Passing colors glowing, tinsel hung high Christmas lights, shimmering and sparkling the smell of food, enticing on tongue another world lingers though a different reality resides in the corner of our eyes beyond the tragedy of hunger the waste of consumerism austerity that daily bites. For some now the air drips with sadness as the cold season blows again people on long and tiresome journeys drifting among thrift stores food banks and charity shops as the sky above turns dark and grey citizens left wanting, running on empty struggling on, feeding on misery and decay. Perhaps some small acts of kindness will be sufficient to keep some gladness alight against buffeting winds, strength can grow allow people to decorate hearts with hope fill glasses full of reason and some cheer with little things, perhaps time will heal abandon the past, infiltrate the future share some sustenance of survival.
Today a lot of us are absorbing the outrageous news to declare Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Far right organisations that oppose the two state solution will now congratulate the retard, this dangerous sower of division, and most pro- IsraeL President in American history.
A consequence of this will be the American embassy being relocated from Tel Aviv to the Holy City. This is the first time that a president of the United States has gone against precedence of American foreign policy on the Palestinian - Israeli issue.According to the United Nations, Jerusalem, one of the most oldest and fought over cities in the world, has international status; no peoples has full legal authority over it. This has been respected until now.
Trump has claimed the move is part of the Middle East peace process; a series of failed talks facilitated by the United States that have left the Palestinians disappointed. Recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital will be disastrous to any mediation talks between the Palestinians and Israelis. Not only does Trump's decision legitimise the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and disregards Israel's violations of international law, but it also endangers the Palestinian's right to self determination. Creating more blood in the process which will cost many lives, exposing te lie tat he wants peace in our times. This change in policy not only flaunts international law but is a barrer to peace that flouts an international consensus that a future that a future Palestinian state would have its capital in East Jerusalem.
Nikolay Mladenov, United Nations Special Coordinator he Middle East Peace Process, had argued in the past that Jerusalem should be negotiated between both the Israelis and Palestinians. However, Trump's decision, which is based solely on Israel's national interests, implies that the Palestinians are not allowed to decide or have a say on their own affairs, and that they have no other choice than to watch the further disintegration of their land and their fundamental human rights.
This move will not help Israel or ultimately the Palestinian people, just another reckless sprouting of a very dangerous individual. It just has to be stopped as he inflames tensions in the region and provoke anger among radical groups across the world.
As I write , travel warnings for Jerusalem from the State Department are in place, and embassies across the globe are on alert because of this politically motivated announcement., violence is erupting in the West Bank and Gaza.
Hands of Jerusalem, it is imperative now to work fast to reach a final status solution and work fast to reach a final status solution and a peace solution between Palestinians and Israelis that Trump has now recklessly damaged, that allows the Palestinians to establish an independent state side by side . with Israel and its capital in East Jerusalem. Please write to your MP's urging them to sign Early Day motion 665 protesting the US recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2017-19/665
Evil triumphs when good people do nothing.
The poor man counts his blessings
the rich man counts his gold,
comforts and privilege he has many
while the poor shiver in the cold,
looking for a brighter tomorrow
for some good health, good friends and cheer
that's surely better than the rich mans crock of gold,
they say that everyone is born equal
but that's not a true reflection of society,
the gap between rich and poor gets bigger every day
but a just and fair society must surely be on its way,'
we must always appreciate the blessings in life
yet should take nothing ever for granted
keep on fighting for justice, a better world for all.
.
" It was once said that the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children, those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly. and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick , the needy and the handicapped."
- Hubert H.Humphrey
Since all the Brexit chaos, the plight of the most vulnerble members in our society, including disabled people and the low paid seems to be increasingly overlooked. This is one of the greatest social injustices of our time, which has meant an additional 400,000 children in the UK being pushed into benefit changes, including the roll out of Unversal Credit.( earlier post on this can be found here https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/stop-roll-out-of-universal-credit-day.html ) Since the Conservatives have been in power with their ideological policies of austerity we have seen them intentionally diminish the rights of its own citizens. Their policies such as the bedroom tax, benefit sanctions and now UC have also diproportianally affected the disabled. Research commissioned by Salford Council
suggests that a sudden loss of income by removing benefits could
damage mental health, create tensions within family relationships and
cause individuals to commit crimes. This clearly has implications for
claimants’ human rights, especially as the Government has admitted
sanctions were applied wrongly in 30% of cases.
