Love hangs on a clock

I did not know, that love hung on a clock
That told, the minutes and the years,
The metal arms, forever going forwards on its face
To live in the palaces of the mind,
Where love comes to bury itself
Offering ticking, twinkling emotion
Moving its force into cells
Where hearts are captured,
Precious like times shifting pathways
The seconds moving one by one,
As we whirl and twirl in own free will
Sharing the gift of magical moments,
I truly believe that we should all be struck
By cupids  loving well aimed arrows,
Not by hatred, fear or division
But by steady pulses of harmony,
Arriving swiftly on the breeze
Releasing the scent of passion,
Capturing and soothing longing
Comforting, keeping us safe from harm.

Palestine Solidarity Campaign Ceredigion

"Lets not fool ourselves into believing that Israel is engaging in sincere negotiations on equal footing with the Palestinians. There is no balance of power. Israel is demanding that Palestinians surrender their rights. When Palestinians refuse to do so. They are accused of rejecting peace."
- Sutaya Dadoo
 

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) campaigns for justice for the Palestinians and advocates for their civil, political and human rights, in accordance with international law.

Palestine:  An issue for us all. 
PSC represents people in Britain from all faiths and political parties, who have come together to work for peace and justice for the Palestinian people. They are opposed to all forms of racism, including anti-Jewish prejudice and Islamophobia.
PSC was established to campaign:
for the right of self-determination for the Palestinian people
for the right of return of the Palestinian people
for the immediate withdrawal of the Israeli state from the occupied territories
against the oppression and dispossession suffered by the Palestinian people
in support of the rights of the Palestinian people and their struggle to achieve these rights
to promote Palestinian civil society in the interests of democratic rights and social justice
to oppose Israel's occupation and its aggression against neighbouring states
in opposition to racism, including anti-Jewish prejudice and Islamophobia, and the apartheid and Zionist nature of the Israeli state

 I am pleased to announce that a new branch is being launched in Aberystwyth today, please come and join us. The launch event will take place in Arad Goch in Bath Street from 1 p.m. To initiate the new group, Betty Huunter, Honorary President of PSC, will talk about the plight og children who find themselves on the frontline of Israeli military actions n Palestine, The soundtrack to the eent will be provided by Cor Gobaith, who will sing songs of hope for peace and justice in the region. The event will conclude with the inagural AGM of  the Ceredigion branch of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
Acampaigner for many years Betty Hunter said "The Palestine Solidarity Campaign works for peace, equality and justice, ad against racism, occupation and colonisattion. We are dedicated to securing human righrs for Palestinian people hostage in their own land . and world leaders do nothing. We must boycott Israeli goods. We must call for sanctions against Israel. It is us the people, who can change history."

50 years after Stonewall Uprising

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. In the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, the New York City  police department carried out a raid on the Stonewall Inn, a  popular Gay Bar in the Greenwich Village .The move was a clear condemnation by law enforcement officials of the city's underground gay population Yes it was a dive bar, but even that characterisation was optimistic, since it couldn't get a ligour license. It's drinks were bootlegged and heavily watered down. The contents of no bottle ever matched its label. There were no fire exits and there was no running water. But in that Greenwich Village Tavern, there was music, there was dancing, and there was freedom. It was a place of sanctuary, and one of the only places for New York's gay community to socialise and truly be themselves.
Pror to 1962, same sex relationships were a felony in every state, making it illegal for people of the same sex to show affection towards one another, dance with each other or even just be together. often punished by lengthy prison sentences. Same-sex loving men and women met in secret, fearing the long-term consequences of exposure. Gender nonconforming indiiduals and cross-dressers might find themselves shunned to the fringes of society. Early efforts at LGBTQ activism had smoldered for years before Stonewall. There had been riots in other gay spaces before. And there had certainly been plenty of police raids at the Stonewall in the past. But the anger that erupted on this day when police attempted to arrest patrons of the Stonewall Inn, sparked a uprising that galvanised the  LGBTQ civil rights movement as we know it today.
It was a raid like so many others, but this time after some patrons and local residents witnessed  police barging into the bar, slaming people against the walls, calling them derogatory names, and then taking money from their wallets. When police finally let patrons oout of the bar and ordered them to disperse they refused, and after an officer struck a prisoner on the head, they spontaneously fought back against years of oppression by hurling rocks and bottles at the police, anything in fact within arm's reach.A number of people even wrestled a parking meter from the ground and tried to use it as a battering ram. The police, fearing for their safety, locked themseles inside the Stonewall Inn as the angry mob outside grew into the thousands. Some were attempting to set the property on fire.Following media coverage of the event, thouusands protested and clashed with riot police over the next six days,.Reinforcements were eventually able to get the crowd under control, well for one night at least. But people had discovered a power that they were not even aware they had, releasing a sense of pride and liberation.

