text:
The scope and depth of Ted Grant's writings are a testament to his profound understanding of Marxism. The first volume of his writings covered the period just prior the war, the first three years of the imperialist war, the entry of the Soviet Union into the war, the formation of the Workers' International League, and the beginnings of industrial unrest during the war. These writings during this period, following the death of Trotsky, mark Ted's ascendency as the Trotskyist movement's main theoretician.
In August 1942, the Workers' International League issued a perspectives document, called Preparing for power, written by Ted, which served to direct the attention of the young forces of the WIL to the revolutionary tasks of the time. "The possibility exists for an unprecedented growth in influence and numbers in the shortest possible time. Today the problem consists mainly in preparing the basis for a rapid increase in growth and influence", stated the document.
While armchair critics scoffed at this "wild" perspective, the question of posing a struggle for power was bound up with the perspectives of war producing a revolutionary wave. This is what Trotsky had explained. "This perspective must be made the basis of our agitation", stated Trotsky. "It is not merely a question of a position on capitalist militarism and of renouncing the defence of the bourgeois state, but of directly preparing for the conquest of power and the defence of the proletarian fatherland." (Writings, 1939-41, p.414)
This second volume, starting at the beginning of 1943, takes us over the next three years of the Second World War. In January 1943, the editorial in Socialist Appeal assesses the situation and concludes:
"The lessons of the recent period of history in one country after another can be focused on the same point – that there was in these countries no closely knit and soundly built party with a firm policy ready to lead the masses at the critical hour to the taking of power. 'Popular Fronts,' 'national unity,' every sort of unprincipled amalgamation: but never a genuine workers' party prepared to take power, and with a programme that could win the masses.
"WIL sets itself the task of building such a party. The programme is no dead set of rules and tenets but a live instrument of power which responds to the changing situation, though never losing its firm Marxist foundation. The nucleus of the party is already formed, and as it grows it turns outwards more and more towards broader circles of the workers.
"The first stage of the struggle for a party is over. WIL has left the narrow discussion circles which are an inevitable stage on the way towards the building of a fresh movement and leadership, and is already taking its place on the actual field of battle. WIL now places itself directly before the workers and offers its programme as the only solution to their problems.
"A year is just beginning. It will see mighty events and portentous changes both on the international scene and on the field of the class struggle at home. Those events will sharpen and crystallise the moods and demands among the British workers. They will impress on the workers more and more the iron necessity for an independent class policy. It is the historic task of the fourth internationalists in Britain to provide that policy and to build up the party that will lead the way to its successful application. It is on this road that there lies the true continuation of British labour's militant past."
The military conflagration in the Second World War had shifted to the eastern front where the Russians were facing 176 enemy divisions, and the conflict was evolving into a struggle between the Soviet Union and Hitler's Germany. "The workers are awaiting with bated breath on the outcome of the Battle of Stalingrad", explained the Socialist Appeal of October 1942.
"Lieutenant General Diethmar, the German military spokesman, said over the Berlin radio: 'No other enemy can extend or postpone decisions as the Russians. Over and over again they succeed in balancing the scales by the sheer force of their masses.'
"The Russian workers and peasants are pouring out their blood unstintingly in defence of their cities. The same Nazi spokesman stated: 'The Soviet soldier is far more strongly attached than any soldier to the system in which he finds himself.' The system, for which the Soviet masses are grimly giving their lives, is based upon the gains of the October revolution. The tradition of the great Russian revolution has given the Russian workers and peasants something worth fighting for – something so vital and so important that it must be defended at all costs. The socialised property and the collective ownership of the means of production and distribution are what gives the heroic defenders of Stalingrad the courage and tenacity which is amazing the world."
The article continues:
"While the Bolshevik and Nazi armies are locked in colossal struggle, British and American imperialism sit like vultures watching their prey bleed to death. Commenting on the failure to open the Second Front the Frankfurter Zeitung of September 24th states: 'British interests are best served if as many Germans and Bolsheviks as possible mutually kill each other.' Britain and America are content to watch both their 'enemy' and their 'ally' destroy each other. When the destruction has sufficiently weakened both Germany and Russia, they hope to step in and take control."
During 1943, the regime of Mussolini fell and the dictator's bloody body was publicly hung upside down alongside his girlfriend in the centre of Milan. The authorities rushed to replace him by Marshal Badoglio, described by Ted as the Italian Petain, and King Victor Emmanuel III, in a desperate attempt to shore up capitalism and prevent revolution. Ted analyses this turn of events and explained that this marked "the beginning of the revolutionary upsurge in all the countries of Europe." Soviets appeared in the northern industrial cities and the masses poured onto the streets. This was certainly the beginning of the Italian revolution.
The news of events in Italy provoked a letter to Socialist Appeal from Andy Scott, a Central Committee comrade who had been drafted into the army in the summer of 1943. Scott was his pen name; his real name was private Andy Paton. "The Italian events are just the beginning – and what a beginning!" he wrote. "Soviets with a few days, after 20 years of bloody repression, and in spite of every brand of treacherous leadership" (Socialist Appeal, Mid-September 1943).
Soon afterward, Stalin rushed to recognise the regime of Badoglio and the King, propped up by the bayonets of Anglo-American imperialism.
In May 1943, Stalin had dissolved the Communist International as a gesture to the Allies. In response, the Workers' International League rushed out a statement by Ted Grant in the Workers' International News entitled The rise and fall of the Communist International, directed at the rank and file of the Communist Party.
Stalingrad had proved to be a turning point in the war. The defeat of the German advance was turned into a massive counter-offensive. The Soviet military, backed by the resources of the planned economy, proved to be decisive in this massive reversal of fortunes and the driving back of the German armies. The WIL tracked the different stages of the war and closely monitored the prospects for a revolutionary upsurge, as Trotsky had predicted.
The war in Europe had meant that the only openly functioning section of the Fourth International was in Britain. From the smallest grouping in 1938, by 1943 the Workers' International League had become the most developed Trotskyist force in Europe with around 300 members rooted in the working class. Although the WIL had not been recognised as the official section of the Fourth International since 1938, its correct policies and orientation allowed it to completely overshadow the official group, the Revolutionary Socialist League, which had dwindled to almost nothing with some 23 members. Their paper ceased to appear along with their ever-declining activity.
While the WIL adopted and carried into practice the Proletarian Military Policy of Trotsky, the RSL repudiated this "defensive" policy in 1940 and adopted both an ultra-left and opportunist-pacifist position. "The British Section, therefore, states that the demand in the international manifesto [War and the world proletarian revolution] has no validity in the existing conditions in this country…" explained a statement from the RSL. Instead they counter-posed the pacifist slogan of "peace" and "stop the war".
The Fourth International was completely opposed to the imperialist war, but as Ted explained in his polemic with the RSL, under the concrete conditions it was wrong to repeat word for word Lenin's position from 1914. At this time, Lenin was addressing the cadres and drawing a sharp line between defencism and internationalism. It was necessary to connect the revolutionary tendency with a war against fascism, but without giving credence to the war aims of British imperialism. Within this volume is contained the debate between the two positions. The WIL's main statement, written by Ted, remains a classic document on this important question.
The RSL was not the only party of the Fourth International that failed to understand or rejected the Proletarian Military Policy. In fact, it provoked widespread opposition. Like the RSL, who repudiated the policy, the Belgian section struck out several paragraphs on this question from their clandestine version of the May 1940 Manifesto. There was also opposition in the French section, which was moving in opposite directions, and even in the European Secretariat, which was supposed to be guiding the work. Even in the United States, the policy was reduced to mere propaganda. (See Pierre Broué, How Trotsky and the Trotskyists confronted the Second World War, September 1985) Only in Britain, did the WIL take the policy into the working class and armed forces in the widest possible manner.
Given their dominant position and growing success, the WIL opened up friendly relations and correspondence with the International with a view to becoming the officially recognised section. The International Secretariat of the Fourth International in fact criticised the RSL for attacking the WIL as "centrist", "chauvinist", etc. "The impression of the WIL's leadership we have here is that these are young comrades. If we could desire, at times, a little more firmness in their propaganda, we must recognise that they learn quickly. The last issue of their paper (that of May, with the article on the Second Front) is excellent, and to speak of "centrism", "defencism", "chauvinism", etc., is simply false. It is necessary to say clearly: The WIL stands entirely on the grounds of the principles and methods of the FI and it should find its place in our ranks as soon as possible." (Letter from the IS to RSL, June 21 1942, emphasis in original)
