A Burger
King tweet advertising milkshakes has been banned by watchdogs for ‘irresponsibly’ promoting its
milkshakes in the wake of protesters throwing drinks over right-wing
campaigners. The fast food chain was found to have broken
advertising rules over a tweet sent on 18 May,a
day after a Brexit Party rally in Edinburgh, a Burger King tweet read:
"Dear people of Scotland. We're selling milkshakes all weekend. Have
fun. Love BK. #justsaying"
Police had encouraged (and succeeded) in having a McDonald's location
in Edinburgh, Scottland ban the sale of milkshakes in an attempt to
stop potential customers from buying milkshakes and hurling them at
Farage who was in Edinburgh for a rally. In true rival fashion, Burger King tongue-in-cheek subtweeted McDonald's in the since-deleted post above.
Milkshaking right wing political candidates had become popular in May this year, during the heat of European election campaigning and the height of Brexit discussions. Far
right figure Tommy Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, had been
twice drenched by milkshakes in the preceding days as he campaigned in
the north-west of England. In one incident, Mr Robinson appeared to throw punches at a man who had thrown milkshake over him during a heated exchange in Warrington.. and UKIP candidate Carl Benjamin, was at a
public meeting in Cornwall on May 10 when a protester also tried to
throw a drink over him. 48 hours after the tweet, on May 20, a man in Newcastle threw a £5.25 banana and salted caramel over Farage.
The post drew 24 complaints from members of the public in all, alarmed
that the message would spark a wave of copycat offences, despite a
follow-up message from Burger King which read: “We'd never endorse
violence - or wasting our delicious milkshakes. So enjoy the weekend and
please drink responsibly people.”
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)
said 'Although we acknowledged
that the tweet may have been intended as a humorous response to the
suspension of milkshake sales by the advertiser's competitor, in the
context in which it appeared we considered it would be understood as
suggesting that Burger King milkshakes could be used instead by people
to 'milkshake' Nigel Farage.
'We
considered the ad therefore condoned the previous anti-social behaviour
and encouraged further instances. We therefore concluded that the ad was
irresponsible.'
The ASA added: 'We
told Burger King to ensure that its future marketing communications did
not condone or encourage anti-social behaviour.'
A
Burger King spokesman said: 'Our tweet regarding the situation in
Edinburgh was intended to be a tongue-in-cheek reaction to the
situation. It appears some have misinterpreted this as an endorsement of
violence, which we absolutely reject. 'At
Burger King, we totally believe in individuals' right to freedom of
expression and would never do anything that conflicts with this. We'd
never endorse violence or wasting our delicious milkshakes. On a personal note I think the milkshaking victims involved all truly got their just desserts.
Elie Wiesel a survivor of Auschwitz and Buchenwald, a
Nobel laureate, and the most powerful witness for the six million Jews
killed in the Holocaust, was born and grew up in the small town of Sighet in
Transylvania, where people of different languages and religions had
lived side by side for centuries, sometimes peacefully, sometimes in
bitter conflict. The region was long claimed by both Hungary and
Romania. In the 20th century, it changed hands repeatedly, a hostage to
the fortunes of war. Although the village changed hands from
Romania to Hungary, the Wiesel family believed they were safe from the
persecutions suffered by Jews in Germany and Poland.
The secure world of Wiesel’s childhood
ended abruptly with the arrival of the Nazis in Sighet in 1944. The
Jewish inhabitants of the village were deported en masse to
concentration camps in Poland. The 15-year-old boy was separated from
his mother and sister immediately on arrival in Auschwitz. He never saw
them again. He managed to remain with his father for the next year as
they were worked almost to death, starved, beaten, and shuttled from
camp to camp on foot, or in open cattle cars, in driving snow, without
food, proper shoes, or clothing. In the last months of the war, Wiesel’s
father succumbed to dysentery, starvation, exhaustion and exposure.
After the war he found asylum in France, where he learned for the first time that his two older sisters had surived the war. Wiesel mastered the French language and studied philosophy at the Sorbonne, He became a professional journalist writing for
newspapers in both France and Israel.For ten years, he observed a self-imposed
vow of silence and wrote nothing about his wartime experience. In 1955,
at the urging of the Catholic writer Francois Mauriac, he set down his
memories in Yiddish, in a 900-page work entitled Un die welt hot geshvign (And
the world kept silent). It was published in French in 1958 as “La Nuit” and two years later in English as “Night.”
Wiesel’s text was stark and often painfully simple: “Never shall I
forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the
children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a
silent blue sky.”
The book sparked discussion of the Holocaust, an event that had been
the topic of relatively few books up to that point. If nothing else, it
made its readers ask one unavoidable question: Why?
To Wiesel, the
role of the artist was to remember and to recreate, not to imagine,
since reality was far more shocking than anything that could be
imagined.
Wiesel himself said: “I wanted to show the end, the finality of the
event. Everything came to an end — history, literature, religion, God.
There was nothing left. And yet we begin again with ‘Night.’”
In 1956 while in New York reporting on the
United Nations, Elie Wiesel was struck by a taxi cab. His injuries
confined him to a wheelchair for almost a year. Unable to renew the
French document which had allowed him to travel as a “stateless” person,
Wiesel applied successfully for American citizenship. Once he
recovered, he remained in New York and became a feature writer for the
Yiddish-language newspaper, The Jewish Daily Forward (Der forverts). Wiesel went on to author over 60 books, most of them
memoirs and novels, but also essays and plays. Most of Wiesel’s novels, essays, and plays explore the
subject that haunted him, the events that he described as “history’s
worst crime.”