Shouts of 'gay power' and 'we shall overcome' could be heard down the street as support spread.It was a watershed for the worldwide gay rights movement, because it was the first time LGBT people had forcibly resisted the police. On Saturday, the windows of the Stonewall were boarded up and painted with gueer liberation slogans like 'We are Open,' 'Support Gay Power- C'mon in girls.' Hostile press coverage was also pinned to the boards, That night the crowd of protestors returned and were led in 'gay power; cheers by a group of gay cheerleaders. There was sustained handholding, kissing, and posing which had appeared only fleetingly on the street before.
Soon the crowd got restless "Let's go down the street and see what's happening girls," someone yelled. They did and were confronted by the Tactical Patrol Force, (originally set up to stop anti-ietnam war protests) Howeer, the TPF failed to break up the crowd, who in defiance sprayed them with rocks and other projectiles. The third day of rioting fell five days after the raid on the Stonewall Inn. On that day 1,000 people congregated at the bar and again took the cops on in the streets.
Once the riots had subsided, protestors were filled with motivation to organise for their rights, th aftermath saw an explosion in gay movement organisation, pride and political activism. A year after the  riots, residents began marching on Christopher Street and Sixth Avenue. The date, June 28 was dubbed Christopher Street Liberation Day. Thousands of people marched the street while thousands of other people lined up alongside them to protest the treatment of the LGBT  community at the hands of the law. With Stonewall, the spirit of 60's rebellion spread to LGBT people in New York and beyond, who found themseles liberated and part of a community, sparking a new sense of urgency about demanding tolerance for persecuted communities.Inspired by New Yor's example, actiists in other cities including Los Angeles, San Fracisco, Boston and Chicago, organised gay pride celebrations that same year. The Stonewall uprising changed the state of play, and sent out a clear message that eough was enough and that it was time fir the harassent and discrimination to end.
It is important to recognise the fact the gay rights movement did not begin at Stonewall, there were gay activists  and calls for "gay power"well before tht early morning of June 28, 1969. What was different about Stonewall was that gay actiists around the country ad the world were prepared to commemorate it publicly. It was not the first rebellion, but it was the first to be called "the first" and that act of naming mattered, the uprising did mark a turning point, igniting a new atmosphere of militant gay liberation. Radical groups like the libertarian left wing Gay Liberation Front (GLF)  and the Gay Actiists Alliance (GAA), were formed  in New York and beyond who sought links with the Black Panthers, the Womens Liberation movement and anti-war organisations. Similar organisations were soon creaed around the world including Canada, France, Brtain, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, Australia and New Zealandin, becoming a lasting force that would carry on for the next half-century and beyond.

The Stonewall Inn made headlines again in 2015, when its story came to the silver screen,  but critics at the time said that Stonewall depicted brave, cisgender white males as the unsung heroes of the moement, but in reality it was trans women of color, homeless queer people, sex workers, gay bi and pansexual people who were the riots heart and soul.

The resisters who stood up to the police on this day could hardly have imagined that within 50 years, the United States and other Western countries would go from criminalising homosexuality to guranteering the equal right of same sex couples to marry. Despite the gains made since and why we celebrate Pride in June, ( beyond the sequins and the glitter, it remains a protest, not just an excuse to party) half a century on from the Stonewall Riots, the global LGBT community still faces significent problems.
It was only as recently as 2017 that the UK Government finally issued a posthumous pardon to all gay or bi men who were convicted under pernicious sexual offences laws in the last century which enabled police to criminalise people for being gay or bi. In many South Asian and Middle Eastern, in fact around 70 counties  homosesxuality is still illegal and in around 70 countries ,as far as the law goes punishable by death.Anti-gay bullying is still prevalent in schools and workplaces and ati LGBT sentiment is still being combatted across the world, Sadly there is still to much stigma attached for being who we are. But for many that fight has its roots in those dramatic riots in Greenwich all those years ago.
The LGBT  movement is still a work in progress, so any single acronym is just a working title. Many other groups could be added to the acronym, including queer, intersex, and loving people of all kinds who just don't fit in the conventional pink and blue boxes of gender. This movement is a rainbow coalition of communities.The struggle will continue as long as governments do not fully respect and protect the "inherant dignity" and "egual and inalienable rights of all members of the human family" , as the preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights so eloquently pronounces, regardless of their gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation.
When we remember the Stonewall Rebellion, we should aso commit to common memory, think of the many rebels who thought they might be alone but found common ground in movements of popular resistance.We still have so mucch further to go in the fight for equality. With on going solidarity with other oppressed people across the world, with rage and love we can firmly find  our pride. The legacy of Stonewall remains as important as ever.

Stonewall at 50 documentary

Happy Birthday Emma Goldman (27/6 -1869 – 14/5/1940)

