Hello and welcome to the Lowy Institute's Pacific Changemakers, a podcast where we discuss political and development issues. My name is Meg Keen and I'm the director of the Pacific Island program at the Lowy Institute. In today's podcast, we'll be gaining insights about the upcoming Solomon Islands elections to be held on the 17th of April. When people spread over more than 900 odd islands in nine provinces, we'll go to the polls in an election that will significantly affect the country's development and security future and also affect the intense geopolitical competition between Australia, United States and China. Most of our listeners will be well aware of the social tensions that rocked Solomon Islands from 1998 until 2003 when there was a regional assistance mission to Solomon Islands comprised of security personnel from across the region and led by Australia to help re-establish a degree of stability. But after its exit in 2017 there was still much for the government to do to bring about prosperity and stability. More recently Solomon Islands has grabbed the world's attention when it switched recognition from Taiwan to China in 2019 and then in 2022 when it struck a security agreement with China that is unparalleled elsewhere in the Pacific Islands region. Since 2022 there's been a flurry of high level visits from Australia, United States and China, as well as many others, eager to gain or to maintain influence. Aid is steadily growing but despite the largesse the economy is in difficulty and people are demanding more from a government which is struggling to provide services and unity. Joining me today to discuss the Solomon Islands election and their implications is Dr. Anook Raidh. Anook is a research fellow in the Department of Pacific Affairs at the Australian National University. Prior to taking up this position at the beginning of this year she lived in Hania'ara at the capital of the Solomon Islands for over 15 years. Her research has dealt with peace and security as well as community resilience. Welcome Anook. Thank you, Mike. It's good to be together again and revisiting Solomon Island issues. Anook and I have known each other for some time now. We first met when I was working with the regional assistance mission in Solomon Islands about 2011 but since then we've also worked together on several projects relating to informal economies, climate resilience and national stability. All relevant to the upcoming elections and the political and social dynamics that will shape them and indeed the future of Solomon Islands. So Anook, I'd just like to begin thinking about these upcoming elections that are on the 17th of April so hardly two weeks away and the future leadership of the country and how this election may significantly affect geopolitical relations but also the economy and governance and peace in the country. So can we start with some of your reflections on why these elections are significant and what is at stake domestically but also strategically? Yeah, thanks, Mike. So the election, this particular election this year is significant I think in part because what's happened over the last five years. So since Prime Minister Sogovari was elected by his peers in 2019 the country has been rocked by several shocks. The first one was their riots. We've had two riots, one in April 2019 and a very larger one in November 2021 and these riots were in part related to political grievances, grievances people had with the national government at the time. We've also had COVID-19 so the experience of COVID-19 outbreak but also a long state of emergency, one of the longest in the Pacific during this COVID-19 period. During the state of emergency power was incredibly centralized in the Prime Minister's office and for example you know people who were engaged in informal marketing around town had to suspend some of their marketing activities. There was widespread economic consequences of some of the state of emergency measures. So we've had riots, we've had state of emergency, COVID-19 and of course the famous switch from bilateral relations with Taiwan to China and all the controversies that developed around that including a quite a large dispute between Malata province, the most populous province and the national government over the direction the country was taking with the switch to China. But during all this time I was in Honiara and frequently I would meet people who were angry with what the government was doing and I always you know as a peace builder I always encourage people you know wait for the vote. Yeah when you have the vote this is your chance to have us say you know what we want is for elections to be a peaceful transition of power you know as opposed to coups and other things that can come up when you know people are facing a lot of shocks they're in situations of instability and conflict can break out. So there's a lot riding on this election domestically you know can we have a good transition of power even to Sugavare or to another leader without conflict and can people reach some level of political compromise where the future government can go forward with its directions. In relation to foreign power and influence in the Solomon Islands too there's different factions and sort of issues coming into play obviously Prime Minister Sugavare has staked his political reputation on close relationships with China and even admiration for the Chinese political system and the opposition leaders have been more pro-west but actually also more focused on domestic issues you know the state of the health system the education system and other issues that are facing you know people in their everyday lives. So there's a lot riding on this election in terms of where Solomon Island goes from here. How do we respond to the shocks we've had is this putting us into a different direction or a similar direction to where we've been in the last five years and just going back to that state of emergency concerns about centralized power. We know the tussle between the central government and the Laita following the switch. This election sees provincial and national elections occurring at the same time and really it's not just about the Laita and the central government there's many of the nine provinces that feel that they don't have enough power and that the services which you talked about just are not reaching them. Is it significant? Is this something different that we're having national and provincial elections together and will this affect what's going on? We certainly see donors more active out in these provinces as well. So how do you see this combined national and provincial election affecting the outcome or do you think we'll make any difference? No, I think it will have impacts. So it will be the first time that on the same day you go and you vote for your national member of parliament and you vote for your member of the provincial assembly in your province. So it's the first time they've been held concurrently. Now what this means is good candidates from the provinces have to decide now before election day. Do I go for the national seat which is incredibly competitive or do I go for the provincial level seat? And so people are making their bets both ways but if they lose at the national you know they run for national parliament and they lose they can't then run for the province. So it is reducing the talent pool that will be available for provincial