Potentially we are all refugees

Imagine if we let the thick of neck, knuckle dragging, beer bellied, spotty, low IQ, shouty white blokes take over. Think about that. Think it couldn’t happen? Think again. The Brexit vote happened because filthy rich white blokes exploited the intellectually challenged members of society. Those simple souls who can only think in black and white. The filthy rich could take back even more control! Think!

If that were ever to happen what would you do?

Under fascism no one is safe. Not even the fascists. Fascism rules through fear. Fear breeds distrust. Distrust creates purges. People, yes real human beings, are vapourised. A knock on the door in the dead of night, a scuffle, and you are spirited away. Your name erased from history. Think!

Imagine this happening, then imagine having to get out of your house as quickly as possible and fleeing in fear of your life. What would you take with you? What of your most prized possessions would you love into your single solitary suitcase? This is the dilemma that hundreds of thousands have to face each year. Your life in a suitcase.Think!

What would I take? I really couldn't say. A change or two of clothes I guess. But what else? Important financial records/papers perhaps, a small momento or two, relevant medication, travel kettle, iPod and perhaps a travel radio might fit in two. I guess it would also be useful to take small things of high monetary value like jewellery. Things that could be sold to raise some cash. Have I forgotten anything? Probably. Think!

What would you pack in a solitary suitcase? Could you cope with that? You'd have to. It would be cope or die. Think about that!

Being a refugee as far as I can see is no fun. You don't upsticks just because you fancy a change of scenery. Refugees are people. People fleeing persecution. Put yourself in their shoes; you've escaped persecution or death, wouldn't you hope to be welcomed when you reach a safe haven? What if there were no safe havens? Where would you go if you needed to?

We all have a responsibility to help refugees.

Think!

If you tolerate this then your children will be next

I like many people have become very alarmed by the way the fascist agenda has appeared to have come to the fore in recent months, and particularly in the last week or so. Hate, which is essentially fascism, is being displayed more and more openly. A worrying trend that has to stop. How do the decent majority stop it? We stand up to be counted, we challenge it whenever we can and we make it known by whatever means available that HATE is not acceptable.

The key is to realise that you, each and every one of you can make a difference. You can help affect change. If we all do small things to counter fascism we will overcome the hate. We can drive it out. We can reaffirm that hate has no place in a decent society.

What can we do?
• Today I have sent postcards to the editors of five of the main culprit newspapers that have been encouraging hate. I've also complained to the BBC about their Marine Le Pen interview on the Andrew Marr Show. Next I shall start contacting those companies that fund adverts to the 'hate monger' newspapers:

• You can do the same
• And you can ask others to help to
• If you're on social media then follow the Stop Funding Hate campaign on Twitter or Facebook
• Follow Unite Against Fascism on Twitter and Facebook
• Print out some of the anti-fascist images on sticky paper. Stick them up in public places
• Print them out on plain paper. Shove them through people doors.
• Spread the word on social media
• Anything to get the message across

Now is a good time to remind you of Martin Niemoeller 'poem':

First they came for the Communists,
but I was not a Communist,
so I did not speak out.

Then they came for the Socialists and the trade unionists,
but I was neither,
so I did not speak out.

Then they came for the Jews,
but I was not a Jew,
so I did not speak out.
And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.

– Martin Niemoeller (1892-1984)

The title of this blog posting comes from a poster from the Spanish Civil War:

Think!

It inspired this Manic Street Preacher's song:

Think some more

These are seriously troubled times. It's time for all decent tolerant people to get up off their arses and do something, no matter how small.

Please feel free to share this picture

The postcards to national dailies

Stranded

A few years ago someone I know asked me if I considered myself English or British. Without hesitation I answered neither, I'm European I said. And that's how I have felt for a long time and still feel now.

As you can imagine I feel angry, sad and generally bemused by the incredulity of the referendum result. I've calmed down now so I won't be quite as insulting as I have been in recent days on social media. In fact I had to initiate a self-imposed ban on social media to stop myself from being mega insulting to so many people. I've come to terms now with the result and feel that those who voted for out will mostly be the ones that suffer because of it and because of that don't feel quite so bad.

