Stop the War's Hypocrisy Revisited

The wave of anti-Trump protests was bound to attract the interest of far-left parasites and here they are in the form of the "Stop the War" Coalition run by by the former Trotskyists, now Stalinists of the Counterfire group led by Lyndsey German and John Rees. There's also the Socialist Workers Party but I'll return to them later...

Readers may recall that when the StWC was challenged over why they were not protesting about Putin's intervention in Russia they clearly stated:

....our focus is on what our government is doing, because we can make a difference to what Britain does and we can make a difference to what our allies do and we have done to a certain extent. If we have a protest outside the Russian embassy it wouldn’t make a blind bit of difference to Putin and it would also actually increase the hysteria and jingoism that is being whipped up at the moment against Russia.

Specifically:

Everyone who has a sense of duty for peace of the planet needs to mobilise everything can against that and that means opposing the West.

Lest anyone forget Russia has also been clamping down of gays, women's rights and opposition parties in favour of Putin and the new Russian nationalism. There's also the little question of Russia's brutal interventions in Chechnya where they fight Muslims which the Coalition would rather ignore and forget about.

The silence of the StWC and the left in general has been deafening about any atrocity committed by non-Western nations. Tibet? Not a lefty paper ever in sight when the Tibetans protest about the colonisation of their country. China is sort of "socialist" according their twisted world view.

Then as demonstrators assemble on Saturday some anarchists have tweeted about the need to NOT carry SWP placards. 

South London SolFed‏@slsolfe

Going to an anti Trump demo tonight? Don't accept any placards from the rape apologist SWP/Stand Up to Racism groups

The Socialist Workers Party handling of an alleged rape inside their organisation caused outrage both inside and outside the "left". The SWP cannot be treated seriously when it comes to women's rights. The StWC cannot be treated seriously when it comes to peace and human rights.

Hypocrites the pair of them.

Musical Tribute to John Wetton (King Crimson/Asia)

Photo: By Mike Inns

The passing of yet another great musician from my much mis-spent youth, John Wetton hit the news today. A former member of King Crimson, Family, Wishbone Ash, Uriah Heep and founder of the supergroup Asia (featured in the video below), John was a major contributor to once great British music scene before all these talentless wannabes started appearing on X-Factor and the like.

A sad loss for his family friends and fans alike.

RIP John. You will be missed. Thanks for all the great music.

BMA Bans "Expectant Mothers"

There are times when all this political correctness nonsense drives not only me, but a hell of a lot of people mad. The latest atrocity comes from the British medical Association who (wait for it) have told their staff not to use the term "expectant mothers" in case it upsets "intersex or trans people".  Instead they advise the use of "pregnant people".

I mean WTF?

Look I hate to point out to the BMA since they're the doctors, only women can get pregnant and we call them mothers.  Period.

That doesn't in any way shape or form discriminate against those that choose to alter their physical sexuality that's their choice. But all this pandering to this tiny minority of people is getting rather ridiculous. It wasn't so long ago some idiot university was suggesting He & She should be replaced by "Zee".

Oh please do stop this nonsense.

What worries me is that one of these days there's going to be a backlash against this utter bollocks and the situation that this minority says it's in will get worse.

Enough snowflakery.

Oh and as a footnote the BMA also says the "elderly" should be known as "older people". Bah humbug. I'm sixty later this year. "Old git" would be fine by me.

What would Victor Meldrew Say?

US President gives Islamists a "trump card"

The decision of Donald Trump to ban people from seven Muslim countries has rightly caused consternation and shock around the world. Additionally the refusal to accept refugees except possibly those from a "non-majority" religion (by which he means Muslims) all adds up to an own goal against the rise of Islamism.

One of the first people caught up in this nonsense was a Yazidi woman who was about to join her husband already resident in the USA. Tragic given the genocide that the Yazidis are escaping from and of course this also affects one large group of people, the Kurds who have been not just the best and most reliable allies against ISIS but also are themselves under threat from both Turkish and Arab forces in the Middle East who are determined to prevent an independent Kurdish state from being created.

The Kurds are the largest people in the Middle East without their own country, divided between Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria. They are also Muslims but tend to self-identify as Kurds first and one thing is blatantly obvious Kurdish women are free.

Such a policy will drive a wedge between the US led West and the Muslim world in which those who do try to stand up against the medieval Islamists of all types will find themselves further isolated as the extremists will use this policy to "prove" the West is against all Muslims.

Meanwhile the hypocrisy of both the legislation which excludes Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey and Saudi Arabia id obvious. Trump has personal business interests in these countries. A direct abuse of power by the President who has only been in post for a few days.

This also allows the policies of other Muslim countries to be overlooked. Breitbart reports:

Five of the wealthiest Muslim countries have taken no Syrian refugees in at all, arguing that doing so would open them up to the risk of terrorism. Although the oil rich countries have handed over aid money, Britain has donated more than Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar combined.

Yet amidst cries for Europe to do more, it has transpired that of the five wealthiest countries on the Arabian Peninsula, that is, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain, not one has taken in a single refugee from Syria. Instead, they have argued that accepting large numbers of Syrians is a threat to their safety, as terrorists could be hiding within an influx of people. Sherif Elsayid-Ali, Amnesty International’s Head of Refugee and Migrants’ Rights, has slammed their inaction as “shameful”.

Quite. Saudi Arabia in particular has huge pre-prepared camps, fully equipped to take thousands of pilgrims for the "Haj" which could have been used for refugees rather than them fleeing and drowning across the Mediterranean. The Wahhabi version of Islam practiced in the Saudi state is barely a step away from the practices of ISIS. Saudi Arabia is a true Apartheid state with women being second class citizens not allowed to go out without a so-called "Guardian" and even bans them from driving.

The Saudi's are more concerned with controlling Islam than any humanitarian concerns, yet these hypocrites sit on the now totally discredit United Nations Human Rights Council. A travesty if there ever was one.

And then there is the question of Muslim countries banning Israeli citizens from their countries. Sixteen nations practice this anti-Semitic policy. Including Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen and Libya who protest over their citizens treatement. One rule for them......

The battle against islamism and terrorism is going to be a long one. Military means can only solve a very small, albeit violent part of the problem. The solution will be to win over the hearts and minds of ordinary Muslims to a more tolerant and inclusive world where religion is separated from the state. 

Trump's inane policy will set back the cause of a secular and democratic future.

The Maoist Cult Next Door

Our comrades have steeled themselves in acute and violent class struggles in the past two years. Fearing neither hardship nor death in upholding the proletarian revolutionary line of Chairman Mao and following closely our great, glorious and correct Party, the Party of World Revolution, we are preparing ourselves to greet the greatest event in the history of mankind – the victory of world people’s revolution and the establishment of the International Dictatorship of the Proletariat!

