Monkey Puzzle Tree (Araucaria araucana) at Aberdare Park.
A fascinating specimen in Aberdare Park.
From the Wikipedia encyclopaedia, the tree is described as an “evergreen tree growing to 40 m tall and 2 m trunk diameter. Because of species’ great age it is sometimes described as a living fossil. Araucaria araucana is the national tree of Chile.
The leaves are thick, tough and scale-like, triangular, 3-4 cm long, 1-3 cm broad at the base, and with razor-sharp edges and tip. They persist for 10-15 years or more, so cover most of the tree except for the older branches…
It is a popular garden tree, planted for its unusual effect of the thick, ‘reptilian’ branches with a very symmetrical appearance….
The origin of the popular English name Monkey-puzzle derives from its early cultivation in Britain in about 1850, when the species was still very rare in gardens and not widely known. The proud owner of a young specimen at Pencarrow garden near Bodmin in Cornwall was showing it to a group of friends, and one made the remark “It would puzzle a monkey to climb that”; as the species had no existing popular name, first ‘monkey-puzzler’, then ‘monkey-puzzle’ stuck (Mitchell 1996).
A Veterans Parade was held today in Aberdare celebrating the contribution made by all those who have served in the Armed Forces.
Plans for a Veterans Day were announced in February 2006 by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, who said the aim was to ensure that the contribution of veterans was never forgotten. Every year since then, Veterans Day has provided a focus for the community to recognise the part played by veterans of all ages in conflicts both past and present.
Some time ago we discussed the importance of co-operation as the basis for a fair society. We used the example of a local village shop because the first Welsh co-operative store was established near Aberdare by working people.
Today we experienced something of an epiphanic moment reading the views of Paul A. Baran in his essay entitled “Better Smaller But Better”. It was published in Monthly Review in July 1950, originally under the pen-name Historicus.
Baran discusses ‘Co-Operation on the Left’ in a post-war American society where capitalism seemed unassailable and omnipotent. He discusses the methods used to preserve and strengthen capitalism in America as it was then, 1950.
Here’s how Baran puts it, any emphasis in the text is ours …
“The impotence of the American left cannot be understood without a full appreciation of the ideological stability of American capitalism. We have to understand the ideologically overpowering impact of bourgeois, fetishistic consciousness on the broad masses of the working population. The still-vigorous belief in the possibilities of individual advancement within the framework of capitalist society. The deep-seated acceptance of bourgeois values, especially the desirability of reaching the status of the next-higher group. The supremely streamlined, multi-pronged manipulation of the public mind. The heart-breaking emptiness and cynicism of the commercial, competitive, capitalist culture. The systematic cultivation of devastatingly neurotic reaction to most social phenomena (through the movies, the “funnies” etc.). The effective destruction in schools, churches, press, everywhere, of everything that smacks of solidarity in the consciousness of the man in the street. And finally, the utterly paralyzing feeling of solitude which must overcome any one who does not want to conform, the feeling that there is no movement, no camp, no group to which one can turn.
Is this going to last forever ? Social psychology and political experience alike suggest that the prospects are bleak. Quite possibly major changes will come only as the result of shocks; in the humdrum of slow evolution the status quo reproduces itself continuously with only such changes as the manipulative machine wishes to induce. The outcome may be fascism, but there seems to be hardly a chance of anything progressive growing in such soil. The ruling class knows this. It is aware of the fact that it does not face any serious dangers in the absence of shocks. It knows that the result of shocks is unpredictable. It will do everything within its power to avoid them….
Where does the Left and its cooperation come in ? Not very much, not very broadly, not very obviously. The main avenue of activity is to attack the ideological front – by clarifying the issues, by trying to cut through the cultural fog of capitalist society, by trying to break the notion of the “identity of interests” of the ruling classes with those of the working masses. This is not a program of mass politics, nor should it be the program of a sect. It is blueprint of intellectual activity, of enlightened economic, ideological, political thinking and discussion that should be free of dogmatic fetters and petty political considerations. It is a program of building cadres, of what Marx used to call Selbstversta:ndigung..
