The sometime tv scamp turned whacky guru Russell Brand winked at me in the street once. Because it struck me as a collusive wink: joker to joker, word-junkie to word-junkie, Jack the Lad to Jack the Lad (I know how unlikely that sounds, but I was younger then) - I winked back. Anything less would have been a rejection and I wasn’t sure he was strong enough to take a rejection.
And I will chime in that I have no idea who Russell Brand is nor what his faults may be. But I very much enjoy your way with words sir. Keep on walking the world’s streets.
"‘This thing of darkness,’ Prospero declared – looking at Caliban – ‘I acknowledge mine.’ It’s an acknowledgment we all should make." What a great piece. Excellent writing by you as well as by Mr Shakespeare...but I'm also amused by the Henry James line. I would suggest that there are huge realms of human experience that he went nowhere near!
Appreciate this, the identifying of what surrounds his "employing one word too many". Piling on Brand is warranted, noting he always gave you the creeps (in eighteen ways) salutary, but also investigating how in the current media climate one became part of the bugger's world, how as one watched, however fleetingly --opening his space-- one winked back, this challenges. "Nothing is sadder than half fame . . . I should have been truer to my stand-offish self ..."
Alas, I barely have any idea at all who this brand of Russell may be, or may have been, but no matter: this writing is salubrious. The exegesis of an extremely egregious genie, indeed. The things for which we volunteer our souls. I hung myself on every word.
Excellent piece of writing. Inspires me to raise my game, there is genius in your sentences and elegant wordsmithing. I see inquisitive thought behind and running through the piece, it provokes thought in me. It’s like a small and delicious meal that you eat, digest and are delightfully sated by. Yum.
Oh now let's see Howard. That's a beauitful and eloquent essay.
That said, how are you determining Russell's descent into conspiracy theory.....? Have you actually engaged with any of the material, or is that just something you're basing on conversations you saw with Ed Miliband all those years ago and what the literary set talks about while waiting for their bacon bagel and art adorned coffee?
Let me give you some examples:
Is talking about the efficacy of vaccines in preventing transmission, and their rather serious side affects just conspiracy theory? When the heads of Pfizer and other large pharma companies have now openly admitted in testimony that indeed, efficacy in preventing transmission was never properly tested for and that they are aware of a correlation with a number of serious side effects?
Is it conspiracy theory to talk about the role of NATO expansion in provoking the war in Ukraine, when Jens Stoltenberg (you know, the head of NATO), despite 18 months ago saying it had nothing to do with NATO, has just publically admitted that this is exactly the case?
Is it conspiracy theory to talk about the huge profiteering of Big Pharma and the Military Industrial Complex, of the massive upwards transfer of wealth since 2008 and how this is something that has been driven by the political class?
I suppose it may appear that way from behind the morning coffee & bacon bagel breakfast, purusing the Guardian, Observer, Independent, New York Times and BBC world view. You do remember WMD right? You do remember that entire four year lunacy of Russiagate? You are aware that all of those vaunted pillars of journalistitic integrity have let Julian Assange be slowly tortured towards death in an embassy and Belmarsh Prison? You do remember all of these papers and outlets dismissing NATO as anything to do with the outbreak of war over the last 18 months? If not, here's a little reminder (ok, it's cable news, but the point remains valid nontheless)
So who, my eloquent friend, is the one dealing in "theories" here? Russell Brand, or you, with your Radio 4 friendly BBC vetted theoretical world view, which appears to be grounded in anything but the facts. I'm drawing conclusions here, as I understand you're not outlining your world view, but as you have labelled all of the above factual reality as conspiracy theory, then I guess I'm at least in the right stadium.
If you took the time to engage with journalists such as Matt Taibbi, Michael Shellenberger, Caitlin Johnson, Aaron Mate, Lee Fang, Kit Klarenberg, Vanessa Beeley or even follow someone like Arnaud Bertand on X/Twitter you might be pretty quick to ditch those rose tinted glasses that allow you to label the entire content of Russell's recent output as Conspiracy Theory. Much of it is grounded in verifiable, documented, citable evidence. You know, that stuff which officials in power say and document. Instead, here you are, signalling your virtue to the mainstream world view and the purse strings it holds by piling in on a media circus trial of a situation that has yet to even become a criminal investigation. You may not be aware that's what you're doing, you may believe all of your worldview and hold fast to it. A little like that Andrew Marr/Chomsky interview from '96. Just because you view it one way doesn't make it so now, and it certainlydoesn't allow you to sweepingly label stuff as conspiracy, does it? Not without actually doing the decent, intellectual and morally sound thing of challenging your own assumptions, seeking out opposing views and assessing them on their merit, not on your own preconceptions and bias. Or those of your peers.
