The fourth in the trilogy….

Terminator Salvation is released next week (4th in the franchise) with Christian Bale as the beleaguered hero, John Connor. Hollywood likes its trilogies especially if they are financially successful, and then they throw a 4th one in for good measure. Bourne trilogy, and unlike other blockbusters that go beyond the sequel, were all successful, good scripts, acting, storylines, action packed stunts (that go back to basics) and so on.

The original Alien started a trend (haunted house in space….the (in)infamous strap-line..’In space no one can hear you scream’..) and Ridley Scott developed, along with the inventive special effects and creative surrealist HR Giger, a franchise. I found Alien scarier with the emphasis based on fear of the unknown, involving a faceless exploitative corporation and the expendability of the crew. But this introduced the resourceful, strong woman, and kick ass Ripley. The woman hero who went against the usual sexist stereotypes.

Aliens under the direction of original Terminator, was much more frantic, and frenetic with a ‘blow ‘em away pro-imperialist’ storyline with James Cameron directing but again, I really liked it. Though there seemed to be a conscious decision to show Ripley’s maternalismwith the character Newt. Alien 3 put a stop to it and I can’t really remember Alien: Resurrection though I did see it. How the franchise ran out of steam, monsters and creativity…. Give it a rest, chaps..!

But alas, I have heard Scream 4 is in the pipeline. For some reason I thoroughly enjoyed the Scream trilogy (watched the original one last time for the umpteenth time!).

The original is fresh, along with the in-jokes, tongue in cheek lines, parody of the ’slasher’ film genre (the excellent’ ‘Dos and don’ts on how to survive a slasher movie’..). Great satire. And I am sure scriptwriter Kevin Williamson and cult horror director, Wes Craven were conscious of the ’slasher’ film rules especially in regards to the ‘Final Girl’ standing. All slasher films originate from a fixed point in horror history. That fixed point is Psycho (and unfortunately… that has spawned one hellish franchise!).

And now Terminator Salvation (there’s a line in the trailer where ‘John Connor’ shouts, ‘It’s ends here, tonight’… My reaction: ‘Oh good, no more more sequels…’ But this one will be back. More moving backwards and forwards in the race against Judgement Day, rampaging cyborgs, fighting that faceless corporation Cyberdyne Systems, who create the Frankenstein AI Monster, Skynet who wipes out the existence of humanity… So, as they say, this will run and run. No ’hasta la vista, baby’ at the moment. But in saying that, there is a potent political message about warfare and militarism. And with futuristic style inventions in drone warfare by Pentagon scientists ..then it is a case of life imitating art..

Oh, and wot no cameo role for the Governor of California in Terminator Salvation…

Stop the fascists: then and now

The trade union history talk I attended yesterday was prescient and a good reminder of political events now and back in the later 1970s. It was trade unionism, anti-racism and anti-fascism in the late 1970s. The introduction gave a political context for the rise of the NF and the organised fightback against fascism.

In 1973, Martin Webster,  gained 16% of the vote for the NF in West Bromwich. Later, around ‘76, musician Eric Clapton made racist remarks which led to a mobilisation in the setting up of Rock Against Racism (RAR). Against this political landscape, the labour movement organised and mobilised against the NF. In 1977, the fascists marched in Lewisham (became known as the battle of Lewisham) there was a counter-demonstration of anti-fascists (including people around the area) who fought to stop the NF marching (who, incidentally were being ‘protected’ by the cops…).

Previously in Wood Green there was a counter-demo against the fascists who attempted to march there. No pasarán was the political objective for the anti-fascists. Unfortunately, but no surprise, the majority arrests were of anti-fascists (81 were arrested, 74 were anti-fascists).

This level of organisation saw the formation of the Anti-Racist Anti-Fascist Co-ordinating Committee (ARAFCC).

And of the course the influence of campaigns such as Rock Against Racism (My own memories of that era, growing up in Smethwick, are of RAR and the Anti-Nazis League, listening to my older sister’s Tom Robinson Band records. That specific time had an immense impact on my later growing politics).

