Chris Williams reports on Cancun Climate Inaction Conference

Internationally, inter-imperial rivalry over diminishing resources in the context of a global economic recession has sharpened, as countries fight to maintain or extend the power of their own national set of corporations in hostile competition with all the others.The Copenhagen conference could more aptly be described as a confrontation rather than a conference, as countries faced off across the

SLADE SCHOOL OF ART OCCUPIED INVITES

Hi there...The SLADE SCHOOL OF ART has just been occupied by students, which means two buildings in the stunning UCL campus are now under occupation. They are planning 3 days of alternative education, art, activism and disobedience this weekend, from Friday night 3rd to Sunday 5th December. The Laboratory of Insurrectionary Imagination will be supporting this and we are calling on all art

Mario Vargas Llosa 'unleashes a torrent of slander' against indigenous people!

This is an open letter criticising Mario Vargas Llosa, the Peruvian novelist who recently won the Noble Prize, from Hugo Blanco the indigeneous and ecosocialist leader, who recently toured Britain and several other European countries.Llosa, once a leftist, who wrote a novel based on the stories about a Trotskyist leader, (like Hugo Blanco in the 1960s), has recently attacked the indigenous people

Escher's skatepark

Escher's Skatepark by sumocloud

Capitalism is a doomsday machine!

Impossible figures with vivid colors

Computer images by giz183
Artist's deviantART profile http://giz183.deviantart.com/




http://im-possible.info/english/art/computer/giz183.html

Cameron admits student protest could lead to government U-turn

Cartoon about Inception

Christopher Nolan has made some great films, but there is an Inception!by Bill Greenhead (Stik)

Coalition of Resistance conference report back

The government has been accused of taking a "wrecking ball" to the country by its cuts in public spending.Len McCluskey, newly elected leader of the Unite union accused the government of going "far beyond" what was needed to rebalance the economy.He told a conference in London organised by the Coalition of Resistance: "The anger that is unfurling across our country is not mindless."It is the

Is It Dangerous To Use Drugs In Morocco?

The first time I visited Morocco, in 1969, it was my first trip to the Third World... or anyplace really exotic. It made me realize that Europe was not all that different from America, at least by comparison. I fell in love with the country, the food, the sights, the sounds, the smells, the way of life. And I stopped counting the number of times I've been back once I hit the dozen mark.

That first time I went, I had a bit on an ulterior motive: drugs. I wanted to buy a kilo of cheap kif (their version of hash) in the Rif Mountains around Ketama, smuggle the stuff back to London where I could pack it up well and send it to America, where an accomplice could sell it and help me finance a trip I was about to take to India. That worked out fine-- not just because the deal was smooth all around but also because Ketama and the Rif were pretty different from the rest of Morocco and really interesting. But I've never been back in the 40 years since. I'm more attracted to the urban experiences in Fez, Marrakech, Tangier, even Taroundant and Essaouira. And I don't use drugs any longer; my drug karma is all over now. Inshallah!

Kif is widely available in Morocco-- and one of the country's biggest sources of income-- and sometimes it seems that everyone is smoking it. But it's illegal, if, more or less, tolerated. Although less so than even a decade ago, it's hard to take a walk around without someone offering you some kif. And there are cafes in most places I've been where Moroccans are sitting around smoking kif in hookahs while sipping sugar with some mint tea in it. But if a tourist flaunts it-- like by smoking a joint while walking around a city-- it could be real trouble. The police don't come looking for tourists to bust but they do react when you wave it in their faces. (It's like homosexuality. It's illegal but no one is trying to bust any tourists for it.) However, if you do wind up being arrested, the best thing is to pay a bribe (baksheesh) fine on the spot. Otherwise, you could wind up in jail for ten years.

People ask me all the time if Morocco is a safe place to visit. I certainly think it is-- and I've written about the subject-- but when it comes to drugs, is any place "safe?" Today an American icon, 77 year old country singer Willie Nelson, was arrested in his home state, Texas, because officers at a police check point smelled pot, searched his tour bus and found 6 ounces.

"It's kind of surprising, but I mean we treat him like anybody else," [Sheriff Arvin] West said.

"He could get 180 days in county jail, which if he does, I'm going to make him cook and clean," West said.

"He can wear the stripy uniforms just like the other ones do."

Probably less likely to happen in Morocco-- a far more interesting place to visit in any case. And is this stoner music, or what?

Green councillors celebrate direct action by students

Making a stand through direct action and occupation is not easy and we respect and support those students and campaigners who have done so in Oxford.Over the past 13 years students have been been let down by Labour on education and tuition fees. Now, at the hands of the Con Dem Government, they face further, deep cuts and a sharp rise to tuition fees.We, the Green Party in Oxfordshire and

Britain can learn from Venezuelan activist touring country

http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/13641A grassroots Venezuelan activist inspired by liberation theology will begin a speaking tour of Britain this weekend. Joel Linares will draw links between Venezuelan and British experiences of politics and society.Linares is a Protestant from a barrio in the West of Caracas. He is involved in a number of initiatives to promote community development and

Fight the cuts conference tomorrow! Full Programme here

Coalition of Resistance ConferenceSaturday November 27Camden CentreBidborough St, London WC1H 9AU10am-5pmTickets:•Unemployed/Student Rate £3•Standard Rate £5•Representative £10AGENDA10:00 – 10:30, REGISTRATION10:30 – 11:45, OPENING PLENARY – Camden Centre main hallClare Solomon NUS, Andrew Murray, Jean Lambert MEP, Bob Crow RMT, Christian Mahieux (Solidaires unions, France), Heather Wakefield

Simon Hughes office occupied by angry students.

