Vi Subversa ( Frances Sokolov Sanson;b; 20/6/34) - Song: Persons Unknown

Born of East European Jewish parents. Spending two years in Israel in the late 1950's, before returning to the UK. Artist, poet, performer, visionary. Lyric  writer, singer and front person for seminal band the Poison Girls, the first anarchist feminist rock band, which between  1977 and 1989 was a potent force in the international peace movement playing hundreds of gigs in the UK, Europe, Scandivania and the USA. A truly amazing, inspiring individual. Here's to all the persons unknown.

This is a message to persons unknown
persons in hiding / persons  unknown
survival in silence isn't good enough no more
keeping your mouth  shut / head in the sand
terrorists and  saboteurs / each  and every one of us
hiding in shadows / persons unknown

hey there mr average/ you don't exist/ you never did
hiding in shadows / persons unknown
habits of hiding soon will be the death  of us
dying in secret from poisons unknown

this is a message to persons unknown
strangers and passers-by / persons unknown
turning a blind eye / hope  to go unrecognised
keeping your secrets / persons unknown

housewifes and prostitutes / plumbers  in boiler suits
truents in coffee bars / you think  you're alone
big men on building sites/ sick men in dressing gowns
agents in motor cars who  never go home

women in factories / one parent families
women in purdah / persons  unknown
wild girls and criminals / rotting in prison cells
patients in corridors / persons unknown

statistics on balance sheets / numbered and rubber-stamped
blind and invisible / you're  lost in your homes
liggers and  layabouts / lovers on roundabouts
wake  up in the morning with persons unknown

accountants in nylon shirts / feminists in floral skirts
nurses for when it hurts / persons unknown
astronauts and celibates / deejays and hypocrites
Liars and lunatics / persons unknown

hopefully  on football pools / teachers in  empty schools
kids into heroin / not yet fully grown
typists and usherettes / black men who can't forget
the lonely who long for persons unknown

closet idealists /  bald-headed realists
rastas and bikers / the voice on the phone
pimps and economists / royalty and communists
rioters and pacifists /persons unknown

visionaries  with coloured hair / leather boys who just don't care
garter girls with time to spare / persons unknown
judges with prejudice / dissidents and anarchists
policemen deal dirty tricks to persons unknown

strikers and pickets / collectors of tickets
radical architects / the queen on her throne
soldiers in uniform / sailors and stevedores
 beggars and bankers / perjurors and men of law

football crowd hooligans / bunkin' of scool again
workers down tools again / united's at home'!
smokers with heart disease / cleaners of lavatories
the old with their memories /persons unknown

flesh and blood are who we are / flesh and  blood are what we are
flesh and blood are who we are / our cover is blown
flesh and blood are who we are / our cover is blown
flesh and blood are who we are / flesh and blood are who we are
flesh and blood are who we are / our cover is  blown

 

Poison Girls - Persons Unknown

 

The Real NATO Agenda

On 4-5th September NATO meets at the Celtic Manor in Newport South Wales. Supposedly meeting to strengthen partnerships and forge alliances around issues of national security and protection of vital resources, this video  reveals for the first  time  the Real NATO Agenda.
Wales  could see its  biggest protests in a generation as  world leaders  meet  planning  their war on the world.
War is the enemy of the poor. At this years  summit the US will be pressuring Western Powers to increase their already huge military budgets at a time when poverty and inequality are soaring. The worlds 85 richest  people have as much as  poorest 3.5 billion.
Money into war is money out of our communities. In the UK, 500,000 people had to resort to food banks last year.
None of the cuts would be necessary if the sums Britain spends  on its military and armanents were invested in social need instead of the war machine.
This autumn the powerful will make their voices heard at the NATO summit. We must make sure  that the voice of the millions  around the world who need peace and justice  is also heard.

Some useful links:-

http://www.stopwar.org.uk/

http://www.cnduk.org/

http://www.no-to-nato.org/

http://www.nonatonewport.org/

The protests have already started. Yesterday there was a successful event in Cardiff, where protestors  managed to disrupt army recruiters, managing to close down  the "Career Centre" for 2 hours. Onwards to NATO.

The message on the banner translates as :-

' WHEN THE WEALTHY WAGE WAR, IT'S THE POOR WHO DIE.'

Arhundati Roy (24/11/61) - 'Colorful demonstrations and weekend marches are vital but alone are not powerful enough to stop wars."

