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« October 2004 | Main | December 2004 » 30 November Over the last week, an exercise in mass murder has been taking place in West Papua. The Indonesian military has begun a huge, organised attack on innocent highland villagers in 'revenge' for what they say was an attack on some of their colleagues by a group of Papuan separatists. If you don't know anything about West Papua - and few people do - please please visit this site, and learn something. It's one of the world's hidden genocides, and right now, as you read this, 15,000 tribal people - yes, 15,000 - are huddled on the side of an icy mountain with no food or shelter, surrounded by soldiers, waiting to die. The army attacked their villages last week by machine-gunning them from helicopter gunships. We don't know yet how many are dead but the soldiers won't let them go home, and they won't let anyone take them food. There's nothing about this in any of our media. Nothing. Total silence. This is exactly what allows the mass murderers in the Indonesian military to get away with this time and again. It would be unbelievable if it wasn't so typical. Tomorrow, 1st December, is 'independence day' in West Papua. It marks the day in 1961 when the Papuans briefly achieved nationhood, before being invaded by Indonesia. Any Papuans celebrating it will be arrested. Here, at least, we can mark it, and some people will be doing so tomorrow with a candlelit vigil outside the Indonesian embassy, in protest at what is happening in West Papua right now. If you're in London and can spare an hour, please go along. Enough people could make a real difference. People are meeting at Marble Arch Underground station at 4pm. Bring a candle in a jar and some warm clothes. At the very least we can bear witness. Posted by paul at 10:40 AM | Comments (0) 25 November Recently I was having an email conversation with a member of the Socialist Workers Party. He didn't like what I'd written about the SWP's hijacking of the European Social Forum and had written to tell me why. He spent some time explaining that 'political movements need leadership', and that the SWP's job was to provide it. Whether I liked it or not, he said, the masses need a revolutionary party to tell them what's good for them. Suggesting otherwise was pie-in-the sky romanticism. It was all very predictable, depressing and fruitless, until we started talking about Iraq. Didn't he think, I asked, that the job of the British left now, whatever they thought of the initial invasion, was to get behind the Iraqi trade unions, radicals and reformers who are trying to ensure that post-Saddam Iraq ends up as at least a passing imitation of a fair society? The stark alternatives, after all, are a US client corpocracy or a Taliban-style Islamist junta. Look, I said, here's an article by Nick Cohen which makes this point rather well, if typically aggressively. The Comrade's reply was simple: Cohen, he said, was 'Islamophobic.' There was, therefore, no reason to discuss his points any further. This verdict, it was clear, was supposed to end the matter. Curious, I wrote back to him and asked him what 'Islamophobic' actually meant. I also asked him how it could apply to Cohen who had, after all, been suggesting that we all work with the Iraqi left, most of whom are presumably, er, Muslims. I didn't get a reply. Perhaps he had decided that I was 'Islamophobic' too, and thus dangerous to associate with. This sort of woolly, accusatory rubbish is getting more common by the day. I've lost count of the number of times that I've heard unthinking lefties throw the term 'Islamophobic' at anyone who even questions the tenets or practices of Islam. I'm not sure when the British left decided that its primary duty was the unquestioning defence of one particular monotheistic religion, but it could lead them into a political cul-de-sac even deeper than the one they're already in. Which is one reason I'm bothered about the announcement made in the Queen's Speech that a new crime of 'incitement to religious hatred' is to be put on the statute books. What does this mean? How is it defined? Who will be silenced by it? The suggestion that publicly criticising a religion is to be, potentially, a criminal offence is a deeply disturbing one. Some people compare the proposed law to anti-racist legislation, without confronting the blindingly obvious point that criticising someone for the skin colour they happen to be born with and criticising the religious doctrines and practices that they choose to live by are very, very different things. This is a law which could used by extremists from every religion, from anti-abortionists to homophobes, to attempt to silence legitimate criticism of their grim beliefs. There's a good debate here which explores its pros and cons much more intelligently than I've done. I recommend it. Oh, and, for anyone out there who's decided by now that I'm obviously 'Islamophobic' myself, have a look at this site, home to a Muslim woman who has made it her duty to publicly break her silence on the worst forms of her religion. You might find it confusing but hey, life is complex. Posted by paul at 12:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack 24 November How