elections but also I think what we'll see now is more allegiances after this election between national politicians and provincial politicians because this is really the only way to get things done is to work at both levels. So it'll impact who runs but I think ultimately there'll be coalitions forming across provincial and national government leaders to do things like you know advance mining or advance you know more forest conservation and climate finance and these kind of adaptation schemes that are bringing in green finance in the country. So the other thing to think about too here is that when people vote they do it for a mix of different reasons but often local issues are really important to people deciding how to vote you know so do I know this guy locally? Is he in the in my constituency? Is he doing good things for my constituency? There's something visible he's done in the past five years. So at both levels people will the candidates will be judged on that level yeah whether they're actually delivering something for rural areas. The other thing that's happened that it will impact the vote too is they've tried to with the new election system to control out of constituency voting so what's happened in the past is you know wealthy MPs they gather a bunch of people from one constituency take it to another constituency get them to register and vote there and this can really sway the vote in significant ways. Now they've tried to crack down on this so they really have to be registered and in the constituency when you vote but it'll be interesting to see whether the new regulations actually have that impact because it could mean that we've got much more rural people voting in rural areas but at the same time maybe the absence of you know the more elected more educated you know people from that constituency who are based in town not having to say in their local areas and for example public servants have complained like that they don't necessarily have the ability to go back to their electorate to vote and that this will impact the quality of the vote at the local level so there's these dynamics to coming up with this particular election. The other two elements that are weighing in that have been raised by opposition leader Peter Kenaloria is that there is a larger number of youth that will be voting for the first time and they are hit the hardest by these very difficult economic times and the lack of work opportunities. The second factor he's concerned about is the low finances from China that is particularly benefiting the incumbent leaders in government. Do you think those two issues are a worry or is it just that the opposition is concerned about a disadvantage they might have or an advantage with the element of the youth? Yeah well okay this are the current members of parliament who are part of Saguaro's political coalition do have an advantage in that for the first time in 2021 discretionary funding in the constituency development funds were only given to members of the political coalition. First time ever you know we've always had discretionary funding going to members of parliament but for the first time in 2021 that discretionary funding part of it only went to members of the political coalition so they have had more money at their disposal to spend in their electorates you know over the last few years. Okay now whether that helps them win the vote again is an open question because at the same time one thing that I was often hearing in Nanyara and around the provinces was take the money, take any money that people offer you. Typically there's what they call devil's night where just before the vote unscrupulous MPs will actually give out physical cash to people saying okay come vote for me tomorrow here's your $200. So this devil's night behavior has been a theme in elections since the tensions. Okay but what I'm hearing now is particularly young people and others sort of saying let's just take the money and then vote how we want right. Now whether you can do that whether you can take money and vote how you want depends on whether you trust the electoral system and this is where the Solomon Islands Electoral Commission will be under a lot of pressure to really prove that they are trustworthy because particularly in rural areas you will meet people who say oh my member of parliament has the list of people who voted for him and I'm not on the list so that's why I don't get any of this particular scheme. So switching that round to sort of having people trust that when they vote it's confidential and they can vote you know according to their own beliefs and ideologies is a big thing to consider as we see how this election plays out as well. But I think as we move forward with all of these shocks and all of these hardships in Solomon Islands people will think more strategically and we may see more of like the money actually not translating to how you vote. We've also seen and there's opposition political parties in pretty much all of the electorates now campaigning and often more than one sort of opposition party with you know a reasonably well known candidate campaigning. So the opposition is getting more organized although it's still fractured and our party which has seen a sort of soga virus party is also getting more organized and is in more electorates than we've seen in the past. So intense competition money will probably flow whether the money will actually deliver the vote whether people actually see that there has been some translation of discretionary funding into real benefits in their constituencies in the villages and towns where they live. This is the big question that we have to see.  It's not just that a political party has the most votes and that you know who the prime minister is going to be and this is this devil's night that you were talking about. So I'm interested because of course of the media it's all about will Saga Bari get back in and if he gets back in this would be a first that a sitting prime minister in Solomon Islands gets a second term never happened before. It would also be the first that someone gets five turns at being the prime minister. So I'm interested in your thoughts of that or whether Melanesian politics will kick in and it'll decide it's time for someone else to have a go and we might see a different prime minister when that devil's night wheeling and dealing starts to happen. So it's pretty hard doing crystal ball gazing but what you're thinking going into the election and I guess really importantly does it matter whether it's Saga Bari or someone else or is it just changing in the guy at the top but the system stays the same. Yeah well what we can expect to see is you know different camps probably an opposition camp and a pro Saga Bari sort of out party camp forming at the hotels in Honiara and trying to attract you know MPs to either side. Now typically this also happens with sort of behind the scenes people from you know the major foreign industries mining logging retail and tourism also playing a role and there's always speculation about money changing hands to join over to make a majority and also of course ministerial posts being offered you know to make people join over to their majority. Now whether Saga Bari gets in it's really an open question. We have to see first okay who has the majority of MPs so and that it can be quite small MPs so there's 50 members of parliament so to get a majority