' Colourful demonstrations and weekend marches are vital but alone are not  powerful  enough to stop wars. Wars will be stopped  only when soldiers refuse to fight, when workers refuse to  load weapons onto ships and aircraft, when people  boycott the economic  outposts of Empire that are strung across the globe."

Reprinted from :- Public Power in  the Age of Consent.

The Tories can they sink any lower?

Yes they definitely can...first we have the news that the Tories pocketed £160,000 from a mate of Putins - and that  over 400 Russian  oligarchs have been given visas for a million squid a go. This after Camerons sanctimonious  rant about sanctions over the Malaysian airline atrocity. It turns out that amongst the hundreds of fat defence contracts signed with Russia,  was one for  anti-aircraft components. We sold Putin anti-aircraft componements! ( Remember it was the tories  who also flogged   some camouflage gear to A CERTAIN  S. Hussein just in time for the first Gulf War, which left our own soldiers short, forced to  buy their own gear. But then I would expect nothing less than the Tories. To see the full extent of Cameron's hypocricy, as he mumbles and makes calls for sanctions, see how he still receives backhanders and his governments  continuing complicity  in Israels brutal assult on Gaza.

Rage

Click on Pic to enlarge.
here are the  132 Children killed in Gaza by Israel's Operation Protective Edge.
More  details here.:- http://bit.ly/1yYwLy9

Finding  it increasingly  hard to quell my rage. It is not healthy. Who will bury the children when their parents are already dead and  there is nobody to bury them. Who will kill the sniper that kills those children of the parents that are already dead? Who is goin to mourn them? I will. Who will forgive? Not me. I have so much to say, but nobody seem to be listening. It is beginning to really  is anybody listening. This pain is really starting to hurt.
I guess I need to take a deep, deep breath and then  continue to keep pushing.

All born equal?

 

As the Royal family-  and its cheerleaders at the BBC celebrate Prince George's  First Birthday... the above is just a reminder about what has already been said. As people celebrate, remember too the children  dying across the world because of hunger and starvation, the children  currently being killed by genocidal repression. The BBC continues its fawning, bring out their sycophantic royal slime  Mr Nicholas  Witchell,  not a pretty picture, why are not the people revolting.  laters..off in search of a sick bag.

Every walk to the woods is a religious right - John Burroughs ( 3/4/1837 - 29/3/1921)

" Every walk to the woods is a religious right, every bath in the stream  is a saving ordinance. Communion service  is at all hours, and the bread and the wine  are from the heart and  marrow of Mother Earth. There are no heretics in Natures church, all are communicants. The beauty of natural   religion  is that you have it all the time;  you  do not  have  to seek it afar off  in myths and legends; in catacombs, in  garbled texts; in miracles of dead saints  or wine-bibbing friars. It is of today; it  is now and here; it is everywhere."

- John Burroughs :- American naturalist, reprinted from essays in Naturalism 1920

You are a Prisoner of your own mind.

" The church, the state, the school, the magazine, think they are liberal and free !

It is the  freedom of a prison yard."

- Henry David Thoreau

(12/7/1817 - 5/5/1862)

If Israel Bombed Your Home, What Would You Do?

A weeklong bombing campaign by Israel has pushed Gaza's biggest hospital  to the brink - beds filled with the critically injured, the wails of relatives filling  the air and supplies running short. Because of Israels military campaign the civilian death toll is rising. In many cases no warning, as peoples homes destroyed, innocents killed. A sea of bodies children killed whilst sleeping in their beds. If this happened to you, would you not resist, defend yourself?
In  Israels case in open violation of international law, carry on their mission to destroy, business as usual as they blame victims.
Last night, Israel launched a ground invasion of Gaza. At  the time of writing 250 Palestinians have been killed, many of them women and children.
We need to tell our  government to stop this  atrocity now, join the demo tomorrow, and spread  the word to anyone you know that enough is enough. Thousands will be marching  from Downing Street  to the Israeli Embassy, in a demonstration organised  by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Friends  of Al-Asqa, CND, The British Muslim initiative, Stop the War Coalition, Palestine Forum in Britan and  the Muslim Association of Britain. It is also supported by an unprecedented alliance of faith organisations, Trade Unions,  civil society and Peace organisations.
Tell your M.P  to act now,  my own Mark Williams M.P for Ceredigion  has already written to me  expressing his condemnation of the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.http://act.palestinecampaign.org/lobby/crisisaction/,
The media must be forced to tell  the truth  about what is happening in Gaza, even though over 5,000 people protested outside the BBC  HQ earlier this week  their coverage of  the ground invasion has been business as usual. We must  keep up the pressure, and confront the BBC's bias. Israels siege and occupation of Gaza must end. Acoss the world people want justice, peace and freedom for the Palestinians.

