Hunting is still going on. We still have a lot to do to protect our wildlife.We need tougher legislation to stop fox hunting completely. Wouldn't
it be nice if the police actually enforced the law but the continuing
support for hunting by people in positions of power make that unlikely but well done to the brave Sabs and hunt monitors who stand between the
hunters and our wildlife,stopping hunts in the fields, thank you each
and every one, those of us who want to live in a civilised 21st century
society are grateful for your efforts. What an unsavoury axis the
pro-hunt lobby present. Those who consider themselves superior to the
rest of society, determined to carry on hunting because these sick proponents actually enjoy killing and the feeling of power
watching a fox being torn apart by a pack of dogs gives them. Then there
are the Terrier men and the rest of the slavish lackeys who are just
along for beer money and the chance of a bit of violence, often setting
their own dogs on the fox if it has managed to go to ground, while
toadying to the squirearcy. And most contemptable of all the nouveau
riche wanabee gentry, who are no doubt despised by lord and lackey
alike. I believe that chasing and killing live animals with dogs is barbaric, outdated and has no place in modern Britain.
The vast majority of the British public support the Hunting Act
(typically 70 - 80 per cent) and the UK has some of the most progressive
animal welfare laws in the world. This reflects the public
consciousness of compassion towards animals.In 2004 the 'Hunting Act' was put in place to prevent people from hunting wild animals with Hounds. The main 'pest' being Foxes.Recently, rumblings seem to be stirring from certain areas of
government that suggest a lift, lighten or watering down of these laws.
Andrea Leadsom is one such person responsible for the re-opening of this
upper-class wound.
Tell Theresa May keep Fox hunting banned, please sign following petitions :-
It's a wonderful time of the year
for many now trapped and living in fear
caught by a malicious system
drowning in debt,facing struggle alone,
benefits cut, holding on as best they can
spending many days with heads in hands,
hearts aching, tears rolling down cheeks
counting down the days to Christmas.
Have you seen the alternative news
that exposes this conscious cruelty?
Government robbing people of self respect
left in sullen days of abandonment,
people with no heating, sitting around freezing,
listening to reality blues, life in gloom
trying to fight, pick up the pieces
counting down the days to Christmas.
Its difficult to find any hope
or feel the presence of any holy spirit,
in this season when things fall apart
people caught up in war zones,
refugees fleeing for their lives
lovers slowly dying of terminal disease,
refusing to surrender, releasing resistance
counting down the days to Christmas.
I can't handle another bloody Christmas song
my will is already being pinched and broken,
by adverts spreading the disease of capitalism
tinsel,glitter and fairy lights masking crisis,
at a time of the year many now come to dread
too difficult to contemplate, let alone celebrate;
scrambling our way through the fog
counting down the days to Christmas.
A time for peace,goodwill and generosity
but the world's stage makes this difficult,
leaving many facing sleepless nights
long drawn out days of thrift,
so try not to forget,the cheated, the old
the poor and the sick, the weak
cast aside, forced to tighten their belts
counting down the days to Christmas.
Llewellyn
ap Gruffydd couldn’t have known it during his tumultuous life, but he would
become known to posterity as Llewellyn the Last. He was the last native born
Welshman recognised as the sovereign Prince of Wales, before Wales was finally
conquered by Edward the 1st in 1282.
I am no fan of titles and now is little more than an honorific bestowed upon the eldest son of
the King or Queen of England, a final insult dreamt up by King Edward to make
certain that Wales knew its place in the new order. But in Llewellyn’s day, it
was not something that came by birth right, but something he took by force of
arms, strategic alliances, and breath-taking diplomacy.
Llewelyn was the second son of Gruffydd and his wife, Senena.
Following his father's death, Llewelyn joined forces with his uncle,
Dafydd, and effectively became Dafydd's heir as Dafydd had no sons.
Llewelyn helped to re-unite North Wales.In 1247 Llywelyn
and his brother Owain signed the Treaty of Woodstock with King Henry
III. The treaty restricted the brothers' rule to parts of Gwynedd west
of the River Conwy, while the remainder of Conwy, the Perfeddwlad,
remained under English control.Within two years, however,
Llywelyn had gained control of the Perfeddwlad and most of the Pura
Wallia, parts of Wales under native Welsh rule. By early 1258 he was
using the title Prince of Wales, although the English crown refused to
acknowledge him as such.
