A First Hand Account of the Japanese Invasion of Hong Kong (Dec 1941)

 

I am not sure of the date of this picture. It says that it is Christmas and they are all around the Christmas Tree. It might be in Hong Kong. Also, my father took many pictures before he was caught so maybe he took it.  All I know is the Japanese officer with the sash across his chest is named Hayashi.

 

 Richard Mellor 3-08-24

 

My father, Herbert Joseph Mellor was a sharp guy. His dad, Richard Joseph Mellor,  was at one point a laborer at a Dunlop factory in Manchester. He won a lot of money on the winner of the 1924 Derby, I think it was.  He became a bookie and also ran dogs at White City.  He had my dad running numbers in the streets of Salford as a kid. Hi was also an alcoholic and abusive as far as I can gather. But my dad was very good with numbers due to this experience.

 

I forgot I had these notes. When my dad died or before, I can’t remember when. I found these pages of a book he wanted to write or was writing. It’s mostly all in his handwriting and starts with his home in Pownall Street in Manchester, I think in Hulme. He ran away from home after his mother died and joined the army, he said to be with horses. He did exercise one of his commanding officer’s horses in Hong Kong from what I remember him saying. But he ended up spending the entire war as a prisoner of the Japanese, first in Hong Kong in a place called Changi Jail if my memory serves me right then in Tokyo working for Mitsubishi on the docks. He also spoke a little Russian as the British Army saw it necessary to learn the language given the influence of the Soviet Union at the time I suppose. I started to piece together the writings and copying the stuff in to word. Then I thought I lost them in the house fire and forgot about them. But I didn’t lose them and they turned up. Here is one piece of history describing his experience as the Japanese confronted them. He uses the term Japs, as most people did at the time, but to his credit, my father never taught me to hate them and always pointed out that it was the grunts, the average guy that gets dragged in to these terrible conflicts.

 

 

The Japanese invade Hong Kong

My name is Bert Mellor. I am a member of the Middlesex regiment that took part in the defence of Hong Kong starting December 7^th 1941. This is the story of the small part I played during the invasion of Japanese troops.  Facing the onslaught on the mainland were the 1^st Battalion Royal Scots, two Battalions of Canadian Royal Rifles and Winnipeg Grenadiers and two Indian regiments as far as I can remember. 

The Middlesex Regiment’s part in the battle was to defend the island of Hong Kong.  We occupied various pillboxes and at the Stanley Fort was the Royal Artillery.  As I think back on it, those forces defending the mainland had no chance whatsoever. The Japs were firmly entrenched being able to bring up troops whenever they needed them from the direction of Canton.  The Japanese troops were able to rest and replenish their numbers, for our boys it was a hopeless task and it was no surprise that the mainland forces had to retreat to the Island.

 

It became obvious to me that it was only a matter of time before the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong began.  When the invasion came, the outlook for us was very grim. I was very surprised because at this particular stage our guns were facing seaward.  “What good is that to us?” was the question I asked myself.  The Japs were already on the island.  So I suggested to Sgt. Tatham that I command a roadblock and get half the men to volunteer to come with me. The Sgt. Wasn’t too happy about this so I asked him for permission to go and see our platoon commander Lieutenant Cheeseright who was about two or three hundred yards away at Repulse Bay.

 

From our pillbox, the Lieutenant granted me permission and told me to go ahead.  I went back and got five volunteers to come and command the roadblock with me. The first order gave was to private Morally.  I told him to go to the Repulse Bay Hotel and commandeer one of the many cars that had been discarded.  The private did this and brought the car to the spot where we were going to mount the gun. I mounted the gun about 30 yards past the crossroads leading to Repulse Bay facing the car in that direction and on the right hand side.

It’s a great pity really that you don’t know more about your enemy’s methods than your own.  The communication between HQ and our own C Company was non-existent.  I don’t think I spoke to my CC (CO?) from the first day we occupied the pillbox till the day that they left it.  I am writing this down 60 years later after the event so I might not have every detail down right so I do hope you forgive me.

