669 Worlds

Sir Nicholas Winton pooh-poohs the idea, which is hardly surprising. If any nation could pooh-pooh, shouldn’t it be the British?

So Winton really thinks the credit should go to Trevor Chadwick or Martin Blake or the Dutchwoman Gertruida Wijsmuller-Meier, and there may be something in that. Winton, after all, only spent three weeks in Prague, sitting at a dining room table in his hotel room overlooking Wenceslas Square, and interviewing the (mostly) Jewish parents who were desperate to get their children out of Czechoslovakia. Hitler had been given the Sudetenland, and everybody with a brain knew—he wouldn’t stop there.

And there were other organizations getting German and Austrian kids out to safety—it was called the Kindertransport, and the British had raised half a million pounds for the effort. But in Czechoslovakia? Nothing.

So Martin Blake called on Nicholas Winton, a 28-year old London stockbroker, to cancel his ski vacation in Switzerland, and come to Prague instead. There, he found families not just from Prague but from Slovenia; so desperate were they to flee, they were living in camps, hoping to arrange transport out.

In fact, the list would grow to 5,000 children, and there were the predictable problems. First, what governments would take them? After Kristallnacht, the two-night pogrom in November of 1938 in which Jewish stores and synagogues were torched, the British and Swedish governments opened their doors to people under eighteen. The rest of the world, including the United States? Cold shoulder.

Money—kids had to have 50 pounds on deposit to assure repatriation. And 50 pounds then was the equivalent of about 3500 dollars today. Many of the parents were refugees living in camps; they barely had enough money for a meal.

So Trevor Chadwick took note and was told—nobody is doing anything, have a go at it. He opened an office, word spread, and hundreds of parents were outside on the street, desperate to hand over their child to a stranger. And the account of Chadwick by one author is fascinating; here’s Dorit Bader Whiteman:

He certainly was a superman.  Tall, handsome and with striking Nordic look… At the time, though, it seemed as if Trevor Chadwick had singlehandedly killed the dragon and was wafting me away. I was accepted at once…. My stout little mother planted herself firmly in front of Chadwick, addressing a speech of thanks to his navel (he being much taller than she). She liked to air her English, and I suspect she thanked him from the bottom of her heart. Trevor Chadwick shuffled his feet.

Later, Bader Whiteman wrote that the prevailing feeling on the trains going out to Holland, where they would ferry to England, was not sorrow but excitement. The parents had gone and spent their last money—in many cases—on new clothes. And they had told the children—we’ll join you soon, maybe in weeks, perhaps in months. But what a wonderful time you’ll have in England.

England, where Winton had returned, and where he resumed his day job as a stockbroker. But in the evenings and into the night, he was arranging for foster parents, putting photos of children everywhere he could think of, begging newspapers to donate advertising, and lastly, dealing with the paperwork. Not altogether uncreatively; here’s his comment:

"Officials at the Home Office worked very slowly with the entry visas. We went to them urgently asking for permits, only to be told languidly, 'Why rush, old boy? Nothing will happen in Europe.' This was a few months before the war broke out. So we forged the Home Office entry permits."  

Seven “shipments” of children were sent, the eighth was to leave on 1 September 1939—the day broke out, and Hitler invaded Poland. Here’s the account:

"Within hours of the announcement, the train disappeared. None of the 250 children aboard was seen again. We had 250 families waiting at Liverpool Street that day in vain. If the train had been a day earlier, it would have come through. Not a single one of those children was heard of again, which is an awful feeling."

An awful feeling, yes—but there is the consolation that 669 children were saved—thanks to the efforts of Chadwick, Winton, Blake and others. In fact, one child stated that the men are responsible for the survival of a generation of Czech Jews, since almost no one else survived the camps.

Winton joined the air force, and fought for five years. Then, he came home, put his diary of the efforts to save the children in his attic, and never mentioned it to anyone, including his wife. It was she, in fact, who found the diary, and learned of the story.

Winton wears a ring with a quote from the Talmud: save one life, save the world.

Winton saved 669 worlds.

Guarding the Palace

Right—there’ll be no shirking here. Previously, I had the doubtful responsibility of buffing up the English language skills of 500 Wal-Mart associates. Before that I was a nurse. Then there was the cello, to which I’ve recently returned. And now?

Defender of Buckingham Palace!

It seems that The Queen’s Guard—the one that gets changed every day, you remember—is completely slipping up. Because take a look at the picture below!

Yup—it’s a firework exploding against Buckingham Palace.

OK, having taken on Putin (see here and here) and won, a few days ago—he now assures us that he’ll welcome LGBT folk with open arms and vodka bottles—I was all in the mood for a nice quiet time. But no, with the slackers apparently overtaking the Guard, somebody has to step up to the plate. What if the queen had been strolling on her balcony?

So I turned to The Guardian for the dope, and discovered that the protest was part of a worldwide demonstration against austerity cuts; here’s what they had to say on the topic:

Similar events were staged in cities in Japan, Australia and New Zealand in opposition to austerity cuts, corruption and an increase in state surveillance.

