Frank Wain : Inspirational Native American Hip-Hop Artist

Frank Wain is a Sicanhu Lakota, Hip -Hop Artist from He Dog on the Rosebud Reservation in rural South Dakota. An award winning artist and outspoken activist. Frank uses his music and performance to address colonialism, state violence, the legacy of broken treaties, Native American genocide, racism, appropriation and environmental exploitation among other issues affecting Indigenous people today.
Wain uses his music as a way to call out historical wrongs and  uplift American indigenous youth, many of whom struggle from the impacts of poverty violence, suicide and other inter-generational traumas. He has been featured in many publications, and on MTV'S Rebel Music Native America episode.

Rebel Music: Native America : Official trailer

Influenced and inspired by Emiinem, Nas,  John Trudell, Native activist and poet and the Sundance songs and ceremonies of his culture. His sound is unique, while hip-hop based, he also mixes in the sounds of his native roots, and integrates lyrics that are politically outspoken.He takes a beat, weaves in the drums and sounds of the Sicangu Lakota  and powerfully retells American history through the eyes of a group that has been forgotten, capturing a spirit of resistance..
He is very conscious of how his depictions of Native American culture are so often twisted into "poverty porn ""There will be no porn in music video," he tweeted about rhe following video "Aboriginal " in October 2013. "No models. No bling. Just some Lakota people, smiling, riding horses and being a community." The video shows children on the reservation playing basketball, hanging with family, living ordinary lives - lives that are frequently misunderstood and overlooked.

.Frank Wain -  Aboriginal

Frank was raised only by his mother and aunts on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. His father was absent in his life, but he says his mother made him who he is today and without her he would not be doing what he does. Although he is representative of his culture, his music also deals with trauma that can be felt by those that  are not Native. He has also spoken cadidly about his own personal battles with depression.
The following song speaks of his love for his mother and the struggles they have endured together, this love can resonate with many of us. Though Frank is proud of his identity and writes content geared towards issues relevant to his community, his music also stresses how these situations can also be viewed through a broader lens. These struggles are not exotic nor alien.

Rebel Music ;Frank Wain Performs "My Stone

From a very young age he found it was his responsibility to keep his culture alive  and shed light on the reality of what indigenous people have been experiencing and living for hundreds of years. He attended Colombia University in Chicago, Illinois as a recipient of the Gates Millenium Scholarship. He has said that it was this scholarship that enabled his to began making music. He began producing music in college using his laptop. Since then he has gone on to win several awards for his outspoken and powerful sounds, who has managed to build a large and devoted audience of fans drawn to his heartfelt music.
Currently living in Chicago, aside from creating music highlighting the struggles of  his people in today's society, he is also a youth mentor and social activist and speaks about self- empowerment travelling the world spreading messages of hope through performance and workshops.In 2017 he went on a trip with https://www.dreamdefenders.org/ who he works with to Palestine where he bore witness to their own struggles under settler colonialism.Re-connecting to his own culture  has allowed him to release his revolutionary voice, providing an inspiration to many, using his powerful voice as a political and environmental activist for American Indian rights. while using music as a much needed  force for love, struggle, healing and social change.In an interview he refers to his people as "A people with a past, not a people of the past."
Long may he keep up his good work.

Frank Wain - What makes the Red Man Red

Frank Wain - Oil 4 Blood

Let Them In - Soul Inscribed; featuring Frank Wain
https://soulinscribed.bandcamp.com/track/let-them-in-feat-frank-waln
all proceeds going to http://www.lahuelga.com/

,,,,,

https://twitter.com/frankwaln

https://frankwaln47.bandcamp.com

"I stand for the power of art to bring about healing and change for the communities we call home." 

-Frank Wain

Trump rally. What an amazing day

Yesterday, I was at one of the most diverse, vibrant demonstraitons, I have been to for years, proudly joining over 250,000 people as we stood together against the divisive, bigoted, climate-denying,  policies of Donald Trump. It was the biggest protest against Trump outside the US to date, despite the vitriol of our slogans and chants, the mood was a festive one of jubilation and defiance rather than aggressive, as we basked in glorious sunshine, in a carnival of resistance. A very special day as our humanity was shared.
People  young  and old from many  different walks of life, gathered at Portland Square from around 2 pm, marching to Trfalgar Square for a mass rally, that featured  politicians including  Jeremy Corbyn. Labour leader, and David Lammy Labour MP, and columnist Own Jones..
In a video posted on Twitter, Corbyn described the Trump administration policie "as putting the lives and wellbeng of millions of people at risk."
He also criticised Theresa May for her "red carpet welcome" despite Trump "tepeatedly trampling on the most basic fundamental rights that all of us hold dear." Adding 2our democracy comes from popular action, our right to demonstrate in this Square was hard fought for and hard won, the rights of women to vote was hard fought for and hard won. We're asserting our rights to demonstrate and live in a world that's not divided by misogony, racism and hate." To huge cheers he said "We come together becuse I wish to live in a world of peace, not war. I wish to live in a world where refugees are not blamed for th wars that they are victims of, When we divide ourselves by xenophobia we all lose, when we unite around common objectives we can all win."
Together we managed to show our solidarity, with those marginalised groups that have born the brunt of Trumps  regressive points of view managing to make international headlines. At the same time we managed to send a clear message to our own government  that we wont accept or tolerate the dangerous actions of the US president., or allow them to become the norm and acceptable, at the same time  making it loud and clear that he was not welcomed.Accusing him of creating a culture of racism, intolerance and misogony via his vile policies of targetting minority groups.
As the rally came to a close, people cooled  down from a long hot day of protest by splashing in the fountain in the middle of Trafalgar Square, and despite the bus that took us to London and breaking down, and getting gridlocked, meaning that we did not get back till about 6.am this morning, I believe a positive day was had by us all, a truly momentous occasion of political significance..
When we fight back together, in solidarity, we are more powerful, our love will always trump hate.
The huge turnout was a huge victory to everyone fighting racism, sexism and austerity. My thoughts are with those marching again today against supporters of fascist Tommy Robinson who are gathering in central London.

Arty Party Together Against Trump

Short post, off to catch bus to London. As Theresa May courts and hold hands with Trump, for  those who can't get to London, you can still raise your voices. Give Trump no welcome,  remember, no one is illegal, no borders are necessary. Evil triumphs when good people do nothing. Resist, resist with all your might. For those in West Wales, please attend following :-

 https://www.facebook.com/events/2163190237260648/

Love Trumps Hate/Mae Cariad yn Trechu Casineb

July 13th is coming
Catch a bus and protest
Greet orange man
With  freedoms voice
Cast out intolerance
That is accountable to no one
Flaming and flaunting fear
Daily releasing sad delapitdation
Let's weave together in unity
Be a speck that proudly stands
Sing together with one voice
Our bubbles shifting together
Hands together, raised high
Cries refusing to be silent
Collectively not frightened
Speaking in different tongues
Against racism and bigotry
Offering no welcome
To a narcissistic clown
Our love will triumph hate
We will loudly drown

https://iamnotasilentpoet.wordpress.com/2018/07/11/love-trumps-hate-mae-cariad-yn-trechu-casineb-by-dave-rendle/

Strong and stable Tories?