Party Committee
March 31, 1977

No one who watched the BBC Two documentary The Cult Next Door can have failed to be shocked and saddened by what happened to those poor women who followed Aravindan Balakrishnan behind locked doors. Brain washing, abuse and sexual assault. All in the name of Maoism.

Like many others I was familiar with the literature produced by the Institute of Workers' Institute of Marxism–Leninism–Mao Zedong Thought as it was handed out on the streets of Brixton. As Paul Flewers stated on the programme we all used to grab a copy and have a laugh down the pub about their latest nonsense until they suddenly disappeared.

Tin foil hats seemed to be the order of the day as we were warned of the activities of the British fascist state. Other than picking up leaflets everyone steered clear of these lunatics,there really was no other word to describe them.

Brixton High Street was a central focus for the far-left in the late seventies and early eighties. A walk down the road would introduce the average passer by to almost the full range of newspapers and journals available at that time. Socialist Worker, Morning Star, the News Line and others would be selling their wares every Saturday morning/early afternoon.

And then there was the bookshop run by the Workers Revoltionary Party just around the corner from the tube station. In those days no one knew the extent of the abuse that took place in the Workers Institute or for that matter the WRP until the mid-eighties.

The Workers Institute went into hiding. The rumour was they'd all gone to China but truth be know the Instute was forgotten by most people as other matters caught our attention in those heady days when the far left was highly visible and active.

The extent of the abuse by Balakrishnan only came to light in 2013 and that poor girl had spent all 30 years of her life in a prison in the middle of London. How was all this missed by not just social services or the police. We shall never know. Only the escape of the three women, all of whom were seriously damaged by their experience finally brought Balakrishnan to face justice.

One of Balakrishnan's followers was described as an academic and "deep thinker" who studied law before she became a communist. How did such a woman descend into total madness? One of the survivors was seen campaigning for Balakrishnan's release from the "British fascist state". Deluded even now.

Mao's China became a nightmare of mass starvation, torture and death. North Korea remains like that today having become the world's largest prison camp. Yet there are those on the "left" like the New Communist Party who see such barbarity as the true form of socialism. It seems many are just capable of self delusion.

But whilst we recoil in horror at the micro-antics of the Workers Institute it must be remembered that other left sects have behaved atrociously. A few years after Balakrishnan and his followers went into hiding a sex scandle erupted in the Workers Revolutionary Party as their leader and founder Gerry Healy was expelled. The reason? Healy had been abusing women inside the party for years and a fiancial crisis led to all this coming out in 1985.

Yet Healy retained around two the three hundred followers including Corin and Vanessa Redgrave. When Healy died his funeral was attended by a large crowd of mourners carrying placards with his picture. Ken Livingstone was "delighted" to write an introduction to a fawning biography of Healy.

And still the left didn't learn.

The Socialist Workers Party attempted to cover up an alleged rape by "comrade delta" and their organisation fell apart as a result. The SWP still has hard core followers in denial of events.

The far left pose as liberators of mankind yet have produced world-wide some of the worst mass-murders of the twentieth century. Stalin, Mao, Kim Il-Jung, Pol Pot and many others. That's what happens when the individual is subsumed by ideology and human rights are crushed by supposed "class interest" and the need to establish socialism at any cost.

Communism is an evil the world can do without.

----------------------------------------------------------

If you missed the programme it is available for the next 29 days here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08c3vrx

Labour Representation Committee expel Labour Party Marxists

Labour Party Marxists

Refound Labour as a real party of labour

More divisions have erupted on the Corbynista left as the Labour Representation Committee National Executive met and upheld the decision to "disaffiliate the Labour Party Marxists from the LRC. This conflict dates back to a change in the way the LRC is organised last year.

When Stan keable attempted to pay the affiliation fee for LPM, Michael Calderback, the  wrote on behalf of their EC that:

...at the SGM earlier in the year the rules for national affiliates changed - as a result organisations are required to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the NC that there is evidence of a membership base proper to a national organisation. When the current list of affiliates were reviewed, several were not deemed to have met this test, including Labour Party Marxists.

This resulted in the inevitable ranting from Keable and his mates who are really members of the tiny Communist Party of Great Britain (Weekly Worker). Labour Party Marxists are simply a front organisation. Everybody on the left recognises this though Keable and his cabal strenuously deny this.

The number of people involved in minute, but shows that the LRC is determined to keep the various organised far left groups at bay. The CPGB are not Trotskyists having originated inside the old CPGB (Morning Star) around a journal called The Leninist.

Their guru who goes by the name of Jack Conrad was originally in the pro North Korean New Communist Party registered under his real name John Chamberlain. Having recently journeyed through the now defunct Left Unity Party the CPGB are like most of the far-left tail-ending the Corbyn movement in an attempt to gain recruits for their declining sects.

Protesting in this week's Weekly Worker Keable complains:

Bureaucratic exclusion is the wrong way of resolving political differences between socialists, and is counterproductive for an organisation trying to democratise the Labour Party and win it for socialism. Hypocritically, the LRC is, at the very same time, complaining about the trashing of democratic structures in Momentum “without proper discussion and without even consulting”

The old adage if you put three Trots in a room you end up with two parties and a faction has never seemed more apt.

Socialist Party left out in the cold

 

Not so long ago the Socialist Party (Militant) started a campaign to demand the readmission of 75 of it's members back into the Labour with a petition that ended up being signed by mostly Socialist Party members. This campaign was quietly dropped as they realised absolutely no one was taking any notice of their nonsense whatsoever.

The SP has been in quandary about what to do with itself since the rise of Corbynism. Until Steptoe became leader the comrades were promoting their Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) as the alternative to the Labour Party. This consisted of an unholy alliance of the Socialist Party with their )highly discredited) arch-rivals the Socialist Workers Party and the RMT trade Union.

The TUSC has now seemingly stopped standing candidates as the SP turn their attentions to trying to elbow in on the rise of Corbynism. However their paper The Socialist announces that the TUSC will be meeting for it's annual conference on Saturday to discuss the future of their coalition. The key speakers will be Sean Hoyle (RMT President; Hannah Sell (Socialist Party) and Charlie Kimber (SWP).

They will be discussing the following resolution:

This conference re-affirms the support that the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition has given to Jeremy Corbyn against Labour’s Blairite right-wing, from his initial leadership election victory in September 2015 and during his re-election campaign in 2016. 

We recognise that his leadership of the Labour Party has opened up the political situation compared to the first five years of TUSC’s existence and that his defeat by the Labour right-wing would be a serious blow for the working class movement. 

TUSC was set-up in 2010, co-founded by the late Bob Crow, to enable trade unionists, community campaigners and socialists to stand candidates under a common anti-austerity and socialist banner, with an agreed minimum platform of core policies. Establishing an electoral coalition of this character, involving a mix of constituent organisations and individuals, was conceived as a step towards solving the vacuum of working class political representation that had existed since the triumph of ‘New Labour’. 

