Keep Our NHS Public Benefit Night

The following is information on the Keep Our NHS Public benefit evening planned for this weekend - sounds like a good night out for a good cause if you are in the London area.


YOUR GOOD HEALTH!
Raising a toast to KEEP OUR NHS PUBLIC
A special benefit performance

Sunday 18 October 4 pm

The New Players' Theatre

The Arches, Villiers Street, London WC2N 6NG

Your entertainment and enlightenment will be hosted by:

Martin Soan, master of prop comedy
and his glamorous assistant
Pierrettes Cobaz (from Peckham)

For your entertainment

The Anna
Mudeka Band
The exhilerating,
body-swaying, vibrant sounds of Africa

Stewart
Harvey-Wilson
From Radio 4's
"The Spoken Word"

Ian Saville
Celebrated Socialist Magician: "Captitalism is in big trouble. He'll make it disappear".

Cevanne
Armenian sounds, renaissance songs, celtic strings

Elizabeth Mansfield
sings Piaf
Acompanied by Stephen Rose
"Mansfield delivers the famous songs superbly . . . " Guardian


WITH A BAR, BOOKSTALLS AND RAFFLE

Box office 020 7478 0135

Book in advance for an "early bird seat" £12 (£10 concessions)
Tickets on the door £15 (£12 concessions)

Pre and post show meals can be booked on 020 7930 5868

Help Keep Our NHS Public by joining/affiliating/donating

Please help by filling in our standing order form, and campaigning locally for trade unions, pensioners' groups, community groups and others to join or affiliate to us.

Keep Our NHS Public |
19 Vincent Terrace, London, N1 |
www.keepournhspublic.com

Dawkins Amongst New Supporters For Republic

Republic has announced further new supporters prominent in public life in Britain - famous scientist, atheist and secularist Richard Dawkins, playwright Peter Whelan and "legendary Clash bassist" Paul Simonon. The following is a recent press release from the campaign group:

RICHARD DAWKINS BACKS REPUBLIC'S CAMPAIGN FOR END TO MONARCHY

Richard Dawkins, the evolutionary biologist and author, has given his backing to Republic's campaign for the abolition of the monarchy. Campaign Manager Graham Smith told reporters:

"This is very exciting news. Richard sees that our campaign is at a turning point and that republicans must work together to drive forward change."

"We have the best chance in a generation to get rid of the monarchy and see a truly democratic Britain. I'm sure Richard's support will inspire republicans across the country to get actively involved in the campaign."

In response to Prince Charles' plans to be an 'activist King', Dawkins has written on his blog that:

"The whole point of a hereditary monarchy is that you can't opt out when it suits your convenience. You now have to ask who would be the best head of state in the whole country. And that means a proper election, in which William and Charles would, of course, be free to stand."

Dawkins joins an ever-growing list of high profile and distinguished republicans, which includes leading figures from politics, law, entertainment and the arts.

WHAT IS REPUBLIC?

Republic is a membership-based pressure group calling for the democratic replacement of the monarchy by an elected head of state. Republic lobbies politicians and opinion-formers, undertakes original research on the monarchy, comments on Royal stories in the media and provides information on republicanism.
Republic is a non-party-political organisation with members from all the main parliamentary parties. Its distinguished supporters include 20 MPs, as well as leading figures from politics, law and the arts. A full list of Republic’s supporters can be found at http://www.republic.org.uk/supporters.

Weekly Links 19/10/08

Green Politics
The Campaign For Better Transport is running a campaign to get UK MPs to support a Transport Bill amendment to make it greener.
Michael Palin is a leading light of the Campaign for Better Transport and is speaking at a CFBT fundraiser at the Southbank Centre on 13th November.
Michael is like me, Sheffield born, so local CFBT campaigns around the Woodhead Tunnel and the Peak District will have a special interest for him.

Workers and Unions
I reported on Friday about the PCS strike ballot. On Tuesday of this week the Union is holding a meeting at Westminster to discuss the so-called welfare "reforms" proposed in the government's Green Paper.

There was a general strike in Italy this week - good to know that resistance to the Berlusconi regime continues.

From the USA, Daniel Gross has an article on the Counterpunch website about the case of Alexandra Svoboda, an IWW activist subject to Police brutality during a peaceful march last year -

A peaceful union march is brutally attacked by police. A union activist’s leg is horribly disfigured and nearly amputated. Maimed possibly for life, she is charged with multiple felony offenses.

