. That ethos has never left me, Garrick says.

At 40, he left Michael Peters to set up his own company, Tutssels, bringing Hamm with him. Seven years after its creation, Tutssels merged with Lambie-Nairn to form Brand Union in 1997. Two years later, Brand Union was bought by WPP (it is now Superunion).

Hamm says that Tutssel has touched an entire generation of designers. He had a hand on so many shoulders of designers, always taking care of younger ones coming through. Its an endless number of people.

One of those designers is Spencer Buck, creative partner and founder of Taxi Studio, where Tutssel spent two years as executive partner after he left Brand Union in 2014.

Glenn knew the value of design whether something took five hours, five days, or five months, he knew that good work had value, and he instilled that in us, Buck says. He taught an entire generation of people the importance of craft, he adds.

Perhaps the clearest distillation of Tutssels design ethic was a project for Guinnesss sponsorship of the rugby World Cup, which he discussed with Design Week as a career highlight. Tutssel himself called it a simple idea to replace the traditional shamrock in the top of the pint with a rugby ball but it worked.

The design process behind makes for a typically good story one that Tutssel used to tell with great gusto, according to Buck. Having been given the brief one afternoon in London, Tutssel had the idea on his way back in the taxi and presented it to the head of marketing. It took moments to do but lasted a long time, Buck says.

It was an example of what both Hamm and Buck refer to as Tutssels pursuit of a singular idea. In fact, Tutssels catch-phrase was Show me the one, though Hamm says that that skill was a difficult skill to master.

Tutssels relentless pursuit and execution of the right idea resulted in iconic branding. He himself said: I am in the business of the big idea beautifully crafted. And though he worked across disciplines, his primary love was for packaging. Tutssel also highlighted his work for Peroni, where he crafted every element of the label which has since become a classic.

Another alcohol-based favourite had a personal side for Tutssel; the creation of the Penderyn Welsh Whiskey brand. As a Welshman its an honour to do work for a home-grown business that has become an international success, Tutssel said.

While Tutssel has five decades worth of work to choose from, what he might be remembered for is his enthusiasm. Both Hamm and Buck talk about how he ignited a passion in design in them and their fellow designers.

Buck says that when Tutssel came to Taxi Studio, he was struck by his undefeated energy. After spending 25 years in the industry, you can become jaded, Buck says. But Glenns passion was like working with a big kid.

Though serious at work, Tutssel was congenial at social events and the light of every room; known for his impression of the Welsh actor Richard Burton, according to Buck.

After leaving Taxi Studio, Tutssel set up the creative consultancy, Brand Inspiration, in 2015, building on his extensive work with brands. Most recently, he had been working with Welsh distilleries on two new openings.

Tutsell was involved in tangential fields too throughout his career; a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a freeman of the City of London and a liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Distillers.

Working so widely in the industry meant that his impact was felt on a large scale. John Mathers, who was chief executive of the Design Council, says that Tutssel, his colleague and close friend of more than 40 years, was a progressive force within the industry. He was capable of working across any discipline because he brought a creative flair and inspiration to everything that he did, Mathers adds.

Mathers points to Tutssels aptitude as a creative director, calling him the gold standard. In particular, it was Tutssels team spirit stood him in good stead in his various directorial positions. Its amazing how much you can achieve when you dont take all the credit yourself, Mathers adds.

Glenn had a special way about him that clients trusted, Mathers says. He loved his craft and knew what he was doing that was right. It was very important to him that people believed in his work.

At Brand Union, Mathers and Tutssel set up a trainee scheme, working with six universities, taking on three or four students each year. I still have youngsters today telling me that they owe everything they have to Glenn, Mathers says. Many of the leaders of the industry are people who have gone through a Glenn pupillage, and learned how to do things properly from him.

As well as his classic design style, it is this sense of mentorship that Mathers says will be Tutssels enduring impact. He loved surrounding himself with young people with great ideas he saw the potential in people and pursued it, he says. His legacy will be the people around him.

Glenn Tutssel died on Tuesday 24 September, aged 68, and is survived by his wife, Jane, and their two children, Leon and Lauren.

You can read our interview from 2015 with Tutssel about his career here.

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Remembering Glenn Tutssel: I am in the business of the big idea beautifully crafted - Design Week

New Orleans City Council looking to throw out thousands of outstanding warrants – WDSU New Orleans

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The New Orleans City Council is looking at throwing out a majority of the city's 56,000 outstanding municipal and traffic court warrants. Some of those warrants date back to 2002. Others say those people still need to face the consequences of their actions. "They're still locking me up behind the same tickets that are 30-something years old," said Anthony Lee. "And I'm still suffering behind it."Lee said he'd repeatedly been to jail for the same tickets. He said he hopes to see some relief soon. Councilman Jason Williams is proposing a resolution to wipe out thousands of arrest warrants and wave the accumulated court fines and fees. "Poor residents committing victimless crimes out of desperation and poverty are too often trapped in a hopeless cycle of outstanding fines, fees and resulting warrants that ultimately drain all of our taxpayer resources," Williams said. The resolution would apply to low-level, nonviolent offenses often associated with homelessness and poverty. The group "Stand With Dignity" says these offenses account for a majority of the 56,000 warrants for municipal and traffic offenses. "These issues are not criminal," said Councilman Jay Banks. "Economic poverty should not be a crime. Somebody that hasn't done anything that will affect anybody's life other than theirs and their family, they should not be called criminal."Rafael Goyeneche, the director of the Metropolitan Crime Commission, said there have to be consequences. Goyeneche said there are many layers to this issue and, while it may look good politically, it is doing a disservice to public service and safety. The City Council Criminal Justice Committee gave its full support to the resolution.

