On this great earth, we all must know
that nothing is real – it’s all just a show

We all present our leading act
Together making a noble pact

Helping each other get through the day
In this game of Life which is really a play

Many an act have all come and went
The only act that matters is Now; the Present

Each of us casted in a very important part
Together we create magnificent art

We must Love and accept each and every one of our roles
Each providing a puzzle piece of the Collective Soul

Each perspective is different, each character unique
When we put them all together, we will reach the peak

When we look from above, it will appear very clear
The point is to Love; we can let go of the fear

So on with the show that together we make
A glorious show, in one magnificent take!!

by Joe Thorne

More than 40 pickets were stood at the gates of the Hackney Community Transport (HCT) bus depot this morning.  Playing football, waving flags and milling about on Ash Grove, off Mare St, the strikers are amongst the worst treated workers on London buses.

Union members try to persuade a fellow worker not to scab

Contrary to what some may assume, not all London bus drivers are on the same terms and conditions.  HCT drivers are on £11.52 an hour, lower than most bus drivers.  And they get no extra pay for overtime or unsociable hours.  The company is offering a derisory 2.25%, while union members want to see wages and conditions brought more into line with those of other bus drivers in the capital.

Roger Dillon, a Unite official, spoke to the workers.  He told them that striking meant they had a right to respect from themselves, from the company – and from bus drivers across London.  He said that many had seen what was going on, and had phoned into the Unite offices asking to be balloted for action themselves.  He talked about how some members had defied intimidation from the company to go on strike.  Dillon also talked revealing about how frequently bus drivers get abuse from a minority of members of the public: it clearly made drivers uncertain of public solidarity.  We need to show bus drivers that they do have solidarity!

Pickets were very aware of the need to build coordinated action across London, to equalise terms and conditions.  This strike narrowly avoided coordinating with action at First Centre West and First Capital East, who were on strike last weekend.  Laws around ballot timings and notice periods had apparently made coordination difficult.  But this only strengthens the need for workers to push for a common approach; a single agreement covering all London bus companies – of the sort that was achieved to a limited extent in the union’s Justice for Cleaners campaign.  While workers are on different conditions they will always remain divided.

The tube workers are another group with whom action should be coordinated: a united bus and tube strike would clearly be incredibly powerful.   An example of the sort of solidarity we need was given as a CWU member from the local Emma St delivery office refused to cross the picket line and deliver mail.  Stewards and other workers in transport should meet to discuss building joint action.  As for HCT workers, if the company does not provide a better offer, new dates for action will be set.

Opera’s latest Web browser introduces a new technology platform, Opera Unite, allowing you to stream music or share files, photos and more, right from the browser.

• Features At A Glance:

1. Opera Unite
Use applications to share content with others in a quick and easy way.

2. Opera Turbo
Boost your speed with our powerful servers to compress Web pages, so you get them faster.

3. Visual tabs
Drag the handle underneath the tabs to reveal thumbnails of your open Web pages.

4. Customisable Speed Dial
Get easy access to your favourite sites every time you open a new tab. Choose the layout and the background you prefer.

5. Opera Link
Synchronise your Speed Dial, bookmarks, notes and other useful data.

Opera Features screen 1 (Click image to enlarge)

Opera Features screen 2 (Click image to enlarge)

• Plus, My Opera Community offers:

Free Blogging
Our blogs are easy to use and fully customizable. We also support mobile blogging.

Free Photo Sharing
It’s easy to share your photos on My Opera. You can share with everyone or only with your friends – it’s up to you.

Free 1GB Web Space
You get 1GB of free space to upload your files and photos.

This post may, at first, appear like shameless product placement, but I’ve been using Opera myself for years, alongside Explorer and Firefox, and while it has a few things I’d like to change – what software doesn’t? – it’s excels beyond all other internet browsers, including Firefox, who have often sought inspiration from Opera only to reap the benefits. But that’s enough politics, because Opera is the Internet’s best kept secret.

You don’t have to remove or stop using your current browser.
Opera, Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Chrome etc, can all happily run side by side giving you ultimate choice. Sometimes one browser might work better than others in certain situations.

There is even a portable version of Opera that’s capable of running standalone on a USB stick.(no install required!)

Try it! ;]

The Links
→ Download Opera
→ Download Opera Standalone
→ My Opera Community: Free Blog & 1GB webspace.

Już jest dostępna finalna wersja Opery 10.10. W końcu oficjalnie została zaimplementowana funkcja Unite, która pozwala na stworzenie z dowolnego komputera własnego serwera z różnymi usługami dostępnego poprzez serwery proxy Opery.

Interesting story from the excellent Sam Coates in today’s Times about Health Secretary Andy Burnham falling out with Blairites like John Hutton over apparently planning to freeze the private and voluntary sector out of providing NHS services. Opponents of the move say the Government has “bowed to pressure from the unions”. I suspect the unions would have a good laugh at the suggestion, but that is neither here nor there.

I’m not sure how much of Burnham’s plan is new. He already said in a speech to the King’s Fund in September that the NHS was the “preferred provider” of health services and that outside providers should only take over where an NHS trust was failing badly. He then confirmed this in a letter to Brendan Barber and with NHS chief exec David Nicholson.

Moreover, there’s one big caveat to this policy – and one which is exercising the big unions at the moment.  As David Nicholson said in a subsequent letter, Burnham’s policy doesn’t change the ability of NHS trusts to exercise their “right to request” powers to become a social enterprise, run at arms’ length from NHS management.

Social enterprises as the Department of Health understands them can be for profit. And when the contract to run them runs out, after three years, they can be bought by a private company. I did a story about one such trust last month.

Unions like Unite complain that this move to a social enterprise contradicts government policy that the NHS should be the preferred provider. They seem to be overlooking, or ignoring, Nicholson’s letter. There is a government-approved way of privatising NHS trusts – and it’s not going anywhere.

