Ripping Yarns of the Fawcett Family.

 Having procured a copy from Wing Commander Bone at the bookfair I have been reading Hartmann The Anarchist a Victorian ripping yarn available again after being out of print for the past  hundred years (not in itself a great recommendation it must be said).  I was interested to learn that the author was the brother of Colonel Percy Fawcett the famous explorer who disappeared in the Amazon Basin in 1925. In the 50s Fawcett's son published his father's papers as Exploration Fawcett. Now that really was a ripping yarn and is also well overdue for a reprint.

Islam4uk. It's a cracker.

As if last Saturday's Anarchist Bookfair was not enough excitement for one month this Saturday London plays host to a mass rally calling for the establishment of sharia law in UK. Islam4uk are the bunch of space cadets behind this latest addition to the capital's live entertainment scene and their website is well worth a visit. Here they reveal their plans for pubs and football grounds as well as for Trafalgar Square (not a lot of people getting their kit off on the fourth plinth I imagine). There is a very helpful section called "ask the Iman" and a whole heap of information on how to spot the early indications of , and it's always a worry, "becoming kafaar without realising it". I hate to say it, but Islam4uk make the EDL look quite rational.

Race and Intelligence

Last nights Channel4 offering, Race and Intelligence... Sciences Last Taboo, was certainly interesting and in it's way a challenging piece but I felt that it stopped short of dealing fully with the issue not just of race and intelligence but of privilege and attainment. Coming as he does from a family of wealthy Somali traders, educated at Cheltenham College and Oxford and having married into the Baronetcy of Corsehill, privilege is something that Rageh Omaar is singularly well equipped to deal with, and he did try, but the programme seemed unable to get seriously to grips with the issue of class. It also failed to address what to my mind is a pretty important issue and that is the reality that given enough privilege it doesn't matter how intelligent you are.

Freedom on an up.

It must be over forty years ago that I first came across Freedom. During that time the old rag has had a few ups and downs but at the moment seems to be very much on an "up". John Griffin's series on the financial crisis has been interesting and accessible, even to someone like me who tends to start nodding off at the first mention of economics and would rather draw their own teeth than read the FT.  A Sideways Look is always full of good sense and there are usually at least two or three other very good articles. It's a pleasure to open the paper these days. Nice one Freedom.

Give me strength!

I knew of course that as a religion Islam is more than simply divided between Sunni and Shia and that the faith encompasses a number of different sects. What I had not known until I listened to Radio 4s Analysis was that Iran's President Ahmadinejad and his inner circle are members of a Shia sub-sect that are awaiting the imminent return of the Hidden Imam or Mahdi. He is expected to emerge from a well in Southern Iran and notes are dropped down this well to keep the great man abreast of cabinet decisions. A place is set for him at meals. He is expected to return at any time. And we used to worry about Bush's grip on reality. 

Just because I like boxing it doesn't mean I'm a bad person!

When Carl Froch climbs through the ropes tonight to defend his WBC super-middleweight title against unbeaten Andre Dirrell it will be an event sadly ignored by the overwhelming majority of the British public. It's a shame, but boxing just does not have the mass appeal of the past. However, one small consolation for the reduced attention given the fight game is that we don't have to suffer so many ill-informed calls for the sport to be banned. 

As a kid the first two women Labour MPs that I became aware of were Bessie Braddock and Edith Summerskill. They both had strong views on boxing, Braddock being a fan and Summerskill a fervent abolitionist. When I grew up and started to hang out with progressive, leftie bohemians I found that my love of boxing was rather looked down on. I'm talking about middle-class revolutionaries here; solid working class militants usually took a keen interest in the game. All this was brought home to me a few years later when I attended the first ever Men Against Sexism conference. What an experience. Now bear in mind that I had spent much of my working life around tough dockers and seamen but these 'new men' provided one of the most aggressive, testosterone fueled gatherings I had ever come across. It really was pretty heavy. Anyway at one stage myself and a few like minded comrades decided to investigate the pub opposite the conference venue. As it turned out this pub was the HQ of the London branch of the Ex Professional Boxers Association and the bar was more or less wall to wall scar tissue. A warm and generous spirited welcome was extended from a bunch of genuine hard men with nothing left to prove. A stark contrast to the 'progressives' across the road. Anyway, good luck tonight Carl.

Solidarity with the posties!

I've always had a soft spot for posties. Not only do they do a useful job but over the years have come to be considered as being an indispensable part of our communities. This is not just romantic wishful thinking as I know that many posties, perhaps the majority, feel the same way and see themselves as providing a vital social service. I don't suppose for a moment that postal workers are looking forward to next weeks planned two day strike but feel that management are pushing them further and further onto the back foot. For a bit of background info straight from the horses mouth, there's a very good letter from a postman over on the libcon site.