Vile bigotry on both sides of the Atlantic

Racism in the US

I was astounded when I heard on the radio today that a white US justice of the peace has refused to grant a marraige license to an inter-racial couple in Louisiana. (BBC News. It is easy to think that America has moved on from its dark past now that it has a black president, but this story just proves that racism is still prevalent not just among the general populace, but the establishment as well.

Homophobia in the UK press

Never a fan of the Daily Mail, I still find am occasionally shocked by the depths it sinks to. Jan Moir's article this week entitled 'A strange, lonely and troubling death . . .' is blatant bigotry, homophobic and extremely offensive to Stephen Gately's family and friends. [Note - It was originally titled "Why there was nothing 'natural' about Stephen Gately's death."]. In the article she writes:

Of course, in many cases this may be true. Yet the recent death of Kevin McGee, the former husband of Little Britain star Matt Lucas, and now the dubious events of Gately's last night raise troubling questions about what happened.

It is important that the truth comes out about the exact circumstances of his strange and lonely death.

As a gay rights champion, I am sure he would want to set an example to any impressionable young men who may want to emulate what they might see as his glamorous routine.

For once again, under the carapace of glittering, hedonistic celebrity, the ooze of a very different and more dangerous lifestyle has seeped out for all to see.

It is comforting to see that there are already 588 comments on the website, most of which are condeming it. There is also a Facebook group calling for the Daily Mail to retract the article, with over 2,500 members.

Stephen Fry's Tweet nicely sums up this vile article:

I gather a repulsive nobody writing in a paper no one of any decency would be seen dead with has written something loathesome and inhumane.

Who would vote for these people?

[If you cannot see the video click here]

So, after the Tory conference I find it difficult to believe that anyone would want to vote for them after promoting policies to alienate a large proportion of the working and middle classes. Unfortunately I have a rather queasy feeling that they will end up in power, just because they are not the Labour party.

Below are just some of the reasons why not to vote for them:

- Public sector pay freeze in 2011 - except frontline military or people on less than £18,000 (BBC News)
- Private training firms to be employed to prepare the unemployed for work and also to assess all 2.6m people on incapacity benefit to see what work they might be able to do (BBC News).
- Plans to raise the state pension age for men to 66 from 2016, up to 10 years earlier than planned (BBC News).

All of these cuts are mainly a result of the massive bail out we have had to give the banks. Those on incapacity benefit and lowly paid public sector workers should not pay the price for this incompetence.

Please don't forget how the Tories screwed the country up from 1979 - 1997. They will be no different if they get back into power next year. I obviouslly urge everyone to vote Green, but if there is no Green candidate it is still important not to give into apathy but to still go out and vote to keep the Tories out of power.

Brown's and Obama's hyprocritcal high horse

Once again we see our leaders displaying astounding levels of hypocrisy by threatening Iran with sanctions and hinting at possible military action.

The first point of hypocrisy is our mistaken belief that we have a right to nuclear weapons while others do not. Brown's futile gesture of cutting the amount of nuclear submarines by one, is pointless. We still remain a nuclear power and are wasting billions replacing the scheme while our country racks up further debt.

The second point of hypocrisy is the refusal of the current nuclear club to tackle Israel on its nuclear arsenal. Israel is the only country in the middle east since 1990 to take hostile military action against another country in the region, yet they are allowed to hold onto their arsenal not just without sanctions but with preferential trade agreements and US foreign aid.

Don't get me wrong, I too do not believe Iran should become a nuclear power, but neither do I believe any other country should either.

Ahmadinejad stokes the flames of anti-Semitism in the Middle East

Yet again Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has used blatantly anti-Semitic rhetoric to attack Israel by stating the Holocaust was "a lie based on an unprovable and mythical claim". [BBC News]

How is such behaviour helping the Palestinian cause? To resort to lies and racism to fight for a cause discredits any valid statements you may make.

Israel should be criticised for it's illegal occupation and war crimes in the occupied territories, based on evidence and argument. Such abhorent behaviour is unacceptable and the sooner Ahmadinejad is gone the better.

Conference time

Unfortunately I am not going to be able to make conference this time. I would ask you to look out for the following fringe meetings organised by Green Left:

The first on the Afghan War will be on Thursday at 7pm with Jeremy Corbyn MP of Stop the War Coalition and our own Farid Bakht, Parliamentary Candidate for Bethnal Green and Bow.