I received an email today from the AFA President, Tim Wildmon. It appears that for all action AFA members took on behalf of advertising against the GAP’s Christmas policies, the GAP has relented and will acknowledge the National Holiday of Christmas as it should. Copy as follows:

“Your actions make a difference! Gap says “pro-Christmas” ad to air this weekend
November 24, 2009

According to Bill Chandler, vice-president of Gap corporate communications, Gap’s Old Navy division will launch a new television commercial this weekend which “has a very strong Christmas theme.”

Chandler responded to AFA last Friday, after a poll showed 90% of AFA supporters wanted to continue the boycott as a result of Gap’s initial “holiday” ad that mingled Christmas with the pagan “Winter Solstice” holiday.

Gap says the new ad will include the popular Supermodelquins proudly cheering “Merry Christmas”, and features Christmas trees, lights and ornaments as well.

In good faith, AFA is suspending the Gap boycott until it has an opportunity to view the new commercial this weekend.

As a result of your dedicated actions, we believe Gap is beginning to realize that Christmas is not just another “holiday” and will begin to advertise in a way that is respectful to Christians and Christmas shoppers.

Here is the last call to stand with us and proclaim to our communities that Christmas is not just a winter holiday focused on materialism, but a “holy day” when we celebrate the birth of our Savior. We can do it in a gentle and effective way by wearing the “God’s Gift – Merry Christmas” button. Don’t wait! Place your order by December 1 to receive it before Christmas.

Thank you for your vigilance. My prayer is that you and your family will have a meaningful Thanksgiving Day celebration.

God’s Gift – Merry Christmas
(click to order) Say “Merry Christmas” to you friends, your church, your school or your whole community by giving away these beautiful Christmas buttons or displaying a Christmas sticker on your vehicle. They are a great reminder that Jesus was God’s gift to the world and that He is the one we celebrate at Christmas.
Sincerely,

Tim

Tim Wildmon, President
American Family Association”

Now as I see it, if one organization can adversely affect a trio of store chains with a campaign within a week or so, I know the individual effects of various organizations are influential upon the current administration.

Arkansas had its own Statewide Tea Party Conference Call. We know other states have had theirs. We also know there are many organizations out there that need to combine efforts: the 912ers, Conservatives, Libertarians, Oathkeepers, Christians, Reaganites, etc. We need to get together now and stop the idiocy of Washington on the Terrorists Trials in New York City, the Health Care Bill, the pussy footing around with the Terrorist of Foot Hood, and the overall hoodwinking of these United States of America. Who will make the merge, so that we can surge forward and be heard?

Na chwilę obecną nie ma jeszcze w repozytorium nowszej wersji…
Instalacja
Zanim przystąpiłem do instalacji miałem zainstalowaną Operę w wersji 10.01…

Ściągamy plik z http://www.opera.com/browser/download/?os=linux-x86-64&ver=10.10&local=y – default package
instalujemy pobrany plik, przykładowo:

# dpkg -i opera_10.10.4742.gcc4.qt3_amd64.deb

Są oczywiście także dostępne wersje pod architekturę i386.

I w zasadzie to wszystko! Po ponownym uruchomieniu Opery w jednej z zakładek otworzy nam się strona gdzie założymy własne konto, a od tego do postawieniu serwera już tylko kilka kliknięć …

Yes yes, I know I’m late with this… sorry. The man who came a surprise second in the Unite Amicus election earlier this year has finally announced he will indeed stand for the big job in next year’s poll.

I spoke to Jerry today where he was canvassing (alongside Len McCluskey) at Unite’s sector conferences in Brighton. He reported an “entente cordiale” seemed to have broken out between himself and the leadership, whom he has gone out of his way to criticise in the past. And he’s still at it:

“As was with the last election it is likely that all the other candidates will be senior officials of the union… I have been a critic of Derek Simpson but truth is he has been allowed to get away with far too much with too little opposition from the same senior officials who would have us believe they should run our union. Our members deserve a better choice than simply more of the same.”

Mind you, he was quite restrained about Derek Simpson, attacking his pay package as “in excess of £130,000″ when it went through the £200,000 mark last year.

I haven’t used Opera in a long time. Last time I launched Opera from my desktop was probably around this time last year. It appears that Opera has released a new version. Opera 10. When I first heard of the release I didn’t really expect to see much, I dismissed it foolishly thinking that there would be not much to it other than a few new aesthetics and things like that. During the time of the release I was jam packed with uni work so I really did not get to check it out. So thanks to Stan Schroeder’s post on Mashable I realised I was so .. soooo wrong.

Google Chrome warned me about the Opera installation file being hazardous to my pc when I began downloading the installation file from the Opera website. I decided to ignore that message just this one time and went ahead with the installation.

Launching Opera 10 for the first time, I realised that its much more than it used to be. I remember Opera being a really fast, lightweight browser. But it turns out that Opera 10, whilst still retaining those characteristics, is loaded with loads of new features. Clicky Clicky for the full list of new features.

The new Unite features give you the ability to share your documents, stream music & movies, host websites and chat on your computer straight from the browser. Opera automatically searches for other computers with Opera installed and lets you share these files among them. This is really handy if you want to quickly set up “Homegroup”-like sharing in your network, and yes it works regardless of the OS the computer is running. Unite also lets you dedicate a folder to which other people can upload content to. Of course you have the option to put a password protect the application so that only people you authorize can use this feature.

So far I haven’t had any problems with it. Unlike Chrome, Opera doesn’t seem to slow down my crappy lappy even though i have a gazilion tabs open. Speaking of tabs, hovering over the tab will give you a thumbnail of the tab, much like aero in Windows 7. Also when your copy of Opera is up and running, from the bottom of the toolbar click and drag the tabs toolbar downward from the to see what happens. Thumbs up Opera!