Despite the patronising tone at the beginning, the International Secretariat could not but criticise the RSL for its policies and groundless attacks. As we will see the RSL was in a state of acute crisis, riddled with factions, and in the process of complete disintegration prior to the 1944 fusion with the WIL. Just like a French bedroom farce, the minority leaders actually expelled the majority! This was revealed in a resolution of the IS of September 26 1943:
"1) The IS has now received adequate reports and statements from all concerned regarding the wholesale expulsion carried out by the DDH [Denzil Harber] leadership and its handling of the question of fusion with the WIL…
"2) The Central Committee of DDH has, by a series of impermissible and unheard-of bureaucratic manipulations, finally managed to 'expel' a majority of the organisation. These fantastic operations have been carried through in gross violation of the elementary rules and methods and traditional practices of the FI, and despite repeated warnings and demands of the IS. The CC has likewise disloyally sabotaged the policy of the IS regarding fusion with the WIL – a matter now of the greatest international urgency which can no longer be trifled with.
"3) By its actions the CC of DDH has forfeited all rights to be considered the leadership of the British Section of the Fourth International, and is no longer so regarded by the IS. It no longer has the right or moral authority to expel or reinstate anybody. The CC of DDH represents a minority fraction no more, and has no special rights or authority whatsoever.
"4) The IS has received the statement signed by Dunipace, Lawrence and Robinson in the name of the groups they represent which make up the majority of the membership, proposing to call a national conference to reconstitute the RSL as the official BSFI. We endorse this move as the most necessary action in the present situation, with the following proviso: The DDH group must be invited to participate in the conference and its arrangements committee on the same basis as other groups."
In 1943, one of the factions within the crisis-ridden RSL, called the Trotskyist Opposition and led by John Lawrence, had opened up secret talks with the WIL. Eventually, after the RSL had reconstituted itself from the ashes, a hasty fusion conference was organised with the WIL in March 1944, where the Revolutionary Communist Party was formed and recognised as the official section of the Fourth.
With the political truce and the pro-war stand of the Communist Party, the WIL had concentrated its attention on the industrial field. At this time the Socialist Appeal is full of reports of industrial disputes. The resolution on the industrial situation presented to the 1943 WIL national conference explained that the previous year has seen the largest number of strikes for 16 years, and the first 5 months of 1943 had seen a 150 percent rise in the number of disputes compared to the same period of 1942. Clearly, this indicated a rising discontent within the workers in industry, which the Stalinists were attempting to suppress in support of the war effort. Worried at the growing effect of the Trotskyists, the British Communist Party launched a frenzied attack on members of the WIL, denouncing them as "Hitler's agents", and when discovered were to be treated accordingly.
To advance their work, and undermine the influence of the Communist Party, the WIL established the Militant Workers' Federation in 1943. Roy Tearse was appointed the WIL's industrial organiser and became the secretary of the MWF. The comrades threw themselves into the strike movement, the most significant being the Barrow-in-Furness strike, which the trade union bureaucracy and the Stalinists opposed. The influence of the MWF extended to the shop stewards in the Glasgow munitions factory at Fairfields and more decisively to the Nottingham Royal Ordinance Factory, where the convenor had joined the WIL.
The Stalinists were livid. In October 1943, Harry Pollitt, the CP leader, wrote after the great Barrow dispute: "We oppose strikes at the present time because they are against the present and future interests of the working class; and because existing trade union machinery, if rightly used, and backed by public opinion, can bring results satisfactory to the workers without dislocating the productive process." This was also the line of the capitalist press and politicians.
The Stalinists advocated a "strong government" of Tories, Liberals and Labour. Their hatred of the Trotskyists also extended itself to the centrist Independent Labour Party. The ILP's demand for "replacing the Churchill government by a Socialist government" was, according to the Stalinist J. R. Campbell, "black treachery". "Restricted practices", he continued, "are a relic of craft unionism", and "whether we like it or not, we are in for vast changes in industry, which cannot be met by clinging to old customs and practices."
Harry Pollitt, the leading Stalinist, claimed that "it is the class conscious workers in Britain, inspired by the Communist Party, who have led the fight for increased production and to make the Joint Production Committees work, have been ready to accept dilution, forego hard-earned customs and practices in industry."
Workers, however, had other ideas. Resentment was growing and was reflected in the increasing number of industrial disputes. In the autumn of 1943, workers at the Vickers Armstrong factory in Barrow took action, which resulted in the union executive suspending the whole of the Barrow District Committee of the AEU. "Barrow has become the cockpit of Trotskyist agitation", ranted Jack Owen in the Daily Worker, as they campaigned for a return to work.
Strikes spread to other areas, including the Kent coalfield, Fife, Doncaster, and South Wales, where 100,000 were out on strike. Anger was fed in July 1943, when the government announced the "Bevin Ballot Scheme", in which young workers were removed from their jobs and forced to work in the mines on lower pay.
In October, the WIL held its Second National Conference attended by over 100 members, with 34 delegates, with firm roots in the working class. "Striking too was the number of newcomers fresh from the ranks of the Communist Party", stated the report by Millie Lee in Socialist Appeal. Comrades attended the conference from all branches of the armed forces. The three statements discussed were on Perspectives, the relations with the Fourth International and Industrial Policy. The report on the WIL witnessed a 40 percent growth in membership over the previous year and established the WIL as a truly national organisation. There was enormous enthusiasm and sacrifice shown in the future building and success of the party. It was a tremendous fitting reply to the press witch-hunt led by Ernest Bevin, Minister of Labour, and the Daily Mail.
In March 1944, 5,000 apprentices went on strike on Tyneside against being conscripted to work in the mines and this quickly spread to other areas, including the Clyde. Welsh miners also went on strike. This movement coincided with the launch of the Revolutionary Communist Party on 12-13 March. As the Socialist Appeal put it: "Whilst 100,000 Welsh miners were demonstrating a wonderful class spirit and solidarity in the great Welsh coal strike, another important event was taking place in London. The Trotskyists were meeting in London for two days for the purpose of fusing together the hitherto separate organisations: the Revolutionary Socialist League and Workers' International League, into one united Trotskyist party for Great Britain." The event was attended by 69 delegates as well as a host of visitors. The name of the new party was to draw a sharp distinction between it and His Majesty's Communist Party which supported the imperialist war and tied the workers to the Coalition government. It was to be the Revolutionary Communist Party.
It must be said that the new organisation was hardly a "fusion", but represented in reality a complete takeover by the WIL. The RCP adopted lock, stock and barrel the programme, perspectives and methods of the Workers' International League.
During the conference, the representative of the IS met with the old faction leaders of the RSL and with Gerry Healy established a new secret "anti-leadership" faction inside the RCP. James Cannon, the leader of the American Trotskyists, had always held a grudge against the leaders of the WIL ever since they refused to enter the unprincipled fusion of 1938. He was interested in replacing the RCP leaders by using Zinovievite organisational methods. A key ally in this conspiracy was Gerry Healy, who had been expelled from the WIL in February 1943 after walking out. From then on he established factional relations with John Lawrence in the RSL and wheedled his way back into the WIL. This was the beginning of a factional career that was to eventually destroy the movement.
During this time, the Trotskyists were active in supporting the apprentices' strike, and managed to win over the strike leader, Bill Davy, to the movement. The capitalist press led a hue and cry over "trained agitators" and "fanatical adherents of Trotskyism" who were "doing all they can to foment class warfare" (Daily Mail).
The Mail continued its barrage, when on April 6 1944 it announced a "special team of investigators" to track down the Trotskyists. The Special Branch, according to the paper, was "in search of documents that would reveal the hidden hand of finance" and was following "a fantastic trail of clues."
The Sunday Dispatch on 9 April explained: "Strikes are being fomented by agitators belonging to the organisations calling themselves the 'Militant Workers' Federation' and the 'Revolutionary Communist Party' in connection with which is published and distributed the Socialist Appeal … those behind the Socialist Appeal – the writers on the paper and the agitators who foment trouble among the miners – are Trotskyists who believe in permanent revolution."
Even Britain's foremost cartoonist "Low" joined in the "nasty man" campaign by drawing a cartoon of a sinister Trotskyist pied piper leading a bunch of blindfolded youngsters labelled "strike suckers". As Jock Haston commented in the Socialist Appeal: "Yes Low, they are suckers all right. Suckers to dig, to sweat, to fight, to die so that your employers might profit and you can throw mud at them; for which you get paid a little bit more than the lads who will dig coal in the mine."
The authorities were so alarmed that they moved in to arrest four RCP comrades, Roy Tearse, Heaton Lee, Ann Keen and later Jock Haston. They were accused of conspiring to act in furtherance of an illegal strike; acting in furtherance of an illegal strike; inciting others to act in furtherance of an illegal strike; and aiding and abetting William Davy (the 19-year old apprentice and secretary of the Tyne Apprentices' Guild) and others to act in furtherance of an illegal strike.
The headquarters of the RCP was also raided along with members' homes. The Stalinists, who attempted to demoralise the apprentices by accusing them of being manipulated by pro-Nazi elements, applauded these actions. These arrests, however, were met by protests, including ILP leader James Maxton, who became head of the defence committee. The issue was also raised in Parliament, and eventually, after a successful campaign, the sentences were quashed at the end of September and the comrades released. "The whole thing is disgraceful", declared Nye Bevan in the House of Commons.