When Henry was temporarily deposed by
Baron Simon de Montfort after the Battle of Lewes in 1264, Llywelyn
allied himself to the new ruler. The Treaty of Pipton, signed the
following year, set out the terms Llywelyn had desired for several
years: formal recognition as Prince of Wales and overlord of the other
Welsh rulers.De Montfort died at the Battle of Evesham in 1265,
and the resulting English power vacuum allowed Llywelyn to consolidate
his control of Welsh territory. He was formally recognised as Prince of
Wales by Henry III with the signing of the Treaty of Montgomery on 29
September 1267.
De Montfort died at the Battle of Evesham in 1265,
and the resulting English power vacuum allowed Llywelyn to consolidate
his control of Welsh territory. He was formally recognised as Prince of
Wales by Henry III with the signing of the Treaty of Montgomery on 29
September 1267. However with the advent of a new English King, Edward I, relations
deteriorated as Llewelyn refused to pay homage or make the money
payments due under the Treaty of Montgomery. In 1277 Llewelyn was forced
to submit to the King and was stripped of his hard won overlordship.Edward embarked on a unprecedented building programme across Wales, including the enormous sastles at Caernarfon, Conway and Harlech , showing of his military strength and acting as signals to the Welsh about the futility of opposing his might.
However in 1282, Dafydd ap Gruffydd, Llewelyn's brother, attacked Hawarden
Castle. Llewellyn was faced with an impossible choice; he was called on to crush the rebellion, instead he joined it, sided with his brother against the English.Now engaged in a bitter
struggle with Edward I of England, leading the Welsh resistance to Edward, with an ambition to create a permanent, independent Welsh principality and to keep Wales independent. Edward
continued to send armies into Wales and one consisting of 2000
infantrymen and 200 cavalrymen succeeded in capturing Anglesey. However
the routing of this army by Llywelyn on 6th November 1282, boosted
Welsh morale and when Edward turned his hand to diplomacy, offering
Llywelyn a large estate in England if he would surrender, Llywelyn defiantly
refused, stating that he would not abandon the people whom his
ancestors had previously protected.
Llywelyn was then deceived into attending a
meeting with Edmund Mortimer at Aberedw, who claimed that
he wished give homage to Llywelyn. In Llywelyn's absence, the English
army advanced on the Welsh position at Orewin Bridge.The full force of the English army
now crossed and engaged the leaderless Welsh army.As the Welsh turned to confront the archers they left the bridge
undefended. The English seized the moment to attack. Mounted soldiers
charged across Orewin Bridge, causing the leaderless and disorganised
Welsh army to flee. Upon hearing the
noise of the battle, Llywelyn realised that he had been tricked and
immediately headed back with his entourage to assume command yet was
ambushed and overwhelmed. Llywelyn lay mortally wounded and asked for a
priest, but was recognized, and was instantly killed and his head cut
off and sent to Edward at Rhuddlan, who then took it to London, put on
it an ivory crown and placed it on the gate of the Tower of London,
where it stayed for 15 years.
The death of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd
marked the end of an independent Wales. Resistance continued for a
while under Dafydd, but by June of the following year, he too had been
captured and executed, with his head displayed next to that of Llywelyn.The beheading of Llywelyn, the imprisonment of his family, the melting
down of the crown jewels and the destruction of the royal mausoleums, and the symbolic
display of their decapitated heads would all have been designed to oppress the Welsh people, the end result being that Edward's conquest of Wales being complete. Llewellyn
dominated Wales for more than 40 years, and was one of only two Welsh
rulers to be called "the Great", the other being his ancestor Rhodri the
Great. The first person to give Llywelyn the title "the Great" seems to
have been his near-contemporary, the English chronicler Matthew Paris. Llewellyn was the last prince of an united independent ,Wales until that is Owain Glyndŵr rebel prince came along to leave his mark in the 14th century .with his fight against English oppression , his fight that nearly won Welsh independence and his threshold plan for a Welsh Parliament, an independent church and university which would turn him into a potent symbol of Welsh nationalism in the 20th Century.This is another story from the pages of our history.
