Despite being in my late fifties I only got my first computer last December and even then only because I had been forced to do so by the actions of the Socialist Party and PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka who had been running a vicious campaign to censor or end my controversial e-mails sent out inside the PCS union. Setting up a blog was actually an after-thought when I discovered the facilities that were on offer from using a Google Chrome Book.
My e-mail list is still going, but having a blog allows me to write about far more than just the union and related issues. Whilst it hasn't changed my political views as such I have found blogging has allowed me to develop my thoughts and support various campaigns that I feel are important.
Over the past year watching and writing about the crisis in the SWP has led me to look much more closely at women's rights, the actions and activities of the Islamists and their appeasers has bought my long standing atheism to the fore and the need to support the secularist movement both here and abroad.
The world of blogging is very competitive and although I knew the Internet was big (very big indeed), there are more blogs than it is possible to follow so for that reason I am humbled by the number of visitors that have come to Howie's Corner over the last 12 months.
So a big thank you to all my regular and occasional readers. I hope you will continue to pop in from time to time!
I would also like to express my thanks to David T, Sarah AB, Michael Ezra, Gene and the rest of the team at Harry's Place for all their advice, support and constructive criticism.
Thanks also go to Eric Lee of LabourStart a campaigning organisation for trade union rights which everyone should support.
Others that I would like to thank include Willie Samuel and Andy Magee (PCS), Anne Marie Waters (National Secular Society) and Phil BC of A very public sociologist.
Fianlly let's celebrate with a song from 1981 by Altered Images with lead singer the ever wonderful Clare Grogan!
Sunday, 15 December 2013
Saturday, 14 December 2013
Universities, clerical fascists and "Muslim Patrols" issue threatening letters in Brick Lane
The intervention by the Prime Minister in the current controversy over the decision by UK Universities to allow sexual segregation (or apartheid) on their premises has forced these appeasers of Islamism to back down. David Cameron was reported by The Times as saying:
I'm absolutely clear that their should be no segregated audiences for visiting speakers to universities in Britain. That is not the right approach, the guidance should not say that, universities should not allow this. I am very clear about this.
The fact that it has taken the intervention of a Conservative politician to protect women's rights should shame the left who by the way dominate and control the National Union of Students, who by the way agreed to this imposition in the first place.
This bizarre affair is a sign of the growing influence of clerical-fascist "Islamic Societies" in our senior educational establishments and shows the need for vigilance against the rise of extremism wherever it shows it's ugly head.
I found it equally disturbing to read another report about the activities of Islamists in the same paper that doesn't seem to have attracted that much publicity.
A group ofprotesters thugs led by Anjem Choudary , Al-Quaama and the Sharia Project marched down Brick Lane in London delivering letters to local Muslim shopkeepers telling them they faced "40 lashes" for selling alcohol at a time of year when the area is heavily used by visitors having office parties. The letter masquerades as a "legal notice":
This letter may be laughable from the point of view of us "Kuffar" but to the Muslims who have to live in the area, the bullying and threats are far too real. The authorites must act against these religious Nazi's.
Choudary (a former heavy drinker who reportedly was proud of being able to "down a pint of cider in seconds" in his student days) described Brick lane as "a den of inequity". However his actions have not been welcomed by even some of the other Islamist nutters. Even the East London Mosque, a haven for bigots raging against homosexuals, women's rights and Jews was forced to condemn this pathetic little stunt.
Those of us who believe in Human rights , which by the way includes women, gays, Jews needs to remain vigilant against the rise of Islamism.
The so called left obviously can't. Just look at their actions in NUS.
The Islamists should be treated just the same way we treat the BNP. Fight fascism in all it's forms!
I'm absolutely clear that their should be no segregated audiences for visiting speakers to universities in Britain. That is not the right approach, the guidance should not say that, universities should not allow this. I am very clear about this.
The fact that it has taken the intervention of a Conservative politician to protect women's rights should shame the left who by the way dominate and control the National Union of Students, who by the way agreed to this imposition in the first place.
This bizarre affair is a sign of the growing influence of clerical-fascist "Islamic Societies" in our senior educational establishments and shows the need for vigilance against the rise of extremism wherever it shows it's ugly head.