Clearly Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership victory, potentially a terminal defeat of New Labour, required TUSC to re-calibrate its electoral activity and conference supports the steps taken by the steering committee to do so. In the May 2016 local elections, for example, no TUSC candidates were even considered to be run without local TUSC groups seeking a dialogue with the sitting Labour councillor or prospective candidate on the critical issue of their preparedness to resist cuts to local council jobs and services. Conference calls on the steering committee to continue with this approach for the 2017 elections. 

We recognise that this will be more challenging in the 33 English county councils and unitary authorities with elections in May, only six of which have Labour-led administrations. That is not the case, however, in Wales – where right-wing Labour is the dominant force in local government – or Scotland, in a different political context and with councillors elected under a proportional representation system in multi-member wards. 

The preference vote system used in mayoral elections also makes it easier for TUSC candidacies to be supportive of Jeremy Corbyn’s antiausterity message while making sure that the Tories do not make electoral headway. 

Notwithstanding the differences between the various contests taking place in May, conference calls on the steering committee to ensure that, for whichever elections candidate applications are received, TUSC’s electoral interventions are part of a serious campaign against cuts to local public services and will strengthen the battle against the right wing in the Labour Party and the unions.

The TUSC attracts derisory votes wherever it stands and has lost many supporters on the ground to Momentum and the Labour hard left. The resolution shows that they really have no idea where to go with their outfit, though they remain hostile to the revisionist Jon Lansman. Militant guru Peter Taffe writes:

Recently, Momentum leader Jon Lansman shut down all of Momentum's structures and imposed a new constitution, with only a 'take it or resign' option to members and supporters. Overturning the original aim to bring people inside and outside the party together, membership of the Labour Party is now a requirement.

The change is dressed up as 'direct democracy'. The ground was laid by commentators like Owen Jones, presenting this as a battle between new fresh layers of people against "Trotskyist sectarian saboteurs".

'One member one vote' was a tool of the pro-capitalist right wing in the Labour Party to drown out the collective voice of trade unions and to set inactive, passive members against those who participate in meetings, debates and activity. The Momentum leadership are using it for the same purpose. It sounds very democratic, but in reality this 'direct democracy' means individuals clicking answers in response to questions set by the leadership, while the leadership do as they please with no democratic mechanism to hold them in check.

Momentum trailed this method when they decided their position on the EU referendum. An issue of such importance was decided by people individually sat at home under a deluge of capitalist media, with no alternative being put, no discussion or debate, clicking a yes/no answer.

The worst of the many problems with Momentum's new imposed constitution is the total sidelining of the role of the organised working class. Trade unions that affiliate to Momentum are collectively granted just six representatives on the new National Coordinating Group (NCG). Decisions of the NCG will be made by a simple majority. Thus the Fire Brigades Union, a militant, democratically-organised body representing tens of thousands of people, carries no more weight than individuals, and can easily be outvoted.

In complete contrast the TUSC (which does not allow for individual membership, just "supporter status" claims:

Contrast that with the consensus method of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC), which means that representatives of the RMT rail union on the steering committee cannot be bounced into accepting any decision that they believe would not be supported by their members or that contravenes the democratic decisions of their annual general meeting.

Anyone who has had dealings with the Socialist Party will know how devious they are in their wheeling & dealing and are notorious for their bureaucratic approach to politics. by "consensus" they mean a deal made in a smoke filled back room between the factions then presented to a formal delegates meeting where the assembled have preordained orders to toe the line. 

That's how they operate. Democracy is not part of the Socialist Party tradition. They have never tolerated dissent in their ranks, even splitting with their won founder Ted Grant whose breakaway group, Socialist Appeal remains quietly operating in the background waiting for godot it's moment.

Militant has not changed its spots, simply grown more deluded with it's own self-importance. Why the RMT still bothers with these petty sectarians is beyond belief. A waste of members money.

Mary Tyler Moore Remembered

One of my favourite actresses from the sixties and seventies, Mary Tyler Moore has sadly passed away. today. I remember coming across her as the long suffering wife of Dick Van Dyke in his sitcom and of course when she appeared in her own wonderful programme The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

All good clean humour from a different age.

A beautiful woman who will be missed by all her fans.

As a tribute here's a couple of shows that will hopefully bring back memories for those of you of my generation.

Hope not Hate's wrong turn continues

No thanks......

One of the most important organisations that campaigned against the Neo-Nazi and Fascist far-right over the years was Hope not Hate led by Nick Lowles. Despite their break with the more focused Searchlight Magazine many people continued to follow and support their campaigns which included cooperation with the Daily Mirror against the BNP.

Hope not Hate was a major factor in the demise of Nick Griffin and his hateful little party. But then things started going wrong.

A few years back the organisation campaigned for the banning of Pamela Gellar and Robert Spencer from coming to the UK. At the time I supported their campaign publishing Hope not Hate's campaign material, That was something I came to first question then regret. This was an attack on free speech.

Belatedy I took their material down but continued to support the group until HnH decided to include a campaign against UKIP, which given the background of their work ended up lumping millions of people with concerns about immigration with the extreme right.

I thought this was the wrong thing to do mainly because there was then and is now a need for a genuine debate on immigration without everyone who raises genuine concerns about numbers and integration problems being shouted down as "racist" by the far-left.

There is nothing inherently racist about controlling a country's borders or deciding who can and cannot live here. the states first duty is to it's own citizens. Immigration will never stop as such but can be controlled and frankly rightly so. Just look at what happened in Germany. Unfettered immigration was a disater not just for them but for the EU as a whole and was a contributory factor in the Brexit vote.

Hope not Hate also started campaigning against hate preachers like Anjem Choudary. Fair enough but also started attacking secularists who were criticising Islam and campaigning against Sharia.

My support for Hope not Hate ended with these issues. A pity because there remains so much to do as the Neo-Nazi movement retreats in isolation and prepares far more violent actions both here and abroad.

Today I received a hysterical e-mail from Nick Lowles asking us to "Join the Resistance" against Donald Trump. I don't support the man but this campaign is just another sign of Hope not Hate losing focus about what it was set up to do. In diversifying beyond core issues of anti-fascism, Lowles and his team are confusing the issue.

That's dangerous.

Trump is not Hitler neither is Farage. Pair of right-wing plonkers maybe, but their followers cannot be won back in the manner the left propose. These millions are mostly ordinary people with genuine fears and worries. Labelling them fascists won't make them listen.

It's time for the left to grow up. Not that's gonna happen any time soon.