you only need 26 you know at the minimum. So who gets the majority and then who and then how they coalesce around a particular prime minister. So a lot of former prime ministers are running and may get their seats back in this election too so whether some of these former prime ministers you know think it's their time to have another turn might be an issue there and also whether the backers you know whether financial backers will back again Saga Bari or another candidate for in the either the opposition camp or the current political coalition camp is an open question but one of the things to watch for in terms of conflict is if people have the perception that who is prime minister is driven by foreign money yeah rather than by you know the MPs really acting on their own beliefs and consciences this can lead to riots and we saw this most prominently in 2006 yeah. So the announcement of prime minister itself might be quite controversial depending on the narratives that are circulating around town at the time. So we just hope that you know the the vote will be relatively clear there won't be narratives of foreign interference or foreign money flowing around so that the next prime minister has you know a good mandate on which to govern. And I think you've just hit on a key point because first we will get an election of a prime minister and it seems to me it's going to be quite divisive because there's going to be winners and losers in terms of who people wanted to get up could affect the recognition of China could affect the security agreement with China and you mentioned 2006 when you had two days of riots millions of dollars worth of damage when it was seen that the the election was a bit rigged. So I'm interested in your thoughts about security we know Australia is in there with about 500 security personnel police and defense we know that BG is sending security Papua New Guinea probably is going to be sending security New Zealand will be sending security there's a lot of security sloshing around town out in the provinces hoping that if anything goes wrong you can be the column can be brought very quickly but what's your thinking of this are we likely to see conflict and riots. Well I think the important thing to keep in mind is there's several flash points where conflict could arise okay one is voting day but I think that's unlikely the second one is the announcement of the prime minister. Now if the prime minister wins on a small majority there may be several court cases to challenge the electoral results and if those court cases attract large crowds and are sort of seen to be deciding perhaps the direction of the government then these could be very controversial as well plus if there's rumors going around that maybe you know the electoral commission isn't doing its job or there's been sort of some sort of foreign interference in the election all of these things could you know lead to crowds of people developing up and potential sort of conflict or even riots breaking out so we have at least six months of probably uncertainty before the court cases you know take their route and we have like a cemented government in place but the key thing to look for and as you know I've written about this for the Australian Pacific Security College and several different outlets the key thing to look for with riots is what are the narratives that are circulating around so if we have narratives circulating around about foreign interference foreign money about the election results being rigged in some way then and these rumors also link to large groups of people who are loyal to a particular MP then we can expect potential conflict breaking out and the foreign forces that are there then have a really difficult role because they want to be seen as trustworthy they want to be seen as independent they want to be seen as there in the interests of democracy you know which of course they are but they also may be subject to you know allegations of this and that you know as events play out so it's going to be a tricky time for Solomon Islands foreign friends who are there to help with security to do what they can to ensure that people trust the vote and people trust you know what RSIPF are doing you know around the vote around the court cases and around the election of the prime minister and the other is sort of in the mix which I didn't mention with all these security forces is of course the Chinese also have security there and there is an issue of if a crisis happens how well could all these forces work together is there also concerns about the changing base or possible changing face of security yeah I think there is and I think these concerns relate to whether democracy survives in Solomon Islands you know Solomon Islands is a relatively young country democracy is is always you know been sort of shaken by different conflicts and different issues that have come up and it's always been seen also you know the particularly the western parliamentary system that they have is something that was inherited from the British it wasn't something sort of actively chosen so the debates around federalism and giving more power to the provinces to govern you know relate back to this initial problem we have of you know a very centralized system of power based on parliament that maybe doesn't fit the diversity of you know the country and the different issues that the different provinces have so can can we have this vote and restore people's trust in democracy as a way of resolving some of the conflicts some of the issues that are really popped in the political space right now is a big question and and I think you know there have been some comments recently from some saying that you know pointing to the some of the things that they believe is wrong about democracy so some of the political leaders are sort of are more or less actively saying you know we need to have a different system of government so whether democracy itself survives this vote and also the years after it is another question and I hope it does but there's a lot at play but when you consider the the political polarization that's happened you know the centralization of power that's happened the role of foreign industries in actually creating powerful political coalitions in Solomon Islands and then of course you know seven out of ten Solomon Islanders are youth and you know what are their expectations for how the country is governed you know will they sway towards you know one or the other vision of how the country should be governed is a big question so there are a lot of issues in play both for this election and for the next government well and look I think that's a good place to to wrap up in just highlighting what a critical time it is for Solomon Islands and that while there are a lot of geopolitical issues and jostling going on there's a lot internally that are gonna it's gonna affect these elections and ultimately the devils and I the MPs getting together are the ones that's going to make a critical decision and then that will be sort of the second vote of the people on how they respond to that new leadership so I think we're in for some pretty interesting times and I like the point you're making that just when the election day is over mid-April doesn't mean the process is over and there's still a lot to watch watch out for so thank you true for your time and your insights we might come back to after the election when it settled a little bit I'd also like to thank our listeners for joining us for this episode of the pacific change makers certainly if you've enjoyed this podcast please recommend it to others but also have a listen to some of the other podcasts including with the Solomon Islands opposition leader that we've done in the past I'd also like to thank our podcast producer Josh Scotting for his assistance and hope we see you soon and you join us for the next episode thank you from the pacific change makers