In mid-1944, a revolutionary movement broke out in Greece. The entire population was involved in armed resistance. There had been a general strike in Athens against the execution of hostages by the occupying power a year earlier. The main organisation engaged in the resistance armed struggle was EAM (and its army ELAS). EAM was a broad mass movement, under the control of the Stalinists, which conducted the struggle against the fascists. As expected, the British government was fully behind the Monarchist forces, and supplied it with arms. However, the leaders of EAM entered the reactionary Greek exile government of Papandreou, and made all kinds of political concessions.
When the Germans were forced to leave Athens in October 1944, the CP called on the Greek people to "ensure public order". It also ensured the Papandreou government came to power accompanied by British troops. The government proceeded to disarm ELAS, but this provoked armed resistance and an uprising. The ranks of ELAS took up the fight in Athens, Salonika and elsewhere as power passed into the hands of the working class.
By the end of the year, under orders from Churchill, British troops were used alongside Greek reactionaries to put down the Greek workers "to prevent a massacre" and to stop "triumphant Trotskyism". "British imperialism has intervened with tanks, machine guns, and planes against the popular democratic will of the people", explained the Socialist Appeal (Mid-December 1944). In this Churchill had the full backing of Stalin who believed the British should have a free hand. Eventually, the uprising was put down. Nevertheless, it would require several more years of betrayal at the hands of the Stalinists before the fighting spirit of the Greek revolution was extinguished.
In August 1944, there was a massive movement in France against the German occupation, led by an insurrection in Paris. "Barricades were set up in all the working class districts of Paris and tens of thousands, armed with revolvers, sticks and rifles were joined on the barricades by hundreds of thousands without arms", explained Ted Grant in the lead article of the Socialist Appeal (September 1944). The Germans, despite having tanks, were completely defeated. It was a situation of dual power, with many factories in the hands of the workers. Out of fear of the revolutionary masses, de Gaulle was rushed in to head the movement and quickly make a truce with the Nazis. With the retreat of the Germans, the task of de Gaulle was to disarm the workers and, with the help of the Stalinists, to derail the revolution.
"The political general staff of capitalism, especially men like Churchill, have assimilated the lessons of the last world war", stated the Socialist Appeal.
"It was ended by the Russian revolution, revolutions in Germany, Austria-Hungary and other countries and a revolutionary situation in Italy, France and even Britain. The masses, who had paid the price in blood and suffering while their masters made millions out of the slaughter and hunger, demanded a reckoning for the crimes of capitalism. The capitalist spokesmen have been haunted throughout this war by the fear of the repetition of these events." (Mid-December 1944)
Such events were sweeping France and Greece and were part of a wider revolutionary wave that was sweeping across Europe, as Leon Trotsky had predicted before the war.
Unfortunately, the Trotskyists were too small to take advantage of the situation, which was hijacked by the Stalinists and social democrats. They deliberately set about betraying this movement and were in the forefront in disarming the resistance. They also waged the most vulgar campaign of chauvinism by blaming the German workers for the crimes of Hitler and demanded they pay the price. The actions of these "leaders" were to derail the revolution into the safe channels of protecting private property. It was a period of "counter-revolution in a democratic form."
In January 1945, the RCP decided to fight the Neath by-election. This was the first time a British Trotskyist party had ever contested a parliamentary election.
The January edition of the Socialist Appeal boldly declared:
"In the whole course of the war, not a single election has been fought wherein a direct revolutionary appeal has been made to the electorate. The Revolutionary Communist Party will make this election a test of the real feelings in the ranks of the working class. Our candidate will fight on a platform of uncompromising hostility to the imperialist, war, for the breaking of the coalition, for the overthrow of the Churchill government and for Labour to power on a socialist programme…
"The Trotskyist candidate will fight the election on the basis of international socialism; he will conduct his fight in the traditions of the great socialist teachers of our time – Marx, Lenin, Liebknecht and Trotsky. For the overthrow and destruction of Nazism as well as the monarchist and capitalist quislings and governments set up by Anglo-American imperialism in "liberated" territories. Land to the peasants and factories to the workers throughout Europe and the world! Not the military domination of Europe by the Allied imperialist armies but a united socialist states of Europe. In particular he will appeal for a hand of friendship and fraternity to the German working class for the overthrow of Hitler and the establishment of the socialist brotherhood of European nations – against Vansittartism – against reparations, against blockade and revenge on the German working class."
The writs were delayed and the election was not held until 15 May 1945, not long before the war was over in Europe. While the RCP never expected to win the seat, the election campaign was used to establish a base within the South Wales coalfield. This was considered fertile ground. Two-thirds of all strikes were concentrated in the British coalfield, a significant number in South Wales.
This immediately caused a ferocious reaction from the Stalinists. "There are only a few scattered Trotskyists in the Welsh coalfields", explained a statement from the South Wales Communist Party. "They have no real influence in the miners' Lodges, but the genuine grievances over the Porter Award … gave the Trotskyists their chance to exploit the strike for their own ends, and to slander the elected leaders of the miners, especially Arthur Horner, the President."
There was talk that the left-wing Miners' Agent, Trevor James, would be put forward as an independent Communist, well-known for his anti-war, anti-Stalinist views. James' refusal gave the opportunity for the RCP to wage the challenge. Neath was a rock solid Labour seat and therefore there was no chance of splitting the vote and handing victory to an anti-Labour candidate.
The campaign was a marvellous affair. Thousands of copies of Socialist Appeal were sold throughout the constituency. In fact the February issue sold 7,500 copies, approximately one to every three houses. Two mass meetings were held in the Gwyn Hall, the first attracting 750 people, and the second attracting 1,500. The latter was the biggest political rally in Neath since Ramsay MacDonald held a rally in the same place in the 1929 General Election.
In the final rally, the CP was forced to debate. Councillor Alun Thomas, chairman of the West Wales CP debated Jock Haston. As expected, he raised all the old Stalinist slanders. "He tried to get the miners out on strike everywhere when we were preparing for invasion", stated Thomas. "His policy was the same as Oswald Mosley, both parts of one and the same policy.
"He comes out against unconditional surrender. Says the German worker is our ally. How can the Russians, who tried to fraternise with the Germans and get them to mutiny, talk about these elements as brothers? Hitler has created a nation of nincompoops and murderers. Haston had to follow in Hitler's footsteps."
Haston, however, was a skilled debater and took up every point that Thomas had raised and then turned the tables on the Stalinists for their class collaboration and the betrayals of Stalin.
On Election Day, the RCP candidate, Jock Haston, secured 1,781 votes, a credible achievement under the circumstances. The Labour candidate scored 30,847. The war was almost at an end and workers were looking forward to a General Election to return a majority Labour government.
"In 1929, in the height of the depression Harry Pollitt, contesting Seaham Harbour against Ramsay MacDonald polled 1,451 votes against 35,615", explained the Socialist Appeal. "In 1940 at the Silvertown by-election Pollitt received 996 votes on an anti-war ticket against Labour's 14,343. In comparison with these figures, the result of the first election which our party has contested should be an encouragement and inspiration to the workers seeking a communist solution." (Mid-May 1945)
The issue concluded that "Trotskyism has found its roots in Wales. But its richest harvest will be reaped in the years to come."
Nationally, the organisation report at the second National Conference stated that the membership of the RCP had grown by 20 percent since the fusion. The organisation was in a healthy position to face up to the opportunities of the post war period.
Throughout these past three years, the theoretical and political line of the WIL and RCP was largely determined by Ted Grant, which can be seen from this written work. He drafted most of the main documents and statements of the party. The final important statement contained in this collection is The changed relationship of forces in Europe and the role of the Fourth International, which was presented by Ted to the March 1945 Central Committee, and later approved in the August National Conference. This was especially important, and while it was necessarily conditional about developments in those countries occupied by the Red Army, it nevertheless raises the possibility of the overturn of property forms being carried through by the Stalinists, albeit on a totalitarian basis.
More importantly, for the first time it is recognised that a developing stabilisation was unfolding in Europe as a consequence of the role of the leaders of the mass organisations. This development was to take the appearance of a "counter-revolution in a 'democratic' form". It was counter-revolutionary in so far as the ruling class could ride out the revolutionary storm given the weakness of the subjective factor, i.e., the revolutionary party, but "democratic" because of the weakness of reaction and the pressure of the masses. What is also explained is the political preconditions for a new economic recovery of capitalism, a new departure from the traditional perspective of the past. It was this ability of Ted to grasp the new conditions in order to reorient the forces of Trotskyism, which the leaders of the Fourth International were incapable of doing.
This inability of the International leadership to recognise reality led to enormous problems in the years ahead. However, that is the subject on the next volume of Ted Grant's writings.
Rob Sewell, May 2012