The United Nations have recently slammed the government too over its treatment of migrant workers, in tems of exploitation, low pay and health care access, specifically citing the fact that the Tories ignored its last set of recommendations. The Tories have also faced a barrage of criticism about their policies that have directly impacted on the vulnerable, disadvantaged and marginalsed that do not respect their rights. Concerning the treatment of disabled people the UN inguiry stated that the UK government have committed "grave" and "systematic" violations of human rights. https://www.thecanary.co/uk/2017/08/24/breaking-un-just-accused-tories-creating-human-catastrophe-uk/ The inquiry was triggered by the
grassroots campaigning organisation Disabled People Against Cuts ,https://dpac.uk.net/
which had grown increasingly concerned by the disproportionate impact
of the coalition’s cuts on disabled people. Surely If you have mental health conditions and legitimate physical
disabilities, you should be looked after not made to feel like you're
worthless. What has this country become?
The Government of the UK is currently now in chaos and its future leadership is
uncertain. Sadly it is unlikely that any immediate change in leadership
will lead to the recognition of the UK's human rights obligations.With increased reliance on foodbanks, unemployment rates, the housing crisis, mental health care austerity cuts to welfare and services which are causing unnecessary deaths and misery. and discrimination against migrants, it is more than time for something to change and for to the heartless Tories to be held account for their shameful flagrant abuses , mistreatment and their systematic violations of peoples human rights.We must continue to seek an end to Austerity and to the mounting injustice we've been seen over
the past six years or so and continue to work with groups or
organisations who seek to advance justice, human rights and respect for
all human beings - in all our diversity.
In the meantime I would urge you to take action at least on Universal Credit
Deep concerns about the roll out and impact of Universal Credit will be highlighted this coming weekend, because this Christmas will be cancelled for thousands of families claiming the new benefit UC. Despite knowng UC causes serious problems for claimants. Theresa May's toxic Tory government is pressing ahead and rolling it out to thousands of people who will have to wait weeks to receive any money.
Claimants are descending into debt,relying on food banks, getting into rent arrears and in many cases getting evicted from their homes because of in-built problems with UC. People with disabilities will be among the hardest hit of these cruel welfare reforms.
UC replaces five benefits - child tax credit, housing benefit, income support, income based jobseekers allowance, income related employment and support allowance and working tax credit. Seven million households will be affected, including one million low paid part-time workers. For the first time ever people actually in work could face being sanctioned, having their benefits stopped if they are unable to prove to the job centre that there searching for better paid work or more hours, in a completely illogical measure by our current out of control government.
The government is imposing UC, despite losing a parliamentary vote on its extension to millions more people. On October 18, Parliament voted by 299 votes to zeros to temporarily halt the introduction of UC. Opposition parties in Parliament led by Labour, passed a motion calling for the government to pause the rollout of UC. The vote was allowed as part of an Opposition Day Debate.
In the face of mounting anger in the population, Theresa May's crisis ridden government instructed its ministers and MPs to abstain. This was due to their fear of a rebellion by at least 12 Tories as well as MPS from its governing partner, the DUP, who were prepared to back Labour. The government responded to the vote by declaring it was not binding, and with no regard to the mounting anger will continue to roll out UC regardless. For fucks sake.
This is why tomorrow Saturday 2 December 2017 I will be supporting Unite Community's national day of action against it, to send a message to the Tory government that they must stop and fix UC before rolling it out to thousands of families who will face a cold hungry Christmas and the threat of losing their homes.