As the water recedes, the people of Cumbria join together to help each other in the aftermath of the floods…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: oceanic. The blog is also related to: ocean floor.

Idag så släpps Opera 10.10 med en skarp version av Operas nya satsning “Unite”.

Unite är en inbyggd server i Operas webbläsare, så nu kan du dela med dig av din musik/bilder/filer utan att behöva ladda upp det på en annan server eftersom din datorn kommer agera som server nu. Jag tror att man måste vara medlem på Opera sidan för kunna använda detta men hur som helst är det gratis att bli medlem där.

Besök min Unite-sida här!

Du kan ladda ner Opera här!

One year. two elections: keep more than an eye on both

Next year will see two elections. Both are likely to be defining moments. The General Election and the election for General Secretary of the country’s biggest trade union ‘Unite’.

Jerry Hicks whose successful legal challenge last year forced an election in the Amicus section of Unite has, after being urged by many, decided to stand again.

He is deeply critical of Unite’s failure to protect its members despite the tens of £millions having been handed over to the Labour Government during what he says are the ‘squandered / wasted years’, meaning the 3 terms of Labour in office.

He also argues that fundamental change is needed in the union’s relationship with New Labour which he describes as being – too close – too cosy – paying too much – for far too little. £13 million of members’ money has been donated since 2005. While supporting over 100 Labour MPs, not even the basic right to re-instatement when unfairly dismissed has been achieved. ‘The returns have been pitiful’.

The union opposes PFI hospitals as well as academy schools yet we are ignored. We demand better pensions yet we have the second lowest state pension in Europe. We should support only MPs or councillors, current / prospective, who support our policies.

Whoever wins the next election, cuts and attacks are staring every workplace, every union member in the face.

Gordon Brown has said Labour would legislate to halve the deficit. £75bn in cuts and even more Privatisation. Nick Clegg the Liberal leader said they would make savage cuts. George Osborne the Tory shadow chancellor boasted that within 3 months of being in office they would be the most unpopular Government since the 2^nd World War.

Given the size and make up of Unite, it makes the election for the union’s General Secretary the most significant union election for decades.

Jerry Hicks has been highly critical as to the wages of the General Secretary. He said “Fat cats in the city are rightly despised, just as MPs who are a world away from reality. Why have a ‘Fat cat’ General Secretary in our union with remuneration in excess of £130,000 living a lifestyle nothing like that of our members.” This will end, if elected he would only take the average wage of a skilled worker. This is certain to strike a chord, as none of the other candidates are likely to say the same.

Jerry Hicks said “Our union leadership, many of whom will seek to become the General Secretary have been unable to face up to Labour. Can our members be sure they can stand up to the Tories if they get in?”

Ends: Notes for Editors: Unite is not only the country’s biggest Trade Union it’s also the biggest single donator to the Labour Party. Jerry Hicks will most likely be the only candidate who is not a senior official of the union. This was also the case last time, however he secured support from every region and sector of the union, coming second, within touching distance of incumbent General Secretary Derek Simpson who will not be standing this time round. Jerry Hicks is thought by many to be a possible winner.

Jerry Hicks can be contacted on Tel: 078 178 279 12 Visit www.jerryhicks4gs.com

The first ever Overseas Vietnamese Conference opened in Hanoi today aimed at strengthening ties between Vietnamese living abroad and their home country, according to the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

President Nguyen Minh Triet meets with overseas Vietnamese intellectuals and businessmen at the conference in Hanoi, Nov. 21. 2009. (Photo: VietNamNet)

The conference, themed “For a community of solidarity and strength, contributing to the cause of building the country,” attracted 1,500 delegates, including around 850 overseas Vietnamese intellectuals, businessmen, artists, religious and social activists, and students, who represent Vietnamese communities in 101 countries and territories worldwide.

After the opening ceremony, four seminars were held themed around building a strong community of successful overseas Vietnamese, retaining national culture and tradition, intellectuals’ and experts’ contribution to the home country’s development, and overseas Vietnamese entrepreneurs’ contribution to building the country.

Tran Trong Toan, the Committee’s standing deputy head, said the conference offers a forum to exchange views, collect opinions, mobilize resources of overseas Vietnamese communities to contribute to the country’s industrialization and modernization, and promote the communities’ brainpower to contribute to the preparations of the XI Party Congress.

At the conference, local and overseas collectives and individuals who have made great achievements in mobilizing overseas Vietnamese to contribute to the cause of national liberation and construction were also praised.

The conference is among the main activities under a Government action program on expatriate Vietnamese affairs and the Prime Minister’s Instruction 19 on overseas Vietnamese activities.

Instruction 19 calls on provinces and ministries to take responsibility for overseas Vietnamese affairs and requires them to protect the interests of overseas Vietnamese enshrined in Vietnamese laws, international conventions, and precedents.

This year, overseas Vietnamese sent remittances of US$6.8 billion to relatives and businesses in Vietnam, a decline of $400 million over 2008.

The Committee said overseas Vietnamese have invested in about 3,000 projects in Vietnam with a total investment capital of $2 billion.

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In September 2009 Unite the union ordered the Latin American Workers Association (LAWAS) without notice to vacate the office which it had provided the Association with in its southeast region HQ in Manor House, thus ending a five year partnership. This followed an organised campaign by officials againt LAWAS, because of the latter´s support for an unofficial dispute and support for undocumented workers. But what was the background to this breakdown in the relationship, and the closure of this well known point of contact between latino workers and the trade union movement, and what is the future for LAWAS?