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Bake your hot cross buns online – The Royal Gazette | Bermuda News, Business, Sports, Events, & Community
D60D7F0D-6470-4CA7-BEB6-AF0BAD86FD75
Bake your hot cross buns online
Sekou Hendrickson
Created: Apr 08, 2020 09:00 AM
A baker is running an online class today to teach people how to make hot cross buns for the Easter holiday.
Kamilah Cannonier, the owner of Sweet Saak Bakery in St George's, said her livestream masterclass would take people on lockdown through the process step-by-step.
She added that the class would help keep the traditional Easter treat on the table during the strict state of emergency shelter-in-place order.
Ms Cannonier said: "I had to cancel all of my orders for hot cross buns, which hurt my business, but knowing that people might no be able to share in this tradition hurt more than anything else.
"I remember when I was little that my mom used to make hot cross buns — that's how I learnt to make them — and I didn't want anyone to spend the holiday without them.
"This is my culture and I want to make sure — now that people have the time — that the tradition will be passed on to others."
Ms Cannonier said that the live-stream would allow her to discuss the recipe with her audience and help them over problems.
She explained: "Making bread was something that I had to develop over the years and it's always better if you can ask someone with some professional knowledge so you can troubleshoot while you're doing it yourself.
"If you make a mistake while you cook, you can always fix it up during the process, but with baking you kind of need to know what you're doing before you start because there is no fixing in the middle of the recipe."
Ms Cannonier said that 50 people had signed up for the class, which will be held on video communications app Zoom.
She added that the participants signed up through the Sargasso Sea app and were given a list of ingredients and a link to the conference call.
Ms Cannonier said people could still sign up for the class as long as they could get the ingredients before the class's 4pm start time.
She added that she will hold a similar class at 6pm tonight on Digicel's live Instagram account.
Ms Cannonier said: "People who haven't practised the class can still view a live demonstration of buns being made.
"Anyone can send messages or ask questions if they're attempting hot cross buns at home or if they have any substitution questions because a lot of ingredients might not be available at the grocery store."
She added: "I've developed a very simple recipe that should be easy to follow, so if people's kids are home or their spouses are there, then anybody can join in."
Ms Cannonier hopes to do similar instructional videos in the future.
Bake date: Kamilah Cannonier will host an online interactive class to show people how to make hot cross buns at home (Photograph by Akil Simmons)
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Published April 08, 2020 at 9:00 am (Updated April 08, 2020 at 7:52 am)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The 2009 ICC World Twenty20 is scheduled to take place in England from June 5 through 21, 2009. It will be the second World Twenty20. The tournament will have 12 teams, just like the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa in September 2007, despite early reports that the tournament was planned to be a nine-day event, held at two venues, with eight teams taking part.


