Alienated anyone?

My friend Ramsey (big shout out to Ramsey) posted me this horrific video. How often do people stop to think where their nice, shrink wrapped chicken comes from?

Please excuse the 'related links'-the word chick has other meanings in English.

Homophobic quote of the day (well, yesterday actually): preaching to the non-converted perhaps?

"I certainly have got nothing against homosexuals and...many of dear friends...are of that persuasion blah, blah, blah (emphasis mine)...

...What I have got against them is the militant preaching of homosexuality"said the Rev Richard Mullen, the chaplain to the London Stock Exchange, clearly oblivious to the irony in his rantings.

On his blog he also wrote that homosexuals should have "SODOMY CAN SERIOUSLY DAMAGE YOUR HEALTH" tattooed on on their backsides.

Another sign that the Stock Exchange is rotten to the core perhaps?

Socialists, the crisis - a call to action

SWP LONDON-WIDE PUBLIC MEETING

"Socialists, the crisis - a call to action"

Wednesday 8th October, 7pm
ULU, Room 3 C/D, Malet Street, WC1(Nearest tubes Goodge St, Warren St or Euston)

The financial crisis shows no sign of ending. Bosses' organisation British Chambers of Commerce stated today that the UK economy is already inrecession. Banks are being nationalised across Europe. European governmentsare squabbling over how to respond.

All this affects working people. British Chambers of Commerce predicts over 300,000 people will be made unemployed in the next year or so. Already lay-offs have begun - ITN are sacking 1000 staff out of 5000; MFI are closing 100 out of 190 stores; Fords Southampton have put the staff on a four day week and in the last six weeks nearly 50,000 jobs have gone in the finance sector.

This is a disaster for the bosses and the mainstream pro-market political parties. We have a huge opportunity to win people to an alternative. But thecrisis is so big we can feel paralysed by it. We need to start arguing thatworkers won't pay for the bosses' crisis. And we need to take action to show that capitalism is to blame, and an alternative is possible.

Please come along and bring with you friends, workmates and local campaigners.

Ken Livingstone's appaling excuse for an excuse for the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes

I invited Ken Livingstone (mainly because the new President wanted to invite a pop star otherwise!) to the 1st Union General Meeting of SOAS Students' Union to talk about activism and grass roots democracy.

Chatting to him briefly before hand I asked him to stress the importance of working with United Fronts such as Stop the War, which in the past he has supported. Not only did he not even mention it but he blatantly had a dig at revolutionaries and continued by saying that he was a realist and an unrepentant reformist.

When questioned on his response to the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes and the fact that he backed Police chief Ian Blair, he was even more disgusting. He said that everyone makes mistakes whatever their line of work. When a journalist prints an inaccurancy, he said, they have to apologise and get on with it.

What a disgraceful comparison to make-oops sorry, we just shot you repeatedly in the head...back to work lads.

Stop the War Die in to mark 7 yrs since the invasion of Afghanistan

SWSS update

The fact that loads of SOAS students attended the new members day school on Saturday demonstrates that not only is there a renewed fighting spirit but that it is our politics that can provide answers to the madness that is going on in the world, and students are looking to us for guidance.

We started the term with a variety of events to agitate, educate and organise and our strategy has paid off. We hired the Renoir cinema for a Unite Against Fascism event and over 200 people attended the filmshowing of This is England. We put a call out for immediate action to fight the BNP who were staying in the local area. 30 people stayed behind to start straight away.

They then set up a LMHR society which attracted another 200 sigh-ups at Freshers Fayre. At which, SWSS had a great response.

The following week a Stop the War mtg on Pakistan, Afghanistan & the Spread of War had 55 people followed by plans for a Die-in next Tuesday (tmrw). Jonathon Neal did a brilliant mtg on Climate Change at which we had 65 people.

At a caucus just before our UGM, having already seen us being active on campus, more non-members gathered around us and then clearly followed us when voting. The UGM had about 200 people (our quoracy is only 50) and we passed and opposed some very important motions including unanimous support for both the demonstration at the Bank of England and the People Before Profit Charter, defending staff against job cuts at SOAS, passed a motion condemning the racist persident at Kings and Notthingham colleges, defeated a Disaffiliation from NUS motion, and opposed the upcoming Miss University pageant.

The debate was of a high level and we smashed the right repeatedly getting the loudest cheers. Even though the mtg was 2 1/2 hrs long, and there was plenty of procedural motions and 'taking parts' which confused a lot of new students, we pulled many people with us and we came out buzzing if not bewildered!