Firstly , some history. LAWAS was reformed in 2003 by Ernesto Leal, Julio Mayor and other Latin American workers in London, many of them political exiles and trade unionists in their own countries. It was in fact the second incarnation of the Association as the first version existed in the 1980s, which is a story for another day. The aim was to address directly the exploitation and abuses faced by Latin American workers in London, and to link these workers to the broader working class movement.

The new LAWAS operated out of cafes and park benches and temporarily in a community centre in Dalston, before being offered a more permanent home by various organisations including Unite (then the T&G), whose offer was accepted in mid-2004. Thus began the partnership. LAWAS was supported by Unite with office space and volunteer expenses, but maintained an independent existence and was never part of Unite´s democratic structures.

From its small room in Unite´s Manor House offices LAWAS combined advice and representation by workers for workers with a huge union recruitment drive, of which Unite was the main beneficiary with new members running into four figures, concentrated above all in contract cleaning. Word was spread through a publicity drive in the Latin American community taking in radio, newspapers, churches, embassies, public meetings and festivals like the annual Carnival – all of which are still key points of contact with the community. Email bulletins to the ever growing list of members and supporters became and still are a key tool of communication. Some coverage was achieved in British left media, but in the words of a Unite organizer assigned to working with LAWAS, its work was largely ´under the radar´ of the union. The response of the community was overwhelming, and LAWAS became known colloquially ín the community as the ´sindicato latino´.

At the same time the Justice for Cleaners (J4C) campaign was getting into gear and LAWAS´s efforts fed into that, as a majority of the workers who approached LAWAS worked in this sector. A good working relationship was developed with individual J4C organisers and activists in activities which ranged from English classes to organizing buildings, and in general promoting J4C in the Latin American community. Indeed LAWAS´s first office volunteer, Jose Vallejo, was reruited within a year by J4C. IN 2007 the J4C organisers branch made a sizeable donation to LAWAS in recognition of its support, especially in union recognition fights and organising the first ´papers for all´march. On the surface LAWAS was a success story which the T&G/Unite was happy to sell and did so, both inside and outside the union.

However, for the many latino cleaners who joined Unite but did not work in the buildings targetted by J4C it was almost impossible to take part in their new union. Lacking a functional branch, LAWAS became their de facto ´branch´, but this put LAWAS under an intolerable strain as it lacked the normal facilities of a branch, and because the union often would not assist when collective issues and organising opportunities presented themselves: the National Physical Laboratory and the BBC being just two examples. Where possible these workers and LAWAS did what they could alone. But without organisational backup this was difficult. It often felt like LAWAS was just there to increase membership numbers and take the strain alone of  new members with all their problems.

In these circumstances LAWAS made it a priority to educate its new union members. For a long time it was unable to get serious union support despite repeated efforts, so it organised its own English and workplace rights classes, both alone and in conjunction with the College of North East London (CONEL) and the London Coalition Against Poverty – activities which continue to this day. Finally, thanks to pressure from both LAWAS and key J4C organisers, Unite arranged a piot English course. LAWAS made this possible by supplying a professional volunteer teacher and enough students to make the pilot project such a success that a large scale programme of education in basic skills was then laid on for cleaners. This programme is now a major showpiece of Unite´s educational work.

A similar process happened when a pilot immigration law course were arranged by the Migrant Rights Network for Unite activists following immigration raids. LAWAS drew on its pool of Latin American activists to provide half the students and interpreting for the Spanish speakers. Again, the success of the pilot course led to it being invested in and rolled out nationally.

Links were also forged with the hospitality and domestic workers branches of T&G/Unite; with a host of Latin American solidarity and community groups which evolved into the Coordinadora Latinoamericana; and with other unions such as the CWU and RMT, and TUC initiatives such as the Vulnerable Workers Project. Joint Employment Tribunal work was carried out with community law centres in cases where union lawyers or officers had failed to support members, on one well known ocasion because they didn´t grasp the legal issues facing migrant workers This was not just an issue with Unite.

In 2008 LAWAS gave unconditional support to a number of inspiring cleaners´ campaigns both inside and outside J4C. A public meeting in Elephant and Castle at the end of the year organised by LAWAS and other groups brought together a number of these previously isolated campaigns. A grassroots reinstatement campaign for 5 Colombian cleaners sacked for circulating a leaflet at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) was in full swing, and was important as the first recent example of a campaign driven by Latin American workers. Those workers as well as others from Schroders Bank, and SOAS spoke of their experiences in struggle. Some raised criticisms of the ways union officials had handled their disputes. But as the Bolivian UCU activist who chaired the meeting stated at the end “despite the criticisms we are not anti union, because we are the union”.

The issue of immigration checks and raids was a constant theme at the meeting, as a means by which companies and the government itself were intimidating workers who organised. Unite Regional Industrial Organizer (Jose Vallejo) turned up to make the case for supporting the Strangers into Citizens campaign for a limited amnesty, while the majority present advocated a ´papers for all´ position which would not preclude critical support for the upcoming Strangers into Citizens march. Shortly afterwards his boss, regional secretary Steve Hart, in a sign of things to come, warned one of the sacked NPL cleaners that their campaign was being backed by ´extreme groups´. Needless to say, Unite made no effort to support the NPL cleaners campaign beyond the strictly and legally necessary, despite pickets taking place within walking distance of their national headquarters. Was this related to the fact that one of the cleaners main grievances before being sacked had been the use of an immigration raid to break their incipient organisation?

In 2009 official indifference turned into extreme hostility triggered by two issues:   LAWAS´s support for sacked cleaners at the Willis building in the City of London, and its ongoing committment to a full regularization of undocumented workers.