Emma Goldman the legendary writer, feminist and anarchist  was born on this day the 27th of June 1869 into a Jewish ghetto in Kovna, a western corner of the Russian Empire. Due to her gender  religion, and her family’s lack of resources, the course of her life seemed preordained —marriage, toil, children, an early death. Higher education was a luxury that her family deemed unnecessary; her father told her that “all a Jewish daughter needs to know is how to prepare gefilte fish, cut noodles fine, and give the man plenty of children.” As a Jewish woman in Tsarist Russia her life was perpetually under threat; a rash of bloody pogroms broke out in 1881, and she bore witness the violent antisemitism that continued to plague her homeland after she emigrated to the States in 1885 at age 16 in search of freedom.
Though she had already been exposed to leftist politics by fellow workers at her factory job in Rochester, the 1886 Haymarket affairhttps://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2017/05/haymarket-square-riot-anniversary.html and ensuing state execution of the anarchists Albert Parsons, Adolph Fischer, George Engel, and August Spies became the crucible in which Goldman’s radicalization and ongoing political self-education was forged. “I saw a new world opening before me,” she wrote  then, and as she wrote in a 1910 essay, “Anarchism is the great liberator of man from the phantoms that have held him captive” 
Around this time, Goldman came into contact with another anarchist, Alexander Berkman, her lover and lifelong friend. The two worked together and in 1892, they were both outraged by an incident in Pittsburgh. Striking men at the Homestead factory of Carnegie Steel had been repressed to such an extent that some had actually been killed.
With funding from Goldman, Berkman bought a gun and used it to shoot Carnegie Steel”s manager, Henry Clay Frick. The attempt to assassinate him failed, although Frick was seriously wounded. Berkman received a life sentence for his act and the federal government attempted to stamp out anarchism. It it became her life’s work to spread the message of liberation far and wide.  Convinced that the political and economic organization of modern society was fundamentally unjust, she embraced anarchism for the vision it offered of liberty, harmony and true social justice. For decades, she struggled tirelessly against widespread inequality, repression and exploitation.
 By 1893, laws had been enacted that made anarchist speech itself a crime. Goldman ignored them, stating that women could never be prevented from talking by the government, and as a result she was imprisoned. After her release in 1895, she dropped the most extreme of her views, such as support for assassination and general strikes.
Instead, she called for a “revolution in morality,” by which she meant that a struggle needed to be joined against religious and racial prejudice and intolerance.  She served prison terms for such activities as advising the unemployed to take bread if their pleas for food were not answered, for giving information in a lecture on birth control, and for opposing military conscription, this led to an eighteen-month imprisonment before the First World War for encouraging Americans not to register for the draft. Described by authorities as 'one  of the most dangerous women in America,' she was deported  to Russia in 1919, by this time the Communist revolution had taken place and Goldman fully expected to experience the “workers paradise” she had heard so much about. Instead, she discovered not only repression, but also an unpleasantly anti-Semitic atmosphere. Goldman criticized the undemocratic nature of Lenin”s rule and became increasingly disillusioned with the Soviet state. In the wake of the Kronstadt rebellion she denounced the Soviet Union for it's violent repression of independent voices.
She moved to Europe, and travelled and lectured in many countries. She came to Wales, Emma's itinerary of speaking dates during her stay in the UK shows that the most extensively toured area was the south Wales coalfield. During two weeks in 1925 she spoke to audiences from Swansea to the Rhondda, commenting in her letters that the coalfield was a "splendid field" to spread anarchist ideas. As an orator Emma Goldman was fiery and brilliant, drawing crowds of thousands to hear her speak. She is known for her extraordinary energy and appetite for life.
Goldman’s openness brought an altogether human element to the sometimes inflexible realm of radical ideological thought. For her, life was about roses as well as bread. She is remembered as an earthy, bohemian woman who loved art, music, and sex, and saw no reason for a revolutionary to deprive themselves of beautiful things." I want freedom, the right to self-expression, everybody's right to beautiful things," so said Red Emma, without adjectives, who sought a way of being free, who would rather roses on her table, than diamonds on her neck.  Who simply chose to cling on throughout her life to her deep ideals,a beautiful ideal for a better world. She told us " Ask for work, if they don't give you work, ask for bread . If they do not give you work or bread, then take bread." This attitude gave rise to one of the most popular quotes attributed to her: “If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be in your revolution.”
When she was 67 and living in London, the Spanish Civil War broke out, and she threw herself into the cause, mustering support for its anti-fascist International Brigades in their battle against General Franco's  Nationalist troops who were supported by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, and sharing her admiration for what she saw as the only working class revolution to have been fomented on anarchist ideals, subsequently backing the Spanish anarchists, as they tried to restructure society with one hand, while battling fascist, Stalinist threats  lined up against them on the other.
Goldman’s openness brought an altogether human element to the sometimes inflexible realm of radical ideological thought. For her, life was about roses as well as bread. She is remembered as an earthy, bohemian woman who loved art, music, and sex, and saw no reason for a revolutionary to deprive themselves of beautiful things." I want freedom, the right to self-expression, everybody's right to beautiful things," so said Red Emma, without adjectives, who sought a way of being free, who would rather roses on her table, than diamonds on her neck.  Who simply chose to cling on throughout her life to her deep ideals,a beautiful ideal for a better world. She told us " Ask for work, if they don't give you work, ask for bread . If they do not give you work or bread, then take bread." This attitude gave rise to one of the most popular quotes attributed to her: “If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be in your revolution.” In her autobiography Living My Life (1931) she describes how she was once admonished for dancing at a party in New York and was told “that it did not behoove an agitator to dance. Certainly not with such reckless abandon, anyway.” Goldman speaks furiously on the occasion here;
 “I became alive once more. At the dances I was one of the most untiring and gayest. One evening a cousin of Sasha, a young boy, took me aside. With a grave face, as if he were about to announce the death of a dear comrade, he whispered to me that it did not behoove an agitator to dance. Certainly not with such reckless abandon, anyway. It was undignified for one who was on the way to become a force in the anarchist movement. My frivolity would only hurt the Cause .I grew furious at the impudent interference of the boy. I told him to mind his own business. I was tired of having the Cause constantly thrown into my face. I did not believe that a Cause which stood for a beautiful ideal, for anarchism, for release and freedom from convention and prejudice, should demand the denial of life and joy. I insisted that our Cause could not expect me to become a nun and that the movement would not be turned into a cloister. If it meant that, I did not want it. "I want freedom, the right to self-expression, everybody's right to beautiful, radiant things." Anarchism meant that to me, and I would live it in spite of the whole world — prisons, persecution, everything. Yes, even in spite of the condemnation of my own closest comrades I would live my beautiful ideal” I did not believe that a Cause which stood for a beautiful ideal, for anarchism, for release and freedom from conventions and prejudice, should demand the denial of life and joy. I insisted that our Cause could not expect me to become a nun and that the movement should not be turned into a cloister. If it meant that, I did not want it.” This episode was later paraphrased and transformed into the famous quote.
Goldman’s biographer and feminist writer Alix Shulman explained that in  1973, he  befriended printer who asked him  for a quotation by Goldman for use on a t-shirt. Shulman sent him the passage from Goldman’s autobiography, but the printer rephrased the passage into  the famous quote “If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution”. As Shulman recounts, the citation subsequently found its way onto millions of buttons, posters, T-shirts, bumper stickers, books and articles: I still think it's lovely when I wake to  know where the sentiment and quote that greets me in the bathroom actually derives from.
 Goldman was arrested a number of times throughout her life for “offenses” like distributing information on birth control, encouraging men to avoid registering for the draft, and for espionage. She remained fearless, even after a lifetime of constant government surveillance, and repression.
During the final year of her life, Goldman”s were nomadic: she called herself a “woman with no country.” She was equally forthright in her objections to all kinds of totalitarian rule, whether they came from Stalin, Hitler, or Franco. As the anti-Semitism of Nazi  Germany became more and more extreme during the late 1930s, Goldman wrote about her Jewishness. in 1939, Goldman moved to Toronto, where she organized on behalf of Spanish women and children refugees fleeing  victorious dictator  Franco Before her death, Mariano Vázquez, the former Secretary-General of the CNT-FAI, a Spanish anarchist organization, sent her a message naming her as “our spiritual mother.” Even as her own health failed, her last thoughts were with the oppressed working class, and her final actions were to do what she could to leave a better world behind. She died in Toronto in May of 1940 after suffering from a series of strokes. She was 70 years old.
After her death, Goldman’s life and work received little attention until anarcho-feminists in the 1960’s revived interest in her writings and thus reignited her spirit of resistance. Anarcho-punks in the 1980’s and 1990’s and anti-capitalist activists of the new millennium kept Red Emma’s legacy alive, referencing her in song and counter-culture, naming infoshops and collective projects in her honor around the world.
Today as I celebrate Emma Goldman's birthday she is warmly remembered for the anarcho-feminist, anti-militarist and internationalist contributions she made to the social revolutionary struggles in life. She once famously declared that “Everyone is an anarchist who loves liberty and hates oppression" In troubling times, her words and deeds continue to inspire as we come together and believe in better days. Beyond the panic of our current predicaments and journeys  their our those who will keep on fighting for a fairer society, that continue to champion her pursuit of universal justice towards a more humane, fair and fulfilling world. Her dream lives on and the struggle continues for a better world. 