I'm tired, but not not quitting yet.

Sometimes just opening your eyes in the morning can feel like the most painful thing one can do, but as the sun shines,  there is a realisation that somewhere outside, their are thousands suffering constantly  far more than we can ever we can ever realise. People constantly tired because their  hopes are daily being taken away by tyranny.With weary hands  some of us reach for pen, because bad behaviour often makes us tired of waiting. Now is the time to get rid of  greed and oppression,to awaken  thoughts of gladness, to fight the lack of sympathy and empathy that governs our lands. I'm tired of waiting, for people to awake, but if your listening world, I'm not giving up yet, so will hang around now, wait for some change.

Assata Olubala Shaker (b 16/7/47) - She who struggles, Poet , Revolutionary

Assata Olugbala Shakur was born JoAnne Deborah Byron  on July 16, 1947, in Flushings, Queens Jamaica, New York. a descendent of slaves..Following her parents’ divorce in 1950, she moved with her mother and maternal grandparents to Wilmington, North Carolina. Shakur spent much of her adolescence alternating residences between her mother, who remarried and returned to New York, and relatives in Wilmington.  

Shakur enrolled in Borough of Manhattan Community College before transferring to City College of New York, where her exposure to Black Nationalist organizations profoundly impacted her activism. Shakur attended meetings held by the Golden Drums, where she met her husband, Louis Chesimard. Members of the organization familiarized her with black historical figures that resisted racial oppression and social violence. 

She also began interacting with other activist groups and subsequently participated in student rights, anti-Vietnam war, and black liberation movements.  During a trip to Oakland, California in 1970, Shakur became acquainted with the Black Panther Party (BPP). She returned to New York City and joined the Harlem branch. Shakur worked in the BPP breakfast program but grew increasingly critical of the BPP because of their reluctance to collaborate with other black organizations. 

Shakur left the BPP in 1971 and joined the Black Liberation Army (BLA), which the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) branded an anarchist group.Adopting an African name,   oin  1971she took on Assata, meaning 'she who struggles,' Olugbala, meaning 'love for the people,' and Shakur, meaning 'the thankful.

An inspiring individual she was the first woman to be placed on the FBI's most wanted  Terrorist list,   In the early 1970', several false criminal accusations for murder, robbery and kidnapping were bought against Shakur. All except one were later acquitted or dismissed. In 1973, Shakur and two other friends were cornered by state troopers on the New Jersey Turnpike, and became involved in a shootout where she was  severely wounded, apprehended and charged  for the murder  of  Werner Foerster, a New Jersey State Trooper. Although Shakur  protested her innocence, and subsequent medical and forencic evidence  indeed  proved it was not possible for her to have  shot the state trooper, she was however convicted of the murder.

She was incarcenated  in several prisons throughout the 1970s  until she managed a daring escape in 1979  from the Clinton Correctional Facility for Women in New Jersey with the   help of three BLA members on Nov. 2, 1979., and has managed to live in exile  in Cuba since 1984  where  she  still  lives; .She is recognised  by the Cuban Government as a revolutionary fugitive in exile, venerated by supporters, the Cuban Government continue to contribute to her living expenses, and  she  is regarded as a living link  to  a revolutionary era.

The FBI's animalistic hunting of her resumed after nearly 40 years when it labelled  her a terrorist, offering $2 million for her capture,  still reminding the world, and becomming a symbol of America;s gaping racial divide, reminding us that the oppression  of Black women by America is far from over and to many the world over she continues to remain an inspiration to all lovers of freedom,  as a courageous fighter, liberator and hero, and is defended by many who do not want to see her returning to a prison cell.

Assata learned that no one has ever gotten their freedom by appealing to their oppressor; she learned that our oppressors are never going to give us the education needed to overthrow them. She learned that socialism isn’t just a white man’s concoction, because she studied the works of African revolutionaries and the goals of African liberation movements, as well as those of other colonized places. She learned that socialism was not an evil ideal designed to strip us of our freedoms, as we are told; because Assata knew that under capitalism, we don’t have any freedoms but to starve, to be homeless, or to be thrown in jail for being poor. Assata teaches us all that socialism can and will be achieved when the oppressed peoples of the world join together in struggle for a future free of exploitation.
She has since continued to dedicate  her life to challenging injustice, advocating  on behalf of those persecuted using her skills as a writer, artist and poet. In 1987 she published a powerful memorable book 'Assata Shakur - An Autobiography' where she outlines her beliefs, and the book contains many of her poems, two of which I include here. In this book she also writes from a perspective whose life continues to be on trial.

