Can brain scans solve the financial crisis?

An interesting BBC 2 Horizon last night looked at research into the possible biological causes of psychopathy. A few points caught my attention. 1) It may be possible to identify psychopaths by means of a brain scan. 2) The biggest concentration of psychopaths is to be found not in prisons but in the upper echelons of The City. 3) By their ability to charm and manipulate others, psychopaths are able to rise to the very top of business and financial institutions but although they can talk a good job and blag their way to the top their results are often terrible. Having bullshitted their way to a top post they make a huge cock up of it. So, the financial meltdown is beginning to make a bit more sense now. Should everyone in the financial sector be given a brain scan in order to keep the psychos out of the boardroom? Can we rescue the economy by getting rid of the amoral spivs who run it? Should banking be put back in the safe hands of the Captain Mainwarings of the world rather than being run by a bunch of Private Walkers who have a screw loose as well? Discuss.

The Cunningham Amendment.

If there is one thing that no anarchist need be short of it's reading matter and the number of libertarian papers and magazines is out of all proportion to the number of people involved. Anarchist magazines come in all shapes and sizes and all kinds of formats and production methods. Some publishers hold that attention grabbing copy and art work are the main things with posh production values coming well down the list of priorities. Others opt for a high quality crafted publication partly for the sheer satisfaction of producing it. The Cunningham Amendment sits firmly in the second category. Full of gentle humour and printed in good old fashioned letterpress this little magazine is a joy to read. Don't bother searching the internet for this gem. No computers are involved in production or distribution. Available at discerning radical bookshops usually at £2.50 a throw. Or you could try writing to:

TCA. Room 6.

Tangleford House.

The Street.

Bawdeswell.

Norfolk. NR20 4RT

You might be lucky.

Don't let the rich make us turn our backs on the poor.

Foreign aid is always a contentious issue. Unbelievably rich elites in developing countries can sour people's otherwise generous spirited feelings of solidarity with the poor. It's as if the poor must not only provide the wealth of the ruling elite but are doomed to take the blame for this wealth as well. We hear so much about India's booming economy, Bollywood, the space programme and mega rich entrepreneurs that it seems absurd for us to be granting aid. Tell that to the millions of kids who go to bed hungry every night. NUJ President Donnacha De Long has a thoughtful post on his blog about aid to India and the historical parallels with 19th century Ireland. Well worth a look.

Wild Jubilee Gig Details.

GREAT NEWS! That lovable ex-Take That singer, top Royalist and charity worker GARY BARLOW had only gone and organised the best DIAMOND JUBILEE GIG that you could even imagine. For starters the venue is unbelievable. It's only right outside BUCKINGHAM PALACE. Her Maj, The Duke Of Edinburgh and other Royals will see the show FROM THEIR BALCONY. Not only that but Harry and Wills have had some input into the choice of acts so it's bound to be REALLY COOL. This is SO rock 'n roll. I'm that exited I could bite my own dick off. The line up will include Sir Cliff Richard, Sir Elton John, Dame Shirley Bassey, Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Tommy Trinder, Dame Vera Lynne, Sir Henry Hall etc, etc. Hello! ......... Hello!

"Very nice"

How many times do you hear the remark that, in spite of someone's political views, he/she is "very nice". Just as the Daily Mail is dedicated to categorising everything in the world into those things that either cause or cure cancer, so it seems we are all doomed to separate the sheep from the goats; the nice from the not so nice. If only it were that simple. When faced with the "but she's very nice" view of someone that you know full well holds political views that you find totaly abhorrent, I can usually do no better than some trite remark about some people having found Hitler "very nice". Leaving Hitler aside for a moment, the trouble is that as we go through life we meet many people who we find easy to be around in spite of serious political disagreements. Many years ago I was working on a coaster and the Irish Mate was a pretty decent bloke. Easy to work for, a good laugh and well up for a pint with the lads, us deck hands should have been grateful and we would have been had it not been for his political views. We could cope with the Irish republicanism but the man was also a keen supporter of the extreme right and claimed to have been a member of Colin Jordan's loathsome gang. Did I mention that the Second Engineer had fought with the International Brigade? Somehow we all had to live and work together and the Mate was "very nice".

Whether it's standing together against the boss, rubbing along with the neighbours or building a post revolutionary society we can't always choose to be around people with views very similar to our own. Sometimes "very nice" is as good as it gets.

Why it's kicking off - and will the paras help?

Last night saw the launch of Paul Mason's Why It's Kicking Off Everywhere at the QE Hall on the Southbank. Paul debated the implications of the title with Ewa Jasiewicz, Costas Lapavistsas and Mark Fisher. It was an interesting enough evening, Jasiewicz was a real breath of fresh air and there where plenty to think about as we left the hall. But, Oh! I don't know. I just get this edgy feeling when surrounded by left-wing intellectuals sipping Chablis and discussing the likelihood of world revolution. One thing's for sure, the much talked of international proletariat were conspicuous by their absence and at ten quid a ticket and one of the most expensive bars in town it's not surprising. But it was a good evening and I'm glad that I went. One thing that came across loud and clear from all concerned last night was that regardless of the importance or otherwise of information technology, our futures will be decided on the streets. If you doubt that you can rest assured that your doubts are not shared by the state and today brings news that 3 Para are undertaking special training to deal with civil unrest. Kicking off? We ain't seen nothing yet.

Angelo Dundee. We lose a boxing legend.

The seedy world of professional boxing captured so well by writers like Damon Runyon and AJ Liebling has a stock of classic locations including the smoke filled small hall and the losers post-fight dressing room, but it's the old style boxing gym that has always captured my imagination. I'm talking about real gyms here, not the ludicrous chrome and carpet fitness emporiums so loved by the chattering classes, but the gym as a workplace for one of the worlds toughest jobs. The smell of sweat and lineament, the sound of skip-ropes and the rat-tat-tat of the speed ball, the pounding of the heavy bag and the grunts as fighters hone their craft in the ring. All this is overseen by that most venerable of fight game characters - the trainer. The old time boxing trainer belongs to an age before degrees in sports science. He is a master in the art of staunching blood, taping hands and looking into the eyes of a young fighter and deciding whether or not to send his charge out for one more round. The knowledge has been handed down from generation to generation or gleaned from the hedgerows of experience.

The boxing game mourns the loss of Angelo Dundee at the age of ninety. Angelo was best known to the general public for his work with Muhammad Ali but the venerable trainer and corner man had worked with many of the top fighters of the post-war era including Carmen Basilio, Willie Pastrano and the legendary Sugar Ray Leonard. He was a true boxing great.