The battleground is not the coalfields of Harlan County in the 1930s or 1970s; it's not an example of anti-union violence in Colombia or the Philippines. Our setting is present day Providence, Rhode Island.

Palestine
An exhibition of Art for Palestine, by artists from Palestine, the Arab World, China and the UK - Occupied Space 2008 is to be on show in London for the first two weeks in November. The exhibition is organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

And Finally ...A Bit of Music
Finally this week, a bit of music. The US election campaign has unleashed further waves of distortion and propaganda from the established media. Meanwhile in Britain we have had the unedifying spectacle of a New Labour Minister (incidentally a much unloved National Union Of Students leader in my days of study) playing to the reactionary media gallery on the topic of immigration. One of the best agit-prop songs on media distortion of the last few decades was Billy Bragg's "It Says Here" - a song that he tends to adapt to changing circumstances for live appearances. Here is a youthful angry version from You Tube. Speaking of adapting songs to changing circumstances - have a listen to one of Bragg's later versions of "Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards" here.
One of Bragg's popular radical songs is The World Turned Upside Down about the Diggers of the English Revolution - explained here and sung by songwriter Leon Rosselson, a legend of rebel protest music in Britain whose songs have been recorded by a variety of artists.

Weekly Links - 16/09/2008

Plenty of worthwhile links this week.

Blogs
Derek Wall is looking forward to the Convention of The Left, which could be a good step forward for the left in Britain....or not. Time will tell. Hope is ever the triumph of optimism over experience. He has also been blogging like mad on Socialist Unity blog (all that free time now he is not Principal Speaker of the GP being made good use of perhaps?) including this news about passenger resistance to a violent deportation to Nigeria.
Aled's submission to the NUS Reform Consultation from the end of last month is blogged by him here.
Jim blogs about the rightward drifting Lib Dems during their conference week.
The current financial and economic crisis brings to mind some words of TS Eliot for Molly.
Meanwhile James Caspell directs our attention to further evidence of the creeping rise of fascism in Italy.
Jack Ray reports on US government hypocrisy over the latest developments in Bolivia.



New Books
The eagerly awaited latest novel from acclaimed left-wing Scottish science fiction writer (and blogger) Ken MacLeod is now out. The Night Sessions is again set in a near future devastated by war and altered by climate change and technological advance. In this book the futurescape is explored through the lens of a police procedure and investigation into the murder of a Catholic Priest. Sounds a gripping read - more here and here.

Green Politics
News from the Scottish Green Party that long time co-leader of the party Robin Harper is to stand down from the position and is favouring a move to single leader model as adopted by the Green Party in England and Wales.

International
Keep up with developments in Bolivia beyond the capitalist media interpretation at BoRev.net. Another source is the Democracy Center. Ecosocialist Ian Angus reports on the plight of Cuba after the devastating storms and hurricanes. Hands off Venezuela and the Venezuela Info Centre have info on the coup plots there.

Obituaries
As well as the sad loss of Peter Camejo the last week has seen the death of legendary Pink Floyd keyboardist Rick Wright and excellent author and essayist David Foster Wallace.

Review - Steve Tilston, Ziggurat

Last night I was privileged to attend a gig by a stalwart of the British folk scene, Steve Tilston. Folk (and occasional Blues) singer-songwriter Tilston has new album out called Ziggurat, and he played a variety of tracks from it last night, along with some old favourites like Slip Jigs and Reels (a version of which has been recorded by Fairport Convention).

The songs on Ziggurat are a combination of reflective compositions inspired by incidents in his life, traditional songs, and political songs.

I particularly enjoyed Steve's political songs - his reflection on English identity and an alternative pantheon of radical English heroes and heroines ( including Tom Paine, John Ball, mass trespassers, striking match girls, Levellers and Tolpuddle Martyrs) in Speaking in Tongues and his very timely observations on City greed and the financial manipulation of the "new Coiners" in A Pretty Penny.

And behind their hedge,
They don't plant wheat,
They don't cut corn,
they don't pick tea,
They don't dig coal,
They don't forge steel.
They just push numbers about. They push too far, we bail 'em out,
Keep their fingers firm on fortune's wheel.

