Archive for January, 2011
AFL-CIO, global unions applaud new Egyptian labor movement
Cross-posted from the AFL-CIO Now blog
Representatives of the Egyptian union movement announced they are forming a new labor federation, the Federation of Egyptian Trade Unions, which will represent workers in more than a dozen industries and enterprises. The federation also plans to set a date for a nationwide general strike for democracy and fundamental [...]
Posted: January 31st, 2011 under Egypt, Trade Unions.
Guardian: Julian Assange Paid Neo-Nazi to Hand Stolen Documents to Dictator
by Joseph W
Via Guardian Media, an excerpt of Luke Harding and David Leigh’s new book: Wikileaks: Inside Julian Assange’s War on Secrecy.
How Assange passed Shamir cables in full view of journalists:
Julian Assange’s security over the diplomatic cables, which he once described as worth at least $5m to any foreign intelligence agency, seemed less than watertight. [...]
Posted: January 31st, 2011 under Wikileaks.
Aftenposten, Assange and the Redemption of Johannes Wahlstrom
by Joseph W
AFP reports:
As if there isn’t enough intrigue around Wikileaks and its enigmatic founder, a Norwegian daily that laid hands on the same US classified documents says it has infuriated Julian Assange by playing his own game.
Since last December, the daily Aftenposten, the Nordic country’s paper of reference, has been “leaking” the Wikileaks diplomatic [...]
Posted: January 31st, 2011 under Wikileaks.
The Moderate Muslim Brotherhood: In Jeremy Bowen’s Words, In Their Own Words
Says Jeremy Bowen on the BBC:
The country’s only properly organised mass political movement outside the ruling party is the Muslim Brotherhood, and it would do very well in any free election.
Unlike the jihadis, it does not believe it is at war with the West. It is conservative, moderate and non-violent. But it is highly critical [...]
Posted: January 31st, 2011 under Islamism.
US Aid and Democracy
Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi’s letter in today’s Times.
Sir, Bill Emmott is right that military aid to Egypt soon needs to be abolished and that sending Israel billions of dollars every year makes no sense at all (“Obama’s riddle: withdraw or keep military aid?”, Opinion, Jan 31), but it would be folly to adopt his suggested [...]
Posted: January 31st, 2011 under Your View.
On Poetry
Norman Geras poses the question: “Why don’t we value poetry?” This followed Philip Hensher’s question in the Daily Telegraph: “Why don’t we truly value poetry?” These questions remind me of an article I read 17 1/2 years ago that appeared on the front page of the Wall Street Journal. Britain is not a nation of [...]
Posted: January 31st, 2011 under Poetry.
An Alleged War Criminal Writes…
The Guardian today carries a letter from Mr Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin, the founder of the Islamic Forum Europe, who has been accused in a Channel 4 documentary, and in an article in the Guardian, of involvement in genocide in Bangladesh. In that documentary, Mr Mueen-Uddin is said to have been a leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami’s notorious [...]
Posted: January 31st, 2011 under Bangladesh.
No Mubarak, No Hizb
On Saturday the extremist party Hizb ut-Tahrir tried to muscle into a demonstration against Mubarak at the Egyptian embassy in London.
The demonstration’s organisers were having none of it:
Hundreds protested outside Egypt’s embassy in London on Saturday calling for President Hosni Mubarak to go, but differences in message highlighted tensions between Islamists and others over the [...]
Posted: January 31st, 2011 under Islamism.
Save Our Libraries
Regular readers of my posts will realise that I am a huge fan of libraries available for use by the public. If it were not for such places, how else would I have known that the SWP have a history of involvement in genocide denial?
This Saturday, February 5, will be Save Our Libraries Day. This [...]
Posted: January 31st, 2011 under Do Something!.
Mona Eltahawy to CNN: Call Egypt an Uprising
An must-see video from our friend, Mona Eltahawy.
Posted: January 31st, 2011 under Egypt.
