Today is International Blasphemy Day!

Cross-post by Maryam Namazie

A quarter of the world’s countries and territories (26%) have anti-blasphemy laws or policies, and more than one-in-ten (13%) countries have laws or policies penalizing apostasy.
According to Pew research, laws restricting apostasy and blasphemy are most common in the Middle East and North Africa, where 18 of the region’s 20 countries (90%) criminalize blasphemy and 14 (70%) criminalize apostasy. While apostasy laws exist in two other regions of the world – Asia-Pacific and sub-Saharan Africa – blasphemy laws can be found in all regions, including Europe (in 16% of countries) and the Americas (29%).

The 14 countries that have the death penalty for blasphemy are all countries with Islamic law: Afghanistan, Brunei, Iran, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

66 countries have blasphemy laws: Afghanistan, Algeria, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brazil, Brunei, Comoros, Cyprus, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Finland, Germany, Grenada, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Mauritius, Montenegro, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Russia, Rwanda, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Somalia, South Sudan, Spain, Sri Lanka, St Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Sudan, Suriname, Switzerland, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Vanuatu, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe. (It used to be 71 but Canada, Denmark, Greece, Malta and New Zealand have dropped blasphemy codes from their books recently.)

On 30 September, International Blasphemy Day, let's stand with blasphemers across the globe.
Blasphemy is not a crime; it is an integral part of freedom of expression and conscience. 

#EndBlasphemyLaws #BlasphemyNotACrime #BlasphemyDay

#IAmBasukiTjahajaPurnama #Indonesia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basuki_Tjahaja_Purnama…

#IAmSohailArabi #Iran
https://www.en-hrana.org/tag/sohail-arabi

#IAmSinaDehghan #Iran https://www.independent.co.uk/…/iranian-man-sina-dehgham-de…

#IAmPeymanMirzazadeh #Iran
https://iran-hrm.com/…/kurdish-singer-hunger-strikes-after…/

#iAmSaharEliasi #IAmMohammadNouri #Iran
https://www.iranhumanrights.org/…/young-man-facing-death-f…/

#IAmSherifGaber #Egypt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNXMBH5mIX0

#IAmShahabMurtadhaGhafouri #Kuwait
https://www.alaraby.co.uk/…/instagram-influencer-arrested-o…

#IAmMohamedRusthumMujuthab #Maldives https://www.ex-muslim.org.uk/…/demanding-the-unconditional…/

#IAmAbdulInyass #Nigeria
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35241608

#IAmTaimoorReza #Pakistan
https://www.theguardian.com/…/pakistan-man-sentenced-to-dea…

#IAmAyazNizami #Pakistan
https://www.secularism.org.uk/…/pakistani-twitter-users-cal…

#IAmShafqatEmmanuel #IAmShaguftaKausar #Pakistan https://en.wikipedia.org/…/Shafqat_Emmanuel_and_Shagufta_Ka…

#IAmAhmedAl_Shamri #SaudiArabia
https://www.independent.co.uk/…/saudi-arabia-man-sentenced-…

#iAmRaifBadawi #SaudiArabia
https://www.indexoncensorship.org/…/raif-badawi-saudi-arab…/

#IAmMahmoudJamaAhmed_Hamdi #Somalia https://samaynta.com/…/university-professor-in-somalia-se…/…

#IAmJabeurMejri #Tunisia
https://pen-international.org/…/tunisia-blogger-denied-pard…

Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB)
Ex-Muslims of North America
Ex-Muslims of Norway
Council of Ex-Muslims of Sri Lanka
Faithless Hijabi
Freethought Lebanon
Säkulare Flüchtlingshilfe - Österreich
Mouvement Alternatif pour les Libertés Individuelles - Maroc

Space 1999 Rebooted!

One of the much loved Gerry Anderson series, Space 1999 has at last returned albeit in a new format with new actors. In association with Big Finish, the Gerry Anderson company has launched what will hopefully be the first of an on-going audio series on CD and download. The special edition has already sold out and the Gerry Anderson store had none in stock when I finally got around to ordering it but more have now arrived!

Like many my age Space 199 was Saturday afternoon viewing back in the day as were all of Gerry Anderson's adventures like Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlett and Stingray. Adventure for all the family. Times move on and this update reboots everything we once thought we knew and although familiar has a number of changes both in the origin and forthcoming stories some of which will be remakes and others totally new adventures.