The speaker of this talk specifically detailed the trade union fighbacks organised by the then CPSA. Strike actions (starting in Hither Green) and ongoing campaigns when management wanted to employ a known organised fascist, Malcolm Skeggs. The level of fightback and mobilisation was successful. The message was simple, “We won’t work with Nazis, we won’t work with Skeggs”.

Thousands of people mobilised and organised against the rise of the NF and because of this it raised political consciousness.

Fascism seeks to divide and rule by violent means. To fight fascism and racism we have to work  together collectively and in solidarity in order to politically defeat them.

Now we have the rise of the BNP, they are standing in the European elections. Anti-racist and anti fascist organisations with the support of trade unions we are campaigning against this rise in hate.

It is important to vote on the 4th June (and yesterday trade unionists were leafleting around the country, the message simple, don’t vote fascist).

After the talk we had a brief but interesting discussion about the nature of racism and fascism etc. My own contribution was about state racism. We fight the immediate threat of fascist groups like the BNP but what about NL’s policies which criminalise sections of society (the plethora of anti-terror laws) that gives rise to scapegoating and anti-Muslim racism. This feeds the fire of racism.

Vote on the 4th June. Don’t vote for Fascists!

Useful links:

Make Your Vote Count

Love Music Hate Racism short film

CARF (Campaign Against Racism and Fascism)

Newham Monitoring Project

Searchlight

Love Music Hate Racism

UAF

Historical look at the ANL between 1977-1981 – David Renton’s bk When We Touched The Sky

I read it when it was first published, an interesting historical exploration of the time, worthwhile and recommended reading.

Fit notes..? Does that include NL MPs….?!

We know that sickness absence is economically and socially damaging and makes people more likely to drift into social exclusion and poverty. Getting people back into work quicker is good for their health as well as the country’s finances.

The fit note will give GPs a new opportunity to benefit their patients and I look forward to it being used in surgeries everywhere.

So says Ben Bradshaw, Health Minister, regarding the introduction of ‘fit notes’. NL have a pathological obsession about the so-called ’sick note culture’.

So lets bully people back into work under the guise ‘enablement’. And shouldn’t it be about a GP’s clinical judgement instead of it driven by government policy and ideology….?

We back to this belief that work makes you healthy and the emphasis is also on those who are costing the state billions in sickness. No mention about making workplace environments habitable, flexible hours, training, and so on. The whole infrastructure needs to be changed where oppression and discrimination are taken seriously and not just lip service. Stress related illnesses are on the increase, longer working hours that lead to more alienation and atomisation. People becoming burnt out cos they have chewed up and spat out the system.

Lets brace ourselves for the dawn of the new electronic ‘fit notes’ that will be rolled out in Spring 2010.

Oh, and shouldn’t James Purnell, Kitty Ussher and Tony McNulty obtain  ‘fit notes’ stating they are ‘fit for purpose’….?

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/mediacentre/pressreleases/2009/may/emp170-280509.asp

Matt Wardman on Ben Bradshaw http://www.mattwardman.com/blog/2009/05/25/ben-bradshaws-transparency-smokescreen-political-bollocks-of-the-day/

RMT members to strike…

Solidarity with you comrades….

This is a magnificent result which underlines the anger that has been provoked by management in their confrontational approach on pay and job security. London Underground seems to think that observing agreements is optional, and its plan to cut jobs is simply unacceptable,” RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

After months of stonewalling LUL has also tabled what is at best a five-year pay freeze which it knows full well could never be accepted, and its managers appear to have been given the nod to unleash a fresh round of bullying.

We said from the start that our members, whether in LUL or TfL, would not be made to pay for the failure and greed of bankers and privateers, and that any attempt to impose compulsory redundancies would be met with a ballot for industrial action.

If LUL and TfL want to avoid confrontation they should start talking seriously about pay, withdraw their plans to slash jobs, guarantee there will be no forced redundancies and call off the bully managers, Bob Crow said.