In January 2009 a series of unofficial weekly protests by a shop steward and three workmates from the J4C campaign began, after they had been sacked by cleaning contractor Mitie at global insurance giant Willis in the City. The sackings were framed as redundancies after the company awarded the Living Wage but counter-attacked as elsewhere by drastically altering shift times, cutting personnel and smashing union organisation in the process. Union leaders argued they had done all they could and it was the workers fault a deal was not sealed. They disowned the protests, afraid of ´damaging the good relations with Mitie´, as one official put it. The workers felt let down and said so publcially after the union withdfrew all support. But from then on they concentrated their fire on the two companies, despite legal threats. Other cleaners flocked to the protests, including other ex Willis workers who had found work elsewhere but supported their colleagues´plight.

After four months LAWAS and the Coordinadora Latinoamericana forced a meeting with the Regional Industrial Organiser, in which the official pledged to try and open up a new space for negotiation with the employer, presumably making the most of the good unon-employer relationship to find four appropiate At the end as people packed up to leave, the official proposed a trade off for the support offered, whereby the Latin American groups supporting the Willis cleaners would support the May 4 march for a limted amnesty. Suspecting there was more to this, the groups present argued this was a separate issue and should be dealt with as such.

The offer of support was then quashed in a letter then sent by Assistant General Secretary Jack Dromey to the cleaners involved, which reiterated that no support would be given and making no mentin of the aforementioned meeting. In response to this a petition with four hundred signatures of trade unionists was raised at union and community events and branch meetings, and publically presented at Unite´s central office in Holborn. Among the signatories were dozens of union cleaners as well as as MPs John McDonnell and Jeremy Corbyn, and film director Ken Loach.

When the petition was presented those present were filmed and photographed by a sidekick of the regional industrial organizer, until he was confronted and stopped from doing so. This was the first sign of a vicious organised public campaign driven from the highest reaches of Unite, initially against the Willis cleaners and ultimately against LAWAS and indeed any critical voices. Leading the attack was the Regional Secretary supported by the likes of Women and Equalities Officer Teresa Mackay (ironic for a dispute involving mainly ethnic minority women) and their internal allies such as the Regional Industrial Organizer.

Unite officers went into overdrive to convince J4C branch committee members and the wider union, using highly confrontational language to suggest the workers involved were the main enemy: “people need to decide whose side they are on” wrote Hart in a briefing, contrasting the “mass of the cleaners” with “tiny groups seeking to undermine our united campaign”. And yet when Willis shop steward Edwin Pazmino presented himself as a candidate to the cleaners branch committee at its first ever elections, he gained a credible 29 out of 80 votes, despite never being informed of the meeting unlike other candidates, who were able to campaign beforehand. And if one thing characterised the Willis protests, and previous disputes led by Latin American workers, it was the solidarity of cleaners from different companies, as reported in the Morning Star throughout the long course of the dispute.

A leaflet was produced in the name of Justice for Cleaners and distributed by officers, despite not being approved by the new branch committee and certainly not its Latin American cleaner members, who along with many ordinary members almost unanimously supported the Willis cleaners. The leaflet trumpeted J4C´s successes in organising and education. This was ironic, because it was people like the Willis cleaners, and their supporters in LAWAS and elsewhere who had done so much over the years to create these successes in the first place. Instead fellow official and Regional Industrial Organizer Jose Vallejo was lauded to the point of featuring a colour photo of him on the leaflet, along with members of a youth group hired to wave Justice for Cleaners flags. The ´four cleaners and their handful of supporters´ were described as leading a ´scurrilous campaign´ which did not have the support of the majority of branch members – an allegation contradicted by the support actually received.

In another incident, a Unite branch which tried to speak about the dispute was silenced at a regional meeting of the ´United Left´ faction of Unite, to the disgust of many of those present. At a public meeting later organised by the Labour Representation Committee, fellow trade unionists from Unite, Unison and RMT proposed mediation in  the presence of Unite officials, amnd suported by speakers John McDonnell MP and NUJ president Jeremy Dear. The proposal was ignored.

Why the ferocity of the attacks? This was not the first time union members had criticized official positions, held unofficial protests or presented a petition. The problem was that Justice for Cleaners was a flagship campaign controlled from the very top since its inception, and image meant everything. While criticisms and unofficial actions were had to be tolerated in sections of the union with a longer history, this new campaign had to be tightly controlled, and if that meant crushing internal dissent by any means necessary, then so be it. They chose to forget the basic point that it is workers who make campaigns, not officials, and sometimes, unfortunately, workers will take their own initiative and also be critical.

The other issue which Unite could not tolerate was LAWAS´s support for papers for all undocumented workers. Only two years previously LAWAS had worked closely with J4C organisers on this basis. Now however the official position had changed and dissenting voices again could not be tolerated. On the May 4 amnesty march organised by the Strangers into Citizens, LAWAS and other groups in the Coordinadora raised the slogans of ´noone is illegal´and ´papers for all´. Incidentally among these other groups were the UK branch of Colombia´s main opposition party (Polo Democratico) and the main Bolivian and Ecuadorian community groups mobilizing diaspora support for left wing governments in their countries – MERU and Bolivia Solidarity Campaign). Hardly extremists!

In May LAWAS representative Miguel Puerto asked to meet the Regional Secretary Steve Hart in order to find a solution to the Willis dispute. Instead he was met in worst company management style by not one but three officials including Hart, who instead of entering into a positive dialogue launched an all out attack on LAWAS for its support for the Willis cleaners and its behaviour on the amnesty march.

Worse was to follow. Around the same time LAWAS and J4C activist Alberto Durango was arrested in a trap sprung by his employer Lancaster, a tactic used on other migrant workers previously. They were unhappy with his recent activism at the bank. But police and UKBA officials also asked him about his employment at Willis – despite the fact he didn´t work there. But Durango and Schroders cleaners´ public support for the Willis dispute made them think he did. This raised the spectre of a blacklist among cleaning companies. Durango was freed without charges and dismissed. And yet when a picket was held outside the appeal against his dismissal, at which he was represented by a Unite lay representative, his union reacted by ordering an ´ínvestigation´ into him and, on Vallejo´s orders, refusing him access to educational courses! Six months later there has been no result of this mysterious investigation, nor a lifting of the ban.