As these and other books brought Wiesel to the attention of readers and critics, he became a
spokesman for human rights wherever they were threatened, and used his fame to plead for justice for
oppressed peoples, speaking out on
behalf of the victims of genocide and oppression all over the world, defending the cause of Soviet Jews, Nicaragua’s Miskito Indians,
Argentina’s Desaparecidos, Cambodian refugees, the Kurds,, of apartheid in South Africa, and victims
of war, famine and genocide from Rwanda, Biafra, Bosnia, Kosovo to Darfur.
In 1976, Elie Wiesel was named Andrew Mellon Professor of
Humanities at Boston University. He also taught at the City University
of New York and was a visiting scholar at Yale University. In 1978,
President Jimmy Carter appointed Elie Wiesel Chairman of the United
States Holocaust Memorial Council. Wiesel was a driving force behind the
establishment of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
His words, “For the dead and the living, we must bear witness,” are
engraved in stone at the entrance to the museum. In 1985 he was awarded
the Congressional Gold Medal, and in 1986, the Nobel Prize for Peace,In his Nobel citation, Wiesel was
described as a messenger to mankind. “His message is one of peace,
atonement, and human dignity,” the citation reads. “His belief that the
forces fighting evil in the world can be victorious is a hard-won
belief.” Wiesel lived up
to that moniker with exquisite eloquence on December 10 that year,
exactly ninety years after Alfred Nobel
died, as he took the stage at Norway’s Oslo City Hall and delivered a
spectacular speech on justice, oppression, and our individual
responsibility in our shared freedom.
“Sometimes we must interfere,” Wiesel
said in his Nobel acceptance speech. “When human lives are endangered,
when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities
become irrelevant. Whenever men or women are persecuted because of their
race, religion, or political views, that must—at that moment—become the
center of the universe.”
You can listen and read the full acceptance speech here https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1986/wiesel/facts/
Elie Wiesel and his wife, Marion Wiesel, (the former Marion Erster Rose), a Holocaust survivor; established the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity
soon after he was awarded the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize. The foundation’s
mission, rooted in the memory of the Holocaust, is to combat
indifference, intolerance, and injustice through international dialogue
and youth-focused programs that promote acceptance, understanding, and
equality. The international conferences of the Elie Wiesel Foundation,
which focus on themes of peace, education, health, the environment, and
terrorism, bring together Nobel laureates and world leaders to discuss
social problems and develop suggestions for change.
His advocacy against genocide left him vulnerable to criticism from
extremists and once to physical assault. In 2007, he was attacked in a
San Francisco hotel elevator by a Holocaust denier named Eric Hunt, who
had followed Wiesel across the country. Wiesel was not injured. Although he became known to millions for his
human rights activism, he by no means abandoned the art of fiction. His
later novels included A Mad Desire to Dance (2009) and The Sonderberg Case
(2010), a tale set in contemporary New York City, with a cast of
characters including Holocaust survivors, Germans, American emigrants to
Israel and New York literati. Wiesel and his wife, made
their home in New York City. He died at home in Manhattan, at the age of 87.
As a writer, a peace activist, and always most
important to him, a teacher, Wiesel embodied, perhaps more than any of
his contemporaries, the words “bearing witness.” He dedicated his life advocating for peace, humanity, truth, and helping
other survivors emerge stronger after the devastation they experienced, and he not only shaped how the world remembers the Holocaust, but how the memory of atrocity can help prevent future tragedies. Defining someone’s suffering as an interruption removes their value and
denies their humanity. Wiesel warned of the lure of this indifferent
mindset. He explained that the temptation of inaction and apathy allows
us to focus solely on our own desires and goals. Empathy and engagement
with people is what makes us human and Wiesel showed us that by embracing
indifference we would betray our humanity.
In a time when the world seems like a darker place, it is important
to remember those who speak up for justice, hope and humanity. Elie Wiesel, was one of
them. Not only was he an influential voice reminding humanity of the damage it can
inflict on itself, Wiesel also stood for action. For hope, courage,
determination and the power of individuals to stand against injustice
and violence, and to build a better future. He has inspired generations to
social action. He celebrated the power of law to change people's lives
when he accepted the 2012 William O. Douglas Award. "This is what we
must do -- not to sleep well when people suffer anywhere in the world,"
Professor Wiesel told the audience of more than 1,000. "Not to sleep
well when someone's persecuted. Not to sleep well when people are hungry
all over here or there. Not to sleep well when there are people sick
and nobody is there to help them. Not to sleep well when anyone
somewhere needs you. You don't sleep well. And for this... we are very
grateful to you."
Here are few more of his most powerful messages, still as relevant as ever, standing as an eternal beacon for humanity.
"We must always take sides. Neutrality helps
the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never
the tormented."
"The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference."
“No human race is superior; no religious faith is inferior. All collective judgments are wrong. Only racists make them.”
"One person of integrity can make a difference."
"Once you bring life into the world, you must protect it. We must protect it by changing the world."
“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.”
" Hope is like peace. It is not a gift from God. It is a gift only we can give one another."
Climate activist Greta Thunberg gave an impassioned tongue-lashing to politicians,
business leaders and even climate activists when she delivered a heart wrenching speech to the UN Climate Action summit in New York about the human reality of our changing climate while the world’s leaders stand by and do nothing. Her message was clear "This is all wrong. I shouldn't be standing here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean," she said
with tears in her eyes. " Yet, you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you? You have
stolen my dreams in my childhood with your empty words. Yet, I, I'm one
of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying and entire
ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction.
