1 May 2008: On the occasion of International Workers' Day, this website extends cordial May Day greetings to all readers, and especially to those who will be participating in the worldwide demonstrations and rallies to celebrate the achievements of the working class, to campaign for peace and socialism, and to put an end to the evils of war, capitalism and imperialism. As Karl Marx said, "Philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it." We will win, however long it takes!
12 April 2008: US imperialism rears its ugly head again. A secret document reveals plans for the US military machine to maintain an open-ended presence in Iraq, to continue to prop up its puppet regime there, which would otherwise collapse overnight. Well, this is no surprise. We all knew from day 1 of the illegal war of aggression against Iraq that it was a war for oil and that no weapons of mass destruction existed in Iraq - until the US and its cronies brought them there. Recent statistics have revealed that the average American family has paid $120,000 each year for the past five years to sustain the illegitimate and immoral occupation of Iraq - what a waste!. Despite the undemocratic nature of American elections, it will not be long before the people will have an opportunity to drive out the corrupt Bush regime.
3 March 2008: The recent Israeli attacks in Gaza have shocked peace-loving people everywhere. During the last week alone, over 100 Palestinians were killed by Israeli air strikes, shootings, etc. According to the UN, they killed 80 and injured 82 during January - reliable statistics for February are not yet available, but will undoubtedly prove to be far worse. But close examination of the facts speaks louder than mere statistics. Here are just a few examples of Israeli atrocities during the last few days: on Wednesday, they killed a 6-month-old baby; on Thursday, they killed four Palestinian children playing football; on Friday, a brother and sister, Eyad and Jacqueline Abu Shabak, aged 16 and 17, were shot dead in the front room of their home; on Saturday, Mohammad Maboheh, age 16, was shot dead; on Sunday, Salsabeel Abu Jalhoum, an infant girl aged 21 months, was killed. An Israeli air strike also destroyed the main clinic and other facilities of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society. These war crimes are in clear breach of the fourth Geneva convention and international law. Nobody should be surprised that the Palestinian people are continuing their resistance with all the means at their disposal. Israel must be made to end its daily barbaric attacks and its illegal occupation of Palestinian lands.
20 February 2008: It was an emotional day not only for Cubans, but for progressive people throughout the world. Fidel Castro announced his retirement as the ever-popular president of Cuba for nearly half a century, because ill health now prevents him from accepting a responsibility that requires more mobility and dedication than he is physically able to offer. He was one of the most remarkable leaders of the 20th century, having inspired the Cuban people to overthrow a US-supported corrupt and brutal dictatorship. For decades he defended his country against US thuggish intimidation and terrorist attacks. Despite decades of a vindictive economic blockade from the US, under his leadership Cuba was transformed from a backward third-world country into a shining model of social justice, with achievements in areas such as healthcare and education to surpass those in the US, not to mention all other countries in Latin America. Comrade Castro will be revered for many centuries as a legendary hero, and progressive people everywhere will wish him well in his retirement.
17 February 2008: Congratulations to the newspapers in Denmark and several other European countries which re-published the cartoons of the so-called "prophet" Muhammad, which led to violent riots and even deaths at the hands of religious fanatics when these innocuous cartoons were first published by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September 2005. Those newspapers should be commended for their stand in upholding free speech and demonstrating that they will not be blackmailed by terrorist threats. Shamefully, in the UK and several other countries no newspapers ever had the courage to print the cartoons, to show their readers what all the fuss was about. As a token of support for free speech, links are provided here to copies of the original cartoons (with English translations), and also to a picture of "Muhammad the pig".
12 February 2008: Today we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin, one of the most influential scientists who ever lived, with the possible exception of Newton. Darwin's principle of natural selection has aided humanity's understanding of the world more than any other scientific law. Darwin's insight is so staggeringly simple that it can be understood by any intelligent layman with no scientific training, and in the light of the present compelling evidence of evolution, it is even more convincing now than it was in Darwin's time. It provides a natural explanation of the great diversity of life on earth, and it will almost certainly be equally applicable to any extraterrestrial life that may be discovered in the future, however weird it may seem to us. The principle of natural selection was also successful in dispelling the ancient creation myths and religious superstitions about gods once and for all. It even has practical applications in the field of heuristic algorithms for mathematical optimisation, in the form of 'genetic algorithms'. As Richard Dawkins pointed out, it is hard to find any other scientific principle that is so powerful, yet so easy to understand. Anyone who is not already familiar with Darwin's seminal On the Origin of Species should read it - it is a model of perspicuity.
8 February 2008: The popular press has been having a field day lately over the power stuggle for the US presidency, as if it will make much difference whether the country ends up with Tweedledum or Tweedledee, and many people around here are utterly bored by it all. Not one of the main contenders will do anything to lessen the evils of the oppressive capitalist system; not one represents the working class, the overwhelming majority of the country; not one unequivocally condemns the illegal and immoral war of aggression against Iraq and the ensuing brutal occupation; not one pledges to indict Bush and his cronies for their war crimes. But, whatever the outcome, there is some consolation: No one can possibly match the stupidity, ignorance, pig-headedness and incompetence of Bush. It is heartening to see the huge campaign by progressive Americans across the country to drive out the reactionary Bush regime.