 

Anyone that served in Hong Kong during the war or even in the 1950’s will understand the position I was in at the particular time.  Before the war, my commanding officer, Colonel Stewart was keen on giving his troops, one company at a time, a lecture on current affairs.  He was a well-read man and had travelled widely. I always remember him talking to us about Russia and telling us that when facing the enemy we should always think clearly about the situation we were in and what the enemy was likely to do, and especially what we should do to counteract his actions.

With this story of mine I will include a very rough sketch of the position my men were in so that you can appreciate what we were faced with.  To the right of the road was the open country of Wong Nai Chung Gap that led down to Repulse Bay and to a part of the countryside that was called Middle Spur; this area the Japanese controlled. So though my mounted gun covered the approach to Hong Kong and the approach to Aberdeen, I had Lieutenant Cheeseright behind me, so I didn’t give much thought to trouble coming up from my rear.  But that is exactly what did happen so we were caught with our pants down as the expression goes.

 

Our pillbox was very well camouflaged among rocks and was down by the sea front and obviously the Japs had not even observed it and at first, I couldn’t figure out why Sgt. Tatham and the men, or even one man, hadn’t come up to see what was happening because they could have.  Surely they could have walked up the sea front and come up behind this Jap recon and maybe done some good.  But in retrospect it became obvious to me. I realized there was nothing that could stop the Jap patrol penetrating down from Wong Nai Chung Gap towards Middle Spur and dropping on the road between myself and Lieutenant Cheeseright. 

I was sitting in the front seat of the car with another bloke as dawn was approaching when I heard this guttural sound sort of like someone clearing their throat, I turned my head and there was this Japanese soldier with a rifle and bayonet and the bayonet was about 2 inches from my throat.

So that was my part in the battle of Hong Kong.  We were completely outnumbered and overwhelmed.  It was lucky for me in a way as while this was going on, a lot of civilians in cars were evacuating Hong Kong and had just reached the crossroads. At the time the Japs captured us, they caught these civilians as well.  They tied our hands behind our backs and pushed us against the wall.  I thought this was the end but it was not to be. They dragged us towards the Wong Nai Chung Gap where we saw quite a lot of the Indian troops dead by the side of the road. We ended up in a prison camp in Argyle Street because the war was still going on at this time.  From there we were off to spend four years of hell in Japan.  I never saw or spoke to my comrades in that pillbox again.  What happened to them I don’t know though I heard that they made their way along the seashore to Fort Stanley. It was December 20th, 1941, a day I’ll never forget.

In my opinion I didn’t think Hong Kong should have been defended.  I thought it should have been declared an open city and we should have just walked away from it. But that’s why I never became a general I suppose. Many of my comrades and officers of the battalion and those of the Royal Scots lost their lives for what I believed was a lost cause.  Why fight a lost cause? The most tragic really was the two Canadian battalions, the Royal Rifles of Canada and the Winnipeg Grenadiers. They only arrived a few weeks before December 7^th and they didn’t know one end of a rifle from the other; it was tragic.

Who knows why the Canadian government made that decision? I’d like to believe Winston Churchill didn’t think that was a wise thing to do but I suppose, like all politicians in these circumstances, he would have taken the advice of the Generals and others that commanded Hong Kong prior to the outbreak of war.  Those that decided we should defend Hong Kong, Churchill, the Cabinet or the Chiefs of Staff, guessed it would buy some time perhaps, or more likely they thought it was a matter of honor and all that bullshit.  They had to know full well that the Japs were too powerful and far outnumbered us. They must have known that they could pour in troops from wherever they were so they had fresh troops all the time.  One way or another, the efficiency of the ordinary Jap soldier and officer was completely underestimated.  I don’t know if it was General Grassick or whoever that assumed two battalions of Canadian infantry would have made the difference between victory or defeat against the Japanese.  Regardless, after all this we all begin 4 years as uninvited guests of the Japs.

Film Review: Ilo Ilo, Not Just an Asian Movie

See it on IMDB

By Richard Mellor

Afscme Local 444, retired

Ilo Ilo, the story of a Filipina maid hired to care for the spoiled child of a Singaporian family may be difficult to get through in the first moments as the child’s behavior is so unpleasant, but this powerful story about a crisis-ridden family during the 1998 Asian financial crash comes though with flying colors.

