Lansbury's Lido

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8229171.stm More than 30 police officers were injured in clashes or accidents during protests at the G20 summit in London, new figures show. The injuries ranged from being hit by flying debris, attacked by protesters or crushed in crowds to dog bites and being scalded while making a hot drink. Sounds like most seem to have been injuries attributable to 'friendly fire'. No wonder they've toned down the confrontational tactics for the latest climate camp.

Just ordered two more books on that favourite figure of mine from ages past, George Lansbury. First off is George Lansbury: At the Heart of Old Labour by Dr John Shepherd. Surprisingly I haven't managed to find any reviews of this tome so I'm trusting that it's going to be a good and informative read anyways. And it's hardback so the size and quality of the print should make things a tadge easier on my eyes! Secondly a more recent book by Janine Booth , brought to my attention by a blog posting on the Leftwing Criminologist . The book is "Guilty and Proud of it: Poplar's Rebel Councillors and Guardians 1919-25". This one I'm really looking forward to as it deals with the practical outworking of Lansbury's own relationship with those he was elected to represent.Just read an old blog post by Janine Booth regarding Minnie Lansbury. I hope the book will highlight her work as well.

Here's a gem of a clip from George Galloway's radio show. Whether you like him,love him or loathe him you can't deny his commitment to the Palestinian cause. And he's great entertainment. Mind you with foils like this.... Given the dreadful level of ignorance around the issue of the Palestinians I do despair.

OK, he's not pretty, his head's too small for his body, he's boss-eyed and he's got a bit of a temper. But he's a loved moggy. And he's gone missing. :( We came back from a week's holiday to discover no trace of him. The person who had been feeding the cats said he was there on the Friday. Saturday, no sign. He was there when my youngest said his first words; he was there when my sons had their first day at school; he was there when my wife and I got married; he was there when I dealt with the grief of losing my parents; he was always there. And now he's gone. I live in hope.

Image via Wikipedia Listening to the radio the other day, can't remember what it was but I do recall something along the lines of ; home taping/drugs/knock-off cds and dvds contributes to organised crime/mafia/people trafficking/swine flu ( * delete as appropriate ) You know, one of those messages where the authorities want to deter you from doing something slightly dodgy by appealing to your conscience. Then I got to thinking about the same concept and government taxation. What dodgy dealings does my tax contribute to? invasion war chemical weapons weapons of mass destruction regime overthrow suppression of political dissent kidnapping financial corruption I'm giving up there, the list is going to be too long.

Image by Ruth Flickr via Flickr The real colour of the establishment showed through recently with the absurd claims by Tory grandees Douglas Hogg and Patrick Cormack. Both are claiming that the pay of MPs should be doubled in return for scrapping the second home allowance. Hogg claimed that their pay had fallen so low that it was insufficient to support the lifestyle "to which most professional and business classes aspire." What better supporting evidence that short of knocking the capitalist system on its head we need to ensure that MPs receive the average workers wage, plus justified expenses. I really thought that we had left the era of the toffs behind. Apparently not.

Seems that certain sections of the US political scene have been falling over themselves to knock the NHS. Words and phrases such as 'evil', 'Orwellian' and 'death panels' have been bandied about to stoke up fear of the red menance and to have a pop at Obama. Seems not so long ago that there were a number of blog posts regarding the home grown Tory attitude towards the NHS, especially that expressed by Daniel Hannah the Tory MEP. He was having a great old time in the land of the free putting the boot into the concept and practice of the NHS, much to the delight of the interviewer. I blogged about it here in April but you'll find his youtube video all over the place. In fact I'll embed it again as it's well worth watching. The condemnation from Cameron over Daniel Hannah's interview was noticeable by it's absence.

Image by hugovk via Flickr So we hear that the Farming Minister, Jim Fitzpatrick has walked out of an Islamic Wedding at the London Muslim Centre because he didn't agree with the policy of seperating the sexes during part of the ceremony. I'm not sure if he has raised the issue or other parties have flagged it up but he seems hell-bent on distancing himself from the Islamic community in his constituency of Poplar and Canning Town, a community which represents perhaps 30% of the voters. I had been cobbling together a blog post about this but then reading the press release from Respect I thought to hell with it, they've put it so much better! So why not just post it! Friday 14th August 2009 George Galloway today condemned Government Food Minister Jim Fitzpatrick's attack on a Muslim wedding as a "disgusting insult, cynically motivated by political opportunism". Fitzpatrick issued a press release this week to the East London Advertiser announcing he had refuse...

Being a rail commuter has given me some quality time to catch up on reading. As it's payday I've ordered a few new books to tide me over. Currently I'm ploughing through Marx's Capital Vol 1 but it's not a book I can read from cover to cover without several intermissions, so My new reading list is: Summer of Blood: The Peasants' Revolt of 1381 by Dan Jones Keir Hardie: A Biography by Caroline Benn Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada ( h/t Mick ) Ones which I have left until I'm through with this batch are: Paul Robeson : A Biography by Martin Bauml Duberman Hewlett Johnson, Priest, Prophet, and Man of Action by Clive Hancock, Hewlett Johnson The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare by G. K. Chesterton Let's hope the Royal Mail management don't start kicking off with their wacky schemes for 'modernisation'. Any suggestions for reading gratefully received!

Image by ClevelandSGS via Flickr "Every artist, every scientist, must decide now where he stands. He has no alternative. There is no standing above the conflict on Olympian heights. .. The battlefield is everywhere, there is no sheltered rear..... Fascism fights to destroy the culture which Society has created; created through pain and suffering, through desperate toil, but with unconquerable will and lofty vision . . - What matters a man's profession or vocation? Fascism is no respector of persons. It makes no distinction between combatants and non-combatants... The artist must take sides; he must elect to fight for freedom or for slavery. I have made my choice. I have no alternative. The history of the capitalist era is characterised by the degradation of my people; despoiled of their lands, their women ravished, their culture destroyed... I say the true artist cannot hold himself aloof. The legacy of culture from our predecessors is in danger. It is the foundation upon whi...