There is much uncertainty as to Llywelyn's final resting place, with the
Cistercian Abbey at Abbeycwmhir the site suggested by most historians,it is known that he killed in battle not far from Llanfair in Buellt now known as Builth Wells.
Today marks Human Rights Day,it is observed every year on 10 December to
commemorates the day on which, in 1948, the United Nations General
Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In 1950, the
Assembly passed resolution 423 (V), inviting all States and interested
organizations to observe 10 December of each year as Human Rights Day.
This year, Human Rights Day calls on everyone to stand up for
someone's rights! Disrespect for basic human rights continues to be
wide-spread in all parts of the globe. Extremist movements subject
people to horrific violence. Messages of intolerance and hatred prey on
our fears. Humane values are under attack.Today we must take a stand for others who are oppressed by their societies or regimes, or
have in some way had their rights taken from them.
"All human
beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights," Article One of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights reads. "They are endowed with
reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of
brotherhood."
We must reaffirm our common humanity. Wherever we are, we can make a
real difference. In the street, in school, at work, in public
transport; in the voting booth, on social media.
The time for this is now. “We the peoples” can take a stand for rights. And together, we can take a stand for more humanity.
World Human Rights Day reminds us that there is much to be done and around to world to protect those who cannot voice
or respond to perpetrated discrimination and violence caused by
governments, vigilantes, and individual actors. In many instances, those
who seek to divide people for subjective means and for totalitarian
reasons do so around the globe without fear of retribution. Violence, or
the threat of violence, perpetrated because of differences in a host of
physical and demographic contrasts and dissimilarities is a blight on
our collective humanity now and a danger for our human future.
Recenly after displaying a rare display of lucidity Boris Johnson, British Foreign Secretary was severely reprimanded for his remarks that Saudi Arabia is involved in a proxy war in the Middle East. His statements broke on of the cardinal rules of British foreign policy, do not critisice a hideous dictatorship if it is allied with Britain.The UK government is only to well aware of the fact that Saudi Arabia has provided financial support to Isis and other terrorist groups in Syria and elsewehere in a proxy war in the Middle East. His statement broke one of the cardinal rules of British foreign policy, do not critisise a hideous dictatorship if is allied with Britain.So it continues to support the Saudi dictatorship, one of the greatest violaters of human rights in the world. This serves to expose the British establishment's extreme cynicism and hypocrisy. In the name of human rights we must continue to challenge this shameful narrative.
For millions of people, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is
still just a dream. December 10th is a symbolic date that reminds us of
that fact, but we must keep this commitment 365 days a year. In all the
EU's external actions every day must be Human Rights Day, as every
person in the world is entitled to the full and indivisible range of
human rights every day of his or her life.Global human rights are not selective in their value or meaning, nor are they
limited to a day or time of year.
On
8th December 1980, John Lennon was shot four times in the back by crazed fan Mark
Chapman who had asked the former Beatle for his autograph only hours
before laying in wait and killing him.He was just 40 when he died.I
was 13 back then, and I'm now 9 years older than John Lennon was
allowed to live. Such a tragic and heartbreaking waste of a good and
talented man.
The death of Lennon still reverberates as a defining moment for a generation and for the music world.A man who helped define rock and roll, a leader of the peace movement,
an icon of the Baby Boom generation, his murder inspired shock and mourning, and for many
marked the end of an era.
Chapman was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison and was last denied parole in August 2014.
"I am sorry for causing that type of pain," Chapman told the parole
board then. "I am sorry for being such an idiot and choosing the wrong
way for glory." Chapman can try again for parole next year.
In a message posted on her website, Imagine Peace,
and on Facebook, Ono posted a plea to “bring back America, the green
land of Peace,” along with an image of Lennon’s blood-stained
eyeglasses.
“Dear Friends,” she wrote. “Every day, 91 Americans are killed with guns. We are turning this beautiful country into a War Zone. Together, let’s bring back America, the green land of Peace. The death of a loved one is a hollowing experience. After 36 years, our son Sean and I still miss him.”
The photo also stated that more than 1,200,000 people were killed by guns since Lennon’s death in 1980.