As Theresa May clings on in power weak and unstable, we are increasingly seeing signs of the Conservative governments fragility, as Brexit Secretary David Davis has done what he's been predicted to have been considering to do, and resigned. Departing just days after Theresa May secured the cabinets backing despite claims from her critics that it was "soft".
With Boris Johnson following suit after  2 years of embarrassing Britain as foreign secretary, we should be  asking ourselves,when have the Tories ever done anything good  for the country. Everything that they ever do is for their own benefit and self interest, and never for the rest of us, with their cruel and callous policies.Davis has now being replaced by Dominic Raab, whose own track record is simply astonishing, even for a Tory ttps://www.thecanary.co/trending/2018/07/09/five-times-the-new-brexit-secretary-already-showed-his-true-colours/
We are now seeing Tory hardline Brexiters rallying as many MP's as possible to demand by letter Theresa May's resignation, because staying in the EU single market is a complete anathema to them, clear signs of a party in complete division. As May and  her government faces a race against time to  find a solutions to the Irish border question, it clearly shows the Tory's to be in the grip of total chaos, which will hopefully trigger the collapse of their grip of power too.Theresa May's Tories are in a whole heap of trouble, as we witness how weak the ruddy lot of them are, the most fissile and disloyal bunch we have seen in living memory.This not a government of strength but one of utter weakness, what future do they have whilst they seem so unfit to govern at all.
At such a crucial time of the Brexit process, in which EU leaders have warned us that time is running out to get a deal sorted. The UK is supposed to be due to leave on 29 March next year. As their actions continue to be marked by incompetence and farce, and  as Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has pointed out "threatens our economy, businesses, jobs and communities."It is time for all the Tories to go as soon as possible for the greater good of all, Theresa May and co simply have no authority left, as they continue to cause so much irreplaceable harm to our country, as they show themselves to be in utter disarray and utter shambles.

The forcible transfer of Palestinians is a war crime

The state of Israel  is currently attempting to raze to the ground the  villages of Khan al-Ahmar  and Avu Numar which is home just around 2,000 Bedouins  but the impact of their removal would be long lasting.People who live in these villages threaten no one. Their crime is to have homes on land that Israel wants, in order to expand the illegal settlements of Kfar Adumim and Ma'ale Adumim.. In what many see as state sponsored theft, a theft that will cut the West Bank in two making a contingous Palestinian state no longer possible,  and the prospects of a  two-state solution still more remote., and  is yet  another testament to Israel's culture of impunity that allows it to continue endangering the very existence of the Palestinian people on their land  and to commit further grave violations of international law.
On Wednesday bulldozers demolished nine homes and three farm buildings in Abu Nuwar and clashed with Bedouin residents in Khan al-Ahmer. According to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society Israeli police injured 35, of whom 4 were hospitalised. Amit Gilutz of human rights organisation B'Tselem said ;No military order or court ruling can make the transfer of these residents lawful or moral. Forcible transfer of Palestinian communities is a war crime, and all who are involved in approving or implementing it bear personal liability." https://www.btselem.org/
Amnesty International have said  that Israels continuing policies of settling Israeli civilians in the Occupied Palestinian territories, wantonly destroying property, and forcibly transferring Palestinians living under occupation violates the Fourth Geneva Convention are war crimes listed in the statute of the International Criminal Court. Since 1967, Israel has forcibly evicted and displaced entire communities and demolished more than 50,000 Palestinian homes and structures.
Meanwhile the top Palestinian political bodies have accused the United States of giving the green light to Israel. Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital and the EU's acquiescence pushed the Israeli government to advance its annexation plans which affect  vast occupied areas of vital importance for Palestine. http://mondoweiss.net/2018/07/demolishing-jerusalem-netanyahu/"
Furthermore, building permits are nearly impossible to obtain for Palestinians in Israeli controlled areas of the West Bank and despite Israel pledging to resettle the residents, one of the alternative locations is near a garbage dump in the nearby Palestinian town of Abu Dis which Bedouin villagers say the location is  unsuitable for their way of life. Israels's actions are not isolated, but part of a systematic plan to take the whole of Palestine from the rivers to the sea.
At the same time companies with headquarters in the UK are directly supporting the destruction of Palestinian homes, companies like CAT and JCB  who continue to profit from illegal activity and directly contribute to ongoing war crimes, whilst aiding and abetting the criminal activities of the Israeli government.
It's time for the UK government to step up and hold complicit companies to account over their involvement and to end its complicity in Israel's systematic violation of Palestinian rights.At the same time Israel must be held accountable for its grave violations of the International Humanitarian Law, UN resolutions and the human rights of the Palestinian people I would urge you after reading this to ask your MP to suspend arms exports to Israel

https://www.waronwant.org/ask-your-mp-suspend-arms

DONNY TAKES A TRIP by Fake News Corp

Fake News Corp is an alliance of disparate souls who wanted to manifest their opposition to the ‘alt-President of the USA’ in a rousing song. We can’t stop him coming to England but we do not welcome him. We disapprove of his racist, abusive, divisive activities and we object to his fascistic, bully-boy gang members.

Whilst he travels freely to England he attempts to restrict the movements of others, whether from Mexico, South America or the Middle East. Alt-POTUS is a self-confessed abuser, a charity fraudster and a graceless lying bully. He has no manners and is dangerously happy in the company of the despots and dictators he admires so much.

This song and this video are available free to anybody who wants them for non-commercial use. It would be great if you would consider donating to one of the charities linked below or to one of your choice. We have created this work in order to add our voice to the millions of voices speaking out against greed, corruption, violence and cruelty, and speaking up for peace, cooperation, equality and truth. Download the MP3 here: https://allthemadmenrecords.bandcamp....
 
This song and this video are available free to anybody who wants them for non-commercial use. It would be great if you would consider donating to one of the charities linked below or to one of your choice.

We have created this work in order to add our voice to the millions of voices speaking out against greed, corruption, violence and cruelty, and speaking up for peace, cooperation, equality and truth.
Download the MP3 HERE

TRUMP IS COMING 13TH JULY.

Join the carnival of resistance HERE

Black Lives Matter HERE

Politifact – US fact-checking website HERE

Full Fact – UK’s independent fact checking charity HERE

SARI – Stand Against Racism and Inequality HERE

Full list of image and video copyright accreditation to follow asap.

