Remembering Dietrich Bonhoeffer (4/2/06 -9/4/45)

Today marks German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer's birthday known for  his stand against Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party for his courage to resist. Today I honour the memory of Bonhoeffer. I think that it is crucial that we do and also remember that we also have the privilege and responsibility to follow his example.
This was a man who actively resisted the Nazi regime from the time of Hitler's  ascent to power in 1933 until the bitter end. A well known pacifist who had a change of heart when it came to Hitler and joined with others to seek his assasination. The attempt sadly failed and they were arrested  and most were summarily executed. Bonhoeffer was probably one  the most courageous voices in the Christian church in the 1930's. He felt it was his integral duty not to remain silent appalled by most of the collusion of his church its silence about the demonization and oppression of Jews in Germany. Like a prophet from the bible. he took a lonely stand, and was not much appreciated during his time. But we see who is right now.
In the darkest hours of the twentieth century, he gave his life to the point of martyrdom.
We must continue to take a stand. lend our voices , spirit and solidarity to all those currently today facing injustices.
He continues to hold much relevance.

World Cancer Day - Not beyond Us.

A campaign to unite the  world's population , in the fight against cancer, World Cancer Day is a global event that takes place every year on February 4 . A disease that will kill more than  eight million people worldwide this year . The world needs to unite against this disease that knows no borders and represents one of humanity's most pressing concerns.
 This years theme, " Not beyond us,"  demonstrates a proactive and positive approach  towards the disease, highlighting that solutions do exist across the continum of cancer, and that they are within our reach.
Moreover , understanding and responding to the full impact of cancer on emotional , mental and physical wellbeing  will maximise the quality of life for patients, their families and care-givers. Every citizen should have access to  free treatment options and care.
Awareness so important, for the survivors and those who are not so fortunate, we should not be afraid to talk about it. For many affected by the disease it is a solemn one of reflection, but for others it's a time to become aware of this disease's impact and what is being done to help effect change for millions it impacts. A diagnosis of cancer does not mean that you have to live a painful and miserable life. Their is hope and positivity to. 
I for one am glad that my partner is still doin ok, so give  great thanks to the |N.H.S and all it's fantastic staff, for the great support that we have received and continuing solidarity with the junior doctors. 
Best wishes.

Lets be honest, there's got to be a better way.

" Lets be honest. The activities  of our economic and social system are killing the  planet. Even if we confine ourselves merely to humans, these activities are causing unprecedented privation, as hundreds of millions of people and today more than yesterday with probably more tomorrow - go their entire lives with never enough to eat. Yet curiously none of this seems to stir us into significant action. And  when someone does too stridently point out these obvious injustices, the response by the mass of the people seems so often to be a figurative if not physical blow to the gut, leading inevitably to a destruction  of our common future. "

- Derek Jensen, The Culture of Make Believe

I strongly believe that capitalism has a lot to answer for. Its daily contribution to human death and human misery has simply become unbearable, am not sure how our wonderful planet can survive whilst we sustain it. The political and economic and general social structure of world society must now be re-configured to ensure the preservation of all human beings, not just the privileged few, with their vested corporate interests. Interests that want to preserve the old economy that refuses to work for ordinary people nor the planet. Power hungry interests that are currently tightening their grips. The ranks of this powerful elite no longer restricted  to those who are actual members of Government or the bureaucracies  that buoy them up. This elite now embraces the top executives of the ever growing  multinational  corporations that are tightening their grip on the governments in both developed and developing world.  
Surely the human race should be sufficiently intelligent enough by now, and be able to take control of its own destiny, and refuse to be defined,  by the warped logic that  controls us now.  Directly responsible  for creating the huge gulfs that exist now between the rich and poor.
We should not  sit back and accept this inequality, thankfully a growing number raising their voices, saying no,  a growing populist movement, seeking fairness over privilege, a disparate anti-austerity social and political forces angered and increasingly made desperate by the crisis that I have talked about that is currently pulverising our society. That challenges the forces that try to chain us down.