I found it equally disturbing to read another report about the activities of Islamists in the same paper that doesn't seem to have attracted that much publicity.
A group of
LEGAL NOTICE
Department of Business Regulation Tower Hamlets
RE: YOUR LICENCE TO SELL ALCOHOL HAS BEEN REVOKED – DO NOT IGNORE THIS LETTER
Dear Business Owner
This letter is legal notice that you have no legal permission to sell, serve or stock alcohol at your premises. If you are still stocking, serving or selling any alcoholic products beverages, you must cease immediately. Failure to comply with this notice to cease trading in alcoholic products is illegal and you will be liable to severe penalties as will be explained in this letter.
Please note that you have no right to appeal this decision and you cannot apply for any further licences to serve alcohol on these premises or any other businesses you are associated with. You have been formally warned that you are breaking the Prohibition of the sale of alcohol lawchapter 4, sect. 90
The penalty for failing to cease drinking, serving or selling alcohol includes the curse of Allah, punishment by hellfire in the afterlife and if found guilty in a shariah court following the establishment of the upcoming Islamic state you could be liable to forty lashes publically. of the Quran, which states: “Alcohol, gambling, divination of arrows are only abominations of satan, so leave it so that you can be successful.”
And in the tradition of Muhammad recorded in Abu Dawood v.4 p.207, “Whenever Allah has prohibited a thing, it is prohibited to benefit from it or its outcome.” And in Musnad Ahmed, “Verily if Allah has prohibited for people the consumption of a thing, He also has prohibited its sale.”
And in Tirmidhi No.2776, Anas ibn Malik narrated that “Allah's Messenger cursed ten people in connection with alcohol: the presser, the one who has it pressed, the one who drinks it, the one who conveys it, the one to whom it is conveyed, the one who serves it, the one who sells it, the one who benefits from the price paid for it, the one who buys it, and the one for whom it is bought.”
DO NOT IGNORE THIS LETTER
If you have any questions regarding this notice or if you would like more information about what to do next, please visit http://www.iqaamah.co.uk/legalnotice/ or you can contact us by phone on 07956041034. For further information in Bengali contact 07939349760. Department of Business Regulation Tower Hamlets.
This letter may be laughable from the point of view of us "Kuffar" but to the Muslims who have to live in the area, the bullying and threats are far too real. The authorites must act against these religious Nazi's.
Choudary (a former heavy drinker who reportedly was proud of being able to "down a pint of cider in seconds" in his student days) described Brick lane as "a den of inequity". However his actions have not been welcomed by even some of the other Islamist nutters. Even the East London Mosque, a haven for bigots raging against homosexuals, women's rights and Jews was forced to condemn this pathetic little stunt.
Those of us who believe in Human rights , which by the way includes women, gays, Jews needs to remain vigilant against the rise of Islamism.
The so called left obviously can't. Just look at their actions in NUS.
The Islamists should be treated just the same way we treat the BNP. Fight fascism in all it's forms!
A dark day for gay rights
Two Indian Supreme Court judges just decided that gay sex is illegal.ILLEGAL!! But if we act fast we can help reverse this crazy backwards ruling.
Men and women in India now face police harassment and life imprisonment. This hateful decision is being met with outrage, and if we nowshow India that outlawing love is making them an international embarrassment we can get the Indian Parliament to fast track passing a law that the judges have to respect.
Sign now to help love conquer fear in India. When we reach 1 million we’ll get all our names written onhundreds of giant hearts ringing the Indian parliament, then place prominent ads showing that the world will no longer accept making love illegal:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/indias_gay_outrage_loc/?bGxOFfb&v=32697
The shocking court decision came as a surprise. In 2009, a lower court in India had ruled that a colonial-era law making gay sex illegal violated the Indian Constitution. Most people expected the Indian Supreme Court to uphold that ruling. Instead, they reversed it, endorsing the medieval argument that gay sex is "unnatural, immoral and a reflection of a perverse mind."
Indian lawyers are already preparing to challenge the decision in further legal proceedings, but the Indian Court essentially said this is an issue for the Indian Parliament to decide. The Indian government suggested they could take it to Parliament but that they likely won’t have the votes to change the law and that doing so could take a very long time. But if we make India an international scandal for outlawing gay sex, we can help swing votes and speed the process.