And all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic
growth. How dare you?””
To get to the UN event, Thunberg sailed across the Atlantic on a
zero-emissions boat to avoid the carbon emissions that would have come
from flying.
For most of us Greta’s candour and firm resistance in the face of ecological breakdown
is the breath of fresh air we so
desperately need in order to give our world leaders a kick up the
backside, they so deserve when it comes to climate change. She is right, "she shouldn't be up there" we should not be at this tipping point, our house is on fire, as a result of climate change and our Governments are failing to act fast enough. We should not forget that capitalism is the problem too, alongside the industrial military complex, these are the systems that continue to wreak havoc,and destroy our planet, but in the meantime we should thank Greta for being the lightning spark that so many of us had been
waiting for.
Incredibly though Greta is facing a deluge of hate across the globe and is being portrayed by some, as a precocious schoolgirl with absolutely no idea
what she’s talking about, and there are actually people jeering and mocking the warnings from a solitary 16-year-old girl who made a stand for what she believed in, attacking her character and wilfully misinterpreting her motivations
Greta Thunberg has been demanding that politicians act to prevent catastrophic climate
change, that the scientists have been warning us for years about. We are facing droughts, floods and
storms that are devastating communities across the world every day, and
thousands of species are going extinct, while those in power are
carrying on as normal.
Climate change is having a devastating effect on our seas
and on the frozen ice caps of the world, a new report from the UN’s
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns.The more
than 100 scientists who contributed to Wednesday's report made
projections of rising sea levels, and assessed different scenarios based
on different levels of warming.
Worryingly, there may reportedly be some impacts that we're no longer in a position to stop, such as the amount of sea level rise. The report, which makes grim reading, concluded that that the global ocean has now warmed without pause since 1970. Greta Thunberg has made it clear to world leaders that they can
not ignore these facts any longer. No wonder students question whether there’s any point in carrying on learning. You can read the report in fullhere.
Greta marched into the public eye in August 2018 when she skipped
school, aged 15, to protest climate change outside the Swedish
parliament building. The sole person there, her parents warned her
against going, her classmates declined her invitation to attend, but her
skolstrejk för klimatet (school strike for climate) banner stood tall.
One year later, her homemade sign has been translated into dozens of
languages and her protests have travelled across over 70 countries. She
has just been named GQ’s ‘Game Changer of the Year’ but for some Greta's message makes them uncomfortable.
For those who hold the reins of power across the world, it must
be hard to be told by a 16 year old that they have failed at their job.
But that’s kind of her point. She wants them to be nervous. Greta told
political leaders and billionaire entrepreneurs in Davos: ‘I don’t want
you to be hopeful. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I
feel every day. And then I want you to act.’
As the clock ticks down on our time left to make a positive impact on
the climate crisis, Greta has devoted her time and energy on educating our world leaders on why we need to
act now, but smear campaigns have followed the teenager from the moment she
stepped into the limelight fighting for her cause, and despite being accused of spreading
panic and conspiracy theories about our planet, she continues to prove
time and time again, that she’s actually more mature than many
politicians and media outlets.
A 16 year old who doesn’t wear makeup or conform to any of the
Instagram-worshipping, generation Z stereotypes that politicians love to
belittle? No wonder they don’t know how to handle her power.
Beyond attacks on her mission to force a change for our environment,
some journalists have taken it upon themselves to hit below the belt,
with Andrew Bolt, a columnist for The Herald Sun, an Australian paper
owned by climate denier business tycoon Rupert Murdoch, called her ‘deeply disturbed’
and commented on her ‘many mental disorders.’ The 16 year old has
Asperger’s and has been very open in the past about her condition. In an interview with
BBC journalist Nick Robinson, Thunberg said that "being different is a
gift." If she didn't have Asperger's, Thunberg added, she wouldn't have
become such a passionate climate activist. Thunberg has also tweeted about her condition, saying that having Asperger's is a "superpower."
Greta has delivered a clear action for the world leaders gathered at
the United Nations to respond and we should keep standing up to her and all those that keep on speaking
truth to power, those that are revolting and rebelling against being exploited and abused, against an economy which puts profit above people and planet, children like Greta shouting at us to hear
their voices. They’ve been
forced to become the adults because we’ve become the children.
They are
right and we are wrong. They are the future and we are the dead,
broken, failed past.
Governments have a stark choice, to either come up with concrete action plans for large-scale CO2 reduction, or condemn Greta and future generations to more extreme heat, forest fires, drought and rising sea levels. While we hold our breath waiting for an answer from the politicians and corporations, what else can we do?
If you have three minutes and 40 seconds today, watch the video below. In it,
Greta and journalist George Monbiot simply explain that – alongside
stopping burning fossil fuels immediately – nature is a tool for
fighting runaway climate change. Mangroves, peat bogs, jungles, marshes,
swamps and coral reefs. They’re all perfectly designed to capture normal amounts of CO2 from the air.
Yet an area of forest the size of the UK is lost to deforestation each year. With the embers of the Amazon tragedy still hot, just when we need nature the most, we’re destroying it faster than ever.
In the video, they warn how the world spends 1000 times more on global
fossil fuel subsidies than on natural based solutions. Just 2% of all
money spent on tackling climate change goes on projects that protect,
restore and use nature.
But the message Greta and George give ends hopefully. We can support
campaigns to protect forests. We can plant trees to help ecosystems
bounce back. And we can stop funding things that destroy nature on a
massive scale.
Vote for people who defend nature. Join natural climate movements.