HOW TO BRING MIDDLE EASTERN DANCE TO THE STAGE!
"I have worked in big productions in Turkey & also have been touring my own dance theatre production internationally, for instance 'One Day In Istanbul' and 'Ashk /Love'. Telling a story through dance is something that makes my heart beat faster but its often a challenge to bring Middle Eastern dance forms to a big stage without loosing the energy and character of the dance."
HERE ARE 10 TIPS TO MAKE YOUR DANCE MORE THEATRICAL - FOR GROUP OR SOLO NUMBERS!
1. Think bigger and act even bigger!
The most important challenge you will experience is to make your steps, feelings and moves bigger as you perform on a large stage. What you want is that even someone sitting in the back row can see your steps clearly, get your feeling directly and enjoy your moves.
Adding direction changes, even when repeating the same moves, will give a different perspective to the audience.
Dancing on the diagonals will make your dance more friendly and captivate the audience more. Dancing square on to the audience can sometimes appear aggressive. Enjoy dancing using stage left, stage right, front and back diagonals.
Using a big stage and trying to travel the stage with only moves and steps can look over choreographed. Enjoy only walking on the stage combined with gazing to the audience. This will help the audience to feel more connected with you.
5. Dance is like talking, speak clearly!
If you talk fast, very few people will understand you - dance is the same. Make sure your moves are clear and complete, otherwise the shape of the moves or steps can not be understand by the audience.
Putting some street style or folk dancing, such as Romani dance, on the big stage is a challenge. Always respect the origins of the dance and change within the feeling or culture of the dance.
In theatrical dance we have 3 options for the position of the feet depending on the style of dance performed. I often choose to point the feet for a classical dance style, and flex for folk dancing, using natural point where you have a story of someone sleeping or dying which gives a more natural feeling to the act.
On a big stage I like gazing to a empty point while I am dancing; this feels good to me as I can get into the mood of the dance better. Sometimes making eye contact with the audience can distract you from your dance or energy.
Dancing on stage, when the stage is higher then the audience, can be tricky. If you have a dance where you like to make eye contact with your audience, looking down will give you a double chin! So make eye contact with the audience sitting further away and not directly below you and enjoy dancing with your chin up to have better photos.
10. Check out the stage!
Check the stage before your performance and try your shoes on stage beforehand as some theater floors can be slippery or sticky. If you want to be comfortable on stage, especially for turns, check it out before.