Tribute to Peter Overend Watts (Mott The Hoople)

This year has got off to a bad start with the death of Pete Overend Watts the bassist from Mott The Hoople.

Mott The Hoople were one of the first bands whose albums I started buying in the seventies as I grew up a fan of what was then known as "Prog Rock". They didn't hit the big time until David Bowie penned All The Young Dudes for the nad and they sort of became part of the "Glam Rock" scene for a while.

RIP Pete and thanks for all the great music.

Here's a track from their 1970 album Mad Shadows.

Momentum divided as Socialist Unity backs Lansman

The plot thickens as the two sides gear up for a bunfight over who controls Momentum and how. In one development today the Momentum Steering Committee has set up it's own webpage to denounce the "coup" in direct competition with the "official" website which seemingly remains in the hands of Lohn Lansman and his supporters.

In the only statement currently online the unnamed individuals who form the Steering Committee (probably the AWL, Nick Wrack and Jackie Walker, an unholy alliance if there ever was one) announce:

At 19:39 on January 10th, the Chair of the Steering Committee proposed a new constitution for Momentum by email. At 20:54 a majority was declared. Just 6 people indicated support for the constitution for a 21,000 strong membership organization.

All democratic structures of Momentum were then dissolved. No notice was given that these proposals were to be made, no meeting was held and no discussion or debate took place. No amendments were invited or allowed. Some members of the Steering Committee were unaware of these email exchanges and were excluded from participation.

Of course, we do not accept that the Steering Committee has the power to dissolve the structures of Momentum or impose a different membership system. In February 2016, after much discussion in local groups and regional meetings, the first National Committee established an interim structure for the Momentum. This structure is where the Steering Committee was established. In it, it is clear that the National Committee – not the Steering Committee – has the power to “establish a membership and affiliation structure” and to “maintain democratic, inclusive and pluralist representation.” The Steering Committee is elected from the NC, and is tasked with more operational matters. Momentum has more than 20,000 members. These members joined, and agreed to pay money to, the organisation established on February 6th 2016. That organisation has not been legitimately dissolved.

The fact that this appears on a website separate from the organisation as a whole indicates how deep the split in Momentum has become.

However Lansman has won over the Socialist Unity website whose now sole proprietor Andy Newman declares that Momentum becomes fit for purpose:

Momentum as an organisation was established originally to carry forwards the organizational and functional impetus behind Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership election campaign. In particular, it has been felt by many people for a long time that the centre left needed an organized counterbalance to the pressure from Progress, and Labour First, two organizations of the centre right that have disproportionate influence in the Labour Party.

However, Momentum became bogged down in the usual and interminable arguments of the left, which have effectively prevented the organisation from operating. This had a very enervating effect, and parts of the left who have fetishised an alleged democratic deficit in Momentum have distracted attention away from the real scandals, the democratic deficits in society as a whole, and particularly in the Labour Party.

Momentum does not need to duplicate the functions of a political party. Momentum does not need to duplicate the functions of a trade union. What is needed is to have a structure on a broad left basis where supporters of the current trajectory of the Labour Party leadership can coordinate their efforts to good effect, on the basis of what we agree about. This gives the space for a new politics to develop.

I just joined Momentum, which I believe is now becoming serious and fit for purpose.

One would take issue with Newman's description of Momentum as "centre left" particularly as he is quite sympathetic to "Stalinist" politics hence his opposition to Tibetan freedom. Momentum is not remotely "centre-left. It is hard or far-left.

However amongst  the comments which mainly involve a couple of Andy Newman's supporters with a member of the Socialist Party Scotland (Militant) there was this little gem of a contribution:

As a member of momentum, these developments are very welcome. The appalling bureaucratic rubbish dominating it was killing it. It is not a democratic organisation, it is there to get left wing members active, support a corbyn leadership, and politically educate members. Thank you mr landsman.

Think about that. Ir's not meant to be democratic, just a support group for the leadership to brainwash educate members.

Frankly that's what the far-left are all about. Control and power.

And that's why Corbyn, Momentum and their acolytes must be stopped.

The Women's Marches: Triumph & Tragedy

The hot topic on social media for the last 24 hours has been the women's marches against Trump that took place not just in the USA but around the world including London. Over two million women are said to have participated. The reason for this is clear President Trump has made some unpleasant and thoroughly misogynist remarks about women and even our own Prime Minister, Theresa May has said that this is unacceptable and will not accept such attitudes.

All well and good so far. But that really is the point it's just so far. I'm no fan of Donald Trump and would rather not have seen him elected as President of the United States.  It is right and proper that he is pulled up about his attitude to women, but....

The first thing I do when I switch on my computer is check my e-mails and amongst the few that arrived overnight was a petition from Change that they thought I might be interested in. Sometimes I'm not but in this case I was. It was a call to save the FGM Help Centre in Acton which has assisted over 1,000 women who have suffered from the barbaric practice of female genital mutilation. Illegal in this country but still happens. I've signed the petition and included a link at the end of this post so readers can do so as well.

The reason I mention this is because I am disturbed by the attitudes of Western Feminists and the influence of Islamist inspired women within the "women's movement".

Like all demonstrations there were odd signs from people who haven't though things through such as "Free Melenia", a reference to Mrs Trump. Free her from what exactly? Beauty, fame and fortune? Seems quite an independent woman to me who doesn't need freeing.

But I'll tell you who does.

Women across the Muslim world oppressed by a backwards misogynistic theology and culture. It's called Islam. Women are second class citizens under whichever version of Sharia Law a particular country decides to implement.

Their testimony in a court is worth half that of a man. Women lack inheritance rights let alone having to cover themselves up in case they inflame the passions of the pious men who supposedly cannot control their libido if a woman so much as shows a stray hair on her head.

And yet idiots like Linda Sansour, one of the organisers tweeted:

"You'll know when you're living under Sharia Law if suddenly all your loans and credit cards become interest free. Sounds nice doesn't it"

As one of my friends on Facebook noted:

"..... this is a complete misunderstanding of Shari'a finance, which charges interest in a backdoor manner. Basically, the bank buys the item for you, you then redeem ownership of the same via payments, which include... err... effectively interest in the form of various, largely spurious, charges on your original sum... What is worse, the full sum repaid is often higher than Kufur bank rates."

Undeterred by all the subsequent criticism Sansour responded:

"Sharia Law has been misunderstood and pushed as some evil Muslim agenda."

Let's hope she justifies that to the women stoned to death for "adultery" or for murdered for daring to stand up to Muslim patriarchs. After all, the Koran implores men to "only" beat their women "lightly".

Let's get one thing straight. The only way to defend not just women's rights but all human rights is to defend and build a secular inclusive society where people are individually free to worship or not as they please without fear of retribution from religious bigots who cannot impose their so-called values on those of us that do not believe.