Ilo Ilo is the first full-length feature for Singaporian director Anthony Chen and the interview with Chen and comments from the cast in the extras on the DVD is worthwhile.  Ilo Ilo is not a “localized” movie as one cast member pointed out. It is not an “Asian” film or a “Singaporian” one; it is about family life and the reality of it, the struggles, the tension, the goings on behind closed doors.

Ilo Ilo is about human relations, the day-to-day existence under pressure that is common to humanity. It is about class, struggles at work and the sacrifices workers in poor countries and communities make to feed their families and their own children by looking after the children of others. One cannot help being reminded of the brutal conditions Filipino and other maids have endured working for the wealthy in Saudi Arabia and other countries although there is no such comparison here.

It is somewhat autobiographical as Chen himself was raised by a maid from the age of 8 to 12 and he points out that by far, these experiences for the children of working parents are more often than not positive ones.

The cast, from the maid played by a well known Filipina actor to the boy and the parents, are real people living their lives as so many families do. The scene with the maid washing the young boy in the shower and the interplay between them, I am not sure they would have been the same if Ilo Ilo was an American made movie. We are known to blurr butt cracks here in the US, even of 10 year olds.

This is a wonderful, powerful film that will not be contained by borders, nationality, language or other social obstructions. It is however in Mandarin and Tagalog so the viewer is faced with subtitles which will unfortunately, along with limited circulation as there’s not enough explosions and violence in it, mean millions of Americans will never see this film.

If we want to “Make America Great Again” it might help if Americans watched more movies like Ilo Ilo.

Anti-abortion legislation is hurting providers and women who need their services

By Richard Mellor
Afscme Local 444, retired

The war against a woman’s right to choose whether or not to terminate a pregnancy has many aspects to it.  Many of us have been to abortion clinics to show support for women using these facilities and who face a jeering mob of so-called pro-lifers waving the most gruesome posters with dead fetuses on them.

Medical doctors performing abortions have been threatened and in some cases lost their lives to violent pro-life activists more often than not directed by god to do his work. Efforts to repeal Roe V. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision legalizing abortion in all 50 states have not been successful either but politicians, mostly men of course, are making it harder and harder for abortion clinics to survive.  In the past two years, Republican controlled states have passed more than 200 restrictions on the procedure, as many as in the last ten years. Close to half of the 73 clinics closed in the recent period are due to legislative restrictions., according to Bloomberg BusinessWeek.

While Roe V. Wade has survived the attacks, this legislative assault makes it impossible for abortion clinics to help women needing their services. Similar laws were passed to bar Chinese immigration in to the US in the early 20^th century, not simply blatant exclusionary laws but also laws aimed at Chinese businesses like laundries, laws that called for certain structural requirements that were difficult if not impossible for these small concerns to comply with.

Laws have been passed that mandate clinics widen hallways, install “high-tech” surgical scrub sinks and are an example of this offensive.  Another strategy is to pass legislation as Texas has that requires doctors who perform abortions have admitting privileges at local hospitals. Given that the decision to have an abortion is primarily an economic one which means abortion rates are higher among minorities and the poor, what the new law in Texas means in real terms is that in some communities doctors are refused admitting rights which means, “To get an abortion, the mostly poor women ……..will now have to drive 150 miles to Corpus Christi or to the local flea market , where illegal do it yourself drugs start at $15 a pill” adds BW.

A section of the Texas law also mandates certain structural changes like janitor closets and backup generators.  The politicians have never been so caring about the conditions of workers as they are when it comes to abortion clinics it seems. These restrictions skyrocketed after Congress passed a law in 1992 that allowed states to implement these changes as long as they didn’t present an “undue burden” to the women needing the clinic’s services.  Naturally, millions is being spent in the courts determining what “undue burden” is.