The only good thing to come out of this is the possible breakup of the United Kingdom. As much as I find nationalism distasteful I do wish the Scots the best of luck with their future in Europe. I have no doubt that this time they will gain their independence and remain in Europe. I also think that an independent Scotland could prosper because of England's idiotic decision to leave the EU. Industry will flock to north of the border because of what the English plebs have decided.

My biggest concern is for the poor people of Northern Ireland. They have been shat on big time and result of this referendum could well reignite the violence that was so successfully subdued in the 90s. I hope they can find a way through but fear that unless a united Ireland is achieved somehow shit will happen again. If only the loyalists could see that England doesn't give a bugger about them.

This referendum has brought out the nastiest of the nasty in some people, particularly white obese racists from Essex and Lincolnshire, but not exclusively.

I shall continue to be blunt and try to shock the idiots back to sort of decency but I doubt my efforts will have much effect.

As much as I like the writing of George Orwell I fear Aldous Huxley has won out. Time will tell.

Thomson clan dress tartan - the future?

EDL were not welcome in Norwich

Last Saturday’s march (as mentioned in previous posts) was a success for the people of Norwich. It made me feel very good that so many people cared. The EDL were the ramshackle, social misfit bunch that you’d expect, and thankfully small in numbers. Diverse Embracing Populi 10 – Fascists 0.

For the Eastern Daily Press report click here and photos click here.

Norwich tomorrow

#wearenorwich Tell the EDL that they are not welcome in Norwich:

please RT

EDL Not Welcome Here

This Saturday will see the EDL marching in Norwich. Those fascist hate merchants of low IQ infamy.


Free speech is a tricky blighter. It should be everyone’s right. Unfortunately free speech allows those whose extreme opinions seek to divide and oppress others. We have laws that deal with incitement and hatred but if those whose obnoxious message offends all decent people stay within the law they have the right to speak. But those of us who find what they have to say offensive have the right to challenge them. And challenge them we will.


People of Norfolk please do your bit before you have no bit to do.

The Blue Meanies are all scoundrels

As I’m sure you can imagine I have no truck with nationalists or patriots. I’m with Oscar on that one. The concept of a British identity is as impossible to define as a sense of Britishness is laughable. And, don’t get me started on the Bulldog-spirit or the retro-racist-speak from circa 1940. It’s all phoney. It has nothing to do with national identity or interests and everything to do with oppression.

It can never be said enough but I am no lover of capitalism. I don’t like it but accept that until a majority want it changed that’s the way it is going to be. Having said that if I had a choice between the partially-regulated (and one may say highly successful) capitalism of mainland Europe and the rape and pillage model that the Tories love, I know which one I’d plump for!

David Cameron is an even bigger tosser than I ever thought possible for effectively giving away any influence that we might have had in Europe. This is particularly foolish in my opinion because I’m convinced that the €uro will bounce back, aided by the new disciplines that will be put in place. This will put the €uro-zone countries in an even stronger position within the EU. The €uro-zone will be firmly in the EU driving seat. Cameron’s made us the fat smelly spotty lad that no one in the playground wants to play with. We are the Shit-Leg* of Europe

The company I work for is a manufacturer. Yes we are that rare commodity, a company that does engineering/manufacturing in the UK! Guess where the majority of our customers are? In the €uro-zone of course! If our economy is to survive and bounce back it’ll be companies like ours that will need to thrive. If a country doesn’t make things then it is lost. Even Switzerland has a manufacturing industry! The way the Tories are acting UK plc is rapidly going to become an offshore banking business, and nothing else; a place where only the rich can afford live permanently; a place where the non-rich servant-proles are bused in on a daily/weekly/monthly basis to do the menial tasks and are then sent ‘home’ again. If the Scots, the Welsh and the Irish have got any sense they’ll break away from the United Kingdom. For us English that aren’t millionaires I guess we’ll be forced to live in Calais and beyond. I suppose it could be worse, couldn’t it?