Vallejo then went further by claiming at the cleaners branch committee that those involved in cross-union protests against recent immigration raids at both the Willis building and SOAS (University of London), were being sponsored by the cleaning companies themselves. Apparently other unions (Unison and RMT) were “approaching and dealing with the companies before organising their members” and that

“the so-called Cleaners for Justice called the members to disobey and as a consequence some were arrested facing deportation. We should ten [sic] have every reason to believe that the organisers of this campaign, Cleaners for Justice are paid by the Cleaning Bosses to attack the cleaners.”

It should be noted that Cleaners for Justice has never existed beyond being a slogan used by sacked Unite cleaners to express their desire for a cross-union cleaners campaign, with the workers themselves in the driving seat. This is an ideal which LAWAS has always supported, in place of the foolish competition which led, for example, to Unite not supporting cleaners strikes on the underground in 2008 but then publically claiming the credit for the successes of the strikes while offering no solidarity to those victimised through immigration arrests and the like as as a result.

Unite then moved to force LAWAS out of its office. At the start of the year he had presented a relative of his to LAWAS as a new office volunteer. LAWAS accepted in good faith. But it soon became clear that this relative wanted nothing to do with LAWAS and instead was there to act as Vallejo´s personal secretary. LAWAS then put forward a new volunteer of its own, as had always been the custom, but was prevented from doing so by the Regional Secretary. Instead the family member came to work an increasing number of days in the office. Volunteers were paid ´loss of earnings´ at aorund $65.00 a day once they had completed some basic training, but the monies paid to her were never revealed by the union despite requests by LAWAS. This stood in complete contrast to the rule enforced by Unite officials for five years whereby volunteers had to sign one and the same weekly expenses form for each day of work.

LAWAS held off by making a public statement about all of the above so as not to prejudice Juan Carlos Piedra, a LAWAS and J4C activist who after intense pressure from many quarters had succeeded in getting Unite representation after being sacked for union activity from his job at University College London. Instead LAWAS sought as always to resolve its problems with Unite by requesting another meeting with the Regional Secretary, and was about to do so but was pre-empted. Firstly, Vallejo took control of the volunteer rota on the basis that LAWAS had been advising workers to join other unions. A ridiculous allegation, because workers simply been advised in LAWA´s bulletins to join the union which corresponded to their workplace or occupation – as previously instructed by Unite officials! Still, LAWAS continued publicizing Unite and recruiting into it far more than into any other union. A week later regional secretary Steve Hart, sensing perhaps that a scandal might be on the cards, ordered LAWAS out of its office without notice. Even after that move a meeting was requested to address the situation, but to no avail.

And so an era has ended. But despite the problems, the last year has been a very positive one for LAWAS. The campaigns it supported breathed new life into the organisation and won it many friends across different unions and in the Latin American community. As a result the annual assembly held in August 2009 was the largest ever and a new committee was elected which for the first time represented almost all the main Latin American nationalities resident in London. With its new temporary premises in the National Union of Journalists, it is up to that committee and all Latin American workers to secure the future. This means fighting inside unions, including Unite, so they are led by the members, and joining with workers of al nationalities and backgrounds in doing so. It means working with those officials who are not corrupt and self-serving, and unmasking those who are.  And it means recognising the achievements of struggles, but also preserving the right to criticize aspects of these and act independently when necessary.

Jakarta – Opera mulai memperkenalkan versi beta dari Opera Unite pada Opera 10.10 Beta. Opera Unite diusung sebagai sebuah platform yang memudahkan pengembangan aplikasi pada browser.

Opera Unite memungkinkan sebuah aplikasi dibuat untuk pengguna browser Opera. Seperti dikutip detikINET dari keterangan tertulis yang diterima, Kamis (15/10/2009), Opera Unite Beta mulai tersedia pada Opera 10.10 Beta.

Pengembang software yang ingin memanfaatkan platform Opera Unite disebut cukup menggunakan standar web seperti HTML, CSS dan JavaScript. Aplikasi berbasis Opera Unite pun dikatakan bisa diakses semua browser web pada perangkat apapun.

Beberapa aplikasi Opera Unite pada Opera 10.10:

Photo Sharing: Buat galeri foto secara instan di Web dari PC.
Messenger: Ngobrol langsung bersama teman-teman di My Opera.
File Sharing: Berbagi file dari komputer tanpa harus meng-uploadnya.
Web Server: Mengubah browser Opera menjadi sebuah web server instan yang meng-host situs Web langsung dari komputer.
Media Player: Streaming seluruh katalog musik dari mana saja, langsung, dengan menggunakan browser Web apapun.
Fridge: Menuliskan catatan di ‘pintu lemari pendingin’ virtual.

“Kami mengundang para pengembang di seluruh dunia untuk menggunakan kreativitas dan imajinasi mereka dalam mendorong batasan-batasan yang mungkin ada dengan Opera Unite,” kata Jon von Tetzchner, CEO dari Opera.

Demo :

source detikinet.com & youtube

Also, da grad öfters, nach Großschwertern gesucht wird, und Großschwerter meine Lieblingswaffen sind, kommt hier ein Thread dazu.
Im Grunde kann man Großschwerter(GS ab jetzt) leicht beschreiben
1. Schwer
2. Groß
3. Großen Bumms

Hm….Stimmt soweit alles, wobei 3. aber am besten ist.
Grundlegende Attacken:
1. Mit den Dreieck, kann man aus dem laufen herraus einen Vertikalen Schlag starten.
Ist die waffe gezogen, führt man auch einen vertikalen Schlag aus, man holt aber erst aus, was länger dauert.