Personally do not believe it can be fixed, or modified it needs to be stopped and scrapped completely. It is crucial that we carry on campaigning against its implementation to defend those on the receiving end of brutal cuts and to push for the complete abolition of these policies that will hurt those who are already the most disadvantaged in our society who are merely being treated as collateral damage. We must continue to resist these devastating policies, an end to this cruel austerity measure and give support to all those that currently need it. Remember no one is immune to becoming ill or losing their jobs.I will be tomorrow joining a demo in my home town of Cardigan, at 1 o clock outside the Guildhall,lets make our voices be heard and tell the government that we wont simply stand back and let this happen. Many , more events will be happening across the country the following story gives more reasons if needed why everybody should be protesting against Universal Credit this Saturday. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/universal-credit-single-parent-stories-a8060451.html
Yesterday I searched for something
some hope I guess, but could not find it,
what else was bloody needed
so I begged ,prayed and pleaded,
mind in array, how could I actually tell
no answers came all seemed like hell,
as politicians pillaged and clouds turned dark
left their truly horrible inedible mark,
I searched for solutions ever so far away
but lacked religion a God that could rearrange,
found some power on the streets instead
friends like me still hungry for change,
fighting, struggling for an end to this mess
releasing thoughts of another world instead,
as this planet whirled on the path of destruction
searching for that elusive place called heaven,
a place where we could all find salvation
a kinder place that can't be broken or stolen.
All the best, hope you feel it to, its the things we can't change that should worry us the most, stop a while reflect on what is right, build and build, move all obstacles in sight, to let things simply be can just become a haunting echo.
Hungry bellied
magnetic undulations of the wind,
our flowers are growing again as winter approaches
freedom has no ending, inside or outside,
whisked in the air ,a force beyond control
in all our wildness, the whiff of escapes radiant smile,
the animating power of expression
manifestations of delight in unknown,
open wounds can be closed by time itself
in moments of kindness, generate warmth,
where surge of spirit is keenly felt
remorse, regret can be abandoned,
distance can be covered without recall
with compassion and love on our lips,
desolation can be completed.
William Blake was a British, poet, painter, engraver, visionary who was born in the Soho district of London on November 28, 1757, to religious dissenting parents, James, a hosier, and Catherine Blake. Considered eccentric, if not mad, in his own day,he is now highly regarded as a seminal figure of the romantic age, and for his expressiveness and creativity, as well as the philosophical and mystical undercurrents that reside within his work
How the hell he's only got a fleeting mention here on this blog over the years cannot fathom because long have I admired and found inspiration from his life and work.
Two of his six siblings died in infancy, and from an early childhood, Blake spoke of having visions, at four he saw God “put his head to the window”; around age nine, while walking through the countryside, he allegedly saw the prophet Ezekiel under a tree and had a vision of "a tree filled with angels .These visions would have a lasting impact on the art and writings that he created.
His parents observed that he was different from his peers and did not force him to attend conventional school. He learned to read and write at home. At age ten, Blake expressed a wish to become a painter, so his parents sent him to drawing school. Two years later, Blake began writing poetry. When he turned fourteen, he apprenticed with James Basire, (because art school proved to costly),who was official engraver to the Society of Antiquaries. He sent Blake to draw the tombs and monuments at Westminster Abbey, a task which brought him to his lifelong love of Gothic art. After his seven-year term ended, he studied briefly at the Royal Academy.of Arts school of Design .where he began exhibiting his own works in 1780,
In 1782, he married an illiterate woman named Catherine Boucher. Blake taught her to read and to write, and also instructed her in draftsmanship. He also helped her to experience visions as he did. Catherine believed absolutely in her husbands visions and genius , and supported him in everything he did. She would help him print the illuminated poetry for which he best remembered today; the couple had no children. He was faithful to her despite writing about sexual energy and polygamy and their marriage remained a close and devoted one until his death.
In 1784 he set up a printshop with a friend and former fellow apprentice, James Parker, but this venture failed after several years. For the remainder of his life, Blake made a meager living as an engraver and illustrator for books and magazines. In addition to his wife, Blake also began training his younger brother Robert in drawing, painting, and engraving. Robert fell ill during the winter of 1787 and succumbed, probably to consumption. As Robert died, Blake saw his brother’s spirit rise up through the ceiling, “clapping its hands for joy.” He believed that Robert’s spirit continued to visit him and later claimed that in a dream Robert taught him the printing method that he used in Songs of Innocence and other “illuminated” works.