If Russell has done what they claim he has done, then so be it. There will be an investigation, court and he'll pay the cost. It may not be perfect, but it is the system we have. And certainly, the furore around it has nothing to do with empathy for the alleged victims. Not when you have DCMS writing to Rumble asking for him to be demonetised. That's pretty clear evidence that the end game is to silence the man, not to find out the truth and some justice, if any is due, for the alleged victims. Who of course should be taken seriously, and supported in whatever redress or action they want to take.
Whatever happened to that pillar of human society, innocent until proven guilty? I know, you're not directly claiming guilt. You're too clever and subtle for that, but you are clearly climbing off the fence and into one field. The one where the pot of gold still lies.
So yeah, a wink to 1500 beautiful words full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. It's a shame, as you do write lovely prose. But a turd rolled in glitter and sprayed with perfume is still a turd.
Godspeed on your journey, I hope those purse strings open aplenty and that you don't have to wait too long for your next Latte and Bacon Bagel.
Your one time free subsciber (so don't worry, the purse strings remain unaffected)
All this is very interesting, and disturbing. I’m not even sure I should comment, being so far away (near the Pacific Coast of North America), and probably not nearly informed enough. But it brings some thoughts about conspiracy theory to mind. I’m just barely old enough to remember the days when it became painfully evident here in the U.S. that the government had been lying to us about nearly everything, but maybe especially regarding Vietnam. This caused an enormous disconnect that’s still reverberating. The response in large measure was to throw out the babies, the bath water, the tub, the plumbing, and to burn the house to the ground. Trust no one, especially not older generations, government, scientists, authorities of any size of shape. Forge a new free and honest society. Never mind that human nature has not changed, and that we carry the demons we thought we’d cast out in our minds, multiplying in our own dark spots. Thus the contemporary world, in which not only are our governments lying; those who oppose them do also. Truth of any kind becomes less and less objective.
We should always challenge assumptions, including our own. I don’t know whether NATO pushed Putin to the breaking point. I hope not. I remember Richard Nixon, the bogeyman of my generation, proclaiming just before his death that if the West didn’t befriend and help Russia, post the fall of the Soviet Union, there would eventually be multiple versions of hell to pay. Hardly anyone seemed to be listening. (Apparently we doubted that the person who had gotten nearly everything wrong could suddenly at the end of his days get something terribly right.)
Here in the States it seems evident that most of the people who disdain vaccines are also neo-fascists. Not sure if that is the case in the UK. But it makes me categorically distrust the distrusters. What a mess. The fallout from the 1960s makes everything radioactive. The opposite of what we had hoped for.
I don't know David - It's worth checking out the predictions of George Kennan at the time when Bill Clinton signed the NATO expansion act (whatever that's formally called) and those of Jack Matlock, former ambassador to the USSR (who had been in diplomatic roles to Russia since the Cuban Missile crisis) and also of Professor Stephen Cohen, a Princeton Russian History specialist. And understanding the history of Russia during and after the second world war. With some of that under the belt, it is virtually impossible to draw any other conclusion. Here was an openly aggressive (towards all things Russian, from the second world war onwards) alliance expanding eastwards and breaking assurances given to Gorbachov at the time of the fall of the USSR. Think about China placing military in Panama and then expanding Northwards to America's border with Mexico, how would your government react? The Russians lost 25 million to an invasion that was aided and abetted by Ukrainians, and indeed it rolled through that region and into Russia. How else could they see this whole 25 year rapid NATO expansion as anything but a threat? And also, considering the illegal NATO actions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia and Syria - I mean, seriously, if the shoe were on the other foot??
