Stop the Use of Child Soldiers

What is more abominable than recruiting kids to bear arms and kill? In so many countries, children have been recruited and used by armed forces, government-backed militias, and a complex range of armed groups with varying levels of comad structure and military, political or criminal objectives. Help Stop the Use of Child Soldiers!!!

http://www.culturesofresistance.org/groups-we-support-coalition-to-stop-the-use-of-child-soldiers

The Daily Mail Tube Map

Page 15 of today's Daily Mail carries am op-ed taking Hugo Boss to task over their historic link to the Nazis,  this is the same newspaper who ran the following headlines in the 1930's.

'Hurrah for the Blackshirts'

'Give the Blackshirts a helping hand'

http://politicalscrapbook.net

Meanwhile, for legal reasoms he can only be named as journalist 'F', but today this young member of the Daily Mail's editorial staff is in hiding as threats and invective continue to spew from Paul Dacre's office after their top secret editorial formula was leaked to the press.

http://www.thepoke.co.uk/2010/07/15/daily-mails-secret-editorial-formula-revealed/

Military Drones out of Wales: End Drone terror killing

 

                                Click on above image to enlarge

The Welsh Government uses millons of pounds of our taxes to facilitate the testing of drones at Parc Aberporth up the road from me. The Israeli military are a  frequent presence there, and to say that I am uncomfortable with this would be an understatement.
The test work, carried out over the last  2 years by Qinetiq for the Ministry of Defence, was set to be completed in April, and has continued this summer.There are reports that theWatchkeeper UAV at the site is to be extended for another 2 years.
This is why I will be attending The Arms Fair Solidarity Event http://www.stopthearmsfair.org.uk at Aberporth, West Wales outside Parc Aberporth, supporting The Drones Campaign Network Cymru Event http://www.facebook.com/dronecampaignnetworkcymru
Military Drones Out of Wales:End Drone Terror Killing, coinciding with a vigil at the ExCel Arms Trade Fair http://www.dsei.co.uk/ in London, the World's largest Arm's Fair which is to showcase ' drones' and other remotely controlled weapons.
There will be a peaceful protest and demonstration on Monday the September at 12.00 midday at Parc Aberporth, Near Cardigan, West Wales.
Parc Aberporth is the main military training drone testing, training and evaluating Centre in Wales, despite many local objections. Local Amnesty International Group first raised concerns 4 years ago about the testing of drones, used by Israel against innocent Palestinian civilians in Gaza, at Aberporth. Use of military drones against civilians is a human rights abuse.
I see nothing innocent in the use of drones, although the drones flown from Parc Aberporth do not carry missiles they are used by the British Army for surveillance and 'Target Acquisition'.
Similar technologies around the world, in Gaza, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Somalia etc are armed and frequently kill ordinary people going about their every day lives. Over 2,500 people have been killed in Pakistan alone. Examples of psychological trauma caused by Drones exist in Gaza, where people have reported that Drones disrupt their daily activities, making them feel powerless and unsafe http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/gaza-strip/10481-the-other-israeli-psychological-war-on-gaza.html. So if you can come along, please come and join us. as we say no to Drones.


Meanwhile I would like to draw your attention to the following petition on behalf of  War On Want:

Tell the British Government to Ban Killer Drones

We're often told it's brutal regimes that trade in terror, when in fact democratic governments - including ours - have begun using a new weapon of choice:drones

Drones are unmanned aircraft, remotely controlled by 'pilots' from the ground at great distance from war zones. Far from being 'precision weapons' which kill intended targets with a high level of accuracy, recent reports indicate that at least 2,505 people have been killed by Drones in Pakistan alone.

Drones are indiscriminate weapons of war responsible for thousands of civilian deaths. In Palestine, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen, millions live under the constant threat of drone attacks.

Read More here
and please sign the petition
http://www.change.org/bankillerdrones

Seamus Heaney (13/4/39 - 30/8/13) - From the Republic of Conscience

Following yesterdays's post on the sad news of poet Seamus Heaney's death here is the text of his poem' From the Republic of Conscience ' which was commissioned by Amnesty International and published on Human Rights Day, 1985. Inspired by Prisoners of Conscience, men and women who had suffered torture, imprisonment and silence. I thank Seamus Heaney today for all the solidarity he gave to the struggles within the republic of conscience.