Tell everyone you know. While Greta wakes our leaders up, let’s protect, restore and fund
natural climate solutions, do not however support a system that fuels destruction, keep holding to account fossil fuel executives as they attempt to greenwash their records and push false solutions to the climate catastrophe,help nature do what it’s designed to do, and provide constant solidarity and support to the
Youth of the Planet, and all those fighting to save the planet, who all play a fundamental role in shaping the
better society that we currently can only dream about.
Here's some food for thought
As the power lines spit and crackle
The PM currently has nowhere to hide
After attempt to subvert democracy failed
The masses now hungry for some change
With voracious appetites, belly's yearning,
Creating new recipes to heal the nation
After Johnson misled us to get prorogation,
Who once said while arrogantly boasting
"Our policy is to have our cake and eat it"
Adding lines typical of his bluff and bluster
"We are Processo, but by no means anti- pesto"
But breaking the law with contempt was his game
Now this jokers luck has finally flamed out
No more whitewash cards to play
Scheming agenda now transparent and indisputable
His ferocious duplicity unveiled
The myopic mission manacled
The floundering fish has fallen flat
As belated comeuppance mercilessly delivered
His just desserts felicitously garnished
The final scenes curtains dance shut.
One nation, under prorogation. Boris Johnson fought the Law and the Law won.
Amazing news The Supreme Court in London has agreed with the Scottish Supreme Court that Boris Johnsons controversial decision to prorogue Parliament for 5 weeks was unlawful and misled the Queen. Making the PM of the United Kingdom an actual criminal. Which could lead him to becoming the shortest serving prime minister in history.
Speaking at the Supreme Court, the court's president Lady Hale declared that " the descioin to adise her Majesty to proroque Parliament was unlawful - because it had the effect of frustrating or preventing the ability of Parliament to carry out its constitutional functions without proper justification."
Hale went on to state that, as the decision to prorogue was unlawful, Parliament has not actually in effect been proroqued and could therefore be recalled immediately. The Supreme Court's decision was unanimously agreed between all 11 judges.
Immediately. following the rulng, the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow issued a statement declaring that Parliament would be recalled as soon as possible. Naturally many have responded to this decision by calling for Boris Johnson to resign, claiming that his position as Prime Minister is now untenable.
Whilst speaking at the Labour Conference, the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, said:
" I will be in touch immediately to demand Parliament is recalled so we can question the Prime Ministter, demand he obey the law that has been passed by parliament. I invite Boris Johnson to consider his position."
Labour's Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry said :
"Boris Johnson should resign and Parliament out to be recalled immdiately."
The Supreme Court Juudgement is a victory for the rule of law. It is a reminder that in this country no one is above the law and that our judges should hold the powerful to account wtihout fear or favour. Whatever you think about the decision to prorogue Parliament and
whatever you think about Brexit, this is our constitutional system
working exactly as it should – the judiciary independently scrutinising
the actions of the Government.
This welcome news also serves to highlight the fact that the Queen was given an instruction to do an unlawful thing, and she did it, despite being told she has the benefit of decades of experience, she couldn't see what was obvious to everyone else, that Johnson's motives were not honest. The "I was doing what I was told' is no defence.
Yes, refusing prorogation would have been dangerous territory for
the monarchy, but that's the job. Truth is, this whole episode exposes
the monarchy as a pointless and ineffective institution.The Queen has abdicated all responsibility for her actions and that is
not a sustainable position. With the political system in disarray, and a government that has shown a willingness to go above the law, we need a general election and a democratic alternative to the
monarchy, a written constitution and an accountable and effective head
of state.
Flavio Costantini was a Italian anarchist,graphic artist and printmaker who was born in Rome on 21st September, 1926. He became a Sea Captainand
worked in the navy as second lieutenant. Then, he wouldl switch to the
merchant ship where he developed a passionate interest in literature. In particular, he was inspired by the writer Franz Kafka and would go on to illustrate his America and The process.
'I started to draw because I read the Kafka books… it was impossible to
write like Kafka, so I began to draw'. Other writers followed, but it
was the human condition as portrayed by Kafka that was to remain the
dominant influence in Costantini’s world.
Once he went ashore, in 1954, he would dedicate himself to activities that let him probe his passion for creativity. He nurtured his interest in painting and literature,and in 1959, after a trip to Spain, he mades a number of paintings about Bullfighting. He was a member of the artists' group that founded the Galleria del
Deposito in Boccadasse, Genoa. Other members were Eugenio Carmi,
Emanuele Luzzati, Carlo Vita..
The period between the early 1960s and mid 1970s coincided with a
flood tide of intense democratic hopes for large numbers of people.
Costantini had been a communist until 1962, but a month long visit to
Moscow when he was 36 caused him to reconsider his beliefs. In Moscow he saw “an
endless stream of tourist peasantry who were strangely silent, neither
sad nor happy, but were canalised in a disenchanted, unconscious
pilgrimage … The revolution had ended… In the squalid vertical squares
of New York or in the equally squalid horizontal squares of Moscow,
reaching beyond the languid reminiscences of old Europe, this was
perhaps an alternative, an isolated but insistent voice, an ancient
Utopia which, however, had nothing in common with the Fabian longings of
HG Wells. Since then, since 1963, I have tried, within the scope of my
possibilities, to publicise this uncompromising alternative.”
He reread a book he had disliked some years previously, Memoirs of a
Revolutionist by Victor Serge. Serge’s description of the heroic period
of French anarchist activism that highlighted the end of the last
century provided Costantini with a social theme that was to be his
inspiration for the next two decades. He felt, like Serge, that although
shot through with contradictions, the French anarchists were “people
who demanded, before anything else, harmony between words and deeds”.