I am not a conspirationist, by the way just someone  who truly worries for the world, I wonder if we don't change  things soon whether there will be a planet worth living in for the generations to come. There must be a way of taking back control from the hands of a few greedy individuals. Every day I walk on this planet I hope that we find a way to implement some change. To make this world a better place for those that come after us, a world beyond the shackles of corporate greed.
The refugee crisis  that we are currently witnessing is also one of the most dramatic expressions of the crisis of a social system that is no longer capable of coping with the most basic needs  of the vast majority of humanity. The despicable treatment metered out to them is also the product of an equally profoundly inhumane social system. The world migrant crisis is a symptom of the inevitably uneven and combined development of the capitalist system . It condemns billions of people to grinding misery while lavishing an untold minority with untold wealth. An inequality  that fuels migration to better parts of the world. 
The crisis is a product of a consciously created  poverty, the dispossession, , oppression and exploitation of the greater part of humanity by the few, which simultaneously creates mass human poverty and enclosed havens of wealth. Combined with imperialist  backed war s wars In Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Libya that have made  millions homeless and pushed people into grinding poverty.Thus helping create hells on earth.

The  response from country's largely  responsible for their misery in the first place is not to end the  bombing and looting  in the respective refugees country's of origin.Instead they set the wheels in motion to make their flight from  hunger and war even more difficult.
There's got to be a better way. When we all stand together young people and old, saying loudly and clearly that enough is enough, that the world belongs to all of us, not just those on top. We will  truly transform the world for the better.

Poem for Imbolc

( Imbolc marks  the start of Celtic Spring, the arrival of longer, warmer days, and the early signs of spring, so I offer you this poem.)

The earth again prepares for spring,
Awakens after the coldness and dark of winter,
Life begins to grow in the wombs of the earth,
Bulbs planted begin to gently explode,
St Bridget's day, the gift of name,
Given to my mischievious  daughter,
Fertility today returns unbound,
To stir our spirits, kiss our lips,
Deliver to us a poetic muse,
As the sun glistens in the sky,
We embrace the wheels of change,
We still cling on, still keep faith,
blessed Imbolc, blessed be.

Musical Heroes

( will end the month with this poem, released last night at my monthly  Cellar Bards  meet,  a response to  people who have moved my world. These people are not flawless though, I do not worship them , but their voices have carried me  through lifes struggles, and continue to impact on my days.)

Musical inspiration
has rippled through my days,
in summertime and the coldness of winter
waiting for springs return,
old heroes keep drifting by
intoxicating my world with their senses,
wild in imagination
flickers of light that keep on shining
high above forever flying.

Sounds released 
give me a glimpse of yesterday,
a glance of tomorrow
alpha moving with Omega,
playing leap frog in the rain
earth beats keep on swinging,
the end is never quite finished
as another day unfolds.

Musical heroes keep on giving
refusing to go  gently in the night.
signals and currents
endlessly captivating,
voices strong that never disappear
so thank you,John Coltrane, Gil Scot Heron,
Bessie Smith, Woody Guthrie
Joe Strummer, Lemmy,
Billy Holliday, David Bowie,
fellow astronauts
travelling upon oceans of sound.

David Cameron loses it.

Fury has erupted as David Cameron lost it yesterday  during his attack on Jeremy Corbyn at PMQ's and now he's paying for it.
He has been criticised for  describing Calais refugees as 'a bunch of migrants' while Jeremy Coryn attacked  cruel and unjust bedroom tax  and derisory Google tax deal, his comments  have been described as vile and hypocritical as they came on Holocaust Memorial Day, using flippant remarks to score political points, at a time when we are facing the greatest refugee crisis of our time. Refugees desperately trying to find some safety and dignity to be treated with derision by a Prime Minister who used his position to release vile inflammatory comments. This coming after his  other casual remarks about "a swarm of people " arriving in Calais and previous cheap jokes  cracked  at Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron's expense  after being told about the plight of desperate refugee children.Shame on him as people are dying on our doorstep.
It is now down  to the rest of us to  show him that the spirit of compassion lives on, to do what we can to help and to ensure that the rest of the world knows that David ' dishonourable reptile' Cameron and his ilk are not representative of the rest of us and keep on staying human.

http://www.thecanary.co/2016/01/27/cameron-loses-attack-corbyn-pmqs-now-hes-paying/ 

Here's the late great Tony Benn, spot on as usual.