Since 1968 — the year the Beatles released the White Album — the sad fact is that more Americans have been killed by gun violence than all the US wars in history combined.It
their stupid right to bare arms, until that changes nothing will change
and stupid Americans will keep on killing each other. R.I.P John Lennon
Conservative Transport Minister Chris Grayling has unveiled plans for a fully privatised railway line, with track and trains operated by the same company. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/dec/06/new-fully-privatised-rail-line-chris-grayling-plans-oxford-cambridge
Network
Rail is a government owned company responsible for maintaining and
repairing our rail lines, it was set up after private company Railtrack
ballsed it up when they had the contract to do it. Now the UK
government is going to privatise it again. The Government
hopes this shift of control will incentivise train companies to carry
out repairs more quickly and possibly bring in cheaper fares.
The reason for setting up Network rail in the first place was private companies failed to look after tracks, and were more interested in boosting their profit than training or safety. This led to fatal crashes :- Southall (1997) 7 people dead, Ladbroke Grove (1999) 31 people dead,
Hatfield (2000) 4 people dead, Potters Bar (2002) 7 people dead. Chris Grayling has obviously forgotten all the lives lost when our railway maintenance was last left to a profit-making company. When will they ever learn!! Grayling
absolutely does not give a fraction of a shit. He's left the prison
service in utter chaos with vast private unbreakable contracts
everywhere,and he'll do it here too.
The private companies running the trains are behind
on the maintenance of the trains and carriages (who remembers all that
footage of how crowded the carriages are these days from earlier this
year?), so they will neglect the tracks too! So long as they seek a
profit there will be less incentive to repair (not more) and nothing
will be done until they are at breaking point. The idea it will reduce
ticket prices is insane; ticket prices have risen at a much steeper rate
under privatisation and have actually very recently had yet another
rise (with no improvement in service.)
We should not forget though that it is the Tory mindset to sell off the family silver to the highest bidder , the
rail , Royal Mail , British aerospace , cable n wireless , Britoil ,
British gas , British steel , British airways , Rolls Royce , water and
electricity went the same way . Thatcher
sold off council housing stock under the right to buy , most are now
owned by private landlords who charge 3-4 times the rent of council
rents . Profits were supposed to be ploughed back into building social
housing but this never happened and guess what , we have a massive
housing shortage, asset stripping of the NHS the list is endless. Some of the train operating companies are now foreign
owned , profits help subsidise their own countries rail fares whilst
Joe Public pays the most expensive train fares (by a long way) in
Europe . I
for one am not convinced by privatisation of assets.No public service, and railways are a very important public service
should ever be in private hands. Decades of evidence show that applying
business principles to public services simply doesn't work. It increases
prices, decreases choice and drastically lowers quality of service.
All
the railways need to be nationalised, it should be kept in the hands of the people.For safety's sake, Stop the break-up and privatisation of Network Rail! Please sign the following petition :-
More good news following hearing yesterday that the Dakota pipe line had been stopped. Security company and long time boycott, divestment, sanctions (BDS target G4S has sold, but not all, of its business with Israel, where it was extensively involved in Israel's notorious prisons and provided services to Israel's checkpoints, settlements, and apartheid wall, among others. in Israel within the next two years, but has denied that it is because of a years-long boycott campaign.
G4S
made the announcement when it released its end-of-year results last
Wednesday, saying that it is selling its interests in Israel as part of a
wider assets sale to increase profits. It also said that it
would suspend some other controversial projects, such as US
youth-justice centres, in a bid to boost profits after shares fell 12
percent in part due to growing costs of providing contract housing for
destitute asylum seekers.
This tremendous news comes after years of BDS campaigning worldwide targeting
G4S at every level, causing the company which reportedlyemploys 8,000 people in Israel with a turnover of $143mn, enormous reputational damage
and costing it many millions in lost contracts.
Mahmoud Nawajaa, a
spokesman for the Palestinian BDS National Committee, said that BDS had
undoubtedly pressed G4S into closing shop in Israel. “As at the
height of the international boycott of apartheid South Africa, BDS
pressure is making some of the world’s biggest corporations realise that
profiting from Israeli apartheid and colonialism is bad for business,”
he said.
“Investment fund managers are increasingly recognising
that their fiduciary responsibility obliges them to divest from Israeli
banks and companies that are implicated in Israel’s serious human rights
violations such as G4S and HP because of the high risk entailed. We are starting to see a domino effect."