http://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/emma-goldman-2761869-14540-anarchism.html

International Day in Support of Victims of Torture

Every year on June 26, International Day in Support of Victims of Torture is marked. The day is observed to come in support of people who have been tortured or abused. The emphasis of the day is to understand that torture is not acceptable and is also a  despicable crime that is unjustified in any circumstance not even as a measure of last resort. All acts of torture  should be effectively prosecuted  to prevent such acts from occurring again. We should  continue to remember and condemn the degrading and destructive impact of torture, showing support for its victims worldwide.

The day was declared by the United Nations in 1997. The proposal of the day was made in Denmark which is also home to world-famous International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT).

The day June 26 was selected to mark this day for two reasons. One was that on June 26, 1945, the United Nations Charter was signed amid World War II, the first international instrument obliging UN members to respect and promote the human rights and the other reason was that on June 26 in 1897, the United Nations Convention against torture and other cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment or punishment came into force.
The first event was launched in 1998 and since then more than 100 organization in several countries over the world mark this event and celebrate the campaign. Various rehabilitation centers and human rights organisations around the world celebrate the UN's International Day in Support of Victims of Torture on 26 June every year. Events on this day give a chance to unite and raise voice against torture. Several organisations like the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims and Amnesty International have played an active role in organising events around the world to promote and make people aware about this day. Various activities like photo exhibitions, distribution of posters and other material to boost people's awareness related to human torture etc. are organised.
According to Human Rights Law torture is defined as any act  by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person in which a public official is directly or indirectly involved for a specific reason. Torturers are seen as the ‘enemy of all mankind'. It is considered so barbaric and incompatible with civilised society that it cannot be tolerated.
Torture seeks to annihiliate the victim's personality and denies the inherent dignity of the human being. Torture and ill-treatment are forbidden by both international law and law here in the UK. There are no circumstances whatsoever in which torture and ill-treatment can be justified, including in conflict, for counter-terrorism purposes or other threats of crime, or other religious or traditional justification.Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”.The UN Convention Against Torture requires countries to take active steps to prevent torture and says “no exceptional circumstances whatsoever … may be invoked as a justification of torture”.In the UK, the Human Rights Act means we can raise the European Convention on Human rights (ECHR) in our courts. Article 3 ECHR says no one should ever be tortured or treated in an inhuman or degrading way, no matter what the situation. Torture means any act by which severe pain and suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on someone for the purposes of obtaining information, for punishment or intimidation. Treatment or punishment is degrading if it humiliates and debases a person beyond accepted forms of punishment. 
Despite the absolute prohibition of torture under international law, torture persists in all regions of the world. Concerns about protecting national security and borders are increasing used to allow torture and other forms of cruel, degrading and inhuman treatment. It's pervasive  consequences often go beyond the isolated act on an individual, and can be transmitted  through generations and lead to cycles of violence. Lets not forget the victims of torture who are routinely being held in immigration detention centres in breach of the government’s own rules.
Torture can ruin the mental health of a person and it requires a special kind of help at times. There have been rehab centers in support of victims to help them get over the traumatic experiences.The UN Voluntary Fund for victims of torture which is administrated by the UN Human Rights office in Geneva is a unique victim-focused mechanism that accepts funding for the assistance to victims of torture and their families.
The European Union reiterated its strongest opposition to any kind of acts of torture worldwide, in its  declaration, saying: “Through its external action, the EU and its Member States also engage with third countries in regular political and human rights dialogues and financially support civil society organisations in fighting torture.” Also in the last four years, the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights supported anti-torture projects worldwide worth €23 million, and an additional amount of €8 million is foreseen for 2019.

