My Articles on Anarchism

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Some of My writings on anarchism see:

Libertarian Justice

The Era Of The Common Man

Red In Tooth and Claw

The Scientific Basis of Socialism

Libertarian Communism Redux

Libertarianism

Did You Say Libertarian Communist

Free Market Economics=Cooperatives

Once More On the Fourth

Max Stirner Wears Prada

Unmasking Hayek

Some People Never Learn

Not Your Usual Left Wing Rant

Proudhon

Black Herstory Month: Lucy Parsons

Jewish Anti Zionism

Ibn Khaldun 14th Century Arab Libertarian

Left, Right and Liberty

Workers Control Versus Trade Unions

The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress

Prisons Need Police Society Needs Mediators

The Need for Arab Anarchism

History of the Libertarian Movement

Economics, Evolution and Mutual Aid

Antinominalist Anarchism

State less Socialism

Libertarian Labour

Amour Anarchie

Léo Ferré (Shoed Leo in English)

Léo Ferré is, without doubt, one of the most important figures in French music history. Renowned for his musical compositions, Ferré is also remembered for his astonishing lyrics. Indeed, many would go so far as to call him one of the finest poets of French chanson.

This truly exceptional singer, songwriter and composer changed the face of the French music scene irrevocably. Léo Ferré’s poetry also made a major impact on French literature. As his old friend, the writer and poet Louis Aragon once said - "The literary history of France will have to be re-written a little differently because of the contribution made by Léo Ferré". The same could also be said of French music history.

Ferré gets involved into anarchism and communism

Throughout the early part of his career Ferré had kept out of politics, even during the heyday of the Front Populaire. But from the late 40’s onwards the singer found himself becoming increasingly involved with French political groups. After performing at several concerts organised by the French Anarchist Federation, Ferré decided his real sympathies lay with the French Communist Party and he became increasingly involved with their activities. (Ferré remained a committed communist right up until the end of his life).

In the early 50’s Ferré’s encounter with a young woman called Madeleine, whom he met in a Paris café, was to change the rest of his life. For not only was Madeleine to replace Odette in his life, she also took charge of his career. Shortly after meeting Madeleine, Ferré began writing his famous opera "la Vie d'Artiste", proving his talent as a musical composer. Four years later Ferré would go on to write an oratorio based on the French poet Guillaume Apollinaire’s work " La Chanson du mal-aimé", which was performed at the Monte Carlo Opera House.

By 1953, Léo Ferré’s singing career was going from strength to strength. He was invited to perform as a support act for the American star Josephine Baker, when she performed at the prestigious Paris music-hall, L’Olympia. Ferré then went on to land a recording deal with the Odéon label who soon released his version of "Paris Canaille" (the song which had been a hit for Catherine Sauvage the previous year). Ferré’s personal life was also looking up. The singer moved into a flat on Boulevard Pershing with Madeleine and the daughter from her previous marriage, whom Ferré brought up as his own child. Despite the fact that the couple existed on very little money, this was a particularly happy time in Ferré’s life. The door was always open to friends and the flat on Boulevard Pershing was always filled with visitors. Singer Catherine Sauvage, the actor Pierre Brasseur, Les Frères Jacques and many other stars from the music and theatre world were all regular visitors to Ferré’s home.

Following the immense success of the single "Paris Canaille", Ferré could afford to buy a big house in the country. In March 1955 he returned to the Olympia, but this time as the headlining star. It was on this memorable occasion that the singer performed "l'Homme", "Monsieur William", and "Graine d'Ananar" (all songs which went on to become absolute classics of the Ferré repertoire). At the end of the year Ferré went back into the studio to record eight new songs including the famous "Pauvre Ruteboeuf" and "Le Guinche". He was not surrounded by a group of musicians in the studio, preferring to accompany himself instead on the piano, and the organ.