The New Orleans City Council is looking at throwing out a majority of the city's 56,000 outstanding municipal and traffic court warrants.

Some of those warrants date back to 2002.

Others say those people still need to face the consequences of their actions.

"They're still locking me up behind the same tickets that are 30-something years old," said Anthony Lee. "And I'm still suffering behind it."

Lee said he'd repeatedly been to jail for the same tickets. He said he hopes to see some relief soon.

Councilman Jason Williams is proposing a resolution to wipe out thousands of arrest warrants and wave the accumulated court fines and fees.

"Poor residents committing victimless crimes out of desperation and poverty are too often trapped in a hopeless cycle of outstanding fines, fees and resulting warrants that ultimately drain all of our taxpayer resources," Williams said.

The resolution would apply to low-level, nonviolent offenses often associated with homelessness and poverty.

The group "Stand With Dignity" says these offenses account for a majority of the 56,000 warrants for municipal and traffic offenses.

"These issues are not criminal," said Councilman Jay Banks. "Economic poverty should not be a crime. Somebody that hasn't done anything that will affect anybody's life other than theirs and their family, they should not be called criminal."

Rafael Goyeneche, the director of the Metropolitan Crime Commission, said there have to be consequences.

Goyeneche said there are many layers to this issue and, while it may look good politically, it is doing a disservice to public service and safety.

The City Council Criminal Justice Committee gave its full support to the resolution.

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New Orleans City Council looking to throw out thousands of outstanding warrants - WDSU New Orleans

Victorians less likely to be victims of crime today than in last 15 years – The Age

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Chief statistican Fiona Dowsley said it was "certainly not" the case that the overall crime rate had risen in the past 12 months, although she pointed to a sharp increase in the number of family violence incidents recorded.

Family-related crimes increased by 8.6 per cent in the past 12 months to 82,652 incidents.

The rate of family violence also increased, by 6.4 per cent, reaching 1253.1 incidents per 100,000 people.

The agency, which uses Victoria Police data, said the state had recorded the highest number of unique alleged offenders or 84,989 individuals in the 12 months to June, which equates to about one alleged criminal for each 78 Victorians.

But this rise was accompanied by the lowest "victimisation rate" on record, which could be explained by the rise in "victimless crimes", or crimes against the state, like people breaching court orders.

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"In terms of the overall crime that's occured, that's obviously pretty stable," Ms Dowsley said.

"We are seeing record numbers of alleged offenders being processed by Victoria Police and the average age of these alleged offenders has been increasing," Ms Dowsley said.

"In terms of the victimisation rate [falling], that's unequivocally a good thing."

The average age of offenders is at an all-time high, with men 34.2 years old, and women 33.3 years old at the time of their alleged crimes.

A recent Ipsos study showed Victorians were more worried about crime than people in any other state, despite crime rates falling.

Forty per cent of Victorian respondents to a national survey nominated crime as their biggest worry, compared with 24 per cent in other states, where residents were more concerned about healthcare and the cost of living.

Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton, speaking with Police Minister Lisa Neville as the statistics were being released on Thursday morning, welcomed the drop in residential burglaries, which were down 11.2 per cent to 26,444 cases the lowest on record.

Victoria Police Minister Lisa Neville Credit:AAP

However, other crimes continue to preoccupy police, like carjackings, aggravated burglaries and rammings. While less common, they had a bigger impact on people.

"Its an absolute priority," he said. "This is what were putting all our attempts into. We know they are crimes that the public are very frightened of and rightly so."

Early on Thursday, a police officer and a teenage girl were hospitalised after being hit by an allegedly stolen car driven by a 19-year-old man north of Geelong.

The police officer was left with a fractured leg.

"Thats what confronts out members everyday," Mr Patton said.

"One every day is virtually occuring. Thats happening on a daily basis. Thats frightening."

In terms of young offenders, he said there were fewer criminals, but those who were offending were committing more crimes until they were arrested.

"There's a small core group of youths who continue to commit serious and regular crimes," Ms Neville said.

The question now, she said, was what authorities could do to help them. Getting them off the streets and into education or training was not working for this group.

"These kids seem to not care."

Opposition police spokesman David Southwick said the figures showed the Andrews government had no answer to crime increases.

"Daniel Andrews and Labor have no plan to keep families safe in their homes, take guns and drugs off our streets, and save young people from a life of crime," he said.

"Todays crime statistics show why Victoria has the worst perception of safety in the nation and this will continue until Daniel Andrews puts community safety first."

Bianca Hall is a senior reporter for The Age. She has previously worked in the Canberra bureau as immigration correspondent, Sunday political correspondent and deputy editor.

Erin covers crime for The Age. Most recently she was a police reporter at the Geelong Advertiser.

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Victorians less likely to be victims of crime today than in last 15 years - The Age