Many “Death to Americas” were chanted in Baghdad today as Qasem Soleimani’s body was paraded. I hope, I genuinely hope, that a mischievous chap deliberately chose a Chevrolet for the ride.
Because Friday night is Music Night
Another weekend arrives, another week done at the coalface of capitalism. I could do with every Wednesday off to be honest. It’s too late now though. Should’ve voted Corbyn when I had the chance for that extra day of rest. Then again every day would be a day of rest before long.
I have some right bangers to play in this here ATW Jukebox. We haven’t seen Sir Rodlington in a while, so why not have one of the best things he composed, in my opinion. Georgie was a friend of his. Part I is the story of his life and death. Part II is a lovely coda.
Have a good weekend and, as always, feel free to share your top sounds down below –
When everything becomes sacred nothing is sacred.
Ethical veganism is a “philosophical belief” and so is protected in law, a tribunal has ruled for the first time.
The landmark legal case was brought by vegan Jordi Casamitjana, who claims he was sacked by the League Against Cruel Sports because of his ethical veganism.
His former employer says he was dismissed for gross misconduct.
The judge ruled that ethical vegans should be entitled to similar legal protections in British workplaces as those who hold religious beliefs […]
Some people choose to simply follow a vegan diet – that is, a plant-based diet avoiding all animal products such as dairy, eggs, honey, meat and fish.
But ethical vegans try to exclude all forms of animal exploitation from their lifestyle. For instance, they avoid wearing or buying clothing made from wool or leather, or toiletries from companies that carry out animal testing.
We hear again from our friends, the quack judges of the employment tribunals. This nutcase was sacked because he was a bad, untrustworthy employee. Out of that a judge has decided that wearing hemp sandals is akin to Christianity. (Is Christianity protected? Probably not, come to think of it.) Is akin, therefore, to a religion.
Bridges and all that are fine, but Boris really needs to get on with purging the lunatics from the benches.
Major General Soleimani was horribly competent at what he did. He was the second most powerful man in Iran. He was kingmaker to Tehran’s despots. He was the architect of Iran’s military-imperial ambitions. And he was the murderer of tens of thousands of people.
His plotting and his orders have saw tens of thousands of Britons, Americans, Israelis, Iraqis, Syrians, Lebanese, Arabs and – most of all – Iranians, killed. The BBC narrative is that “defiant Iranians” are mourning Soleimani. Some are, but very many are jubilant tonight that the country’s chief torturer, rapist and murderer is dead.
Of course the British left deplores his death. In their minds the Great Satan has just murdered a resistor of capitalist imperialism. I’ve heard the left wing lawyerly argument that the killing was extra-judicial and unlawful. Left wing lawyers are often crass and usually wrong, and this is no different.
Let’s be clear: Qasem Soleimani was a soldier, an enemy combatant, in a conflict zone, on manoeuvres, preparing acts of violence and murder against Westerners, Iraqis and others. He needed killing and his killing is justified. As for what happens next, that depends on how mental Tehran will be. I’m anticipating very mental. President Trump didn’t come up with the idea of killing Soleimani, so I hope that someone in Washington understands how this fits into a coherent strategy. This thread goes some way to explaining the gravity of it –
1. There are unconfirmed reports that Qasem Soleimani commander of Qods Force (Iran's external security agency) has been killed in drone strikes. If true, this will be a major moment in US-Iran relations & Supreme Leader will undoubtedly see this as a major provocation/act of war pic.twitter.com/nLZNbvalsT
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) January 3, 2020
One of the events which may have been overlooked in the UK General Election in December 2019 was the election of a “Labour” MP by the name of Charlotte Nichols.
Why does this matter? Well, for starters, she is an avowed communist.
Say what?
Here is Charlotte in her own words. She yearns for full communism.
She has now moved into her Westminster office but I am unsure if she has taken her favourite bust of Lenin with her.
Charlotte has very clear views on the sort of ideologue we must follow. Back to Lenin and Marx.
We can only guess what attracted Charlotte to Labour when Jeremy Corbyn became leader.
Charlotte was born an Irish Catholic to a leading trade unionist father, Hardcore Communist, Labour Youth official working for Corbyn, she converted to Judaism (first tweeted in late 2015), and then frequently mentions her Jewishness whilst addressing Labour visceral anti Semitism. Cynics may question this “conversion” given that she has also asserted that “I’m not convinced any State has “a right to exist” per se” – a curious view from a Jewish convert?