Hi and welcome to the session, I am Shashi and I am going to help you with the following question. Question says if the points 11p and minus 301 be equidistant from the plane r vector dot 3i plus 4j minus 12k plus 13 is equal to 0 then find the value of p. Let us understand that the particular distance of a point x1, y1, z1 to the plane r vector dot n vector is equal to d is given by modulus of a vector dot n vector minus v upon modulus of n vector where vector a is the position vector of this point. Now this is our k idea to solve the given question. Let us now start with the solution. Now clearly we can see perpendicular distance of point 11p to the plane r vector dot 3i plus 4j minus 12k is equal to minus 13 is given by modulus of i plus j plus pk dot 3i plus 4j minus 12k minus minus 13 upon magnitude of n vector that is square root of 3 square plus 4 square plus minus 12 square. Clearly we can see this equation of the plane is in this form now comparing these two equations we get n vector is equal to 3i plus 4j minus 12k d is equal to minus 13 and position vector of this point is i plus j plus pk which is equal to vector a. Now substituting corresponding values of vector a vector n and d in this formula we get this expression now solving it further we get modulus of 1 multiplied by 3 plus 1 multiplied by 4 plus p multiplied by minus 12 plus 13 upon square root of 169 we know to find the dot product of these two vectors we will multiply corresponding components of these two vectors. Now this is further equal to modulus of 20 minus 12p upon square root of 169 now we know square root of 169 is equal to 13 so this expression is further equal to modulus of 20 minus 12p upon square root of 169 now let us name this expression as 1 now we will find out perpendicular distance of point minus 301 from the given plane so we can write perpendicular distance of minus 301 to plane r vector dot 3i plus 4j minus 12k is equal to minus 13 is given by modulus of minus 3i plus 0j plus k dot 3i plus 4j minus 12k minus minus 13 upon square root of 3 square plus 4 square plus minus 12 square again here we have used key idea we know this is the position vector of this given point this is vector n this is the value of d and this is the magnitude of vector n now solving this expression further we get modulus of minus 3 multiplied by 3 plus 0 multiplied by 4 plus 1 multiplied by minus 12 plus 13 upon square root of 169 we know we can find the dot product of these two vectors by multiplying their corresponding components now simplifying this expression further we get modulus of minus 8 upon 13 let us name this expression as 2 now this is given in the question that these two points are equidistant from this plane so this implies expression 1 must be equal to expression 2 now expression 1 is equal to modulus of 20 minus 12p upon 13 and expression 2 is equal to modulus of minus 8 upon 13 now multiplying both the sides of this equation by 13 we get modulus of 20 minus 12p is equal to modulus of minus 8 now this further implies 20 minus 12p is equal to 8 or 20 minus 12p is equal to minus 8 now solving this equation further we get value of p is equal to minus 12 upon minus 12 which is further equal to 1 or solving this equation we get value of p is equal to 28 upon 12 which is further equal to 7 upon 3 so required value of p is equal to 1 or 7 upon 3 so this is our required answer this completes the session hope you understood the solution take care and have a nice day


What's good Josh your boy Ross back again with another video so before I get right into this video I just want to say thank you to everyone that sent me a Message on YouTube on Instagram You guys were very Supportive of me and my family and what we're going through right now So I just want to say thank you to all the condolences all the will wishes Wasn't able to see all of them It was kind of overwhelming, but it lets me know that you know, we have a family here. It's not just Subscribers and content creators. It's it's a family you guys actually Was showing a lot of love and compassion I appreciate that each and every one of you even if I didn't see the message I was reading through as much as I could and you guys are amazing. I know my family Appreciates it and we all thank you guys for that. So thank you so much from the bottom of my heart I love you guys. Love you grandma and Let's get right to this video, but I wanted to change up the mood. I saw this on Instagram You know, I had to make a video about it. This is a crazy post that someone Posted I'm not sure if they were serious or trolling, but we're gonna get right to this so post is a Single man over 30 is a big red flag, especially with no kids I'm gonna be honest with you, I totally disagree there Let me just kind of Say this first a lot of my close friends are married and Or have children multiple children and they are above the age of 30 So shout out to them, you know, hey, I'm all I'm all four people, you know You know loving their family members and then and growing with their families are all for it. You feel me? So I'm gonna say this first Now let me get into my point I'm 30 I Don't have any children. I I wouldn't say I'm single right now I'm in a talking phase with someone and I'm I'm hoping that things continue to go in the right direction that it has been so I may not be single long I wouldn't consider myself single technically because I'm actually only given this one person my time and energy and vice versa So I'm kind of in a dating phase right now. So I wouldn't say I'm single But if I was I'd still fit this kind of this criteria. I Don't think it's a big red flag at all I think it's quite the opposite Once again, no disrespect to anyone that have children at the age of 30. There's nothing wrong with that You know, if that's how things panned out in your life That's how things panned out But because you're 30 and you don't have any children in your single that doesn't mean there's something wrong with you You know that maybe that can mean okay. Well, I'm not ready to have children I'm more focused on what I got going on in my life. Well, I'm not ready to be in a relationship right now I'm focusing on what's important in my life And it's funny because it's post is coming from a woman So it's like at what point can a man just focus on himself and Work on himself not to say that, you know, you can't have children at a later point But why you got to have children in your 20s?   