Sunday, 17 May 2015

Gardening is the most theraputic and defiant act you can do - Ron Finley ( renegade gardener and food activist)




" Gardening is the most theraputic and defiant act you can do. Especially in the inner city. I want us to become ecolutionaries, renegades, gangster gardeners. People need to realise how powerful the transformation of soil can be. Everything you experience in life happens in the garden. You learn patience, you learn systems, you learn biology,you learn sex and you learn the thing we call death may not actually be death. It may just be an energy transfer. That's what composting is."


Link to Ron Finley's blog :-
http://ronfinley.com/

Saturday, 16 May 2015

Now Zen



Listen to the soft rain fall,
catch hope in hand,
when the streams of the world,
keep on passing by,
in the hours of dreaming,
breathe and inhale.

Follow the snails path,
and the trail of birds,
shifting sands, long winding roads,
beyond implosions that explode,
in satori breathe,
mind is empty and free.

In the presence of moments stillness,
we can be shores of touch and belief,
elements drifting, particles shining,
following  immediacies destination,
towards rivers long, journeys unknown,
spirits of the age, keep on turning,
in the ebb and flow of  life.

Friday, 15 May 2015

67th anniversary of the Nakba



Today marks the 67th anniversary of the Nakba. The catastrophe that caused 750,000 Palestinians, to  leave the land which they were the rightful owners of.
It marks 67 years of injustice and oppression of the Palestinian. 67 years of land theft and bloodshed  that have been  met by global political silence, time and time again.
It saw over 531 villages being cleared,  with massacres that led  to 15,000 Palestinians being killed at the hands  of Zionist para military groups like Hazanika, Ergun and the Stern Gang. Systematically removing the Palestinians from their land. An ethnic cleansing that continues to this day.
One of the worst incidents occurred at Deir Yassin on April 8th 1948, where  105 people were slaughtured, more than half of them women and children. Link to earlier post on Dier Yassin http://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/dier-yassin-remembered.html
Israel to this day has tried to erase all signs of the Nakba, it is a history that it does not the world to share or see. A state that at the end of the day was built on the ruins of someone else's land. So this is why  for many today is not seen as the birth of Israel, but a day of mourning and tragedy. 
I will continue to side with the Palestinian who dares to dream of the day of return, when they can open  the locked doors of their stolen houses, are welcomed home, recognised and encouraged by a world that acknowledges the injustice that has been inflicted upon them.




Today there are over 5 million registered Palestinian refugees, who are still waiting for justice. This fight continues as the Palestinian keep searching for a way to return home, to take back what is rightfully theirs.
So today we will see the Palestinian people renew their demands for return, to their cities, villages and lands that they were forced to leave in 1948. Many Palestinians still carry the keys to the homes they or their ancestors were displaced from all those years ago, a haunting memory of their existence.
Despite their suffering and Israels  blockade  of the West Bank and the Gaza strip they will not stop their demand for their right of return and for having Jerusalem as their capital.
I like  increasingly many others in the international community hope and dream  that their freedom is restored again, their existence  is recognised, and justice is served, despite the fact that Palestinians land continues to be stripped into pieces. From the rivers to the sea, Palestine will be free. Despite all the Palestinians will remain rooted to their land.





Listen here  to Remi Kanazi's powerful poem -  Nakba


Thursday, 14 May 2015

Save the Human Rights Act


The Conservatives are currently planning to strip away our  Human Rights, they must not be able to carry out their plans.Over 107,000  people have signed the following  petition in less than 24 hours. Please sign and share as far and wide as possible. Everybody needs to sign this. It is so important, share with groups, friends,  family.
Human rights  are in place to stop corrupt Governments.
The Human Rights Act  covers everyone  living in the UK, based  on the European Convention of Human Rights, that the Labour Party introduced  in 1998 and  has repeatedly let ordinary people - hold the state to account.  It is here to protect us all, and has enabled people for example to go to court to object against the bedroom tax. The policies have been created for no reason than to protect us as human beings. Without it any one of us could be wrongly accused of a crime, the government will be allowed to breach our privacy, and anyone could fall victim to careless decisions made by authorities. What happens to innocent until proven guilty and dignity in dying?
I guess, we really are living  in dangerous times, with the Torys planning now a series of attacks on our fundamental rights. I still  cannot quite believe how these so called  human beings devoid  of any empathy and compassion, could ever get elected.
Leaves me  still with a bitter taste in mouth, and a weariness of  people, who I guess, voted in their power, but that I guess is another story.
Can you not see your rights and freedoms being eroded? Gradually being removed piece by piece. Please wake up before they are gone.
Remember Cameron along with other right wingers  tries to distract us by claiming that Strasbourg's Court is meddling in British affairs and eroding our sovereingty and our ability to govern ourselves. Absolute ***** but that is their mindset . They at the end of the day want to overturn recognised principles of human decency that we should all be proud of.
How could anyone in their right mind oppose any of the following. ( Well Tory's , but not exactly carved with compassion)



Right to life
Freedom from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment
Right to liberty and security
Freedom from slavery and forced  labour
Right to a fair trial
No punishment if you have not broken law
Respect for your private and family life 
Freedom of thought, belief and religion
Freedom of expression
Freedom of assembly and association
The right to marry and start a family


We must not allow the Conservatives to steal away our precious human rights. The human rights act is ours, scrapping it will take away the rights of everyone, and it is the most vulnerable that will suffer most. We must do everything in our power to save it.