The campaign has resulted in G4S losing clients including private businesses, universities, trade unions, and UN bodies, with the Bill Gates Foundation divesting a stake worth $170m from the company following protests. The domination of G4S’ annual general meetings over several years by
protests against the company’s involvement in Israeli prisons was
undoubtedly a contributing factor in the company’s announcement.
Representatives of Palestinian civil society launched BDS in 2005,
calling upon “international civil society organizations and people of
conscience all over the world to impose broad boycotts and implement
divestment initiatives against Israel similar to those applied to South
African in the apartheid era,including embargoes and sanctions
against Israel.
As we celebrate we must still keep targetting G4S because despite the the sale of its subsidiary, G4S will still remain directly complicit
in Israel's violations of Palestinian rights through Policity, the
flagship national police training centre it co-owns, and the
settlement-profiteer Shikun & Binui group.
given its ongoing role in Israeli police training and settlement
construction in Palestine; guarding the Dakota Access pipeline
construction; aiding ICE and Homeland Security with immigrant
deportations; running youth detention facilities and providing prison
technology as part of the U.S. prison industrial complex; and other
repression worldwide, as outlined on the intersectional g4sfacts.org website released by the US Campaign and partners earlier this year
It is validation though that BDS does actually work.It follows other successes.Veolia, a French corporation, came under the spotlight because of
their involvement in the development of a tram system connecting West
Jerusalem to Israel’s illegal settlements in occupied East Jerusalem.
This was met by a seven year campaign to persuade public bodies not
to renew their transport or waste management contracts which,
cost Veolia more than $20 billion. In September 2015, Veolia sold off
all of its businesses in Israel.
Even an Israeli company, Sodastream, moved its factory out of one of
Israel’s most notorious illegal settlements, after an advertisement for
their product featuring the actor Scarlett Johansson led Oxfam to part
company with her as their ‘ambassador’.Other companies based in settlements live in fear of publicity. One
company promised a human rights organisation to move their factory in
order to avoid being mentioned in a report on companies operating in
illegal settlements.
Well done to
to activists around the globe who have been a part of the BDS
campaign illustrating the tremendous ability of grassroots organizing to
make an impact on multinational corporations, sending out the strong message that profiting from apartheid is not so
profitable after all. We must continue to hold G4S and other corporations accountable for their ongoing abuses.
Maybe occupation profiteer Hewlett -Packard could be the next win if we continue to keep the pressure up. .And if Israel wants the ongoing BDS Campaign to end,it must stop its occupation of Palestinian land and end its human rights abuses in compliance with international law and recognize the fundamental rights of the
Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and
respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees
to return to their land as stipulated in UN resolution 194.
The US Army Corps of Engineers have announced today they will no longer
allow the Dakota Access Pipeline to cross under lake Oshe near the Standing
Rock reservation in North Dakota, marking a huge victory for Native
Americans and protesters who had long opposed the construction.
They say they are going to reroute it. The pipeline was intended to pass through North Dakota's Lake Oahe,
which is a burial site sacred to the Standing Rock Sioux. The tribe
voiced concerns the pipeline would threaten the community’s drinking
water and would also damage sites of sacred significance and threaten water sources and cultural sites.
Military
veterans joined activists, who call themselves water protectors, at
Standing Rock this week, with more than 3,500 pledging to join the
demonstration.In a statement, Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II
said the tribe welcomed the decision, but he also sounded a note of
caution saying he hoped the incoming Donald Trump administration would
"respect this decision and understand the complex process that led us to
this point." Archambault II went on :"When it comes to infrastructure development in Indian Country and with
respect to treaty lands, we must strive to work together to reach
decisions that reflect the multifaceted considerations of tribes.
Treaties are paramount law and must be respected, and we welcome
dialogue on how to continue to honor that moving forward. We are not
opposed to energy independence, economic development, or national
security concerns but we must ensure that these decisions are made with
the considerations of our Indigenous peoples."
I am glad that the water protectors were
able to divert the path of the pipeline. I feel saddened though that it took
so long after months of violence and brutality by the state to get a basic easement off land that the oil companies
had no legal right to be on in the first place. Some 26 activists were injured in a November 20 confrontation when
police fired water cannon in below-freezing temperatures. Rubber bullets
and tear gas were also reportedly used against the water protectors on
site.Around 564 people were arrested during the protests, according to the Morton County Sheriff's Department for simply trying to peacefully defend this sacred land from pillage.