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Climate Watch
For Roofs, White Is the New Cool
By Christopher Penalosa July 21, 2010
Officials at the US Department of Energy are checking their roofs for some of that "low hanging fruit" available to increase energy efficiency in buildings. A study released this week by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory suggests that "cool roofs" have the potential to offset up to two years worth of worldwide CO2 emissions and reduce the effects of urban "heat islands." If that's the case, increasing the albedo, or reflectivity, of roofs and pavements might be the solution to hotter days in the city.
Flying over most California cities reveals relatively few white roofs (Photo: Craig Miller)
Cool roofs use light-colored materials to reflect sunlight, instead of absorbing heat from the sun. According to the LBNL study, roofs and pavements cover 50-65% of urban spaces, most of which use dark colored materials. These darker materials have an amplifying effect when cities get hot. They contribute to urban heat islands, which can trap heat in cities for days. Dark surfaces also radiate more heat into the atmosphere, which is absorbed by clouds in the atmosphere. The study finds that dressing the city in lighter colors would lead to less heat being trapped by clouds. DOE is implementing the cool roof strategy as part of a federal commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from government operations 28% by 2020.
On Monday, energy secretary Steven Chu directed his and other and federal agencies to cool down their roofs. In the press release, Chu said "Cool roofs are one of the quickest and lowest-cost ways we can reduce our global carbon emissions and begin the hard work of slowing climate change." The roofs will be installed on an as-needed basis to replace older roofs or newly constructed ones. Projects will get underway this summer, starting with DOE Headquarters in Washington. Currently slated cool roof projects will cover 350,000 square feet.
One scientist we spoke with threw a little cold water on the concept, saying cool roofs do not match the scale of the problem.
"White roofs can at best slow global warming by a small, undetectable amount," said Ken Caldiera, senior scientist at Stanford's Carnegie Institute. "Furthermore, white roofs do not address the source of the problem, which is greenhouse gas emissions, primarily from our energy system," he said. "The energy-carbon-climate problem can't be solved with a little whitewash."
But Art Rosenfeld, co-author of a previous cool roof study, says cooler roofs save energy and money. "If the weather is really hot, you can save a lot of money, so it pays to go ahead and whiten an existing roof before it starts leaking," says Rosenfeld, who says cool roofs tend to last 10-30% longer (dark roofs expand and contract underneath the sun, which leads to more wear and tear). Cooler roofs can also lower electric bills and Rosenfeld says they're needed "anywhere that's hot. The hotter the climate, the larger the [air conditioning] load." In places where climate can vary, Rosenfeld says "It still pays to have a cool roof in North Dakota but in terms of life-cycle costs, it's better to wait until the roof starts leaking."
In Rosenfeld's earlier paper on the benefits of cool roofs and pavements, he calculated that worldwide implementation could offset 44 gigatons of carbon dioxide. The LBNL study is a continuation of the same work, but was the first to use a NASA land surface model to calculate cooling effects and carbon dioxide offsets of cool roofs and pavements.
Image from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
For Roofs, White Is the New Cool 2 February,2018Christopher Penalosa
Explore: The Science, LBNL, Temperature, urban heat, Urban Planning, weather
Show Comments (5) Hide Comments
5 thoughts on "For Roofs, White Is the New Cool"
klem says:
Lol! Ok let me guess. The company which commissioned this bad study makes white paint; am I correct? Benjamin Moore or Pratt & Lambert or something. C'mon tell me.
Anna Haynes says:
One thing to be aware of, is that a cooler asphalt roof will need a higher temp in order to self-seal. So fall is not the best season for putting one on.
G. Kaplan, MD says:
Addressing global warming by painting or placing white roof tops does not address global warming, pollution, loss of arable land, hunger, loss of species, and the millions of people who die yearly due to these combined "symptoms".
Good physicians treat the disease not the symptoms. Global warming and all the obove mentioned symptoms are caused by overpopulation.
Until we finally face this elephant in the room, all white washes, be it roof tops or little adjustments of all the above mentioned symptoms merely postpone addressing the real problem, so much so, that the damage ultimately will be irreparable for mankind. Dr. Chu should life up to his part of physician, and address the disease: OVERPOPULATION, if he is to make a real difference.
Please watch the video in this BBC recent report to fathom the enormity of the problem.
BBC News VIDEO . See http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8213884.stm.
G Kaplan, MD
http://www.lifewatchgrup.org
Lenard Woliver says:
Hi there, first of all, I want to note that I think it's a amazing weblog you got here. And to the point, I haven't find out the way to add your web-site rss or atom in my rss reader – where's the link to the RSS? Thanks
Christopher Penalosa says:
Hi Lenard,
In the far right column on Climate Watch's homepage, click on the orange rss logo (link). On that page, in the "subscribe now" box, you can add the rss feed using a variety of readers like Google or Yahoo's reader.
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Peach season is just about here and I need to share the recipe for my favorite green smoothie ever – it's called Mint Julep Sweet Tea. The recipe comes from Simple Green Smoothies: 100+ Tasty Recipes To Lose Weight, Gain Energy, and Feel Great in Your Body. This vibrant green smoothie is just what you need this summer to beat the summer heat!
I will admit that when Jen shared this recipe with me during the testing phase, I was a little skeptical. I usually only like my green tea in kombucha, thankyouverymuch. Ha! But I do love a good green smoothie and I'm always open to trying new things. From first sip, this became my very favorite smoothie. Funny enough, my Boise Whole Foods makes a similar smoothie in the summer with Idaho peaches – only theirs has honey in it. This recipe is sweetened only by fruit, which I love.
Peaches are my absolute favorite summer fruit. And while some people (my husband…cough, cough) think it's a travesty to use perfectly delicious peaches in a smoothie, I encourage you to do it! Mint is one of my favorite herbs and smoothie add-ins because it ups the taste factor and is good for the digestive system. Peaches and mint are primo together.
Green tea is full of anti-oxidants and all kinds of good stuff. I pretty much only use it to brew my kombucha and make this smoothie. I'm working on loving it on its own. ;) (I'm more of a coffee girl.) Anyway, I like that I can reap the benefits of the green tea plus a little energizing boost while I'm sipping on my greens.
This is a lower glycemic green smoothie too. Peaches and green apples both fall below 55 on the glycemic scale.
Do yourself a favor and use the juiciest, fresh peaches (or nectarines) you can find. It's so worth the wait to make it with the fresh peaches. However, if you can, plan ahead and freeze them so the smoothie is nice and cold. I hope you'll give this Mint Julep Sweet Tea Green Smoothie a try!
Recipe from Simple Green Smoothies by Jen Hansard and Jadah Sellner, republished with permission.
Place spinach, mint, and green tea into a blender. Blend until smooth.
Add peaches, apple, and lemon juice and blend again.
-If peaches aren't available, substitute nectarines, apricots, cherries, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, or blackberries.
-A pear can be used in place of the apple, if desired.
-This smoothie is on the tart side, if desired, a little bit of maple syrup or honey can be added to taste.
This looks so refreshing. Totally going to make this for my husband.
Spinach and peach sounds like a very interesting mix.