LYRICS:

Intro
No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA
Resist, resist
Resist the white supremacists
Resist, resist
Resist fascists

Verse 1
We can learn from history
Hitler lost and Mussolini
Franco left no legacy
And there is no Confederacy
Someone’s got their eye on you
From Pennsylvania Avenue
There’s Nazis in the White House too
It’s Donny and his fascist crew

Chorus 1
Resist, resist
Resist the white supremacists
Resist, resist
Resist fascists

Verse 2
The man to represent the dumb
The racists and intolerant ones
Every white man with a gun
Out many comes the one
Bend the knee reveal the shame
It’s a zero sum racist game
Bullies on the street again
Donny gives the poor the blame

Chorus 2
Resist, resist
Resist the white supremacists
Resist, resist
Resist fascists

Verse 3
Racist, liar, tax cheat, deadbeat,
Draft-dodger, Russian agent, sex offender
Fake news, fake press, fake university,
Fake hair fake tan fake fucking charity

Chorus
Resist, resist
Resist the white supremacists
Resist, resist
Resist fascists

Break chant
You are not welcome here

Break spoken section
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses
yearning to breathe free.”
And lo it shall come to pass,
As we receive them unto us
We will incarcerate and humiliate them,
We will demonize, degrade and demoralize them
We will heap blame upon their shoulders
Burdens on their backs
And a price on their heads
A price they can never afford

Even though we will employ them on pitiful wages
House them in low rent slums
And anaesthetise them with bad TV and bad drugs

Send us your Mexican cleaners,
Send us your Filipino houseboys
Your East European sex workers
And lo, will we use them, abuse them,
Hold them in contempt and confuse them
They will be held in suspicion at all times
And held in custody at others
And when we can no longer exploit them
We will arrest and deport them

America, home of the slave
And the land of the wealthy
God bless America

Chorus

Resist, resist
Resist the white supremacists
Resist, resist
Resist fascists

No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA

Resist, resist
Resist the white supremacists

No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA

Resist, resist
Resist fascists

Resist, resist
Resist the white supremacists
Resist, resist
Resist fascists

PLEASE SHARE ON YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA AS YOU SEE FIT, TO HELP SHINE A LIGHT ON THE HARD STRUGGLE AGAINST THE FORCES OF FASCISM IN THE WHITE HOUSE.

The arrival of the world's no 1 racist on our shores is a serious threat, and many are rightly asking why there is no money for nurses when Theresa May can find the magic money tree to foot the bill for a £5m golfing trip for Trump in Scotland. It really shows her priorities and sense of values.Together on July 13th we will be putting on a massive united show of opposition to him, against his politics of racism, war, sexism and hate.
If we come together, and get hundreds of thousands of people on the streets, we will be the reception the world sees. Our message of global solidarity against bigotry, racist borders and corporate greed wills  drown out the mainstream, pompous welcome. If you can't make it to London , find your nearest local protest here https://www.stoptrump.org.uk/events/

Cardigan and North Pembrokeshire Amnesty Group : AmnesTea / Freedom to Express Yourself.

Reminder about our ANNUAL AMNESTY ANNUAL AMNESTEA this year at Clynfyw Care Farm, Abercych, SA37 OHF Sunday, July 8th 2.00 - 5.00pm with tea and cake, plant sale, bookstall, Jewllry Sale, Farm tours, live music and poetry reading. Indoors if wet, outdoors if dry, please spread the word, come with your friends1 Cakes needed and plants please. Travel directions to Clynfyw, From Newcastle Emyn go to Cenarth take turning on left just before the bridge to Cenarth follow to the end off the road. Turn right up hill towards Boncath. Clynfyw is a little way on that road, clearly marked on your left. From Cardigan, over bridge in Cenarth, first turning on your right. From other directions see facebook page.
Come for a relaxing day and fun afternoon, bring your friends, and help raise money for Amnesty International human rights work around the world.Every year hundreds of supporters do exactly this, and last year raised over £17,000 for vital research and campaigning work. It's amazing how much a humble cup of tea can achieve. Just as Amnesty is about people coming together to defend human rights, AMNSTEA is a chance for friends to share good food and support human rights, whilst having some fun at same time. Hope to see you there. 

https://www.facebook.com/events/214732922647282/ 


Also please go and see our beautiful exhibition at Small World Theatre where we are hosting Freedom to Express Yourself. This exhibition is free of charge to view during office opening times: Tuesday-Friday, 10.00am-4.30pm.May 23d to July 27th.
This is the blurb.
"Amnesty International has partnered with top artists and designers to create a beautifully illustrated notebook that celebrates our right to freedom of expression. Previous Children’s Laureates Sir Quentin Blake and Chris Riddell, Turner Prize-winner David Shrigley, Lord of the Rings artist Alan Lee, and best-selling journal author Meera Lee Patel, are just a few of the artists that have produced new artwork for the notebook, basing their creations on pivotal quotes from some of the most important human rights thinkers and activists of the past two centuries, including Malala Yousafzai, Mahatma Gandhi, Bob Marley and Harper Lee. Full of inspiring ideas, the notebook has plenty of empty space for readers to express themselves with their own creative drawings, musings, to-do lists and doodles."

http://smallworld.org.uk/cy/event/freedom-to-express-yourself-exhibition/2018-07-10/ 

As the NHS turns 70, remember to keep fighting for it.

Today many people will be marching to celebrate Nye Bevans legacy that came into the world 70 years ago  on 5 July 1948, when he opened Park Hospital in Manchester at a time of rationing and shortages, when we were nearly bankrupt, a jewel  that the war generation left us with, a proud legacy, for us to all to continue to share. It offered for the first time a free healthcare system for all, and has since  played a vital role in caring for all aspects of our nations health. For the first-time doctors, nurses, opticians, dentists and pharmacists all worked under one organisation, free at the point of use, which has since  played a vital role in caring for all aspects of our nations health, that has been the envy of the world,  currently fiecely defended by people as their fundamental social right.
This right now in jeapordy at moment because the NHS is being transformed into a skeleton, for profit service, modelled on the US healthcare market,and as as a result of chronic underfunding, a massive expansion of the private sector into healthcare provision, and a demoralised, underpaid workforce have combined to put the NHS in grave danger and the result of  of the privatisation policies of successive  governments has put  it constantly under threat.
But today is the perfect opportunity today to appreciate the achievements of one of the nation’s most loved institutions, and acknowledge the vital role the service plays in our lives, and to recognise and thank the extraordinary NHS staff – the everyday heroes – who are there to guide, support and care for us, day in, day out. It wouldn’t be possible to run a 7-day NHS, caring for millions of people day-in-day-out without the hard work and dedication of its staff. Despite all the adversity that’s thrown at them: poor pay, bursary cuts, hospital parking fines and staff shortages to name a few; they continue to become stronger and relentlessly keep delivering fantastic healthcare to the nation .
The NHS  here in Wales employs close to 72,000 staff which makes it Wales’ biggest employer. I can never forget the compassion they gave to my dear departed, my dad, who himself served for 30 years. the staff always managing to keep their spirits high, never once showing any dereliction of care, dedicated, compassionate people under increased pressure, some of whom are resorting to food banks to get by. As the Tory's and their rotten hearts seek to dismantle it,  we should not forget Nye's words who said " It will last as long as their are folk with enough faith to fight for it."
We  cannot reach the day again where people make a profit out of our sickness. On its birthday we should also join the call for fair pay for all NHS staff . We  must not reach the day again where people make a profit out of our sickness . The NHS continues to be  a shining example of how a caring society can create good and safe care, making such a great contribution towards social and health equality, remember we paid for it, so it is owned by us, it is our precious commodity our national treasure that must suvive, we must do all that it takes, to tear the vultures hands from it. We must continue to keep fighting for it, put people before profit, allow it to keep providing free and universal world-class care far into the future.