did I miss this story? US geneticist Dr Dean Hamer (does that sound like a fake name to you? Why do American scientists all have names that make them sound like they've been guest-starring in the Muppet Show?) reckons he's discovered the genetic sequence that determines whether or not people believe in God. I've no idea whether the science behind this is spurious or not (he has a book out about it, so it's not looking good), but boy, I'd love it to be true. The possibility of being able to remove it from people before birth would be so promising that it might make me think about reversing my opposition to cloning and genetic engineering. I mean, come on now: if you could have engineered the fanaticism out of both Bush and Bin Laden in the womb, don't you think it would have been a price worth paying? Naturally God-botherers are none too pleased about this. Here's what they have to say on the matter. Expect the fatwas and papal doctrines to start rolling in if and when Hamer reaches the New York Times bestseller list.
Posted by paul at 10:17 PM | Comments (0) 23 November Tomorrow, in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, a three-day 'military expo' begins. It's an opportunity for 250 international arms companies to try and flog their wares to the notorious Indonesian military. One of the companies that will be there is Britain's own Rolls-Royce, the world's second-largest manufacturer of engines for military aircraft. Here is what Rolls Royce says about itself: 'We aim to meet society's expectations by setting a high standard of business conduct and personal behaviour ... Rolls-Royce has come 10th in the top 100 companies in Business in the Community's Corporate Responsibility Index for 2003.' Here is what the Indonesia Human Rights Network says about how Indonesia uses its military hardware to commit an ongoing genocide on the people of West Papua, which it illegally invaded in the 1960s and still controls: 'Violent military campaigns and extrajudicial killings have claimed the lives of thousands of West Papuans. Thousands more have been subjected to torture, disappearance, arbitrary detention, rape, or other forms of serious mental and bodily harm ... the historical and contemporary evidence ... strongly suggests that the Indonesian government has committed proscribed acts with the intent to destroy the West Papuans as such, in violation of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.' Here is what the Indonesian military, armed by companies like Rolls Royce, are doing in West Papua right now, according to the Jakarta Post newspaper: 'Eight people, including a church minister and a police officer, were killed in a series of attacks by unidentified gunmen between Aug. 17 and Nov. 12, 2004. Some 15 others, mostly children, died when more than 5,000 residents of 27 villages had to flee and take refuge in remote areas after they felt their lives were in danger due to the continued presence of the gunmen ... reliable sources in the province told The Jakarta Post that the local unit of the Army's Special Forces was involved in the incidents.' Perhaps, like me, you can see some curious contradiction between Rolls-Royce's claims of 'social responsibility' and the fact that its weapons are being sold, openly, to this regime. If so, you might like to take it up with the company. You can phone Rolls Royce on 020 7222 9020. Ask to speak to the CEO, Sir John Rose. Perhaps he can explain how his company squares this ethical circle? Or you could email him on john.rose@rolls-royce.com If you get a response, please let me know! Posted by paul at 11:30 AM | Comments (3) 21 November I bought The Observer today, for the first time in about six months, and was gobsmacked to discover that it had some interesting stories in it. I stopped buying it mainly because it was morphing into a metropolitan fashion magazine with the odd bit of news in it (and also because it kept publishing Noreena Hertz, though that's another story) I've been buying the Independent on Sunday instead, but today's had an enormous picture of Janet Street-Porter on the cover so obviously there was no way I could go within six feet of it without puking. Anyway, there was some good stuff in there in there. Firstly, a surprisingly intelligent and sensitive treatment of the 'gypsies versus rural communites' story of the moment. Cottenham, Cambridgeshire, is the site of a huge traveller camp, which locals have been objecting to for months. Villagers say a vast influx of caravans has ruined the environment and is threatening the infrastructure. A good number of them also hate 'Pikeys' because that's what Pikeys are apparently for. The travellers, meanwhile, say that since the Tory government removed the obligation on local councils to provide them with sites in 1994, and then used Michael Howard's Criminal Justice Act of 1995 to criminiliase them for stopping on public roads, there's not a lot else they can do. So The Observer brings a local village bignob and a gypsy leader together and, Lo and Behold, they agree with each other. The government should re-introduce the obligation to provide travellers' sites, they both say; then there won't be any need for illegal activity or a mass influx of caravans anywhere, and both 'sides' can