Category Archives: Capitalism

Coffee II

This is coffee.

Blue Mountain coffee. Apparently, Jamaica imports tons of instant coffee, because the good stuff is exported.

The Machine

I’m watching the Machine on BBC4 right now. A film about a mill in India.

The place is dark, wet and hot. It’s a twelve hour day for the workers. The machinery is powered by electricity, but that’s generated from coal.

While the heaviest work seems to be carried out by adults, kids are clearly part of the workforce.

The operation resembles early industrial Britain.

And it’s something of an eye opener.

Gyles Brandreth

I don’t often swear aloud, but there’s one person who’s annoyed me since the age of 14.

Gyles Brandreth.

He’s a fucker. A tory fucker. An annoying tory (no upper case T) fucker.

He’s been a fucker since I was 14. Perhaps earlier.

He irritates the fuck out of me. He once took part in a failed children’s TV show, Puzzle Party, which insulted my intelligence as a child (I fear for the welfare of younger children, particularly since there were only three channels At the time).

And, apart from his (annoying and misled) political life, he’s recently appeared as a regular on the One Show. One must ask why; does the BBC have the aim of irritating a large proportion of the UK/voters.

I may write a letter of complaint. I pay my TV license, after all.

Expensive

This is quite possibly the most overpriced beer ever (purchased at Peterborough station). 

I wonder whether the ridged design of the can means that three times as much metal is used in production. 

Or is the special shiny-ness achieved by intensive hand polishing? Or, perhaps, the can is actually silver plated. And the paint is really enamel. 

Even if all of the above were true, £2.99 a can is a bit over the top.