 Tonight, some essential viewing, a film poem by Owen Sheers, with a great cast, including Michael Sheen

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0b7x2nt/the-nhs-to-provide-all-people

Wild Swimming (After Poppit beach/ Traeth Popit)

After much hibernation
I returned to a favourite place,
Submerged myself in its waters
Enjoyed a fine summers day,
After heaviness my body grew light.
before golden sunset, and full moon called,
found peace and calm to restore sanity
As my body moved in the ocean,
Arms outstretched, tasted sense of freedom,
On my back, body felt warm and tranquil
In  serenity, mind drifted in restful space,
As the world went silent for a while
Its weight no longer carried me,
In the distance the sound of laughter
Warm  healing air, released contentment,
Moving through patterns of light and shade
Thoughts felts at ease, as lapping waves soothed,
This tranquil place felt like magic
I feel I could have basked there forever,
Today thoughts keep on swimming
Feeling recharged, heart not currently sinking.

Stop arming Turkey! / Support the Cardiff arms fair defendants

On the 3rd of July, three activists, one who is a member of the Kurdish community in Wales and a British Kurdish Solidarity Network member, another BKSN member, and a member of the Anarchist Federation are facing charges of aggravated Trespass (" failing to leave land") for protesting at the Cardiff Arms Fair ( DPRTE) against weapon sales to the dictatorial Turkish state.
Prime minister Theresa May has long championed arms sales to Turkey, but by arming Turkey, the UK government and companies like BAE and Airbus are complicit in human rights abuses, and in the massacre of hundreds of people in Afrin. As reported recently in the Independent, Turkey have hired former ISIS fighters for the invasion of Afrin, War crime allegations against the Turkish military and their hired jihadist mercenaries include the mutilation of corpses of women fighters, the use of chemical gas, and the deliberate targetting of  civilians. There are regular reports of kidnapping, rape and torture, abduction, forced religious conversion, and the indiscriminate shooting of refugees.
British weapons bought at Cardiff arms fair are likely to be used not only to suppress the Kurdish struggle for autonomy in Turkey, but also against the US - backed Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) spearheading the fight against Islamic State in Syria. Turkey has used and will continue to use these weapons against the Kurds both within its borders and in Syria.
In Rojava and Northern Syria, people are organising themselves in networks of grassroots assemblies and co-operatives, using the model of Democratic Confederalism, which emphasises direct democracy, feminism and ecology, and a multi-ethnic society without discrimination based on religion, compare this to the Turkish Government, which has been repeatedly criticised by the European Court of Human Rights for the issues raised above, alongside enforced dissapearances and the mass imprisonment of journalists and politicians.
It is important to keep speaking out against the UK government's support for fascist regimes and their attacks on the people of Kurdistan.

https://www.facebook.com/events/591963254510191/

Westminster "betrayal" as ministers reject Swansea Bay tidal lagoon

In a  historical disgraceful shameful betrayal and crushing blow to the people of Wales, the UK Government has rejected plans for the world's first ' green energy ' tidal power scheme in the UK, saying that the Swansea Tidal Lagoon project in Swansea Bay would be too expensive. This follows their decision to give nuclear energy the green light and giving the Heathrow Expansion the go ahead, which will be a disaster to air pollution and climate change.
The project had been described as a "pathfinder" project, with plans for a further lagoon between Cardiff and Newport. The developers 'Tidal Lagoon Power' had wanted subsidies similar to nuclear power to build  the £1.3 billion scheme.Yet almost 18 months after the government had commissioned a review and called the lagoon a "no regrets policy the Business Secretary Greg Clark said it now "does does not demonstrate value for money" and Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns saying the scheme "just did not stack up."
It is mildly put such a shortsighted move, despite the fact that public support for the lagoon was unquestionably in favour. People seeing the benefits in both environmental and economic terms that would have been hugely significent for Wales, putting  my country firmly on the world stage and would have also created a much needed  2,000 jobs in the process, giving a huge boost to the economy..A missed opportunity,that  people are now greeting  with  justifiable anger, as my nation suffers again, because of the tories refusal to give the project the go-ahead, in what shows clearly there lack of desire to invest in renewable power, a decision that will surely come back to bite us all in the behind down the line, serving to illustrate their contempt and  continuing neglect and lack of interest in Wales.
Responding to the news, Swansea Council leader Rob Stewart said the UK Government has made a huge mistake, saying that "As a pathfinder project Swansea would pave the way for an entirely new industry where Wales and the UK would be a world leader. The UK Government has spent 18 months on this decision and after all that time they have made the wrong call.They are removing nearly £2bn of investment from Swansea and South Wales,"
There have now been calls for Mr Cairns to resign with Plaid Cymru tabling a motion of no confidence against him following the decision.

No words needed .... but

For me the Royal family represent inequality, a dynasty that has no place in the modern world , above though we see  Theresa May fawning in open deference while Brtain is going through a time of national economic and social stress , due to Brexit, austerity, incoming roll out of Universal Credit and so on.
The Prime minister performed this awkward unusually low dip as she shook the Duke of Cambridge's hand to welcome him during a visit to a newly built Defence and National  Rehabilitation Centre last Thursday in Nottinghamshire. I find it  unbelievable that one human being would publicly and shamelessly debase themselves in this manner. Theresa May curtsying, grovelling more like, to Prince William is one of the most cringeworthy, nauseatingly, obsequious spectacles I have seen for a while, and is simply an affront to human decency. How can human beings indulge in this humiliating behaviour with a straight face, heaven knows.
Others might point out that she was just showing some basic chivalry, protocol and respect, but have we not  in the modern age, moved on from these outdated monarchist hangups. I personally look forward to a society in the future where we can all look into one another's eyes as equals, whatever our positions in life.

Lowkey ft Kaia - Ghosts of Grenfell 2

After a five year hiatus in 2017, Lowkey returned to the mic with a personal tribute on the Grenfell disaster,https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2017/08/lowkey-ghosts-of-grenfell-ft-mai-khalil.html  who  many have said could have been avoided  with proper construction practices. Above is his powerful sequel  to remind  our government that victims of this avoidable tragedy are still fighting for justice.
The tale of Grenfell is a tale of two Kensingtons. It is the story of how scores of poor people were left to perish, in a block riddled with fire and safety problems and disrepair, just meters away from some of the wealthiest streets in the country.
And if this alone does not  make you cry, then  listen to the following.Simply beautiful.Does music have the capacity to heal?