get on with their respective lifestyles. Both also agree that this craven government is unlikely to do so, because it's scared of the ever-obnoxious Daily Mail. Another interesting titbit was an opinion poll comparing attitudes in Britain now with attitudes fifty years ago (have you noticed, by the way, how common it is these days for newspaper 'stories' to be fulsome reports of polls commissioned by other people? This is because they can fill up entire pages and simply require the hack in question to copy out a press release. Still, probably shouldn't knock it - it seems to have worked in this case). This poll contains some intriguing results. Most admired man in 1954? Churchill. Today? Mandela. Not very suprising perhaps, until you notice that Tony Blair is apparently the fifth most remrkable man ON THE PLANET according to today's Britons. Then you perhaps start to wonder. (In my case, I also start to wonder who Lance Armstrong, who comes fourth, even is. Oh wait, I just looked him up. He's a cyclist. A cyclist? Jesus.) Amongst other disturbing findings: Margaret Thatcher is the most admirable woman on Earth, asylum-seekers are the second-most pressing political problem in today's Britain, and over half of us have no idea who our MP is. This last one, though, leads us to a serious point: 81% of people today think there's no real difference between political parties - that's twice as many as fifty years ago. On this point, at least, ordinary people seem more perceptive than the political and media classes, who persist in banging on about what the Tories think about this and Labour thinks about that as if it actually mattered. It doesn't really, because in a world ruled by the market, in which the old left has collapsed and the new anti-capitalist movement hasn't yet developed ideas or presence big enough to fill the gap, it's all pretty irrelevant. In my last media reference of the day, Martin Jacques wrote an interesting piece on this subject in yesterday's Guardian. I wrote one on it too, for this month's New Internationalist. Ten years ago, when I was a lowly researcher at The Independent, Martin Jacques was my boss, and I can't say it was an altogether pleasant experience. So do let me know which one you prefer, won't you? Wrong answers will, of course, be deleted immediately. Posted by paul at 04:27 PM | Comments (1) 19 November Da-da! Welcome to my all-new, sparkly, interactive blog. You can now add your own comments to whatever drivel I come up with. Hopefully we can get a few interesting conversations going. Since I am a web-illiterate moron, this was fixed up for me by a fellow blogger, Peter Gasston, whose site is here If you want to comment on anything you see here, you'll need to register. Don't panic: it only takes a few seconds, and you don't have to give away any personal information. This is mainly to stop spammers posting the URLs of their porn and gambling sites in my comment boxes, which they've already tried to do. Nice people. And thus, a new era begins. Now I just have to think of some interesting things to say. I'll get back to you on that. Posted by paul at 02:15 PM | Comments (0) 17 November I always thought I was the only one who hated Bob Geldof and all his Band Aid crap. I thought I was being terribly misanthropic and mean in thinking that he was a pouty, shouty old sod with a Victorian notion of charidee. I thought I was the only one who fumed when he ponced about Africa with the US Treasury Secretary and then declared, on behalf of everyone on the continent, that George W Bush was the best president that those lucky Africans had ever had. I thought, too, that I was the only one who though Bono was a pompous, leather-clad, America-worshipping old tosser who should shut up about debt and try and write some good songs for once instead. I thought I was the only one who thought they were all missing the sodding point. Well I wasn't, and hurray for that. The excellent World Development Movement has come out against the new Band Aid single in a strongly-worded attack, and not just because of the high twat-count that inevitably occurs when you put Chris Martin, Dizzee Rascal and Justin Whatsisname from the Darkness in the same room. No, WDM has had enough of a song which spews out patronising rubbish about Africans suffering terrible drought and poverty without ever mentioning why. It's had enough of Band Aid's weirdly apolitical nature and its avoidance of the real issues. 'African poverty is not an unfortunate accident of geography and climate', says WDM. 