We believe the success of the UGM is mainly due to the fact that we have taken student democracy very seriously, have consistently fought to bring back politics into the student movement and shown what can be done when we stand up for the oppressed and exploited.

SOAS SWSS is now raring to go to build for a Die-in on Tuesday and for the direct action against the Bank of England.

International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network

The International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) is launching its founding Charter in continental Europe, India , Israel , Latin America, Morocco , the US , Canada and the UK .

For the past two years IJAN has been building an international network of anti-Zionist Jews to support Palestinian resistance and seed new Jewish anti-Zionist organizing:

"Our commitment is to the dismantling of Israeli apartheid, the return of Palestinian refugees, and the ending of the Israeli colonization of historic Palestine."

Capitalist bankers-agitate, educate, demonstrate

With the world economy in melt down, it's time to take action.

Make lecture announcements, stand on tables in common rooms, shout from the roof tops :WE WON'T PAY FOR YOUR CRISIS.

Meet SOAS steps at 3pm with banners, whistles and other props.

Call Clare on 07958 034 181 for more details.

Unprecedented debt and no jobs for the class of 2008

Found this in the Times Online. Wish I had time to write something on this myself like " der, what do you expect?"-maybe tomorrow...

The class of 2008 faces unprecedented levels of debt and is struggling to find jobs as the credit crunch takes hold.

Students who graduated from university this summer have apparently never have had it so bad. Many borrowed tens of thousands of pounds in student loans on the assumption that they would walk into well-paid employment.

But graduate recruitment has been suspended or reduced by some companies as they struggle to stay afloat. Rather than taking their first step on to the career ladder, graduates are instead moving back in with their parents and accruing interest on debts as they look for work.

One graduate from the London School of Economics said: “I thought after I got a masters degree from a world-renowned school that I would have an easier time finding a job. I was wrong....

Read more here

Leaked police video شرطة مبارك تعامل المصريين كأسرى لقوات إحتلال

Cross posted from Comrade Hossam

Published by Hossam el-Hamalawy October 3rd, 2008 in Egypt مصر, Human Rights حقوق إنسان, Police شرطة, Video

Noha alerted me to this video, which was uploaded around a year ago to YouTube, but hadn’t caught our attention…

You can see at least one uniformed police soldier, and hear talk in Egyptian colloquial about ma7ader, etc… Though the channel user titled it as “prisons in Egypt,” I think it’s likely to have been shot in a police station..

I couldn’t help but remembering similar scenes one watches on TV, but in Iraq, Palestine or Afghanistan. There’s no difference between Mubarak’s police and the US occupation troops..

Circulate the video ya shabab, and let’s try to get any more info about it…

Are you Wired for Sound?

Having heard this on the radio yesterday morning and having had it stuck in my head all day i thought i would subject you all to some ear bashing too. Although, now that I have watched it on Youtube I've realised that I am actually treating you to a great golden oldie.

I couldn't quite decide which version of this gem to post here so i have settled on the one with the most ridiculous dancing but I think the 1998 live concert performance also competes for this title.

Is it just me or does Cliff still exude that certain je ne sais qua? Ok, ok, I'm on my own on that one then.

You'll be walking about with a head full of music ALL day...enjoy :-)

Justice 4 Cleaners Celebration-ALL welcome

J4C Celebration, originally uploaded by solomonsmfield.

Children of the Revolution

Women are now using their appearance and sexuality to fight the regime.

In 1979 Iran went through a major upheaval with the Revolution.

While this political and social transformation was just beginning the country was thrown into a terrible and costly war with Iraq, that would last eight years.

During these years, the revolutionary leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, encouraged Iranians to have large families, to make 'Armies for Islam'.

At the time, Iran's population was 25 million: today the population is 68 million with nearly 70 percent aged 30 or younger - these are the Children of the Revolution, (also known in Iran as "the burnt generation").

Today unemployment amongs this generation runs at 50 percent. Officially half the population lives below the poverty line. Prospects for young people are not good and many graduates are lucky to get jobs as taxi drivers.

This generation of young Iranians has experienced real extremes - the turmoil of war, social and religious reform, and the conservatism and poverty that followed.

Zohreh Soleimani is not a journalist - but she sets out to give a picture of Iran that reflects the reality of day to day lives.

Read more at the BBC here

• 23 mins

• Download (mp3)

• Documentaries

Download or subscribe to this programme's podcast.