Well, the event attracted hundreds of people, of whom 11 were arrested. In addition to the fireworks directed at the palace, a fire was started near the gates of the building, and the Lord Nelson Column in Trafalgar Square sustained damage. And apparently things got a bit heated—here’s more from the Guardian:

Ceylan Hassan, 24, a university graduate, who was among the protesters in London, said: "They started shouting 'move back, move back', but we had nowhere to go. The police started pushing us, screaming 'move back, move back'.

"There was a fire on the right hand side of the monument and people started throwing things."

OK, so I absorbed that, but then the question became: who was Anonymous, apparently the group behind the protest? And what were they all about?

In fact I don’t know—or rather, they don’t. But here’s what Trent Peacock (love the name, by the way), an Anon (as they call themselves) had to say, as cited in Wikipedia:

We [Anonymous] just happen to be a group of people on the internet who need—just kind of an outlet to do as we wish, that we wouldn't be able to do in regular society. ...That's more or less the point of it. Do as you wish. ... There's a common phrase: 'we are doing it for the lulz.'

Lulz, according to that Wikipedia entry, is “entertainment.” But the group’s idea of entertainment includes hacking—for some of its members—and they’ve gone after some really worthy targets, including Scientology and the Westboro Baptist “Church.” Here’s Wikipedia on the subject:

Several attacks by Anons have targeted organizations accused of homophobia. In February 2011, an open letter was published on AnonNews.org threatening the Westboro Baptist Church, an organization based in Kansas in the US known for picketing funerals with signs reading "God Hates Fags".[83] During a live radio current affairs program in which Topiary debated church member Shirley Phelps-Roper, Anons hacked one of the organization's websites.[84] After the church announced its intentions in December 2012 to picket the funerals of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims, Anons published the names, phone numbers, and e-mail and home addresses of church members and brought down GodHatesFags.com with a DDoS attack.[85] Hacktivists also circulated petitions to have the church's tax-exempt status investigated.[86] In August 2012, Anons hacked the site of Ugandan Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi in retaliation for the Parliament of Uganda's consideration of an anti-homosexuality law permitting capital punishment.[87] 

Good work, guys!

Anons also supported the Occupy movement in its early days, and have protested stock exchanges and major corporations; they also were active in the Arab Spring.

For all this, the group attracts attention, if not notoriety. In 2012, Time Magazine named them on the 100 most influential people; according to Wikipedia, the NSA agreed. Here’s what it says:

In 2012, Public Radio International reported that the US National Security Agency considered Anonymous a potential national security threat and had warned the president that it could develop the capability to disable parts of the US power grid.

I report all of this dispassionately—it’s hard to get a finger on this group’s pulse. But one thing I’ll say: we’re skating quite rashly on the thinnest of ice. The 1% is getting unimaginably rich, and worse, frightenly isolated. The rest of us are forming a collective time bomb of unemployment, poverty, and disenfranchisement.

Anybody remember the French Revolution?

An Everyday Hero

It’s getting a little old: another African nation is going through a spate of virulent homophobia. Oh, and is it any coincidence that the presidential election is in five days?

Robert Mugabe, 89, has ruled Zimbabwe since it gained independence in 1980; he was most recently elected in 2008. The election was widely held to be fraudulent and was unquestionably violent; allegations appearing through Facebook are that Mugabe’s top aides are corrupt and very rich. This election is expected to be very close.

Sub-Saharan politicians have learned: stirring up hatred against LGBT folk means votes. So Mugabe is running—well, as much as an 89-year old can run—around the country saying things like this: “They are worse than dogs and pigs, yes worse than dogs and pigs,” he said. “I keep pigs and the male pig knows the female one.”

That’s actually mild; today’s El Nuevo Día had this to say:

Harare- El presidente de Zimbabue, Robert Mugabe, candidato a la reelección en las elecciones del próximo 31 de julio, consideró que los homosexuales "merecen ser castrados", informó hoy el diario estatal Chronicle.

Yup—castrados means just what you think it does….

Homosexuality, you see, is a Western thing—Mugabe refers to Great Britain as United Gay Kingdom, and that, in post-Colonial Africa, is deeply suspicious. But Mugabe has left the merely verbal and moved into the world of action. Here’s Wikipedia on the subject:

In 1996, former President Canaan Banana was arrested based on accusations made during the murder trial of his former bodyguard, Jefta Dube, and found guilty of eleven charges of sodomy, attempted sodomy and indecent assault in 1998. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, defrocked, and served 6 months in an open prison.

Oh, and he also changed the constitution. No longer is it enough to criminalize sodomy, not it’s illegal to perform any act—holding hands, kissing—that would be considered “indecent.”

Well, is it surprising that Wikipedia says this about LGBT folk in Zimbabwe?

Homosexuality is highly taboo in the socially conservative country and Mugabe's anti-gay stance resonates with many Zimbabweans.[16] Gays and lesbians in Zimbabwe are threatened by violence and suicide attempts are common among the gay community.

