Protest against the EDL in Bolton tomorrow

I can’t make the protest against the EDL tomorrow in Bolton but want to wish comrades well in demonstrating against these fascists!

No Pasarán!

My pic in Schmap Guide

Well, was kinda flattered that the Schmap London Guide (yeah, never heard of them either) have included one of my pix, from Battersea Park, in their guides. Surprised they picked this one but nevertheless still nice it has happened.

Madam Miaow on Radio 4 this morning

Meant to blog about this before……

Madam Miaow aka Anna Chen will be on radio this morning. It’s about quirky novelty items designed here in the UK, made in China, and sold back in the West, goes out tomorrow morning and appears to have garnered some positive attenton in the press.

“China, Britain and the Nunzilla Conundrum”

BBC Radio 4 11-11:30am

So go catch her programme on radio… If you can’t then can listen for seven days after broadcast here.

Spies, lies and the state

In an update to the Observer’s piece about undercover cops operating in anti-fascism during the early 1990s there’s a CiF from Hannah Sell (I remember Hannah from the 1980s and LPYS) about the antics of the state, precisely why they deemed it necessary to infiltrate the Left and whose interests were/are the police acting in? It is an interesting piece. But what also begs the question is why is the Observer highlighting this now, it seems to me to be less about investigative journalism more about discrediting anti-fascism and the Left?

I have also heard through the Left grapevine that there should be an interview in Sunday’s Observer (nothing totally firm) from activists who were involved in the YRE during the period of the uncover cop’s infiltration.

Seumas Milne on BA and Labour lapdogs for the bosses

I haven’t got much time to blog at the moment…hopefully later. Must admit just come from an interesting and useful TU history talk regarding the Russian Revolution and the Bolsheviks, which I may write about later.

On a current issue there’s a great article written by Seumas Milne about the BA strikes especially with Brown’s recent condemnation of the strikes and the growing anti-union hysteria peddled by the right-wing press. No surprise there!

But what is truly preposterous is the Tory and media insistence that the dispute confirms the grip trade unions, and the Labour-affiliated Unite in particular, have on the government. As the last couple of days have amply demonstrated, nothing could be further from the truth.

Not only have ministers once again backed the employer in an industrial dispute and denounced the union – as in every other significant national dispute over the past decade – they have resolutely refused to repeal any substantive part of the Thatcher government’s anti-union legislation, which would have almost certainly allowed the BA dispute to be settled last week, if not in December when the courts ruled the first round of strikes unlawful.

As anyone who has followed the twists and turns of New Labour in power over the past 13 years knows perfectly well, it is bankers and businessmen, not trade unionists, who have called the shots – with disastrous consequences for all of us.

Damn right!!

So long Jim Phelps!

“Good morning, Mister Phelps, your mission, should you decide to accept it…”

“As always, should you or any of your IM Force be caught or killed, The Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions.”
“This tape will self-destruct in five seconds”….

Mister Phelps aka Peter Graves has died (he also starred in Airplane). I loved Mission: Impossible, the original 1960s version, which also starred Space 1999 couple, Barbara Bain and Martin Landau along with fantastic names like Cinnamon Carter and Rollin Hand.

Brilliant….espionage, Cold War, spying, skulduggery, disguises and action-adventure… great ingredients. Ok shaky and lame special effects but it was still a classic. And the icing on the cake was the splendid Lalo Schifrin explosive musical intro.

And then Tom Cruise decided to up-date it in 1996.. (3 films altogether!) and I admit I went to the cinema when the film opened. Confusing plot and not a patch on the original.

So long mister Graves the best mister Phelps ever….

The terrifying face of lazy journalism

UAF demo in 2008

Reading yesterday’s article piece about an undercover cop infiltrating trots groups came across like a badly written thriller novel. I mean, the way they (this undercover unit) organised was based on Day of the Jackal. Ideas above their station if they think they are that sophisticated and daring. infiltrating Trot groups…. c’mon Deep Throat obviously picked the short straw, sitting in meetings listening to abstract analytical debates about the way forward…’Comrades, we must be clear’…. yada yada… But to be honest the article would have been utterly laughable if it wasn’t so offensive. For starters the preamble and headline about PC Plod’s infiltration is utterly surreal where he is described as giving a ‘chilling account’… Chilling and Trotskyism in the same sentence. Oh, and ‘violent UK Left’…?!

What about the vicious brutal violence of the fascists? When fascists organise in an area violent attacks increase and people have been murdered. Yet it is the anti-fascist Left that is being demonised in this article.

I remember those protests around East London during the early 1990s, demonstrating against the fascists in Brick Lane amplified with the shocking election of Derek Beacon in Tower Hamlets during 1993. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get to the protest at Welling in 1993 as I was working on that particular Saturday but reports from comrades exposed the police brutality and violence.