2. Mit der Kreistaste macht man einen schnellen Horizontalen Schlag, einmal um sich herum.

3. Dreieck+Kreis : Bei gezogener Waffe einen Schlag von vorne nach hinten. Nach einem solchem Schlag, sollte man am besten eine Attack nachsetzten(Dreieck oder Kreis), da es lange dauert, bis man wieder normal steht. Eine andere Form der verwendung ist, bei eingesteckter Waffe zu Rennen und dan Dreieck und Kreis zu drücken, wodurch ein Sofortblock aktiviert wird. Sehr nützlich^^

4. Gehört eigentlich zu 1. aber ich mach es extra, weil es extrem wichtig ist.
das AUFLAADEN!!!
Man halte die Dreiecktaste gedrückt, (egal ob auf den Rennen oder bei gezogener Waffe herraus), wodurch das GS nachhinten gehalten wird und aufgeldaen wird. Es gibt 3 Stufen der Aufladung. Welche Stufe man ist, sieht man daran, das der Bereich um die Hände kurz aufleuchtet, woran man erkennt, das die nächste Stufe erreich wird. Die 3. ist klar die stärkste Stufe.
Es gibt auf YouTube zB gute GS Charging Guides zu MHFU und MHF2.Es gibt dort auch ein Video, was das GS auch nochmal gut erklärt, wenn ich das finde, werde ich das hier nachliefern.

collaboratively produced by members of the Latin American Workers’ Association (leerlo en castellano)

October was a sad month for Latin American workers residing in London, for two reasons. First came the death of Ernesto Leal, a Chilean committed to the cause of migrant workers, who was a founding member of the Latin American Workers’ Association. The other reason – shamefully coinciding with this loss – was the decision of the Unite union to kick out that same organisation our comrade Ernesto Leal helped found.

Given his dedication and his experiences it is worth revisiting a little of the history of this class fighter. He was born in far-off Chile in the late 1930s, son to a family devoted to the militant social struggles of the Chilean Communist Party. This political commitment on his parents’ part brought on their heads merciless political persecution, forcing them to live clandestinely and constantly change address.

After many months of moving from one place to another the family relocated to Talcahuano, a small industrial town on Chile’s west coast where there is a naval base. This was where Ernesto was born. His father worked organising committees to support communities and to help secure clean water, better living conditions and education.

Ernesto grew up in a family which was passionately committed to the fight for freedom and human rights. He inherited his communist ideas and belief in a better world from his mother and father. At 17 he joined the Chilean Navy, and would probably have remained there for many years had it not been for the Naval Police catching him in possession of forbidden literature, including some of the works of Karl Marx. This was an offence in naval law and he was court-martialled and expelled from the Navy in 1960.

Returning to his home town of Talcahuano he began working for his father’s business servicing boats for the Navy. At the same time he joined the Liga de Juventudes Comunistas (Communist Youth League) and was elected its political secretary. The early 1960s were a tumultuous period in Chilean politics, with Salvador Allende initiating his ultimately successful campaign for the presidency. Ernesto quickly assumed political responsibilities at local and regional level in the young communists’ central committee.

In 1964 he got married to Sonia Riquelme, also a political activist and a militant in the students’ union at the Universidad de Concepción, a university renowned for its leftist activism. Together they had four children, Ernesto Jr., Juan, Rosana and Sonia.

During the rule of the Popular Unity government led by Salvador Allende Ernesto began working for the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores de Chile (CUT; the national trade union federation). However, like all Chileans, his life was changed for ever by the coup d’état of 1973, where the military took power by force, at the cost of many lives including Allende himself.  In 1976, after a brutal campaign of repression, Ernesto was arrested and tortured by the Navy. He never fully recovered from the beatings, electric shocks and other methods of torture he suffered at the hands of his captors.

He was later freed but on condition of exile, with the threat of the death penalty if he returned to Chile. He went to Argentina and stayed in a small frontier town called Neuquen to wait for his family before they together relocated to Buenos Aires.

In 1977, with the support of Amnesty International, the United Nations and the British trade union movement he was granted political asylum in the United Kingdom, where Scottish trade unionists helped him move to Cowdenbeath, in Fife.

Ernesto began working as a welder in the Leith shipyard and joined the GMB union. But this was in the time of Margaret Thatcher, and the shipyard was soon shut down. Ernesto then found work at the Faslane naval base, only to be dismissed when it became known that his wife was participating in the anti-nuclear weapons protests outside.

He took part in several union campaigns against shipyard closures, for which reason he was black-listed by bosses who considered him a “problem” worker. In the late 1980s he moved to London and became a welder in the construction industry. When the peak of the industry had passed he lost his job and took work as a cleaner in the building which was at that time the Evening Standard’s offices. Becoming aware of the way cleaning companies treated the cleaners, he realised the necessity of organising this group of workers. The fruit of his efforts was the birth of the Latin American Workers’ Association.

This association became close to the T&G union (today part of Unite), which gave it an office, telephone and computer, by which means it initiated a large-scale and successful campaign of unionising Latin American migrant workers. Under the leadership of its various committees – of which Ernesto was always part – and the efforts of its many voluntary workers, not only did it bring more than a thousand Latin American workers into Unite, but its work was key to the creation of the Justice for Cleaners campaign.

But on 20th October, at the same time as Ernesto left this world, Unite, relying on lying and far-from-transparent arguments levelled by the regional Unite organiser José Vallejo, took the decision to remove the Latin American Workers’ Association from its offices.

Our association has written to Unite, unmasking one-by-one the lies of the organiser, explaining and giving clear evidence of the lack of transparency in that same organiser’s handling of union financial affairs, and denouncing his nepotism in inserting his own family members into union positions. Unfortunately, several days later Unite has still not responded to our letter, and we now believe they are never going to. They have good reasons for this – they cannot think up any valid or rational arguments to contradict our evidence.