Ferré's new album also contained the song "l'Amour" - a track which would greatly impress the famous Surrealist poet André Breton. Ferré and Breton went on to become close friends but this relationship came to an abrupt end when, in 1956, Ferré presented Breton with a copy of his work "Poètes...vos papiers". In this collection of poetry and song lyrics (77 texts in all) Ferré took a strong stand against the automatic writing techniques which the Surrealists had employed in their poetry. Breton was most unhappy with Ferré’s stance and, declaring that he did not share the same poetic views as the singer, refused to write a preface to the collection. This argument brought an abrupt end to Breton and Ferré’s friendship, and the pair were not on speaking terms when Breton died in 1966.

In 1956 Ferré devoted all his time and energy to composing "La Nuit", a modern ballet created for choreographer Roland Petit and his troupe, which included spoken texts and songs. Unfortunately, when the ballet was performed at the Théâtre de Paris it was slammed by the critics and the show came to a grinding halt after only four performances.

Ferré was to be caught up in the revolutionary fervour of May 68. Indeed, on May 10th the singer performed at the famous Gala de la Mutualité, organised by the Anarchist federation. Ferré the protest singer became the public symbol of revolutionary zeal and anarchic student demonstrations (although he continued to keep his distance from actual political involvement).

LEO FERRE
AMOUR ANARCHIE
In 1970 Léo Ferré produced a wondrous double album on which some incomparable jewels can be found. Among those are the pop marvel "La 'the nana'", the pulsating "Psaume 51", the pyshedelic opening "Le chien" (killer lyrics included) or the somber minimalist "Le mal", a masterpierce in sobriety. Those into more conventional orchestrations will indulge themselves with "La mémoire et la mer" and the moving, delicate and kind of deranged "Petite" speaking of the impossible love of a middle-aged man and a very young girl-child. Ferré dares it all, as usually, singing with his heart and guts (see "Poète, vos papiers"), writing with a great ease on themes no one but he can cover. There's anger, love, indignation and many more feelings here all mastered with great skills and incomparable strength! Jean-Michel Defaye's arrangements are, as always, wonderful. The whole double album is a must hear, a masterpiece and a great introduction to the peculiar world of Léo Ferré.

UN: public water in Lebanon could stop pumping in matter of 'weeks'

Lebanon's water sector is on the verge of collapse due to the harrowing economic crisis, the United Nations has warned.

Lebanon is suffering from an acute water shortage. Here, a Lebanese woman walks past canisters used to store water and fuel in front of a shop in the coastal town of Junieh, north of Beirut, on Aug. 11, 2006. - PATRICK BAZ/AFP via Getty Images

Millions of Lebanese are at risk of losing access to water, the United Nations warned Friday.

The representative of UNICEF in Lebanon said the economic crisis could severely hinder people’s access to public water in the near future.

A loss of access to the public water supply could force households to make extremely difficult decisions regarding their basic water, sanitation and hygiene needs,” said Yukie Mokuo in a press release.

Lebanon is in the midst of a yearslong and increasingly devastating economic crisis. The local currency has lost more than 90% of its value since late 2019. Many people are struggling to buy essentials amid job losses and rising prices. Fuel shortages are also worsening, leading to long lines at gas stations.

UNICEF said Lebanon’s water sector is being “squeezed” due to maintenance costs, electricity cuts and rising fuel prices. More than 4 million people, including 1 million refugees, are at risk of losing access to water that is safe to use as a result.

“UNICEF estimates that most water pumping will gradually cease across the country in the next four to six weeks,” read the release.

The UN children's agency further predicted that water costs could shoot up 200% if people are forced to buy from private vendors in the event of a shutdown of public water.

The situation is already bleak. Almost 1.7 million people in Lebanon already only have access to 35 liters (nine gallons) of water a day, which is a nearly 80% decrease vis-a-vis the national average before 2020, according to a UNICEF assessment. Water pollution has also been an issue in Lebanon in recent years.

Lebanon has had a caretaker government since August 2020 when the Cabinet resigned en masse following the Beirut port explosion. The political impasse appears set to continue after Saad Hariri, who was the prime minister-designate, withdrew his nomination to form a new government last week.

Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/07/un-public-water-lebanon-could-stop-pumping-matter-weeks#ixzz71aoG5WTT

Endangered bears leave Lebanon for better life in US animal sanctuary

Homer and Ulysses had been trapped for more than 10 years in a zoo in Tyre. (Supplied)

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https://arab.news/2f2s8

NAJIA HOUSSARI

July 25, 2021

The Syrian brown bear lived in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Turkey but, due to illegal and non-organized hunting in Lebanon, the species became extinct

BEIRUT: Two endangered bears who were living in poor conditions in a Lebanon zoo have been flown to an animal sanctuary in the US after they started to lose weight and suffered from other health issues.

Rights association Animals Lebanon said it managed to persuade their owner that “the bears deserved better” given the creatures’ deteriorating condition.

Lebanon’s economic crisis, considered the worst in its modern history, has affected animals as much as humans.

Families have given up their pets, unable to feed them in light of sharp rises in the dollar exchange rate. Zoos have also been affected, with animals facing malnourishment and owners no longer able to secure their basic needs.

Animals Lebanon said the two Syrian brown bears, called Homer and Ulysses, had been trapped for more than 10 years in a zoo in the southern city of Tyre.

“There are six bears still waiting to be rescued in the north of Lebanon, Bekaa and Beirut,” the association’s director, Jason Mier, told Arab News.

Previous attempts to get the bears to the Colorado Wild Animal Sanctuary had failed due to the pandemic, roadblocks, banks freezing assets, and the wait to obtain the sanctuary’s confirmation to receive the creatures.

FASTFACT

Families have given up their pets, unable to feed them in light of sharp rises in the dollar exchange rate. Zoos have also been affected, with animals facing malnourishment and owners no longer able to secure their basic needs.

The sanctuary cares for more than 650 lions, tigers, bears, wolves and other animals — including a fox and a wallaby rescued by Animals Lebanon.

Animal rescue organization Four Paws offered to help bear the cost of the animals’ trip to Colorado.

Mier said: “There are six zoos we are aware of in Lebanon. In 2017, we passed the Animal Protection and Welfare Law, which regulates zoos. These zoos hold endangered wildlife, local wildlife, and farmed or domesticated animals. There are about 30 lions, 10 bears, and 10 tigers. We believe conditions need to be drastically improved at all zoos.”

Dr. Assad Serhal, director of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon, told Arab News that the Syrian brown bear was an endangered species seen in the mountainous area of eastern Lebanon, near the Syrian borders.

In 2019, an environmental activist filmed a brown cub playing on the road in the outskirts of Ersal, in the Bekaa valley. That same cub was previously seen with his mother in 2017 in the same area. This species had not been seen in Lebanon for over 50 years.

The Syrian brown bear lived in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Turkey but, due to illegal and non-organized hunting in Lebanon, the species became extinct.

Serhal said Lebanon was home to several species of wild animal, but that most had been captured by zoo owners across the country.

Concern mounts about possible Turkish law on media funding

Press freedom groups expressed concern Friday about possible legislation to regulate foreign funding for media. (AP)

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https://arab.news/jqwmg
Updated 23 July 2021
AP

Top aide to Turkey’s president said this week the country needs a regulation on media outlets that receive foreign funds

Negative social media campaign targeted independent press outlet Medyascope and its founder, veteran journalist Rusen Cakir

ISTANBUL: Press freedom groups expressed concern Friday about comments by Turkish officials about possible legislation to regulate foreign funding for media and the dissemination of fake news, saying it could further curtail independent journalism in Turkey.

A top aide to Turkey’s president said this week that the country needs a regulation on media outlets that receive foreign funds. Director of Communications Fahrettin Altun said foreign media funding merits scrutiny when it comes from countries that “openly express their intentions and efforts to design Turkish politics.”

“We will not allow fifth column activities under new guises,” Altun said.