 From Assata’s story, we are able to learn what it means to be motivated by a deep love for the people and the struggle for freedom—and what it means to embody a determined and unbreakable spirit in the face of crackdowns and government repression designed to stifle and destroy the movement. Account after account from Assata’s comrades and fellow revolutionaries describe Assata as a light, a positive spirit who remained disciplined and committed to the struggle despite incredible hardships.
Long may Sister Assata Olubala Shaker retain her freedom and we carry on breaking down the chains.

" Nobody in the world, nobody in history has ever gotten their freedom  by appealing to the moral sense of the people who were oppressing them."

- Assata Shakur

Affirmation - Assata Shakur


I believe  in living
Ibelieve  in the spectrum
of Beta days and Gamma people.
I believe in sunshine
windmills and waterfalls,
tricycles and rocking chairs.
And I believe that seeds  grow into sprouts.
And sprouts  grow into  trees.
I believe  in the magic of the hands.
And in the wisdom of the eyes.
I believe  in rain and tears.
And in the  blood of infinity.

I belive in life.
And I have seen the death parade
march through the torso of the earth,
sculpting  mud bodies in its path.
I have seen the destruction of the daylight,
and seen bloodthirsty maggots
prayed to and saluted.

I have seen the kind become the blind
in one every lesson.
I have walked on cut glass.
I have eaten crow and blunder bread
and breathed the stench of indifference.


I have been locked by the lawless.
Handcuffed by the haters.
Gagged by the greedy.
And, If I know any thing at all,
it's that a wall is just a wall
and nothing more at all,
it can be broken down.


I believe in  living
I believe in birth
I believe  in the sweat of love
and in the fire of truth.


And I believe that a lost ship,
sneered by tired, seasick sailors,
can still be guided  home
to port.

Love is Contraband in Hell - Assata Shaker

Love is contraband in Hell,
cause love  is a acid
that eats away bars. But you, me, and tomorrow
holds hands and makes vows
that struggle will multiply.
The hacksaw has two blades.
The shotgun has two barrels.
We are pregnant with freedom.
We are a conspiracy.
It is our duty to fight for our freedom
It is our duty to win.
We must love each other and support each other.
We have nothing to  lose but our chains.

Reprinted from :-

Assata An Autobiography (1987/2001)

Here is a link to a campaign that continues to support and  defend her:-

http://www.assatashakur.com/

"Nobody in the world, nobody in history, has ever gotten their freedom by appealing to the moral sense of the people who were oppressing them."  - Assata Shakur

How to make an online BBC complaint

Noam Chomsky, John Pilger and Ken Loach are among more than 40,000 signatories who have signed an open letter to the B.B.C calling on its journalists to reflect  the reality of Gazas occupation while reporting on Israels current assault.
MPs have also  signed the letter  which will be delivered to the B.B.C today (15 July) during a protest  outside its  Portland Place,  London  headquarters.

See http://www.palestinecampaign.org/chomsky-pilger-loach-call-bbc-reflect-reality-gazas-occupation/

Please keep signing and sharing this
http://www.palestinecampaign.org/sign-open-letter-bbc/


A lot of people  are not very familiar with doing online complaints to  the BBC. Really quite simple, and quite effective, for those unable to get to demonstrations that the BBC does not deem important to cover.
They have a statutory duty to reply to complaints to protect the so called independence of the BBC. Sometimes watching the BBC news I have to awake myself  up from the utter pointless of it all. Fawning excuses for News about  Royal  family, minus their excesses.  They used to say it had a left wing bias, I only see a right wing drift. If we don't complain nothing will change.

( I have used below  the Today programme as an example.

Click on http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/#anchor

Have you read our page ' What happens to your complaint
http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/handle-complaint/ - Click  "Yes"

Which service is your complaint about? Click "BBC News (TV, Radio and website)"

What is your complaint about? Click "Radio News"

Which radio station is your complaint about? - Click "Radio 4"

What  is the programme title? Start to type "Today" ( after  the first  few letters, an  option list will appear; click  on "Today")

When was it broadcast? Put in the date (15 07 2014 for example)

How  did you watch  or listen to the programme? -
Click the correct option

How far  the programme did the issue happen?-
You can ignore this. Just go to the next question

What is the best category to describe your complaint?
- Click an option

Have you contacted us before about this complaint? - Click "No"

What is the subject of your complaint?
Type for example " Yolande Knells  reports from Gaza"

Type your complaint into the box

Now click "GO TO YOUR DETAILS

On  the next page it asks: Do you want to receive a reply?