Sign now and send this to 10 others -- let’s make the response to the Indian Supreme Court’s decision overwhelming:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/indias_gay_outrage_loc/?bGxOFfb&v=32697
In most of the world, gay rights have gone through a watershed decade. People everywhere are realizing, if they hadn’t already, that love is love and deserves respect and protection. But this didn’t happen by accident -- it happened because of conscientious communities like ours who called out injustice wherever we saw it. India is now the next frontier -- let’s join with those in India to stand up for love.
With hope and determination,
Ian, Alex, Alice, Julien, Christoph, Melanie, Emilie, Ricken and the entire Avaaz team
“Gay for a Day!” on Facebook:
Men and women in India now face police harassment and life imprisonment. This hateful decision is being met with outrage, and if we nowshow India that outlawing love is making them an international embarrassment we can get the Indian Parliament to fast track passing a law that the judges have to respect.
Sign now to help love conquer fear in India. When we reach 1 million we’ll get all our names written onhundreds of giant hearts ringing the Indian parliament, then place prominent ads showing that the world will no longer accept making love illegal:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/indias_gay_outrage_loc/?bGxOFfb&v=32697
The shocking court decision came as a surprise. In 2009, a lower court in India had ruled that a colonial-era law making gay sex illegal violated the Indian Constitution. Most people expected the Indian Supreme Court to uphold that ruling. Instead, they reversed it, endorsing the medieval argument that gay sex is "unnatural, immoral and a reflection of a perverse mind."
Indian lawyers are already preparing to challenge the decision in further legal proceedings, but the Indian Court essentially said this is an issue for the Indian Parliament to decide. The Indian government suggested they could take it to Parliament but that they likely won’t have the votes to change the law and that doing so could take a very long time. But if we make India an international scandal for outlawing gay sex, we can help swing votes and speed the process.
Sign now and send this to 10 others -- let’s make the response to the Indian Supreme Court’s decision overwhelming:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/indias_gay_outrage_loc/?bGxOFfb&v=32697
In most of the world, gay rights have gone through a watershed decade. People everywhere are realizing, if they hadn’t already, that love is love and deserves respect and protection. But this didn’t happen by accident -- it happened because of conscientious communities like ours who called out injustice wherever we saw it. India is now the next frontier -- let’s join with those in India to stand up for love.
With hope and determination,
Ian, Alex, Alice, Julien, Christoph, Melanie, Emilie, Ricken and the entire Avaaz team
Other protests you can support:
“Gay for a Day!” on Facebook:
“All you have to do is change your profile picture to one in which you are kissing someone from your gender in protest of the Supreme Court of India’s ruling that criminalizes homosexuality.”
Protests planned for Dec. 15 in Kolkata, Toronto, Kinshasa, Mumbai, London, Cambridge, Chennai, Delhi, Ann Arbor, and Sydney, and probably more locations.
Friday, 13 December 2013
UK: Country’s largest unions to protest together with Israel-haters
Cross-posted from TULIP
Trade Unions Linking Israel and Palestine
Trade Unions Linking Israel and Palestine
Friends of Al Aqsa UK (FOA) supports the destruction of the Jewish state, supports Hamas (a terrorist organisation) and quotes Holocaust deniers. Its website is full of nonsensical fake-history trying to prove that Jews have no right to their own country and general Israel-bashing. (There’s more about them HERE.)
Next month, it will protest together with the “Palestinian Forum in Britain” and the “British Muslim Initiative” at the Israeli embassy in London. The event has been called to commemorate “Israel’s 2008/9 massacre in Gaza”.
Among the other sponsors of the event are two of Britain’s largest trade unions — PCS and Unite the Union — unions which ostensibly still support the TUC position calling for peace and two-state solution.
What will they be doing there? When the demonstrators chant “From the river to the sea!” (as they usually do on these occasions), will the British trade unionists challenge them?
Next month, it will protest together with the “Palestinian Forum in Britain” and the “British Muslim Initiative” at the Israeli embassy in London. The event has been called to commemorate “Israel’s 2008/9 massacre in Gaza”.