We are witnessing a global crisis on torture. Yet you only have to glance at the news to know that laws alone are not enough. Torture is thriving because rather than respecting the law, many governments are either actively using torture or turning a blind eye. According  to  Nils Melzer, UN's special rappoeteur on torture, Julian Assange  is showing all the symptoms associated with prolonged exposure to psychological torture. Torture is as alive as ever, with documented cases of torture techniques such as electroshock, waterboarding and rape. It is happening across the world, in dark prison cells, secret detention cells and in broad daylight. Most of those responsible never face justice.
On this important day let's  acknowledge the wrongs committed against torture victims over the years and reaffirm the self-worth of victims of torture as human beings and equal participants in civic life entitled to the full enjoyment of all rights. Stand in solidarity with the men and women who survived the horrendous acts of torture who are beacons of hope, who hae endured the unimaginable and are living testimonies of the resilience of the human spirit. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said: “On this International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, I urge all States to end impunity for perpetrators and eradicate these reprehensible acts that defy our common humanity. ”https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2019-06-26/secretary-generals-message-international-day-support-of-victims-of-torture

Place of Poetry : I am Wales

Places of Poetry is a community arts project, centred on a newly designed digital map of England and Wales. Through the course of a four-month summer public campaign, writers from across the country were invited to write new poems of place, heritage and identity, and pin them to the map. Places of Poetry will help us reflect on our national and cultural identities, and celebrate  the diversity, heritage and personalities of place. the following was my contribution

I am Wales

I am here, under a cloud of dream
on sacred turf,  I wander
as the rain  patters down
the land of my mothers and ancestors
on the west coast mooching about at leisure
as seasons leap and flowers bloom
the stem of hiraith glowing
I drift with time and memory
as the days dark shadows 
creeps softly over day
surrounded by mountains and valleys
wild and elemental 
inhaling the whiff of two languages
where  each buoyant moment catches a nerve,
leaves me safe,  with strength within
poetry of my heart sings
from deep within my veins
forging and shaping
with dragons tongue
the shape of things to come

https://www.placesofpoetry.org.uk/poem/22076/?fbclid=IwAR01LfojJXtZGHAxYcYIqGqoH-q2K0HbSTQCyiDVzMW1Nd3z4O84NJf7CdU

The Conservative Party is Your Enemy

Whoever leads them, the British Conservative party is diametrically opposed  to the good of the British public and deliberately acts against their interests. Their motives driven by authoriarianism designed to disenfranchise all, unless  you are not a millionaire, the Conservative Party is not your friend, they are enemies of the people. Inhabited by people with no feeling at all. How on earth are they governing this land,  they have no credible mandate to do so, and remain for me  a thoroughly nasty bunch of  people, with policies designed to wreck our lives, destroying Britain as they carve it into pieces.
Aided and abetted by their friends in the Daily Mail, the Telegraph and the Scum newspapers. Rags that keep on pumping out the same disingeous and divisive rubbish. Plus the BBC misleading people with their parroting of Tory narratives and soundbites. We should not forget the Tory's ruthless , toxic and unjust policies. Their constant assaults on the NHS, people on welfare, the disadvantged, the poor, which include poorly paid workers. As a direct result of their policies we have got the growth of foodbanks, rising homelessness, dodgy benefit assessmentsts, the trebling of uniersity tuition fees, a boom in xero hours contracts, while anti-democratically forcing fracking on people who have clearly stated they don't want it, while at the same time passng new laws to ensure the wealthy stay wealthy, taking the side of big business while eradicating workers rights and continuing their attacks on young people, single parents, maintaining a hostile environment to refugees, slashing education and social security budgets, perescuting the poor for beng poor while  at same time they give their friends the millionaires tax breaks and award themselves pay rises. The list goes on and on, they are toxic and out of control. 
The Conservatives with their feelings of self entitlement believe they are born to rule. Unconcerned by any principles except their maintenance of power, they U-turn  on positions at a drop of a hat, betray promises and even sacrifice their own in order to maintain control.The interests they serve are not yours or mine, but those of the bankers, financiers, fossil fuel magnates and the elite. As they continue to inflict hardship on the vulnerable with  their ideological cruelty and want to transfer wealth upwards towards the rich,  they continue to fuck up the country, presiding over economic incompetance and unrelenting social catastrophe, leading  Britain to international isolation and the United Kingdom itself to breaking apart.
They simply do not care about this country's direction or the plight of the people, only with staying in charge. Just because they are now in power, this does not mean that they should be given a green light to do as they wish. They are a real threat and a constant danger to our well being, and we all deserve so much better. We have to get rid of them by any means necessary, becauuse the devil comes in many shapes and sizes, and I believe it is truly at home in the Conservative party, a demonic party that should not be given an inch and must be opposed with every opportunity, and until people wake up and start opening  their eyes to their policies of division, things will only get worse under their rule. A General election is needed now, time to give them the boot, for some much needed fairness and human decency. For the many not the few. 

Ten years of teifidancer

Greetings from Aberteifi, West Wales I've just realised  that this blog has been going now for over ten years, having started it on the 14th of June 2009 with this  post https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2009/06/iolo-morgannwgthat-will-do-trick-bit-of.html
When I first created teifidancer, it was just a creative experiment,an act of therapy, never did I actually believe it would last this long. It's been a journey, and become part of who I am,  where I've been able to  release my passions, politically, poetically and philosophically that reflect my myriad of interests. Trying to challenge mainstream narrative and consensus opinion, in the hope that by sharing my perspective and outlook with my words, can at least  enable some to think differently about the world that we live in, with critque at times, that can act as a catalyst to effect change, both in attitude and in action.
It has not come without it's challenges, many highs and lows, the loss of loved ones, storms a plenty. it's certainly never been plain sailing, but hope a long the way I have somehow managed to inspire, and that some people have enjoyed at least some of the content  I have shared.
The last ten years have seen a quick rise of populist political narratives and parties throughout the world, the worrying rise of the far right, whose ideas I hope will continue to challenge, and share posts about  the Palestinians, the Kurds and other oppressed peoples struggles, who I will try to keep advocating for, as well as ongoing human rights abuses  worldwide, the cause of international solidarity and issues closer to home, the challenges we face with the current rotten Tory Government, radical change in the political landscape still much needed, will still put forward my independent personal perspective alongside cultural and historical thoughts on art, music and culture, biographical sketches of people that have influenced and inspired my own thought, whilst from time to time offering to the world some of my own poetical endeavours and impulses.
I know I should keep some of my secrets private, but I hate capitalism, war and bereavement, there are some horrific times ahead, forces of hate, intolerance on bigotry on the rise, god knows what will happen next  with the Torys  still on their high horses, I feel it's going to get a lot worse before anything gets better, I will at least keep following the deep caves of love and paths laden with hope. I wish  to thank all those who have offered encouragement a long the way, it has meant a lot,cheers,alas some no longer here, especially dear Jane ( who I met ten years ago today)and Ken who are still fondly remembered, and to Cheryl, Terence and other friends, the Cellar Bards https://en-gb.facebook.com/groups/333544513348067/and https://iamnotasilentpoet.wordpress.com/ my humble gratitude also goes out to those that  have actually chosen to actually follow this blog.
This post is my 2357th, so to end, here  are some links to 50 of my most popular posts according to my statistics, all of which have been visited  well over a thousand times,  hope their still of interest and that this blog will survive for a while to come. Thanks, heddwch / peace, happy solstice,  no borders are necessary. another world is possible, I will try and keep dancing.