- Click Yes

On the next  page you Put in all your details

Are you under 13? Click "No"

Next Question - Where do you live? - Click your country 

Next Question - For UK users - please provide the first half of your post code.

Then click : GO TO REVIEW AND SUBMIT - This allows you to check and if necessary edit what you have written.

When  you are satisfied with it  - Click SUBMIT YOUR COMPLAINT

Finished, Job done!!

Some time later usually within a few  hours , you will receive  an automated acknowledgement.

In  due course (this could be a few days, weeks or even months, depending on the subject matter!!)

You will  then receive a reply.. pass it on.  It keeps  the BBC busy, and allows us the opportunity to take the BBC to account!!

(Thanks Elizabeth)

Peace Vigil - Aberteifi/Cardigan, West Wales.

Just drawing attention to a local event in my area where people can come together in protest against all wars. Possibly there will be those here who will explain the different struggles the road to peace can take. With more  and more people speaking out against wars destructive force, the road to some for justice can also be achieved. A strong reminder too, for whoever goes past that there will always be  people, ever vigilant in their stand against war.

Charlie Haden (6/8/37 -11/7/14) - Silence R.I.P

Double bass player and Jazz icon who helped change the shape of jazz, has sadly passed away aged 76. In his own words last year he said " I want to take people away  from the ugliness and sadness around us every day and bring beautiful, deep music to as many people as I can." An avant garde icon, I am thankful  for  the magnificent music that he bought to my table, combined with his wonderful creativity, passion  and political conviction.
Charlie Haden Rest in Peace.


Charlie Haden and Chet Baker - Silence

What's the difference between Palestine and Israel.

This post is dedicated to my mum and dad, and all those others perplexed by my take on recent events.
For Fuck's sake, the difference  between the Palestinians and Israelis is that the Palestinians have no military base - the struggle is akin   to David and Goliath.  WE,  I and other colluders - gave away Palestinian land in  1948 -  when we had no right whatsoever to do so - it was underhand shenanigans - and as it has turned out highly dangerous and volatile.
The recent attacks by Israel have been described as COMBAT?
A funny form of COMBAT, because where for instance are the Palestinian warplanes? Where is the Palestinian army? Where are  the Palestinian tanks?
At the end of the day Israel  murders and the world's governments are silent ( not just silent but complicit in it from  the start - the US arming Israel to the teeth so as to have another strong Military in the Middle East?
Don't look at the BBC to find this out, they will not point out that a society that supposedly values and  is apparently prepared for peace, it's people celebrate the murder of innocent civilians.
The mainstream media, wants us to demonise the victims. Israel denies and ignores all international law, continues to steal land, the Palestinians, those on the other side so to speak, remain imprisoned. bombarded by air, sea, and land.
So mum and dad if you have read this far, this is why I wont shut up. All human but the real difference between Israel and Palestine should not go by unnoticed. These are the real barriers to peace.
Remember too, that civilians are dying. Israeli airstrikes  in the past few days have killed at least  83 people, including 21 children aged 16 and younger.
More than enough reasons for us not to remain silent.

Support the strike on 10 July

Pay freezes and below inflation pay rises have reduced public sector workers pay  by 20% since the rotten coalition Government came to power in 2010 Public sector pensions have  been attacked and public services  have been slashed across the country. So this is why I will be  supporting up to 2 million people out on  a coordinated strike action across the country tomorrow  being planned by  among others the  NUT, GMB, FBU, PCS . Lets make sure  that the strikers  are supported in our communities. Remember that they are fighting for us all, as they give the coalition a message that they can't ignore.
We should also remember those unemployed existing on depivation levels, with benefit sanctions,  the thousands of workfare victims, the disabled under attack, all those suffering under the coalitions draconian policies. The Tories and their friends  are not looking after us but  together in solidarity we can, they can't ignore us, when they see us all fighting back.

 

 

Tears of Gaza: The video social media keeps removing!

Tears of Gaza:
The video that social media keeps removing. Please share it while you can.
Be moved by this video, its why we continue to love and support Palestine and Palestinians and Sorry for the ugliness but this is the the horror and terror visited daily on Palestine. Children and civilians living in fear. So bloody sad.

This is not the sunshine, this is Gaza being bombarded!