Yousra & Johara - Fire in Grenfell

My own initial response https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2017/06/for-grenfell-tower-poem.html

And some further reflections,https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2018/06/grenfell-tower-fire-one-year-on.html

rehouse the survivors, prosecute those rsponsible, Justice 4 Grenfell  💚

Halfway there (Happy Summer Solstice)

(happy summer solstice, to all out there, heddwch /peace, blessed be)

Surging through veils
to enhance, to heal,
recharge, renew, reveal
time to celebrate
through spirit, mind, and heart,
the turning of the seasonal wheel,
under the influence
of a bright shining moon,
swirl in peace for awhile
solitary or in company,
kiss goodbye to the last shades of spring
pay homage to forces of nature we trust,
marking new beginnings
as earth's darkness returns to light
radiant sun returns with dawn
and summertime is reborn.

Donald Trump must end the separation of migrant families.

Between October 1, 2018, and May 31, 2018, at least 2,700 children  have been split from their parents. 1,995 of them were seperated over, the last six weeks, April 18 to May 31, indicating that at present, an average of 45 children are being taken from their parents each day. Migrants who have been crossing the hot southern desert into the U.S seeking security and safety from gangs and drug cartels. The UN says the use of detention and family seperation runs counter to human rights standards and principles.
This has seen the United States , under an Orwellian  policy of 'zero tolerance' immigrant children being ripped from the arms of their mothers and fathers and placed in detention camps. This is the same country, who has invaded a number of states across the globe in the name of freedom, human rights, democracy and equality, but we are currently seeing the real face of the USA, and with their President warning that migrants will 'infest' America, some are saying Holocaust parallels are impossible to ignore. Currently speaking wikipedia is listing Trump's detention centers as concentration camps.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_concentration_and_internment_camps#Forced_separation_of_immigrant_children
The  heartbreaking sight  of children being held in metal cages, in extreme heat by day, extreme heat at night  is America's shame, what the Trump administration is doing to these families is simply barbaric.Church leaders and figures across the political spectrum have expressed their outrage.This
outcry has increased  after an audio recording  captured distraught  minors, apparently between  four and ten, screaming "Mami" and"Papa" hours after they were removed by their parents.
Parents who have fled trauma and persecution are now having to endure the unfathomable terror of not knowing if they will ever see their children again.
Taking children away from their parents can risk  re-traumatising children who have already sufferred the trauma of violence and persecution in their native countries, as well as the arduous journey to seek safety. The idea that children can be protected by tearing them away from their families is cruel and unnecessary, defying all sense of logic and humanity. None should be treated so cruelly .Punishing people seeking safety and dignity goes against all values of dignity and compassion.
Donald Trump must end this human rights violation now and when he lands in the UK on July 12, we should make sure he is not given any welcome.
Please sign the following  :-

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/220898 

https://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions/usa-families-belong-together?from=issue&utm_campaign=MEMA1719_ACT_REFU_USA_Family_Border_Separations&utm_source=Email&utm_medium=Campaigns&utm_content=1749

“Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

- 'The New Colossus' by Emma Lazarus. Written on the statue of liberty.


POSTSCRIPT :22.30

Bowing to immense pressure. Trump has abruptly reversed  and signed an executive order halting his administration policy of seperating children from their parents when they are detained illegally crossing the U S border. A dramatic turnaround for him, who had been insisting wrongly, that his administration had no choice but to seperate families apprehended  at the border because of federal law and a court decision. In my opinion Trump is still an exceedingly dangerous man, out of control drunk on power.

Refugee Week 2018

This week, from 19-24 June is Refugee Week, in which thousands of people across the country celebrate the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees, promoting understanding of why people see sanctuary. The UN has announced today that more people are fleeing conflict and persecution than any time in the past 70 years. The UK government can and must do more to help.By signing the following petition, this one simple act will hopefully bring us one step closer to changing the unjust rules that keep many families apart.https://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions/home-secretary-reunite-refugee-families?from=issue&utm_campaign=MEMA1714_ACT_REFU_FamilyReunion_ActionTakers&utm_source=Email&utm_medium=Campaigns&utm_content=1744
The following is a letter that I wrote to my local paper, the Tivy-Side Advertiser to mark Refugee Week..

FOUNDED in 1998, Refugee Week Wales is a week long cultural, artistic and educational celebration of the contributions made by talented asylum seekers and refugees who arrive in Wales.
Refugee Week takes place from June 17-24 and Cardigan and North Pembrokeshire Amnesty International group always marks the week.
Wales has a proud history of welcoming refugees from all over the world. Refugees are forced to leave their country in order  to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster often with no warning and cannot return to their country unless the situation improves. This is different to economic migrants.
Refugee Week Wales is an opportunity to promote this message across Wales.

                                                                                                                   Dave Rendle
                                                                                                        Cardigan and North
                                                                                                 Pembrokeshire Amnesty
                                                                                                         International group

http://refugeeweek.org.uk/events/refugee-week-in-wales/

After the Hatstands ( Forever we will dance)

In the morning, days lay ahead
in the middle just a dot,
as sky above, slowly awakes
releasing heat, to cloy the senses ,
into this world of daily prescription
a shot of benevolance, beyond the dark,
on spinning floors, laboriously gathered
we are one, a stream of togetherness,
taking deep breaths, we sail again
holding on to memories, sliding down,
we inhale the smell of one another
the sweet anesthetic of friendship,
carried by rhythmic vibrations
from our cages, we free ourselves,
beyond drifting world of chaos
float peacefully towards tomorrow,
among tinctured cadences and
                            patterned threads
find fulfillment in music and magic,
fuse our movements, blend emotions
release our breathe, redistribute passion
as fragments drift into twilight
forever we will dance

Guantanamo 6,000 days,

This Friday, June 15, Guantanamo Bay prison will have been open for 6,000 days. A depressing milestone  that marks 6,000 days of torture, abuse and indefinite detention without charge. It is a cruel reminder of just how long this injustice has gone on.
 Via the Close Guantanamo  campaign, there has been a photo campaign all year involving the Gitmo Clock, which counts, in real time, how long Guantanamo has been open, and urges Donald Trump to close it.People have been taking photos with posters every 25 days showing how long the prison has been open.
Join us in telling Donald Trump, "Not one day more!"
Print off a poster, take a photo, with it and send it to info@closeguantanamo.org, or just gisplay the poster on a tablet and have your photo taken with it - or even on your phone!
6,000 Days Poster-
http://www.gtmoclock.com/posters/GTMO-Clock-6000.pdf 
Check out all the photos here
https://www.closeguantanamo.org/Gitmo-Clock-2018-photos 

Most of the men held at Guantanamo over the last 6,000 days (16 years, five months and four days) have been held without charge or trial, in defiance of international laws and treaties governing the treatment of prisoners, There are only two acceptable ways to deprive an individual of their liberty- either as a criminal suspect to be tried in a federal court or as a prisoner of war, held unmolested until the end of hostilities. The men at Guantanamo are neither. Instead, after 9/11, the Bush administration concieved of a novel category of prisoner - one without any rights whatsoever - and implemented this at Guantanamo. Although the prisoners have fought to secure rights, being granted constitutionally guaranteed habeas corpus rights by the Supreme Court in June 2008, those rights were eviscerated by a number of appeals court decisions between 2009 and 2011, effectively gutting habeas corpus of all meaning for the Guantánamo prisoners. The unacceptable reality of Guantánamo now is that the men still held can only be freed at the whim of the president, and the president has no intention of releasing anyone.