Blake’s first printed work, Poetical Sketches (1783), is a collection of apprentice verse, mostly imitating classical models. The poems protest against war, tyranny, and King George III’s treatment of the American colonies. The poem below To Autumn is taken from it. He published his most popular collection, Songs of Innocence, in 1789 and followed it, in 1794, with Songs of Experience. Some readers interpret Songs of Innocence in a straightforward fashion, considering it primarily a children’s book, but others have found hints at parody or critique in its seemingly naive and simple lyrics. Both books of Songs were printed in an illustrated format reminiscent of illuminated manuscripts. The text and illustrations were printed from copper plates, and each picture was finished by hand in watercolors.
Blake was a bold rebel and nonconformist all his life in both his thought and art who was once arrested on a trumped up charge of sedition. A man who hated tyranny and celebrated liberty and was influenced by the ideals and ambitions of the French and American revolutions and openly wore the red revolutionary bonnet in the streets. He espoused savage anarchy and also peace and love and was also an anti monarchist who found it necessary to protest conformity and war in his lifelong struggle for individualism.
He was associated with some of the leading radical thinkers of his day, such as Thomas Paine, William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft. In defiance of 18th-century neoclassical conventions, he valued imagination over reason in the creation of both his poetry and images, asserting that ideal forms should be constructed not from observations of nature but from inner visions. He declared in one poem, “I must create a system or be enslaved by another man’s.” Works such as “The French Revolution” (1791), “America, a Prophecy” (1793), “Visions of the Daughters of Albion” (1793), and “Europe, a Prophecy” (1794) express his opposition to the English monarchy, and to 18th-century political and social tyranny in general. Theological tyranny is the subject of The Book of Urizen (1794). In the prose work The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790-93), he satirized oppressive authority in church and state.He abhorred the way in which Christians looked up to a God enthroned in heaven, a view which offered a model for a hierarchical human politics, which subordinated the majority to a (supposedly) superior elite. He also criticised the dominant philosophy of his day which believed that a narrow view of sense experience could help us to understand everything that there was to be known, including God. Blake's own visionary experiences showed him that rationalism ignored important dimensions of human life which would enable people to hope, to look for change, and to rely on more than that which their senses told them.
Despite his famously radical politics and vehement rejection of much of the social establishment about him, he has since been affectionately adopted by a wide British public as a kind of patron saint. I believe it is precisely because of his politics and anti-establishment views that people feel so much affection for Blake.
While his poetry seemed to focus on the darker aspects of emotion, the texts still adhered to the characteristics typical of the Romantic Period. Blake, like many Romantics of his time, wanted to forge a new path for himself, idealize the individual, feeling over reason, importance of nature and imagination, and removal from corrupt limiting societies.
In 1800 Blake moved to the seacoast town of Felpham, where he lived and worked until 1803 under the patronage of William Hayley. He taught himself Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and Italian, so that he could read classical works in their original language. In Felpham he experienced profound spiritual insights that prepared him for his mature work, the great visionary epics written and etched between about 1804 and 1820. Milton (1804-08), Vala, or The Four Zoas (1797; rewritten after 1800), and Jerusalem (1804-20) They envision a new and higher kind of innocence, the human spirit triumphant over reason.
Blake believed that his poetry could be read and understood by common people, but he was determined not to sacrifice his vision in order to become popular. Blake’s final years, though spent in great poverty and periods of depression because of critical and public failure as an artist, he was cheered by the admiring friendship of a group of younger artists who called themselves “the Ancients.” In 1818 he met John Linnell, a young artist who helped him financially and also helped to create new interest in his work. It was Linnell who, in 1825, commissioned him to design illustrations for Dante's Divine Comedy.His engraving The Ancient of Days,was popular enough to generate commissions for reproductions. To our good fortune, Blake was happy to create several copies of his favorite engraving, at least a baker’s dozen and each one of them unique, the last of which was completed only a few weeks before his death in 1827 from gallstones.