And the political persuasion of those who don't like vaccines is irrelevant - a loaded statement in and of itself - it implies across the board to all ideas of vaccination. It is however only these particular vaccines which were grossly over sold, rushed and poorly tested. And certainly have been nowhere near as effective as they were made out to be, and with some rather serious potential side effects. That is not a matter of opinion, but documented fact. IN both the small print of the literature of the vaccines themselves, and also backed up by recent testimony by CEOs and European directors of the companies making the things. Just because these issues are not covered by the prestige media does not bring their validity into question. Merely the ethics and motives of the prestige press. I am as far from right wing as you can imagine. I'm also as far from the current variant of left wing as you can imagine. Our elitist, money hoovering, war pimp infested power structure is where I anchor my outlook. And it is dead centre against it, and all for a hand in solidarity to all people of the world who are downtrodden and struggling, be they appalachian mountain gun toters to rainbow warriors to fundamentalist muslim families. None of them pose the danger to humanity that the power structure and those that administer it pose to humanity, the planet and our survival.
All that said, I deeply appreciate you engaging and reading. In that, there is light and potential for all things. With kind regards, Crapp.
He’s not wanted in Sweden, it is proven he did not induce Chelsea Manning to do anything, and he is not a hacker. Never was. Look it up, find it out. Challenge your beliefs.
All that is the mainstream narrative around him. Is that true? I’ve read all of that, then read the opposite. And verified the facts. Dare you read the opposing view? It would appear not, but there’s still time!
And the name, my friend, is a reference to Beckett. Nobel prize for literature. I didn’t want to copy it exactly, where’s the style in that? . Would you like to keep embarrassing yourself, or shall we just call it a day?
Be well. You are still a fellow human, despite your relatively lazy beliefs around this subject. Maybe look up Chris Hedges for some opposite views on Assange.
Oh - wikipedia. Well pardon me for your deep research.
Not since he started wikileaks, which is the legal point. He simply received and published documents. Like any journalist. You label me conspiracy all you want mate. I wear that as a badge of pride from someone as shallow in their thought and intellectual courage such as yourself.
That will be why they have not charged him under the espionage act. Read what that is - like, the law. It’s easy to find. It outlaws the handling of stolen documents, because they know he didn’t actually do any hacking for any of the wikileaks files. But anyway, why bother - you have your preconception, you can’t even do a thought experiment to hold two opposing ideas in your head and be willing to let go of a longstanding idea, despite the huge body of evidence you would find if you had the heart to look. That is the definition of intellectual cowardice John. So good luck, i’ll do is both a favour and mute you. Simple :)
Interesting that some do not get the irony Howard Jackson was expressing in his wink of recognition that we're all co-conspirators and none are innocent. "‘This thing of darkness,’ Prospero declared – looking at Caliban – ‘I acknowledge mine.’ It’s an acknowledgment we all should make."
Howard opened that door with his comments on conspiracy theory, revealing his opinion. Which i decided to challenge. As is the right of anyone.
And your comment on Julian Assange is totally inhumane. And shows you to be an unthinking simp completely pickled in a dangerous world view. If you cannot see the relevance of an Australian citizen being charged using an antiquated American law for exposing egregious (there’s that word again) abuses of power and out and out war crimes (you know, real journalism), whilst being offered none of the constitutional protections offered to American citizens, then good luck to you.
That is a total warning to all would be whistleblowers, sources and journalists world wide. He has literally broken no law. Read Nils Melzer’s report on his treatment and rethink mate. The same applies to you as to the esteemed Howard. Have the decency, honesty and moral strength to challenge your preconceived notion, seek out the opposite view point and judge it on merit. Imagine, perish the thought, that what you think might not be reflective of reality.... all that said, as a fellow human, be well.
Assange is wanted for multiple crimes worldwide. Chelsea Manning who Assange induced to steal the classified documents spent 7 years in prison until Pres. Obama pardoned her. Assange has a history as a hacker and was wanted in Sweden for multiple rape charges. He is being held for espionage charges and will likely die in jail.
This miserable narcissist is no martyr and certainly no hero. Your defense of him tells me you’re aptly named.
And I will chime in that I have no idea who Russell Brand is nor what his faults may be. But I very much enjoy your way with words sir. Keep on walking the world’s streets.