The second on ‘Greens in Coalition – the Irish Experience’ will be on Saturday at 1pm with former Green Party councillor Bronwen Maher from Dublin and Joseph Healy, Parliamentary Candidate for Vauxhall.

There will also been a Green Party Trade Union Group fringe meeting on Saturday 7..00pm "Welfare Reform & Low paid Workers " with Anne Gray, Alan Wheatley and Peter Allan.

I have also put my name to two important motions which I would ask you to support:

C05 on Afghanistan and D01 on GPEx Standing Orders.

Climate and Capitalism seminar

Climate and Capitalism
Saturday 12 September
10.30 - 5.30, Friends Meeting House, Euston, London
A seminar organised by Socialist Resistance and Green Left

Sessions on:

* Global Fight for Climate Justice
* The economic crisis and the ecosocialist response
* Gender, ecology and ecosocialism
* Alternatives to the market
* Alternative production
* The impact in the global south
* Direct action prefiguring a sustainable society
* Sustainable cities
* The campaign for green jobs
* Building the fightback and organising for Copenhagen

Speakers: Ian Angus, Grace Livingstone, Raphie de Santos, Romayne Phoenix, Liam MacUaid, Helen Ward, Sean Thompson, Sheila Malone, Derek Wall, Terry Conway, Roy Wilkes and others...

Book now on-line for 1/3 off entry and £2 off new book by Ian Angus on "The Global Fight for Climate Justice" by clicking here.

Check out all the details on the seminar and get the leaflet here.

Fascist National Front plan to protest at Reading Pride

The following is from the Reading Pride website:

National Front Protest at Reading Pride

A representative from Thames Valley police has informed Reading Pride that the National Front have decided to make a protest in Reading's main shopping area against
this years Reading Pride Festival. A large group of protestors will position themselves in market Place with Banners to meet the Reading Pride Parade as it makes its way through the town to the festival site at kings Meadow Park. Reading Pride hopes that the National Fronts protests will allow the parade to pass through the town without incident.

Reading Pride celebrates diversity across the Thames Valley and aims to eradicate discrimination against members of the LGBT Community and it's through the
parade and festival that the charity hopes that visibility will assist educating members of the public. We urge any person that wishes to support these aims to accompany the parade through the town centre.

Reading Pride believes in equality,diversity and freedom of expression from all groups in society. We value all opinions both culturally and politically. Anyone wishing to engage us – we are more than happy to open dialogue and learn from eachother.

What really happened at the Red, Whie & Blue festival

The News of the World rarely publish news worthy articles. But they actually carried out a responsible piece of investigative journalism by going undercover at the BNP's 'Red, White and Blue festival'.

They infiltrated the so-called family festival and captured images of Nazi salutes and a video of a 12 year old girl encouraged to carry out a mock execution on a golly doll.

Read the article at http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news/465772/Angel-faced-racist-aged-12-Girl-burns-golly-at-BNP-fun-day.html

The event saw a protest of over 2000 anti-fascists organised by Unite Against Fascism.



Weyman Bennett, joint secretary of Unite Against Fascism, said:

"This was a great day for anti-fascists. We brought more protesters to Codnor this year than the numbers the BNP managed to attract to its 'festival' of race hatred. They had fewer people attending this year because the protests drove away their softer supporters.

"Protesters also managed to cause real disruption to the event by making it difficult if not impossible for the BNP's supporters and guest speakers to get into the event.

"Today we saw what can happen when black and white, young and old, Muslim and Jew, gay and straight, come together in unity to fight the fascist BNP. We now need to build this anti-fascist movement in every locality where the Nazis are active – and drive the BNP out of town."

Please recommend your favourite albums

I've recently started reducing the clutter in my room by subscribing to Napster, which allows you to download unlimited albums to your PC for 10 squid a month, which has allowed me to sell on most of my vast CD collection.

To this end I am looking for recommendations for good albums to download, now money is no object.

Who I am supporting in the GPEX elections

In case anyone is interested, I will be supporting the following candidates in the GPEX elections:

Janye Forbes for Chair - http://jayneforbes.wordpress.com/

Tracy Dighton-Brown for External Comms - http://tracyforcomms.wordpress.com

Meat Free Monday

I was quite interested to recently read about the Meat Free Monday initiative. It encourages people to give up meat for one day a week, which if significantly taken up will help seriously reduce CO2 emissions and reduce the amount of animals being raised for meat. I am a twice failed vegetarian but find the prospect of not eating meat once a week more than manageable. There are many more of us out there who have tried to give up meat for ethical reasons and failed who can probably manage this quite easily.