More recently as a newly elected “Labour” MP she doubled down on her previous call for extrajudicial violence against people she doesn’t like, on British streets.
Baghdad (AP) — Gen. Qassim Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, was killed in an airstrike at Baghdad’s international airport Friday, Iraqi television and three Iraqi officials said.
The strike also killed Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of Iran-backed militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, or PMF, the officials said.
Their deaths are a potential turning point in the Middle East and are expected to draw severe retaliation from Iran and the forces it backs in the Middle East against Israel and American interests.
The PMF blamed the United States for an attack at Baghdad International Airport Friday.
Step back in time with me.
It is 1st May 1997. The British Labour Party, led by Tony Blair, has swept to power winning 418 seats in Parliament. New Labour has arrived. (Labour had previously governed in the mid-to later 1970’s before being swept away by Margaret Thatcher.)
Four years later, in 2001, Labour won ANOTHER stonking majority of 413 seats.
By 2005, Labour had been in power for 8 years and in that year’s General Election its majority dropped to 355 seats, still enough for a majority Government but the sheen had worn off.
So when the 2010 General Election was held, with Gordon Brown as Labour leader, the party suffered defeat winning 258 seats.
On December 12th 2019 the Labour Party, led by the Marxist enthusiast Jeremy Corbyn, was entirely routed by the Conservative Party. It won a mere 203 seats, the lowest since 1935. Standing amidst the smoking ruins of the Labour Party, Corbyn insisted that he would NOT resign immediately and that he would remain as Leader until end March 2020.
Subsequent analysis shows that the majority of working-class people voted Conservative. In essence, Labour has lost its very reason for existing. Were it not for the BAME vote, Labour would have performed even worse. It is estimated that 40-50% of the Labour vote in 2019 came from those people of BAME background. This over performance is contrasted with the total collapse in support of the white working-class vote in the North of England and Midlands. It is arguable that without the Brexit Party standing, Labour would have lost even more seats.
How did it all go so badly wrong?
Labour explains the historic defeat as a consequence of the public not accepting its “nuanced” Brexit policy. It also grudgingly accepts that Corbyn himself was a negative factor. Interestingly, it seems to believe that it’s actual policies of free stuff and nationalisation and higher taxes for all but the poorest were popular!
In the light of this, it looks like the Party will elect a female leader, with the possibility of a female Deputy Leader. Rebecca Long Bailey is the Corbyn preferred candidate and she favours Angela Rayners as her Deputy. The logic seems to be that these two Northern women will somehow offer an attractiveness to the millions of voters who have deserted Labour.
I think this is badly misguided. For starters, they BOTH campaigned for the UK to remain in the EU even when their own voters wanted to leave the EU. They both sat on their hands as the stain of anti-Semitism spread across Labour. They both endorsed the lunatic spending plans of Jeremy Corbyn. In short, gender apart, there is NOTHING that separates them from Corbyn. And that is why Labour will keep losing.
It does not connect to the needs of the average British voter. It has been erased in Scotland, with just ONE MP. (By contrast, in 1997, it had 56 seats). It is demographically all but impossible for Labour to ever win back power. In the short term, this may be desirable but a Conservative Government that cannot be held to account is a bad thing.
The British people have rejected socialism. Labour insists that socialism is the way forward.
Labour has no future. An alternative must arise.
Diversified Europe has adopted a variety of New Year’s Eve traditions recently. Women in Cologne and other German cities are no doubt wary about where they go, with good reason. Thousands of cars were torched across France and Belgium, of course. And in Berlin, capital city of a country which was once a byword for stability and order, the New Europeans are bringing a special enrichment –
NYE Berlinpic.twitter.com/zt68WhC4DL
— Old Holborn ✘ (@Holbornlolz) January 2, 2020
“I may be Irish, but I’m not stupid.”
Joe Biden is referencing his Oirishness again. He’s Irish, apparently, did you know that? There must be an election on. No better way to rev up the Irish vote than by reminding everyone that although he’s Irish he’s no thick Paddy. It’s a winning line in my book.
It is our pleasure to introduce #HillaryClinton as our 11th Chancellor and 1st female Chancellor. Welcome to the @QUBelfast family @HillaryClinton.
Find out more below and here: https://t.co/6NlonwYmXK#LoveQUB pic.twitter.com/CLQitoZIkS
— Queen's University Belfast 🎓 (@QUBelfast) January 2, 2020