Please sign and share the following :-


http://www.change.org/p/david-cameron-mp-we-call-on-the-government-and-the-prime-minister-to-provide-a-national-referendum-on-the-planned-abolition-of-the-human-rights-act/




Wednesday, 13 May 2015

United we must stand


But they left the bankers, with their obscene bonuses, to be protected at all costs, and their friends in big business. The message it seems is that whether  you are unemployed, disabled,  or simply on a low wage, your poverty and misery are your own fault. We are all targets now. United we must stand.

Tuesday, 12 May 2015

Israeli illegal settlements, what you need to know in 60 seconds.



Life's rather bitter at the moment for many in my country at the moment, in the aftermath of a Tory election,  but this is nothing compared to the daily  harassment and displacement  faced by those who live in Palestine. Where the color of shame is daily spread. One of the major barriers to the Palestinians freedom is the existence and continuing growth of illegal Israeli colonies on land long recognised by the United Nations as belonging to Palestine. The new Netanyahu government is planning to extend it's support for these illegal constructions, that will  undoubtedly further inflame soaring tensions. Seen by many as a form of ethnic cleansing as the Israeli government seeks to replace Arab Palestinian populations in their own territories with Jewish Israelis. Settlers who have been accused again and again of inflicting violence on the existing inhabitants of the land they choose to build on.
You may have  heard about these Israeli Illegal settlements or even seen many images of this. But do you really know anything about how settlements effect Palestinian lives. Well in 60 seconds you will.
Friends of Al-qsa is  a British non-profit NGO company to defend the rights of Palestinians and to protect the sacred al-asqa- Sanctuary.




Monday, 11 May 2015

Viral Garden sign

                             
                                Garden centres owner  viral sign

' The only bad reaction I've had were  two Tory couples and a couple of people from UKIP,' he added ' I don't really care about the repurcussions, I don't earn a fortune and this might be the death of my business, but so be it. Sometimes you have to stand up and say what you believe in.'

Read more on this story here :-

http://gu.com/p/489b8/fb


MAY HIS BUSINESS FLOURISH , AND  LET HIS ROOTS BE HARDY

Friday, 8 May 2015

R.I.P, don't mourn, organise.


Never in my wildest imaginations, did I expect to wake up to this massive Tory majority. We will now face a more vicious government over the next 5 years than before.
We must now do our nest to alienate them and thwart all their attempts to beat us down.We do not mourn , we organise, show them no respect. Our numbers at the end of the day are much bigger than theirs,so in solidarity we gather our strength, show our mighty resistance.

Wednesday, 6 May 2015

Time to vote ! I'm not apathetic, but I am still angry



So the Pantomine is coming towards it's end. I personally  think most of the political parties seen on parade seem distinquishible  only by the color of their ties and their forked tongues.
We should note that not all who decide not to vote tomorrow are apathetic, most remain angry  and disillusioned. For many voting for the same old same every 5 years no longer seems to have any relevance. Remember Governments are only ever just in office,Capital remains in ultimate power. Austerity and welfare cuts, will continue.
Apparently it's going to be to close to call, but for the many who choose not to vote or spoil it, are taking a very conscious act, sending a clear message, that they are not happy with the system. The choice for many remains difficult. We certainly need change, but will this actually occur, at the end of the day , you have to ask yourself what does the Government do to help you. Will they continue to allow people to die, cause wars, sponsor greed, and in your name because you chose to vote for them.
If people decide to vote, I sincerely I hope they vote for some kind of change, for those that stand up against austerity, that I noticed  in the last term, not hearing  many politicians loudly speaking out against, until now, so I don't find them that trustable,  As for Russel Brand, perhaps  he should have asked Ed Milliband when  will the Labour Party  bring Tony Blair et alle to the courts for their war crimes. Until  then  they have no standing in any moral decent society, did he urge him to scrap Trident, save us £100 billion which could be spent on things we actually need.. But  I guess anything is better than the current incumbents, who left in power will carry on with their wrecking campaign.The 12 billion cuts they are planning to the welfare bill will be nothing less than a death warrant for tens of thousands of vulnerable people.People being penalised , simply for being poor. In the winter of 2012/13 when heating costs rose dramatically, there were over 31,00 excess winter deaths. Harold Shipman's murderous rampage never matched any of these figures.Angry I'm bloody livid. So if nothing use your vote against them, and any complicit so and so who you think might prop them up.
I have a certain respect for the Green Party, and here in Wales at least their seem to be some good souls in Plaid Cymru, who seem to have an open inclusive agenda, but are not likely to sweep the boards, and not likely to form the next  government.
But that old maxim 'if the government changed anything they would probably make it illegal' pops back in my weary head. At the end of the day the Government will seriously impact in our lives.Call me a dreamer, but wouldn't it be nice, if we tried a few years without one, and see how we got on. Anyway if you choose to excerise your right to vote, and I do not condemn you if you do,I would urge you  vote for those who speak of social justice, against austerity,against intolerance, xenophobia, for people who put people before profit, for fairness in our society.
But do not forget either, people thinking outside their box, already fighting, a cruel,unjust system,who will carry on shouting, speaking out, day by day, week in, week out, year in year out.
Perhaps we don't just need a regime, we need to build a brand new system.
Anyway I will be wishing you a good day,we all count, we all matter,  may the force continue to be with you.