Massive cuts in benefits, 100% cuts for arts and humanities university funding, troops teaching in school, transparency rules for bank bonuses in the bin, hugh rise in rail fares.......Britain has the most viciously right wing government since the 1930s.This is only because a small bunch of free market fundamentalists the Yellow Book group took over the Liberal Democrats mounting an internal coup

Caroline Lucas says build the resistance!

1,000 people registered, a campaign which can be won, if we use imaginative direct action see you on saturday at the Conference of Resistance!I am going to be bringing Joel Linares with me, liberation theology inspired activist from Caracas.

MPs back student protest!

John McDonnell is a real hombre! a real good human being!EDM 1083 STUDENT PROTESTS AND OCCUPATIONS23.11.2010McDonnell, John That this House notes that students around the country are organising peaceful protests and occupations against the Coalition Government's plans for increases in tuition fees, cuts to the education maintenance allowance and cuts in funding to universities and colleges;

John Gormley 'finishing line in sight'

I am not a fan of John Gormley from biofuels to Irish economic policy he has consistently got it wrong. Its a wicked world and its difficult to get things right, and of course if you never participate the argument is you can stay pure but are made filthy by your failure to intervene. Nonetheless the situation was clear and it was clear that the coalition would have been a disaster. And it has

Three Best Restaurants In Marrakesh... I've Got Two

I've always found Morocco so welcoming and so gay-friendly-- but that's only for foreign gays. The homegrown kind, like we saw when we looked at Abdellah Taïa's story last spring, have a much harder time. In fact, a much, much harder time. I'm going to Marrakesh soon and I've been meaning to post about some of my favorite restaurants there and see if I could get some suggestions from other travelers. But then Rachel Maddow pointed to the gruesome news today that Morocco was one of the 79 backward countries in the UN to have voted in the UN to reserve the right to kill gay people just because they're gay. Yes, of course Uganda voted that way too. In fact, scanning through the list it looks like every Muslim country did (other than Bosnia, which voted with the civilized world, and Mauritania, Turkmenistan, Turkey and Kyrgyzstan, which were absent) -- even Oman where the Sultan, Qaboos ibn Sa‘id, is a predatory homosexual (as well as a patricide)-- did.

A new U.N. resolution condemns the arbitrary execution of whole classes of humanity, from street kids to indigenous groups. It was to have included sexual minorities, but a bunch of nations balked at protection for LGBTs. The U.N. General Assembly then approved an amendment that removed them from the list.
The vote was 79-70. Here's the list of countries that wanted to reserve the right to kill the gay:

Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belize, Benin, Botswana, Brunei Dar-Sala, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, China, Comoros, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Tanzania, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

That said... let's eat! There are quite a few Google searches for "3 best restaurants in Marrakesh." I've been there over a dozen times-- starting in 1969-- and the last time was about 4 years ago. I thought it was miraculous that this morning I remembered the names of my two favorite restaurants from that trip... and then found that I had posted about them from Morocco at the time.

The only restaurant in Guéliz (the new city) we went to is the justifiably famous Al Fassia. The 2 unique things about it is that it is entirely run by women and that they revel in the concept of a la carte, never an easy thing for foreigners to find. The food was superb and expensive but not over the moon. And, like many Moroccan eateries, if you give them enough notice, they'll prepare things for you to order. The menu has all the best Moroccan standards and you can pick the ones you want and not have to bother with the ones you don't. It was sold out when we went and they said we'd have to come another time but begging and pleading helped and we were seated in an hour... For our big night out the El Cadi's manager suggested we go to the Dar Zellij deep in the heart of the medina. I was intrigued because it isn't in any of the tourist guide books, although it is very much for tourists. We got there considerably before they were ready to serve so we spent some time talking with the very friendly and accommodating owner. The restaurant is simply one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. The food, although the typical tourist menu (unless you call in advance and order what you want, which we did), is PERFECTION. Everything was beyond delicious. And the servings were not gargantuan (as is typical in Morocco), although if you're a glutton, have no fear: they're happy to serve seconds on any dish you want more of.

So I'm looking for some suggestions along these lines, restaurants where the chefs are out to impress the customers with the best that they can do. Please let me know if you've found any along those lines. (I've already got Le Tobsil and Yacout on my list, so what I'm looking for is something delicious but not grand.) I also hear that there's a vegan restaurant in town now! Earth Cafe Marrakesh is also organic; it opened in 2007 (and they have a version opening, or just opened, in Essaouira too).