Find out more at www.supportmfm.org

Vestas factory under occupation

The following is from the Save Vestas blog:

http://savevestas.wordpress.com/

Workers have occupied the St Cross factory in Newport. This measure has been taken due to the consistent failure of Vestas Blades and the government to face up to their responsibilities in the necessary challenge of fighting climate change and maintaining jobs.

Due to management attempting to intimidate the workers who have been organising themselves in preparation for a fight, plans to move on the factory were accellerated and a team of workers have taken the plant at 7:45 this evening as a result.

Now more than ever Vestas workers need our support. The island does not have a history of workers taking control – this could be the first of many victories where workers take control of their industries and demand that the bosses put people before profit, the environment before opportunism.

It's only a ferry

I find it difficult to understand why there is so much controversy and outrage over the decision to run a ferry to the Isle of Lewis on a Sunday.

Religious leaders are claiming it is against the fourth commandment "remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy".

I ask this of those who oppose it on religious grounds:

- If your house is on fire on a Sunday would you expect the Fire Brigade to turn up?
- If you are ill on a Sunday would you expect a doctor to treat you?
- Do you listen to the radio or watch TV on a Sunday?
- Do you use electricity on a Sunday?

If you answer yes to these questions you are guilty of double standards, as the commandment does not discriminate against different types of work. And if some people should be allowed to work then it is hypocritical to condemn others.

Stop making futile gestures

Once again it is reported in the news that the governmenmt are to start tinkering around with the minutiae of House of Lords legislation, by allowing life peers to resign and removing the right to heredity peerages.

If the government is serious about electoral reform, it should carry out the only acceptable solution by emptying the House of Lords and making it into a fully elected second chamber, based on proportional representation. Only with these moves will we have a democratic legislative, rather than the farcical affair we have at the moment, with a chamber full of unelected, unaccountable peers.

Of course Labour will not do this. The status quo benefits both main parties with a selection of nodding dogs willing to approve most of the legislation passed to it.

Vote for your top 10 blogs

Email your ten favourite blogs (ranked from 1-10) to toptenblogs@totalpolitics.com

It's that time of year again, when Total Politics asks you to vote for your Top 10 favourite blogs. The votes will be compiled and included in the forthcoming book, the Total Politics Guide to Blogging 2009-10, which will be published in September. This year the poll is being promoted/sponsored by LabourList and LibDemVoice as well as our publisher Iain Dale's blog.

The rules are simple.

1. You must vote for your ten favourite blogs and ranks them from 1 (your favourite) to 10 (your tenth favourite).
2. Your votes must be ranked from 1 to 10. Any votes which do not have rankings will not be counted.
3. You MUST include ten blogs. If you include fewer than ten your vote will not count.
2. Email your vote to toptenblogs@totalpolitics.com
3. Only vote once.
4. Only blogs based in the UK, run by UK residents are eligible or based on UK politics are eligible.
5. Anonymous votes left in the comments will not count. You must give a name
6. All votes must be received by midnight on 31 July 2009. Any votes received after that date will not count.

If you have your own blog, please do encourage your readers to take part. Last year, more than 80 blogs did so. We hope this year it will be far more than that. BUT, DO NOT list ten blogs you think your readers should vote for. Any duplicate voting of this nature will be disallowed. If you do not wish for your blog to be voted for please email katy.scholes@totalpolitics.com. You will see a list of the blogs who have chosen not to be included in the comments shortly.

There are many ways of measuring a blog's popularity. Wikio and Technorati have complicated logarithms which measure the importance of incoming links and traffic. Google Analytics does it by measuring how many people visit. But our poll gives blog readers the opportunity to vote for the ones they like and visit most often. It's not scientific. It's impossible to achieve 100% balance and we don't pretend it's perfect.

The results of the poll will be published in the forthcoming book the TOTAL POLITICS GUIDE TO POLITICAL BLOGGING IN THE UK which will be published in mid September in association with APCO Worldwide.

So, go to it. Email us your Top Ten Favourite Blogs

toptenblogs@totalpolitics.com