When will western feminists start protesting about the rights of women in the 56 or so Muslim countries around the world?

It seems "locker room talk" is just a soft target when the real battle is elsewhere.

Further reading: Women's march and the selectivity of anti-Trump feminism/

Save Acton FGM Centre: https://www.change.org/p/save-the-acton-fgm-community-clinic?recruiter=37858166&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink

Piers Corbyn tweets: Jewish conspiracy will force Trump into war just like they did to Hitler

Press release from: Campaign Against Anti-Semitism

Jeremy Corbyn’s brother, Piers Corbyn, a climate forecaster and Labour Party member, has issued his latest long-term prediction on Twitter: that Jewish conspirators and the Royal Family will force Donald Trump into war, just like they did to Hitler.

Piers Corbyn retweeted @whiteknight0011, a notorious neo-Nazi who declared that “They will force Trump in to war What do you think happened to Hitler? Bilderberg CIA IMF Banker Gangsters They are the problem” along with four images. One shows Lord Jacob Rothschild, the Jewish banker and philanthropist, against the background of a Nazi flag, claiming that he controls the world. A second shows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a puppeteer controlling ISIS through Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, orchestrating the war in Syria and Paris attacks as Lord Rothschild and the Queen look on approvingly. A third image shows the faces of supposed Jewish conspirators who run the world to society’s detriment, proclaiming: “Know your enemy”. The last image shows a family photo of the Royal Family, claiming that they are in cahoots with these Jewish conspirators in committing “the worst genocides, invasions and theft in all history.” Piers and Jeremy have a long history of political solidarity. Piers has boasted of the family’s anti-racist credentials, but the mask is slipping. The man who now broadcasts that the Jews were responsible for the Second World War, is the same that claimed a Jewish conspiracy against his brother: when Jewish MP Louise Ellman complained of antisemitic attacks against her, Piers accused her of using it as a cover for political attack, tweeting: “ABSURD! JC+ All #Corbyns are committed #AntiNazi. #Zionists cant cope with anyone supporting rights for #Palestine”. Brother Jeremy’s response: “He’s not wrong”. The apple does not fall far from the tree in the Corbyn household. Brother Jeremy has not publicly repudiated his brother, nor any number of individuals in the Labour Party attacking the Jewish community. We’d like to think it’s time to start, but have long realised that any pretence that Mr Corbyn’s Labour is ‘anti-racist’ are now history. Joe Glasman, Head of Political Investigations and Liaison at Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Jeremy Corbyn endorsed his brother’s views last time he alleged there was a Jewish conspiracy. We don’t expect that Jeremy Corbyn will expel his brother from the Party now, after all, tweeting Jewish conspiracies is perfectly normal in the Labour Party of today. Maybe he’ll give him a peerage.” What will happen next: Will Piers Corbyn say he didn’t notice the images? It’s impossible to comprehend the text without looking at the images.  Will Jeremy Corbyn rally to his brother’s defence as he has before?  Will Piers Corbyn be expelled from the Labour Party?  Will Baroness Shami Chakrabarti’s rules keep the Labour Party’s response a secret?

Democracies divided

The inauguration of Donald Trump has been greeted by both cheers and jeers as he takes up the post of President of the most powerful country in the world. Even whilst at work I couldn't get away from the reaction as an email from Nick Lowles of Hope not Hate arrived telling me how frightened he was for the future.

When I arrived home the first video I saw on my Facebook wall was of a young woman kneeling on the street shouting "NOooo" like a wailing banshee, something I posted to my own timeline which showed a certain division even amongst my friends. I thought she looked pathetic and anyone watching her would just think she's a self-indulgent snowflake that seems to be the hallmark of the up coming generation.

The real problem is that her actions are symptomatic of the divisions growing within not just the United States but other Western Democracies. Nobody seems to want to accept the outcome of a vote or election anymore.

The first sign of this was in Scotland where a closely fought and lost independence referendum suddenly saw the nationalists marching on the streets stating not just they had lost but some raised accusations of the vote being "fixed", which it certainly wasn't but don't let that bother those who didn't get what they want.

The same happened when the country voted to leave the European Union. Like many others I was a bit shocked and speechless when I got up in the morning and saw the outcome but accepted that was the result foolish or not.

The trouble is the world is living in dangerous times. The rise of Islamo-fascism has led to an outbreak of pou;ism and the growth of right-wing parties across Europe. Add to that the growth of anti-Semitism and a comparison with the thirties is inevitable.

Certainly the democratic countries are divided both within and without themselves. The pressures on the survival of democracy have never been greater since the collapse of Communism when great hope was felt by much of the world.

An opportunity squandered....

The reasons for this are numerous. The rise of nationalism particularly in Russia and Eastern Europe has seen the renewal of of old enmities and internecine conflicts. Those that have broken from the Russian bear feel threatened and Britain has sent troops to the borders as a deterrent. Whilst a further European war is unlikely, it can take only the smallest of sparks to ignite a conflict.

One bullet started the First World War....

There is no one cause for this crisis, there are indeed many. Economic austerity, mass immigration particularly from the war-torn Middle east, the growth of internal threats from terrorism, the bureaucratic nightmare of EU regulation and rule...and more.

The political consensus upon which peace has been established has broken down. The political centre is broken. The world is marching into the mores of political extremism, mostly to the right but some on the left as seen with the rise of the Communist movement in the UK, making the only viable opposition party unelectable.

A way must be found back to centre politics, combining social justice with viable economic policy, proper defence and anti-terrorist policies to deter and defeat the enemies of our democratic way of life. Being "centrist" should not be seen as "weak". It is possible to combine reason with strength, democracy with security and principle with reason.

The alternative is too horrid to consider.

Musical Interlude: Cyntia Live

Decided to take a break from political blogging tonight and thought I'd share some of the music I've been listening to. One of my favourite bands from Japan is Cyntia, an all-girl outfit who play metal/rock and boy do they play it well.

The following two videos are from a live performance in 2014 before co-founder and drummer Kanoko left. The rest of the group are still going today having released a new album in December.






Cyntia can be found on Facebook

Male Momentum

The battle for the heart & soul of Jeremy Corbyn's fab club has begun with the publication of a list of 15 candidates for their National Coordinating Group. And it's not a good start with observers noting that all the candidates are all male and all but one white.

The new "inclusive" left.

James Harland who has a degree in medieval history but needs to emphasise he had a comprhensive eductaion, by which he means he went to a working class school in case that was not clear is standing on a platfor that includes:

Greater representation of working-class, state-educated, BAME, women and non-binary and LGBTQ+ Labour members.

Not a good start then comrades.