For this reason, many of the members of the association who attended the funeral of our comrade Ernesto felt disgust and embarrassment  seeing and hearing this same Unite organiser associate himself with the thoughts and struggles of Ernesto and his example as founder of our association, when in practice he has disdained the struggles of migrant workers, the fight which Ernesto lived for and dedicated himself to throughout his life.

The Latin American Workers’ Association, saddened by the loss of one of our founding members and also saddened by the betrayal of the union which considers itself the union for migrant workers in this country, pays tribute to Ernesto Leal. Rest in peace, comrade.

Hasta la victoria siempre, comrade Ernesto Leal. Every victory of our association will be dedicated to you, whose great heart rewarded us with your experience and steadfastness.

We will keep on fighting, true to our class principles.

So i went to New York City in October half term with my family, and even though that fact alone is a exciting enough topic to blog about -you would think – i’m actually gonna blog about this past weekend.

So on friday i went to tgi fridays, which i hadnt been to since in  New York (see there is a link!). My friend Hollie drove myself Krissi and Laura, and it was great! The atmosphere in the car was great, fab music and great banter. I almost didnt want to arrive cause i felt we were having a great time! So we got there and waited for Katie, Jess and Shreya to arrive.

It was really awkward, they got there and apparantly were texting each other at the beginning. They were really quiet, glum and didnt talk to us. What was up with that?

Saturday I went for a drive and it was awful. I really wish i hadnt been insured so i wouldnt have to think about going out in that car again. I drove home from the Unite service (which i really didnt like) and although it was a tiny bit better i still hated it. I got home, went into my room, sat in the dark and actually cried. Well it was two tears but as i never cry this was a development of sorts. The last time i cried was Reading Fest when i was getting boarded off to the medical tent.

Today i just want to hide away, i didnt want to go to Church this morning and I definately didnt want to go for another drive with my dad. Also am not going to the youth led service tonight. Shouldnt be hiding but i want somewhere that i can go and be alone. I read someone’s blog where they can just go to the beach and relax. The only place i go is a room in a 4 bedroom house with the sounds of the motorway 24/7.

Maybe one day i’ll find my beach.

-Blog 2 out.

Bekah

La 11 noiembrie, in timp ce realizatorul TV era in direct la radio si la televiziune, contul sau atasat cardului a fost folosit pentru mici cumparaturi in Statele Unite. Pe blog, Badea povesteste ca ultima data cand a fost in Europa, a fost pus in situatia de a-si trece cardul printr-un cititor de carduri, pentru a furniza garantia necesara cazarii la hotel.

“Astfel banda magnetica a fost clonata si cand mi-a intrat leafa, inainte sa apuc sa o scot, hotii au facut cumparaturi in State”, scrie acesta pe blog. Din fericire, situatia se va rezolva peste 45 de zile, numai dupa ce Mircea Badea a completat o serie de hartii la banca emitenta.

“Pana atunci, ma gasiti in fata la Unirii, la spalat parbrize, sa fac bani de-o shaorma”, conchide realizatorul emisiunii “In gura presei”.

Sursa : ZIARe.com

by Alberto Durango, a Colombian cleaner activist whose involvement in militant organising initiatives has earned him the wrath of sub-contractor cleaning companies and the Unite union bureaucracy alike. Leerlo en castellano.

There are very few means by which the working class can arm itself with a political tool which educates the class and helps it fight the crooks who, disguised as its defenders, betray it, sell it out and make deals over its interests with the bosses. With this tribune I want to contribute something, so that those workers who come across this information might use it as a starting point for directing a discussion about the trade union bureaucracy, this great enemy of the working class, so that they can organise to combat it. First of all therefore we have to understand what characterises the trade union bureaucracy.

The trade union bureaucracy does not practice democracy among the workers. It does not consult the workers affiliated to the union, or those being represented, on its actions, attitudes and decisions, but always reaches deals with the bosses on the backs of the workers. The union bureaucracy conducts its discussions with the bosses and collective agreements without witnesses in flash restaurants: or for less important problems, in the bosses’ offices, behind closed doors. They sign deals and contracts without workers’ participation.

The trade union bureaucracy terrorises union members. When workers criticise them they are hounded, threatened and intimidated, and subjected to psychological terrorism: or else they make sure they are put out of work. The bureaucracy is the enemy of workers’ assemblies and participation on the part of the workers.

The trade union bureaucracy does not itself organise, nor does it allow the workers to fight, and when it does allow an action on the part of the workers it is because it feels pressured. When the demands are sufficiently justified and it fears the workers will supersede it, then it acts as a straitjacket. In other cases when the bureaucracy allows an action on the part of the workers it is simply to exact pressure on the boss so that the latter caves to the bureaucracy’s own desires. The bureaucracy always seeks to contain workers’ struggles, telling the workers not to fight and to maintain an atmosphere of peace and harmony, accepting the norms and conditions imposed by the bosses.

The trade union bureaucracy is demagogic, always offering things to the workers it never delivers on. It sells out the workers, as it is bought-off and corrupted by the privileges and bribes it receives in return. They also participate in labour inspectorates. If your union leaders behave in anyway like this, well, that is bureaucracy for you. The first task we as workers have is to fight them and kick them out of our unions. With this statement, we take sides with all workers ready to begin a fight to kick these parasites out of our unions.

Through the webvine comes news that Burial is working on some remixes for the new Massive Attack album.

A mighty combination they will be.

The animation above is by the wonderfully talented  Takeshi Murata, a Los Angeles based pyschedelic animator. The piece is called ‘Tarpit’ and was made in 2004. More information about Takeshi can be found here.

Download / listen here

Burial – Unite

Massive Attack – Angel