So how does this compare? It's different that's all. The classic show will always remain a highpoint of Gerry Anderson's output and a fond memory for it's fans and can be seen in re-runs on The Forces Channel (Freeview Channel 96). With familiar theme tunes and sound effects it's only getting used to the new cast that is required.

And a good cast it is indeed Mark Bonnar plays Commander John Keoneg, Maria Teresa Creasy plays Dr Helena Russel and  Clive Haywood plays Prof Victor Bergman amongst others.

This first double CD is the "origin" story rewritten as astraunauts die in mysterious circumstances and of course there is one almighty explosion that sends the Moon out of Earths orbit and into science fiction history. The adventure has begun and I look forward to hearing more.

Space 1999 can be obtained via: shop.gerryanderson.co.uk

New Music from Baby Metal & Steel Panther

Taken from their forthcoming album Metal Galaxy, Baby Metal perform Shanti Shanti Shanti a Japanese-Indian fusion of metal. Shanti means peace in Hindi. Performing on this track is new Baby Metal member Riho Sayashi who is from the band Morning Musume. I'm not sure that she will be a permanent member of the band but certainly makes a good replacement for the sadly departed Yui Metal.

Metal Galaxy is released on CD & Vinyl October 11th




Official website: www.babymetal.com

The latest album from the American heavy metal band Steel Panther,was released yesterday and is their usual over the top lyrics and antics which are not for the faint-hearted or the politically correct. In fct most of their material isn't probably acceptable in decent company but hey-ho there we go.

The following video and song will cause offence as does all their other material so don't say you weren't warned. otherwise enjoy and have a laugh as if you were a schoolboy back in the seventies....



Official website: www.steelpantherrocks.com

Three thrillers for autumn evenings

As the evenings close in and the curtains draw relaxing in the armchair with a good book is a splendid way to spend time immersed in mystery, mayhem and murder. Not literally of course more in a literary way...

Kicking off my recent choices is The Chestnut Man  by Soern Sviestrup (Penguin £12.99 Hardback)  set in Denmark and concerning a crime long thought resolved and the perpetrator imprisoned. A story ranging from a dim past to the modern day full of red herrings and literally little men made of chestnuts found at the scene.

Slow to start but builds as Naia Thulin and a disgraced former Europol officer Mark Hess look at a muder with connections to the missing daughter of a senior politician Rosa Hartung. Then there is another. A race is on. If you are a fan of Scandinavian thrillers this will appeal. Readerss may be familiar with the authors work as scriptwriter for The Killing.

Purchased on a whim after a glance at the book charts in The Sunday Times Peter James latest novel Absolute Proof (Pan Paperback £8.99) proved an entertaining page turner as Journalist Ross Hunter meets with a seemingly wacky professor who says he has evidence of God's actual existence. Crazy huh? So how come this man knows about the strange experience he had when his twin brother passed. More to the point why are all these people trying to stop him.

A multi-national pharmaceutical company, a money grabbing telly-preacher (only $25 a prayer), the Vatican and MI5 have all taken an interest. A globe trotting epic in the vein of The Da Vinci Code. I liked this one and have already picked up his latest hardback, The Secret of Cold Hill which will be reviewed in due course.

Finally I've just completed reading The Wych Elm by Tana French (Penguin £8.99) which was recommended to me by a member of Waterstones staff. I have differences with what she thought of the novel and it's characters. I thought the main protagonist was just an ordinary "Joe" or "Paddy" (since this was set in Dublin) whilst she thought he was unlikable from the beginning. Either way it takes more than a while for the main story to become apparent and even then the twists and turns are unexpected all the way through to the end.

Of the the three this is probably the best in terms of mystery, in-depth characterisation and exploration of the human psyche.

Doctor Who: Tartarus

Continuing the adventures of the fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) with Nyssa (Sarah Sutton) and Tegan Jovanka (Janet Fielding) this audio drama takes us to Cicero's villa. The Doctor has always wanted to meet the great orator of Rome and posing as a Roman travelling with his two sisters gate crashes the party.

This being a Doctor Who adventure means that all is not well and as strange green lights appear in the sky just in time to stop Tegan from being thrown out of the party there is also an earthquake. The Doctor, his companions, Cicero, Septus and Mark take shelter in wine cellar.

Next thing they are no longer in Kansas as they say and wake to a world of the gods with giants, baby dragons and adventure. Is this the afterlife. Who or what is Tartarus and what does she want.

Also starring Tracy-Ann Oberman as Tartarus.