'It is the result of damaging policies forced on Africa by rich countries.' Quite. Fortunately, there's an alternative to this misdirected dirge: you can visit this website and help write your own, more politically-charged lyrics to the re-released song. Lyrics like 'Where the only water flowing has been sold to multinational companies', and 'There's a world of unjust trade rules, forced liberalisation and unpayable third world debt outside your window'. Thank the Lord, I say. And as for Band Aid's new release: until I hear the Sugababes singing about GATS or Dido warbling about the tightening grip of multinationals on basic services in the developing world, I'm buggered if they're getting any of my money. Posted by paul at 02:18 PM | Comments (1) 16 November ... Instead of which, Margaret Hassan got it instead. Everyone knew this was going to happen, I suppose, but God how depressing it is. So hard to know what to say about this war any more. Everyone, from all sides, just churns out the hollow words as the whole thing gets worse and worse. Poor Hassan's, of course, is just one of the high-profile deaths we get to hear about in the West. God only knows how many good people have died whose end will never be publicised so well and so gruesomely. Have a look at this blog from an Iraqi family living in Baghdad, which I've highlighted before, if you want some kind of picture of what it must be like to be there. None of it will ever tell the whole story, of course. I'm not sure what we'd do if we knew it. Even Blair might have his Faith shaken if he knew the whole truth. In some ways, I'm very glad I don't. In the meantime, by the way, some small ray of hope comes from the US, where plenty of citizens are horribly aware of how the re-election of Bush makes them look in the eyes of the world. So much so that they've set up a website apologising for it. It's here Posted by paul at 01:08 PM | Comments (1) 13 November From BBC News Online, a few minutes ago: US Vice-President Dick Cheney has been taken to hospital on Saturday after experiencing shortness of breath, the White House reports. A spokesman said he was undergoing tests on the recommendation of doctors. Mr Cheney, 63, has a history of heart attacks. He had his fourth heart attack at the end of 2000 and in June 2001 he was fitted with a pacemaker. Please, God. It's about time we had some good news. Posted by paul at 12:00 PM | Comments (0) 9 November Further proof that there is no justice in this Earthly vale of tears: the Reverend Billy has been sent to jail! Those of you who've read my book will know all about the Reverend, founder and spiritual leader of the Church of Stop Shopping, who has been preaching the gospel of anti-consumerism inside many a Starbucks outlet for some years now. Those who haven't yet heard of him, visit his website and save yourselves, children, before it is too late. Billy got himself into trouble in April this year, after performing the laying-on-of-hands on a Satrbucks cash register in Los Angeles. He's now been sent to the slammer for three days for 'criminal trespass with intent to obstruct lawful business.' A show trial if ever there was one. During this time, the Reverend has asked all those who are concerned at his martyrdom to don his robes and take on his role in a Starbucks near you. Here are the instructions he has issued for the benefit of the faithful: Reenact Reverend Billy's Crime Against Starbucks! Get some bad Elvis hair, a white collar, white jacket and enter a Starbucks store. Deposit information about child labour in coffee fields on the tables. Hallelujah! Feel the Spirit! Cut out a thick strip of white cardboard and seal it over the back of your neck with some duct tape: that's your collar. Throw some cement on your hair and wear a white outfit. Now you're a preacher! Have a friend follow you with a video camera. When you get to the store:
Posted by paul at 12:00 PM | Comments (0) 4 November Oh Christ. What can I say? We're all doomed. And I lost my ten quid. Hell, that was no fun, was it? Anybody else out there stay up all night, initially daring to hope and then becoming increasingly, insanely depressed? I'm still recovering, both physically and mentally. Still, there's not much more I can say. Especially with every journalist in the world analysing every aspect of 'what this election means' for days and weeks to come. I would just make two observations. One: at least this was, to look on the bright side, an example of an engaged population taking part in mass democracy. Shame that 59 million morons all voted the WRONG WAY, but that's democracy for you. Sigh. Two: I really, really don't understand America. Anyway, enough of this. What I'm going to do now is list some pieces of nice, good, happy news to cheer us all up. It's either that or suicide. So here goes: Piece of good news one: It is possible to emigrate to Britain. You can find out how to here. As long as you're not one of the 59 million morons, you are welcome to the UK with open arms. As long as you can put up with Blair instead. Piece of good news two: brilliant African environmentalist Wangaari Maathai won this year's Nobel Peace Prize. She's a wonderful woman who has suffered hugely for trying to restore the African environment for years, and it's great she's been recognised. Piece of good news three: The Woodland Trust has launched a great new website which allows you to find where ancient woods and trees are in your area, and what you can do if they are under threat. Have a look; it's great. Piece of good news four: you can adopt an injured animal from St Tiggywinkle's wildlife hospital, and make it well and happy. They have some really cute badgers. Piece of good news five: Maitreya, the World Teacher, is coming to save us all, as you can see from this website. Sorry about that last one. I think that contemplating another four years of monkey-boy at the helm has driven me slightly mad. I'll stop now. Posted by paul at 12:00 PM | Comments (0) |