I

When I landed in the republic of conscience
it was so noiseless when the engines stopped
I could hear a curlew high above the runway.

At immigration, the clerk was an old man
who produced a wallet from his homespun coat
and showed me a photograph of my grandfather.

The woman in customs asked me to declare
the words of our traditional cures and charms
to heal dumbness and avert the evil eye.

No porters. No interpreter. No taxi.
You carried your own burden and very soon
your symptoms of creeping privilege disappeared.

II

Fog is a dreaded omen there but lightning
spells universal good and parents hang
swaddled infants in trees during thunderstorms.

Salt is their precious mineral. And seashells
are held to the ear during births and funerals
The base of all inks and pigments is seawater.

Their sacred symbol is a stylised boat.
The sail is an ear, the mast a sloping pen,
the hull a mouth-shape, the keel an open eye.

At their inauguration, public leaders
must swear to uphold unwritten law and weep
to atone for their presumption to hold office -

and to affirm their faith that all life sprang
from salt in tears which the sky-god wept
after he dreamt his solitude was endless.

III

I came back from the frugal republic
with my two arms the one length, the customs woman
having insisted my allowance was myself.

The old man rose and gazed into my face
and said that was official recognition
that I was now a dual citizen.

He therefore desired me when I got home
to consider myself a representative
and to speak on their behalf in my own tongue.

Their embassies, he said, were everywhere
but operated independently
and no ambassador would ever be relieved.

Reprinted from
The Haw Lantern , 1987

http://www.amnesty.org/

Seamus Heaney (13/4/39 -30/8/13 ) R.I.P - Postscript

Sad to hear that poet and nobel laureate  has died in hospital in Dublin, yesterday morning, after a short illness, aged 74, following a stroke that he had in 2006.
From his first major collection 'Death of a Naturalist (1966)  he was to become a colussus in the poetry world.Born on a farm near Toomebridge, in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, he was a magnificent communicator of global significance. His early works examined the implication of having been born into a society deeply divided along religious and political lines. This gave him a deep preoccupation with the question of poetry's responsibility and pregoratives in the world, and is now considered to be one of the most important poets of the modern age. His works were often meditations on the intersection of personal choice and loss with the larger forces of history and politics.Virtuosity  and truth, the one useless without the other, are also hallmarks of his poetry. He also saw the role of the artist to give voice to those who are oppressed and the ignored,believing that art was driven by empathy, thus being a great supporter of Amnesty International and the Palestinian people, being the Patron of the Palestine Literature Festival.
 A huge loss to the cultural hub of Ireland and the world. His words inspiring hope in a seemingly hopeless world.
He is survived by his wife Marie and three children.
The following poem , describes a drive along the Clare coast. It is a meditation on the fate of being a poet. He does not park but drives on through the glittering scene, and sees the dazzle of light on the sea, on the other side of the road, the lake. Magnificent stuff! So sad that he has gone, but his words will never fade.

                                                Postscript

And some time makes the time, to drive out west
Into County Clare, along the Flaggy Shore,
In September or October, when the wind
And the Light are working off each other
So that the ocean on one side is wild
With foam and glitter, and inland among stones
The surface of a slate-grey lake is lit
By the earthed lightning of a flock of swans,
Their feathers roughed and ruffling, white on white,
Their fully grown headstrong-looking heads
Tucked or cresting or busy underwater.
Unless to think you'll park and capture it
More thouroughly. You are neither here nor there,
A hurry through which known and strange things pass
As big soft buffetings come at the car sideways
And catch the heart of guard and blow it open.

