[A-List] Service announcement

["Michael Keaney" <michael.keaney@xxxxxx>]

Greetings A-listers!

A peaceful 2003 if at all possible to all, and, if not, then at least a
productive one.

Many thanks to Mark Jones for looking after the shop in my absence. We've
agreed that he will continue as co-moderator which is exactly how I want it.
There is much to do and lots of development potential here, all of which
must be assessed in the light of current and foreseeable events. More
information on all of that in due course.

Thanks also to those who kept the airwaves busy over the holiday period.
I've just completed going through the accumulation of emails and it's been
most informative. Particular thanks are due to Anne Williamson, Stan Goff,
Henry Liu and Macdonald Stainsby for their regular updates on various topics
whose apparent independence belies their actual interconnectedness --
something this list was established to investigate more deeply.

I spent some time in "Britain" over the holidays and was taken aback by how
far the place seems to be in terminal decline. Culturally it is a nightmare,
with a proliferation of social darwinist game shows all over television,
third rate "celebrities" engaging in "charity" boxing matches on BBC
television (bring back Lord Reith), dumbed down "news" (ITN especially) and
endless recycled nostalgia between the equally endless tv programmes on
gardening, cooking, interior design, etc. A thoroughly strange place which
is beset by a deep malaise, and not simply because of any superimposition of
US cultural exports like botox and plastic surgery, although I got a major
shock at seeing what the once attractive Leslie Ash has done to herself.
Apparently she prefers to look like a losing participant in one of these
celebrity boxing matches, having invested in "lip enhancement" or whatever
they call it. Never mind the war, darling, have some botox. Some time ago on
Marxmail Jim Craven inaugurated a "social structures of accumulation" thread
which tried to explore the cultural and ideological supports underpinning
the present accumulation structure, and it would be worth revisiting this in
more detail -- something I may do if I can get over sheer mindnumbing
stupidity of it all.

The weather was surprisingly good. Minus 8 centigrade may be a cause for
alarm among some but it sure beats hurricane force winds coming off the
Atlantic. Interestingly according to the article forwarded by Mark it is a
sign of global warming. I remember very clearly December 1995 (another year
cited as especially warm) -- temperatures in Glasgow went as low as minus 18
and stayed below freezing for two weeks without respite. Plumbers were
especially happy, given all the extra work caused by burst pipes. Meanwhile
in Finland just now we are witnessing temperatures in the Helsinki area
moving within a range of 0 to minus 30 degrees centigrade -- a situation
continuing since the very beginning of November, and set to continue for the
foreseeable future. Up north it's even colder, and some of the news pictures
from Russia have much to say about the resilience of people there amid
poverty and squalor. Indeed, last week Finnish tv carried a profile of life
in Russian Karelia (just on the Finnish border) in which people were living
in conditions without heating in temperatures of at least minus 20 degrees.
The governor of the region was then interviewed as saying that the locals
should remember that they are living in the country, and that they should
take appropriate precautions during the winter, as if to say that it is
their own fault should they face any difficulties. He certainly does not
look impoverished. However, as an expression of institutionalised arrogance
it took some beating, especially since the "uncaring" party apparatchiks
have all supposedly been replaced by the "accountable" elected officials.

I noticed Macdonald taking exception to Anne's forwarding of Pat Buchanan. I
feel exactly the same about Thomas Friedman. In fact Anne's rationale for
forwarding Pat's rants is precisely the sort of rationale I have used in
similar circumstances. Since there does seem to be a growing number of
cleavages within the conservative constituency supposedly served by Dubya,
it's worth keeping an eye on any manifestations of these, including any
noteworthy outbursts by PB. As Henry said, it's good not to read stuff with
which we agree all the time, and while that is not a licence to flood the
airwaves with inflammatory racist, sexist, sectarian or other crap, we can
all exercise our critical faculties when presented with reports and analysis
from the myriad sources that keep this list simmering along.

Keep on keeping on,

Michael