"‘This thing of darkness,’ Prospero declared – looking at Caliban – ‘I acknowledge mine.’ It’s an acknowledgment we all should make." What a great piece. Excellent writing by you as well as by Mr Shakespeare...but I'm also amused by the Henry James line. I would suggest that there are huge realms of human experience that he went nowhere near!
Appreciate this, the identifying of what surrounds his "employing one word too many". Piling on Brand is warranted, noting he always gave you the creeps (in eighteen ways) salutary, but also investigating how in the current media climate one became part of the bugger's world, how as one watched, however fleetingly --opening his space-- one winked back, this challenges. "Nothing is sadder than half fame . . . I should have been truer to my stand-offish self ..."
Alas, I barely have any idea at all who this brand of Russell may be, or may have been, but no matter: this writing is salubrious. The exegesis of an extremely egregious genie, indeed. The things for which we volunteer our souls. I hung myself on every word.
Excellent piece of writing. Inspires me to raise my game, there is genius in your sentences and elegant wordsmithing. I see inquisitive thought behind and running through the piece, it provokes thought in me. It’s like a small and delicious meal that you eat, digest and are delightfully sated by. Yum.
Too kind :) but gratefully received.
Truth can be kind too❣️
Oh now let's see Howard. That's a beauitful and eloquent essay.
That said, how are you determining Russell's descent into conspiracy theory.....? Have you actually engaged with any of the material, or is that just something you're basing on conversations you saw with Ed Miliband all those years ago and what the literary set talks about while waiting for their bacon bagel and art adorned coffee?
Let me give you some examples:
Is talking about the efficacy of vaccines in preventing transmission, and their rather serious side affects just conspiracy theory? When the heads of Pfizer and other large pharma companies have now openly admitted in testimony that indeed, efficacy in preventing transmission was never properly tested for and that they are aware of a correlation with a number of serious side effects?
Is it conspiracy theory to talk about the role of NATO expansion in provoking the war in Ukraine, when Jens Stoltenberg (you know, the head of NATO), despite 18 months ago saying it had nothing to do with NATO, has just publically admitted that this is exactly the case?
Is it conspiracy theory to talk about the huge profiteering of Big Pharma and the Military Industrial Complex, of the massive upwards transfer of wealth since 2008 and how this is something that has been driven by the political class?
I suppose it may appear that way from behind the morning coffee & bacon bagel breakfast, purusing the Guardian, Observer, Independent, New York Times and BBC world view. You do remember WMD right? You do remember that entire four year lunacy of Russiagate? You are aware that all of those vaunted pillars of journalistitic integrity have let Julian Assange be slowly tortured towards death in an embassy and Belmarsh Prison? You do remember all of these papers and outlets dismissing NATO as anything to do with the outbreak of war over the last 18 months? If not, here's a little reminder (ok, it's cable news, but the point remains valid nontheless)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zf5xEBwBhds
So who, my eloquent friend, is the one dealing in "theories" here? Russell Brand, or you, with your Radio 4 friendly BBC vetted theoretical world view, which appears to be grounded in anything but the facts. I'm drawing conclusions here, as I understand you're not outlining your world view, but as you have labelled all of the above factual reality as conspiracy theory, then I guess I'm at least in the right stadium.
If you took the time to engage with journalists such as Matt Taibbi, Michael Shellenberger, Caitlin Johnson, Aaron Mate, Lee Fang, Kit Klarenberg, Vanessa Beeley or even follow someone like Arnaud Bertand on X/Twitter you might be pretty quick to ditch those rose tinted glasses that allow you to label the entire content of Russell's recent output as Conspiracy Theory. Much of it is grounded in verifiable, documented, citable evidence. You know, that stuff which officials in power say and document. Instead, here you are, signalling your virtue to the mainstream world view and the purse strings it holds by piling in on a media circus trial of a situation that has yet to even become a criminal investigation. You may not be aware that's what you're doing, you may believe all of your worldview and hold fast to it. A little like that Andrew Marr/Chomsky interview from '96. Just because you view it one way doesn't make it so now, and it certainlydoesn't allow you to sweepingly label stuff as conspiracy, does it? Not without actually doing the decent, intellectual and morally sound thing of challenging your own assumptions, seeking out opposing views and assessing them on their merit, not on your own preconceptions and bias. Or those of your peers.