I think it is important to stress that while we must defend a women’s right to choose, we must not only fight for her right to have an abortion but also the right to have a child or a family without being denied a productive life outside the home or a career. Increasing wages and bringing women’s pay up to that of men is an important step as is free on site childcare in the workplace.  We must demand increased maternity leave, up to two years like some European countries have, for either parent, and without a loss in pay.  Pregnancy is not a disease and the rearing of a child should not be simply a woman's responsibility.

The war against a women’s right to choose and have complete control over her reproductive decisions is having some success and we must be as vigilant in defending it. The rich will always have access to some form of dealing with an unwanted pregnancy as we saw in Mike Leigh’s excellent movie, Vera Drake, and we must demand that abortion be legal, free and provided on demand by a national health system.

And in the last analysis, the decision is a woman’s and hers alone.

Women hold up half the sky and a whole lot more.

I don't normally try to write like this but there's an exception to every rule.

A short story in memory of a mother and all the women who raise us.

by Richard Mellor

Jane looked at her mother lying there motionless. She knew death would come to her soon but it would be a relief she thought. She looked calm, her soft grey hair laid against the pillow. Her eyes were closed and her skin, as always, tanned and wrinkled. She had to laugh as her mother’s description of her nose came to mind, “I’ve got a Roman nose” she would tell her children, “Roamin’ all over my face.”

Rose had had a hard time of it since her stroke three years ago. She couldn’t walk without assistance and being with Jane’s dad was even more stress as impatient as he was. She was a pretty fit 85 year-old prior to the stroke. She was a champion dart thrower and played on a ladies team. She also liked to dance, proud of her great legs, and walked everywhere; down to the town for some groceries or just for a coffee with her daughter. But the stroke put a stop to all that along with the trip she had planned to visit her son in America. Jane’s dad was jealous of his wife’s relationship with her children; it might undermine his role. “You think the sun shines out of his arse”, her husband would say to her about her relationship with her son, Dick.

Dick left the house the first chance he could, but his sister was younger; and anyway, it’s different for a girl. She was determined not to suffer the same fate as her mother, “I don’t know how you did it, mum” she said quietly, looking in to her mother’s eyes as if she might respond with a shrug and a rolling of the eyeballs like she sometimes did. “No, I wasn’t going to end up like that” she continued, this time half talking to herself, “I was determined not to make your mistakes; at a man’s beck and call and having to deal with his drinking and the moods and aggressive behavior that often accompanied it.” She was convinced that it was this stress that led to the stroke. She was not going to fall into the same trap. She didn’t blame her mother; after all, things were very different when she got married right after the Second World War. But she kept her distance even though she lived nearby.

Her dad used to say she was just bossy. She had raised three boys of her own so she certainly knew how to take charge, when to be soft and when to be firm. She would rather meet her mother downtown than up at her parents house. Her father was always critical of her like he was of his wife and her brother, and he tried to undermine her all the time in front of her husband. He was the boss, the one with the brains---the one in charge. Outside of the house he was a charmer, especially with the ladies, but in the home he was king and his rule was not to be challenged, that’s why he always undermined the children and his wife in the company of others.

Jane and her brother had talked about it. Why did mum tolerate it? Why didn’t she just leave? But they both learned that it was impossible. Her mother was from a different era. She had known no other man and also had a strong sense of loyalty---maybe she did love him in her own way, but she and her brother doubted it sometimes. She started to chuckle to herself as a completely different thought came in to her mind. Rose thought the young women today were too loose. “Remember what you told me about that nice Grenadier Guard, mum?” Jane said, squeezing her hand. Her mother had told her about being walked home from a dance at the Hammersmith Palais one night by a Grenadier Guard when she was 27: “Walked me ‘ome and shook my ‘and at the door, he did; men were gentlemen in those days.”

Her thoughts returned to the family life. Her mother did everything in the home. She cooked, clothed her children, she worked outside the home at times for extra income. She painted walls, laid carpets, repaired electrical fixtures and created and tended to a beautiful garden. But after almost 60 years of marriage she had been beaten down. Her defense when her husband went in to one of his aggressive tirades was to tell him he was right. “You’re right, Bill” she used to say angering him further.