*a reference to a poor persecuted lad at my school all those years ago

I hate myself sometimes

I’m very ashamed of an action I took this morning whilst alighting from my train in Thetford. The train was running late and there were a larger than normal crowd waiting to get on. The light to indicate that the doors could be opened to an age to come on. Whilst I waited and before it did so I saw this chap push to the front of the crowd and start jabbing on the button to open the door. When the door finally opened he started to get on the train before anyone had got off. Almost as a reflex action I barged into him with my shoulder knocking him back off the train. I don’t think at first he knew what had happened. I looked around and he was staring at me as if to say ‘I’ll remember you’. The actions of both of us were ill mannered and I’m certainly not proud of what I did. Rough justice isn’t justice. I get very irritated by bad manners and people’s non-consideration of others but that is no excuse for losing my temper. I shall of course beat myself up about it and sadly, as it happened in Thetford, there’s a good chance that if the individual concerned is hell-bent on revenge then he or his mates will be looking to beat me up or knife me as well. Deep joy! Now where’s that copy of the Daily Mail?

Richard Griffiths is a jolly good actor

I had a bit of an email-banter with a work colleague today that I thought I’d share with you. I’ve removed company identifiers and changed the names of individuals to protect the innocent. I’ve also ‘cut and pasted’ it so that it appears in the order in which it was written:





From: Aitch, Deidre (company name)
Sent: 28 July 2011 07:49
To: Me (company name)


Subject:



Morniiiiiiiiiiiiing

Algernon at 50

Regards,
Deidre Aitch

---

From: Me (company name)
Sent: 28 July 2011 09:39
To: Aitch, Deidre (company name)


Subject: RE:



That’s strange it looks like Richard Griffiths to me!



Technically you can’t possibly know what anyone will look like at any point in the future because the future doesn’t exist. What would be technically correct would be to say “what Algernon might look like at 50”. I have my suspicions that this is in some way meant to be derogatory. If that is the case I feel I must frown upon it and point out that this sort of slur doesn’t help with trying to engender a polite and harmonious workplace. It’s all about karma; send out the right vibes and those vibes will reverberate and be reciprocated. Big respect to all. Boom Shankar!



Regards
Me

---

From: Aitch, Deidre (company name)
Sent: 28 July 2011 10:21
To: Me (company name)


Subject: RE:



Dear Me


GO FUCK YERSELF!!



Regards,
Deidre Aitch
Some Job Or The Other

---

From: Me (company name)
Sent: 28 July 2011 10:35
To: Aitch, Deidre (company name)


Subject: RE:



Anatomically impossible and poorly spelt! It’s a good job that I’m not easily offended.



It’s a classic tactic of those that cannot rationally analyse and/or justify their actions to turn to abuse as a defence mechanism. My sympathies are with you.



Regards
Me

---

From: Aitch, Deidre (company name)
Sent: 28 July 2011 10:59
To: Me (company name)


Subject: RE:



Wordsmith!



Regards,
Deidre Aitch
Any Old Title

---

From: Me (company name)
Sent: 28 July 2011 11:03
To: Aitch, Deidre (company name)


Subject: RE:



I shall take that as praise, given that it could never be applied as abuse.



Regards
Me

---

Are you starting again?



Regards,
Deidre Aitch
Whatever you want

I worry about Twitter.

Not just Twitter I might add, but social media in general. The likes of Twitter have enjoyed, of late, what might be described as some success, with the super-injunction debacle, and this week playing their part in the attacks against Murdoch and the News of the World. Is this all good for democracy? I have mixed feelings.

Whilst it feels good when popular victories are won against the forces of evil, like Murdoch, and I must say I have a mild Twitter addiction, I do worry that there is a fine line between justified protest and a sort of herd/lynch mob mentality. My concern would be if the latter were to prevail.

A free press is important in a democracy (not that we necessarily live in a true democracy) but we don't really have a free press. We have a press owned by a small number of very rich and powerful individuals. Most of whom have a vested interest in the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. If we really had a free press it would greater reflect society as a whole.

I have no love of the rich and famous or an interest in the cult of 'celebrity'. I really don't care who is shagging who and in what orientation or denomination. So from that point of view I think that I would possibly welcome privacy laws but on the other hand I fear that those same laws could be used to gag journals and journalists from reporting on matters that in my opinion would be matters of genuine public interest. It is all quite a dilemma. I do quite like the idea that Hugh Grant has been advocating. He feels that newspapers should be subject to the same rules as television in terms of impartiality etc. Would this work? Possibly. It surely would be better than what we have at the moment; where papers just print out and out lies that smear an individual or a party. Once a story is printed in a paper that story is treated by many as fact. It is very hard for innocent individuals to clear their name and refute allegations. It is the total opposite to our justice system where individuals should be presumed innocent until proven guilty. As far as newspapers are concerned if they think you are guilty or your face doesn't fit or they don't like your politics then they will condemn you. Newspapers are never going to let fairness or justice get in the way of a 'good' story. Yes we have libel laws. But justice is slow and expensive and really only open to the rich. Innocent people have their characters besmirched and destroyed just to sell newspapers. That really can't be fair. The press do need a regulatory body that is truly independent and with the power to fine, order prominent retractions and apologies and to suspend publication if necessary.