Turkish journalists flying back from a state visit to northern Cyprus this week reported that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party planned to review later this year whether the country needs a law against disseminating fake news. They quoted Erdogan as saying Turkey would have to fight the “terror of lies.”

The comments came as a negative social media campaign targeted independent press outlet Medyascope and its founder, veteran journalist Rusen Cakir, for receiving funds from the US-based Chrest Foundation. The private philanthropy group has also funded non-profit organizations and foundations working in arts, culture and diversity.

Media Freedom Rapid Response and 23 allied groups said in a statement Friday that foreign funding was a critical source of income for independent news outlets in Turkey as they face government pressure. Mainstream Turkish media is mostly run by businesses close to the government.

“Taken together, these statements create the impression that the Turkish government is preparing to introduce new legal measures that will further undermine media freedom and pluralism in the country,” the statement said.

But Altun said similar regulations apply in the United States, where media outlets funded by foreign countries must provide information on activities to US authorities. Turkey’s state-funded English-language broadcaster TRT World was required to register as a foreign agent last year under the Foreign Agent Registration Act for lobbyists and public relations firms working for foreign governments. TRT then said its performed new slathering and reporting like any other international media.

Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index ranked Turkey at 153 out of 180 countries in 2021. The Journalists’ Union of Turkey says 38 media workers remain behind bars.

Olympics 2021

Team Canada's Quinn Is The First CANADIAN Openly Trans Athlete To Compete At The Olympics

This historic moment has been 125 years in the making.

Quinn on Instagram: “This team is hard to put into words! They have embraced change and turned into uncomfortable conversations and I love them for it. Taking…”

Lea Sabbah 

 

July 23, 2021

 7 hours ago

Twenty-five-year-old Quinn, a Team Canada soccer player at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, is making history as the first openly transgender Olympian to compete in the modern Games' 125-year history.

Quinn, who uses they/them pronouns and goes by a single name, reflected on their historic presence at the Tokyo Summer Games in an Instagram post on July 22, after a match on July 21 against Japan ended in a 1-1 draw.

"I feel proud seeing 'Quinn' up on the lineup and on my accreditation," they wrote. "I feel sad knowing there were Olympians before me unable to live their truth because of the world."

The midfielder, who was born and raised in a Toronto "sports family," came out as transgender in 2020 through Instagram, raising awareness on how to be better allies to transgender people.

New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard is another openly transgender athlete at the Tokyo 2020 Games. But women's +87 kilogram weightlifting is scheduled for August 2, while Quinn has already played one game, with another against Chile on July 24.

G20 split on climate goals as China, India push back on coal phaseout

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https://arab.news/8vb7r
ARAB NEWS
July 24, 202117:52


Coal phaseout 2025 deadline too soon for some nations

Some wanted more aggressive global warming target than Paris 2015

NAPLES: Energy and environment ministers from the Group of 20 rich nations have failed to agree on the wording of key climate change commitments in their final communique after China and India refused to give way on two key points.

One of these was phasing out coal power, which most countries wanted to achieve by 2025 but some said would be impossible for them.

The other concerned the wording surrounding a 1.5-2 degree Celsius limit on global temperature increases that was set by the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Average global temperatures have already risen by more than 1 degree compared to the pre-industrial baseline used by scientists and are on track to exceed the 1.5-2 degree ceiling.

“Some countries wanted to go faster than what was agreed in Paris and to aim to cap temperatures at 1.5 degrees within a decade, but others, with more carbon-based economies, said let’s just stick to what was agreed in Paris,” said Italy’s Ecological Transition Minister Roberto Cingolani.

The G20 meeting was seen as a decisive step ahead of United Nations climate talks, known as COP 26, which take place in 100 days’ time in Glasgow in November.

Italy holds the rotating presidency of the G20, and Cingolani, as chairman of the two-day gathering, said negotiations with China, Russia and India had proved especially tough.

The G20 nations, which includes Saudi Arabia, collectively account for some 80 percent of the world’s gross domestic product and some 60 percent of the planet’s population.