Then there's Al Gonzalez who makes an odd promise to potential voters:

As a candidate that is part of two under-represented groups, LGBT and disabled, I offer all members to use a trump card. If I get elected in the first voting period, I vow that I will immediately resign if that will assist the triggering of two further votes. One to fill my space, and another for additional member places, as described in the constitution and election process. If this strategy fails, through how the constitution is interpreted, or by the presence of other elected members in the relevant categories, you would have still manifested your lack of satisfaction with this constitution.

Confused? Don't worry I don't got lost at "non-binary" with the previous candidate.

Perhaps John Talbut has something better to offer. He declares:

We urgently need a different, kinder and more empowering approach to politics. For too long the left has tended to oppressive, controlling, parental approaches that disempower people leaving them vulnerable to the actions of the rich and resulting in defeat for the left.

Love the phrase "tended" to be oppressive & controlling. An understatement given not just the Stalinist experience but also the long history of Trotskyism. Healy, Robertson, Delta.....

His solution?

I believe that Momentum should be a horizontal movement in which every member is valued equally with equal opportunities to participate in decision making.

Anarchism. That'll work.

Sarcasm aside none of the candidates are well known except for Lee Jasper, one of Livingstone's mates (so don't mention Hitler) or frankly even inspiring. One, Ian Pope has a reputation for being able to start an argument in an empty room apparently.

Momentum is running out of steam. It's current bout of infighting has even seen founder Jon Lansman lose a vote on his own constitutional proposals in their Southwark branch. Meanwhile Labour continues to languish in the polls and Theresa May, despite the NHS crisis manages to gain ground with a firm hand on Brexit and remains more popular with Labour voters than Corbyn.

Momentum is part of the problem, not the solution.

It wuz the aliens wot done it

Whilst taking my daily wander through the wonderful world of the Internet I chanced upon this terrific little video which will explain everything you need to know about why Donald Trump was elected President of the United States.

According to Giorgio A. Tsoukalos (who some readers may recognise from the Ancient Aliens documentary series on The History Channel) says it may be all down to an alien mind control plot....

I'm still laughing. 

Go on watch this, you know you want to!

The new racists

One of the more shocking elements found amongst a large section of the modern "left" is an antipathy towards anything Jewish. These "anti-imperialists" claim that they are "simply" oppose "Zionism" because it seeks to establish and maintain a Jewish state in the historical land of the Jews, Israel. This they say is at the expense of the "Palestinians", a modern name for the Arabs who came to this part of the Middle East as a result of conquest after the rise of Islam.

The problem is that these "anti-Zionists" are very much prone to adopting far-right conspiracy theories and "memes" depicting the banking industry or media dominated by the Rothchilds and other Jews are fairly common in leftist circles. Much of this new prejudice comes from adopting an "Islam(ist)" dominated agenda as the Muslim world is (wrongly) seen as being part of an "anti-imperialist" movement, ignoring many unsavoury elements including Islamic supremacism and racism inherent in the Arab world in particular.

The world saw such expressions of Arab racism during the Darfur crisis, one which the left generally ignored and always blamed "imperialism" of the West rather than the imperialism of pan-Arabism mixed with a Jihadist orientated regime operating out of Khartoum. The victims of persecution here were black.

Anti-black racism is prevalent in a number of countries across the Arab world. from Algeria to the Lebanon, but remains little discussed amongst the British "left" and "anti-racist" movements. This despite evidence that slavery exists on a large scale in some saharan countries such as Mauritania where the slaves are likely to be darker skinned than their owners.

Whilst gender apartheid is well documented for countries like Saudi Arabia and the position of women in general being very much second class across the Arab/Muslim world, the discrimination against blacks, let alone other minorities remains very much ignored by the politically correct so-called left.

Their focus is entirely on destroying the worlds only Jewish" state, because such a notion is "racist" apparently whilst not for one moment considering the existence of nationalistic Islamic states at all a problem despite the well documented examples of persecution of minorities which existed long before the evil ISIS Caliphate sprang into existence. It's racism, intolerance and genocidal ideology did not simply come out of a vacuum, ISIS simply built on and created a whole movement based on the worst aspects of the world in which they originated.

The most obvious examples of the regions genocidal tendencies where seen in the early twentieth century during the mass extermination of Armenians and Greeks under the Ottoman empire. In modern times the Kurds, Nubians, Tuaregs and Yazidis amongst others have fallen foul of Arab nationalism.

But the Western radicals have now gone further than just ignoring Arab racism or ant-Semitism within their own ranks. Inside the universities in both America and the UK another racism has come to the fore. Anti-white racism.

At SOAS student radicals with little to no knowledge of the world around them, have already attempted to ban "white" philosphers from their coursework. Now they seek to ban white professors from lecturing BME (black & ethnic minority) students claiming that these individuals are "capable of racism". The irony that these students themselves have become racist in their outlook and practice is lost on them.

The left complain about being compared to blackshirts and being defined as no better than fascists but by their actions ye shall know them.

Corbyn is a security risk

The decision of Tristram Hunt to resign as an MP thereby causing another by-election was the final straw that ended Corbyn's already botched relaunch. The pundits started musing about the possible, if not probable loss of the seat to UKIP.

At the same time the Liberal Democrats continued their revival in two amazing local election victories in Sunderland where the Labour vote dropped by a whopping 29.9% and in Gade Valley by 9.9%, though in this case the Tories lost 22%. Labour is not picking up the support it requires to form the next government based on these figures and remember Sunderland is a Labour "heartland". No more it seems.

Corbyn's hardcore support group in Momentum is heading towards an organisational split as the comrades fall out over a new constitution. Their long anticipated conference later this year is likely to turn into a gladiatorial arena as the sectarians vie to overthrow each other in the name of the "Dear Leader".

Meanwhile Corbyn has invited US President elect Donald Trump to the Finsbury Park Mosque, one considered so extreme that most local Muslims won't even attend it preferring to borrow a local hall owned by the Catholic church for their Friday prayers.

And finally as if to rub salt into the wounds Corbyn has taken time out to write to Theresa May decrying a "security risk" to the country following the Al-Jazeera sting on an Israeli diplomat who has since been kicked out the country. The TV station is owned by the Qatari Royal family who have an agenda of their own and the station has used this incident to promote anti-Jewish reporting in a disgraceful fashion.

The irony of Corbyn raising a potential "security threat" is obvious to all but his most blinkered supporters. This is a man who has invited IRA, Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists into Parliament, refused to condemn the aggressive actions of Putin in the Ukraine and Crimea, ignored until pressed the crimes of Assad and Putin in Syria and has openly let down our allies in Nato.

If anyone is a security risk to this country it is a man who pursues a policy of appeasement with the world's dictators whilst seeking the disarming and isolation of this country in an increasingly dangerous world.

Corbyn has shown himself unfit for government. Labour is led by men who pursue ideological concerns before the interest of ordinary working people.