You feel me? So this is this is one of those Silly idiotic posts that don't make a lick of sense, bro Like I said, I hope this person is trolling They got to be trolling or maybe they could be serious and maybe people look at you or you and you know I know kids and you single or there's something wrong with you. No, I just want to chill I just want to enjoy my life, you know, those are big responsibilities being in a committed relationship Especially nowadays is a very big thing. I don't know how many people I've seen in a relationship One month the next month they not in a relationship and Everybody's for the streets now because it didn't work out, you know, I said, I don't know how many times I've seen that I don't know how many times I've heard stories from my own personal friends that say wait to have children I'm hurting a few times from Dub and he loves his kids, you know, he loves his family But he's always saying wait to have children when you're you know I wouldn't say when you're ready because most people aren't ready to have children But don't rush into it Don't be quick to just jump in to bed with someone and have kids with that person because you're tied to that person Pretty much for the rest in the rest of your life Even after the child is older over the age of 18, you're still there's still gonna be some ties to that person So you just don't want to be out here Smashing any chick and getting them pregnant either. You feel me? So I don't know what I don't know what What world we living in we're having a kid and We're not having a kid and not being in a relationship means you're the problem There's a oh, there's a big red flag on you because what you're 30. No kids. No girl. What are you doing?  What? That's that's the world we live in ladies and gentlemen. That is the world we live in Damned if you do damned if you don't if you're a guy if you have kids And you're in a relationship What are you doing? If you don't have kids and you're not in a relationship, what are you doing? Like what can I do? What can I do man? What more do you want from me man?  I Guess man. We're coming down below. Let me know. Am I tripping here? I don't think I'm tripping here I think I think I'm on the right path here when I say this person Definitely doesn't know what they're talking about. They definitely gotta be trolling or they They really have had some bad experiences with single guys with no kids But probably had some of the best experiences with Guys that was in relationships and had children That's a conversation for another day, but I appreciate all the love and support man Thank y'all so much for all the condolences y'all been sending to me and my family. We appreciate it I appreciate y'all kicking it with me and I see y'all on the next one. Peace


The backlash to the plans for a breakaway super league has been enormous and involved many of the most prominent people in British football. It's also taken quite an overtly political form. This was Gary Neville railing against the plans on Sky Sports on Sunday. Well, the reaction to it is that it's been damned and rightly so.  I'm disgusted with Manchester United and Liverpool most.  The People's Club, the fans club, Manchester United, 100 years born out of workers around here and they're breaking away into a league without competition that they can't be relegated from. It's an absolute disgrace and honestly, we have to wrestle back the power in this country from the clubs at the top of this league and that includes my club. And I've been calling for 12 months as part of another group for an independent regulator to bring checks and balances in place to stop this happening. It's pure greed. They're imposters. They're imposters. They're nothing to do. The owners of this club, the owners of Liverpool, the owners of Chelsea, the owners of Manchester City, they're nothing to do with football in this country. There are 100 nod years of history in this country from fans that have lived and loved these clubs and they need protecting. The fans need protecting. I've benefited from football hugely. I've made money out of football. I invest money into a football club. Now, I'm not against money in football, but the principles and ethos of fair competition and the rights to play the game so that Leicester win the league. They go into the Champions League. Manchester United aren't even in the Champions League. Arsenal aren't even in the Champions League. You watched them earlier on today. They're absolute shambles of a football club at the moment. Tottenham aren't in the Champions League and they want a God-given right to be in there. They're an absolute joke and honestly, the time has come now, independent regulators stop these clubs having the power base. Enough is enough. That was one of the most rousing political speeches I've seen for a very long time. I don't know. Maybe there's a chill, but I've almost got goosebumps, which is very strange because I'm really not that passionate about football, but this is very, very outrageous. Ash, that video has been viewed 6.6 million times already. Should the billionaires behind the Super League be afraid of Gary Neville and his like? Yes and no. Yes, in terms of I've honestly never seen the tide of public opinion being backed up by the bulk of the sports commentary app, being backed up by the entirety of the associations which govern both national and international football and also being backed up by international governments as well. This is something which simply not really happened in the history of football before, but the thing to bear in mind is that there has been decades and decades of drift in precisely this direction. Now, I thought Gary Neville put the point absolutely perfectly. I think that he diagnosed the problem and he talked about what the issue actually is exceptionally well, but there was a layer of irony that he was doing so while holding the Sky Sports microphone to his lips because in so many ways, the very foundation of the Premier League and the broadcasting deal which was struck with Rupert Murdoch and Sky is the template which is being built on and followed up on with this European Super League. Initially, the Premier League was formed by I think it was five initial breakaway clubs, the big ones, getting together with Greg Dyke and it was initially supposed to be a deal struck with ITV to try and, you know, who've wrote lucrative commercial broadcasting contracts and start doling them out. That was the foundation of the Premier League. Now, the FA at that time, this was back in the early 90s, were really asleep on the watch. There was so casual about this question of rights and ownership that they were just sort of happy to let, you know, these big clubs hold sway and dictate the terms of this deal. So even though the Premier League, still I think in companies houses, registered as, you know, in some papers as the FA Premier League, the FA has got absolutely nothing to do with it. So the seeds of this crisis where, you know, English football was very, very lax about who owns what those were planted many years ago. And the irony is that this was supposed to be a huge payday for ITV when the Premier League was supposed to be set up. And then Alan Sugar, who was at the time the owner of Tottenham privately advised Rupert Murdoch to blow them out of the water with an offer. So Sky beat ITV's offer by I think it was about £42 million. So I think what this sort of shows you in lots of ways is that Gary Neville, of course, is completely right to take this principled stand against the European Super League. And every word coming out of his mouth is correct. However, there has been so much drift in this direction. In terms of the governing organisations in particular UEFA, the trust is so, so low. And even today, UEFA announced that they would make the changes to the Champions League format that the big clubs