Peter Tatchell: Classical Gas

Pro-Ukrainian activists led by veteran human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell interrupted a London Symphony Orchestra concert conducted by Russian conductor Valery Gergiev in Trafalgar Square.

About 20 people waved Ukrainian flags and chanted “shame on you” to Gergiev at the BMW LSO Open Air Classics concert earlier this evening.

Tatchell claims the conductor “colludes with President Putin’s expansionist policies” in Ukraine.

The free concert was delayed for several minutes just before the second performance of the night as Gergiev came on stage to conduct the Prokofiev violin concerto.

The Times - Sadly it seems no-one else has shown the least bit of interest in Saint Peter's press release about his latest self-publicity stunt.

That's right, yesterday when pro-Russian east Ukranians were braving gunfire from the Ukrainian junta's hoodlums to take part in a referendum on autonomy and self-determination, Pete thought it would be a good idea to stage a pro-Kiev protest.

Unbelievable.

From Iran to Serbia to Russia to Syria, Peter Tatchell can always be counted on to do his little bit to help the West's neo-imperial propaganda war.

And how is repeatedly harrassing a man in his 70s who is not responsible for Russian policy-making a sensible or worthwhile 'protest'?

What a silly Billy.

Update: In Ukraine, the US is dragging us towards war with Russia John Pilger, The Guardian.

John Pilger: Obama, Gay Marriage & Manning

Never forget that Bradley Manning, and not gay marriage, is the issue

Barack Obama’s sudden “conversion” to the cause of same-sex marriage barely disguises the prime motives of a president as reactionary and violent as George W Bush.

'In the week Barack Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, he ordered bombing attacks on Yemen, killing a reported 63 people, 28 of them children. When recently Obama announced that he supported same-sex marriage, Nato planes had not long blown 14 Afghan civilians to bits. In both cases, the mass murder was barely news. What mattered were the cynical vacuities of a political celebrity, the product of a zeitgeist driven by the forces of consum­erism and the media, with the aim of diverting the struggle for social and economic justice.
'The award of the Nobel Prize to the first black American president because he “offered hope” was both absurd and an authentic expression of the lifestyle liberalism that controls much political debate in the west. Same-sex marriage is one such distraction. No “issue” diverts attention as successfully as this: not the free vote in parliament on lowering the age of gay consent promoted by that noted libertarian and war criminal, Tony Blair; not the cracks in “glass ceilings” that contribute nothing to women’s liberation and merely amplify the demands of bourgeois privilege.
'Legal obstacles should not prevent people from marrying each other, regardless of gender. However, this is a civil and private matter; bourgeois acceptability is not yet a human right. The rights historically associated with marriage are those of property – capitalism itself. Elevating the “right” to marriage above the right to life and justice is as profane as seeking allies among those who deny life and justice to so many, from Afghanistan to Palestine...'

John Pilger, New Statesman. 

WikiLeaks: Gay Saint/Queer Martyr

Ironic to see the New Statesman portray Julian Assange as Saint Sebastian on this week's front cover.
The gay saint/queer martyr in the Wikileaks saga is clearly Bradley Manning.
In an interview with John Pilger, Assange says;
"I'd never heard his name before it was published in the press...
"Cracking Bradley Manning is the first step. The aim clearly is to break him and force a confession that he somehow conspired with me to harm the national security of the United States."

• WikiLeaks fulfills pledge to support accused whistle-blower Bradley Manning - Bradley Manning Support Network

Update: Bradley Manning on his conditions in prison.