Not long before she had the stroke, Jane’s mother told her how she felt about things. Normally she said very little or even defended her husband, as that was the right thing to do. She came from that generation that never shared with the outside world what went on in the family. After all, wasn’t the family supposed to be the font of love and pure values? And surely it was her fault he is like he is. If she had only been smarter, better looking. If only she’d kept her mouth shut in the beginning maybe things would have been different. Now she kept her mouth shut and that bothered him. “

"If he comes in and I can see he has had too much booze, I try not to speak.”, she told Jane one morning after he had returned home from the pub late the night before. “But that is wrong, it makes him madder, “you haven’t fucking spoken to me since I’ve been in.” he says. "I think if I don’t speak it’s peace but if I speak I have to be careful what I say ‘cause he’s spoiling for an argument so that’s how it is. Nobody would believe me so I don’t tell anyone.” She thought her mother had such strength to survive that all these years.

“I left school when I was fourteen. Left on the Friday and went to work in the factory on Monday in my school uniform.” she used to say. Her mum told her how she had her first period at work and how it scared her to death. She never expected to bleed down there. Jane’s grandmother was a pretty strict Catholic, the daughter of Irish immigrants, and she never discussed such things.

Jane’s brother had told her how he blamed their mother for years because when he was small she never stopped the beatings. To a young boy she was the other adult in the home and should have done something. But they both knew now that she couldn’t. Her mother seemed so fragile and small now. But when she and Dick were young, she seemed much larger. She was 5 feet ten inches tall compared to their father’s five seven. And she had big hands that had seen many years hard work. She had survived the blitz sleeping in the underground below London’s streets before being sent to a munitions factory attaching machine guns to spitfire wings. She had worked in factories and as a domestic. The eight years as an army wife had been among the best, living in Burma where her brother was born and Nigeria where she was born, they even had home help there.

But after the war Jane’s father managed a pub, not the best thing for an alcoholic, and it was a life of misery for her mum. When her dad went blind it was her mother, in her seventies and eighties that took care of him. She never really retired, Jane thought.

For years they excused her father’s behavior because he had spent almost four years as a prisoner of war in Japan, almost the entire length of World war 11.  He lost his mother at an early age and his father was, as he often said, “A rotten bastard.” “But you deserved better, mum, there’s no excuse for the way he treated you, no excuse.” she whispered, leaning over to kiss her mother’s forehead.

As she watched her mother, unaware that she was silently slipping away, she thought of how common it is that those who have done so much fail to be recognized, even by those that benefited from their actions. Jane had had three exhausting years dealing with the authorities after her mother had the stroke and both parents were put in the home. It was a relief for her that it was over, but she was happy that she had the opportunity to care for her as her mother had cared for her.

Jane and her brother had made up for lost time, had told their mother how important she was in their lives. She completely understood when her brother told her about the toilet incident and how it made him feel. At the insistence of her father, Rose was kept in the house right after the stroke rather than being put in a home where she could have received better care. But being legally blind, her father would have to go with her and he resisted that. While Dick was over on one of his visits, his mother needed to get up and go to the bathroom. She was sleeping in a bed downstairs so she could go to the outside toilet if she needed to go. It was not a good set up but what her father wanted.

Dick helped her up but she didn’t make it in time and spoiled herself. She was so embarrassed. On top of all this she had to listen her husbands tutting and muttering under his breath at yet another failure, “You don’t try hard enough, Rose, you have to fight harder.”, he said, lifting himself out of his armchair to assist her.

“Leave her alone and sit down.” Dick said angrily. His father could see he meant it and retreated. Dick walked his mother out to the toilet and pulled down her clothes in order to clean her up. He could see she was so embarrassed and he wanted to cheer her up as best he could.

“Damn mum, you’ve got no hair left down here. Where’d it all go?”

“I’m bloody bald” she replied, “I’m losing it all.”

As he began wiping her, Dick remembered an old rule his mother told him when he used to babysit for pocket money as a teenager or watch his younger sister.

“I’m doing it right aren’t I mum”? “With girls wipe away from the kickle away from the kickle”

The Kickle was the name Rose gave to the genitals. Dick and Jane always wondered where it came from and Dick later assumed it was from the Yiddish pastry of the same name as Rose worked for a while for a Jewish firm in the rag trade before the war though why she would choose that name was beyond him. Rose chuckled out loud.