Holocaust Memorial Day

Today is Holocaust Memorial Day - a time for us all to reflect on the Nazis attempt to wipe out Jews, Gypsies and other  minority groups, Trade Unionists, Communists,  homosexuals, people with mental and physical difficulties, Jehovah Witnesses, anarchists, Poles and other slavic peoples  targeted for destruction and decimation  for racial, ethnic and national reasons, along with black people and resistance fighters.
From the time they assumed power in 1933, the Nazis used  persecution, propoganda,  and legislation to deny human rights to so many. Using hate as their  foundation.
By the end of the Holocaust over 8 million , men  women and children had perished in ghettoes and mass shootings , in concentration camps and extermination camps.
Holocaust Memorial day is  held today because it marks the liberation of Aushwitz-Birkenau , the largest of the Nazi Concentration Camps.
But is  also used today to remember all subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia  and Darfur etc etc.
We must never forget the journeys of the persecuted. and when we say  never again, we must mean never again.
But we still face  so much tragedy, and persecution that should not exist,  anti-muslim hate crimes have tripled,we have the 'jungle' of Calais, refugees  in Cardiff forced to wear identifying  red wristbands, doors of refugees painted red in Middlesbrough. The hate speech of Le Pen, and Donald Trump,  fascist forces and assorted racists from  a range of far right groups  descending on the port of Dover, with the aim of  inciting racial hatred.
We cannot afford to tolerate this, we must constantly oppose, or we will repeat the mistakes and crimes and terrible tragedy of the past. No to hatred and intolerance. Today I remember all those who died in the Holocaust , whilst watching history repeating itself, and people remaining silent.
Lest we forget.

...

Speaking Out

( after losing an unusual amount of followers on this blog in last few days. My voice still rings out.)

I usually have something to say
Whether you listen, or not that's ok,
My thoughts can be furious
or can  gently float,
trying to release meaning
standing alone, raising voice.
I try to release words
speaking out when I want to,
will apologise when necessary
as long as I still have breathe,
will try and keep on being true
refusing silence, allow words to engage,
sending out messages to fight and heal,
against injustice, senseless war
the horrors of the world,
in  anxious, restless times
try to stay present while I can,
continue to bark out loud,
allow thoughts to unravel
escape and enclose.

Winter in Gaza - Mosab Mostafa

" Winter is a time for comfort , for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk besides the fire: it is the time for home - Edith Sitwell

"But not in Gaza .
Winter is the time  for pain, for tasteless food and coldness , for the touch of a freezing hand and for a cry beside the fire : it is the time for distress.

But sometimes it is totally the opposite. " -  Mosab Mostafa ,  Friend  from Gaza, Palestine.
  

Karl Marx on Alienation

Karl Marx believed that work, at its best, is what makes us  human.  It allows us  to live, be creative and flourish. But under capitalism he saw workers alienated  from each other and the product of their  labour.
Unfortunately  we are all products of capitalism. So by it's vey nature it will leave us feeling alienated.
The system  that capitalism props  up wants us to be deatomised and detached from each other, and this atomization will unfortunately  continue as long as society exists.
Overcoming alienation is a perpetual task for individuals.
In other words dealianation is a continuous and interminable process. Rational freedom is the best hope we can  have for humanity for overcoming  various forms of  alienation. I am reminded of the old maxim, the truth  shall set you free.
We are all  cogs in a big machine designed to harness us to the system that keeps the wealthy on top. We can resist this alienation by creating projects for ourselves which produce real interactions outside  of the rules and relationships that social reproduction demands. In doing this we can find new affinities  and new prospects for destroying the existing order.
I remain at the end of the day an optimist.
Oh happy St Dwynwens's day, by the way, the Welsh Patron Saint of Lovers.

Narrated by Gillian Anderson  ; Scripted by Nigel Warbuton


From  the BBC Radio 4 series about life's big questions - A history of ideas.