As a trade unionist, British Citizen and a Jew I oppose this man, his supporters and their Stalinist agenda.

For the good of this country they must go.

Lansman, Shawcroft, Mountford, Corbyn & Copeland

In a new twist to the outbreak of furious infighting within the Corbynista movement, Jon Lansman has resigned as the sole director of Momentum. He has been replaced by a woman notorious for not just suggesting we should invite ISIS for a chat over a cup of tea but also betrayed the Labour Party by backing the now proven corrupt former Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman. Why she is even allowed to remain a member is beyond belief.

According to a report published by Guido Fawkes Lansman lost the vote over his constitutional maneuver to purge the Trotskyists from Momentum at his local group.

The Alliance for Workers Liberty (AWL) one of of Lansman's main opponents are not taking their exclusion lightly. Already Sacha Ismail has expressed his public displeasure at being expelled but Jill "motormouth" Mountford is fighting  a rearguard action and writes on the AWL website:

According to the new constitution some members have no choice but to leave, they are, in effect, being expelled from Momentum because they’ve been expelled from the Labour Party. Most, myself included, have been expelled for political reasons, that is, being wrong kind of socialist, and have been provided with no evidence against them or had any opportunity to appeal. A practice generally condemned by the left in the Labour Party.....

No one should leave Momentum. We should stay and organise in the local groups, establish the best possible, most democratic local groups network, intervene where we can in the bureaucratic structures and continue to build an activists movement all around the country.

The AWL does have the backing of the Labour Party Marxists (a front for the Communist Party of Great Britain), the weird Jackie Walker and of course Tony Greenstein, who managed to make the whole affair about his own vainglorious self on his deranged blog.

Trouble is all of the above absolutley hate each other, so any alliance between them is bound to end in tears sooner rather than later.

Meanwhile as the Copeland by-election approaches the Conservative Party have gone "nuclear" in their attempt to take the seat from Labour which will be assisted by the assistance of Madame Shawcroft who somehow has ended up on the selection committee and will no doubt attempt to parachute in a pro-Corbyn candidate.

The Tories are focusing on nuclear power, which is a real issue in the constituency due to the huge and growing number of jobs dependent on it. The following video helpfully produced by Counterfire, the former SWP group that runs the Stop the War Coalition of which Corbyn used to be Chair will be used to undermine Labour's campaign.

In this Corbyn calls for the closure of all nuclear power stations. Not just wrong but a death knell for a huge number of Labour's voters in Copeland.

Momentum dissipates

Hot on the heels of the collapse of Jeremy Corbyn's relaunch comes yet another crisis for the far-left in Labour. The Momentum Tendency (proprietor: Jon Lansman) is openly split over the introduction of (shock, horror) a constitution that gives the decision making power to its members rather than the activists through a "One man, one vote" process.

In an e-mail Lansman declared:

The Constitution may not be perfect in everyone’s eyes, but, whatever process we follow, it is common ground that we need one, and it is surely better to have it now and amend it later by a process that is indisputable. As well as setting out the essential elements of our aims and objectives as they have always appeared on our website and in our public statements, the constitution:

Reinforces our wholehearted commitment to the Labour Party by restating our aim of working towards affiliation, and requiring all members to be party members;

Provides for elections and key decisions including changes to the constitution to be made by our members themselves;

One of the main features of Momentum is that it's members must be in the Labour Party. If someone has been expelled they cannot remain in the organisation. Outraged various individuals such as Nick Wrack (ex TUSC, Respect,) has described this as a "coup" by Lansman.

Sacha Ismail of the Alliance for Workers Liberty has already complained that he has been expelled from Momentum as a result of this decision. That's due to the fact members of the AWL are ineligible for membership  of the Labour Party as their group has been proscribed. Not sure what he expected.

The decision to go down this road will not only change Momentum but will split the group, with Lansman hoping it will rid him of his opponents and make it "easier" for Momentum to become affiliated to the Labour Party.

Already across Facebook and other social media sites a number of the comrades have declared they are off. Some have reportedly (and disturbingly) described this as a "Zionist" plot showing how utterly deranged and dangerous some of the new Black Shirt left have become.

The introduction of OMOV has caused such controversy because the harder left of Momentum including the AWL & others wanted to have a delegate system to ensure that members who turned up to meetings for hours on end (i.e. themselves) were able to "put over the arguments".

The basis of Lansman's decision was a survey which his opponents complain only led to a 40% response rate. The other 60% have been "excluded" and according to one complaint I read "people may not have read their e-mails". Actually maybe they just couldn't be bothered. Momentum has been falling apart since it's inception for one simple reason.

The authoritarian "left" are incapable of getting on with each other.

Every attempt to unite the so-called far-left and bring in a wider periphery has failed. There was Socialist Unity launched by the IMG in the seventies, The Socialist Alliance and the dreadful Islamist orientated Respect. Fails, all of them.

Lansman who has been part of the Labour Left for years is not entirely stupid and has obviously taken this move to exclude what he sees as the sectarian left in an attempt to move Momentum on.

However with Corbyn continuing to make a fool of himself the battle for the heart and soul of Labour continues.

There will be more on this as Momentum dissipates in glorious internecine warfare!

Corbyn's relaunch fails already

This week was supposed to see the relaunch of Jeremy Corbyn with bold new ideas and a coherent direction. Instead within a few hours the whole event had turned into a debacle as Corbyn announced live on television that he was introducing a "maximum wage policy", something the whole country was waiting to hear. Not.

Corbyn latched on the widespread discontent about the overpaid executives and added footballers to his list of targets. This appears to be something Corbyn thought up himself and it showed since he's not exactly renowned as an original thinker. Far from it.

Corbyn is just a seasoned protester who picks up on the latest fad and wades in with barely a thought waffling  through a list of basic platitudes about "socialism" (whatever that is supposed to be these days), American and British imperialism and how important it is to support the oppressed governments of Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, not forgetting to add the obligatory bash of Israel for his mates in Hamas.

But I digress (purposely it has to be said) as we turn back to today's events with Jeremy Hunt facing a grilling from and running away to a car from a diligent Sky News reporter. She put more pressure on Hunt than old Corbo. Even the rabidly pro-Tory Daily Mail was bashing the government over the NHS. An open goal that Corbyn should have seen and concentrated on, but no he just had to talk complete bollocks instead.

Then there's Brexit. The Government are in trouble over that as well. Corbyn did the standard and honorable political stance and avoided answering the question of Sky this morning.

Still he's had all day to think and now says that he "might" only "consider the Maximum wage after his former Bank of England advisor told him that the policy was unworkable. To be fair so did every other proper economist. I don't count the Marxist commentators. These people would have us within a "Soviet" style downturn if they ever got into power.