They were very often lonely and isolated individuals, sensitive in their
own way, whose reaction to confusion and alienation was to act, to
refuse to submit.
Costantini’s work during these two decades is a documentation of this
dramatic period in mankind’s odyssey towards a free society based on
the principles of social justice described by Bakunin over a century
ago: “It is the triumph of humanity, it is the conquest and
accomplishment of the full freedom and full development, material,
intellectual and moral, of every individual, by the absolute free and
spontaneous organisation of economic and social solidarity as completely
as possible between all human beings living on the earth.”
There is irony here, too: the faces of the policemen, for example,
firing on strikers in Chicago, 1886, are those of four US presidents.
Another tempera, depicting the capture of Ravachol, has Toulouse-Lautrec
as the arresting officer.
Costantini’s haunting faces, drawn directly from contemporary
sources, provide an element of photographic realism that contrasts
starkly with the decorative backdrop. Whether it is in the faces of the
protagonists, the architectural or stylistic minutiae, there is a
lovingly researched detail, harmony and structural perfection.
The ebbing of revolutionary hopes and expectations in the mid 1970s
gave Costantini the sensation that he was witnessing the end of an era.
He came to believe that the act of revolution, as a cathartic means of
achieving the good society, was no longer possible without serious risk
of sinking into a sea of anomie. His
later work presented a pessimistic view of civilization. He created
series of paintings exploring historical themes: Anarchy, the wreck of
the Titanic, alchemy and Mozart, the French Revolution and its
victims, Yekaterinburg and the murder of Nicholas II and his family. His
last series offered a dark reading of Pinocchio, which he considered one of the three or four greatest Italian novel.
He would never abandon his love for literature, as witnessed by numerous
portraits dedicated to writers and poets. But also ilustrations produced
in volumes such as The fire horse by Vladimir Majakovskij (1969; reprinted 2006), Heart by Edmondo De Amicis (1977), The shadow line by Joseph Conrad (1989), Memories from the underground by Fëdor Dostoevskij (1997). Furthermore, portraits for national newspapers such as La Domenica del Corriere, Corrieredella Sera, La Repubblica, L’Europeo, Panorama e L’Espresso.
In 1980 Costantini began to immerse himself in a series of light-hearted portraits of the authors who had contributed most to his understanding of the world. Each is accompanied by rebus-like objects associated with the subject, or which provide an important theme in their work. Thus, Kafka is shown with his beetle; Poe with a bottle of Jack Daniel’s whiskey; Stevenson with a seagull, lifebelt and a killed figure; Conrad with a compass and a photograph of a steamer, and so on.
He died in Genova on the 20th of May 2013, after suffering from lung cancer, he had devoted his life to using his
brushes to reproduce the pure song of the revolutionaries who rejected
all compromise— and who never disappointed.. The Archive of Flavio Costantini, aims to encourage, foster, save guard and spread the
knowledge of his works and research. His works have appeared in galleries across the world, and he has been prominently featured in dozens of international art magazines, and has illustrated several books including The Art of Anarchy (1974), The Shadow Line (1989) and Letters from the Underworld (1997).
A short biography by Stuart Christie can be found here. https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/t4b9k9…
And a selection of his artworks here https://libcom.org/gallery/anarchist-art-flavio-costantini…
Today, September 20, three days before the UN Climate Summit in NYC, which will discuss their plans for aggressive action to address the current climate emergency, young
people and adults will strike all across the world to demand
transformative action be taken to address the climate crisis. This
global climate strike, represents a crucial opportunity for the movement
against climate catastrophe and for people. to demand a right to a
future.
This movement has already mobilised hundreds of thousands of students in
over 40 countries, with young people around the world participating in
incredibly militant strikes and marches, the aim of which is to force
governmental action on climate change.Students across the world are planning today to walk out of class to call attention to the issue. But everyone is invited to express solidarity and "disrupt business as usual," organizers say."Together,
we will sound the alarm and show our politicians that business as usual
is no longer an option," they say. "The climate crisis won't wait, so
neither will we."
People are finally joining the dots. We are one planet, one interconnected ecosystem, and there are no single
issues. War, social injustice and climate breakdown are
inter-connected, and so must be the response. Today’s wars are caused
increasingly by struggles for resources like water and arable
land, and they cause drought, climate breakdown and displacement.
Today’s refugees not only flee violence and political persecution ,but
also grueling poverty, the denial of basic human rights, the daily
culture of violence that is the legacy of war and injustice. A global
economic order that benefits few and impoverishes
many destroys the futures of the young and of generations to come.
Fundamentally, the problem is that Capitalism in its current guise
ranks short-term, often volatile growth over long-term stability. It’s a
beast that needs constant feeding. We exploit the earth’s limited
natural resources to produce plastic, metal, and paper. We burn fossil
fuels to generate the energy that powers our way of life. We drive other
species to the brink of extinction for food, fashion and more space. We
turn our fellow humans into commodities, their labour often valued at
less than the equivalent of £1 a day.
And worse is to come if we don’t act. Most scientists agree that we have just 12 years until warming reaches the tipping point of 1.5C.
The evidence warns us that there’s no coming back from that, leading to
rising seas, stronger storms, heat waves and yes ecological
catastrophe.The Extinction Rebellion
demonstrations and school strikes have at least created a
justifiable sense of urgency. The younger generation is showing us the
way: the onus is now on governments, businesses and society to work
together before it's far too late.