Caroline Lucas and John McDonnell fight to save People's History

The government has announced that funding will be cut to eight “non-national” museums. The North West will be particularly badly hit, with funding chopped from the People’s History Museum, the Museum of Science & Industry, and the National Football Museum. We are particularly concerned that at a time when the government is already introducing a swathe of attacks on education, museums are also in

Teddy

Teddy by Andreas Aronsson

Irish Green Party are to blame

They didn't have to go into the coalition.But they did, 'power' corrupts.I hope all Green Party office holders are stripped of their well paid posts.A lesson for the Liberal Democrats here, get elected on progressive policies, betray your voters and turn a blind eye to economic chaos and face extinction.The Irish Greens are calling for a General Election, they will no doubt lose all or all but

PASSENGERS RAIL AGAINST THE TUBE CUTS

The Campaign Against Tube Privatisation calls on Boris Johnson to halt plans for the loss of nearly 2,000 jobs on the London Underground. The campaign, which has represented tube passengers for over 10 years since the underground was part- privatised in one of the most disastrous decisions ever made on London's transport network, is shocked that passenger safety is once more to be put at risk.

Madagascar Might Be A Great Place To Visit... But Not This Month

There aren't that many places left in the world that Roland and I both haven't been to and both want to go see. This summer we're going to Russia, which took me over a decade to convince him was "worth seeing." And the following Christmas we're planning on Syria now they he's convinced me that you can rent a riad in Damascus. But we're revisiting an awful lot of places-- Marrakech in a few weeks, which I've been to more than a dozen times and trips to London and Amsterdam where I not only visted but lived in. And he want to go back to Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar and Indonesia. In the never visited category, I'm pushing for Antarctica, Brazil, South Africa, and the Silk Road towns of Bukhara, Samarkand, Khiva, and Kashgar and Roland wants to go to Mysore and Kerala in India, Tibet, and Algeria. We're both leaning towards Madagascar. Why Madagascar?

Well aside from the fact that neither of us has ever been there, Madagascar is one of the more unique places on the planet, in some ways a world unto itself. Because the gigantic island, 4th largest in the world, isn't really near anyplace else, it's flora and fauna developed on its own and the biodiversity is spectacular with endemic species from birds to lemurs.

Unfortunately, there was another coup d’état last week, which, among other things, is having an unfortunate impact on the recently thriving tourism industry. Yesterday's NY Times seemed to signal the insurrectiuon is over, or almost over, although I'm glad we're going there in 2 years, not 2 weeks.

Hundreds of soldiers loyal to Madagascar’s High Transitional Authority-- the internationally isolated government formed by Andry Rajoelina, who became president with the military’s backing last year-- converged on a base here near the airport, where about 20 mutinous officers had been staying since Wednesday. Officials said talks were planned, but shots could be heard inside the base.

Col. Julien Ravelomihary, a high-ranking member of the High Transitional Authority’s military, told reporters that the officers were “ready to hand themselves over, but junior officers are resisting.”

On Wednesday, the officers declared they were taking over from Mr. Rajoelina, who toppled an elected president in 2009 after months of violent protest. Western powers and Madagascar’s African neighbors have accused Mr. Rajoelina of trampling on democracy, and some in the military have grown disenchanted with him.

After a brief warning about the lack of political stability, the Lonely Planet waxes enthusiastic in the extreme about Madagascar, pointing out that there's no place like it on earth.

In fact, all things considered, it barely qualifies as part of Africa: the two are separated by hundreds of kilometres of sea and 165 million years of evolution-- long enough for Madagascar’s plants and animals to evolve into some of the weirdest forms on the planet. Nowhere else can you see over 70 varieties of lemur, including one that sounds like a police siren, the world’s biggest and smallest chameleons, and the last stomping ground of the elephant bird, the largest bird that ever lived. Near Ifaty in Southern Madagascar you will see forests of twisted, spiny ‘octopus’ trees and in the west, marvel at the bottle-shaped baobabs, especially the Avenue du Boabab near Morondava. And be on the look out for the carnivorous pitcher plant found around Ranomafana, there are over 60 varieties of them. Not for nothing is Madagascar regarded as the world’s number one conservation priority.

And the people are no less interesting: arriving here some 2000 years ago along the Indian Ocean trade routes, they grow rice in terraced paddies, and speak a language that has more in common with their origins in Southeast Asia than with the African continent. Their culture is steeped in taboo and magic, imbuing caves, waterfalls, animals and even some material objects with supernatural attributes. Hill peoples live in traditional multistoried brick houses with carved balconies and, in some areas, dance with their dead ancestors in the ‘turning of the bones’ ceremony.

Throw in a soupçon of pirate history, coastlines littered with shipwrecks, great regional cooking, some of the world’s longest place names, and unfailingly polite and friendly people, and you’ll experience a refreshing take on the overused ‘unique’ tag.

Jerry Hicks thank you to all 52,000 of you!

Len McCluskey wins Unite General Secretary with 100,000 votes

101,000 for McCluskey, to 52,000 for Jerry, Les Bayliss (boo hiss!) 46,000, Gail Cartmail 39,000just had this text from Jerry McCluskey 1st: Hicks 2nd: Bayliss: 3rd Cartmell 4th. The network built during our campaign will be vital in fight against the cuts. Keep on keeping on Jerry HicksThe really impressive candidate was Jerry Hicks but the union hack has the money and the establishment

Climate change an excuse to pay bankers a bonus?