Albert Einstein  (14/3/1879 18/4/1955 A human being is part of a whole, called by us'the Universe' - a part limited in time and space

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2012/12/albert-einstein-1431879-1841955-human.html

Thomas de Quincey and his phantasagoric dreams

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2009/08/blog-post.html

Andre Breton - (1896- 1966) - Surrealism and Painting

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2010/01/andre-breton-1896-1966-surreallism-and.html

MARK ROTHKO - The Romantics were prompted

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2009/12/mark-rothko-romantics-were-prompted.html

Brion Gysin (19/i1916 -13/7/86) - The Poets are supposed to liberate the words - not chain them in phrases

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2016/01/brion-gysin-1911916-13786-poets-are.html

No one is illegal , No borders are necessary

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2014/02/no-one-is-illegal-no-borders-are.html


John Keats (31/10/1795 -23/2/16) - The Nature of Love

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2011/02/john-keats-31101795-23218-nature-of.html

Cofiwch Dic Penderyn/ Remember Dic Penderyn 

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2016/06/cofiwch-dic-penderyn-remember-dic.html

KATHY ACKER (19/4/47- 30/11/97) - Unclassified Angel
https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2010/12/kathy-acker-19447-301197-unclassified.html

Destroy All Rational Thought : Celebrating the Century of William Burroughs Birth (5/12/14- 2/8/97 )

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2014/02/destroy-all-rational-thought.html

MAHMOUD DARWISH - The Poet of the Resistance (13/4/41- 9/8/08)

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2010/01/mahmoud-darwish-poet-of-resistance.html

NHS : You were warned

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2018/05/nhs-you-were-warned.html

Mary Harris Jones (1/5/1830 -30//1930) Mother Jones/ The Miners' Angel

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2012/11/mary-harris-jones-151830-30111930.html

The Night is Long Faced

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-night-is-long-faced.html

No to Margaret Thatcher Memorial Library and museum

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2015/02/no-to-margaret-thatcher-memorial.html

Let's not forget Tryweryn Cofiwch Dryweryn

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2019/04/lets-not-forget-tryweryn-cofiwch.html

IDRIS DAVIES (6/1/05 - 6/4/53) Poet of the People

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2010/02/idris-davies-poet-of-people.html

The Tonypandy Riots and why Winston Churchill's name is not revered in the hearts and minds of the Welsh people

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-tonypady-riots-and-why-winston.html

Dare to be a Daniel (for Tony Benn 3/4/25 - 14/3/14)

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2014/03/dare-to-be-daniel-for-tony-benn-3425.html

Austerity Bites

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2016/10/austerity-bites.html

PABLO NERUDA -July12,1904. September 23 1973) - Poet of Love

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2009/10/pablo-neruda-july-12-1904-september-23.html

The Politics of Cruelty

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2017/06/the-politics-of-cruelty.html

WELSH POET AS MEDICAL HISTORIAN - Glyn Penrhyn Jones

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2010/07/welsh-poet-as-medical-historian-glyn.html

Another world is possible . ( a Poem)

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2016/04/another-world-is-possible-poem.html

JOHN CLARE ( 13/7/1793 - 20/1/ 1864) - They called it madness

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2009/09/john-clare-they-called-it-madness.html

Albert Camus (7/11/13 -4/1/60) - The Smoking Philosopher

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2012/05/albert-camus-71113-4160-smoking.htmlt

Anna Campbell - Death of a freedom fighter

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2018/03/anna-campbell-death-of-freedom-
fighter.html

This is Syria

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2015/11/this-is-syria.htm

These 5 Billionaires own 80% of the UK media

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2017/10/these-5-billionaires-own-80-of-uk-media.html

Charlie Chaplin (b16/4.1889 -25/12/77) -Citizen of the Wotld

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2012/02/charlie-chaplin-b1641889-251277-
citizen.html

The Peterloo Massacre and Percy Bysshe Shelley's Mask of Anarchy

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-peterloo-massacre-and-percy-bysshe.html

Gillian Clarke (b.8/6/37) - Miracle on St David's Day

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2013/03/gillian-clarke-8637-miracle-on-st.html

Hungry for Freedom

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2013/02/hungry-for-freedom.html

Jack Kerouac (March 12, 1922 - October 21, 1969) - Joy Kicks Darkness

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2019/03/jack-kerouac-march-12-1922-october-21.html

Montgomery Bus Boycott

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2012/12/montgomery-bus-boycott.html

A Beautiful Resistance

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2017/10/a-beautiful-resistance.html

For Grenfell Tower: A Poem

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2017/06/for-grenfell-tower-poem.html

Luchia Sanchez Saornil (13/12/1895 -2/6/70) - The Song of Mujeres Libres

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2013/12/lucia-sanchez-saornil-13121895-2670.html

Time to end todays  modern slave trade

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2014/08/time-to-end-todays-modern-slave-trade.html

When the seige is broken , A Poem for Gaza

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2015/08/when-siege-is-broken-poem-for-gaza.html

Remembering  John Rety (8/12/30 - 3/2/10) - Anarchist, Poet and Artist

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2014/12/remembering-john-rety-81230-3210.html

Margaret Thatcher, her legacy, a personal view, a poem, and some tunes.