Todays school strike, which adults around the world have been asked to join,
is the largest mobilisation yet attempted by the youth climate movement
launched last year by the Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg. As such, it
is an event of international significance.
There will be strike events in at least 137
countries. Trade Unions and workers across the world are organising to
support the Global Climate Strike on 20th which will begin the week of
action. Trade Unions for Energy Democracy have collated some of the
statements and union support and action planned across the world.
The TUC has unanimously passed a motion to
support the school student Global Climate Strike and
has called on TUC affiliate unions to organise a 30 minute work day
campaign action to coincide with the school students strike, and Amnesty International has called on head
teachers worldwide to back the global protests.
On its website https://globalclimatestrike.net/ Global Climate Strike says, “This September, millions
of us will walk out of our workplaces and homes to join young climate
strikers on the streets and demand an end to the age of fossil fuels. “Our house is on fire — let’s act like it. We demand climate justice for everyone.”
.Don't let young people fight alone, we need to show the powerful that the whole world is acting with them. When your children or grandchildren ask what did you do to stop the climate crisis, say you joined the September 20 climate strike and demanded a better world. The fate of our planet is at stake. .Go out and make yourself heard.
The NHS was the supreme achievement of the post-war welfare state ,subsequently becoming one of Britain's best loved institutions, and the one most likely to keep you alive. It is currently in crisis . Yet far from being accidental, this crisis has been deliberately designed by the Tories to accelerate NHS privatisation, forcing hospitals to
compete against low-cost private companies to provide services. Since
the Conservatives took power, the percentage of the NHS budget going to
private healthcare providers has doubled – £1.5 billion of which went to
companies with direct financial links to Tory MPs. Please support John Pilger's latest film that unearths the hidden agenda:
My last film, The Coming War on China, was only
completed because of the generosity and solidarity of the hundreds of
people whose names appear in the end-credits. For me, watching those
names roll is one of the proudest moments of the film.
Initially, I
was reluctant to crowd-fund and said so in the preamble on the
crowd-funding site; I believed most people needed the money in their
pockets and it was up to me and my colleagues at Dartmouth Films to
convince likely institutions or rich donors with a conscience (yes, they
exist) to impart their loose change.
But when one of the major
funders of the film suddenly pulled out, it looked like the film and its
editing would grind to a halt.
The crowd-funders came to our
rescue: people who gave a fiver or what they could afford (and often
couldn’t afford). What struck me was the entirely gracious way people
offered to help. They weren’t giving charity, they said; they were
delighted, even honoured, to be partners in the making and success of a
film they considered important.
Today, I am again making an appeal for support – this time for a film whose urgency touches all our lives, literally.
It’s
about the NHS, the last bastion of a truly people’s institution without
which so many of us would stumble and fall and perhaps not survive.
The film is certainly a tribute to the NHS; but, above all, it’s a warning.
Under
our noses, often secretly and deceptively, our National Health Service
is being undermined and sold off: piece by precious piece to the likes
of Richard Branson and the giant American health insurance companies
that are at the root of the misery that is American healthcare.
The
privatisation of the NHS has been mostly insidious – by “stealth”, as
one of Mrs. Thatcher’s cohorts once advised. But since 2010, the
“reforms” have speeded up. It’s got to the point that if we don’t act
now, we’ll wake up one day to an unrecognizable health service that is
no longer ours.
As with my previous films, this film will be in
cinemas and on network TV, bringing a vital public message, and warning,
to a mass audience
With this urgency in mind, please support this
work – again, with whatever you can afford. Your name will appear with
special honour as the credits roll. Thank you.
John Pilger
05 September 2019
It’s not just about the money! If you can’t contribute, you can help us enormously by:
TELLING your friends, family, colleagues, neighbours and contacts about this film and share this page:
Have just managed to get hold of the latest album by the Last Poets. Formed in 1968,they are wideely heralded as the godfathers of hip hop alongside the likes of
Gil Scott-Heron. Their brand of politically charged
poetry has inspired some of the biggest names such as al music released by African American
musicians including Marvin Gaye, Funkadelic, Curtis Mayfield and Quincy Jones, and they eventually inspired hip hop giants like Dead Prez, Common,Public Enemy and Kanye West. Transcending Toxic Times features original The Last Poets
Poets members Abiodun Oyewole and Umar Bin Hassan alongside longtime
percussionist Baba Donn Babatunde and cclaimed bassist/producer Jamaaladeen
Tacuma. Other poets on the album include Ursula Rucker, Wadud Ahmad, and
Malik B (a founding member of The Roots).
50 years ago, Abiodun Oyewole was mourning the deaths of Malcolm X and
Martin Luther King among many others lost in the struggle of the time. Looking to
speak truth and challenge the thinking of both the oppressors and the
oppressed, he formed The Last
Poets. Soon after the group's inception, Oyewole met Umar Bin Hassan at
a black arts event in Ohio, and Umar made the trip to New York to join
them. Baba Donn Babatunde showed up later, adding percussion to their
poetry.They were young men living in the black ghettos of Akron, Ohio,
Detroit, Michigan, Jamaica Queens and The Bronx – all desperately
seeking a different life to that of their parents, who in their eyes
were too subdued, too damaged by racial oppression.