Suicide in the Trenches - Siegfreid Lorraine Sassoon ( 8//9/1886- 1/9/67)

Following my recent post on Armed Forces Day, a poem by Siegfried Sassoon.
The trenches of  the First World War were a vast area of darkness and danger, dank and miserable conditions, often infested  with rats who ate the flesh of the dead. The stench  of unwashed humanity, all squashed together, combined with the smell of rotting flesh, and overflowing latrines, and the lingering smell of death and battle on accounts must have been unbearable.
Siegfried Sassoon witnessed  all this and came to see and understand the futility of conflict. In the following poem, the line ' No one spoke of him again.' illustrates how many soldiers found dead  in the trenches at the time were simply forgotten. All this suffering, erased, because death which occurred in such vast numbers  simply merged into one.  Over 16 million deaths and 20 million wounded in what is considered to be among the deadliest of
conflicts in human history.
We should not forget the 306 British and Commonwealth soldiers who were shot  on the orders of the military top brass, many suffering from shell shock, and what is now known as Post Traumatic Stress. Charged with desertion after  becoming dazed and confused, young disturbed, traumatised teenagers some of them , who had simply volunteered for duty.
Many other soldiers during the First World War were driven to suicide, or left with  mental exhaustion, depression and shell shock because of this war.
It has taken time, but the stigma of mental health issues  caused by conflict are  very real indeed. In the end  no glory in war, only sadness, this is how I choose to remember. This why humanity too, should  not forget the barbarity and futility  that the world has ever known.

Suicide in the Trenches

I knew a simple soldier boy
Who grinned at life  in empty joy.
Slept  soundly through the lonesome dark.
And whistled early with  the lark.

In winter trenches, cowed and glum,.
With crumps and lice and lack of rum,
He put a bullet through his brain.
No one spoke of him again.

You smug-faced crowds with  kindling eye
Who cheer  when soldier lads march by.
Sneak home and pray you'll never know
The hell where youth  and laughter go.

Happy Birthday N.H.S

The N.H.S turns 66 today - happy birthday  and lets make sure it is not the last. This is our N.H.S. Everyone rich or poor, woman or child can use it. or any part of it. There are no charges except for a few special items.We love it, we pay for it, and we will certainly fight for it. We must not allow the Tories to dismantle it, and strongly say no to any attempt at privatisation. There is still plenty of money to go round, it's just the case of it being in the wrong hands.
It has endured  so long in our hearts and minds because of its  founder, the late great Nye Bevan  who said ' Illness is neither an indulgence for which people have to pay, nor an offence, for which they should be penalised, but a misfortune, the cost of which should be shared by the community'
So while I'm at it, I will raise a glass to Nye Bevan's honour too, here's to the next 66 years.

The British National Health Service 1948

The night is long faced.

The night is long faced
accustomed as it is to misfortune
every night the Palestinian
under occupation, since 1948
tries to sleep in its shadow.

It's people killed everyday
children left as  orphans,
daily it is hit, in the face
and in the guts,
again and again
until this process
starts to feel normal.

This is the taste of occupation
people learning  to live  in fear everyday,
knowing that any minute, their front door
could be kicked down, trying to stay human,
trying desperately to stay sane
knowing that  their children, mothers and fathers,
may never return home again.

The  children are seen as terrorists,
for simply using slingshots against tanks
and fierce looking  men with machine guns
the media  likes to portray them as perpetrators
its people as the enemy,
while turning the bully 
into a victim. 

In the mornings, seeds of bitterness spread
as grim days stretch out this peoples agony,
and the longing for their liberation
and though Palestine does not exist on the map
it exists  in the hearts of millions around the world.

Like the night, they have learnt
that with warm buds of thirst,
freedom is existence, and survival is resistance 
and that  one day, from the rivers to the sea ,
with hope on their sides, they will be free.

Glenda Jackson's speech about Iain Duncan Smith and the DWP

Glenda Jackson 30 June 2014

Every word the truth. Why can't Millibland be more like this. Perhaps he has no real life experience, does not  know lots of vulnerable people, or those daily under the receiving end of  the Conservatives bullying approach.
We need more people like Glenda Jackson, voices of truth speaking against  smiling tyrants of the oppressed in this country, whilst so called representatives twidding with their mobile phones, collect their cash, show no real interest at all, showing us that they have no bloody compassion at all.

Be Careful of drunken words

           
                                                                 (Thanks Kim)

Be careful of  drunken words  that are let loose
in particular after drinking large quantities of wine
they will create and reel in havoc
as they tear themselves into pieces
leave a trial of distraction
coming and going in haze of hesitation.