I hope they stay
true to their word.The people I fear will have to remain ever vigilant until all traces of the pipeline are removed. The World is still watching.Some good news for the time being, a huge victory for the thousands of demonstrators across the country who flocked to North Dakota in protest, standing firm against corporations willful destruction of our planet, and for the many concerned individuals across the world who have been in solidarity trying to raise awareness about this ongoing fight. People before profit.
Not sure, how, that in the years I've been writing this blog, I have not touched on the work of the late Frank Vincent Zappa, I have been an admirer of his work for a while, having numerous records, dvds by him. Anyway on this day in 1993 this musician and iconclast, who rode to fame in the late 1960s as leader of
the eccentric Mothers of Invention and kept on breaking the musical
rules, died in Los Angeles, CA of prostate cancer aged 53.
In his 33-year
musical career, Zappa proved to be one of the most prolific
musician-composers of his era, releasing over 60 albums during his
lifetime, almost all of which consisted of original compositions.His
work was a frothy stew of '50s doo-wop, rhythm 'n' blues,straight edged rock serious
experimental jazz,free-form improvisation, sound experiments, musical virtuosity, and avant-garde classical strains, often heaped high
with perverse, often scatological, lyrics.In albums with such
far-out titles as "Freak Out," "Lumpy Gravy," "Burnt Weeny Sandwich" and
"Weasels Ripped My Flesh," and "Sheik Yerbouti," Over the years, Zappa, whose albums were never
huge sellers, sustained a cult following and was admired by legions of fans worldwide that ensured the marketability
of a seemingly endless stream of eclectic recordings.Best remembered for the mark he made on the experimental rock
counter-culture of the late 1960s, his influence extended into the
worlds of jazz, classical and electronic music, and his love of
experimentation was present in all of them.
His anarchic demeanor, and
occasionally juvenile antics, accusations of misogyny were counterbalanced by an increasingly
strong sense of social commitment, an individual who shirked rampant commercialism and embraced nonconformity.In addition to being one of the most prolific and versatile composers of
the rock idiom of his time,an incredible artist who produced an insane body of work Zappa he was also an astute and outspoken social and
political commentator., a acerbic, prolific agent provocateur beyond categorisation. His music dealing with weighty subjects commenting on societal norms, politics and religion that still resonate in todays social and political climate.
An atheist, who grew up in a religious Catholic
household. He said that by the time he was 18, he had “escaped the
bondage of being a devout believer.” But the rebellion against religion started long before that. He said,"[My parents] tried to make me go to Catholic school, too.
I lasted a very short time. When the penguin came after me with a
ruler, I was out of there."He certainly did not have kind words to say about religion, especially the
Abrahamic traditions. Just look at some of his song titles: “The Meek Shall
Inherit Nothing,” “Jesus Thinks You’re a Jerk,” “Heavenly Bank Account,”
“Dumb All Over.” Zappa’s disgust of religion was rooted in the belief that religion is
anti-intellectual, that it promotes ignorance. He said about the story
of Adam and Eve,
"What was it that Adam ate that he wasn’t supposed to eat?
. . . it was the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
The subtle message? “Get smart and I’ll fuck you over–sayeth the Lord.”
God is the Smartest–and he doesn’t want any competition."
He was especially critical of religious leaders who he viewed as
hypocritical, preaching one thing and practicing another, those who
became wealthy off the donations of their followers, and those who use
religion to influence political change.Zappa described himself as a Practical Conservative, meaning he
wanted small government and lower taxes. He said he understood that
there were certain large services that only the federal government could
provide, like national defense and large infrastructure projects, but
that these services should be administered with the most efficiency and
at the lowest price possible. He advocated for elimination of income taxes and a greatly reduced role for the federal government.