Inspired by the music of John Coltrane, the glamour of the
Temptations and the politics of black pride, they started performing on
street corners in Harlem where they immediately gained a following.The Last Poets got their name from revolutionary South Africn poet,
Keorapetese Kgositsile poem that states that ‘’this is the last age of
poems, and essays, guns, and rifles will take the place of poems and
essays, therefore we are the last of poems of this age.’’ Ever since,
The Last Poets, led by Jalal Mansur Nuriddin, who died last year, have lived up to
that name and line. Starting with their debut self-titled album in 1970, ‘This Is Madness’ in 1971, and
‘Chastisment’ in 1972. The latter fully introduced The Last Poets’ mix
of jazz and poetry, doing away with the minimalist percussion of earlier
albums. The Last Poets enjoyed a huge resurgence in popularity from the
early 1990s onwards, appearing alongside the Beastie Boys and A Tribe
Called Quest on the 1994 Lollapolooza tour and collaborated with Common
on the Kanye West produced track ‘The Corner’ which was nominated at the
Grammy Awards in 2006 for Best Rap Performance.
The three men have persevered through decades of personal and
political challenges, while still adhering to the higher principles of
love, respect, and kindness to all humankind , they have long been a force to reckon with, known as
conscious, enduring and politically potent poetry messengers, becomming
mouthpieces for a socially downtrodden and unheard people.The huge impact made by
The Last Poets’ words and music is still strongly felt until today.They are one of the more captivating spoken word Hip-Hop groups we’ll ever hear.
The Last Poets - When the Revolution Comes
The inauguration of Donald Trump as US President in 2016 inspired Hassan
and Oyewole to resurrect the group to create a brand new record, ‘Understand What Black Is’, that was modern
and edgy, and deeply relevant and reflective of our times. Now comesTranscending Toxic Times which according to band members, is “not
poetry set to music, nor is it music made for poets. This is a seamless
transfiguration of the groove, the words, and the essential human
elements that live between the notes and the words.” Moreover, the album
is “a broad work of human emotion: anger, scorn, frustration,
challenge, beauty, sorrow, love,"
This record blends poetry, jazz, Hip-Hop, and Soul, intertwining the groove of Black culture with The Last Poets
powerful words and cadence. The spoken word is rhythmic, melodic at times,but politically charged throughout, and as with previous efforts,
there are also socio-cultural messages that comment on the conditions
of African American lived experience, the basslines and the groove are irresistible, intoxicating and the message is
unavoidable, as they continue to press their nation for truth
and equality, The Last Poets' standpoint is as important today as it ever was, and this album could not come at better time, in the recent past
our society has witnessed many horrific events from War and Man Made
Natural Disasters to Citizen turning against Citizen it is clear things
have not changed much since 1968. The Last Poets words are as relevant
today as they were then and even more so and reflective of the times we live in now..
To highlight the new album , members the Last Poets released a single "For the Millions."
Initially published as a tribute to the Million Man March back in 1995. Oyewole's commanding voice
details the African-American experience from the Trans-Atlantic Slave
Trade to a present-day celebration of our resilience and the continuing
quest for freedom. "Even when we have nothing to say / We are the sounds
/ That put color and spice in the day," he booms over Babatunde's
percussion.
A glance at the album's tracklist reveals that 50 years after their
inception, The Last Poets remain steadfast in their mission of shining a
light on the issues of truth and equality. ‘’Rain Of Terror’’ is a truth sermon
come to life in the form of reggae and drums. Starting a poem with the
word ‘’America is a terrorist’’ and then riffing on everyone from Jack
Johnson, Trayvon Martin, the Black Panthers, and the government approved
groups that killed those individuals and groups. The title track “Toxic Times” is a politically charged poem, where
Oyewole calls attention to the current political climate in the United
States, issues of police brutality against people of color, the
consequences of climate change, and gender inequality. To these issues,
Hassan points out that we must “learn to be humane, use power and not
become vain,” and ultimately, “understand what love is…and make it a
fact!” This record is truly essential listening so thank you the Last Poets for continuing to make music that truly matters, for the mind, body and soul, challenging the listener to wake up.
The Last Poets Transcending Toxic Times tracklist:
1. We Are The Last Poets
2. For The Millions
3. A.M. Project
4. Heartbeat
5. If We Only Knew
6. Young Love
7. Black Rage
8. Soul Reflection
9. Don't Know What I'd Do
10. Personal Things
11. Love
12. JuJu JIMI
13. Rain Of Terror
14. Toxic Times
“Sabra and Shatila Massacre” (1982-83), by pioneering Iraqi artist Dia al-Azzawi
Over three bloody days from September 16 through to 18, 1982, up to 3,500 Palestinian defenceless refugees in Shatila camp and Sabra neighborhood in Beirut, Lebanon were slaughtered at the hands of Phalangist militiamen, encircled, trained and supported by Israeli occupation forces who had besieged West Beirut for 88 days before launching a full-scale occupation-day period, members of the Lebanese Christian militias, with the support of Israeli troops, killed mostly women, children and the elderly living in the camp complex. Exactly how many were actually killed remains unknown as the real number is hard to determine because bodies were buried quickly in mass graves or never found and many men were marched out of the camp and “disappeared.” Israel actually supplied the bulldozers to bury the dead and later tanks entered the camps and ran over the whole area, destroying houses and clearing any signs of crime.
Shortly before the massacres, the Palestinian Liberation Organisation was evacuated from Lebanon as a result of an agreement reached after the Israeli invasion of the country. That meant the residents of Sabra and Shatila no longer had protection, despite promises made to them by Philip Habib, an envoy for then US President Ronald Reagan, that their security would be guaranteed.