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2012/01/margaret-thatcher-her-legacy-personal.html 

William Blake: Radical Visionary (28/11/ 1757 - 12/8/ 1827)

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2017/09/william-blake-radical-visionary.html

A Poem for Tony Blair

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2015/07/a-poem-for-tony-blair.html

Bobby Sands (9/3 54 -5/5/ 81) - The Rhythm Of Time, his spirit lives on

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2013/05/bobby-sands9354-5581-rhythm-of-time.html

A different kind of Love song

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2013/02/a-different-kind-of-love-song.html

7th October 1955, Allen Ginsberg's First Reading of "Howl"

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2017/10/7th-october-1955-allen-ginsbergs-first.html

Percy Bysshe Shelley (August 4, 1792 - July 8, 1822) - Revolutionary Romantic Poet

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2017/08/percy-bysshe-shelley-august-4-1792-july.html

I Am ( a poem to mark refugee week 15-21 June)

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2015/06/i-am-poem-to-mark-refugee-week-15-21.html

Gresford Coal Disaster

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2016/09/gresford-colliery-disaster.html

35th Anniversary of The Battle of Orgreave

 

Today I remember of one of the 20th Century's most brutal attacks by the state on its own citizens.The Battle of Orgreave,  which took place during the1984 Miners strike,which resulted in an all out military operation by Margeret Thatcher's Conservative cabinet. The miners' strike of 1984-85 was the longest lasting and most bitter industrial dispute of the second half of the 20th century in Britain. It had a huge impact on virtually every subsequent industrial and political development.
On June 18th  1984, 6 to 7,000  striking miners and their supporters gathered  to picket Orgreave  cokeworks  near Rotheram in South Yorkshire. The miners wanted to stop lorry loads of coke leaving for the steelworks. They thought that would help them win their strike, and help protect their pits and their jobs. The police were determined to hold them back. The number of officers was unprecedented. The use of dogs, horses and riot gear in an industrial dispute was almost unheard of. Some of the tactics were learned from the police in Northern Ireland and Hong Kong who had experience dealing with violent disorder.
During the subsequent court case a police manual was uncovered which set out the latest plans to deal with pickets and protests. Police vans and Range Rovers were fitted with armour so they could withstand the stones being thrown by some in the crowd. The miners suspected the whole operation was being run under government control.
Many believe Orgreave was the first example of what became known as “kettling” – the deliberate containment of protesters by large numbers of police officers. It marked a turning point in policing and in the strike. Police directed  pickets to an area of land which left them  hemmed in on three sides.Before this event the miners had been stoically out on strike for about 12 weeks, during which they had  been assaulted on picket lines, with individuals being handcuffed and beaten without  any cause or provocation.
At Orgreave  the miners after being herded together. were savagely attacked by Police cavalry  in full riot gear under the jurisdiction of Thatcher's Government attacking fleeing miners with long swaying batons as Miners ran for safety. It saw the police  going berserk under state orders, repeatedly  attacking  individuals  wherever they sought refuge,  as they fled into a nearby Wheatfield and into the community of Orgreave, where the police  carried on their pursuit through the streets. It resulted in scenes of ugliness, fear and menace, as  all concepts of Law and order that  the constabulary  were supposed to withhold were abandoned. The police frenzy at Orgreave was consciously designed to batter the NUM into submission.
Far from the liberal ideal of a politically neutral body serving the public the police were used at Orgreave to further the anti-socialist rampage which dominated Thatcher's 1980's. As Michael Mansfield QC wrote :"They wanted to teach the miners a lesson, a big lesson, such as they wouldn't come out in force again."

At the end  the day  95people were arrested, for no crime whatever, with over 39 strikers  being injured, many severely. Following Orgreave, the police  conducted a deliberate  and co-ordinated  attempt to frame arrested miners  for one of the most serious events  on the statute book - the offence of Riot. No police officer has ever been prosecuted or even disciplined for their role in the terrible events that occurred.
The  miners strike lasted until March 1985, during which it politicised a generation of people, sadly however at the end hundreds of mines closed afterwards and many miners faced redundancy. And dizzy with her own success, Thatcher began a policy of deindustrialisation of British industry and further impoverishment of working class and middle-class people.