Be careful of drunken words
that cannot walk in straight lines
words  that break through taboos
words if breathalysed could be charged
and then imprisoned
words  that may never be found again
because they have been put in solitary confinement.

Be careful of drunken words
let loose with abandonment
wide eyed and legless
sprawled on the pavement outside
staggering without pause
staining the paths of conformity
refusing to be silent.

Be careful of drunken words
in the streets hawking messages of sorrow,
weeping, keeping faith with blurred sensitivity
rippling with defiance, straining to be heard
spitting against the gates, frightening the sober
                                                 voices away.
be careful of drunken words.

Armed Forces Day 2014

Today  28 June 2014, marks Armed Forces Day,  staged annually for the past  5 years  to pay tribute to UK Armed Forces personnel, past and present. Today 100 years after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand and the start of the Great war, and 70 years  from the D-Day Landings, this years event  comes with an even bigger  shadow.
In this age is  there really cause  in celebrating conflict, in an event of militaristic might, should we not be raising awareness of the destructiveness of war, and spend more time promoting peace .Why not call the day reconciliation day.
Recently the event has been criticised by Wrexham Peace and Justice Group, who were 'horrified'  to find a picture  of a toddler dressed in military uniform, being used to  advertise the event. They said ' We  strongly object to the targeting of children by the military' also saying ' we contend that it is irresponsible and unacceptable for Wrexham Council  to be presenting the militarised warfare  in the content of family entertainment.'
War is  not family entertainment, but the first casualty of war is truth. Today we should remember too people  like Chelsea Manning  who had the  courage to tell us the truth about war, and its collateral damage.
We should   remember the Great War, remember it not as a 'war to end all war' or a 'victory for democractic', but as a military disaster and a human  catastrophe. We should use this day to remember that war is driven by big powers and their vested interests around the globe, and remember the billions killed in war, the innocents across the globe,  left maimed and wounded,  mark the courage of those involved, but  acknowledge  the absolute  devastation and misery caused,and the harsh realities of actual life in the military, far from the rosy pictures painted. The brutal reality, is  that  for many, having been used by the military are  left  with mental health issues, and simply abandoned
To move forward  we should support  all those  traumatised and displaced by war, and seek ways to avoid conflict, and ways to promote international cooperation instead,focus on some positive steps to promote harmony in a badly trouble world, say no to the military complex that profits out of misery, pointing out the  horrible consequences of war.

Happy Birthday Emma Goldman (27/6/1869 - 14/5/40)

'IF I CAN'T DANCE, I DON'T WANT TO BE PART OF THE REVOLUTION.'

Happy Birthday Emma Goldman, tireless agitator and speaker. In 1910 alone, she gave 120 talks  in 27 cities in 25 states  in the United States to 25,000 people Jailed  in 1917, and described by authorities as 'one  of the most dangerous women in America,' she was deported  to Russia in 1919,  campaigned  against the Bolsheviks in the 1920's, subsequently joined the Spanish  Revolution 1936 -39, 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.
Today Emma Goldman  is warmly remembered for the anarcho-feminist, anti-militarist, and internationalist contributions she made  to the social revolutionary struggles in life.
Incidentally the Industrial Workers of the World, also known as the Wobblies, was founded  on this day June 27th 1905. So cheers and solidarity to them too.

Two earlier posts about Emma Goldman

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

http://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/emma-goldman-2761869-14540-if-i-cant.html

Rebekhah Brooks - I am Innocent

Of course you are dear. You who sniggered all  the way through the trial, knowing  to bloody full well that you would get away with it! Typical British Justice,... Money buys your freedom.
As for the government, who trust them anymore, have they  themselves not  been involved  in shady dealings,  including phone hacking. I kid you not.
All of the  above tainted, it all reeks  of the establishment protecting one of  their own. Brooks will continue to pop round to Daves,  share some lunch, he cannot distance from her at the end of the day, because   she knows where the other bodies are buried.
As well as these two involvement in this scandal,  we  are left with  the legacy of the police's  own implication. Bribes taken, a web of corruption, at the end of the day , the people are not satisfied. Public anger will increase for a long time to come.

Rebekah Brooks admits to paying Police.

