Chavez in London May 16, 2006
Posted by Andy Roberts in : politics , add a commentNo, not chavs, CHAVEZ - The president of Venezuela.
VHeadline.com - Venezuela’s Chavez in London: Socialism isn’t dead … it’s coming back
During a 4-hour speech to around 1,000 persons at Camden Town Hall, Chavez Frias gave his vision of Socialism of the 21st century, telling his audience that people who proclaimed the end of Socialism when the Berlin Wall came down and the Soviet Union collapsed did not realize that Socialism was about to born in Venezuela with the spontaneous revolt of masses in Caracas against neoliberalism and capitalism, known as the Caracazo.
Elected in 1998, Mr Chavez has since introduced a raft of social reforms in Venezuela including a drive to eradicate illiteracy and the improvement of healthcare for the poor.
He denounced capitalism as a “destructive” system which concentrates the world’s wealth in the hands of a few ruling elite.
Chavez will not meet with Prime Minister Tony Blair or any senior British government officials during his visit, which one political analyst said was a sign of tensions between the two governments.
But Chavez’s visit to London seemed aimed at rallying support from social activists. On Saturday, the Venezuelan leader announced at a gathering of non-governmental groups and social movements in Vienna, Austria, that he wants to provide cheap heating oil for low-income Europeans.
Chavez, a fierce critic of the war in Iraq, has characterized Blair as a “pawn of imperialism” over his close alliance with U.S. President George W. Bush . Chavez’s moves to exert greater control over his country’s vast petroleum reserves have also drawn criticism from Britain and other countries.
Islam - Roy Harper responds May 9, 2006
Posted by Andy Roberts in : Music , 11commentsA discussion on an email list ( “a very democratic organ” ) about a song written at the time of author Salman Rushdie’s being forced into hiding in fear of his life after writing a book, has caused the artist to respond on his own record label’s website.
I hope you will spare some time to read the entire rant, complete with alternative history lessons but I’ll also pick out a few quotable lines from amongst the legion.
..Re-the black cloud of islam.. a song of mine written in 1989……
..Religion, my first and only enemy, was about to storm the world.
..Fundamental disbelief in due scientific process threatens all our lives now. Freethinking humanity is seriously threatened
..the black cloud of christianity probably fell 600 years earlier
..Creationism is muck, and where there’s muck there’s brass, as they say in Yorkshire
..as the internet continues to develop into the universal earth educational supplement
Lyrics:
the black cloud of islam
I’m sick to the teeth of the news on the screen
of hisbullah scum and jihad the obscene
whose men plant the bombs and then live feeling free
to watch women and children be killed on T.V.
which satan delivers a child a death curse
in the name of a worn out collection of verse
I’ve not read the book so I cannot recite
but I’d bet Salman Rushdie is just about right
underneath the black cloud of islam
What kind of publicity needs so much blood
that’s not for some sad diabolical god
selling himself as a two-bit Macbeth
as the expert in sentencing cousins to death
and what kind of god can this be anyway
that you have to prostrate to him five times a day
with hate in your heart and a gun in your hand
is force the only thing to understand
underneath the black cloud of islam?
and the butchers who’ve got all this blood on their hands
are the ones who need god to be stood where he stands
blessing this kidnapping, murder and war
with books written hundreds of ages before
and woman in veils walking paces behind
doesn’t sit easy in my mind
it speaks of oppression and no other choice
that rigid compliance with the loudest voice
underneath the black cloud of islam
You can put a lead bullet clean through this guitar
‘cos I’m not overjoyed with the story so far
sharing a world with the nutters of god
is as good as being six feet under the sod
words that are written are all here to say
and these are the latest there are anyway
and I am the prophet so don’t believe me
I’m the same as the old ones expect that I’m free
to give you a piece of my mind which is this
you’re the worst of jehovas blind witlessnesses
with your feet in the door of the deepest abyss
which is underneath the black cloud of islamby Roy Harper
How to resist WalMart May 5, 2006
Posted by Andy Roberts in : General , add a comment
Breaking news via ideant
San Salvador Atenco is considered a ‘rebel’ town. Five years ago the government tried to build a new airport there but the town blocked the efforts, kicked out the mayor, and established a form of self rule. Apparently, recent plans to build a WalMart in Atenco were also not received with much enthusiasm. According to Indymedia Mexico and a Mexico Solidarity Network email alert, violence erupted when police tried to evict ‘illegal’ flower sellers from a market near the proposed WalMart site.
Technorati Tags: walmart, mexico, riot, atenco, politics, selfrule, zapatista
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