had all been demanding. So even now, even now when you've got this scandalous breakaway, which completely spits in the eye of the idea of fair play and competition and spirit of the game, you have UEFA kowtowing to these big money interests. So Gary Neville is completely right, but we also should take a step back and be skeptical of the context that this has emerged in. Yeah, that's super interesting. And I mean, I suppose the issue is because why this generation of the Super League is different to anything that's happened before is because it undermines the pyramid model of football. The Premier League, when it started, it didn't undermine the fact that you can get promoted to it and relegated from it. It's still fit with the model of how football works in this country. What it did do, though, was give the clubs more control over TV rights, which is one of the reasons why football became such a big business. And that's how we ended up with billionaire owners, and that's how we ended up with clubs with the power to blow up the whole system. But why it didn't create such opposition at the time is because it didn't undermine the fundamental structure of football, even if it led to the conditions which would then blow it up. Even though I take all of your points about Gary Neville's microphone saying sky on it and how that is somewhat incongruous with what he's saying, I do want to have a look at more of what he said because, again, as you say, everything he's saying is absolutely right. And what I want you to pay particular attention to this time is I've said and before on tonight's show that one of the key issues here is whether or not the FA will hold firm against the clubs that want to form the Super League and kick them out of the league, or if they will fold and say actually, to be honest, you've got too much power, we'll have to come to some kind of accommodation. Now, it's people like Gary Neville who are really, really pushing them to play hardball. There does seem to be the suggestion that they would need permission from the Premier League to take part. And without it, it would have to be a breakaway not just from UEFA competition, but from our domestic competition as well, Gary. So with that in mind, let's be clear about this. What is the motivation? Well, you know what the motivation is? It's greed. Dave, my reaction earlier on wasn't an emotional reaction. Deduct them all points tomorrow. Put them at the bottom of the league and take the money off them. Seriously, you have got to stamp on this. This is a, it's criminal. It's a criminal act against football fans in this country. Make no mistake about it. This is the biggest sport in the world. This is the biggest sport in this country. And it's a criminal act against the fans. Simple as that. Deduct points, deduct their money and punish them. Do you think these clubs would have the courage knowing how much widespread condemnation there is to go through with it, Gary? Dave, the bottle merchants. You never hear from the owners of these clubs. Absolute bottle merchants. They've got no voice. And then they'll probably hide in a few weeks and say it was nothing to do with them. They were only talking about it. Seriously, in the midst of a pandemic and economic crisis, football clubs at national league level going bust nearly, furloughing players, clubs on the edge in league one and two. And these lot are having zoom calls about breaking away and basically creating more greed. Joke. Again, so passionate, so right. And as I say, he's there saying, the FA need to go hard. And he's been keeping that up today. I want to show you a tweet and from Gary Neville this afternoon. He said, this lot think they can sweep up 300 million pounds more each season than the other teams and then wander back on a Saturday and play with that advantage in the Premier League, deduct points, fine heavily and embargo transfers. I hope they haven't bought some of the other 14 clubs. Now, that's a reference saying helps if they haven't bought off some of the other clubs in the Premier League. So, for example, it's completely hypothetical. Maybe Arsenal say, look, if you don't massively oppose this West Ham will help you out with a sort of loan scheme. I've got no idea. Also, very entertaining from Gary Neville, which is commentary on a game he is commentating tonight. So, that will be Leeds versus Liverpool. So, he says, I'm quote tweeting the advert for that game. Leeds players should walk to the side of the pitch and just let them keep scoring. They don't want competition. He goes on, join us if you like for Leeds versus Greeds. Now, I'm hoping this is going to be amped up basically just casting scorn on the teams who have been so, I suppose, so careless and so selfish in this case. If we see the whole of society pouring scorn on them, then it is going to be hard and will we see some of the players speaking out? That's going to be very, very crucial. There are some signs. So, we haven't had any of the big players from any of the teams who have joined it speak out. They're obviously worried that if they speak out against their paymasters, the people who pay their extortionate wages, that might get them in some trouble. But we have seen some top footballers speak out against the Super League and quite significantly, one of them was one of PSG's top players. So, this was a club which was touted as going to be part of the Super League. It now seems like they won't. And the fact that their players are publicly speaking out against it makes it seem even more likely they won't. This is Ander Herrera. He tweets, I fell in love with popular football, with the football of the fans, with the dream of seeing the team of my heart compete against the greatest. If this European Super League advances, those dreams are over. The illusions of fans of the teams that are not giants of being able to win on the field competing in the best competitions will end. I love football and I cannot remain silent about this. I believe in an improved Champions League, but not in the rich stealing what the people created, which is nothing other than the most beautiful sport on the planet. What I love there, and especially as someone who, you know, I watch a bit of football, but I can't say I'm passionate about it, is how this is really bringing out some really political and quite moving language from people. You know, he wants, he doesn't like the rich stealing what the people created. That's a really powerful message to be sending out from a footballer with millions and millions of followers. And it got me asking, could this moment be a really radicalizing one for a huge space of the country? You know, the reach of football is incomparable. Nothing compares to it. We are seeing signs on social media and on Sky News of yeah, people coming out with really, really political statements and really, really left wing statements. That's your real socialist radical statements. One example of that is Lawrence McKenna. He's a football streamer. Comments on football on YouTube has loads of followers on Twitch. He has a clip which went absolutely viral over a million views after the announcement of the Super League. Let's take a look. The Premier League have stalled and stuttered throughout COVID. Every time that we have asked them to be transparent, they have been oblique.  