Jeremy Corbyn on MPs expenses

Good piece by Jeremy Corbyn in yesterday’s Morning Star.

It would also be therapeutic for MPs to leave the gold chandeliers behind and meet people who are facing the loss of their jobs and homes.

Strained muscles…..and Voice of the Beehive

Here’s Voice of the Beehive, and I Say Nothing. I bought the 12in vinyl (yes, vinyl and not that CD malarky!!) way back in 1987…. It was eagerly anticpated and I pulled the vinyl out of the sleeve…gingerly holding it ready to place it on the record player (yes, a record player…) and then…. I dropped the damn thing….it landed on its side …shattered into bits… Oh well, I trudged back to HMV in Birmingham New Street.. Gee I lurved it so much that I bought it twice…..This time I didn’t drop it…

Anyway, am in a bit of pain as I over did the sprinting on the treadmill, thinking I am doing so well then shooting pain up the back of my thigh. But gritted my teeth, insulated by the  adrenaline and endorphins I carried on running.

So limped home, sitting on the sofa watching Hollyoaks on E4 (will the wicked Warren get his comeuppance  from the cruel Claire back from the dead…. well, on a break from ‘Enders)…. feeling sorry for myself….

Green and Blacks ice cream helps the pain, great anaesthetic … along with Nurofen…

Review: Anna May Wong Must Die…..

Anna Chen presented a  Anna May Wong Must Die at the Roxy last night as a ‘personal journey through the life and crimes of Anna May Wong’.

First, film critic Jasper Sharp gave a brief introduction into the films of Anna May Wong. And then Anna did her presentation. The Roxy has comfortable and relaxing surroundings with the thick red velvet curtains, dimmed lamps and knackered old sofas (strange thing about the atmosphere of the Roxy is that I kept thinking I had wandered onto a David Lynch set…). But I really really liked it…..

Anna’s set started by giving a history Chinese immigration into the States during the century, the racist ‘yellow peril’ defined the times and the treatment of the Chinese along with the Exclusion Act of 1882 and anti-miscegenation laws. Anna’s historical introduction put Anna May Wong’s life within a political context. She gave a  fascinating insight to the rebellious and strong willed Anna May who defied racism to carve out a career in early Hollywood. And what I enjoyed about Anna’s presentation is that she personalised it, and that it was something about her as well.

Because of the uphill struggle Anna May Wong encountered, she couldn’t go beyond playing stereotypes where a pattern started to emerge. Prostitute, slave, mistress, prostitute, prostitute….and so on. The Chinese woman luring the white man with her ‘exoticism’ and ‘otherness’. Anna May Wong died in her films and again this shows the necessity to punish the non-white woman.

And this is illustrated in the film Piccadilly, directed by EA Dupont. Anna deconstructs the politics of the film which reflects the dominant power structures in society. Though for the first time the film shows a Chinese woman using her sexual power over her white lover. The film is a sexually driven melodrama. Shosho’s kiss with Valentine …. Anna May Wong’s first screen kiss…. was censored. There is a set pattern throughout Anna May Wong’s film career, she dies in nearly all her films and her death, in Piccadilly, symbolises the expendability of non-white people because of the racist ‘moral inferiority’ ideology.

Anna also compiled images of white actors in ‘yellow face’. Again, based on racist assumptions and stereotypes.

Finally, Anna read her poem, Anna May Wong Must Die, which was witty but also packed a powerful political punch that summed up the career of Anna May. I also loved the music accompanying Anna’s presentation.

We then watched the film Piccadilly, which I found fascinating and Anna May Wong was a revelation (the dance scene was sumptuous and sexy to watch), she comes across as fresh, modern and vibrant. And she is utterly beautiful. Compared to Mabel, who comes across as old fashioned in both style and dance. 

There is a scene where a Black man and white woman are dancing. The Black man is thrown out of the dance hall for dancing with the white woman. This demonstrates the racist attitudes of the time and really brings things into focus. The scene  impacts on Valentine and Shosho who flee the dance hall in fear expecting the same treatment.