Overall a middling adventure but entertaining edition of the regular series produced by Big Finish that help fill those months of no Doctor on TV.  Plenty more where that came from.

Check them out: www.bigfinish.com

Jackie Walkers witch hunt continues

Guest Post by Mel Gharial

Last Thursday, I decided to return to my South London roots and attend the Labour Against the Witch Hunt meeting at the 336 building in Brixton, hosted by the Caribbean Labour solidarity campaign.

There were only a few people there when I arrived, including Jackie Walker, but thankfully I wasn't recognised and found a seat. However, I must have looked a bit suspicious as a man immediately came over and asked what I was doing there. As I didn't want him asking me about my links to the labour party, I quickly responded by saying that i was meant to be coming with my friend who was ill, but had ended up coming on my own and didn't know too much about it.

The meeting kicked off by talking about the awful Zionists and how they suppress everything and how Mr Corbyn is a life long campaigner for racism and antisemitism.( I was wondering if it was comedy hour, but no!)

They then showed a film which implied that Zionists have now joined forces with the 'far right' and went on to show TR and several other people who they define as 'far right'. I won't go into the film as it can be viewed online, but unsurprisingly it was totally one-sided and showed all my fellow Zionists in a negative light. ( My main concern at this stage was that MY face was next to be shown in the film😟)

Once the film finished, Ms Walker then went on to hold a short question and answers session where she went in to say that the most abused politicians are not Jews, but Dionne Abbot! (Nothing to do with her being a crap MP!🤔)

There was only one person there who stood up for the Jewish community and she brought up the fact of how Jewish people in the labour party are treated, only to be told that she had said enough and an aggressive member of the audience told her to 'shut up'

In fact, every time antisemitism was mentioned, Ms Walker would turn it round to how much abuse she has suffered and still suffers on a daily basis. The man who was chairing the meeting also kept repeating that antisemitism is always being spoken about, but not other forms of racism which are always overlooked and there should also not be a hierarchy when recognising holocaust memorial day.

A member of the JVL(Jewish voice for Labour) then went on to say that Luciana Berger is a liar and how much support he gets from orthodox jews. He also went on to tell the audience that David Collier is being helped by Mossad and that we need to ask questions, this was followed by nods of agreement. Ms Walker then went on to say that all orthodox Jews are anti-Zionist, Corbyn supporters and why are they being silenced.

Again, Ms Walker turned the conversation round to to the lack of people of colour in the labour party because they feel abused and the fact that we are always concentrating on antisemitism.

Finally, I asked why she thinks that antisemitism has risen in the last few years and again she replied that it is just as bad for other minorities.

There were loads of questions I would have liked to have asked but there was no time left.

Someone then passed a hat around to help pay for Ms Walker's expenses. I didn't have any change, but funnily enough I had a shekel in my bag from my last trip to Israel and I couldn't resist! 🤣

Labour's Lost

Normally given the opportunity to be at home I would be furiously blogging about the Labour Party fringe with bewildered amusement and dipping in and out of proceedings on the television. Not any more. The fringe have become mainstream, the debates hopeless, the racism apparent as the chair of the Jewish Labour Movement gets jeered and hissed when he mentions a certain type of racism.

The police have removed an anti-Semitic poster from outside the conference hall. Why delegates didn't tear it down shows how degenerated the party has become following the influx of the politically deranged and unwashed that were usually found on demonstrations shouting slogans and never taking any responsibility for their demands or actions.

Because they never had to. Just like Jeremy Corbyn these people are a movement of slogans, simple black & white outlooks on life and intolerant to anyone that does not agree, Even amongst themselves.

However not is well with the party (not that there's anything new with that) as the comrades disown their own student organisation, try to depose their deputy leader which the old fool Compo denies having any pre-knowledge of which either way is disturbing for someone supposedly in charge of the whole shebang.

At the same time Compo likes to sit on the fence of the biggest political crisis since Suez pretending he's neutral when everyone knows that he has been against the EU since as far back as anyone can remember. Honesty has actually never been his strong-point.

Neither has his dismissal of the concerns of the Jewish community after all as his mates say on the left Jews are not an oppressed minority. They are white and privileged. Rich businessmen and there's Zionists everywhere controlling the banks and the media. A world wide conspiracy according to many of his acolytes.

Meanwhile as the comrades turn to social engineering us all in their fairy tale ideology the ordinary working men and women of this country have been forgotten. The individual does not count, only the class.

Stalinism is afoot.