While we assert that capitalism is the cause of global warming and the destruction of forests, rainforests and Mother Earth, they seek to expand capitalism to the commoditization of nature with the word “green economy”Indigenous brothers of the world:I am deeply concerned because some pretend to use leaders and indigenous groups to promote the commoditization of nature and in particular of forest

Talk by Venezuelan Grassroots Community Activist Joel Linares (Wednesday 1st December/Sheffield)

Time: 01 December · 19:00 - 20:30Location: Hicks Building - Lecture Theatre 2 (University of Sheffield), Hounsfield Road, Sheffield,Event organised by Sheffield Venezuela Solidarity CampaignMore info Following last year's excellent documentary, Inside the Revolution: A Journey into the Heart of Venezuela, we are now very fortunate to be hosting one of the Venezuelans featured in the film as part

There Are Other Ways Of Getting Around Airport Security Than Being John Boehner

Roland and I fly a lot... and we like to feel safe. Roland seems to be pretty complacent about the latest TSA efforts to look like they're keeping the flying public safe with the full body scanners and intrusive, aggressive full body pat downs. Last night he told me that he read somewhere that the latest in terror tactics will be for suicide bombers to fill their stomachs with plastic explosives and we should enjoy the little inconvenience the TSA is inflicting on us now because its going to get a lot worse.

Today's NY Times laid out all the complaints about the new TSA initiative, from the serious dangers of cancer and blindness to the rapaciousness of a crook like former Department of Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff who got this ball bouncing on behalf of one of his firm's clients, Rapiscan Systems which Chertoff recommended as the manufacturer for our airport safety and which has already benefited to the tune of a quarter billion dollars.

I still recall standing on long lines and feeling Big Brother was further dehumanizing me and I blamed it on Bush. I'm sure there were plenty of otherwise apolitical frequent flyers who turned away from the GOP because of the increasingly authoritarian nature of airport security. I remember talking with fellow passengers about how things would start to get better under Obama. But Obama seems politically tone deaf to what's going on at the airports. And it doesn't help that rich people and politically-connected people-- like John Boehner-- don't have to go through what the rest of us have to.

As he left Washington on Friday, Mr. Boehner headed across the Potomac River to Ronald Reagan National Airport, which was bustling with afternoon travelers. There was no waiting for Mr. Boehner, who was escorted around the identification-checking agents, the metal detectors and the body scanners, and whisked directly to the gate.

The Republican leader, who will become the second person in line to assume the presidency after the new Congress convenes in January, took great pride after the midterm elections in declaring his man-of-the-people plans to travel home as other Americans do. In a time of economic difficulty, it was a not-so-subtle dig at Ms. Pelosi, who has access to a military jet large enough to avoid refueling for her flights home to San Francisco.

And if you want to pay to join a Verified Identity Pass program like Clear, you can almost be treated as well as Boehner.

Members who pay the $99.95 annual fee to join and who submit to biometric and background screening are given access to a private lane, which purports to usher them through security with more predictability, greater speed and less hassle ($28.00 of that fee goes to the TSA to cover the cost of completing a security threat assessment). “Clear has made this new life of flying commercial, which has gone down the toilet, a little more bearable,” said program member Henry Morgan, regional manager of Highline Products in Orlando.

Clear [$199/year] is one example of the Registered Traveler programs that the Transportation Security Administration has developed in conjunction with private companies in order to, as the TSA puts it, “provide expedited security screening for passengers who volunteer biometric and biographic information” and who “successfully complete a security threat assessment.” To date, Verified Identity Pass and four other companies-- Unisys, Saflink, Verant and Vigilant-- have satisfied TSA’s criteria to act as providers of Registered Traveler services. As the TSA notes, "The program is market-driven and offered by the private sector with TSA largely playing a facilitating role."

President Obama may think working out "free" trade agreements with China and Colombia that ship more American jobs overseas are better uses of his time but some American voters are boiling that this airport screening mess is being handled so poorly and they're not going to blame faceless bureaucrats, Joe Lieberman or Michael Chertoff. They're going to blame Barack Obama.

COP SPOTTER SITE BEATS CENSORS

How Does Fitwatch Annoy the Police So Much? #fitwatch - On Monday night we received notification that our site had been suspended due to “attempting to pervert the course of justice” due to our posting offering advice to the Millbank students. Whilst the email requesting the site be closed on the basis it was being used for “criminal activity” came from DI Paul Hoare, from the Police Central

The Cow Shit Climate Revolution

Rare good news story.Big Oil will be putting big money into stopping this.Technology ain't enough but this is a good example of prosperity linked to ecology.

Next week's resistance to the catastophe machine

Busy week, I am speaking at a Brent Campaign Against Climate Change Meeting on tuesday, I am off to Downing Streetto demonstrate against education cuts on wednesday evening and I am speaking at the Coalition of Resistance conference next saturday on a panel with James Meadway, Stathis Kouvelakis and Hilary Wainwright.The subject as always of all this activity is the catastrophe machine.It has

Tories beaten by seven other parties in election catastrophe

Martin CUMMINS (The Labour Party Candidate) 1,447Stephanie TILL (The Labour Party Candidate) 1,424Mark Anthony COUGHLIN (Liberal Democrat) 611Michael John MARNER (Liberal Democrat) 479Kai ANDERSEN (Socialist Labour Party) 135Peter TIERNEY (British National Party) 117Barbara BRYAN (Socialist Labour Party) 70Eleanor Edith PONTIN (Green Party) 63Tony Stop-Mass-Immigration HAMMOND (UK Independence

All I want for Christmas is a capitalist Jesus

'A Druid friend of mine who was standing nearby reliably informed us that they were Satanists'

There is an interesting account from a Liberal Democrat student blogger of the protests at Millibank last week:I’d missed the initial gathering of my fellow Lib Dems at Trafalgar Square so assoon as I got off the bus, and had said hello to my local (LD) councillorwhohad come up separately, I made my way past the various universitycontingents,homemade placard clutched in my hand, as I tried to

Inception

Penrose staircase is demonstrated in the Christopher Nolan film Inception as example of architcture, which can be created in lucid dream.