Manchester Students Union faces attacks over re-labelled toilets

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7643136.stm

A row has broken out at the University of Manchester after its students' union toilets were "de-gendered". The ladies and gents are now called "toilets" and "toilets with urinals"

Temporary signs have made the "ladies" simply "toilets", while the "gents" have become "toilets with urinals".

The changes are in response to an unspecified number of complaints from trans students who are uncomfortable using the men's toilets.

A university newspaper criticised the move but the student union said it was needed to tackle transphobia.

There are no figures on the number of transsexual and transgender students believed to be among the university's population of more than 35,000 students.

The students' union welfare office declined to reveal the number of complaints, but said it was an important issue.

A student newspaper editorial questioned the wisdom of the move

Women's officer Jennie Killip told the BBC: "If you were born female, still present quite feminine, but define as a man you should be able to go into the men's toilets - if that's how you define.

"You don't necessarily have had to have gender reassignment surgery, but you could just define yourself as a man, feel very masculine in yourself, feel that in fact being a woman is not who you are."

Asked about the change, some female students questioned the move.

One said: "Girls might not want to use the same toilets as boys, so then you just end up with people complaining about that - so you can't really win.

Another told the BBC: "I personally wouldn't want to be in the same toilet as a man."

The move prompted an editorial in campus newspaper Student Direct last week which criticised the new arrangements.

Newspaper spokeswoman Susannah Birkwood said: "The toilets have been provided for men who don't self identify as men and women who don't think of themselves as women.

"Whether or not this is political correctness gone mad.. because it certainly seems that way to some members of our student community."

Union officials have rejected the criticism and permanent signs for its first gender neutral toilets are being made.

Almost 60 people, including Ms Killip, have signed a letter to the student newspaper criticising the editorial.

Tony Cliff in Turkish...

THY İşçileri ve Hava-İş'in yanındayız!

From the Tony Cliff Facebook group

Can Irmak Ozinanir

THY A.O. yönetimi İstanbul'daki çağrı merkezini kapatarak, bu görevi AssisTT ve Vodatech firmalarına devretme kararı almıştır. Bir süredir çeşitli illerdeki satış temsilciliklerini taşeron firmalara devrederek çalışanların bir anda tayinlerini çıkartan THY yönetimi bu kararıyla 550'ye yakın işçiyi işsiz bırakmaya hazırlanıyor.

Çağrı merkezi işleri devredilen firmalardan AssisTT firmasının genel müdürü eski AKP İstanbul İl Başkan Yardımcısı!

THY A.O. Çalışanlara ya da bu iş kolundaki tek sendika olan Hava İş'e hiçbir bilgi vermemiş, keyfi bir şekilde "çağrı merkezini kapattım" demiştir.

Üç farklı tarihte hisseleri satışa sunularak özelleştirilen ve kamu denetiminden yoksun bırakılan THY'nin işçilere dönük uygulamaları özelleştirmenin emekçiler açısından acı sonuçlarını açık bir şekilde göstermektedir. Şirket el altından bu uygulamaların, kendi zorlamalarıyla yapılan "grev oylamasını" kaybetmelerinin intikamı olarak alındığını emekçilere duyurmaktadır.

İşçiler, işlerini korumak için "özveriyi askıya alma" kararı almıştır. Bunun çağrı merkezi hizmetlerinde sorunlara yol açması üzerine THY yönetimi işçilerin direncini kırmak için çağrı merkezindeki bilgisayarları genel müdürlüğe taşımaya başlamıştır.

Hava-İş, bu konuda duyarlı olan bütün yurttaşların 8 Ekim tarihine kadar 444 0 849 numaralı telefonu sık sık arayarak, takım liderini istemelerini, uygulamayı protesto etmelerini, çağrı merkezini olabildiğince meşgul ederek işçilerin eylemini desteklemelerini talep ediyor.

DSİP tüm işçileri, ezilenleri, antikapitalistlerin, emekten ve demokrasiden yana olanları çağrı merkezinde çalışan emekçiler ve Hava-İş'le dayanışmaya çağırıyor.

Çağrı merkezi kapatılmamalıdır, THY yönetimi taşeronlaşmaya dönük bütün uygulamalarından derhal vazgeçmelidir. Alınan bütün kararlarda işçiler ve sendika muhatap kabul edilmeli, şirket üzerinde kamu denetimi sağlanmalıdır. İşten çıkarmalar derhal durdurulmalıdır!

DSİP Genel Sekreteri

Damla Çimen