Venture capitalists' money is flowing into U.S. technology companies at the highest rate since the dot-com boom, aimed at finding the next big thing — yet there doesn't seem to be a bubble in sight, say VCs and research firm PitchBook.
Venture capital firms in the United States dished out $84 billion to 8,000 technology startups and companies in 2017, the highest amount of capital seen since the early 2000s, according to an annual industry report from PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association.
The amount of invested venture capital has seen a near-consistent rise since 2009 and more than doubled since 2012 — though venture capital dipped in 2016 to $72.4 billion from $79.3 billion in 2015, according to Bloomberg.
Although VC investment came roaring back in 2017, PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association see a healthier environment today than when many venture capital firms lost their money as the dot-com bubble burst. One reason is that most of the $84 billion last year went to large, high-value companies with an established customer base, rather than risky, early-stage startups, they said.
The ride-hailing platform Lyft and the shared-office business WeWork secured some of the largest venture capital funding deals in the United States in 2017, receiving $3 billion and $1.5 billion, respectively. Unicorns — private companies valued at more than $1 billion, like Lyft and WeWork — received $19.2 billion, or 22.8 percent of all investments.
However, some venture capitalists did not associate the growing number of investments in established companies as a sign of the industry thriving.
"That number is not indicative to the innovation that is going on anymore," said Steve Blank, a longtime Silicon Valley venture capitalist and lecturer at Stanford and UC Berkeley.
Meanwhile, venture capital firms are not reaping returns as fast as they once did. More venture-backed companies are deciding to stay private. The number of companies exiting through either an initial public offering (IPO) or an acquisition has dropped to 769 — the lowest since 2011.
Exit value stayed relatively flat, thanks to the big returns seen from select IPOs such as Stitch Fix and Roku in 2017.
With companies opting to stay private longer than in the past, venture capital firms today need more patience — and deeper wallets.
The Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, with its $100 billion Vision Fund, and other corporate venture funds have emerged as key players in 2017 and "created a trickle-down effect for the entire industry," according to PitchBook.
Softbank's Vision Fund — backed by Apple, Qualcomm, the sovereign wealth fund of the United Arab Emirates and the public investment fund of Saudi Arabia — in the American technology industry has been a game-changer in 2017. Unlike other venture capital firms, which seek to invest in companies with big potential, Softbank is more focused on buying market segments, according to Blank.
Excluding Softbank, other venture capital firms raised $32 billion in 209 funds, marking the fourth consecutive year the industry raised more than $30 billion.
In June, New Enterprise Associates raised $3.3 billion, the largest single raised fund in the industry's history.
Noted venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz also raised $450 million for companies that apply artificial intelligence to areas such as health care and food science.
"As we close the books on another banner year, 2017 will be remembered as a year of changing market dynamics for the industry, including large pools of committed capital, shifting deal sizes, rising valuations, record unicorn exits, and strong investment into life science companies and other emerging breakthrough technologies," said NVCA President and CEO Bobby Franklin.