Trainspotting: The First Day of the Edinburgh Festival.

- Yes. One of the (china) dolls hands us a piece ay paper wi Brecht: TheCaucasian Chalk Circle by Nottingham University Theatre Group on it.Doubtless a collection of zit-encrusted, squeaky-voiced wankers playing oot amiserable pretenstion tae the arts before graduating to work in the powerstations which give the local children leukemia or investment consultancieswhich shut doon factories,

Is Nick Clegg the 'Beast'?

Is Nick Clegg the anti-Christ? Is David Cameron the neo-Herod making the little children suffer? Well perhaps not. We do know that money lenders have cost us a cool £trillion....Christians are marching, have a look at this report from radical religious think tank Ekklesia.A network of Christian clergy, academics and activists is calling on the churches in Britain to resist the government's

Mumia Abu-Jamal on Gregory Isaacs

Gregory Isaacs ~ LOVE Reggae[col. writ. 11/9/10] (c) '10 Abu-Jamal His name was Gregory Isaacs, and for a time, his sweet, sultry tenor rang like a birdsong on a spring morn -- or rather, a steamy, summer night. For reggae lovers, the rebellious songs and stylings of Rastaman Bob Marley seemed to exemplify the best of the breed. But along came Isaacs, who sang of love, not rebellion. And

Banned Fitwatch article here, please re-blog.

THIS IS THE BANNED FITWATCH ARTICLE, I DON'T CONDONE DROPPING FIRE EXTINGUISHER BUT PROTEST IS ESSENTIAL....any way on to the banned.The remarkable and brilliant student action at Millbank has produced some predictable frothing at the mouth from the establishment and right wing press. Cameron has called for the ‘full weight of the law’ to fall on those who had caused tens of thousands of pounds

'Seven months -- excuse me -- for killing a Black man.'

When Murder Ain't Murder[col. writ. 11/6/10] (c) '10 Mumia Abu-Jamal With the sentencing of former BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) cop, Johannes Mehserle, for the killing of Oscar Grant, the system announces its evaluation of the worth of a Black young man from Oakland, California. Mehserle was sentenced to 2 years; and with time offs, and good behavior, he may do only 7 months; for killing a man.

Operation Malone suspends Fitwatch?

Just seen this on Indymedia.http://fitwatch.org.uk has been suspended a little bird told me..... | 15.11.2010 19:13 Resisting the Forward Intelligence Teams - the cops who harass protesters Fitwatch website has been suspended for "attempting to pervert the course of justice" after host were contacted by the Met. Pass On PLEASE This is all we know at this time.. If you saved know any one who saved

Art by Kelvin Coles

Greens vote could make lib dems extinct.

The Liberal Democrats are facing twin electoral assaults from the Green Party and the National Union of Students in the wake of the party's U-turn on tuition feesThe Independent understands the Greens are drawing up a strategy to target Liberal Democrat MPs in the most marginal seats – a move which could potentially unseat up to 10 per cent of the party's MPs.The Greens are unlikely to win the

March on Parliament!

March on Parliament for a Zero Carbon Britain Saturday December 4th Assemble at Speakers Corner, Hyde Park 12.00 noon.http://www.campaigncc.org/climatemarch2010Part of a Global Day of Action on climatewww.globalclimatecampaign.org on the Saturday midway through the UN Climate Talks in Cancun, Mexico.Challenge the government to take the action we need to meet the climate threat.The failure of the

'The Big Society is a Big Lie'

The Big Society is a Big Lie. It is a smokescreen, another ideological veil. Its pretence of radical change is simply a means of persuading us to live in submission to the great God Capital.Well here I was searching for a liberation theology movement in the UK to fight the neo-lib dem cuts and I learn that a new Christian organization Common Wealth has put out an impressive statement calling for

Tour by Joel Linares grassroots socialist from Caracas

In 1989 the people of Caracas rose up against an austerity programme. Here in the UK we have seen student protests, in Caracas it was a spontaneous protest against bus fares that sparked things off. Eventually a new fairer economic system was introduced as a result of a grassroots and largely unorganised protests. Joel will be touring Britain and I would urge you all to go along and learn about

'Green' policies are wrecking environment

“The scale of the damage that European countries will cause with their biofuels plans is now clear – forests and nature will be destroyed on a shocking scale to fuel our cars. The resulting release of climate-damaging greenhouse gases will make biofuels a worse polluter than fossil fuels. The EU needs to urgently review the sustainability of using biofuels and ensure their use does not lead to

Galloway election decision splits Respect Party conference

More controversy at todays Respect Party conference.They have decided that George Galloway is to stand for the Respect Party in Scotland in the 2011 parliamentary elections.I have no idea how this will play out given that there are already two left parties the Scottish Socialist Party and Solidarity who will contest the elections there.I am pretty sure that the Scottish Green Party will pick up