There is also an anti-war song, The Spoils of War and reflecting on destruction in Iraq and the threat of war with Iran gave him the title of the collection, Ziggurat.

These are supplemented by some lovely ballads like After Summer Rain and a traditional song taken from the wonderfully titled "Holroyd's Yorkshire Ballads" - The Fisher Lad of Whitby.

Well worth a listen.

Utah Phillips

Sad news that the great IWW activist and songwriter Utah Phillips has died. More from David Rovics Songwriter's Notebook Blog here.



Here is the official family obituary posted on the IWW website.

Rock Against Racism 30th Anniversary

This year sees the 30th Anniversary of the Rock Against Racism Carnival that was a high point in the political and cultural fightback against fascism and racism in Britain in the 1970s. This period of struggle (1977-1981) was the topic of a recent book by Dave Renton.

The 30th anniversary of the carnival is being celebrated by a gig at Brixton Academy on Wednesday 30th April with Alabama 3, Misty in Roots and special guests.
On Friday 8th February there is the launch of the RAR Club Night at Brixton Jamm with The Others, The Thirst and The Mentalists.

This weekend there is an organising conference in Nottingham to oppose the growth of the BNP in the Midlands and their use of the area for their "Red White And Blue" Festival.

Wobbly Benefit Gig in Brum

Mission Print Job Branch of the IWW are running an Xmas Benefit Gig for the Fellow Worker Ryan Boudreau Memorial Fund in Birmingham on Thursday 20th December.
Ryan Boudreau was a union cycle courier who was killed on the job. The battle to organise and defend workers in the despatch and courier sector (and all other workers!) continues. An Injury To One Is An Injury To All!

The gig features -

The Dregs
Generation Terrorist
The Fallen Angels

Thursday 20th December 2007, Market Tavern (Corner of Birchall St & Moseley St), Digbeth, Birmingham

Incidentally, the despatch industry in London was the site of a briefly successful union organising drive from 1989-1992, inspired by the industrial unionist IWW and the anarcho-syndicalist IWA/AIT, detailed in the pamphlet The Couriers Are Revolting - hosted online here.
Organising in the despatch industry presents many difficulties, not least the high turnover of workers. Nevertheless, DIWU and the IWW's efforts show that things can be achieved even in difficult circumstances.

Benefit Gig For School In Tanzania

There is a benefit gig for Butiama School in Tanzania on 16th June, 8pm 'til late at Trinity United Reformed Church, Buck Street, London NW1 (Camden Town Tube). Entrance is £10 waged, £5 concessions. Performers are Friends African Dance and Drumming Group, BIN, singer-songwriter Stefano Bellavia, Shalika and Harin from Sri Lanka and Yaabafunk Afrobeat Hi-Life. The gig is put together by Global Womens Strike of Crossroads Women's Centre to mark the Slave Trade Abolition, Indian and Ghanaian Independence anniversaries.

The Pogues at Nottingham Arena

I went to see the Pogues at Nottingham Arena on Thursday night. A trip down memory lane, I had not seen them play live since they had Joe Strummer temporarily up front. On Thursday we had the treat of Shane himself, and he stayed the course (with a few staggering trips off stage) to the end of the gig!

Here is the Nottingham Evening Post Review.

Carol Clerk has a book out about the Pogues - Kiss My Arse-The Story of The Pogues

This is what she has to say in her introduction -

Few would have predicted the spectacular popularity of their mission to pump some fresh new blood into traditional Irish folk music, a genre that was unfashionable and widely unloved, to revitalise it and to make it relevant and exciting even to people who had possibly never heard of a jig, a reel or an air, a cittern or a bodhran.

It all caught on very quickly, at a time when Eighties audiences were tiring of the electronic precision of the new romantics. There was something irresistibly wild about The Pogues’ reckless dash, something daring about their tales of drinking and brawling and sex, and something achingly romantic in their stories of love, loss, life and death. Importantly, though, the traditions that they rescued from the past, and the musical and literary influences of Ireland, the country across the sea, were counterbalanced by a realism set in the harsh streets of London. It wasn’t always pretty, but the young especially understood it; they related.

Thinking of their early days, there is a very good quality clip of them playing in 1985 on You Tube here

The Nottingham gig also included the legendary Fairytale of New York - a clip of which is recorded here from someone's mobile at their Osaka gig.