Stuff I've Been Doing While Away

Yes I've been away for a bit but instead of another apology post (I really need to get out of the habit) I figured I'd tell you a bit of what I've been doing whilst not updating this blog.  That way at least you can something of interest/use out of here again.

Mobbly

First up I've been writing up a few articles for Mobbly. I said before when I started writting for them that I'd do a few blog posts about articles I thought people who read this blog might be interested in, well obviously its been awhile since I did that, I have a non lazy reason though, given my slump in updates I didn't want this place to turn into a "re-blog" thing you know just advertising with no substance so I held off for a bit hoping to pick up the pace later. That obviously didn't happen so unless you follow my Twitter and not many do you'll have missed on some interesting information. So heres a recap of some of the articles I've written that you'll probably enjoy (not a guarantee).

 Castro: By Reinhard Kleist. Yes its a Comic biography of Fidel Castro, it covers everything from Fidel's childhood to his retirement and is told from the point of view of a West German immigrant journalist whom falls in love with Cuba but not necessarily with the Maximum Leader. Here's what I thought of it.

1948: By Andy Croft. Those whom know me will know I am a massive fan of George Orwell and while I had no idea at the time whom Andy Croft was (his main body of work revolves around sport) the cover and the blurb intrigued me so I picked it up and I did not regret it. Andy Croft was a member of the now defunct Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) and he recently published a book about the collapse of the old CPGB that I will be reading up on soon. Review here.

Iron Sky: A film about Moon Nazi's. Actually to be fair whilst it is a modern day 1950's B-Movie complete with flying saucers it is also a very clever and accurate (Minus the living on the moon thing obviously) depiction of Nazi society as well as being coupled with some satire about modern (mostly American but you can still apply the jokes around the world) politics. It also looks amazing for the tiny budget and the cast especially the Germans work well. Click for more.

A Eulogy to Ray Bradbury and a review of Fahrenheit 451: This one combines two articles I did. As I'm sure you're all aware Ray Bradbury has died, naturally as a Science Fiction fan I was saddened and wished to convey why I felt the man was so treasured by genre fans. After doing so I felt it was a good time to review his most famous work Fahrenheit 451 for the benefit of those whom haven't yet had the pleasure and where curious about all the fuss. Read both  here.

Occupy: By Noam Chomsky. Of all the stuff I've written this probably deserved to be posted here the most. I did already blather on about the man and his opinions of the movement here. Anyway I found the book ( a collection of speeches and interviews) to be very informative, hopefully it will lead to more like it as the Occupy Movement progresses. Read about it here.












Free Speech Radio News

As you've probably noticed I've been embedding and sharing a lot of videos by the group Free Speech Radio News (FSRN). Why? well I quite like there coverage and I think its a good way to broaden and elaborate a point so your not just reading my dyslexic ramblings (thank you for spell checker). I'm also the guy who makes most of those videos so its nice to get some extra use out of the stuff you've already done.

Anyway the reason why FSRN has contributed to my tardiness, is because like most independently funded media groups they had a funding shortfall, quite a large one actually at a pretty delicate time. To spare the details the group were in trouble and had to begin aggressively touting for support and donations, readers of the Morning Star will know what I'm talking about. And I helped out as much as I could. You maybe thinking if that's the case then why the hell was this space so quiet? well I was just overwhelmed at the time and didn't get around too it. Still the good news is that FSRN is still on the air and secure for at least a little while.  And those wishing too can still donate and support it.

In fact to make up for my silence here's a few video reminders of the important work FSRN does.

Mumia Abu-Jamal's appeals for support on the behalf of the team. FSRN has been broadcasting his commentaries from Death Row, and now from the prison general population for awhile.

And here we have two reports on the ongoing escalation of violence in the Eastern Kivu (both North and South) provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Including an investigation into allegations that the M23 "Rebellions" receive support from neighbouring Rwanda. All while US and European Mining companies continue to make profits from the war torn areas.





There was also another report about Gold prospecting in Haiti and the dangers to the local population if the widespread corruption and exploitation aren't addressed.