Mark Bergfeld debates ecosocialism and revolution

The Rise of the Green LeftBook Review by Mark Bergfeld, November 2010Derek Wall, Pluto, £12.99As capitalism and climate change threaten the livelihoods of millions of people across the planet this book, Derek Wall's most recent publication, is timely and welcome.Wall has been a candidate for the Green Party and is one of the founding members of the Green Left in Britain. The Green Left is an

Art by Toshiyuki Akanuma

Derek Wall: “Green Party should become more intelligent”

This is from a while back, just posting it up, Prisma is a great Spanish-English language newspaperRachel HalllJavier PoloThe British politician and writer Derek Wall met us following his weekly lecture on radical economics at Goldsmith’s College, London. He is not your conventional British politician; he does not don a suit or carry a briefcase, but opts for a modest jumper, trousers and

MARCH TO STOP THE BURNING TIMES

No real action is being taken against climate change, the sceptics fuelled by oil say it is not happening and where governments take action they use a global framework based on carbon trading.Carbon trading is great for bankers and makes them mucho dinero but it has failed to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.The future is too expensive for the market, we need to take action and make some

Deputy Prime Minister injured by burning trouser incident.

“Tuition fees - £9,000. Student debt - £40,000 plus. The look on Clegg’s face as he loses Sheffield Hallam – priceless.”

SAY NOTHING AND TAKE LEGAL ACTION AGAINST THE NEWSPAPERS

WERE YOU OR ANYONE YOU KNOW AT THE MARCH AGAINST TUITION FEES OR NEAR TO THE CONSERVATIVE HQ AT MILLBANK ON 10TH NOVEMBER 2010?Last updated at 14:22 on Friday 12th November 2010SEE YOUR OR YOUR FRIENDS’ FACE HERE?http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/uknews/8125764/Do-you-recognise-these-student-rioters.html?image=1">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1328920/

The economic equivalent of amphetamines

The dark arts of banking Banking is an increasingly esoteric and occult art, so politicians tend to avoid thinking about it too deeply. It also involves truly astonishing amounts of money - and politicians tend to respect money rather than morality. Yet it's becoming steadily more apparent that if the structure of banking is not radically changed, further bank bail-outs will be inevitable. So

Goldsmiths UCU statement on the student protest

I have a friend who has taken part in armed revolutionary action, he is actually a very gently guy now 76, but he took up arms....his name is Hugo Blanco.I have a couple of facebook friends who are dedicated socialists but not in the Hugo Blanco league unless you read the Evening Standard!One very violent incident that I would condemn (the throwing of a fire extinguisher) is linked to some window

Defend the Millbank Protestors: Sign the Unity statement

We need unity to break the Con-Dems’ attacksStand with the protesters against victimisationWednesday’s national NUS/UCU 50,000 strong national demonstration was a magnificent show of strength against the Con Dems’ savage attacks on education. The Tories want to make swingeing cuts, introduce £9,000 tuition fees and cut EMA. These attacks will close the doors to higher education and further

Manchester Uni, finance office occupied

Gayle O'Dononvon, who is a prominent Green Left member and the Green Party Executive Member for Local Parties is occupying with 60 others.Lets keep raising the voice of protest....the next bank bailout will cost another trillion, lets keep the pressure up!

“This is the expression of a generation at the end of its tether”

“This is the expression of a generation at the end of its tether” – Young GreensBy Sam Coates - Posted on November 11th, 2010 The Young Greens, the youth and student branch of the Green Party have today commented on the student protests in London.Sam Coates, co-chair was at Millbank yesterday, he said:“The anger at yesterday’s protests was remarkable, especially towards the Lib Dems who have left

Tank the Tory HQ?

Just saw this, echoes my thoughts, although I think it would have been more appropriate to occupy Liberal Democrat HQ. real violence is 60% cut to university teaching fund.Lib dems are scum, education for them is just for corporations and profit. If it helps society but does not make a quick profit they want to close it down.If you know any Liberal Democrats let them know your feelings.I am

Don't let Mumia die demo in London

I went to a large noisy and vibrant demonstration in support of Mumia Abu-Jamal.Pam Africa I think is coming to Britain soon.The left other than the RCG, some Maoists and the Spartacist League were not out in force for the demo but 200 people turned out, mainly black activists and Wages for Housework....there was an interesting speech from Selma James and a live link up to Philly.Mumia has been

ANTI-CUTS ACTION!

Sunday 14th November, 11am - 4pmLARC, 62 Fieldgate Street, E1 1ES (Whitechapel)It's becoming clear that we live in times of struggle. To foster a movement where we learn from and support each other, Climate Camp London has organised an anti-cuts skill share. The day is aimed at trade unionists, activists, strikers and trouble makers, in which people from different political backgrounds can share

Art by Harry Turner

An Obituary for the NGO?