“It’s terrible, you having to wipe my arse; it’s so embarrassing” “You know mum” Dick replied, “I am so lucky to have the opportunity to do this for you. How many years did you clean me up? How many times did you clean me up, mum? “It’s an honor to wipe your bum, an honor and a privilege” he assured her, seeing how embarrassed she was.


The last three years had been difficult for Jane, especially as her brother lived six thousand miles away; but she too felt a certain honor that she took care of her mother during that time, a certain privilege in it and understood why her brother felt the way he did.

“Thanks for taking care of us, mum”, she said, kissing her hand. “Thanks for getting us off to school, for dealing with prejudiced teachers and schoolyard bullies. Thanks for showing us how important it was to be strong but compassionate and forgiving.”

Jane felt her mother would finally have some peace now. Despite feeling the way she did about her dad, she didn’t hate him. Her brother had always accused her of being too easy on her dad and a bit too hard on her mum. “Maybe I was a bit hard on you mum, perhaps it’s because I’m a woman too,” she said.

After her mother died, Jane realized that her mother’s silence and way of dealing with her husband’s abuse, was in no way a weakness. She came to understand it was a strength that enabled her to survive in a hostile environment; to raise two children as best she could no matter what the odds. She understood that her mother was also up against much more powerful forces, social forces that placed men and women in certain roles and that gave one certain powers over the other. After all, why is there a Superman but only a Supergirl?  It's pretty obvious inner strength and courage has nothing to do with how much weight you can lift; her mother and millions like her were proof of it.

But she understood that her father was not entirely to blame either and that although we are individuals we are not independent of the society in which we live and are to a great extent created by it. In that sense, we are all victims.

Womens rights Include unconditional abortion rights.

The struggle against sexism and for the full rights of women is central to the struggle of all socialists. No more than the struggle against racism can be left up to the individual socialist the struggle against sexism and for women's full rights cannot be the decision of that of the individual socialist. This does not mean we do not speak to or work with somebody who is not convinced of this as soon as we meet them but what it does mean is that it cannot be left of the table. We have to fight for it to be part of the movement.

The struggle for women's rights has to take place concretely, not in the abstract. It is easy, especially for men to talk about this abstractly.

For my sins i was once a full time organizer for a revolutionary socialist group in Dublin, Ireland. I was debating in the HQ with a young worker who did not agree with a women's right to control her own body. By a coincidence the phone rang just then and it was a young comrade looking for an address in England where she could stay when she went to have an abortion there.

I asked her to hold on a second. Then I put my hand over the phone and without telling the young women Comrade's name I asked the young man would he like to suggest what I say to this young women. Maybe he would like to speak to her and tell her she should not have her child that he was against abortion. He looked at me and then got up and without speaking left the building. When it was posed concretely, in a real life situation, when it was the young women who had to make the decision which could change her life for ever, not when it was a young man who would never have to make that decision for himself it was an entirely different situation.

In Dublin at that time when we were building the organization we would initially get quite a few young male Comrades who opposed the right to abortion. We always debated and opposed this position. I remember once we had a meeting on the issue. There were about 40 people present. I did the introduction. Then a few young men rose to state their opposition. Then a young women rose. She stood straight and strong but obviously tense. "I have had an abortion" she said.and she went on to say why and to defy anybody the right to deny her the right to have had this procedure. I was and am still so proud of that young women's courage. I am forever in her debt. The meeting changed entirely after that . We were then discussing concretely, no longer in the abstract.

I believe that we have to be and have to fight unconditionally for the right of women to control their own bodies and this means the right to decide on if they should have an abortion or not. This has to be the decision of the women.

One of the Republican candidates here opposes abortion because he says he saw a bloody fetus when he was a young doctor. He tries to make his case by painting bloody images. Of course he never raises the many bloody and damaged women he must have seen who were damaged by unhygienic and unqualified abortion practitioners.