If you let us run this, we'll make massive profit. And they've come along, put an offer on the table before the Premier League did. Why is anyone, first of all, surprised? Secondly, why is anyone outraged that in the Premier League, which was based on money, came out of a Thatcher Government anyway, and is based on a bullshit idea that you can make as much money as you want? Why is anyone surprised that they're saying this? You invite the billionaires in and they turn on you.  Anyone who thought this wasn't going to come around when the top six is owned by people who have self-interest is deluded.  We have the best league in the world.   You should just stick here. Do you know why he says that? Do you know why Sky say this? Because it benefits them. So we're just, it's either a billionaire that wins with Sky or it's a billionaire that wins on the other side.  If you don't want to miss that, hit subscribe and turn notifications on. We'll see you there.  I'm feeling quite, you know, excited. Well, I mean, so one, Lawrence was completely right, especially how he linked this to the origins of the Premier League, which we discussed a bit earlier. But what it also points to is exactly why this is so important outside of the context of football. Because I know that we've got a lot of viewers tonight who are probably not that interested in football, who maybe found some of the aspects of football culture a bit alienating or even a bit kind of hostile. And I understand that not everybody has to be into the same kinds of things. But what this whole shameful episode shows is that when it comes to neoliberalism and the financialization of everything, there is no end point. There is no point at which other values or indeed the value of so-called customers and consumers will override the profit motive. It will just keep going on and on. And I think what this has been has been a wake-up call for football fans is that for a very long time now, they've not been the customers. They've not been the customers. They've been a product who's been sold to be advertised to. They've had their money extracted from them in terms of ever-increasing ticket prices and ever-increasing, you know, Sky Sports packages and the like. And meanwhile, the actual experience of going to see the football, how much has it improved? How much has it improved in terms of quality and a sense of community and a sense of joy compared to 30 or 40 years ago? It hasn't, but it has become much more financialized.  So I think that what it does is that it shows neoliberalism for the sham of what it is. And there's no such thing as consumer rights. There's just consuming. You get what you're given and that's it. Whether or not this is to be a politicizing moment, of course, it then depends on the kind of organizations which are there ready to direct the energy and the anger. But what I hope it can do is show once and for all that the profit motive is not the best way of determining the value of something. It's a phrase which is repeated again and again, which is that, you know, a capitalist sees a forest and determines that it's got the most values when all the trees are cut down. Something similar with football. There are all these things which are valuable about it, which in some ways require the subordination of the profit motive. So when you look at what goes on in Germany with a 50 plus one model, now with the 50 plus one model, which does mean that football in Germany is less lucrative than in other countries, particularly when you compare to those top, top teams in La Liga or in the Premier League, they're at a disadvantage. But if that model was to be adopted across the whole of European football, of course, it would be a vast improvement because you look at what else they've been able to do. Because it's majority fan-owned, there are a couple of exceptions to that because you can apply for an exemption to the 50 plus one rule if your investor demonstrates a commitment of 20 years or longer to the club. But for the rest of the clubs, what they've had to do within that context is one, you have on average more tickets being sold. You've got way more spectators in per football match. Two, you've got a much closer relationship between fans and the football. There's a real sense of community spirit and involvement there. And three, what that leads to is a sense of, yeah, you've got these incredible teams and it's not an equal playing field at all. There's a reason why Bayern and Dortmund are so regularly seen in the Champions League. Certainly not as meritocratic as we would like it to be. But there is certainly a sense of cultural value, of community value and grassroots connection that in German football, they've been able to maintain to a certain degree that we've almost entirely lost in this country. Another thing which I think is about the skewing of the value is I don't like the idea that by virtue of the financial clout that is able to wield that Tottenham-Hotspur has inherently more value than Barnsley FC or because of the lineage and the prestige is so much better than Leeds United. Leeds are probably not going to make it into the Champions League in those days of Don Revy and Brian Klough along behind them. But you look at what they're doing in the Premier League, that fast style, open play, there's a joy in it and you can see in terms of the celebrations in the streets when Leeds achieve promotion, their value in playing football and their ability to play games against the biggest teams. It can't simply be measured in terms of their success or their ability to make it into the Champions League or indeed the revenue that they're able to extract. It's part of this tapestry which makes this cultural form great and when you subordinate all of that to profit, what do you lose? Well, you lose everything. And this is the thing is that it's not just about football. This can happen in any industry, in any sport, in anything that you find valuable and enriching which isn't literally the job you do, this can happen. And this is why it matters so much and that's why not only must the European Super League be stopped but this must be an opportunity, I think, for democratic management and ownership of football clubs to put the control back where it belongs and that's with the people who made the sport great in the first place.


The team behind Almanac on Twin Cities PBS stopped by our Lakeland PBS studio in Bemidji tonight to chat with the people of Greater Minnesota. For more than three decades now, Almanac has been a staple in Minnesota by covering everything from politics to public interest stories. During the evening, the Almanac team heard story ideas from the public and met with our team here at Lakeland PBS. The show recently hired a Greater Minnesota reporter to help cover the area. It's just an opportunity very informal to get to know each other and they get to see us in person. And I always think that the human touch is always, you know, goes so far into strengthening relationships and it's always just good to meet people and just sort of get out of your bubble. The best way to get ideas of stories to cover in Greater Minnesota is to get out into Greater Minnesota. We saw a bunch of things up on the way and I was taking note as a political reporter looking at the signs and saying, what are the signs here and which don't. If you have a story idea for Almanac, you can contact them through the email you see on the screen. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.