At the Naples talks, the United States, the European Union, Japan and Canada made clear they “firmly intend to go faster than the Paris agreement by the (end of) the decade, and below 1.5 degrees,” Cingolani said.


Cingolani said the G20 had made no new financial commitments, but added that Italy would increase its own climate financing for underdeveloped countries.

The urgency of climate action has been brought home this month by deadly floods in Europe, fires in the United States and sweltering temperatures in Siberia, but countries remain at odds over how to pay for costly policies to reduce global warming.

Despite the two points of disagreement, Cingolani said the G20 had put together a 58-point communique and that all the countries agreed that decarbonization was a necessary goal.

All G20 members agreed to at least meet the Paris goals.

US President Joe Biden’s climate envoy, John Kerry, participated in the Naples talks. Earlier in the week, Kerry called on China to join the United States in urgently cutting greenhouse gases.

The majority of the countries at the conference also backed a goal of moving faster to reduce the use of coal, the Italian minister said, without naming all of the nations.

But during the talks, China, as well as Russia and India, were “more prudent” in embracing more ambitious goals, Cingolani said.

“For those countries, it means putting into question an economic model,” he said.

Exactly what commitment nations, including those which heavily pollute, are willing to make toward fighting climate change will be also on display at UN climate conference taking place in Scotland in November.

The national leaders of the G20 countries will have the opportunity to thrash out the sticking points that emerged in Naples when they meet in Rome at the end of October.

Neptune Energy awarded subsidy by Netherlands Enterprise Agency for its offshore green hydrogen project

By George Heyneson Jul 22, 2021

 

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NEWS

The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) is set to award a subsidy to the PosHYdon project, an offshore green hydrogen pilot on a working platform being led by Neptune Energy.

The subsidy, revealed today (July 22), has been awarded under the RVO’s Demonstration Energy and Climate Innovation (DEI+) scheme, which invites funding applications for investments in renewable energy developments, including hydrogen pilots.

Read more: Neptune Energy selected for offshore hydrogen pilot

Read more: Neptune Energy joins European Clean Hydrogen Alliance

PosHYdon, which will be hosted on the Neptune Energy-operated Q13a-A platform, aims to validate the integration of offshore wind, offshore gas and offshore hydrogen in the Dutch North Sea.

It will see the installation of a green hydrogen-producing plant on the Q13a-A platform.

The plant will convert seawater into demineralised water, then into green hydrogen via electrolysis, which will be blended with natural gas and transported to shore via an existing pipeline.

Lex de Groot, Managing Director for the Netherlands at Neptune Energy, said, “We welcome the award of this subsidy and look forward to progressing with this exciting project on our Q13a-A platform.

“PosHYdon will provide the insights necessary to develop large scale green hydrogen production at sea.

“The Dutch North Sea sector has an exciting future as a ‘new energy hub’ and can play a leading role in large-scale green hydrogen production for northwestern Europe, given its infrastructure that connects offshore with onshore.”

Groot continued, “The integration of energy systems supports net zero goals in a smart, efficient, and cost-effective manner and without disturbing existing sea ecosystems.

“The extensive infrastructure network is connected to international grids and can easily accommodate wind farms further out at sea by converting the production of green electricity into green hydrogen and transporting it to the grid onshore.

“PosHYdon will be the key to making this happen and we are excited to consider future opportunities that the pilot can help unlock.”

Hitting global climate target could create 8m energy jobs, study says


Researchers suggest net increase would mostly occur in renewables sector, with decline in fossil fuels

A worker inspects solar panels at a manufacturing plant in Singapore. 

Photograph: Edgar Su/Reuter 

Natalie Grover 

Fri 23 Jul 2021

If some politicians are to be believed, taking sweeping action to meet the goals of the Paris climate agreement would be calamitous for jobs in the energy sector. But a study suggests that honouring the global climate target would, in fact, increase net jobs by about 8 million by 2050.