3 January 2008: This year may be critical for the future of the planet. In 2006 the world's top climate scientists were already warning that humanity had to reduce carbon emissions drastically within a decade in order to save the planet from runaway global warming. By now the evidence is even more overwhelming, but major governments are still doing very little about the problem. If they all wait for everyone else to act, it will soon be too late to avert a catastrophe.
The very limited progress at the international Bali conference on global warming last month is welcome, but the attempt by the reactionary Bush regime to obstruct agreements shows that they are still more interested in protecting the obscene profits of their multinational corporations than in the well-being of future generations of people throughout the planet. The US is by far the world's worst polluter. According to the latest available scientific data, they were responsible for 20.6 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per capita in 2004, compared with 9.8 for the UK and 5.4 for China, for example. It is now essential for all countries to agree very strict and legally binding reductions, to follow the Kyoto protocol when it expires in 2012. If this fails, the future will look bleak. Time is running out.
22 November 2007: This year the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Al Gore were jointly awarded a well-deserved Nobel Peace Prize "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change". There can indeed by no greater contribution to peace than saving our planet's environment for future generations, and this is becoming increasing urgent, as climate change is rapidly approaching the tipping point beyond which disaster is inevitable.
The latest IPCC report states that climate change is "unequivocal" and may bring "abrupt and irreversible" impacts. The evidence is clear, and the few remaining climate-change deniers now have nowhere to hide. The United Nations General Secretary was right to challenge all governments to act urgently on this threat to the future of our planet.
The UK is the first country to commit itself to a definite reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. Its Climate Change Bill will enforce a 60% reduction by 2050. However, the Bill does not go far enough - as the main environmental organisations have stressed, an 80% reduction is needed to avoid the worst effects of climate change; it would be far more effective to enforce annual targets; and international aviation and shipping should be included. Nevertheless, this Bill is a good first step, and it sets an example to the rest of the world.
22 September 2007: A casual observer from another planet would not have guessed that yesterday was the annual International Day of Peace, as declared by resolution 55/282 of the United Nations General Assembly in 2001, which calls upon all nations and people to "honour a cessation of hostilities for the duration of the Day". For the world's main imperialist powers, including the US and its cronies, it was business as usual, with not even lip service to this modest objective. But history shows that imperialist wars and occupations always end in failure. The recent humiliating defeat of the British forces in Iraq came as no surprise. Although the various Iraqi factions have conflicting goals, the one thing that unites them is the aim of ending the bloody US-led occupation, and the Resistance will certainly triumph, however long it takes. Peace can come to any country only when its people are masters of their own destiny.
2 August 2007: The report released this week by Oxfam, the renowned relief agency, and NCCI, the network of aid organisations working in Iraq, illustrates the staggering humanitarian crisis that has developed in Iraq. It is bad enough that the hands of the war criminals Bush and Blair are dripping with the blood of over 650,000 Iraqis, but now the latest report shows the extent to which their criminal actions have completely devastated the country: 43% of Iraqis suffer from 'absolute poverty'; child malnutrition has risen to 28%; 70% of Iraqis lack adequate water supplies; 2 million internally displaced people have no income; and 2 million have become refugees in neighbouring countries. Every one of these statistics is now far worse than before the illegal US invasion in 2003. How much worse can it get?
30 June 2007: We have finally got rid of Tony Blair. Few will miss him, apart from his master George Bush and a ragbag of reactionary cronies. Most people will remember Blair as the man who betrayed the electorate and the Labour Party. A recent poll showed that 50% of the UK population feels that he is even more hated than Thatcher. It is bizarre to see such a man being chosen as Middle East envoy - a reward from Bush for his loyal poodle. Blair has no credibility, as he will be forever linked to the shame of the illegal invasion and devastation of Iraq, the bloody occupation of Afghanistan, support for Israel's war of aggression against Lebanon, and failure to condemn Israel's apartheid wall.
Will the new prime minister Gordon Brown be any better for the UK? The initial signs are not good, though there are a few small rays of hope for change, and we should have an open mind.
25 May 2007: Congratulations to the "B-52 Two", Toby Olditch and Philip Pritchard from Oxford, after their unanimous "not guilty" verdict by a jury in a Bristol crown court, where they were accused of conspiring to cause criminal damage at an RAF base by attempting to sabotage US bombers by clogging their engines with nuts and bolts in order to prevent US war crimes against the people of Iraq. The law allows a person to do something that would otherwise be criminal if their action is intended to prevent a greater crime, and the jury clearly had the good sense to recognise that these two men were attempting to prevent untold death and destruction in an illegal war. These brave men deserve a medal for their courageous act. Their acquittal sends an important message to the entire anti-war movement, and no doubt many others will be inspired by their selfless actions.
11 May 2007: At last! Tony Blair has announced that he will stand down as prime minister on 27 June. He was very popular at first, but now few will miss him. It is bad enough that he betrayed the time-honoured socialist principles of the Labour Party, to the dismay of many millions of lifelong party supporters; and that he presided over the most vicious attacks on civil liberties that the country has ever known; and that he destroyed some of the best public services in the country. Even if all that is forgotten, Blair will be remembered primarily as one of the greatest war criminals of the 21st century (surpassed only by Bush), for his complicity in Bush's illegal war against Iraq and for the continued occupation to prop up the Iraqi puppet regime, which everybody knows would collapse immediately without the support of the occupiers. Even now, Blair arrogantly refuses to apologise for his "mistakes". These are crimes that will never be forgotten.
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