Well, into the picture steps Peter Tatchell, an Australian-born activist for LGBT issues. He’s apparently not afraid to get into a scrap—he was one of thirty people to create the group OutRage! Remember those guys? Here’s more Wikipedia on the subject:

Some OutRage! activities were highly controversial. In 1994, it unveiled placards inviting ten Church of England bishops to "tell the truth" about what Outrage! alleged was their homosexuality and accusing them of condemning homosexuality in public while leading secret gay lives. Shortly afterwards the group wrote to twenty UK MPs, condemning their alleged support for anti-gay laws and claiming they would out them if the MPs did not stop what they described as attacks on the gay community. The MP Sir James Kilfedder, one such opponent of gay equality,[45] who had received one of the letters,[46] died two months later of a sudden heart attack on the day one of the Belfast newspapers planned to out him.[47][48] In a comment in The Independent in October 2003, Tatchell claimed the OutRage! action against the bishops was his greatest mistake because he failed to anticipate that the media and the church would treat it as an invasion of privacy.

Peter Tatchell, being interviewed by Natalie Thorne, deputy editor of Fyne Times, at a 'First Sunday' event, November 2007

On 12 April 1998, Tatchell led an OutRage! protest, which disrupted the Easter sermon by George Carey, the Archbishop of Canterbury, with Tatchell mounting the pulpit to denounce what he claimed was Carey's opposition to legal equality for lesbian and gay people. The protest garnered media coverage and led to Tatchell's prosecution under the little-used Ecclesiastical Courts Jurisdiction Act 1860 (formerly part of the Brawling Act 1551), which prohibits any form of disruption or protest in a church.[49][50] Tatchell failed in his attempt to summon Carey as a witness and was convicted. The judge fined him the trivial sum of £18.60, which commentators theorised was a wry allusion to the year of the statute used to convict him.[51][52]

Right—clearly a guy not afraid to get into a fight. Tatchell also went off to the first Moscow Pride march, and not surprising gotknocked unconscious for the trouble.

So what did Tatchell do about Mugabe?

He attempted a citizen’s arrest, not once but twice. Back to Wikipedia:

Tatchell became convinced that Mugabe had broken international human rights law during the attack, which is estimated to have involved the massacre of around 20,000 civilians. Then in 1999, journalists Mark Chavunduka and Ray Choto were tortured by the Zimbabwe Army. The arrest in London of Augusto Pinochet seemed to him a precedent that human rights violations could be pursued against a head of state, thanks to the principle of universal jurisdiction. On 30 October 1999 Tatchell and three other OutRage! activists approached Mugabe's car in a London street and attempted to perform a citizen's arrest. Tatchell opened the car door and grabbed Mugabe. He then called the police. The four OutRage! activists were arrested, on charges including criminal damage, assault and breach of the peace; charges were dropped on the opening day of their trial. Mugabe responded by describing Tatchell and his OutRage! colleagues as "gay gangsters", a slogan frequently repeated by his supporters, and claimed they had been sent by the United Kingdom government.[64]

On 5 March 2001 Tatchell believed Mugabe was about to visit Brussels. He went there and attempted a second citizen's arrest. Mugabe's bodyguards were seen knocking him to the floor. Later that day, Tatchell was briefly knocked unconscious by Mugabe's bodyguards and was left with permanent damage to his right eye. The protest drew worldwide headlines, as Mugabe was highly unpopular in the Western world for his land redistribution policy. Tatchell's actions were praised by Zimbabwean activists and many of the newspapers that had previously denounced him.

Tatchell has other causes—he’s spoken out against China’s human rights record, fundamentalist Islam, and he’s spoken out for Gaza and the Palestinians and for better treatment of Australia’s aboriginal peoples.

Great job, Tatchell!

The Killer in Your Kitchen

It was the alert doña Taí who advised me of it.

“You ever heard of the Boston Molasses Disaster?”

Sounds like a joke, doesn’t it? And if it weren’t, why, having lived in Boston for a year, had I never heard of it? Definitely something to check out.

It seems that on 15 January 1919, a huge vat of molasses exploded in the North End of Boston, creating a 40-foot wave that rushed through the city. Killed 21 people and several horses; 150 people were injured. And it did some serious damage to infrastructure. Take a look below….

Well, in my zeal to alert the international readership of this blog, I checked all this out in Wikipedia. Only to discover that there was a reference to another disaster.

The London Beer Flood.

Jump back a century or so, to 1814, in the St. Giles section of London. A vat of beer explodes, and causes other vats to explode in a domino effect. All in all, 323,000 imperial gallons (no idea what that is, but it sounds impressive…) of beer flood the city. St. Giles is an area of poor houses, with many families living in basements. These flood, and the death toll is eight.

Well, it seems that nothing is safe anymore. There are killers in the schools. Molasses can kill. Beer as well, in a way I had never thought.

With all the mayhem afoot, I’m happy to report that a great bunch of kids from Ponce, Puerto Rico, decided to cheer up a food court in their hometown. Here they are, in full swing!