The study – in which researchers created a global dataset of the footprint of energy jobs in 50 countries including major fossil fuel-producing economies – found that currently an estimated 18 million people work in the energy industries, which is likely to increase to 26 million if climate targets are met.

Previous research suggests that pro-climate polices could increase net energy jobs by 20 million or more, but that work relied only on empirical data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries and generalised the results for the rest of the world using a multiplier. But the data varies dramatically across regions, driven by differences in technology and rates of unionisation, among other factors. For instance, extracting 1m tonnes of coal in India takes 725 workers, versus 73 in the US.

The latest analysis, published in the journal One Earth, combined such employment factors across a global dataset (including key fossil fuel, non-OECD economies such as Russia, India and China) with an integrated assessment model, which combines climate and economic estimates to predict the costs of climate change.

“This dataset makes the analysis more grounded in … reality, rather than using a multiplier,” said one of the study’s authors, Dr Sandeep Pai, who led the analysis as part of his PhD at the institute for resources, environment and sustainability at the University of British Columbia in Canada.

Under the target scenario of global temperatures being held well below 2C of pre-industrial levels, of the total jobs in the energy sector in 2050, 84% would be in the renewables sector, 11% in fossil fuels, and 5% in nuclear, the analysis found. Although fossil-fuel extraction jobs – which constitute the lion’s share (80%) of current fossil fuel jobs – will decline steeply, those losses should be offset by gains in solar and wind manufacturing jobs that countries could compete for, the researchers estimated.

However, while most countries will experience a net job increase, China and fossil fuel-exporting countries such as Canada, Australia and Mexico could have net losses.

Undoubtedly, there will be winners and losers. The winners will be people who take these jobs in the renewable sector, and there are the health benefits of fresh air and cleaner cities – but there will also be people, companies and governments who lose out, said Pai.

“That’s why … we want to work towards a ‘just’ transition, make sure nobody’s left behind,” he said. “The point is that unless politics and social context of different countries align, I think this technological transition will not happen soon.”

Johannes Emmerling, an environmental economist at the RFF-CMCC European Institute on Economics and the Environment in Italy, another author of the study, acknowledged that the analysis did not account for the gaps in skills.

People working in the fossil fuel industry do not necessarily have the expertise or the experience to carry out jobs in the renewable sector, but given that there are few estimates of jobs as the world aims to forge a greener future, the focus was on firming up estimates, he said, adding that skills were the next avenue of research.

Solar-Powered Desalination Device Aims to Deliver Water to 400,000 Kenyans

Turning seawater into drinking water is typically an expensive and polluting process, but this group hopes to change that.

By Sarah Marquart

Jul 23, 2021

Solar Water Solutions


Turning seawater into potable water is typically an expensive and polluting process. Now, Climate Fund Manager and Solar Water Solutions have a revolutionary solution with zero carbon footprint.

The groups are working together to install up to 200 desalination units in Kitui County, Kenya. The project's long-term goal is to provide clean water to 400,000 Kenyans by 2023. The total funding opportunity is estimated to be up to USD 15 million.

Typically, desalination requires a lot of electricity to keep the water at a constant pressure. This solar-powered technique, however, works without connecting to a grid - no batteries or chemicals, ever.

In a press release, Antti Pohjola, CEO of Solar Water Solutions explained, “this project marks a breakthrough in solar-powered water infrastructure. It wouldn’t have happened without the four key elements: A sustainable technology that brings down the cost of clean water, access to finance with a leading institutional investor, local partners, and a market-based business model.”

The stations themselves might not be visually impressive, but they are an ideal solution for remote areas. The standalone system is installed in a 20ft container. According to a press release, "The production capacity from 3500 L/h up to 7000 L/h treated from seawater, with total dissolved solids (TDS) 36,000 ppm. From brackish water sources, the production capacity is up to 10,000 liters per hour."

These shipping-container solutions offer hope to Kenyans who are suffering due to the effects of climate change on their homes, including severe droughts.