He was especially critical of the Reagan administration for, among
other things, what he saw as its pandering to the Christian right. he was a libertarian in many ways.Zappa was skeptical of authority and indoctrination, and was critical of the mainstream media.He was also fierce defender of free speech and waged a public battle
against the Parents Music Resource Center and its proposed ratings
system, he testified before a congressional committee in 1985, voicing his
opposition to legislation that would require labeling of music to warn
parents of explicit content. In his prepared statement, about how such
regulations are a threat to the First Amendment, Zappa said, " The establishment of a rating system, voluntary or
otherwise, opens the door to an endless parade of Moral Quality Control
Programs based on “Things Certain Christians Don’t Like.” What if the
next bunch of Washington Wives demands a large yellow “J” on all
material written or performed by Jews, in order to save helpless
children from exposure to concealed Zionist doctrine?"
Zappa clearly wanted government out of all business except that which
only government can provide, and he was willing to attack both political
parties when he thought the freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights
were threatened. But his faith in the political machine wasn’t exactly
resolute. As Zappa put it,"Government is the Entertainment division of the military-industrial complex"
In 1986, Frank Zappa engaged in a fiery debate about dirty lyrics and
censorship based on religious morality in this classic clip from CNN’s
“Crossfire.”Debating with John Lofton, conservative columnist for the Washington Times, Zappa noted that:The biggest threat to America today is not communism.
It’s moving America toward a fascist theocracy. Everything that’s
happened under the Reagan Administration is steering us right down that
pipe.
Asked later in the interview to give “one example of a fascist theocracy” by co-host Tom Braden, Zappa replied: When you have a government that prefers a certain moral
code derived from a certain religion, and that moral code turns into
legislation to suit one certain religious point of view, and if that
code happens to be very very right wing, almost toward Attila the Hun…
Lofton responded: “Well then you are an anarchist.
Every form of civil government is based on some kind of morality Frank,”
but Zappa set him straight, curtly remarking: “Morality in terms of behavior, not in terms of theology! You can watch the exchange, below,
Zappa defines Fascist theocracy
For more of this stuff, I recommend checking out Thorsten Shutte’s new documentary, Eat that Question: Frank Zappa in his own words, an intimate encounter
with the iconoclastic composer and musician with rare archival footage
revealing a provocative 20th-century musical genius and fierce public intellectual whose worldview resonates into the present day and beyond.Frank Zappa’s diverse work throughout his career as a musician and activist all combine to form an
image of Zappa as a confirmed iconoclast who used his talents as composer, guitarist, entertainer, band leader, and
social commentator to skew the status quo, illuminate hypocrisy, and
slaughter sacred cows. The legacy of Frank Zappa will long
be remembered.However for a nonconformist composer, so vehemently opposed to commercialization, it is kind of ironic though that Zappa’s image
is now preserved in brand-name aspic by the strenuously protective
Zappa Family Trust.
Eat that Question: Frank Zappa in his own words, Official trailer 2016
The rag known as the Daily Mail's hypocrisy continues to hold no bounds. On
the same day that it tried to stoke up
anti-immigrant and anti-refugee feeling on its front page, alongside it ran a tribute to 86-year-old actor Andrew Sachs, who has sadly died in a care home last week,after having battled with dementia for the past four years alongside the image of
his best known character; Manuel, an European migrant hotel worker who is subjected to daily verbal and physical
abuse, whose accent and level of English is perpetually mocked, and who
is restricted to the low-paid service sector? Of course the Mail is paying tribute.
You could call it ironic or just bloody plain insensitive because Andrew was born in Berlin,
Germany, and as a Jew had to flee the country to escape the Nazis - the
same Nazis that the Daily Mail at the time enthusiastically supported.Let’s not forget remember that the Mail opposed Jewish refugees coming to Britain in the 1930s. It was ‘an outrage’ they said.
Although the rag does acknowledge Sachs’ relatives background in an
obituary to the actor on web page ten, the entrance web page goes a
incredibly lengthy way to illustrate the way that this tawdry rag has run a program of dehumanising migrants of any kind as much as possible, stoking up fear about migrants to Britain from Europe and then havinge the gall to pay tribute to Andrew Sachs, a migrant from Europe.
While this odious little paper
continues to spew poisonous bile into the atmosphere, I do think it needs to be
publicly vilified and refuted at every opportunity.Let's think about the people of today who are forced to flee oppressive régimes and let's not be like the Daily Mail.
My deepest condolences to Andrew Sachs and his family.