Among the other sponsors of the event are two of Britain’s largest trade unions — PCS and Unite the Union — unions which ostensibly still support the TUC position calling for peace and two-state solution.
What will they be doing there? When the demonstrators chant “From the river to the sea!” (as they usually do on these occasions), will the British trade unionists challenge them?
Thursday, 12 December 2013
Two important trade union appeals
Frito-Lay's rights-busters on duty in India!
Earlier this year 162 workers out of 170 employed in three warehouses exclusively contracted by PepsiCo in West Bengal organized a union and submitted their demands. They were harassed, assaulted by company goons and then brutally fired.
In May 2013, they were allowed to return to work, but under conditions that strip them of their human rights.
They were told they can return to work if they declare they will never again join a union, made to sign false statements which they were told were legally binding, and told to cut up their union cards and step on them as they walked into the warehouses. Those who refused were told they will never work again and that they will be blacklisted by all local employers.
Despite threats, harassment, home visits by management and economic hardship, 28 of these unfairly dismissed workers have refused to surrender their rights. In August they formed the PepsiCo (Frito-Lays) Workers Action Committee and escalated the campaign.
CLICK HERE TO SEND A MESSAGE TO PEPSICO demanding unconditional reinstatement of the 28 workers with full back pay and full recognition of their trade union rights.
They were told they can return to work if they declare they will never again join a union, made to sign false statements which they were told were legally binding, and told to cut up their union cards and step on them as they walked into the warehouses. Those who refused were told they will never work again and that they will be blacklisted by all local employers.
Despite threats, harassment, home visits by management and economic hardship, 28 of these unfairly dismissed workers have refused to surrender their rights. In August they formed the PepsiCo (Frito-Lays) Workers Action Committee and escalated the campaign.
CLICK HERE TO SEND A MESSAGE TO PEPSICO demanding unconditional reinstatement of the 28 workers with full back pay and full recognition of their trade union rights.
More info: http://cms.iuf.org/
One of them, Roza Tuletaeva, today celebrates her birthday in prison.
Today is Human Rights Day, and the day the world celebrates the life of Nelson Mandela who was once a political prisoner himself.
And today trade unions in Kazakhstan and elsewhere have called for a major global campaign demanding the release of Roza and the others.
Please take a moment to read more and add your name to the global appeal to the Kazakh president:
http://www.labourstartcampaigns.net/show_campaign.cgi?c=2092&src=lsmm
After you've signed, please spread the word to your friends, family and fellow union members.
More info: http://www.labourstart.org/2013/
Wednesday, 11 December 2013
Is the world going backwards?
There are times I wonder in which direction the world is going.
There's the rise of violent Islamism, the nutty creationists in America, Sarah Palin's "Tea Party" (exactly what drugs was John McCain on when he chose that nut job as his running mate for President of the US of A), and even some Buddhist admirers of the EDL apparently who were behind a progrom against Muslims in Burma.
And the rest.
Only today two more stories caught my attention. The first from the 76 Crimes website which reported that India has now made homosexuality illegal again as the result of moves by a combination of Muslim, Hindu and Christian groups. The New York Times reports:
NEW DELHI — The Indian Supreme Court reinstated on Wednesday a colonial-era law banning gay sex, ruling that it had been struck down improperly by a lower court.
The 1861 law, which imposes a 10 year sentence for “carnal intercourse against the order of nature with man, woman or animal,” was ruled unconstitutional in a 2009 decision. But the Supreme Court held that only Parliament has the power to change that law.
There is almost no chance that Parliament will act where the Supreme Court did not, advocates and opponents of the law agreed. With the Bharatiya Janata Party, a conservative Hindu nationalist group, appearing in ascendancy before national elections in the spring, the prospect of any legislative change in the next few years is highly unlikely, analysts said.
Anjali Gopalan, founder of a charity that sued to overturn the 1861 law, said she was shocked by the ruling.
“This is taking many, many steps back,” Ms. Gopalan said. “The Supreme Court has not just let down the L.G.B.T. community,” she added, referring to gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders, “but the Constitution of India.”
S.Q.R. Ilyas, a member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, which filed a petition in support of the reversal, d, praised Wednesday’s ruling.
