George Galloway speaking at the Oxford Union

I'm afraid I've only just come across this video package of GG speaking at the Oxford Union some months ago. It's very well worth watching / listening to not only the main video but the supplementary ones dealing with the questions.

Sorry about the delay.

Democracy Now! and the Inauguration of Barack Obama

A campaign event scheduled for 21 Jan 2013 was cancelled, so I was able to watch the five hour livestream of the Inauguration. It was very well done and informative. I don't mean the Inauguration itself, as it was histrionic and uninspiring. I found the fact that Obama touched the Bibles of both Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King rather distasteful. This is because Obama and his message has nothing in common with the messages of those great men. I also found quite sad the contribution of Mrs Myrlie Evers-Williams the widow of Medger Evers, the great civil rights activist. She was self-serving and imperialistic; I'm afraid she made my stomach churn. Among the contributors to this program were Ralph Nader, Clarence Lusane, and Medea Benjamin. They're all very impressive and provided lots of good information.

The livestream also contained the famous speech by Martin Luther King delivered at the Riverside Church in New York City on 4 April 1967. This is often called the Vietnam speech and to my mind his best. Also was broadcast his speech of 3 April 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee, the day before he was assassinated. That is also well worth listening to. Eloquent? By golly!

Here is the hyperlink for the video: http://www.democracynow.org/live/democracy_now_live_presidential_inauguration_2013

Aaron Swartz Public Memorial Service at Cooper Union

On Saturday, January 19, 2013 Democracy Now! provided a special livestream as family and friends of Aaron Swartz gather at Cooper Union’s Great Hall in New York City to celebrate his life and remember their beloved friend, sibling, child, and partner.

Speakers included Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman, David Segal, Ben Wikler, Roy Singham, Doc Searls, Edward Tufte, David Isenberg, Holden Karnofsky and Tom Chiarella and other friends.  OK Go’s Damian Kush performed at the service.

I strongly recommend that you watch/listen to this video. It is two hours long but gripping. One can learn a lot from it. Here is the hyperlink:

http://www.democracynow.org/live/democracy_now_livestream_of_aaron_swartz

Sad Passing of Ground-breaking Internet Activist, Aaron Swartz

All those interested in dissemination of information on the internet and elsewhere, were thunderstruck by the suicide on 11 Jan 2013 of Aaron Swartz, who was only 26. There is a great deal about his short but momentous life on Democracy Now! These are two hyperlinks for Democracy Now! of 14 Jan 2013.

Link 1: http://www.democracynow.org/2013/1/14/freedom_to_connect_aaron_swartz_1986

Link 2: http://www.democracynow.org/2013/1/14/an_incredible_soul_lawrence_lessig_remembers

Here are two hyperlinks for two items of Democracy Now! of 17 Jan 2013

Link 1: http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2013/1/17/aaron_swartz_and_the_freedom_to_connect

Link 2: http://www.democracynow.org/2013/1/17/exclusive_aaron_swartzs_partner_expert_witness

It may surprise some that, as far as I can make out, BBC Radio did not broadcast a single word about Aaron. I have to say that it didn't surprise me!

Prejudicial Remarks by Governments Concerning Julian Assange

People will know that one of the strangest aspects of the alleged crimes committed by Julian Assange in Sweden are the number of prejudicial remarks made by Governments, not least in Sweden and the USA. The Swedish state has made allegations against Julian and it is normal in such circumstances for the state not to make comments that would prejudice a fair trail. Julian is an Australian citizen and below are two hyper-links emanating from Australia. They will surely be of interest.

Link 1: http://wlcentral.org/node/2809

Link 2: http://wlcentral.org/node/2810

2012 Right Livelihood Award

I meant to publish this post some time ago but overlooked doing so until today. I want to draw attention to the 2012 Right Livelihood Award which was given to the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) and and three other worthy recipients.

Here is the link to the CAAT website itself: http://www.caat.org.uk/

It was good to see CAAT, of which I am a supporter, honoured in this way. This award was in stark contrast to the so-called Nobel Peace Prize awarded every year to some disgusting person or organisation. In December 2012, this curiously named award (nothing like what Alfred Nobel intended) was awarded to the European Union in a sick-making ceremony attended by many of the world's worst warmongers and exploiters.

Here is the link to the press release from CAAT: http://www.caat.org.uk/press/press-release.php?url=20121206prs

Stop the War Coalition

I am a keen member of the Stop the War Coalition. Apart from campaigning against the various wars that the UK is addicted to, the Coaltion sends out very useful emails containing indispensable information. This is often information the BBC and other mainstream media ignore.

I strongly suggest that those of you so-minded, join the Coalition or at least makes use of their website:

http://www.stopwar.org.uk/

I draw your attention to an important anti-war conference being held at the Friends House in London on 9 February 2013. It should be an epoch-making event and it has a lot of knowledgeable speakers. Here is the hyperlink for that conference:

http://www.stopwar.org.uk/index.php/action-a-events/national-events/1970-february-9-2013-international-conference-ten-years-after-the-iraq-invasion-confronting-war-today

George Galloway on Sky talking about Lebanon, etc.

Twitter dredged up this interesting interview to me recently. It is George Galloway's appearance on Sky from some months ago. Don't know why this has resurfaced just now but it is well worth watching. Here is the hyperlink:
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9qppz4Opks

It's very rarely that we get honest news about Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, etc. from the Murdoch Empire so take the chance to savour this.

Composition of new (113th) U.S. Congress

I draw my reader's attention to this most useful article on Democracy Now! by John Nichols, who also writes for The Nation, on 4 January 2013. Well worth reading, here is the hyperlink:

http://www.democracynow.org/2013/1/4/newly_sworn_in_113th_congress_is

Harassment of WikiLeaks in Sweden

I draw your attention to what is happening in Sweden, which used to be one of the most progressive and open states in Europe. Here is the hyperlink: http://wlcentral.org/node/2803

It might assist those who want to know what is happening in the WikiLeaks world if they "like" the WikiLeaks Facebook page, which can be found here: www.facebook.com/wikileaks