2010 may be remembered as the year that the climate change campaign movement, at least in its current form, officially gave up and died. The mortal injuries were inflicted at Copenhagen in December 2009, and since then it has been slowly dragging its decaying corpse towards the open grave at Cancun, where it will finally be interred next month.If, as expected, Cancun ends in deadlock, then the

Bacha Bazi-- Tales Of Afghanistan

When I first got to Afghanistan in 1969, having driven in my VW van from London, my strongest immediate thought-- other than how unbelievably strong the hash is-- was that no matter how far I had traveled in space I had traveled much further in time-- straight backward. I was thousands of miles from my parents' home in Brooklyn... and what felt like as many thousands of years back in time. I remember writing to a friend that I was feeling like I was living in the Bible (Old Testament).

Things have changed a little since then. I lived in a "village" (two family compounds off a barely demarcated dirt track) for a winter up in the Hindu Kush where no one had ever heard of the United States (and no one had ever experienced electricity). I'm not sure if they've experienced electricity some 4 decades later but I'd bet you they've heard of the United States.

When you travel to, let's say "exotic" places like Afghanistan, you're better off leaving your cultural judgments in check. There's no way to reasonably compare our cultural standards to the ones that govern their lives. I got used to the concept, for example, of two good cleanings a year-- one in the spring and one in the fall, something very different from the swim, jacuzzi, steam bath and shower I do in some combination everyday here in L.A. Better to just roll with the punches. However, there was something I experienced a couple times in Afghanistan that I just couldn't swing with. It was pretty horrifying. They call it Bacha Bazi and my experience of it came at two weddings, one in Ghazni southwest of Kabul, which I believe was the 4th biggest town in the country, and one up in the Hindu Kush, the land time forgot. Bachas are young dancing boys. We'll come back to this cultural artifact in a moment, but this is what Wikipedia says about it.

You don't ever see the womenfolk in Afghanistan. My closest friend got married while I was there and I lived in his house and spent virtually all of my time with him for several months. Everyone used to joke that we were brothers. I never saw the girl he married, not once. In the same house! Nor was she-- or his mother or sisters-- at the wedding. Well, that isn't exactly accurate. They had their own party in the women's part of the house. But it wasn't exactly separate-but-equal; just separate.

Big steaming platters of rice with meat and vegetables were brought out by male servants-- actually slaves but no one called them that-- and everyone dug in with their fingers, food rolling down everyone's beards back onto the platters. Yum, yum. When the men were done eating, the leftovers were fed to the servants and dogs, although I don't remember in what order, and then what was left from that was sent to the women. Meanwhile we had song and dance-- the young boys. There was a troupe of them from somewhere who are hired to entertain at parties. They looked like they were between 12 and 16 and they were wearing women's dancing clothes, more or less; they all had big heavy farmer boots on. And they all had their eyes smeared with kohl and some kind of rouge substitute. Everyone was hootin' and hollerin' when they were dancing, kind of alluringly, truth be told. No one was drunk but everyone-- every single person-- was high on hash. At one point the groom's grandfather suddenly jumped up-- apparently unable to restrain himself for another second-- grabbed the youngest, smallest bacha and dragged him behind a building and raped him.

It was gruesome to hear... but it didn't seem to put any kind of a damper on the party at all. The rest of the troupe kept dancing and everyone else just ignored the commotion and just enjoyed the festivities. It's part of their culture. Ten minutes later grandpa and the 12 year old came back from around the building, straightening their clothes. The bacha seemed to have felt his dignity was affronted but he jumped right back into the line and danced away the rest of the evening as though nothing had happened. I'm not sure what happened afterwards but from what I heard, all the boys were raped (more or less).

And although these people definitely have heard of America now, they still enjoy a little bacha bazi as part of their cultural heritage, especially the wealthy men, although wealth is a relative thing and whomever is exercising power gets himself a young bacha or two (or a half dozen) to keep as sex slaves. Frontline did a special on the phenomena by journalist Najibullah Qurasishi. You may find it difficult to watch but it will certainly give you an idea about a not uncommon aspect of Afghanistan, a country the U.S. military is occupying for no apparent purpose and with no apparent positive effect.

Don't let Obama kill Mumia Demo

US EMBASSY LONDON,TOMORROW 9TH NOVEMBER.5PM-7PM

The Dirty Game

The Dirty Game, (POLITICS) [col. writ. 10/31/10 (c) '10 Mumia Abu-Jamal A former member of the U.S. House of Representatives tries to run for higher office, the U.S. Senate, wins the primary nomination, and as the election nears, a former president visits to quietly urge him to step aside, so that an Independent could prevail. I refer to Florida's Kendrick B. Meek (D), who was so popular in his

Vodafone Trainee Managers pay a surprise visit to George Osborne’s Wallpaper Shop

Here is anti-cuts round up for the South East from Pip from the Green Party and Green Left!BRIGHTON & SOUTH EAST REPORTBrighton Anti-Cuts CoalitionThe march last Saturday was very well supported with up to 2000 taking part. Local Green Party members turned out in force. There was a great reception for Caroline & her call to fight back, & for myself speaking on behalf of Brighton Benefits Campaign

THE VEGETARIAN MYTH

Review of "The Vegetarian Myth"by Ginny Messina on 21. Sep, 2010 Lierre Keith suffers from numerous chronic health problems. Unable to secure a diagnosis for most of them, she decided that the vegan diet she had followed for twenty years was to blame. But she wasn't content to add a few animal products back to her diet. Instead, she set out to prove that healthy diets require copious amounts of

Peru could elect indigenous President on a green platform

Greens have been winning huge votes in Latin America, Marina Silva gained 20% in the Brazilian Presidential election and in Colombia the Greens came second in the Presidential election.A Green challenge is being launched by the indigenous leader Alberto Pizango, who was exiled after Peruvian police killed over a hundred people at Bagua during protests to preserve the Amazon from oil companies.The

BEYOND PETROLEUM OR BEYOND BELIEF!