Other Stuff

It may surprise you to learn but I do have a life outside the internet. In the fresh air and daylight I have also been quite busy. I've been undergoing training and become a Regulator of a local Housing Association. I know, those associations shouldn't exist, and the Council should be providing housing for its residents and tenants, but the Council isn't in any state to take back that stock at the moment and this way I might be able to make some difference on behalf of vulnerable tenants.

I've also been hard at work at my local boxing club shedding weight and taking a few steps on the path of the pugilist. Its very efficient way to improve your fitness levels, and it lets you eat all the delicious protein rich foods you want. Oh and I've also been tinkering away at some fiction, don't worry I won't turn this blog into my Live Journal, and if your wondering no I do not have a Live Journal. Its just something I've been working on to see what can do. If I get better at it I might start uploading some of it but that would be a ways off.

So yeah that's what I did with my mid June to early July. How was your time three and a bit weeks? Hope it was good despite the abysmal weather.

Black Revolutionary History Month

Its February (thankyou leap year)ok only just but I live in Britain and so not only have no obligation to celebrate the occasion (Britain of course being a nation totally devoid of racism and marginalisation as I'm sure you continental types are well aware) and it will still be February for a few more hours in the States.

But justifications aside I am celebrating this month regardless for several reasons, first there's alot of black people in the world and a good number of them have done and are doing noteworthy things, but due to most nations ethnocentric interests these are often overlooked and that is not only unfair it is also extremely ignorant. Second thanks to Imperialism much of "recent" history experienced by black people whether in American cities, Africa or the tropical islands has been dominated by one form of exploitation or another and resistance to it. And third a lot of that history is actually very impressive, take slavery, slavery is an abhorrent and ancient practice and naturally there have been many uprisings and escape attempts wherever it was practised, whose the most famous of these self emancipators? Spartacus of course, and while I don't which to knock the man or Kirk Douglas's portrayal of him in the film it should be remembered that he lost.

Toussaint L'Ouverture the man who led the Haitian's to freedom when they turned there tools into weapons was actually dubbed "Black Spartacus" by the French which given his success where Spartacus failed is a bit like calling the Gold medallist from Kenya in the Olympic 200m sprint the black (insert name of) guy who came second. Still given Spartacus's competition I think Marx's compliment that he was "the most splendid fellow in the whole of ancient history" is well deserved.

Anyway for a more cogent reason why this month matters and why Black History is something we all should celebrate and learn from, here is a commentary by Mumia Abu-Jamal.

Haitian Cholera Epidemic Worsens

Sadly despite it being nearly two years since the devastating earthquake collapsed what passed for infrastructure in Haiti -after decades of Dictatorial nepotism under Papa Doc and Baby Doc and Western friendly economic "restructuring" gutted everything-, and yet sadly Haitians are still suffering one calamity after another. Cholera a water-borne infection has been plaguing the survivors since the tremors subsided, and has occasionally flared up over the year but since late October it seems to have flared to epidemic proportions.

From Medicins Sans Frontiers (Doctors without Borders)

"Since the first cases of cholera were identified in October 2010, more than 465,000 Haitians have fallen ill and more than 6,500 people have died, according to Haiti’s Ministry of Health. While the ongoing rainy season is facilitating the further spread of the disease, international organizations involved in health care, water provision, and sanitation services are withdrawing from the fight against cholera in Haiti, despite the significant and urgent needs."

Part of the reason why international aid organisations despite undertaking a serious commitment to Haiti in terms of money resources and manpower is that once again due to the downtrodden relationship Haiti has with its rich neighbours (USA, and Canada) and old "friend" France means that very little has been done to build a more robust state on the ruins of the old regime capable of looking after its own citizens.

"While ensuring that Haitians’ urgent needs for cholera care are adequately met, international aid agencies should do more to assist the Haitian government in rapidly integrating proper cholera treatment into healthcare facilities and in implementing prevention plans. MSF has been working to transfer management of the healthcare facilities it has been supporting back to the Ministry of Health."