“These relationships are unethical as well as unnatural,” Dr. Ilyas said. “They create problems in society, both moral and social. This is a sin as far as Islam is concerned.”
India has a rich history of eunuchs and transgender people who serve critical roles in important social functions and whose blessings are eagerly sought. Transgender people often approach cars sitting at traffic lights here and ask for money, and many Indians — fearing a powerful curse if they refuse — hand over small bills.
Despite this history, Indians are in the main deeply conservative about issues of sexuality and personal morality. National surveys show that Indians widely disapprove of homosexuality and, on average, have few sexual partners throughout their lives.
Given that Putin's Russia has begun a drive against Gays there is a worrying trend about men and women being persecuted over their sexual preferences in an age where once tolerance was once beginning to grow.
Scientology has been recognised officially as a “religion” after Britain’s highest court swept aside 158 years of law to rule that worshipping a god is not essential to religion.
In a landmark judgement, five Supreme Court Justices redefined religion in law in order to enable the group to conduct weddings.
It follows a five-year legal battle by Louisa Hodkin, a 25-year-old scientologist, who was seeking the right to get married at the Church of Scientology chapel in central London, which she attends.
Miss Hodkin and her fiancé Alessandro Calcioli, who were at court to hear the judgement handed down, hailed the decision as a victory for freedom of worship.
But ministers voiced alarm that it could open the way for the group to claim lucrative tax breaks worth hundreds of thousands of pounds a year and other legal privileges.
I don’t condemn them at all. They are upstanding, upright members of the Muslim community. Their character is immaculate, they are fantastic individuals. People say much worse things on football terraces.
There's the rise of violent Islamism, the nutty creationists in America, Sarah Palin's "Tea Party" (exactly what drugs was John McCain on when he chose that nut job as his running mate for President of the US of A), and even some Buddhist admirers of the EDL apparently who were behind a progrom against Muslims in Burma.
And the rest.
Only today two more stories caught my attention. The first from the 76 Crimes website which reported that India has now made homosexuality illegal again as the result of moves by a combination of Muslim, Hindu and Christian groups. The New York Times reports:
NEW DELHI — The Indian Supreme Court reinstated on Wednesday a colonial-era law banning gay sex, ruling that it had been struck down improperly by a lower court.
The 1861 law, which imposes a 10 year sentence for “carnal intercourse against the order of nature with man, woman or animal,” was ruled unconstitutional in a 2009 decision. But the Supreme Court held that only Parliament has the power to change that law.
There is almost no chance that Parliament will act where the Supreme Court did not, advocates and opponents of the law agreed. With the Bharatiya Janata Party, a conservative Hindu nationalist group, appearing in ascendancy before national elections in the spring, the prospect of any legislative change in the next few years is highly unlikely, analysts said.
Anjali Gopalan, founder of a charity that sued to overturn the 1861 law, said she was shocked by the ruling.
“This is taking many, many steps back,” Ms. Gopalan said. “The Supreme Court has not just let down the L.G.B.T. community,” she added, referring to gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders, “but the Constitution of India.”
S.Q.R. Ilyas, a member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, which filed a petition in support of the reversal, d, praised Wednesday’s ruling.
“These relationships are unethical as well as unnatural,” Dr. Ilyas said. “They create problems in society, both moral and social. This is a sin as far as Islam is concerned.”
India has a rich history of eunuchs and transgender people who serve critical roles in important social functions and whose blessings are eagerly sought. Transgender people often approach cars sitting at traffic lights here and ask for money, and many Indians — fearing a powerful curse if they refuse — hand over small bills.
Despite this history, Indians are in the main deeply conservative about issues of sexuality and personal morality. National surveys show that Indians widely disapprove of homosexuality and, on average, have few sexual partners throughout their lives.
Given that Putin's Russia has begun a drive against Gays there is a worrying trend about men and women being persecuted over their sexual preferences in an age where once tolerance was once beginning to grow.
76 Crimes now reports that there are 83 countries where homosexuality is now illegal.
The other story which I read with more of a bemused horror was the decision of the British Supreme Court to recognise the bizarre ideas Scientology as a religion. The Daily Telegraph reports:
Scientology has been recognised officially as a “religion” after Britain’s highest court swept aside 158 years of law to rule that worshipping a god is not essential to religion.