Donald Trump inherited 41 prisoners from Barack Obama, but he has only released one man, a Saudi repatriated to ongoing imprisonment as part of a plea deal he agreed in the military commission trial system in 2014. Of the 40 men still held, only nine are facing, or have faced trials. Five were approved for release by high-level government review processes under President Obama, but are still held, while the other 26, accurately described as “forever prisoners” by the media, are held indefinitely without charge or trial, regarded as posing an ongoing threat to the U.S., even though the U.S. apparently lacks the evidence to put them on trial.
Every day that Guantanamo remains open is a black mark against America's notion of itself as a nation founded on the rule of law, which respect the rule of law. Andy Worthington, the co-founder of the Close Guantanamo campaign,https://www.closeguantanamo.org/ said "6,000 days is far longer than the two world wars combined. It is outrageous that the U.S Government continues to perptuate the  myth of an endless war, as a supposed justification for holding prisoners indefinitely without charge or trial, when this is, in fact, a policy for which there is no justification whatsoever."
Helen Schietinger of Witness Against Torture http://www.witnessagainsttorture.com/ said "it
 is significant, and not accidental, that all the men who have been imprisoned at Guantanamo are Muslim. How many holy months of Ramadan have they missed during these 6,000 days? How many more must they endure, never being allowed visits by their families?"
The fight against Guantanamo is proving to be a long one, but wont stop until Guantanamo is closed for good.

Grenfell Tower Fire: One Year On

It really is hard to believe that it has already been a year since the Grenfell Tower fire which shocked the nation and devastated a community, when  72 people tragically lost their lives on 14 June, 2017, when flames engulfed the 23-storey building in the worst fire to hit Great Britain since the Second World War, no one deserved or were supposed to die like this.
The chaos and confusion that ensued in the following days added further injury and insult to the hundreds of people immediately impacted by the fire and the wider community. Their anger and frustration were matched by their incredible kindness and generosity, as the people of North Kensington came together in a way that had not been seen in this country for decades.It also saw the UK unite in solidarity with the victims  and their families, against  the reckless incompetence that ultimately led to the fire. The incompetence, coming from both the government and property developers, that included the failure to take seriously the many complaints made by Grenfell residents regarding the lack of fire safety, as well as the failure to replace the extremely combustible cladding with fire-resistant cladding, which would have prevented the fire spreading at such a rapid pace, which would have cost only £293,000 to install, resulted in human beings meeting their deaths in the most horrific of way.
The legacy of Grenfell is clear, and of course we must remember each and every soul that tragically perished in such a preventable disaster, The Guardian recently published a piece on the " Lives of Grenfell Tower " https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/ng-interactive/2018/may/14/lives-of-grenfell-tower-victims-fire  in which mini obituaries written by the friends and family of the victims, were published as tributes to those who lost their lives.We must also remember that Grenfell Tower - a social housing enclave nestled in  one of the most expensive neighboorhoods in the world was mainly occupied by immigrants,people of colour and low-income families, and that the tragedy clearly demonstrated that their lives mattered significantly less, than those of their white, wealthy counterparts.
Time is supposed to heal wounds, but for many Grenfell survivors and victims relatives, the anniversary is a reminder of just how little has been put right over the past year.Sadly not much has changed since the tragedy, Nobody responsible has yet to be charged or arrested, and the consequent investigation into the tragedy, has not urged the government to ban combustible cladding, despite calls from campaign groups, across the country to to do so. 300 tower blocks across the country are still covered in the same dangerous cladding used on Grenfell Tower and building and fire safety regulations are still not fit for purpose
The lack of response is simply a disgrace, but the campaigns of the victims families provide hope for a future with better oversight and more safety, and as the public inquiry continues there are still so many questions to be answered in the fight for justice.
Theresa May  has admitted her failure to meet Grenfell residents in the immediate aftermath of the disaster made it appear she "did not care". The Prime Minister said she will "always regret" failing to go to the tower on the day after the tragedy, saying that her actions were "not good enough" Writing in the Evening Standard May said: "The day after the disaster I made the first of a number of trips to the site, thanking the firefighters for their work and holding a short meeting with the team in charge of the response."What I did not do on that first visit was meet the residents and survivors who had escaped the blaze."But the residents of Grenfell Tower needed to know that those in power recognised and understood their despair. And I will always regret that by not meeting them that day, it seemed as though I didn't care. "That was never the case."
Many people though believe her apology is simply to little and far too late, and are asking that if she cares so much, why are survivors still waiting  to be rehoused in permanent accomodation? Housing Secretary James Brokenshire has admitted that 43 families are still living in hotels, one year on. Speaking in the House of Commons on Monday, he said 203 households needed new homes in the aftermath of the tower block fire, saying that of these, 198 have accepted permanent or temporary accomodation and 134 have now moved in. But he added he was "very concerned" about the 23 households who are living in hotels one year after the event.
"My ministerial team has met with many of them and I've  personally written to all of them, to find out what barriers exist in each individual case and how we can overcome them, he told MPs.
He also reiterated the Governments commitment to ban the use of combustible materials on the external walls of high-rise tower blocks, subject to a consultation, that will be published next week.Adding that the Government has "made it clear" that it espects private building owners not to pass the costs of removing dangerous cladding on to leaseholders.
"The private sector must step up and I am not ruling anything out if they do not." he told MPs.
Responding to the Housing Secretary's statement, Labour's Shadow Housing Secretary John Healey said the "time for warm words is long past".
"Grenfell residents feel that they were failed before the fire, and many feel failed since," said Mr Healey. "They were promised permanent new homes within a year, but only 82 of the 209 households are in permanent new homes. On the wider Grenfell estate, only 39 of 127 are in permanent new homes."
Mr Healey also pressed the Housing Secretary on whether the Government set for all survivors to be permanently rehoused.
"Without a deadline, more words of regret will simply ring hollow to the still homeless residents of Grenfell Tower." he added.
Grenfell Tower now stands in Kensington as a relic, covered in scaffolding and white sheets like a bandage over broken bones. On it is a banner featuring the green Grenfell heart and the words "Grenfell forever in our hearts" emblazoned across the four highest floors.
Justice for Grenfell https://justice4grenfell.org/ is a community led organisation set up in the days following the fire, focused on obtaining justice for the bereaved families, survivors, evacuated residents and the wider local community. Where the authorities failed survivors, Justice for Grenfell stepped in, when the media and politicians went silent, Justice for Grenfell shouted louder.
On 14th June, alongside other activist groups,  Justice for Grenfell will mark 12 months since the tragedy with the 12th Grenfell Silent Walk https://www.facebook.com/events/174975633343497/.The walks are a monthly opportunity for the community to remember, mourn and pay tribute to those affected. On Saturday 16th June you can join them outside Downing Street at 12 pm to march for justice for Grenfell.
Today communities across the country will also fall silent for one minute at 12 pm to remember the victims and those affected by the inferno. In solidarity with the survivors and those whose lives were affected, residents, families, neighbours, emergency services, in what must still be an incredibly painful time.