Whist Corbyn's supporters may have been monetarily buoyed even they must see he is a complete no-hoper. The time will inevitably come as even Commissar McCluskey has warned when Corbyn must go. Len's now worried about his own position you see, He bragged about support from the "Unite Now" grouping within his union but they have declined to support him. Or any other candidate to be fair.

Still like the Titanic, there is another ship in waiting to sink the Labour Party. A certain John McDonnell.

One thing is for certain, under these rag & bone politicians Labour will never achieve power

Music whilst we wait for Steptoe

I was under the impression we would be deconstructing Jeremy Steptoes renewal speech tonight as he offers his wares from the junkyard of the far-left.

"Get your policies here gov" was supposed to be the call to action for the masses.

Instead we're still waiting, which given I've caught yet another cold means an early night. However I had to share this new number from Band Maid.

SOAS Students want to ban "white" ideas

Photo: By Sting, CC

A lot of people who attend University in their youth (or in my case a Polytechnic) are attracted to radical ideas of some sort or another, it's part of the growing process. That said even in my day the majority of students avoided politics and didn't participate in the students union except when they put on gigs and parties or needed funding for some club, particularly sports.

Then of course there was the cheap bar....

When I arrived at the Polytechnic of Central London in 1977 I found the students union controlled by of all things Maoists. As far as I'm aware the only place they ever managed to take over. The organisation behind the "Socialist Society" (Soc Soc as we called it) was the Communist Party of Britain (Marxist Leninist) who published a lithographed paper called simply The Worker

The CPB (M-L) is still going today but has absolutely no influence on politics whatsoever. They were just one of a whole range of parties and tendencies that were around at the time. There was the Socialist Workers Party, the "official" Communist Party of Great Britain and the Revolutionary Communist Tendency (which became the RCP in later years).

Just around the corner was one of the bookshops owned by the Workers Revolutionary Party and a young lady from the Posadists turned up to sell her wares outside the bar. 

Oh and there was a Labour Club (which I ran for a couple of years) and a Conservative Students group, the Chair of which I became friends with despite his politics.

In those days the only ban we pursued was "no-platforming" the National Front which was becoming a big threat during the late seventies. I do not recall any move to stop speakers of any sort, though there was a protest against the Shah of Persia and certainly whilst there was a burgeoning Women's Group, there was none of this self indulgent "intersectionalist malarky that seems to have grown within the modern students movement.

The bottom line was we went to learn (some more than others) and did read and those that studied politics/sociology and the like took account of various schools of thought from left to right and some in between as part of the process.

That was then.

Today the student movement seems to be all about censorship of some sort or another. It's not so long ago the campaign to remove Cecil Rhodes statue was in the news along with other types trying to control language by insisting the use of "ze" instead of he or she in case of "transphobia" or some other possible "micro-aggression" or discrimination.

Now I read that the Students Union at the School of African and Oriental Studies (SOAS) are demanding all "white" philosophers are dropped from course work due to "white colonialism" in education. In practice this means Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, the list is endless and probably goes up to including Hegel, Marx, Sartre and heaven knows who else.

Appalling. There is a place for all kinds of philosophers on courses. Confucius anyone? But remove the Greeks and those that followed. It just smacks of the kind of bigotry that led to book burning in Nazi Universities.

It certainly leads to some very confused thinking as this quote from Patai and Koertge, Professing Feminism illustrates:

If minority race students do not understand a philosopher, then it is the philosopher who is inadequate, not the minority race students.

Erm, no. And anyway what if a white student doesn't understand either? Philosophy isn't an exact subject like mathematics where there can only be one answer (though some maths geek is bound to try & disprove that assertion).

Education requires a broad and open mind. Today's activists have pre-conceived, ill thought out ideas and are tomorrow's potential oppressors.

Thank god I went to college in the seventies.

World of the Weird: Chile's UFO

Oh dear here we go again. Another video of an object that cannot be identified flying in the sky. There's plenty of those but this one has been released by the Chilean Navy after being declassified. There's no evidence what ever the thing is that it's "alien". Just "unidentified". Much of the press have covered this in one form or another but of course the UFOlogists have been going berserk on-line as have the conspiracy nuts.

Business as usual it would seem.

However since this film was taken just a couple of years ago you think a military helicopter would have a better resolution camera given the need to identify threats.



So despite being the first "World of the Weird" story this year there's not much to speculate on. Perhaps we should be thankful they were not here to shove an object up some poor sods rectum which seems a common occurrence to so many so-called abductees.

Still this video joins the list of stuff seen that proves nothing.

Just for fun here's a collection of so-called sightings, though the title as well as the content is misleading. This compilation also contains a couple of "Angel" appearances. Sigh.

One of the unidentified objects seems to have wings and err..... could just be a bird! Some of the introductions just plant a suggestion in your mind when all there is is wisps of clouds. You have have been warned!

Now where's that alien fleet UFOmania said was heading to Earth.....or as NASA tells us a bleeding asteroid of some sort.

Man's Inhumanity

It never ceases to amaze me how so many people can sink so low in their actions against fellow human beings. You would have thought that humanity would have learned a lesson when the scale of the Holocaust was uncovered and made public at the end of the Second World War.

Yet it didn't end there. Stalin's purges continued in his new colonies of Eastern Europe. Chairman Mao did his best to emulate and exceed his mentor in China and North Korea became one giant prison camp, Cambodia a death camp.

Even with the fall of communism the world continues in a spiral of hate and murder. Genocide in Rwanda and even in Europe once again as Yugoslavia fell apart.

Despite the fall of the "red menace", history has far from "ended" as Francis Fukuyama once proclaimed. The world has spawned a new menace. Religious fundamentalism in the form of a death cult around Islam as seen in al-Qaeda and in particular ISIS.

Mass torture, rape and murder. Genocide, proclaimed in the name of some non-existent entity.

Many of the participants originate from what is normally seen as the more tolerant and advanced Western nations. What propels men and women to go to another country and commit such unspeakable crimes? Is it just "Islam"?

Religious fanaticism is only part of the cause, albeit a major component.

There is also something else.

A basic evil that still lurks in the hearts of men.

Everybody has had bad thoughts for want of a better phrase during their lives. The difference is that most people do not act on these baser impulses. There are however those who simply let the inner beast come to the fore.

A prime example of this was seen on Facebook as four youths, young black men and women in this case acted out their violent tendencies on a young eighteen year old man, live for the world to see. There are indications the may have been a hate crime as racial abuse was clearly heard, but it has also been suggested one had a hate-on for his disabled classmate.

Either way these dangerous individuals need taking out of society. This wasn't their only crime. Other charges for stolen cars and burglary have been added to the assault and kidnapping rapsheet.

There can be no excuses for such barbaric behaviour. Crime is wrong regardless of colour, class or religion. None of these factors can be used as an excuse.

Sometimes people are just plain evil.