All shook up

+I think I’m mixing up catch phrases here. Was it Neville Chamberlain who said ‘This is the deal of the century?’ And was it Donald J. Trump who said ‘This is peace in our time?’ Or is it Benjamin Netanyahu who’s mixed things up? Funny that both Don and Ben are now facing trial. At least Neville didn’t fall into that trap, although his unfailing innocence didn’t do anything for his reputation. Trump’s so-called Israel/Palestine peace deal is as crap as anything he’s ever produced, most of which has ended up with bankruptcy, it seems (the last two words added for legal reasons).
 
+What I’m reading at the moment: Duty Free Art : Art in the Age of Planetary Civil War by Hito Steyerl (Verso, 2017). If you’re not into art don’t be put off by the title—this is a book which digs deeper into the deep shit culture we’re mired in today than practically anything else I’ve read lately. And who wants us to read books about that anymore?
 
+Heads up: I had an article published in Lobster last year looking at the number of Labour peers who have taken up an interest in cyber security companies. I just thought it was all a bit coincidental, although I’m not entirely sure what the coincidence was/is. But in the latest issue of the New York Review of Books there’s an article which in passing comments on the role of a couple of cyber security businesses having an involvement in the Harvey Weinstein affair, that is seeking to provide information against his accusers. This is something that needs digging into. Somebody more au fait than me has perhaps already been there, and if so it would be interesting to see what is going on. I should add that my starting interest in cyber security firms was the Labour connection, but that doesn’t lead us into this latest territory. The companies mentioned in the NYRB article are Black Cube and K2.