Victims of the fire

300 prominent global figures accuse Israel of committing ‘war crimes’

Israel's forcible transfer of thousands of Palestinians has been denounced as a war crime by over 300 elected officials, legal scholars, academics artists, faith leaders and activists from around the world.
The universal show of solidarity to the Palestinians was published in an open letter which voiced strong opposition to Israel's plans to forcibly  transfer thousands of Palestinians living in farming shepherding communities in the West Bank.
Signatories include 80 members of parliament, many of whom are from the EU and UK parliaments.
Other notable signatories include ten Israel Prize  laureates, film director.Ken Loach, artists Al Weiwi, author Alice Walker, academic Noam Chomsky and several musicians. Dozens of Rabbis have also signed the letter denouncing Israel for what many would describe as ethnic cleansing.
Forcible transfer - by direct physical force or by creating a coercive environment that makes residents leave their homes - is a war crime the letter states.
Mentioning, in particular, residents facing expulsion from three areas, the Jordan valley, the South Hebron Hills and East Jerusalem, the letter says that Israel " aims to establish facts on the ground that would achieve exclusive de-facto Israel control in those area and eventually facilitate formal annextation"
"Israel's plans "the letter point out, range from freezing Palestinian development, through minimising Palestinian foothold in major parts of the West Bank, to the destruction  and transfer of entire communities " The plans, they add are being implemented through "coercive measures" which are listed as not being allowed to build new private or public buildings, denied access to water grids or to pave access roads, demolitions, threats and confiscation of essential equipment.
After denouncing Israel for committing "war crimes" the letter says "all people responsible for ir - including Israel prime minister and the minister of defence - bear personal responsibility.".
They also accuse Israel's high court of "rubber stamping" the criminal policies of the Israeli government. "All it does is also implicate Israel's High Court Justices in what is nothing short of a war crime, no matter how much legal formalism is enlisted in an effort to exercise the inexcusable." the letter concludes.
BDS until justice is done.

Source https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180612-300-prominent-global-figures-accuse-israel-of-committing-war-crimes/
.
https://www.btselem.org/sites/default/files/2018-06/20180611_khan_al_ahmar_petition.pdf

Open letter which voiced strong opposition to Israel's plans to forcibly transfer thousands of Palestinians living in farming communities in the occupied West Banlk

Noam Chomsky - Best Speech In 2018

Here Noam Chomsky who has dedicated his life to tackling very serious word issues, talks about  the major threats to the human race and other important issues of today. Though he talks eloquently, the stakes at moment are very high, words matter, but we as people must act.

Anthony Bourdain , Renegade Chef Who Reported From the World’s Tables, Is Dead at 61 .

Anthony Bourdain, the gifted chef, storyteller and writer who took TV' viewers around the world to explore culture, cuisine and the human condition for nearly two decades, has died. He was 61.
CNN confirmed his death on Friday and said the cause of his death was suicide.
Bourdain had been working  in France on an upcoming episode of his award winning CNN series, "Parts Unknown."
Born on June 25, 1957, in New York City, the son of a Colombia music executive and a New York staff editor, his love affair with food began during a family vacation to France, when he tried his first oyster on a fisherman's boat. Years later Bourdain dropped out of Vassan College and enrolled in the Culnirary Institure of America, graduating in 1978. In the following decades, he would run a number of popular kitchens in New York City.
In his twenties, Bourdain became addicted to drugs. " I was a complete a-hole. Selfish, larcerious, druggy, loud, stupid, insensitive and someone you would not want to have known. I would have robbed your medicine cabinet had I been invited into your house," he said during a conversation in 2013. https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/197ji0/i_am_anthony_bourdain_ask_me_anything/?sort=confidence Calling himself a very unusual case," Bourdain added, "Most people who kick heroin and cocaine have to give up on everything. Maybe cause my experience was so awful in the end, I've never been tempted to relapse," Bourdain also suffered financial hardships for most of his life. He told Wealth Simple in 2017 https://www.wealthsimple.com/en-us/magazine/money-diary-anthony-bourdain "I don't want to sound like I'm bragging about this, but the sad fact is, until 44 years of age, I never had any savings account," !I'd always been under the gun. I'd always owed money. I'd always been selfish and completely irresponsible," Weed " was a major expense," he added, costing him a few hundred dollars a week. Looking back, the fact that I'd been smoking weed since I was 14 might have had something to do with my relative lack of ambition,"
Bourdain gained notoriety in 1999 after published a New Yorker article, "Don't Eat Before Reading This." It  became a best-selling book in 2000 Kitchen Confidential :Adventures in the Culnirary Underbelly, leading to shows on Food Network, Travel Channel and eventually CNN.Adventurous and outspoken this led to  him gaining a legion of fans and admirers through his numerous books and essays as well as his many television appearances.
The celebrated author and chef was married twice in his lifetime, first to Nancy Putkoski. then to Ottavia  Busia, who he had a daughter with in 2007. Bourdain is survived by his girlfriend, the Italian actor Asia Argento ,
Recently he had emerged as a leading male voice in support of the 'Me Too movement in the wake of rape and abuse allegations against the film producer Harvey Weinstein, notably in support of his girlfriend.
For anyone who watched his show, Parts Unknown, what was clear that as well as travelling the world sampling cuisine, most importantly he actually spoke to citizens of each country, about culture, their innovations and their lives,  bringing a unique perspective on the food and political climates of Laos, Africa, the occupied Gaza Strip, and other distant cultures that are rarely depicted on major television networks. After tweeting a photo of dead children  on a Gaza beach in 2014 an receiving a flood of "ugly racist shit and accusations" in response Bourdain wrote "The willingness of people not to see what is plainly apparent, right there, enormous and frankly hideous. Unfortunately, we live in a world where its nearly impossible to even describe reality much less deal with it, It's utterly heartbreaking." When he visited Palestine a few years ago he did something unprecedented for American TV viewers, he portrayed Palestinians as human beings, https://www.972mag.com/celebrity-chef-humanizes-palestinians-on-trip-to-the-holy-land/
He tried to highlight marginalised voices and called the powerful to account for their hypocrisy. He was capable of highlighting peoples struggles, their triumphs, and in places like Iran, discussed their oppression, especially the journalists who were jailed for speaking out and the minority classes who struggled to survive. He would speak to people like President Obama  and unknown residents of faw away countries who are trying to just get by day by day, in an equal manner. He made the world smaller, He dived in, hungry to experience. His wasn't the Orientalist gaze. He saw humanity (and food) everywhere, and connected with it.His show was part history lesson, part cooking show, part comedy, and part political commentary. He was brash, hilarious, a fearless renegade, who did not suffer fools, reaching out to the voiceless, reasons why he is bound to be missed by millions across the globe.
I don't know what was going through Anthony Bourdain's mind when he took his own life, but I've experienced depression, beyond sadness, a numbness, a sense that all value in the world was being quashed, feelings of utter hopelessness and despair.
If you or anyone you know are struggling, please seek help. Do not ignore the warning signs. Make yourself a safe person. Do not be afraid to ask if someone you love is thinking of suicide. Everyone struggling matters. You matter. Everybody hurts. To get help call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline in your country.
Rest in peace - Anthony Bourdain