Harper Collins presents The Black Khan by Usma Zainat Khan, read by Jenny Brice. Chapter 1 In the deserted courtyard of the Klay Manar, the bodies of Basmachi fighters were gathered in a pile beneath a stunted tree in the shelter of a square stone base. White ribbons streamed down from the tree's slender limbs tied to its branches and twigs. The ribbons were bare of script. The people of Black Aura could not write. The ribbons were meant as a reminder of their sacred traditions. They were desperate, desolate prayers. The bodies piled beneath the tree formed the authoriton's answer to those prayers. No wind stirred the ribbons or the dying branches. Sunlight blunted the edges of Arian's vision, and she found her way around the tree more by instinct than anything else. She knew she was about to be taken inside the house of worship, just as she knew the authoriton expected a demonstration of her power, a compulsion she had resisted with all the force and determination she was capable of as a companion of Hera. There were only three people in the courtyard, Arian, the authoriton, and his consort, Lania, Arian's older sister. Each night, since she'd been captured in Black Aura, attempting to retrieve the blood-print, Lania and the authoriton had brought Arian to this place. They showed her the stunted tree and the bodies mouldering beneath it, then coerced her into entering the blue-domed house of worship to test her abilities with the claim. Situated on the eastern side of the square, the dome was the pinnacle of a massive structure. Four arcades met at its doubled entrance, each lined with portals decorated with mosaics and glazed bronze brick. At the entrance to the main portal, a sand-coloured octahedron with open arches could be reached by a set of stairs. Here great recitations of the claim had once been addressed to the people of Black Aura, the bloodless sharing the teachings of the blood-print, an ancient and powerful manuscript long believed to be lost. The manuscript that was the oldest, most venerable record of the claim, the powerful, mysterious magic ceded throughout the history of all the lands of Chhorasan, but lost to a people now condemned to a final age of ignorance. Skirting the pulpit, Arian was taken through to the indoor galleries covered by dozens of smaller domes perched on a peristyle. Though well-lit, the interior space was cold and as quiet and deserted as the courtyard. They stopped at a niche in the wall where multicoloured mosaics were arranged in a magnificent declamation. Lania read the words first, verses commonly known to the companions of Hera, though Lania's inflection was different, the words gathered up in hubris and flung out, outlining the niche in a darkly radiant fire while the authoritan nodded his approval. Prodded by her sister, Arian repeated the same words, her strong voice giving them distinctions of grace that coaxed out their inner meaning. The authoritan looked down on Arian from the top of a flight of wooden stairs positioned beside the niche.  He seemed too frail to do her any damage, yet his hands and voice transmitted his inescapable power. Now the rest. His reedy voice was like a needle in Arian's ear. That's all there is, she said. You know the conclusion of these verses from your training at the Citadel of Hera. Recite them for us now. The cold command in his voice whipped at Arian's nerves. It was a compulsion to do as he asked, or suffer intolerable pain. Yet she'd learned that though he could otherwise affect her, he could not compel the claim to issue from her lips. It was a tiny point of victory that Arian held to herself, infusing her with a strength of self-reliance that was no reproof against the pain. He raised a bony finger in the air and aimed it at the... Sample complete. Ready to continue?


I want you to be comfortable. I'm here to be your friend. I wanted to meet you in your university. But the home minister of India gave an order to the owner of your university that you dare allow this conversation. When you talk about salt and oil, books and education, who will not get education, who will not get a job, who will not get a job, if everything has been decided by the politics, let's decide. I want to know that thing. How can you manage the pressures and the criticism? Can you come here a second? Yes, sir. Well, thank you for coming here. It's always interesting for me to come to the northeast. Every day I learn and I see new things when I come here. So I'm here to answer your questions. So I'd like you to start by, you know, what you're feeling. My name is Ankit. I simply wanted to ask, like, how this Bharat Jodo Nya Yatra is going to include the students. What I think is that you really provided a hope for us. Can I ask you a question? Yeah. What is a slave? Who is not allowed to think. Slavery is blind obedience. What the RSS is trying to do to India is trying to make sure that everybody is blindly obedient to what they say. Can a country function like that? I wanted to meet you in your university. I was not supposed to meet students in this closed little room, but the Home Minister of India gave an order to the owner of your university that you dare allow this conversation because he's going to say things to those students that are going to make them think about what is going on in India. And the answer to this blind obedience is what? Resistance. Resistance. Resistance because as an individual, I have my own view of the world. And not for the nation. For yourself. Resistance. Because it's your future you're talking about. How can you manage all the pressure, sir, and all those people's negative impact and the criticism? Can you come here a second? Yes, sir. So this is an idea.  And now he's got it in his mind. Okay? So now, can you give it to me? He's now giving me the idea, right? Yes, sir. Okay, give it. Give it. This is very important for you. Give it, give it, give it. Very important, very important. Thank you, thank you. Very important, very important. Sir, this is very important. Very important. I'll keep it with me. Right? So please understand that any idea that comes to you, you choose to catch it. The point I'm making to you is, what you take away is up to you. You have a space called your mind. You control that space. Nobody else controls that space. So what you have to learn is how to control that space. So I do agree that resistance is the only apt reaction when faced with blind obedience. But I also think that in such a polarized climate, to be blindly obedient is the default. So to say that it should be on the individual to resist, may not be a very fair expectation as well. So I feel like to expect that from the individual is not realistic. So how do we then make politically aware citizens? If there's a dark room, how many candles do you need to light it up? Even if one person walks out of here, with it seriously in his mind that the person is going to resist, he'll have converted 100, 200 people outside. So it's infectious. What will it be for the first name that comes to mind when you say when India resisted against the British? What's the first name? Gandhi. All Gandhi did out there was resist. Don't underestimate what you as an individual can do. The other way to look at it, is that the idea of India is going through fire. It is going through fire to be further strengthened. Namaste brother Rahul. Namaste. People say that after going into politics, there's no place for good people, what do you want to say about politics? What do you want to say about it? I'd like to hear from them too. If politics is so bad, then I have a straight question. Then why does politics decide who will get the drop of the polio and who won't? After 1947, the constitution that has provided us with the rights that we are seeing today, has met with politics. So what is said is that politics shouldn't be done. It is what is said, which is already in the minds of politics. I believe that when you take it with salt, with oil, with a pen, with a book, with education, with health, who won't get the job, who will go to the temple, who won't. If everything has been decided by the politics, let's decide our politics. The simple answer is the best way for me to not want you to enter somewhere, to tell you it's dirty, it doesn't work, it's useless, you have no future. So that's what's going on. I feel like all students have opinions. All of them have things to say. But the biggest issue is that it's not considered as valid, it's not heard, we have no authority. But to be in this room with someone who has authority and actually be heard was nice. I think what Mahatma Gandhi did for India was something very commendable and what Raul Gandhi is doing now is something which will unite India. And take it forward, listen to what people say.