Milton Wolff typified the type of working class political activist of whom Trotsky said Stalinism corrupted, by this he meant people who came into politics to help build a better world, ended up as an accomplice of the Gulags and the grave digger of socialism. Whilst there is undoubtedly an element of truth in Trotsky’s assessment it is far from the whole picture, for in his own way Milton Wolff was at the forefront of the fight against oppression on two continents. Whilst today the Russian Revolution is seen through the prism of Stalinism and rightly so, in the two decades which followed the Bolsheviks taking power it was seen by millions of workers throughout the world as a beacon of hope, which offered a real alternative to the heartless capitalism then prevalent in the USA and most of the world and a bulwark against the black night of fascism which was descending upon Europe.In almost every land working class men and women like Milton Wolff could be found, the success of the Bols
I have included an obituary of Jim Reddell for a number of reasons, he was a dying breed in the British Labour Party, working class, trade unionist, absolutely loyal to the Party and Country through thick and thin, conservative with a small c, yet well to the left of most of todays Labour MPs. The likes of Jim were to be found in almost every Constituency LP in the land, up until Tony Blair became leader that is. Hard working, first rate local councillors who new the people they represented like the back of their hand, in their time they sorted out more personal problems than the average CAB advisor of today. Yet Blair and his ilk had no use for them and moved them aside to make way for middle class New Labour wide-boys/girls who were passing through and had no interest in the people that Labour had been founded to represent. Indeed alongside the demise of the likes of Jim Reddell came the demise of the British Labour Party as a vehicle for progressive changeI will also admit to a pe
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former gang member who founded an anti-violence group called No Guns has pleaded no contest to federal weapons charges.
Hector “Big Weasel” Marroquin, 51, and co-defendant Sylvia Arrellano, 25, entered pleas Thursday for three counts of manufacture, distribution and transport for sale of an unlawful assault weapon.
Arrellano also pleaded no contest [...]
Omar Osama bin Laden, one of the nineteen children spawned by the famous Muslim mlitant leader, is dedicating his life to fight for peace in the world. Together with his British wife, Omar is interested in “chaning the ideas of the Western mind. A lot of people thinak Arabs–especially the bin Ladens, especiallly the [...]
I was especially pleased that Tony Greenstein, who is a tenacious fighter for the rights of the unemployed and the Palestinians, has managed to force an apology out of the London Times and its columnist David Aaronovitch . Both played a part in an attempt to smear Tony as a racist and anti semite when they allowed Aaronovitch’s Times Blog to be used as the vehicle for derogatory and untrue remarks about Tony Greenstein. Unfortunately for them Greenstein noticed the Blog was moderated thus the offensive comments in question could not have appeared on the Times web site without it being authorized by either Aaronovtch or a Times employee who had been delegated to moderate the blog. Hence Tony put to good use the legal degree he was awarded long ago but had kept in his back pocket for situations when the gofers of Capital forget their manners. The funny thing is I myself had a similar incident only this week when someone posted a comment on the excellent Cedar Lounge Revolut
The death of Philip Agee, international socialist, revolutionary, political activist and former CIA officer in the field saddened me greatly, as Agee has for many years been a great hero of mine not least because he epitomized two of my basic beliefs, that given the opportunity people can change no matter what their education and upbringing and those sons of the middle class who side with the dispossessed are often amongst the finest people who walk the earth.Agee came from a well off middle class Florida family, whilst at the USA’s most prominent Roman Catholic University Notre Dame, he was head hunted by someone in the faculty who acted as a spotter for the US Central Intelligence agency. [CIA] Thus his future career path was well marked out, approximately two decades in the field and then back to Langley Virginia as a well paid, powerful spook bureaucrat. He turned his back on this world when in his own words he, “fell in love with a woman who thought Che Guevara was the most wo
Dave Hallsworth, who has died aged 78 of bone cancer, was a working-class activist who joined the Communist Party while on active service in Korea, but resigned in 1956 after the suppression of the Hungarian uprising. He finally found a political home within the small Revolutionary Communist party.Born in Manchester, he left school at 14 and joined the Royal Navy as a boy sailor. He was discharged after being jailed for a month for trying to organise sailors on a warship. Years of trade union work followed and in 1981 Dave led a long and bitter strike against redundancy at the engineering company of Laurence, Scott and Electromotors, in Openshaw, Manchester, where he worked. The strike featured in Ken Loach's banned Channel 4 documentary, Questions of Leadership (1983).Dave was secretary of the Tameside TUC Trades Council at a time when the Trades Council Movement was near its peak, TTC supported many of the most pressing issues of the day and unlike many labour movement organizations
Time was that the website at pax.protest.net contained a pretty vibrant calendar of progressive political actions. Now it’s nearly devoid of activist events and deluged with mocking right-wing spam about sex acts, white supremacy and cults of the Homeland.