He and his fellow anti abortion elements have another tactic. They are trying to terrorize women out of having abortions by trying to make them look at the fetus in their body before they have the procedure. They are also trying to force women to have an invasive vaginal probe and then wait and come back the next day before they can make a decision. There is one other bill being pushed that even if an x-ray shows that the fetus is dead or has a fatal complication the women has to carry the fetus to the end of its term. These are incredible and the most cruel measures and anti women measures. They will inevitably be seen more if the right of women to control their own body is compromised and weakened. Fortunately there is a great movement here now against this war against women and i do not think it will be defeated.

One more point. I believe in the unconditional right to choose. This means the women must have the unconditional right to choose what happens in her body. This means women must have accessibility to free health care and abortion facilities at any time. I believe this must be the decision of women not society.

I also feel that women must have full unconditional right to have a child if she wishes. This means a well paid secure job, maternity care at work and at home, affordable and good housing, that is all that is needed to bring up a child and if necessary on her own, must be available to all women. This is necessary for real choice, that is to have or not have a child.

This is a big battle. Capitalism cannot deliver women their rights. Only a democratic socialist world can do so.

Sean.

Tidal wave of opposition forces Komen to reverse its decision to cut Planned Parenthood funding

The importance of the Susan G Komen foundation reversing its decision not to renew funding for numerous Planned Parenthood projects cannot be understated.

"We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women's lives,"  We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants, while maintaining the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet the needs of their communities." a statement from the foundation announced today.

Planned Parenthood said that the foundation had "succumbed to political pressure" after an investigation in to the family planning group was initiated by a right wing Republican who it described as "one of the most militant anti-choice members of Congress." The movement denying the right of a woman to control her reproductive rights is full of old men.

According to reports in the 1%'s media, 22 Senate Democrats signed a letter calling on Komen to reconsider its decision and the billionaire mayor  NYC Michael Bloomberg pledged $250,000 to compensate Planned Parenthood for the loss.

What we need to be very clear about is that there has been a tidal wave of opposition to this attack on women's rights which are also being eroded by Obama and his administration.  Obama said yesterday his policies are guided by his Christian faith and no doubt that will guide his decisions on the right to choose also.

When I refer to this as a tidal wave, I am not talking about the 22 Democrats voicing their opposition or Bloomberg's generosity.  It must be made clear by all workers, activists and fighters for women's rights that this reversal is due to the mood in US society against the 1%, the unelected gang that govern it. Some 250,000 members of the largest corporate donor to Planned Parenthood CREDO, signed a petition calling on the Komen Foundation to reverse its decision.  Many of these will be women of stature and some wealth.  Some may well be Republicans but these women too are victims of the attempts to deny women the right to choose and have control over their reproductive functions.

We can often be overwhelmed by the propaganda that spews every minute of every day from the 1%'s media.  We can underestimate the mood of anger and hatred that exists in US society against a system that is increasingly enriching the few as it turns millions more in to paupers. The candidate of one of the 1%'s political parties, Romey boasts about firing workers and how secure poor people are and safe rich people are as he attempts to win the support of what he terms the "middle class" and separate workers from the poorest amongst us.

The reversal of the Komen decision, the Democratic Senators opposing it and Bloomberg 's generosity reflects the anti-capitalist mood in society and the 1%'s fear that it will continue to grow and in particular begin to take organizational form; this is what the Democrats, that are the other Wall Street Party, are worried about. The Komen Foundation in its announcement states that, "We will continue to fund existing grants". This leaves it open that the foundation will not fund grants in the future and the pressure that brought this reversal about must be continued and strengthened to ensure that Planned Parenthood is not denied funding at a later date and if the mood subsides.

This decision is a reflection of the strength of the working class in this country, the refusal of women to be driven back 100 years and this cannot be understated.  It shows that the potential for the building of a national united mass movement against the 1% and through this an independent political party rooted in this movement is there.  The ideological allies of the 1% at the helm of the organized Labor movement are shameful in their efforts to undermine these developments and direct the movement politically in to support for Obama and the Democrats in this election cycle.

