Updates at Howie's Corner

I decided to make some more changes to the recommended blogs and websites list on Howie's Corner and perhaps bring them to the attention of you, the reader. 

They are not all political. I decided a long time ago to include non political posts starting with music, then comedy and always do some Christmas Interludes with something different.

First up the new political websites 

In keeping with my idea of looking at writing from left to right within certain perimeters. I sincerely believe that people should read articles from places that they might not normally agree with rather than go to favoured sites just to get one's views "reinforced". The "little grey cells" need challenging!

There will be no Socialist Worker but Shiraz Socialist & Tendance Coatsey have always been a worthwhile read. There will be no UKIP or For Britain but I have added the blog of former UKIP Councillor Cliff Dixon who is an anti-fascist and produced an excellent report on the recent so-called march against racism. Go to: English Patriot.

More controversially I've also added Geller Report & Jihad Watch which are worth dipping into from time to time but are not everybody's "cup of tea".

Mean while the Trans-wars have seen the addition of Posie Parker as a confirmed "TERF" who campaigns for women's rights to be protected from men self-identifying as women. Her work along with that of others such as Feminist Current should be supported.

Finally I've added a new website Church and State which "challenges religious privilege in public life" which along with The Freethinker exposes some of the nonsense we get from religion. 

Meanwhile I'm now including some non-political links. 

First up is Radio a favourite Medium of mine. Radio 4 & Radio 4 Extra do some excellent stuff but if you want to find out news about the subject please try out Radio Today

Then there's my two favourite radio stations: Radio Caroline which is on DAB and on-line where there are extra stations including a "flashback" channel playing sixties and seventies singles on-line only.

The other station I'm a big fan of is Planet Rock with shows from the Hairy Bikers and Alice Cooper. Nuff Said!

Sticking with music readers may have noticed I'm a big fan of the Japanese rock scene. With this in mind I recommend this site where you can buy Japanese music in the UK. Have a look at: JPU Records.

Next up is a cookery blog. This one particularly interested me because it's Jewish cuisine with a modern twist. Have fun at Tori Avey!

I also have another blog which I've been a bit tardy in posting on this month but that will soon be rectified. However recent posts include a tribute to the late, great Stan Lee. Please go to: Howie's World of Comics.

And don't forget I have a Facebook page with lot's of public posts about politics and more. Friend or follow me at: Howard Fuller Facebook.

Finally for no reason other than I hadn't played this in years is the Penguin Cafe Orchestra:

For Britain Party lurches further right

Photo: By Source Fair use

The For Britain party which broke away from UKIP after Anne Marie Waters was defeated in the leadership election is preparing for a move onto the European scene. In UK terms it remains a small fringe party which has participated in events with the Democratic Football Lads Alliance and Tommy Robinson.

However Anne Marie Waters has journeyed to Brussels to a meeting of the  Movement For A Europe of Nations and Freedom (MENL) organised for her by Janice Atkinson a former MEP for UKIP who now sits as an independent in the European Parliament. Atkinson was expelled by UKIP for "bringing the party into disrepute" after an expenses scandal.

  

The MENL brings together far-right organisations such as the Freedom Party of Austria founded by a former SS Officer and National Rally formerly know as the National Front led by Marie Le Pen in France.  Other smaller groups include: Vaalams Belang (Belgium) New Right (Greece) and Lega Nord (Italy).

Their website (www.menleuropa.eu) states they stand for:

Respect of the principle of Democracy:

The movement and the individual members of the political movement base their political project in conformity with the democratic principles and the charter of fundamental rights and therefore reject any past or present affiliation, connection or sympathy to any authoritarian or totalitarian project.

Sovereignty

MENF is convinced that the sovereignty of states and peoples, relying on the cooperation between nations, and therefore reject any policy designed to create a supra-state or supra-national model. The opposition to any transfer of national sovereignty to supranational bodies and/or European institutions is one of the fundamental principles uniting members of the MENF.

Identity
The parties and individual MEPs of the MENF base their political alliance on the preservation of the identity of the peoples and nations of Europe, in accordance with the specific characteristics of each people. The right to control and regulate immigration is thus a fundamental principle shared by the members of the MENF.

The populist agenda is quite clear and much of what they say they stand for sounds highly plausible to much of the electorate after years of seemingly corrupt politicians on an EU gravy train (listening Mrs Atkinson?) and high immigration. The latter being a concern never properly addressed by the left in particular let alone the establishment.

The mass immigration of "Muslims" from the Middle East coming to something like a million newcomers was a shock to German society which resulted in the growth of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) rocketing in both the polls and elections.

The Afd currently have 92 MP's in the 709 seat Bundestag. They however belong to a rival right wing federation, the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD) which ironically also contains UKIP which makes Nigel Farage's complaints about Tommy Robinson fade into obscurity in this far-right group.

Of course For Britain have no MP's and only one local councillor as far as I am aware but obviously hope that their membership of the MENL will give it some international standing and improve their profile in the UK.