MSF donation page https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/donate/?t=o

West up to its old tricks in Haiti

Well its been over a year since that terrible Earthquake wrecked the most vulnerable nation in the Caribbean and sadly it appears that despite shaking the foundations of the nations houses the countries just as rotten political house seems to have been untouched and is set to receive a fresh coat of paint in the form of a sham election. Now the North American members of the organisation of American States (plus France for some reason) interfering in the internal politics of Haiti is not surprising to those who've studied its almost non stop history of abuse at the hands of the dominant colonial/imperial powers at the given time. What makes this latest development so galling is that its happening at a time when much more attention is being directed at the nation, before shady business deals and exploitation could be carried out with impunity as few were paying attention and the Caribbean nations were to poor to get there plight across to the world community effectively.

Ultimately though it does not matter who wins the elections in Haiti, ever since Aristide was kicked out and his party Fanmi Lavalas was banned the electoral process in Haiti has become a sham. Fanmi Lavalas is the largest party in Haiti and its deposed President(who might be coming back) the only one with genuine popular support of a kind different from the lesser evil, or better the devil you know school of thought.
Banning the largest political party from standing for election is in effect an affront to the democratic ideal which lets remind ourselves is the power of the people to decide there fates, and an blatant admittance of systematic fraud.

Happy International Labour day!

Sadly my deadlines are pretty damn close so I wasn't able to attend a demonstration though I did manage to squeeze in time to watch this reminder of why Trade Unions and the Labour movement are important.








Its funny how corruption and the interests of the rich seem to run contrary to the interests of the people and the nation as a whole.They also seem to be based on the smashing of the grass roots opposition all under a veneer of "legality" but then I guess it really is a funny old world we live in.

Batay Ouvriye website here

Haiti and the Devils Curse

Real News has done another excellent job debunking the sinister myths and laziness of the mainstream media- particularly Australia, Haiti is not the birth place of Voodoo that was founded in West Africa- for those who missed it Pat Robertson a fundamentalist Evangelical Christian stated in an interview that Haiti was poor due to a literal pack with the devil they supposedly made to overcome there Colonial French masters. While this absurd and historically in accurate diatribe (wrong Napoleon Pat) has received the pillorying it rightly deserves, they as Real News points out have not been that much better omitting the interference of outside powers in its affairs for example. Or the wretched Neo-Liberal economic agenda enacted by Papa Doc's Dictatorship. Or omitting the ousting from power Democratically elected popular Left Leaning President Jean Bertrand Aristide , Who as seen here wishes to return



Rather the main stream news seems content to ignore this (you know stuff of actual journalistic merit) portray the poverty and devastation of Haiti as something that is endemic with the country itself, as if it permeates the soil itself or rather that theres just some sort of bad Mojo about the land.

Haiti

As you are no doubt aware Haiti the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere has been absolutely devastated by a major earthquake whose epicentre was just 25 miles away from the Capital Port-Au-Prince. Exacerbating the problem has been the long term lack of investment, particularly in the areas of housing and construction, and health care. The death toll which shockingly stands at around the 200,000 mark with many more left to desperately cling on to what little aid and support they can get. Among the Dead were the head of the current UN relief mission and his deputy,the Arch Bishop Joseph Serge Miot and many more.

However it appears that the suffering of the Haitian people has only just begun as despite a phenomenal response by both regional and world governments and charities-a list of aid pledged by country by country can be found here and the website of the Umbrella organisation for British Charities and relief efforts can be found here- The relief efforts have run into trouble. Or have they? it seems that wide scale looting and pagan voodoo rituals have been going on preventing effective relief action Apparently. I say apparently as evidence of this (especially the Voodoo connections) is thin on the ground as this report by Real News demonstrates. And when I searched for further evidence the first sites I came across where White Supremacists whose picture evidence was shaky at best (they could easily have been picture of local relief work) and kept cutting away to mantra's like "save whites now".




Lenin's Tomb has also been very adept at debunking these myths here here and here. I should also mention that before this Earthquake and after this mess is finally sorted out , There is group that has worked tirelessly to create a fairer and more prosperous Haiti, The Haiti Action group, which has an excellent history of the events of Haiti and the Politics of the Earthquake.