Morrissey :Big Mouth strikes again

Confession. I used to love Morrissey, in my teens, and up to recently I used to sport  cardigans untl the moths had them. Still have loads of Smiths singles, L.P's, and even some of his solo stuff.
I've always been aware he's been a rather contentious sod, that was his beauty I guess, one who was never shy of expressing his opinions ,from  his loathing of Margaret Thatcher, the Royal Family, his passionate devotion to animal rights, which marked him out as  him as an outsider, but recently  this expats opinions really have been getting beyond the pale.
His recent outbursts have seen him swapping Thatcher baiting for muslim baiting and can  be viewed at his his own blog  https://www.morrisseycentral.com/ where he tells us Hitler was left-wing. halal meat is certified by Isis,a process which he describes as "evil" and which should be banned. He  also calls for the outlawing of jewish kosher meat preparation. which he says is "very cruel."A message from the Nazi BNP and EDL in Britain to Marine Le Pen's Front National in France issues that have acted as dog whistles for their Nazi followers.
He has also recently  rounded on Sadiq Khan, the Asian Mayor of London, accusing him of being in charade of a "debased" city and claiming he "cannot talk properly" And that the black woman shadow home secretary, who has been the subject of outrageous racist abuse, that reached a peak during last years election campaign, is dismissed with a sneer that "even Tesco wouldn't employ Dianne Abbot, and  that  the acid attacks in London are and are ' are all non-white, and even tells us we should all vote for Britain,https://www.forbritain.uk/ a party founded by far right ex UKIP leadership candidate Anne Marie Waters, who Morrissey thinks believes in "British heritage" and "freedom of speech" and that she "wants everyone in the UK to live under the same law"- as if something like ' British heritage' is a fixed, inherent truth rather than totally nebulous and subjective concept, or that the UK's laws don't reflect the ideological prejudices of the ruling class, who design and enforce them. Even Nigel Farage, branded Morrissey's fave party as a bunch of Nazis and racists."
Now this master of melancholy, has caused outrage online again for voicing his support for Stephen Yaxley -Lennon, or Tommy Robinson, his nom de Nazi, https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-trouble-with-tommy-robinson.html who is currently in prison for seriously jeapordising a trial that should see child rapists and torturers rightfully punished, who through his actions put the victims at risk. Morrisey descibed the jailing of this right wing thug as "shocking" saying jailing him for breaking contempt laws by filming outside a court was an example of how Britain;s biggest political parties are against freedom of expression'
"It's very obvious that Labour or the Tories do not believe in free speech, " he said "I mean look at the shocking treatment of Tommy Robinson."
In the interest of free speech, it's worth noting that its simply tiresome that Morrissey continually uses the vaque notion of free thinking to voice support for individuals and parties deny the freedom and humanity of others, sich as For Britain's manifesto proposal for a ban on burqas. Morrissey has frequently denied that he is a racist, recently publishing an essay with the words " I despise racism" and I despise fascism. ".https://www.morrisseycentral.com/messagesfrommorrissey/i-ve-been-dreaming-of-a-time-when-the-english-are-sick-to-death-of-labour-and-tories.
Then again, anyone can say they're not something, its another thing for their actions to demonstrate this. Heaven knows I'm miserable now, the light has truly gone out, a voice I once  loved really seems to have gone full gammon. As one twitter user  remarked "It's so sad that someone with the talent and legacy of Morrissey can only reclain a desperate piece of monetry attantion by saying redundant, needlessly provocative things. He thinks he's the unshaken voice of the streets, but he hasn't lived on them for decades. " Now a mere mouthpiece for racism, I only only wish now his bigmouth would shut up.I was once the kind of fan who could remember an old Morrissey B-side, called "Get off the stage2, which evoked a singer who had outived his welome and turned into an embarrassment :"Oh, you silly man/ You silly old man/ You're making a fool of yourself' So get off the stage", I never thought the day would come that I wished Morrissey would heed his own advice. But sadly that day has come. Viva diversity, viva tolerance but goodbye to hate.

Murder most foul - No Israeli war criminal here, free Palestine.

"Murder most foul. But this most foul, strange and unnatural  Shakespeare Hamlet, act 1 , scene 5)
The Ghost Speaking to Hamlet says that murder is always horrible, but this killing was especially monstrous.
Between 30 March 2018 and 21 May 2018 - just over 7 weeks, 112 Palestinians were killed of whom 13 were under 18, and 12,190 injured. The injured included 7,618 struck. by live ammunition or rubber bullets, including 2,096 children and 1,029 women injured.
223 medics injured by either live fire or tear-gas suffocation, 37 ambulances partly damaged. and there have been 32 amputations.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Gaza_border_protests
At the same time at least 55 journalists covering ongoing protests on the Gaza Strip have been wounded by Israeli soldiers.https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israel-injures-55-journalists-covering-gaza-protests/1164511
The world cries out in outrage as the wholesale slaughter of the Palestinian people. Not one Israeli has died.I would urge all concerned people to pray for Palestine, to support BDS and call for  their political leaders to confront this dreadful catastrophe in the name of peace and justice.At least due to political pressure Argentina have cancelled their world cup warm up game against Israel this coming  Saturday.
Today Wednesday 6 June, Benjamin Netanyahu  is meeting with Theresa May, how do  you greet the head of a government that occupies a people and deprives them of their basic rights, shoots them when they protest and calls the killing of a 21 year old medic "standard operating procedure " Our prime minister is welcoming the man who presides over Israel's occupation and its siege of Gaza,while her Government continues to arms his state.
We should be calling on her to instead impose immediate sanctions and an arms embargo on Israel until it complies with international law, ends its blockade and the occupation, and should give him the welcome he deserves, join the emergency protest  opposite No 10 Downing Street. No Israeli war criminal here, free Palestine.
Please  share circulate this notice, invite your friends.

https://twitter.com/PSCupdates