Indigo Jo Blogs

London is getting into the Olympic spirit - by kicking out the Gypsies - Guardian Comment

George Monbiot notes on the recent eviction of Gypsies and other Travellers from their sites in east London to prepare for the Olympics of 2012 - something which, he says, is a recurring theme in recent Olympic history, from Seoul in 1988, through Barcelona, Atlanta, Athens, Sydney, to Beijing and now London. City authorities invariably use Olympic games to mount their own local versions of "drive out trash", removing everyone from street traders to the mentally ill, the homeless and other "undesirables" from the streets and destroying people's homes and amenities.

(I've always opposed having the Olympics in east London precisely because of the effect it is likely to have on the long-established Asian - and Muslim - community there. If there is a "failure of leadership" among the Muslims in London, it is the failure of the MCB and others like them to mobilise Muslims against the games and let the mayoral candidates in 2004 know that the idea was bad for their people. However, it was not seen as a major issue among Muslim voters then: everyone was too concerned about Iraq.)

Posted by Indigo Jo at 11:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Lately Jamal at Radical Muslim has been posting requests for people to sign a petition to the UK Prime Minister asking him to approve the construction of the Abbey Mills mosque. Several people have objected, because he has posted his requests on blog entries which have nothing to do with the subject, even on my tech blog. I had a look at the petition, submitted by one Joseph Ashworth, and quickly decided that I won't be signing it. The reason? It has no hope of being taken seriously because it is so stupidly worded.

Continue reading "The mega mosque petition (updated)" »

Posted by Indigo Jo at 11:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (1)

Technorati Tags: alan+craig, mega+mosque, christian+peoples+alliance, tablighi+jamaat

BBC Radio last week broadcast a programme called Turning Right, which probed the British National Party's lame attempts to hide the thuggish and criminal natures of a number of its major activists, including its leader, Nick Griffin. Griffin made little effort to conceal his real opinions, asserting that he now believed what he had to, because he would otherwise be extradited to France ("otherwise", for example, includes maintaining his devotion to Holocaust denial). The programme also gave airtime to an outfit called the Christian People's Alliance, which they claim drove down the BNP's support in its white, working-class east London "heartland" by concentrating on local issues. However, the CPA and the BNP are on the same side on one issue: opposition to the so-called "mega mosque", which is proposed for a site near to the main Olympic stadium. An examination of material issued by the CPA, however, reveals its reliance on misinformation and bigotry.

Continue reading "United bigots of the "mega-mosque" campaign" »

Posted by Indigo Jo at 11:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)

George Monbiot, in today's Guardian, on the fake consultations which accompany the Olympic developments in east London: chiefly, the difficulties one had to go to in order to get copies of the plans, which included going through a website which, "(like everything to do with the Olympics) is plagued by technical glitches", or paying £500 for a hard copy of the documents, or waiting a couple of weeks (out of six) for the library to do, or trying to get documents over the phone from someone who does not know what you're talking about. He also mentions that "regeneration", while often justified in terms of benefit to local "poor" people, often drives them out when the rents and house prices go up. (Also, see this entry, about similar goings-on over rebuilding one of the railways around Stratford.)

Posted by Indigo Jo at 2:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)