Sadly their leader Anne Marie Waters used to be in the Labour Party but left after being persecuted by the far-left, but she has seemingly now completed a journey to the far-right despite not being a fascist or racist herself. For Britain was promoted as neither "left or right" but chumming up with the Austrian FPO and French RN (FN) would suggest differently.

Membership of the group remains to be formally confirmed but is likely to be agreed .

See also: 

Anne Marie Waters Resigns from the Labour Party,

Book Review: Beyond Terror - Anne Marie Waters 

Alan Sked founder of UKIP to launch new party

Photo: By The Sewell-Hohler Syndicate

It seems the decision  of the new UKIP leader Gerard Batten to employ the controversial figure Tommy Robinson has caused not just a handful of UKIP MEP's to quit and bring Nigel Farage back (again) to act as the "white Knight" to try and sane UKIP.

Normally I wouldn't read much of the news about Brexit (bored with it to be frank) but glanced at a letter in The Daily Telegraph and noticed it was from the founder of UKIP, Professor Alan Sked who wrote:

As the founder of UKIP, I can now only conclude that the party has lost it's way and should now dissolve itself.

His reasoning  being that Gerard Batten is "obsessed" with Islam which he condemns as a "death cult" and is joining up with the forces of the far right (that is Tommy Robinson).

Certainly Batten has been seen on marches organised by the Democratic Football Lads Alliance  (DFLA) which may attract the far right but isn't itself a fascist formation but more the creation of a backlash by the white working class who feel alienated by the current political establishment.

However Nigel Farage attract's the professors ire as he points out:

... is hardly in a position to criticise him. He (Farage) wanted to run former National Front candidates as UKIP ones in the 1979 general election (a request which as party leader I rejected)...

Professor Sked concludes by informing us that he is in the process of forming a "Democratic, non-racist" Brexit party.

Another one to add to the growing list of minor parties springing up all over the place.

Rabbi's Protest About "Jewish Voice for Labour"

Image: By Source, Fair use,

The following letter has been sent to Enfield and Southgate Labour Party following their decision to invite Roland Rance of the so-called "Jewish Voice for Labour" group who try to pretend anti-Semitism doesn't exist in the Labour Party. Further they even try to pretend it doesn't exist in outside society.

18 Kislev 5779

26 November 2018

To the attention of Valerie Lestrade – chairperson and Thushara Dassanayake - Secretary
Enfield Southgate Constituency Labour Party

Dear Ms Lestrade & Ms Dassanayake

We understand that the Enfield Southgate CLP has invited Roland Rance, a member of the Jewish Voices for Labour Group(JVL) to speak to you about anti-semitism in the Labour Party at the next CLP meeting under the inappropriate title of “Political Education”.

However, as leaders and representatives of the local Jewish community, we wanted to express our deep concern and anger at your decision to provide a platform to JVL to speak about an issue of major concern of the Jewish community in our constituency and beyond.

JVL are not in any way a representative body of the Jewish community or its opinions. They are out of touch with the vast majority of the Jewish community and they lack real understanding of the feelings and concerns of the community. They represent the view of a very small number of Jewish Labour supporters and an even smaller number of Jewish voters. We cannot emphasise the level of pain this causes to the vast majority of the Jewish community.

JVL have been consistent in their claim that there is little or no anti-semitism within the Labour party. Most of our community are concerned about Anti-Semitism, know that it is increasing, and, at times, have experienced this at first hand, and so find such claims insulting at the very least.

As you are fully aware, one of our synagogues used to host your monthly meetings. Furthermore, a number of members from our community are members of the Labour Party and have brought this matter to us. Others used to be members and are equally concerned. Some of our former members are often well known to you. Jeff Rodin (of blessed memory) was not just the leader of the Labour Council, but also a former Chair of the Jewish Labour Movement (then known as Poale Zion). Some of our members were once councillors and have played their role in local civic affairs. Labour Party branch meetings are held in Ruth Winston Fox House, so named after a leading figure of blessed memory, another of our former members. In addition, one of our current members, Daniel Andersonn, is the present Deputy Leader of the Labour Council.

Mark Gardner from the Community Security Trust, a body which fights antisemitism and provides security to our community, writes: “I’m always more disturbed when this happens in an area with a sizeable Jewish community, where the CLP actually knows, it really really knows, that the fears expressed by the local Jewish community are held with the utmost genuine sincerity. In such contexts, I take their contrasting actions re JVL and JLM, as a very deliberate two fingers to their local Jewish community, to their (literally) Jewish neighbours & I take JVL to be enabling and koshering a fundamentally hateful attitude towards those Jews. (And don’t forget that it is a local Jewish community whom the CLP exists to “represent” in Parliament.) I think it essentially amounts to institutional antisemitism, perpetrated by the CLP (I repeat, because it knows, it really really knows it’s local Jews, it’s Jewish neighbours) and it is excitedly facilitated, yet again, by the moral and political disgrace that is JVL.”

We urge you to cancel your engagement with the JVL forthwith. We understand that the Labour Party has an affiliated body the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM) which has grassroots support within the Jewish community. We are aware that the JLM offer guidance and training on the subject of antisemitism within the Labour movement who have undertaken training within the Edmonton Constituency Labour Party and we therefore urge you to invite them to present to the Enfield Southgate CLP.