There is no doubt that the mass circulation newspaper is on the decline. Electronic media will take its place. The gutter press thrives on rumour and innuendo. My fear is that Twitter could well go the same way, if it has not done so already. I do hope that it doesn't become lowest common denominator saturated.

This last week's events have reminded me of a John Cooper Clarke poem 'Suspended Sentence'. No prizes for guessing why.

The death of Thatcher

I always said that when Thatcher died I would celebrate by getting roaring drunk. Having witnessed the nonsense on the news about the death of Osama Bin Laden I now realise that rejoicing over anyone’s death, however evil you might perceive them to be, is barbaric and inhuman. Acts of love and peace should be celebrated and never the taking of life.

Tax-payers (work in progress)

‘Tax-payer’ is one of the many nonsensical terms currently bandied about by the media. A hateful term also highlighted by that reactionary organisation trading under the name of The Taxpayers’ Alliance. An organisation that no doubt draws sizeable support from Daily Mail readers. When the term ‘Tax-payer’ is used it is done so in a way to imply exclusivity. In reality though virtually all of the adult population are tax payers, along with many children. The largest source for revenue collection is derived from what people spend. Consumers are the only real tax-payers. Certainly 'for profit' organisations don't pay tax and neither does anyone assessed under the standard rate of tax.

Now before you accuse me of peddling some kind of Stalinist philosophy I urge you to remove those blinkers and consider the economy of this country from a different perspective than the one you normally adopt. If you are one of those "I don't work hard and pay my taxes to subsidise the feckless and the [enter persecuted minority of your choice]" Johnnies then I feel sorry for you. Please stop taking things at face value. That is the mark of an imbecile. Nothing is ever black and white, so please don't pretend that it is. Society’s make up is complex and multi-faceted, slogan-solutions are never the answer to a problem, if indeed there is a problem, which is often just a matter of opinion.

'For profit' organisations don't pay tax

Now this will fit nicely into the prejudiced view of many a hardened left-winger. But please just hold on a minute and let me explain. Now I’m not talking about tax avoidance or evasion here, although I have no doubt that many a corporation practises these dark arts. No matter how large or small the tax bill of any company is when the bill is paid it is not really paid by that company. I know that it is they that hand over the cash, but ultimately it is their customers that pay their tax bill. This is repeated all the way down the supply chain until it reaches the end. The end being the consumer. Companies don't really pay tax; they build it in to their pricing and effectively pass it on.

Standard rate tax payers working for profit orientated companies don't really pay tax either

I guess, with your pay-slip in hand, you might challenge me on this. Especially if you pay a sizeable wad to HM Revenue and Customs on a regular basis. But given we live in a market driven economy. Yes I know we don't like it. Wages are determined by the market and ultimately it is take home pay that drives wage levels so tax levels are immaterial.

What about the public sector?

I won’t even begin to try and explain the role of the public sector in all of this as this whole blog-post would end up being much more tedious than it actually is. Plus we could easily end up disappearing up some financial bum-hole in the process. That’s not putting the public sector down. The public sector plays a vital role and doesn’t deserve all the criticism it receives. The unjustified cuts that they are subject to are a result of charlatan economics.

There seems to be a misjudged paranoia amongst certain sections of the community that they are the only ones paying, whilst everyone else is taking. If true Tory intentions come into being, with all public services being privatised, I think people would be in for a big shock. If we were each billed for the services we use I suspect a large proportion of “hard working tax-payers” would find that they would pay out much more than they do now. Be careful what you wish for.

The average person on the Clapham Omnibus needs to stop accepting what they are fed about the economy. They need to scratch beneath the surface. To use a hateful business slogan they need to “think outside of the box”. Individual economic events don’t happen in isolation. Economic issues aren’t addressed by snappy on-liners.