The  miners  strike of 1984 was one of the longest and most brutal in British labour history. A heroic community fighting for jobs and survival was wholly denigrated and depicted as violent by the majority of the British media, at the time. Orgreave marked a turning point in the policing of public protest. It sent a message to the police that they could employ violence and lies with impunity. It was only a year after Orgreave that the so-called “Battle of the Beanfield” took place, with violent and unprovoked  attacks by the police on New Age travellers, followed by large-scale wrongful arrests. And more recently there have been examples of police “kettling” demonstrators in London for several hours – a kind of pre-emptive imprisonment. With the Government’s Trade Union Act aiming to further restrict picketing,  the right to protest in public is in serious danger.
In 2012, the  Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign (OTJC), was formed to campaign for a public inquiry into the policing of events at Orgreave following the success of the Hillsborough Justice Campaign and revelations about corruption in South Yorkshire Police. But in October 2016 the Home Secretary Amber Rudd announced that there would be no statutory inquiry or independent review.
In 1991, South Yorkshire police paid £425,000 in compensation to 39 miners who had sued for assault, false arrest and malicious prosecution, but the force still publicly denied any wrongdoing by any officer.In March the Right Rev Dr Peter Wilcox, the bishop of Sheffield, revealed that the Home Office had also declined to support his proposal for an independent panel to consider the Orgreave events.
In advance of the 35 year anniversary , he said: “Questions remain unanswered which are not going away. In the fullness of time, these questions must be addressed thoroughly and openly, so that wrongs can be put right and so that individuals and communities can move on from a deeply unhappy piece of history. I gladly repeat today my call for a formal, public and independent process of inquiry.”
Up to a thousand workers from both Yorkshire and across the country marched to the 35th Battle of Orgreave memorial rally on Saturday.They marched from Orgreave Lane in Sheffield across the bridge and past the farmland in which the state-orchestrated police attack on striking miners took place on on June 18th 1984.
Other victims of injustice marched with them: workers blacklisted in the construction industry, victims of the Grenfell fire disaster represented by the Fire Brigades Union and Shrewsbury 24 campaigners seeking justice over the imprisonment of striking building site workers in the 1970s were there.
Speaker after speaker at the rally expressed determination to continue the Orgreave campaign until truth and justice are achieved. Prior to speeches the Women’s Socialist Choir gave a rendition of their Orgreave song ‘Time for Truth, Time for Justice, Time for Peace,’ to warm applause.
A spokesperson for the Orgreave Justice Campaign then said: ‘Take note, we are not going away! We have been more active than ever in the last year and we had the biggest reception we have ever had at this year’s annual Durham Miners Gala.
‘We also had a guarantee from Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn that a Labour government would hold a workers inquiry into what happened at Orgreave in 1984.
‘So the international solidarity that was built up throughout that strike still prevails today. We’ve spoken at over 100 events and meetings – so don’t forget to keep asking us.
‘And now we know we’ll get an inquiry when we get a Labour government. Jeremy Corbyn told us: “The next Labour government will launch an independent inquiry – because there are so many questions that need to be answered”.
 Today I pay tribute to the miners who led the fight against the Thatcher government to defend jobs and trade unionism. After 35 years it is more important than ever to establish the truth about who was responsible for organising the police rampage on this day. Sadly for the 95 miners who were arrested, their families, comrades and others, injustice at Orgreave remains unresolved. Now is the time to keep demand an independent inquiry into the police brutality that happened on that day from home secretary Sajid Javid. Addressing the past is also a way of confronting the continuing abuses of the present.

Refugee Week 2019 (17 – 23 June )

Refugee Week takes place every year across the world in the week around World Refugee Day on the 20 June. In the UK, Refugee Week is a nationwide programme of arts, cultural and educational events that celebrate the contribution of refugees to the UK, and encourages a better understanding between communities.
The main focus of World Refugee Week is to educate people about refugees, what brought them here and the challenges they’ve faced. By hearing their stories, we can appreciate who they are and think about how we can work together to make our communities safer and more welcoming for them.
Refugee Week started in 1998 as a direct reaction to hostility in the media and society in general towards refugees and asylum seekers, to try and look  beyond the stereotypical ‘refugee’ label and work  to counter this negative climate, defending the importance of sanctuary and the benefits it can bring to both refugees and host communities. An established part of the UK’s cultural calendar, Refugee Week is now one of the leading national initiatives working to counter this negative climate, defending the importance of sanctuary and the benefits it can bring to both refugees and host communities.
People escaping war and persecution have been welcomed by communities in the UK for hundreds of years, and their stories and contributions are all around us. From the Jewish refugees of the 1930s to people fleeing Vietnam in the 1970s, Kosovans in the 1990s to those arriving today; they are part of who we all are.
The theme  of Refugee Week 2019, is ' You, me and those who came before' an invitation to explore the lives of refugees who exhibit such adaptability, resilience and determination in rebuilding their lives in the UK, and who play (and will go on to play) an important role in shaping our future society,  and those who have welcomed them, throughout the generations and to celebrate the positive contributions refugees make to our society and show support for families forced to flee.
The aims of Refugee Week are:
1. To encourage a diverse range of events to be held throughout the UK, which facilitate positive encounters between refugees and the general public in order to encourage greater understanding and overcome hostility.
2.To showcase the talent and expertise that refugees bring with them to the UK.
To explore new and creative ways of addressing the relevant issues and reach beyond the refugee sector.
3.To provide information which educates and raises awareness of the reality of refugee experiences
The ultimate aim is to create better understanding between different communities and to encourage successful integration, enabling refugees to live in safety and continue making a valuable contribution.
Many refugees and asylum seekers face severe difficulties once they arrive in the UK. Unable to work or support themselves, many struggle for basics such as food and shelter. Some of the key issues they encounter are the possibility of detention, living in destitution and contending with negative stereotypes.Most of those who are granted asylum are given leave to remain for only five years, making it difficult for them to make decisions about their future, including finding work and making definite plans for their life in the UK while it remains unsafe for them to return to the country they escaped from. As fellow humans we have a responsibility to respond to their specific needs in times of crisis. Many of these asylum seekers come to us as a last resort, having exhausted all alternatives, with nowhere else to turn. We should also remember  all those suffering abuse in detention centres and those facing repatriation despite the dangers that they face.
Refugee Week is an umbrella festival, with events held by a wide range of arts, voluntary, faith and refugee community organisations, schools, student groups and more. Past events have included arts festivals, exhibitions, film screenings, theatre and dance performances, concerts, football tournaments and public talks, as well as creative and educational activities in schools.
Through Refugee Week  the aim is  to provide an important opportunity for asylum seekers and refugees to be seen, listened to and valued. We must continue to offer our love , solidarity, tolerance, warm welcome and friendship  to refugees who daily have to struggle, many of whom left feeling traumatised and marginalised. Refugees are ordinary people to whom extraordinary and often very horrible things have happened. Refugee Week is an opportunity to celebrate that.

https://refugeeweek.org.uk