The massacre was presented as retaliation for the assassination of newly elected Lebanese president Bachir Germavel, the leader of the Lebanese Kataeb Party. It was wrongly assumed that Palestinians militants had carried out the assassination. The incident would cause outrage and condemnation across the world.Sadly the Sabra and Shatila crimes were not the first crimes against the Palestinian people and would not be the last.
Over three decades later, the massacre at the Sabra and Shatila camps is remembered as one of the most notorious chapters in modern Middle Eastern history. Today, not a single person (Israeli or Lebanese) has been charged with involvement in the crime. The amnesty law that came into affect after Lebanon’s Civil Wars ended in 1991 let many of those involved in the massacre off the hook, including those who now form one of Lebanon’s ruling political parties, the Kata’eb. The forces who led the massacre were under the direct leadership of Elie Hobeika, intelligence chief of the Lebanese Forces. .
The Kahan Commission, later set up in 1983 in response to widespread international pressure, concluded that that Israeli leaders were “indirectly responsible” for the killings and that Ariel Sharon, then the defense minister and later prime minister, bore “personal responsibility” for failing to prevent the massacre Ariel Sharon, bore personally responsible, among others, for the massacre. Elie Hobeika later became a long-serving Member of the Lebanese Parliament as well as serving in many minsterial roles. Despite the findings of the Kahan Commission, Ariel Sharon held many influential ministerial roles in the Israeli government, serving in fact as Prime Minister from 2001 to 2006. Thus were the engineers of one of the bloodiest and most appalling massacres in contemporary history rewarded.
It is quite simply one of the greatest human tragedies that we should never simply forget.
Israel continues to abuse Palestinian rights without consequence. Settler attacks on Palestinian property, lands, and persons have terrorised thousands and killed almost entire families.Palestinian complaints filed against settlers go unindicted by Israel. In fact, the Israeli military serves the settlers by allowing the attackers to simply walk away". When they do take action, Israeli soldiers are more likely to support the settlers, often allowing them to continue attacking Palestinians rather than shielding innocent civilians.
The dehumanisation of Palestinians by Israel continues and the Israeli military itself continues to commit war crimes with impunity, as evidenced by Israel's repeated attacks on the tiny besieged Gaza Strip over the past decade, which have killed thousands of innocent Palestinians with disproportionate and indiscriminate force. Today there are more than 400,000 Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon, most barred from owning property and earing decent wages. They make up part of the nearly 5 million Palestinians refugees living in the West Bank, Gaza and throughout the Middle East, descendants of the 750,000 displaced after the establishment of the Israeli State.
Israel's years of dispossession and half-century of military rule still ongoing and is supported by unconditional American military aid and diplomatic backing. International bodies like the UN Security Council have repeatedly made note of Israel's human rights violations. Injustices continue to this day through land confiscations, home demolitions, mass imprisonment, collective displacement, racist discrimination, assassination and killing.
The conscience of the world was terribly wounded on this day and we cannot, should not and will not ever forget or forgive.With sorrow and with struggle, we must remember Sabra and Shatila and pledge to continue to work for justice.The international community is obliged to remedy its moral responsibility to the victims of the massacre by working to end Israel's occupation and other abuses of Palestinian rights.For the Palestinians, the tragedy of Sabra and Shatila remains a powerful reminder of their endless cycle of displacement.
I conclude this post with the following powerful, moving poem from the pen of the late great Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish.https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2010/01/mahmoud-darwish-poet-of-resistance.html
Sabra and Shatila byMahmoud Darwish
Sabra — a sleeping girl
The men left
War slept for two short nights,
Beirut obeyed and became the capital…
A long night
Observing the dreams in Sabra,
Sabra is sleeping.
Sabra — the remains of a dead body
She bid farewell to her horsemen and time
And surrendered to sleep out of tiredness.. and the Arabs who threw her behind them.
Sabra — and what the soldiers Departing from Galilee forgot
She doesn’t buy and sell anything but her silence
To buy flowers to put on her braided hair.
Sabra — sings her lost half, between the sea and the last war:
Why do you go?
And leave your wives in the middle of a hard night?
Why do you go?
And hang your night
Over the camp and the national anthem?
Sabra — covering her naked breasts with a farewell song
Counts her palms and gets it wrong
While she can’t find the arm:
How many times will you travel?
And for how long?
And for what dream?
If you return one day
for which exile shall you return,
which exile brought you back?
Sabra — tearing open her chest:
How many times
does the flower bloom?
How many times
will the revolution travel?
Sabra — afraid of the night. Puts it on her knees
covers it with her eyes’ mascara. Cries to distract it:
They left without saying
anything about their return
Withered and tended
from the rose’s flame!
Returned without returning
to the beginning of their journey
Age is like children
running away from a kiss.
No, I do not have an exile
To say: I have a home
God, oh time ..!
Sabra — sleeps. And the fascist’s knife wakes up
Sabra calls who she calls
All of this night is for me, and night is salt
the fascist cuts her breasts — the night reduced —
he then dances around his knife and licks it. Singing an ode to a victory of the cedars,
And erases
Quietly .. Her flesh from her bones
and spreads her organs over the table
and the fascist continues dancing and laughs for the tilted eyes
and goes crazy for joy, Sabra is no longer a body:
He rides her as his instincts suggest, and his will manifests.
And steals a ring from her flesh and blood and goes back to his mirror
And be — Sea
And be — Land
And be — Clouds
And be — Blood
And be — Night
And be — Killing
And be — Saturday
and she be — Sabra.
Sabra — the intersection of two streets on a body
Sabra, the descent of a Spirit down a Stone
And Sabra — is no one
Sabra — is the identity of our time, forever.