Reprinted from:
The Spirit Level (1994)

The Martin Luther King that Obama did not mention as he plans to bomb Syria

Watch the above video to see what Martin Luther King might have said to Obama about attacking Syria.
This is the Martin Luther King that Barak Obama, who is waging several wars - In Iraq, Afghanistan, etc, etc, wants you to forget

Say no to Western Intervention in Syria

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/54193

Statement by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmarment on Syria

http://cnduk.org/cnd-media/item/1731-dont-attacksyria

Dr Martin Luther King Jr (15/1/29 -4/4/68) - I Have a Dream

Today marks the  anniversary of Dr  Martin Luther King Jr's famous  'I Have a Dream Speech, still resonating deep into the American psyche. The clergyman was a prominent leader of the civil rights movement, whose great progress has made him an icon for human rights causes across the globe.When President Kennedy brought the Civil Rights Bill before Congress in 1963, King made a speech on television on 11 June, in which he said:-

 ' The Negro baby born in America today regardless of the section of the nation in which he is born, has about one-half as much chance of completing high school as a white baby born in the same place on the same day; one third as much chance completing college; one third as much chance of becoming a professional man; twice as much chance of becoming unemployed; about one-seventh as much chance of earning $10,000 a year, a life expectancy which is even shorter; and the progress of earning only half as much.'

In an attempt to persuade Congress to pass Kennedy's proposed legislation, King and other civil rights leaders organised the famous March on Washington for jobs and freedom. The march 50 years ago was a huge success with estimates of the crowd varying between 250,000 to 400,000. King was the final speaker and outlined his vision of American racial harmony in a historic display of oratory, in the style of a fervent Baptist preacher.
Just months before he was assassinated, Dr King, was to take these ideas further, whilst organising support for the "Poor Peoples Campaigns," aimed at supplementing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with a full measure of economic and human rights for America's poor, arguing that African-Americans and poor whites were natural allies and if they worked together they could help change society.
But 50 years laters, despite some victory's and gains, the march for equality is unfinished, and for some the dream is unrealised, and  as tens of thousands of people marched to Dr King's memorial last Saturday, some pledged that his dream included equality for gays, latinos, the poor and the disabled, and we must remember our modern failures and wrongs, taking for instance, the way an all-white jury in Florida cleared George Zimmerman of murdering the black teenager Tayvon Martin, the persistently high unemployment among America's  black population, twice that of white Americans.
We cannot let go of Dr King's dream, because, surely it is everybody's dream, we must continuously try to change the world, remember those in the U.S.A fighting for jobs and freedom, a land  still lanquishing to find itself, while perpetrating injustice, discrimination and inequality.A country that imprisons more  of their citizens than any other country in the world. African Americans in particular, though they are 12% of the population, make up 38% of the state prison population, despite their crimes being no different from their white and hispanic counterparts.
Despite much positive change, the struggle continues, and we must continue pushing and shoving and  let freedom ring.

' Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today,my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold those truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons 
 of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Missisipi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governeor having his lips dripping with the words of 'interposition' and 'nulification' - one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

i have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain, shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day - this will be the day when all of God's children, will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my father died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Missisippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

Martin Luther King Jr - I Have A Dream Speech
August 28, 1963
Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C

Ecce Homo

                                          William Blake - Ancient of Days

Once upon a time,
when man was born,
I imagine our first ancestors,
facing endless nights in darkness,
hours of waiting, for a light to reveal,
strangers footprints, the sound of laughter,
sailing through the air,
vistas of companionship.

Stored knowledge on a cave wall,
as voices learnt to sing,
discovered the rules of love,
sought progress, and the elements,
needed for survival,
water, air, earth and fire,
infinity's keys opening locks,
smoke signals rising across continents,
in innocent time, before the kiss
                                 of ideology,
and the need for cant and fear,
in past seasons, as wind lifted hope,
perhaps these little things,
are all we ever needed,
to help us understand.

Free Chelsea Manning

Throughout the suffering Manning has had to endure so far, from inhuman solitary confinement to a widely publicised military  court martial,the mainstream media has somehow neglected to cover this defendents greatest inner struggle. That she had been forced to live as a he throughout it all.
One day after being sentenced to 25 years in prison , the Army Private the world knows as Bradley Manning issued a statement about who she really is. " As I transition into this next phase of my life, I want everyone to know the real me. I am Chelsea Manning, I am a female. Given the way that I feel, and have felt since childhood, I want to begin hormone therapy treatment as soon as possible. I hope you will support me in this transition. I also reqeust that, starting today, you refer to me by my new name and the use of the feminine pronoun (except in official mail to the confinement facility.'
The US army is refusing to give Chelsea Manning  the hormone therapy she has requested. I strongly object to this situation and believe Chelsea deserves the treatment she wants. Chelsea Manning should have her crushing 35 year sentence commuted by President Obama to the three and a quarter years she's already spent behind bars awaiting trial and sentence.
Manning is likely to serve her time at Fort Leavenworth, which does not offer hormone therapy or sex-reassignent surgery to prisoners, I just hope that the authorities see sense and do the right thing.
Mannings's leak of military data was driven, she says, by 'love for our country and a sense of duty for others'. and there was an undeniable interest in the public knowing more about the conduct of the US military in Iraq and in places like Afghanistan. With the Apache helicopter killings for instance, Reuters haas sought release of the cockpit video via Freedom of Information legislation, a route that proved totally unsuccessful.
Sometimes leaks are the only way.
Though Manning will be eligible for parole after serving a third of her sentence, many are finding the sentence completely disproportionate  when compared to the sentences given to other soldiers convicted of more serious crimes such as murder.
So in the meantime we must raise our voices, shouting free Chelsea Manning.