The truly terrifying element of political demos that turn violent is the behaviour of the police. From Southhall in 1979 to the Miners Strike to Wapping to the Poll Tax Demos to G20. There has been a long history of police violence being condoned and indeed encouraged by the rest of the state. This is on top of all the racist violence including deaths in custody that has been dished out by the cops to Black youth over the decades. Not the either the Militant/YRE or the SWP/ANL were perfect. Both organisations were fronts for their respective organisations.

Both will wind their memberships up a lot and did during the 1990′s, the decade in which our brave undercover officer faced the terrifying face of Trotskyism in Britain ( difficult to write that with a straight face). There is also the timing of this veil being lifted. Fascism is on the rise and is more powerful than it has ever been in Britain. Elements within the establishment flirt with it. The economy is screwed and we are about to see a huge neo-liberal assault on the welfare state and on pay and conditions for ordinary people. It looks like unemployment will continue to rise. As a result people will want a voice. Mainly this is involve taking to the streets in protest. The story being told is that the left-wing organisers of political demonstrations are mainly interested in fighting the police.

The objections to fascism, illegal wars etc are simply a cover to ruck with the cops. The ordinary respectable should and will stay away. What is telling about this copper is that he seems to have realised that a lot of demos occur because there is huge injustice in this society. People need to be able to protest against injustice. They do it because it is the only response that is available to them.

Notification of suspension of hunger strike in Yarl’s Wood

Just received this email from Black Women’s Rape Action Project about the women on hunger striker at Yarl’s Wood.

NOTIFICATION OF SUSPENSION OF HUNGER STRIKE IN YARL’S WOOD IRC

This is to inform the authorities and the public that the on-going hunger strike is to be suspended on the 19 March 2010 at 9.00 am. We are giving the authorities and immigration the chance to look at all the issues raised before and during the strike. We are hoping that management at Serco will review problems at Yarl’s Wood. Also, we expect immigration to carefully look at the cases of women held at the detention centre.

The suspension will last for three weeks until something is done to all the issues that had been raised. Our position will be reviewed on suspension of the hunger strike if there are no changes to the problems and issues. Nobody wants to go on hunger strike, but if the authorities and immigration do not listen to us then we can resume the hunger strike on the 9 April 2010. This letter will be sent with a copy of the problems that we face at Yarl’s Wood.

We are demanding the following actions

*There should be a full investigation into what happened during the peaceful protest on 8 February 2010.

*Any travel arrangement for the women who were involved with the protest should be suspended until after the investigation.

*End the frustrations, physical and mental torture at the centre

*Allow enough time and make resources available to residents who need to fully present their cases.

*To end all false allegations and misrepresentations by the UKBA regarding detainees in order to refuse bail or temporary admissions.

*Access to appropriate medical treatment and care as in the community, access to edible and well cooked food, cancel weekly mobile phones charges and allow phone connections, with camera and recording facilities to back up cases.

*To stop the forceful removal and degrading system of deportation of detainees

*To put law into practice, European rules governing standard of conditions of detention for migrants and asylum seekers and the length of time in detention.

*Detention should be by a standard procedure prescribed by law, authorized by judicial authority and be subjected to periodic judicial reviews.

*To end the detention of children and their mothers, rape survivors and other torture victims, to end the detention of physically, mentally sick people and pregnant women for long period of time.

* Stop the fingerprinting and taking photograph of our visitors (Even real prisons don’t do this to visitors)

*To end the separation of children from their mothers being detained whether in detention or by destitution.

*There should be an interpreter for non English speaking women in the wings to help them with their queries.

*To end the detention of women after serving time in prison.  Women served their sentence they should not be punished again by detention or deportation.

* The extortion of Yarl’s Wood shop must end. The shop charges us extra 20p per item, even though the centre knows we have no money.

* To abolish the fast track system, in order to give asylum seekers a fair chance with their application, while understanding the particular needs of victims of torture, and access to reliable legal representation which the fast track system denies.

 *There should be more female offices and black offices. The centre is 80 percent black detainee and only female offices should search our rooms.

*There are very little activities in the centre. There are 12 computer (which is very slow to use), 10 chairs in the arts room with small material to work with. This is suppose to cater for more than 400 women. The library have no popular books and all the books are very old. We are not allowed to order books from other library.

*To end the repeat detention of women granted temporary admission while reporting or signing after a short period out of detention.

*To a set period of time allowed to detain women, which should be no longer than one month, while waiting decision either from UKBA or court proceedings.

*Finally instead of detention of foreign nationals, there are alternatives to detention stated by the *Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). ‘The detention of asylum seekers and irregular migrants in Europe ‘, Adopted on the 28th January 2010, extracts  below.