There is hardly any room for political cooperation on the Left at the present time because there are no politics of the Left. The time will perhaps come, possibly sooner than we think. But just now the issues are ideological problems, and ideological problems cannot be solved by organizational makeshifts. To the extent that so-called liberals are themselves fully and unreservedly subject to the prevailing obfuscation, to the extent that they serve as faithful soldiers of the Cold War army, to the extent that they debase themselves to the function of informers and stool-pigeons, to that extent “cooperation” with them can only be of the same nature as such cooperation between the murderer and his victim. Nor is such cooperation desirable. What is needed – let us say it again and again – is clarity, courage, patience, faith in the spontaneity of rational and socialist tendencies in society. At the present historical moment in our country – “better smaller but better”.
- Paul A. Baran, this essay is included in the ‘The Longer View’, a collection of Baran’s essays, first published 1969 by Monthly Review Press
The warmest of Valleys welcomes was given to Prince Charles who visited Aberdare as part of a Royal Tour.
HRH Prince Charles the Prince of Wales came to see the new Visitor Centre at the world-famous Welsh Whisky Company distillery in the village of Penderyn, set in the beautiful landscape of Brecon Beacons National Park.
The whole village of Penderyn came to a standstill to greet and welcome Prince Charles.
Prince Charles takes a deep interest in the important things in life : the people, the land and the food we grow. He is a knowledgeable farmer who has championed the environmental cause for many, many years.
Thus we hope this Royal visit will encourage a greater interest in these subjects in Aberdare. We need to grow more of our own food in Aberdare and other former industrial areas and we need to husband and conserve the land and our resources more responsibly.
Postscript : One of the most depressing sights of the summer is the sight of people putting their ugly oily machines in the sea so that they can race about on show creating a lot of noise. The pollution caused by these useless toys threatens the natural habitat of many species, not just the bottlenose dolphins.
The Great Welsh Beer & Cider Festival, organised by CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, will this year be held in June in the larger surroundings of Cardiff International Arena.
Open Friday 13th & Saturday 14th June 11-11
Admission £5 includes souvenir glass and programme
Over 250 real ales, ciders, parries and foreign beers will be available at the festival. The 2008 Great Welsh Beer & Cider Festival will be the biggest event of its kind in Wales and one of the largest beer festivals in the UK. CAMRA will aim to have every Welsh real ale brewery represented supplemented with other breweries from across Britain.
Entertainment will also be available at the CIA this year… Friday night will see Sheelanigig who offer an eclectic blend of folk, jazz and world music as well as an outstanding 7-piece UK soul band called Soul miners. Saturday will see the Fore Shadows and later on in the early evening the Treorchy Male Voice Choir will be raising the rafters of the CIA with their renditions of old favourites.
Ann Clwyd – Aberdare’s MP – drew attention to the plight of starving people in Zimbabwe yesterday in a debate in the House of Commons. She contributed a persuasive anecdote concerning her recent trip to South Africa…
While I was in South Africa a few weeks ago, Zimbabwean refugees handed me a note for 10 million Zimbabwean dollars. That buys a bag of tomatoes in Zimbabwe. Now Mugabe is prepared to starve his people to death for their votes. What kind of human being is President Mugabe ?
- Source Hansard, via TheyWorkForYou. Click the link to read Mrs Clwyd’s full contribution to the Parliamentary debate.
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Monkey Puzzle Tree (Araucaria araucana) at Aberdare Park.
A Veterans Parade was held today in Aberdare celebrating the contribution made by all those who have served in the Armed Forces.
This wooden character caught our eye… always a good start.
Photos of Prince Charles at Penderyn today are available on the Penderyn Online website 
The warmest of Valleys welcomes was given to Prince Charles who visited Aberdare as part of a Royal Tour.
The Great Welsh Beer & Cider Festival, organised by CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, will this year be held in June in the larger surroundings of Cardiff International Arena.