http://www.freebradleymanning.net/

http://www.bradleymanning.org/

Petition one can sign here

http://action.firedoglake.com/page/s/manning-treatment

Bradley Manning's Post Sentence Statement

' It is dangerous to be right in matters in  which the established autorities are wrong'
- Voltaire

After 3 years, 12 weeks and 4 days , Bradley has escaped the death penalty, it is still too long for someone who in my opinion has done no wrong, jailed for being a conscientious human, for speaking the truth, jailed because his voice cared, and because being  brave  refused to succumb to silence.

 Bradley Manning's  has been sentenced  to 35 years in military prison, Manning's civilian defense attorney read a statement from Manning, which will be included in a filing requesting a pardon from President Obama.

 In this deeply moving testimony Coombs also describes what Manning was like after the sentence was announced. He recounted how he and his other defense attorneys had been crying. Manning looked at him and said, " It's okay, it's alright. I know you did your best. I'm going to be okay. I'm going to get through this."

Mannings's remarks to Coombs once again give an indication of the resolve and strong character that Manning  has as a  a human being.

Please sign this petition and stand together with Bradley Manning.
We owe him our thanks and gratitude for all the service he has done for humanity.
I will continue to support any further transition, until freedom is gained.

/http://www.standwithbrad.org/

Bradley Manning's statement appears below:

'The decisions that I made in 2010 were made out of the concern for my country, and the world that we live in. Since the tragic events of 9/11, our country has been at war. We have been at war with an enemy that chooses not to meet us on a trasitional battlefield. Due to this fact, we've  had to alter our methods of combatting the risk posed to us and our way of life.

I initially agreed with these methods and chose to volunteer to help fefend our country. It was not until I was in Iraq and reading secret military reports on a daily basis that I started to question the morality of what we are doing. It wwas at this time that I realsed that our efforts to meet the risk posed to us by the enemy, we had forgotten our humanity.
We consciously elected to devalue life both in Irag and Afghanistan. When we engaged those that we percieved were the enemy, we sometimes killed innocent civilians. Whenever we killed innocent children, instead of accepting resposibility for our conduct, we elected to hide behind the veil of national security and classified information in order to avoid any public accountability.

In our zeal to kill the enemy, we internally debated the definition of torture. We held individuals at Guantanamo for years without due process. We inexplicably turned a blind eye to torture and executions by the Iraqi government. And we stomached  countless other acts in the name of our war on terror.

Patriotism is often the cry extolled when morally questionabble acts are advocated by those in power. When these cries of patriotism drown out any logically based dissension, it is usually an American soldier that is given the order to carry out some ill-concieved mission.

Our nation has had similar dark moments for the virtue of democracy - the Trial of Tears, the Dred Scott decision, McCarthyism and the Japanese-American Internment camps - to mention a few. I am confident that many of the actions since 9/11 will one day be viewed in a similar light.

As the late Howard Zinn once said, there is not a flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.

I understand that my actions violated the law. I regret thsat my actions hurt anyone or harmed the Unite States. It was never my intent to hurt anyone. I only wanted to help people. When I chose to disclose classified  information, I did out of a love for my country and my sense of duty to others.

If you deny my request for pardon, I will serve my request knowing that some time you have to pay a heavy price to live in a free society. I will gladly pay that price if it means we could have a country that is truly conceieved in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all women and men are created equal.'