Monthly Archives: January 2011

Aristide is blocked from returning to Haiti but Baby Doc is back!

The US wants to keep control over its backyard by keeping people oppressed and poor, nowhere more so than in devastated Haiti. This culturally rich but heavily exploited nation has not been rebuilt in spite of the invasion of armies of aid workers. It was outsiders who brought further death and misery to the tented population living in insanitary conditions in the form of cholera. The popularly elected leader Aristide has been barred from returning to Haiti while the infamous “Baby Doc” Duvalier turns up.
An article in Granma speaks of Haiti as a “shame on the world”. Cuba, itself a poor nation held in check by its bullying neighbour, has shown exemplary action in the aid Cuban and Cuban trained staff have delivered in Haiti, going into some of the most remote and difficult regions. Their work is recognised by the major health agencies. Yet humanity is not a priority to the wealth creators. Domination carried out by any means whether involving death and destruction is their priority. They rely on collaborators to carry out their bidding, dividing and ruling in the age old manner of imperialism.

Dragging it out. The truth about Iraq and the Second Coming.

Don’t go to war Mr Blair, please don’t. And so we marched, up to 2 million of us sometimes 3 generations of families together to say “NO!” Since then we’ve been up hill, down dale, round and round the Wrekin. The Chilcot enquiry met and along came Blair, Campbell and lots of others. On Friday Blair returns. The Second Coming – but Judas has got there first in the form of Lord Goldsmith. “No Blair’s statements did not reflect the advice he had been given.” Seems as if the truth will come out, even it has to be dragged out.
After countless deaths, not to mention maiming. loss of homes. jobs – total destruction we are getting glimmers from what has been called the “unenquiring Chilcot enquiry“. It’s shutting the gates after the horse has bolted but if nothing is done our leadership will still follow the same path, the slippery slope that will some time lead to our own annihilation. If it’s not by war it will be by destruction of the environment. Leaders don’t have the last word. They are led by the immense power of the corporate money-making institutions which have no difficulty in roping in those we elected in the belief and hope that democracy is the answer to everything.

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Bankers’ bonuses. Dustmens’ bonuses

Class division. Doesn’t exist. Take a look at these two stories, both involving the Lib Dems, one nationally, one in Birmingham, supposedly the blueprint for the Con Dem war on the people. Cleggy has done another u-turn and again the party is squirming, very quietly so as not to attract attention, but it appears some may have a conscience. Meanwhile back here in Brum Paul Dale in the Post has uncovered yet more scandalous bonus payments which allow a refuse collector to earn £45,000 a year!
I suspect very few will pick up anything like this, but I don’t quite get the point. It is an accepted norm still that people who work with their hands can expect a small return compared to the 6 figures that those with control of finances award themselves. Cllr Martin Mullaney who sits on Birmingham City Council is a Liberal Democrat. Well I thought so, but you would never have guessed given the scathing remarks he has made about the ability of the council’s work force to earn a decent living. Much of this has now been stopped. Today we are protesting in Birmingham that the refuse collector’s basic wage has been slashed by £4,000.
Bringing the wages of women and men into line has been a vexed question for a long time, but single status was introduced because of the unfair way that pay differed because of your gender. When I had some dealing with this as a councillor a snag was hit when it was found that with back pay owed bringing parity to women would bankrupt councils. I never hit on the idea of lowering already low paid men down in line with the scandalously low pay many women received as cleaners, working in kitchens. or as carers. It has taken the Con Dems to think of that. It is quite familiar and expected Tory thinking, but if you voted Lib Dem did it ever occur to you that they would fall in line. Cllr Mullaney was saying the other day how the scab labour that the council found money to pay for clearing the streets of black bags were better than the councils’ work force.
As chair of the now defunct Contact Services Committee I had regular monthly meetings with the refuse collectors who were as loyal to Birmingham City Council as anyone could wish. At every meeting they were anxious to hear that targets were being met, sickness rates were kept as low as possible and so on. And this is the thanks they get. Cllr Mullaney hide your head in shame. Are you still a Lib Dem? I would never have believed it.

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Report on Mordechai Vanunu re 2010

I received this information rather belatedly but still feel it important to share. Apologies for the delay! JT
From: Ernest Rodker
Date: 22 December 2010 17:01
Subject: Vanunu – latest news
Dear Friend and Vanunu supporter, 22nd December 2010
Apologies for a belated Vanunu, pre-Christmas news-in-brief which we hope will still be a helpful update on Mordechai’s present situation.
Firstly, you may not be aware that, last summer, Mordechai moved to new accomodation in Tel Aviv. He told us, at the time, his new place was small but that he was really enjoying the chance to swim every day in the Mediterranean; and as far as we know he has not been getting any extra hassle from living in Tel Aviv, which is good news.
Then, since the move, and from out of the blue, we heard that the prestigious German International League of Human Rights had awarded Mordechai their Carl-von-Ossietzky peace medal. In their press release they said; “Vanunu’s courageous conduct unquestionably recalls Carl-von-Ossietzky’s undaunted resistance against armament and war during the Weimar Republic”**
The award ceremony was to be on December 12th, in Berlin, two days after the International Day of Human Rights. The International League lobbied the Israeli Government to release Mordechai so he could receive the award. Appeal letters were written and signed by many well known international names. When contacted for comment, Vanunu, in contrast to the refusal he offered to his most recent Nobel Peace Prize nomination, was pleased to accept the award. And, perhaps, knowing the Israeli authorities better than the International League, he suggested that, if he wasn’t allowed to receive the award, personally, maybe the award ceremony could be postponed until he was eventually allowed to leave Israel. There was no response from Israel. Breaking with tradition the League agreed to Mordechai’s suggestion and it is now planning a continuing campaign to get Mordechai released so he could receive the award. Opportunities for this will arise during the build up to the 2011 Pugwash Conference, in Berlin, and the planned conference on a Nuclear Free Middle East in 2012.
The League has asked us to bring these details to your attention, so by email, letter, phone calls or other methods -tell your MP – you can help draw attention to these forthcoming events linked to the fact that, Mordechai was brutally kidnapped after being lured from England; and that he is still being held in Israel despite having completed his 18 year prison sentence, over six years ago, for telling the truth.
You may also have seen that Mordechai has been getting mention regarding the wikileaks saga alongside other well known and unrepentent whistleblowers: Daniel Ellsberg, Philip Agee and the latest recruit Julian Assange. Where you can, in letters and phone-ins, for instance, please take advantage of this to keep raising the fact that Vanunu is still being punished for revealing Israel’s nuclear weapons capacity, over 24 years ago.
Meanwhile Mordechai remains in Israel under multiple restrictions. If you have time to send him greetings for the New Year, please do. Mordechai is still using:

PO Box 20102,
Salah Adin Street – post office,
East Jerusalem 91384,
Israel

His email is: vanunuvmjc@gmail.com

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