In 1827, the last year of his life, Blake wrote to a friend about those Englishmen who despised “Republican Art” and who, after the French Revolution, thought they were in a “happy state of agreement to which I for One do not agree”. It is amazing that he appears to have retained his radicalism and confidence in humanity. He wrote in The Everlasting Gospel:
Thou art a Man, God is no more
Thy own humanity learn to adore”
On the actual day of his death, he drew one last portrait of his beloved wife, and died a few hours later. However Catherine believed that her husband's spirit remained with her. She continued to sell copies of his illuminated works and paintings, but would not agree to a sale before 'consulting Mr Blake.' On the day that she died, she cheerfully called out to her husband, as if they were in the sae room, that she was coming to him.
William Blake is buried in Bunhill Fields Burial Ground, City Road, Finsbury, London, England. This cemetery was originally the 'Dissenters' graveyard. There is no church attached to the cemetery and the ground is unconsecrated. Here Catherine too was buried four years later among other notable figures of dissent like Daniel Defoe and John Bunyan. A grave marker now stands near to where they were buried.
His works have since been used by people rebelling against a wide range of issues, such as war, conformity, and almost every kind of repression. In the present day among our own progressive idylls we can be like Blake and continue to dream of heaven on Earth, building the new Jerusalem, the new moral world and a restored Albion of free and equal imaginations.
I conclude with this set of four seasonal poems written by Blake, aptly titled "To Spring,” and “To Summer.” 'To Autumn" "To Winter" these seasonal invocations can be read alone, but Blake also intended them to interconnect. The personas of the seasons can be read as counterparts to Blake’s spirits: Tharmas (most like spring), Orc (most like summer), Los (most like autumn), and Urizen (most like winter).In the poem Blake hints at the promise of future growth. Within the harvest are the seeds for future crops. As Autumn flies over the bleak hills to make way for Winter, he leaves behind “his golden load”: an abundance of food, seeds for the Spring, and a feeling of joyous celebration, reflecting his particular view of human nature.
To Spring
O thou with dewy locks, who lookest down Thro' the clear windows of the morning, turn Thine angel eyes upon our western isle, Which in full choir hails thy approach, O Spring!
The hills tell each other, and the listening Valleys hear; all our longing eyes are turned Up to thy bright pavilions: issue forth, And let thy holy feet visit our clime.
Come o'er the eastern hills, and let our winds Kiss thy perfumed garments; let us taste Thy morn and evening breath; scatter thy pearls Upon our love-sick land that mourns for thee.
O deck her forth with thy fair fingers; pour Thy soft kisses on her bosom; and put Thy golden crown upon her languished head, Whose modest tresses were bound up for thee.
To Summer
O Thou who passest thro’ our vallies in Thy strength, curb thy fierce steeds, allay the heat That flames from their large nostrils! thou, O Summer, Oft pitched’st here thy golden tent, and oft Beneath our oaks hast slept, while we beheld With joy, thy ruddy limbs and flourishing hair.
Beneath our thickest shades we oft have heard Thy voice, when noon upon his fervid car Rode o’er the deep of heaven; beside our springs Sit down, and in our mossy vallies, on Some bank beside a river clear, throw thy Silk draperies off, and rush into the stream:
Our vallies love the Summer in his pride.
Our bards are fam’d who strike the silver wire: Our youth are bolder than the southern swains: Our maidens fairer in the sprightly dance: We lack not songs, nor instruments of joy, Nor echoes sweet, nor waters clear as heaven, Nor laurel wreaths against the sultry heat.
To Autumn
O Autumn, laden with fruit, and stainèd
With the blood of the grape, pass not, but sit
Beneath my shady roof; there thou may’st rest,
And tune thy jolly voice to my fresh pipe,
And all the daughters of the year shall dance!
Sing now the lusty song of fruits and flowers.
The narrow bud opens her beauties to
The sun, and love runs in her thrilling veins;
Blossoms hang round the brows of
Morning, and Flourish down the bright cheek of modest Eve,
Till clust’ring Summer breaks forth into singing,
And feather’d clouds strew flowers round her head.