The Occupy Movement is also responsible for influencing this decision and should take the opportunity to build on it by taking up a struggle against the 1% not just through direct action in the streets but also in the political arena where the ideology behind the 1%'s actions can be challenged.

Women still exploited as cheap labor.

The most recent report on the relationship of earnings between men and women makes grim reading. In spite of the great black revolt which gave such impetus to the struggle of women for equality, in spite of the womens revolt which combined with the black revolt and weakened sexism and gender exploitation further, in spite of the tens of millions of women who have entered the paid workforce and through this gained increased power, in spite of the development of the pill and other family planning advances, in spite of all these things the most recent report shows that women still make only 75% of the earnings of men. The root of this is cheap labor by and for the bosses. Linked to this is the bosses' divide and rule strategy. Working class unity in struggle for equal income for all for equal work is what is needed and what would benefit all workers. This is what this blog stands for.

Sean.

US Maternity Leave Worst Among Developed Nations: Pregnancy is an Illness as Far as US Capitalism is Concerned

In case anyone missed it an anonymous contributor commented on the previous blog on the different amounts of maternity leave that exist in various countries and I would like to thank the contributor for sharing the information.  The con game that is nationalism is clear when you look at the disparity between the US and other industrial democracies.  What a disgrace that the US doesn't provide paid maternity leave at all.  And the right wingers and good Union workers will talk of how great everything is here and how bad it is everywhere else. How bad Canada's heath care is for example, getting their information from the big business press or right wing pimps of the corporations like Michael savage, Rush Limbaugh or Bill O'Reilly.

There are great things about the US just like there are about every other country, our rich and militant Labor history comes to mind, but for workers, it is among the worst in the developed world.  We work longer than our brothers and sisters in those countries, we have worse national health care, we have fewer benefits and job security, fewer vacations and we can be fired easier.  Not to mention that we have to make a law so that can women can breastfeed their children without prosecution. Here are comparisons on maternity leave I copied from the comment in the previous post in case readers missed them:

France:22 weeks paid 296 unpaid 318
Germany: 47 weeks paid 123 unpaid 170
Sweden: 47 weeks paid 116 unpaid163
Norway: 44 weeks paid 106 unpaid 150
Spain: 18 weeks paid 294 unpaid312
Greece: 34 weeks paid 26 unpaid 60
Finland 32 weeks paid 16 unpaid 48
UK 13 weeks paid 67 unpaid 80
Canada28 weeks paid 25 weeks unpaid 53
US: 0 paid 24 unpaid  24

However, I checked around and found these statistics which are still revealing but different and the anonymous comment didn't give a source. Either way it's bad.

Parenting under capitalism

5 months ago I became a parent. It is an incredible change, one that everyone has something to say about. Either how your life is now over or how you need to say goodbye to vacations for the next few years. Some offer words of encouragement and joy, but more typically people ask how you are handling some of the less than fun joys of parenting. My partner and I for the most part have learned to ignore the advice we don't agree with, correct those who seem to believe our lives have now taken a turn for the worse and just enjoy our son.

But it is hard to ignore the overwhelming belief that parenting in this country has little reward and wonder why. We have learned quickly how little support there is for new parents unless you are willing to pay for it. All the new mother or new parent classes or groups that could provide support cost hundreds of dollars. Maternity leave for the most part is unpaid and while the family medical leave act (FMLA) gives you the right to take maternity leave, this is only is you are a full time employee. Most hourly employees are not even covered by FMLA and if they are, they are unfamiliar with the law or are unable to afford to take unpaid maternity leave. Hence the harsh reality of parenting in this country- you continue to have to work hard to make ends meat while also carrying for an infant whose is always in need of something. If you are a single parent, then demand is even greater as there is no one else to take turns doing the middle of the night feedings or diaper changes. It is no wonder why most people are unable to enjoy their time with a young child and simply see it as another job with no pay. How sad that such a joyous event can be turned into such a burden simply because under capitalism, we cannot accommodate a system that allows new parents to spend time as a family adjusting to the new demands of having a small infant without the added difficulty of working everyday. That we lack the social structure to give new parents a break, creating a 24-hour nonstop workday for many parents in this country.