And I’d forgotten how different silent movies are with the emphasis on non-verbal communication and mannerisms being exaggerated (Mabel’s hysterical laughter for an example). The changing tones in the cinematography was interesting as well, and it the film has been restored.

It was a wonderful evening, with a relaxed atmosphere for an excellent presentation about making an invisible woman visible again. I hope Anna is able to repeat her performance and if she does I would urge comrades to see it…

Curious case of James Purnell and his fridge magnets

Ay, caramba!! How could I have missed this gem?

Many thanks for Splinty who cyber prodded me on this one.

The MPs expenses get better and better…. it will keep many a comedian rich in material for many days/months/years. Oh the humanity, oh the satire….

Each day brings new joy…along with the weird and wacky expenses the scheming servile spineless MPs have claimed for.

Baubles, porn, plasma television, moats, bath plug, toilet seat x2, cuddly teddy bear (only joking…but who knows?) and now ……………fridge magnets.

Oh yes, James Purnell has claimed for £250 quids worth of fridge magnets.

The Work and Pensions Secretary is understood to have commissioned 3,000 promotional magnets as an off-beat alternative to business cards.

What was that, blue sky thinking subbed by  public money..? Who did he send these ‘off-beat and alternative business cards’ to..? And why couldn’t he have funded this himself…?

Oh, and to top it off, he claims for books as well… Edmund Burke… well, it doesn’t surprise me knowing Purnell’s politics. Why couldn’t he have bought it out of his salary or gawd forbid it…. a library..!!

And what was he using his digi camera for…? All claimed legit and for a ’practical use’…apparently…

Don’cha you loathe these something-for-nothing benefit scroungers ….? No ifs, no buts…fiddling your expenses is a crime…..

Tony ‘How many houses? McNulty, Kitty ‘Gimme loadsa money’ Ussher and now James ‘flipper fridge magnet’ Purnell…

Don’t you just trust the benefit system in their capable and ‘onest hands…?

I have gotta apply to Mastermind with my specialised subject being ‘MP’s expenses scandal: who claimed what’….

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1117129_james_purnells_expenses

http://splinteredsunrise.wordpress.com

The IPCC do it again…

Well, the IPCC have done it again! It’s beyond farce….

Why I am surprised, I mean, this is the organisation where the  Chair, Nick Hardwick, stated that ‘people do stupid things and bad things’ but doesn’t believe that cops conspire.

Yasmin Khan from the Justice4Jean campaign rightly argues for a ‘robust body that can actually hold police officers to account’…

Indeed why are cops above the law, what makes their job different from everyone else? And how dare this officer (again, remains anonymous) believed he had the right to judge whether evidence should be deleted or not. But hey, he’s ‘naïve’ and didn’t deliberately deceive the inquest…
And this deleted piece of evidence is a vital to the chain of events which culminated in the shooting of an innocent man because Deputy Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick said Jean Charles de Menezes could “run onto Tube as not carrying anything”…. So what happened, what led to a shoot-to-kill policy being carried out and a man being shot seven times? This is deception, this is a further cover-up instigated by the IPCC.

If an employee in any other job was caught tampering with evidence they would be investigated, with possible disciplinary action, even possible prosecution.

Yet the IPCC congratulated ‘Owen’ for coming forward and admitting the tampering. Well, he possibly knew the IPCC wouldn’t be rigorous and robust in their condemnation, as after all, their prime objective is damage limitation for the cops.

Sack the IPCC…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8068707.stm

Proposition 8 upheld

Not surprised but still very bad news….

The California Supreme Court today upheld Proposition 8’s ban on same-sex marriage but also ruled that gay couples who wed before the election will continue to be married under state law.

Although the court split 6-1 on the constitutionality of Proposition 8, the justices were unanimous in deciding to keep intact the marriages of as many as 18,000 gay couples who exchanged vows before the election. The marriages began last June, after a 4-3 state high court ruling striking down the marriage ban last May.