The idea that you can measure a person’s worth is obnoxious, and to try and measure it in financial terms is immoral as well as laughable. We all make a contribution to society in our own individual ways. Don’t knock people because they are different or because the way they cope with life isn’t your way. Think before you cast the first stone, you might not realise that you are living in a glasshouse.

Everybody must get stoned!

There are a couple of lines in Moving On by the Oysterband that go:

“We asked the man for justice

Well, he handed us a stone”

Last week’s stoning by the Taliban was rightly condemned for the barbaric act that it was (although it raises so many other questions and comparisons) but we in ‘the west’ don’t really have grounds to criticise when we are guilty of acts of collective barbarism ourselves. I am appalled by the posturing, whining and intolerant belligerence (is that partial tautology?) on the part of the lynch mob that is the voice of the American Establishment. Their continued howls for the head of Abdelbasset Ali al-Megrahi are quite sickening. If ‘the west’ wants to criticise the behaviour of the rest of the world then we need to put our own house in order first. If we are to prove to the rest of the world that ‘our values’ are the best then they need to be so in reality. The Lockerbie bombing was a cowardly and evil act and we may never know if it was committed by al-Megrahi or not, but in many ways the issue of his guilt is irrelevant. We are also not to know at the moment if there were murky dealings regarding his release, and again in many ways this is not the issue. If we take what the Scottish executive and the doctor concerned are telling us at face value then what they have done in releasing al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds was the right, honourable and compassionate thing to do. Compassion should be always be one of the USPs of any civilised society. If we are to place ourselves on the moral high ground we need to act according to those morals. Something the loud-mouthed pseudo-Christian American establishment right-wingers should adopt. ‘Tit for tat’/’eye for an eye’ actions just perpetuate the downward spiral of the retribution cycle.

The white American Christian establishment right (WACERs) need to answer the following questions honestly:

• In the case of al-Megrahi what would have been the Christian response to him being diagnosed with terminal cancer?
• Why do they think Lockerbie and for that matter 11/9 happened?
• When are they going to stop supporting injustice?

As an atheist I accept that everyone has a right to follow the religion of their choosing but I despise anyone who hollowly wears a religion as a badge and uses it to oppress others.

Marching misogynists

The trouble with free speech, and of course living in a democracy, is that you often have to listen to stuff you don't like. The one thing that you must always keep in mind, when faced with someone else's unpalatable viewpoint, is the strength of your own convictions, whilst trying to understand their position. I didn't like the idea of Nick Griffin being on question time, but I recognised the importance of allowing him to be on, even though I had no desire to watch it. I also don't like the idea of Muslims marching through Wootton Bassett, but not for the same reasons that the Daily Telegraph/Mail lynch mob might object. Highlighting the absurdity and futility of war is very laudable. Thousands of innocent lives are being lost and for no good reason. It is right to protest against the carnage and doing so in a place like Wootton Bassett will have maximum impact. But will it do any good?

I don't think so.

Islam4UK doesn’t seem like a very friendly organisation, unless you are some kind of mentalist, and whilst I disagree with their aims totally it’s not my main reason to object to what they propose. I object to what they are doing because they are doing it as a religious ‘collective’. To me a person’s religion is personal and not to be shoved in another person’s face. Marching in the name of humanity would be so much more preferable. These Muslims are missing two tricks here. One by identifying themselves by their religion, and in such an extreme way they guarantee to alienate a vast majority of the population, and secondly if they wish to take as much public opinion with them as possible they would be better off doing it within a secular political framework. Anti war groups are always going to be able to draw on more support and opinion than narrow overtly partisan organisation. Inclusive is always going to have more political success than divisive.

?

Fascists

You do wonder if the heart and soul has been ripped out of this country of ours when you hear about the likes of Ama Sumani’s plight.

Regardless of the rights or wrongs of our immigration laws, for the state to sentence someone to death is totally and utterly wrong. Ama is a 39 year old Ghanaian woman who had lived here for a number of years. She is terminally ill, and was effectively taken from her hospital bed and expelled from the UK. The immigration service claimed that she would be able to obtain the necessary treatment in her home country. It appears not to be true because she can’t afford to pay for that treatment. Why does it have to be so cruel and so despicable?