9.1.1.       detention of asylum seekers and irregular migrants shall be exceptional and only used after first reviewing all other alternatives and finding that there is no effective alternative;

9.3.4.1. placement in special establishments (open or semi-open);

9.3.4.2. registration and reporting;

9.3.4.3. release on bail/surety;

9.3.4.4. controlled release to individuals, family members, NGOs, religious organizations, or others;

9.3.4.5. handover of travel and other documents, release combined with appointment of a special worker;

Full Text: Council of Europe – Parliamentary Assembly Resolution 1707 (2010)1
The detention of asylum seekers and irregular migrants in Europe

http://tinyurl.com/Resolution-1707 

Greatest movie scenes

Philip French in today’s Observer writes about the greatest film scenes ever shot (and it is all subjective as what’s great to someone might not be to someone else!) He writes about Psycho and about powerfully iconic yet violent scene where Janet Leigh is murdered in the shower filmed in black and white which adds potency along with the psychologically disturbing shrillness and screeching of the string instruments composed by Hitchcock favourite, Bernard Hermann, building up to a crashing crescendo the tempo descending and then silence with the only noise of the shower and running water. The scene is part of horror history along with being ingrained in movie going collective consciousness.

French reminds us of the controversy the caused on release especially the responses from the audiences. I also wrote a post some time ago of about Psycho called Final Girl, misogyny and the slasher film.

Back to French’s article, he includes iconic scenes, along with dialogue and phrases that are truly memorable. My favourites include (and this is quick as I have to leave the house soon):

1. The ending of Billy Wilder’s ‘The Apartment’ where Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine) says to C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon), “Shut up and deal”… Also, the famous ‘Nobody’s perfect’ line from the end of ‘Some Like it Hot’.

2. The razor sharp barbs and wisecracking between Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck in ‘Double Indemnity’… Another Wilder film.

3. The subway chase in ‘French Connection’ and car chase in ‘Bourne Identity’

4. ‘North by Northwest’ the crop duster chase.

5. The scary and chilling climatic end to the film, Sluizer’s  ’The Vanishing’ (not the crappy Hollywood remake!!)

There are a lot more as well but I am off out. Others include Marx Bros, ‘Duck Soup’, ‘Third Man’ (ahhh that zither music), Apocalypse Now (the smell of napalm), Dr Strangelove…. and so on and so on…

Green Zone

There’s a politically potent scene towards the end of the film Green Zone (‘inspired’ by Rajiv Chandrasekaran’s ‘Imperial Life in the Emerald City’) which shows an aerial view of Iraqi oil refineries. Apt and a telling ending to a film that demolishes any belief in WMD. The film has also been dubbed, ‘Bourne in Baghdad’ (based on the Bourne series) as this is another collaboration between Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass. It is a high octane action-packed political thriller  fictionalised account (and as they say the difference between documentary and fiction is with fiction you have to tell the truth) that is set at the start of the invasion of Iraq (early 2003) where US military soldier, chief warrant officer Miller, (Damon) is given the task with his unit to find WMD. Miller discovers that he has been sent on a wild goose chase (the ‘intelligence’ just doesn’t ‘add up’) and wants to know why.

Miller goes ‘rogue’ to uncover the truth about WMD where he is continually obstructed and comes up against the lies and deceit perpetuated by Pentagon and Washington officials, one corrupt official called Poundstone (this reminded me of ‘Operation Treadstone’ in the Bourne films). Miller comes up against a weary and out-of-the-political-loop CIA agent who doesn’t believe there’s any WMD, a duped journalist, a macho special-ops ‘baddie’ American soldier  (played by Brit Jason Isaacs) and disabled war weary Iraqi called ‘Freddy’ who acts as Miller’s translator. With the eventual meeting with one Saddam’s generals which is highly dramatic and fast paced, and the whole charade of WMD unfolds and where the reality dawns on Miller.

Unlike the Hurt Locker which is a more in-depth slow-paced psychological portrait of soldiers engaged in combat in Iraq and obviously with its political colours nailed to the establishment pro-war friendly mast and therefore a safe Oscars shoo-in (Bigelow in her acceptance Oscar speech dedicated it to soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq). In saying all that, I still believe it is a well crafted film and believable characterisations of modern-day shell-shocked soldiers. While Green Zone is clearly partisan in its anti-war message, what lacks in character development it makes up for stating loud and clear that the Iraq war was based on a lie, with its shaky edgy hand-held camera docu-drama about it. There is another powerful scene where ‘Freddy’ eloquently states to Miller, ‘you have no right to decide what is best for us’. We witness the horrors of torture as Miller enters a camp where Iraqis are being held, abused hooded frightened men forced to their knees while soldiers stand around with barking dogs. Again, Miller faces up to the reality of the so-called ‘liberation’ of Iraq. It also brought to mind Karl Rove’s latest defence of the indefensible… waterboarding.

The battle scenes are dramatic and cinematography breath-taking (Barry Ackroyd was the cinematographer for The Hurt Locker). The acting is good especially Khalid Abdalla who plays ‘Freddy’ is very impressive and comes across as realistic in his portrayal. Greengrass is known for his social realism and bold political commentary films such as ‘The Murder of Stephen Lawrence’, ‘Bloody Sunday’, and ‘United 93′…

It is undeniably an anti-war film that honestly confronts what really happened in Iraq, which wasn’t about liberation but enslavement and expropriation though some how I doubt it will win any Oscars.