Fortunately, Indymedia is still chock full of information about local, national and international protest, [...]
Outside the small circle of the United States Communist party, the civil rights activist James Jackson, who has died aged 92, may best be known as one of several communists jailed for conspiracy at the height of the McCarthyite witchhunts, only to have their convictions overturned by the US supreme court several years later.Jackson was arrested in 1951, along with 20 others, for teaching classes on violent revolution. This was regarded as an offence under the Smith Act, a statute put forward in 1940 by the anti-labour and anti-civil rights southern congressman Howard Smith, which made advocating the overthrow of the US government a crime. Jackson and five other defendants went into hiding for five years - "roaming the country like during the underground railroad," as his wife Esther told the New York Times - but in 1956 he surrendered, was convicted and jailed for two years.A year later the supreme court ruled on Yates v United States, arguing that the Smith Act "requires more than the
Miss Lennox is a vegetarian. Miss Lennox is a lingerie model. But Miss Lennox has her panties in a wad trying to figure out what the hell PETA was thinking with having Alicia Silverstone pose nude and shoot a nude Public Service Announcement to speak out against eating meat.
PETA is quite proud of its “first-ever [...]
Every single human being who exists upon this planet is born with the inherent human right to be able to travel any place that they wish to go in this beautiful world of ours.
As a person who has never had to face such a degrading feeling myself, I can well imagine the sheer frustration that Yuan Weijing must feel at not being allowed to be able to travel wherever it is that she would like to go for whatever reason.
Tell me something - what good is the United Nations if they cannot intervene on this woman's behalf and uphold this human right of hers?! In my opinion, they have proven once again that they are good for NOTHING and I do not respect them.
READ ABOUT THIS HEREPractice non-violence in your lives. You will be leaving your children a beautiful legacy.
She's baaaack...From the San Francisco Gate:Citing her son as inspiration, a tearful Cindy Sheehan announced her candidacy Thursday for the U.S. House of Representatives.The anti-war activist is running as an independent against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has represented San Francisco in Congress since 1987."The country is ripe for a change," said Sheehan, who spoke at a podium with her son's photograph attached to it. "It's going to start right here and right now."[snip]Last month, she announced her intention to run against Pelosi if the speaker didn't move to impeach Bush by July 23. On Thursday, she said Pelosi had "protected the status quo" of the corporate elite and had lost touch with people in her district, most of whom, she said, want American troops out of Iraq.[snip]Sheehan admitted she has no funds for a campaign, but planned to immediately get started raising money. Without giving further specifics, Sheehan said she wouldn't accept money from corporations and woul
Radio Free Europe has the scoop...Authorities in Iran's northwestern Kurdistan Province have condemned two ethnic Kurds to death for acting against the country's national security.Their lawyers told Radio Farda that they will appeal their death sentences.The trial has been accompanied by unconfirmed suggestions in the Iranian media that the two men -- journalist Adnan Hassanpur and social activist Hiwa Butimar -- were working with banned groups that oppose the government.
As you know, I've been away and just learned through reading through the headlines that Mansour Osanloo has been taken by the authorities. What a shame, but only a matter of time for him, I suppose, as he was actually trying to do something to harm the regime, so it would seem. Details can be found here.The International Transport Workers' Federation has appealed for the release of an Iranian union leader who reportedly was kidnapped earlier this week in Tehran.Mansour Osanloo, leader of a bus workers union, ``is still in custody somewhere by agents unknown,'' federation spokesman Sam Dawson said Thursday.The Associated Press was unable to contact any member of his family in Tehran for information on the case. Osanloo, 47, president of the Sandikaye Kargarane Sherkate Vahed (Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company), was accosted by several men as he stepped off a bus Tuesday evening, the federation said, quoting information from its Iranian affiliate.
It's only freedom of speech if you agree with them. Homeless activist, Ted Hayes, was on Capitol Hill, like thousands of other citizens who make unscheduled visits to their congressional offices, and to other offices that don’t represent their congressional district. There is an open door policy on Capitol Hill and anyone who has been there or worked there knows it. Ted, who founded and ran the homeless shelter in South Central L.A. called Dome Village was in Washington on June 19 to visit Hon. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick on the issue of immigration. In the elevator going to her floor he and his colleagues, Mr. James Spencer and Mr. Terrance Lang, began a conversation with some folks from Chicago who were going to see Maxine Waters in an unscheduled, meeting. Ted told them that James was from her district in Los Angeles and they would tag along and see if they could see her as well. When they all arrived at the office, both groups were warmly welcomed by the staff. The Chicago gr
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