In a landmark judgement, five Supreme Court Justices redefined religion in law in order to enable the group to conduct weddings.
It follows a five-year legal battle by Louisa Hodkin, a 25-year-old scientologist, who was seeking the right to get married at the Church of Scientology chapel in central London, which she attends.
Miss Hodkin and her fiancé Alessandro Calcioli, who were at court to hear the judgement handed down, hailed the decision as a victory for freedom of worship.
But ministers voiced alarm that it could open the way for the group to claim lucrative tax breaks worth hundreds of thousands of pounds a year and other legal privileges.
The words "God help us" crossed my lips, which doesn't make much sense for an atheist I know, but sometimes I pine for the simpler times when the nearest religion got to bothering me was the local Vicar asking for stuff for the Church Jumble sale. I'd settle for that now.
As for Scientology being a religion? One has to be careful what one says as they are a highly litigious lot indeed and probably employ their minions to monitor the web. Personally I think all religion is superstitious nonsense, just some are more dangerous than others.
Thing is Scientology only seems to appeal to the rich and bored as their "courses" cost thousands of pounds I'm told. For now I'll stick to keeping an eye on the Islamist nutters like Anjem Choudary who had this to say about the men sentenced to prison for being part of the violent "Muslim Patrol". The London Evening Standard reports his words of wisdom:
That doesn't make it right though does it pal.
What to make of all this?
It all makes as much sense as this song from the Goons (released in 1956) which came to mind as I wrote this post.
So long as we all have a sense of humour there is hope.......
Tuesday, 10 December 2013
John Wight: A patsy for imperialism
No arguments anymore though. Communism (such as it was) has fallen and the remains of the Soviet Union has pushed the remaining comrades to the side-lines, become a full bloodied capitalist society complete with its own imperial ambitions, though it's clientele remain remarkably similar to the one from their soviet glory days.
One of the odder left wing websites is Socialist Unity, inhabited by lefty caricatures such as Andy Newman and Tony Collins who mix old fashioned Stalinism with a large dash of Islamism with a twisted measure of what they disingenuously call anti-Zionism. However it is the third member of this unsavoury coterie that is under the spotlight tonight, a certain John Wight.
In an article on Russia Today (the clear propaganda arm of the Putin regime) John Wight plays the role of a "Lord Haw-Haw" in promoting the agenda of the Russian regime by seeking to undermine the British prime Ministers visit to China in tones that would have done Goebbels proud. No country has a perfect past, not Britain and certainly not China, but times move on even if political malcontents like Wight cannot recognise it. For the record once China saw all outsiders and foreigners as "inferiors" and became insular, a move that stunted its' development and allowed competing colonial powers to gain the upper hand.
Of course this is all history, the worlds a smaller place now and most nations (North Korea and Iran excepted) have recognised the new reality. The growth of Chinese capitalism has been phenomenal, a point which is beyond doubt. But the people of China have paid a terrible price. Despite being ruled by a "Communist" Party, the country is a nightmare for large sections of its' workforce. No trade unions, a lack of health and safety in the workplace, widespread corruption and a large entrepreneurial business class that has made vast amounts of money on the workers backs.
Did I mention the all too obvious pollution?
Then there's the genocide being perpetrated in Tibet, suppression of the Uyghurs and other minorities. Please don't try to practise your religion either. Your Christian faith could leave you in jail. According to the pro-Assad, pro-Ayatollah John Wight these "pale into insignificance" when compared to Britain's. Even if true (which it isn't) there is still no excuse for dismissing the all too obvious Human Rights issues in China.
And that's without even considering the millions murdered by Chairman Mao and the Communist Party over the years they were in power .
Wight then criticises the US and Japan for not recognising the suddenly imposed "air defence zone" around some uninhabited (and contested) islands in the middle of nowhere. Of course that couldn't be a Chinese imperialist manoeuvre could it? Exactly who is the provocateur here?
Of course Wight's hatchet job serves another imperialism, that of Russia, which combined with his oft said support for the brutal client states under the imperial Russian banner (Syria and Iran) its no wonder he seeks to earn a rouble or two with his twisted words.
Putin has found his man in John Wight.
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