The spirits of the air live on the smells
Of fruit; and Joy, with pinions light, roves round
The gardens, or sits singing in the trees.“
Thus sang the jolly Autumn as he sat;
Then rose, girded himself, and o’er the bleak
Hills fled from our sight; but left his golden load.
To Winter
O Winter! bar thine adamantine doors:
The north is thine; there hast thou built thy dark
Deep-founded habitation. Shake not thy roofs,
Nor bend thy pillars with thine iron car.'
He hears me not, but o'er the yawning deep
Rides heavy; his storms are unchain'd, sheathèd
In ribbèd steel; I dare not lift mine eyes,
For he hath rear'd his sceptre o'er the world.
Lo! now the direful monster, whose 1000 skin clings
To his strong bones, strides o'er the groaning rocks:
He withers all in silence, and in his hand
Unclothes the earth, and freezes up frail life.
He takes his seat upon the cliffs,--the mariner
Cries in vain. Poor little wretch, that deal'st
With storms!--till heaven smiles, and the monster
Is driv'n yelling to his caves beneath mount Hecla.
The following two sites contain useful material and links about William Blake :-
William Blake: The Complete Illuminated Books (reproductions from the Blake Trust, with introduction by David Bindman, Thames & Hudson, W.W. Norton & Co., 2001)
The Complete Poetry & Prose of William Blake (ed. David Erdman, with commentary by Harold Bloom, revised edition, Anchor, 1997) William Blake : Visionary Anarchist - Peter Marshall , Freedom Press
In the following video, author, poet Iain Sinclair gives an inside look to the history behind Blake’s radical works.
The nation woke up yesterday to the news that Prince Harry and the American actress Megan Markhle were engaged after a whirlwind romance. It is always nice to hear of couples falling in love, but before we get carried away, lets not forget that the last Royal Wedding cost the taxpayer a whopping £20-39 million for security alone. This one i'm sure is going to be a truly extravagent opulent affair too at at time when millions of peoples benefits are being frozen for another year,being pushed into poverty, cannot afford to eat and are forced to resort to using food banks in order to survive.
We are supposed to be living in an age of austerity where the poorest among us have to make sacrifice after sacrifice, yet Prince Harry and his relations are still able live out their lives in royal palaces, surrounded by servants and all their vestiges of privilege.
Somehow in the 21st Century they are still celebrated as being somehow more superior than mere commoners, who living through hard times have to struggle every day simply to make ends meet, and somehow express gratitude to the royals for lording it over them.
Harry's dad Charles, it has been reported is likely to pick up most of the bill for what is said to be a Spring 2018 wedding and reception, even if custom dictates otherwise, but where does he get his money from, mostly from the Duchy and Cornwall estate, where he does not have to pay corporation tax or capital gains tax, and effectively this royal tax dodger gets the rest of his money from the British taxpayer, so not really going to cost him a penny.
Who knows it all might actually lead to a shift in direction, good old harry boy might choose to give up his Royal privileges and entitlements and choose to live with his future wife as an ordinary person, now if that happened, I would actually applaud and truly consider that to be a noble thing. In the meantime however please forgive me for my lack of enthusiasm for the royal wedding that has just been announced, I am not a complete killjoy, I hope even as a committed republican that their love lasts , and they have a nice time together, but I simply don't think their wedding should come to the cost of ordinary people across the land, while many are facing such hardship. The news I would prefer to see is how the Tories are going to address inequality and anger over austerity after seven years of austerity and cuts instead.
I really do believe that we should all be paying more attention to things like the diastrous roll out of universal credit, the poverty that is facing many at the present time, instead of focussing on what seems to me, call me a cynic, to be a classic distraction excercise, when the hardest hit are paying the price for the excesses of a few. So I say instead welfare not fanfare and Tories out for Christmas, now that is something I truly would celebrate.
At end of day the British monarchy, despite its great wealth, and long traditions based on elitism, has little real power now, there is a rise in people who have simply had enough, and want to seek to transform society for the better, and would actually like to see the end of the monarchy, this tired old institution once for all. Here is a link to Republic, the anti-monarchy campaign group for an elected head of state, who at least had the tenacity to issue a one worded statement : "Congratulations."