The Gulf of Mexico remains polluted and local fishermen in particular are suffering, for regular updates look at http://grandislebpsgroundzero.blogspot.com/

ECONOMY TOO BIG FOR ECOLOGY?

Runaway Global Economy Decimating NatureBy Stephen LeahyNAGOYA, Japan, Oct 28, 2010 (IPS) - One-fifth of all birds, fish and animals are threatened with extinction - as many as six million unique and irreplaceable forms of life – an authoritative new assessment warned Wednesday.Deforestation, agricultural expansion, overfishing, invasive alien species and climate change are the specific causes,

New artworks by Sergey Cherednichenko

‘Why can’t we just be Green?

This is a review from John Green, who has produced an excellent biography of Engels and blogs hereThe Rise of the Green Left – inside the worldwide ecosocialist movementBy Derek WallPubs. Pluto PressPbckThe term ‘ecosocialist’ is a relatively new one. Today it might seem almost unnecessary to attach the ‘eco’ prefix as hardly anyone in the socialist movement can be unaware of the urgent

ARE YOU PART OF THE LAST CENTURY LEFT?

'Trotskyist sects, with their pseudo-scientific and alienating talk of 'vanguards' 'the periphery' 'dictatorship of the proletariat' and so on are still in (small) business 70 years after his death is, perhaps, a testimony to the brilliance of Trotsky's vision. But it is now time to move on, really!' I don't think I would use the phrase 'Last Century Left', I am happier to stress the need for '

Taxpayers subsidise pensions of teachers at Eton and Harrow

Noel Lynch, chair of the London Green party, said it was scandalous that taxpayers were contributing to the pensions of teachers at Eton and Harrow."Yet again, ordinary people are effectively subsidising the fees of these elite institutions," he said. "If we really are 'all in this together', then private schools should be charged the true cost of these pensions and taxpayers' cash should be

Labour win Ladywell by-election

Lab 1231Green 1041Lib Dem 314PB4P 233Conservative 153Alas the Green Party failed to win here. Nice to see Tories beaten by the anti-cuts candidate though and Lib Dems on micro vote.

Tourist trap

Tourist trap by Erwin Bonsma

THE POLITICS OF FEAR

[col. writ. 10/30/10](c) '10 Mumia Abu-Jamal As the mid-term elections approach, the candidates running on the fuel of fear are so high octane that they seem like cartoons. They are either witches or Nazis, rednecks or confederates, but despite their rhetoric, they are running on first and foremost, fear: fear of a Black president. Oh, they may talk budgets, or taxes, or even big guv'ment',

'a treatise of the left within the Green Party'

Not all reviews are positive the Alliance for Workers Liberty don't like my latest book, see here, Socialist Review see below are more positive.As capitalism and climate change threaten the livelihoods of millions of people across the planet this book, Derek Wall's most recent publication, is timely and welcome. Wall has been a candidate for the Green Party and is one of the founding members of

Derek Wall: Understanding the Green Party

What are your thoughts about the future prospects of the Green Party?The existence of three neo-liberal parties means that there is space for the Green Party. Caroline’s victory is a massive boost, however there are also severe challenges. It is difficult to win at the Westminster level without proportional representation. The retreat of the Liberal Democrats on PR makes meaningful electoral

'You strike and we will kill you!'

just had this from the FBU, this evil government are going to throw everything they can at strikers, shocking that striking firefighters have been injured.A DAY OF SHOCKING VIOLENCE AGAINST LONDON’S FIREFIGHTERSVehicles driven at speed into three FBU pickets Two strikebreakers arrested Strikebreaking contractors refuse first aid equipment to the injured Yesterday, three members of the Fire

I would like to thank the SWP

Well on the left we have our disagreements but I just wanted to say a thank you to the Socialist Workers Party.Unusual you might think for me, I have been quite critical of them in the past. However I was pleased they reported on Hugo Blanco's speech to the anti-cuts demo in Nottingham.The rally heard speeches from trade unionists, the Labour group leader Alan Rhodes, and people who use the

Anti-cuts meeting in Newcastle

Just had this from Alex, cheers amigo.Final reminder: this Wednesday, 7pm, public meeting in NewcastleChallenging the cuts consensus: there is an alternativeCoalition of Resistance public meeting with a range of local campaigners - including Clare Williams, chair of Northern Public Services Alliance and regional convenor of Unison. See Event page for more info.THIS Wednesday (3 Nov), 7pm, at

Shut down Vodafone and other protests against cuts to fund fat cats

Protests: OngoingCheck UK Uncut for news of further tax protests against Vodafone. UK Uncut: http://ukuncut.wordpress.com Background info: http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2010/10/27/vodafone-and-tax-protests/Tuesday 2rd NovemberBarnet – Lobby of Council from 6pm, Hendon Town Hall. Called by Barnet TUC. http://www.barnettuc.org.uk/Saturday, 6th NovemberTaunton – Defend Public Services March