If Russell has done what they claim he has done, then so be it. There will be an investigation, court and he'll pay the cost. It may not be perfect, but it is the system we have. And certainly, the furore around it has nothing to do with empathy for the alleged victims. Not when you have DCMS writing to Rumble asking for him to be demonetised. That's pretty clear evidence that the end game is to silence the man, not to find out the truth and some justice, if any is due, for the alleged victims. Who of course should be taken seriously, and supported in whatever redress or action they want to take.
Whatever happened to that pillar of human society, innocent until proven guilty? I know, you're not directly claiming guilt. You're too clever and subtle for that, but you are clearly climbing off the fence and into one field. The one where the pot of gold still lies.
So yeah, a wink to 1500 beautiful words full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. It's a shame, as you do write lovely prose. But a turd rolled in glitter and sprayed with perfume is still a turd.
Godspeed on your journey, I hope those purse strings open aplenty and that you don't have to wait too long for your next Latte and Bacon Bagel.
Your one time free subsciber (so don't worry, the purse strings remain unaffected)
Crapp
All this is very interesting, and disturbing. I’m not even sure I should comment, being so far away (near the Pacific Coast of North America), and probably not nearly informed enough. But it brings some thoughts about conspiracy theory to mind. I’m just barely old enough to remember the days when it became painfully evident here in the U.S. that the government had been lying to us about nearly everything, but maybe especially regarding Vietnam. This caused an enormous disconnect that’s still reverberating. The response in large measure was to throw out the babies, the bath water, the tub, the plumbing, and to burn the house to the ground. Trust no one, especially not older generations, government, scientists, authorities of any size of shape. Forge a new free and honest society. Never mind that human nature has not changed, and that we carry the demons we thought we’d cast out in our minds, multiplying in our own dark spots. Thus the contemporary world, in which not only are our governments lying; those who oppose them do also. Truth of any kind becomes less and less objective.
We should always challenge assumptions, including our own. I don’t know whether NATO pushed Putin to the breaking point. I hope not. I remember Richard Nixon, the bogeyman of my generation, proclaiming just before his death that if the West didn’t befriend and help Russia, post the fall of the Soviet Union, there would eventually be multiple versions of hell to pay. Hardly anyone seemed to be listening. (Apparently we doubted that the person who had gotten nearly everything wrong could suddenly at the end of his days get something terribly right.)
Here in the States it seems evident that most of the people who disdain vaccines are also neo-fascists. Not sure if that is the case in the UK. But it makes me categorically distrust the distrusters. What a mess. The fallout from the 1960s makes everything radioactive. The opposite of what we had hoped for.
Thank you both for your words and thoughts!
I don't know David - It's worth checking out the predictions of George Kennan at the time when Bill Clinton signed the NATO expansion act (whatever that's formally called) and those of Jack Matlock, former ambassador to the USSR (who had been in diplomatic roles to Russia since the Cuban Missile crisis) and also of Professor Stephen Cohen, a Princeton Russian History specialist. And understanding the history of Russia during and after the second world war. With some of that under the belt, it is virtually impossible to draw any other conclusion. Here was an openly aggressive (towards all things Russian, from the second world war onwards) alliance expanding eastwards and breaking assurances given to Gorbachov at the time of the fall of the USSR. Think about China placing military in Panama and then expanding Northwards to America's border with Mexico, how would your government react? The Russians lost 25 million to an invasion that was aided and abetted by Ukrainians, and indeed it rolled through that region and into Russia. How else could they see this whole 25 year rapid NATO expansion as anything but a threat? And also, considering the illegal NATO actions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia and Syria - I mean, seriously, if the shoe were on the other foot??
And the political persuasion of those who don't like vaccines is irrelevant - a loaded statement in and of itself - it implies across the board to all ideas of vaccination. It is however only these particular vaccines which were grossly over sold, rushed and poorly tested. And certainly have been nowhere near as effective as they were made out to be, and with some rather serious potential side effects. That is not a matter of opinion, but documented fact. IN both the small print of the literature of the vaccines themselves, and also backed up by recent testimony by CEOs and European directors of the companies making the things. Just because these issues are not covered by the prestige media does not bring their validity into question. Merely the ethics and motives of the prestige press. I am as far from right wing as you can imagine. I'm also as far from the current variant of left wing as you can imagine. Our elitist, money hoovering, war pimp infested power structure is where I anchor my outlook. And it is dead centre against it, and all for a hand in solidarity to all people of the world who are downtrodden and struggling, be they appalachian mountain gun toters to rainbow warriors to fundamentalist muslim families. None of them pose the danger to humanity that the power structure and those that administer it pose to humanity, the planet and our survival.