Sincerely yours,

Rabbi Daniel Epstein (Cockfosters & North Southgate United)

Rabbi Yuval Keren (Southgate Progressive)

Pakistani Ex-Muslim Atheist: I left Islam because it's misogynistic

Qu'ran 4:34: Men are in charge of women by [right of] what Allah has given one over the other and what they spend [for maintenance] from their wealth. So righteous women are devoutly obedient, guarding in [the husband's] absence what Allah would have them guard. But those [wives] from whom you fear arrogance - [first] advise them; [then if they persist], forsake them in bed; and [finally], strike them. But if they obey you [once more], seek no means against them. Indeed, Allah is ever Exalted and Grand

It's not often I would think of posting a fairly long video (21 minutes) but I was impressed by this woman's exposition of how she became an atheist coming from a country like Pakistan. Seeking her rights as a woman led her to reject Islam.

And this video conveys a warning. Saudi Arabia is spreading it's vicious Wahhabian form of Islam. This more than anything is a threat to the future of the world.

Pakistan to launch initiative to stop "defamation" of "religions".

For a long time the Islamic countries of the world have been pushing for "blasphemy" to be recognised as a crime world-wide which has been a complete failure.  Blasphemy can lead to imprisonment, flogging and even the death penalty in most of these Islamic states.

Besides the obvious threat to freedom of speech & expression these laws are used to suppress non--Muslims. The most obvious places are Saudi Arabia, Iran and of course Pakistan.

The recent outrage over the Asia Bibi case where a Christian woman spent years in death row in jail after false accusations from her co-workers in a field was finally found innocent but still the savage mobs called for her death. should serve as a warning.

The Express Tribune reports:

Pakistan informed the United Nations (UN) on Thursday of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s initiative for an international campaign against defamation of religions.

Speaking at the Eighth Global Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilization, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UN, Maleeha Lodhi, said the premier had made a major announcement to counter Islamophobia and incitement to hatred being witnessed in some parts of the world.

“Hate narratives are spreading in several parts of the world; Islamophobia is on the rise and diversity is being seen not as a source of enrichment but as a threat, and politics of fear seem to be replacing politics of hope,” she asserted.

A bit rich coming from a country that can't even control the hate on the streets led by the extremist Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) who have according to reports been going house to house looking for Asia thereby intimidating Pakistan's Christian minority.

The Pakistani government has even given in to the TLP's demand that Asia and her family cannot leave the country thereby leaving her at risk despite the arrest of the Khadim Hussain Rizv leader of the TLP and a couple of hundred of his party workers in what they say is an "unrelated matter" yeah right.

One question that should be asked of Pakistan is should the Sultan of Brunei be prosecuted under such a law for banning "public displays" of Christ,as celebration? Of course not this initiative is designed to just put pressure on opposition to Islam in the West whilst with few exceptions the Islamic countries continue to persecute and suppress their own religious minorities.

Her statement that:

She also stressed the importance of countering Islamophobia and incitement to violence and hatred that is being witnessed in some parts of the western world by the negative depiction of Muslims.

She kidding? Pictures of mobs calling for Asia Bibi's death or the death of cartoonists make the case against Islam for themselves. Islam is an intolerant and aggressive theology that does not allow for dissent. It is as far from being a "religion of peace" as possible.

Sharia Law (made up by men) is barbaric and unjust. It considers women as "half a man and makes them subservient to men, demands death to gays and apostates and special taxes for the unclean non-believers like Christians and Jews.

Maleeha Lodhi wen on to say:

“Together we need to encourage states to take steps to create an environment of religious tolerance, inclusiveness and respect”

Like your country does let alone the rest of the Islamic world. It is Islam in it's fundamentalist forms from Saudi Arabia with it's hateful Wahhabian philosophy, the Clerics of Iran and Pakistan are the  actual threats to religious freedom and respect. 

There are over one million Christians in Saudi Arabia but none allowed to build a church. The Saudi government even tries to ignore their existence. Churches are attacked and blown up in Pakistan and even Egypt whener Coiptic Christians are second class citizens whose daughters are often kidnapped by Muslims and forcibly married and converted to Islam.

I could continue to list the crimes of hate that occur daily in the Muslim world. They are ignored by the left and liberal establishment, even by sections of the women's movement which is why they have religious bigots like Linda Sansour lin leading positions.

Islam is a complete anathema to freedom. 

Comedy Interlude: Dinner for One - Freddie Frinton & May Warden

Apparentely this sketch Dinner for One by Freddie Frinton, a Music Hall star holds the record for the number of times it has been repeated in Germany, Denmark and several other countries across Europe. But never here.

Not having heard of it I tracked it down on You Tube where there are more than one version of this short programme.

This is the original version made in 1963 and will save you the trip to the Scottish Slapstick Film Festival where they are going to show it for the first time in the UK as part of a double bill with The Marx Brothers Duck Soup. You're welcome.