TUC website in Polish – a big step forward
The decision by the TUC to launch a slick new website in Polish (http://www.pracawbrytanii.eu/) represents a huge step forward.
Emptying your inbox in Thunderbird – a one click solution
Like many of you, I get hundreds of email messages every week and have long been following discussions in books and on the web of how to keep an inbox under control. I like many…
Bandwagons and Buzzwords: Facebook and the Unions
The new technology, they said, was going to transform the Internet forever. Instead of you having to go online and “pull” web pages to your browser, it would ‘push’ pages to you. In fact, it…
Afghanistan: Everything we know is wrong
There are some things we just know. For example, we all know that the US-led mission to Afghanistan has been a complete failure. The Taliban is resurgent and more popular than ever. The government headed…
A 21st Century Free Speech Fight
Several months ago, I was approached by a friend with a request that LabourStart launch an online campaign in support of local care home workers in the area where I live – north London, England….
Linux: The first 100 days
I haven’t written much about Linux since early June when I made the switch over from Microsoft Windows, which I had been using since the early 1990s. But I thought that after 100 days, I’d…
This Great Movement of Ours: The blog
“Tigmoo” is one of those expressions that newcomers to the British labour movement will be unfamiliar with. It’s an acronym for “this great movement of ours” which was one of the most common cliches used…
The autobiography of Joseph Stalin: A novel – by Richard Lourie
In his bestselling book “Archangel”, Robert Harris creates an entire modern political thriller around Stalin’s great secret — which is revealed only in the second half of the book. And that incredible secret turns out…
The silent war – by Frank Falla
I’ve just come back from a week-long holiday in the Channel Islands, spending time on both Guernsey and Sark. In addition to the rural quiet, spectacular scenery and delicious local food, one attraction for me…
Red Gold – by Alan Furst
Alan Furst is routinely hailed as possibly the greatest living writer of traditional espionage fiction. He sets his books in exotic times and places — this one, for example, recounts stories of the French resistance…