All that said, I deeply appreciate you engaging and reading. In that, there is light and potential for all things. With kind regards, Crapp.
He’s not wanted in Sweden, it is proven he did not induce Chelsea Manning to do anything, and he is not a hacker. Never was. Look it up, find it out. Challenge your beliefs.
All that is the mainstream narrative around him. Is that true? I’ve read all of that, then read the opposite. And verified the facts. Dare you read the opposing view? It would appear not, but there’s still time!
And the name, my friend, is a reference to Beckett. Nobel prize for literature. I didn’t want to copy it exactly, where’s the style in that? . Would you like to keep embarrassing yourself, or shall we just call it a day?
Be well. You are still a fellow human, despite your relatively lazy beliefs around this subject. Maybe look up Chris Hedges for some opposite views on Assange.
Oh, I have had more than enough of your conspiracy beliefs. Assange has been a hacker since his youth and cares for the welfare of nobody but himself.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Assange
Oh - wikipedia. Well pardon me for your deep research.
Not since he started wikileaks, which is the legal point. He simply received and published documents. Like any journalist. You label me conspiracy all you want mate. I wear that as a badge of pride from someone as shallow in their thought and intellectual courage such as yourself.
That will be why they have not charged him under the espionage act. Read what that is - like, the law. It’s easy to find. It outlaws the handling of stolen documents, because they know he didn’t actually do any hacking for any of the wikileaks files. But anyway, why bother - you have your preconception, you can’t even do a thought experiment to hold two opposing ideas in your head and be willing to let go of a longstanding idea, despite the huge body of evidence you would find if you had the heart to look. That is the definition of intellectual cowardice John. So good luck, i’ll do is both a favour and mute you. Simple :)
How did we go from Russel Brand being a sexual predator to "our elitist, money-hoovering, war-pimp infested power structure?" Jeez!
Interesting that some do not get the irony Howard Jackson was expressing in his wink of recognition that we're all co-conspirators and none are innocent. "‘This thing of darkness,’ Prospero declared – looking at Caliban – ‘I acknowledge mine.’ It’s an acknowledgment we all should make."
It’s all there in black and white John.
Howard opened that door with his comments on conspiracy theory, revealing his opinion. Which i decided to challenge. As is the right of anyone.
And your comment on Julian Assange is totally inhumane. And shows you to be an unthinking simp completely pickled in a dangerous world view. If you cannot see the relevance of an Australian citizen being charged using an antiquated American law for exposing egregious (there’s that word again) abuses of power and out and out war crimes (you know, real journalism), whilst being offered none of the constitutional protections offered to American citizens, then good luck to you.
That is a total warning to all would be whistleblowers, sources and journalists world wide. He has literally broken no law. Read Nils Melzer’s report on his treatment and rethink mate. The same applies to you as to the esteemed Howard. Have the decency, honesty and moral strength to challenge your preconceived notion, seek out the opposite view point and judge it on merit. Imagine, perish the thought, that what you think might not be reflective of reality.... all that said, as a fellow human, be well.
Assange is wanted for multiple crimes worldwide. Chelsea Manning who Assange induced to steal the classified documents spent 7 years in prison until Pres. Obama pardoned her. Assange has a history as a hacker and was wanted in Sweden for multiple rape charges. He is being held for espionage charges and will likely die in jail.
This miserable narcissist is no martyr and certainly no hero. Your defense of him tells me you’re aptly named.
You are a very intriguing person! Ok, I will consider all of this, though it may take some time. Thank you!!
You lost me at Julian Assange being "tortured to death." If only it were so...
Fifteen hundred words from a wink - magnificent. You put the words in the back of the net!
You write so beautifully. Glad to have found you.
Winks are like handshakes - very difficult to turn down.