Hetty Bower over 90 years a campaigner for peace and justice

The remarkable inspirational Hetty Bower  died on the 20th May 2013 at the age of 108. From the First World War to the day she  died she was a tireless campaigner for peace and justice, who was still marching and joining demonstrations well into her second century.

For Hetty the myth of ‘our brave boys’ going off to fight the enemy was quickly dispelled when she saw disabled and limbless servicemen returning during World War I.  She had met people who were committed to not killing and seen how badly conscientious objectors were treated in 1918.  She became and remained a pacifist. 

In  a lifetime of campaigns she was involved in the General Strike campaign in the 1920s, she could recall the "battle of Cable Street" in 1936 when fascists were stopped from marching through east London.  During the Second World War, During the war, with two young daughters to care for, she volunteered to help at the offices of the Czech Refugee Trust Fund and subsequently ended up running a Czech Refugee Hostel in North London for Trade Unionists, Socialists, Communists, Jews and anyone else they could get out of Czechoslovakia during that period. She was also a founding member of the Campaign For Nuclear Disarmament, and a veteran of many other progressive causes, joining the anti-war protests over Iraq. An activist to the very end. 

She said: "I have lived for a very long time and I have a very good memory. I've lived through two world wars and I have spent most of my adult life working for peace on our planet. I don't think human beings are civilised while we still waste time and money killing each other, when we should be sitting at a table discussing how to improve the lives of ordinary people."

I love Badgers, so I'd rather their was a cull of Tories

The new Conservative Government will apparently continue their cull of badgers, regardless of complaints from the public. One thing, the Conservatives have proved time and time and again is their arrogant indifference and callous disregard to our wildlife, let alone, people. The savage immorality of them, must be stopped. As they plan to waste an obscene amount of money on this senseless cull, whilst at the same time  planning £12 billion of new welfare cuts. It is simply ridiculous logic.
The Defra Press office has confirmed  that Lord Gardiner has been  appointed as their Lords minister for DEFRA,  former Deputy Chief Executive  of the Countryside Alliance,http://markavery.info/2015/05/18/really/  yes this says,  clearly where their heart really lies.  However hard you look, you will never find a trace of compassion under their skin.
I would  urge you all, to send a little message, surely our countryside would be better served by lovely badgers, than, the roaming virus of Tory destruction.
I say save the badgers, cull all Tories

Ian Curtis (15/1/56 -18/5/80) - Gone but not forgotten T

Today marks the tragic anniversary of the suicide of  Ian Curtis,  the  mercurial,  singer and lyricist  of the band Joy Division.after struggling with depression and epilepsy throughout his life. A lot of my formative years were   spent listening to his songs, and in a roundabout way,  introduced me to the work of such  fascinating literary writers like William Burroughs and  J G Ballard. Words meant a lot to him as they do to me. 

He left behind  at the young age of 23, a wife and daughter  and for many the whiff of sadness, but also left a musical legacy of much genius and musical depth.that  continues to illiuminate.

I still dig out his records, and find them the opposite to the labels put on them, like depressing and bleak, I genuinely find them uplifting. His poetic magnificence and majesty of his lyrics matched by his compelling stage presence as front man of Joy Division reveasaled his one of talent.

Here are a few of my favourites songs of his. His absence still  resonates with many, gone but not forgotten. Love, love does not need  to tear us apart . 

"Reality is only a term, based on values and well worn principles, whereas the dream goes on forever."

'Existence is.. well.. what does it matter? I exist on the best terms I can. The past is now part of my future. The present is well out of hand.” --Ian Curtis:

 Joy Division - Transmission (1978)

Radio, live transmission.
Radio, live transmission.

Listen  to the silence, let it ring on.
Eyes, dark grey lenses frightened of the sun.
We would have a  fine time living in the night.
Left to blind destruction,
Waiting for  our sight.

And we would go on as  though  nothing was wrong
And  hide from these days we remained all alone.
Staying in the same place, just staying out the time.
Touching from a distance,
Further all the time.

Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, to the radio.
Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, to the radio.
Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, to the radio.
Dance,dance. dance, dance, dance, to the radio.

Well I could call out when the going gets tough.
The things that we've learnt are no longer enough.
No language that we've  learnt are no longer enough.
No language, just sound, that's all we need know, to synchronise
love to the beat of the show.

And we could dance

Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, to the radio.
Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance to the radio.
Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance to the radio.
Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance to the radio.

New Dawn fades (1979)

A change of speed, a change of style.
A change of scene ,with no regrets,
A chance  to watch,  admire the distance,
Still occupied, though you forget.
Different colours, different shades,
Over each mistakes were made.
I took the blame.
Directionless so plain to see,
A loaded gun won't set  you free.
So you say.

We'll share a drink and step outside,
An angry voice and one who cried,
Well give you everything and more,
The strains too much, can't take much more.
Oh, I've walked on water, run through fire,
Can't seem to feel it anymore.
It was me, waiting for me,
Hoping for something more.
Me, seeing me this time, hoping for something else.

Shadowplay (1979)

To the centre of the city, where all roads meet, waiting for you,
To the depths  of the ocean when all hopes sank, searching for you,
I was moving through the silence without motion, waiting for you,
In a room with a window in the corner I found truth.

In the shadowplay, acting out your own death, knowing no more,
As the assassins all grouped in four lines, dancing on the floor,
And with  the cold steel, odour on their bodies made a move to connect,
But I could only stare in disbelief as the crowds all left.

I did everything, everything I wanted to,
I bet them use you for their own ends,
To the centre of the city in the night, waiting for you,
To the centre  of the city in the night, waiting for you.

Love will tear us apart (1980)

When routines bites hard,
and ambitions are low,
And resentments rides high,
But emotions won't grow
And were changing our ways, taking different roads.

Then love, love  will tear us apart again,
Love, love will tear us apart again.

Why is the bedroom so cold?
You've turned away on your side.
Is my timing that flawed?
Our respect runs so dry.
Yet there's still this appeal that we've kept through our lives.

But love, love will tear us apart again,
Love, love will tear  us apart again.

You cry out in your sleep,
All my feelings exposed.
And there's a taste in my mouth,
As desperation takes hold.
Just that something so good just can't function no more.

But  love, love will tear us apart again
Love, love, will tear us apart again.
Love, love, will tear us apart again,.
Love, love , will tear us apart again.

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/

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.

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

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/

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.

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.

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