Simon Armitage on Odysseus

The island of Ithaca as it looks today...

A powerful and thought provoking documentary by Simon Armitage on BBC4 tonight just before the equally as interesting new series on 'The glory of Greece' which starts next Monday on the same channel.

The Illiad and the Odyssey are of course two vast (in terms of volume) poems that we had to learn when I was at school in Greece in the 70s and in classical Greek! The poet Homer wrote both of these about 3,000 years ago when the Greek nation was enjoying its 'golden stage'.

The Odyssey is about the King of Ithaca and his army trying to return back to the Kingdom of Ithaca following the end of the war in Troy.

Its the story about his adventure back to Ithaca which took a good 10 years and its simply the story about the conflict that we all have within us when we are younger. Its about the temptations that we face and the many challenges and whether we can at the end of a long journey settle and find our own Ithaca by winning the challenges that we constantly face. My own Odyssey was the time I served in Lambeth and my role with Lambeth Unison and my moving away and re inventing myself.

The Odyssey is also important to the Greek nation because it signifies the almost continuous struggle faced by the Hellenes, like the current one with the economic crisis, but it is also a lesson that teaches us that it is in moments of crisis and massive challenge that we fight back, organise and prevail and I can see that already with the reaction to current the economic crisis.

The 'elections' in Burma

The TUC joined the Burmese community and organisations from across the UK on Saturday to protest against the sham elections held by the military regime in Burma. The elections, which took place yesterday, are deeply flawed and risk keeping the brutal military regime in power for years to come. Pro-democracy voices have been excluded from the vote, with leader Aung San Suu Kyi still behind bars along with 2,200 other political prisoners.
Many political parties have been prevented from campaigning, and regardless of the outcome of the vote, the military is guaranteed effective control of the government under its flawed constitution. The regime has also banned foreign observers and journalists from covering the poll.
Join the Burmese community in London and a range of civil society organisations in stepping up pressure on the regime and demanding an inclusive and democratic Burma that fully respects human rights.
The Burmese dictatorship stands accused of committing widespread and systematic human rights abuses, including torture, forced displacement, sexual violence, and extra-judicial killings. With forced and child labour rampant, trade unions banned, endemic poverty and labour rights campaigners in prison, it is one of worst places in the world to be a worker.
Some in the international community are viewing the elections as a reason to relax pressure on the regime. This would be a mistake. Instead, the UK government needs to lead in pushing for tougher sanctions, a global arms embargo and supporting a UN Commission of Inquiry into crimes against humanity to put real pressure on the generals. At the International Labour Organisation, the UK can also lead in pressing for a Commission of Inquiry into Freedom of Association and real action to stamp out forced and child labour.

X Factor and Tracey Cohen

I have suspended my quest for fairness and equality throughout the world to get online and record my profound disagreement with the panel of judges on X factor who, tonight, made the big mistake of choosing to remove Tracey Cohen and keep Katie instead.

I am also rather annoyed that the British public, well the part of the public who watch the 'programme' keep voting for Wagner to stay in. He is as talented as I am Swedish in other words he can't sing and can't act, yet the public keep voting for him to stay in. This could be because the British public like to challenge the silly little judges so I have some sympathy with that as a tactic, but Tracey Cohen was the better singer and should have been kept in even though I say so myself!! Its all going pear shape, what with Sugar puff removing the gorgeous Paloma on Weds from the apprentice and the judges getting rid of Tracey tonight!! Whats the united left going to do about this??

Con Lib proposals for long term unemployed

Another half baked idea by the new 'Con the Libs into gov' coalition. The proposal, if I understand it right, is to make the 'long term unemployed' (whatever that means) work or lose their job seekers allowance. It looks like the gov would want people do things that others wouldn't want to do, so this will be a form of 'free or cheap labour'.

If the government is proposing that everyone who is currently out of work is paid minimum wage to work on community based projects (as long as voluntary) then that is something that could be looked at but they are not saying that at all. They are, I think, saying that the unemployed will be forced to do the work for nothing. This is not acceptable. The ministers in question should register with big name employment agencies and see how many real job offers they get before they start suggesting that the unemployed are unemployed because they don't want to work. Most of those who are unemployed and under 26 or over 45 will have huge problems finding work and that is the reality. Ministers should do more to address that problem rather than keep coming up with stupid ideas.

Paloma Vivanco

http://lawatwork.blogspot.com/2010/11/reinstate-paloma-vivanco.html

Tashi Dhondup

Tashi Dhondup is languishing in a forced labor camp for his pro-Tibetan music.

Dhondup was arrested following the 2009 release of a CD containing lyrics calling for the Dalai Lama's return to Tibet and lamenting that "There is no freedom in Tibet."He was denied a fair trial, because in China, police have the option of sending cases to a "re-education through labor" committee, which can send defendants to labor camps for up to three years without any judicial oversight and without the defendant having any right to hire a lawyer. All people have a human right to freedom of expression, and no one should be jailed or imprisoned without recourse to a fair trial. Tell the Chinese government to free Tashi by writing to your local MP

Cruelty to whales

In the very waters where Iceland's tourists marvel at whales, whalers are murdering these gigantic creatures. Whalers have killed 148 endangered fin whales and 60 minke whales this year. Whaling is cruel, unnecessary and doesn't make sense economically. Whale watching is a humane, sustainable and profitable alternative to whaling -- in fact, it generates more than $15 million a year for Iceland's coastal communities. Speak out to end this cruel practice!