Almar Appliance in Montreal, QC is an authorized dealer of Crosley Products. Formed in 1976 in Winston-Salem, NC, the Crosley Corporation consists of a group of independently owned distributors who resurrected the Crosley trade name and introduced a line of refrigerators, freezers, ranges, dishwashers, air conditioners, and other appliances. They carried the heritage of such features as "Shelvador" and "Conservator" that were marketed for decades.
So if you are looking for Crosley products in Montreal, Laval, Westmount, Hampstead, Mount Royal, Outremont, Brossard , Beaconsfield, Dollard-Des Ormeaux, Senneville and Longueuil, or if you have any questions about Crosley products, please feel free to call us at (514) 482-0007 EX. 201 or simply stop by Almar Appliance at any time and we would be glad to help you.


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Q: iPhone multiple subview animation I'm writing my first app with animations and I'm getting into some troubles. I have a ViewController which creates programmatically a certain number of UIView added as subviews.
Now, when I touch one of these views I'd like to move it in one direction (up, right, down, left) but only if in this direction there isn't another view.
The matter is: how can I ask to ViewController if there's another view in one direction? I tried:
// In the view controller:
+ (id)sharedInstance {
    static id master = nil;

    @synchronized(self)
    {
        if (master == nil)
        master = [self new];
    }

    return master;
}

...
// In the UIView subclass
- (void)touchesEnded:(NSSet *)touches withEvent:(UIEvent *)event {
     [[MyViewController sharedInstance] touchesEnded:touches withEvent:event launchedBy:numero.text];
}

...
// Finally the method
- (void)touchesEnded:(NSSet *)touches withEvent:(UIEvent *)event launchedBy:(NSString *)launcher
{
    CGPoint coord = [[cells objectAtIndex:[launcher intValue]] coordinate];

    [NumberView beginAnimations:@"MoveAndStrech" context:nil];
    [NumberView setAnimationDuration:1];
    [NumberView setAnimationBeginsFromCurrentState:YES];

    if([touches count] == 1) {
        if ( ![map objectForKey:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%d+%d",coord.x+64,coord.y]] ) {
            NSNumber *isAvailable = [NSNumber numberWithBool:NO];
            [map setValue:isAvailable forKey:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%d+%d",coord.x,coord.y]];
            NSLog(@"Dati: %@ all'indice: %d",[cells objectAtIndex:[launcher intValue]-1], [launcher intValue]-1);
            [[cells objectAtIndex:[launcher intValue]] setCenter:CGPointMake((coord.x+64)/2, coord.y)]/* = CGPointMake((coord.x+64)/2, coord.y)*/;
            isAvailable = [NSNumber numberWithBool:YES];
            [map setValue:isAvailable forKey:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%d+%d",coord.x+64,coord.y]];
        }
    }
    [NumberView commitAnimations];
}

But the NSLog(@"dati ... gives (null).
How should I do this?

A: I found the solutions putting cells and map in the AppDelegate file. Then I accessed them by a delegate. Thank you.

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