Cameron Defending Coulson,

The above is a link to  Dave  praising Andy Coulson  The only reason that Cameron wants to distance  himself now is that Coulson has got caught. Cameron is nothing but an unelected toffy nosed hypocrite.
We should not forget  how Dave has deliberately himself  mislead the people, not just a few times, but it seems like ad infinitum. Time and again he is caught out but we don't hear any apologies from his lips for his actions. How the hell is he  our Prime minister anyway, no one voted for him. He sure has a lot to apologise for, he will be known like  Blair  before him as an exceedingly dishonest politician. Constantly  lying and using disinformation on the N.H.S, his list of broken policies longer than his arm, going back on dozens of pledges, but then, this is what one comes to expect from a Tory.
His art of scheming manipulation he really has got down to a fine art. As for Rebecca Brooks being found not guilty,  oh it's such a farce, who was her barrister, yes Cameron's brother,  seems she still has so many friends in high places.
At the end of the day, it's all still  rotten  at the top, the tory's will carry on hating the poor, as the media  tries to distract us with some trivia, their lies will continue.

Something surely has to change!

The Collective Punishment of the Palestinian People must end.

On Thursday the 12th of this month, three settler youth disappeared while hitchhiking in the Hebron area of the West Bank. No Palestinian group or organisation has taken responsibility for their dissapearance. An unfortunate situation for the three missing individuals.
Since this incident Israels' response has been disproportionate, to say the least, with over 370 Palestinians having  been arrested since last Thursday. All over  the West Bank, in villages, towns and cities, Palestinian homes and offices have been raided, people  being held under siege, with many  being injured, with subsequently being  left for dead.
The Fourth Geneva Convention, Article 33, states  that : "No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not  personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or  terrorism are prohibited.Pillage is prohibited.Reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited."
At the time of  this posting, six Palestinians have been killed  in the massive military operations that have been  launched, and attempts  to cast the rising number  of unarmed Palestinian casualties as 'self defence' starts to ring hollow. As  former Israeli soldiers   have testified as recently as 2014, that their units used tactics known as 'Provocation and Reaction,' which has been described  as "the act of entering a village, making a lot of noise, waiting for their stones to be thrown at you, and then you arrest them saying : There, they're throwing stones!!!"
At the moment the Israelis  are using  three missing boys  as pawns in their political game, using  them, as they continue to oppress and to avoid avenues of peace. it is not that we have not witnessed  previously, time after time, that Israels' leaders  need no excuse  to  find reasons to continue their collective campaign of terror against the Palestinians. Their road to peace, seems to be displacing people, 750,000 of them, and continuing  to violate  UN resolutions and human rights, to try to disrupt the recently formed unity government. Yet in the world Israel is feeling  the heat too, as people see it as an apartheid state, and  join the many  successful  boycotts and campaign for disinvestment on Israeli products. In the last week we have seen Presbyterians voting to divest holdings in 3 companies supplying Israel with equipment being used in the occupation of the Palestinian territories.
At the end of the day, this collective Punishment of the Palestinian people must stop. Israel I am sure is obligated to carry out its serach for the missing boys, but it should also  be constantly be reminded of  obligations to International humanitarian law and International Human law and the respect to life of the Palestinians, that minimises damage and injury and protects and preserves human rights.

Lesley Boulton Orgreave

(See Saturday's post for piece about 30th Anniversary of Battle Of Orgreave).

Lesley Boulton talks about the iconic photo taken by John Harris at Orgreave  during the miners strike of 1984

Syrian Refugees - An Insiders View from the Camp

Syrian  refugees - An insiders view from the camp, come and Skype with a Worker from one of camps in Lebanon.
This  event is being put on by my local Amnesty International Group, Cardigan Amnesty Group here in West Wales. We are raising awareness about how Syrian  Refugees  are coping in Lebanon for Refugee week.
Wednesday 18th June 700pm.
Everyone welcome, Admission free,
Refreshments.
Come and join us.

30th Anniversary of the Battle for Orgreave

Today I remember the 30th anniversary  of one of the 20th Century's most brutal attacks by the state on its own citizens.The Battle of Orgreave, during the1984 Miners strike,which resulted in an all out military operation by Margeret Thatcher's Conservative cabinet.
On June 18th  1984, 6 to 7,000  miners and supporters gathered  to picket Orgreave  cokeworks  near Rotheram in South Yorkshire.
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. A scene of ugliness, fear and menace, as  all concepts of Law and order that  the constabulary  were supposed to withhold abandoned all its basic principles.

At the end  the day  over 100 people were arrested, for no crime whatever, with many  more being injured along with  the Miners leader Arthur Scargill. 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.

Today all the victims  of this bloody confrontation,are simply asking for an apology for the actions taken out against them. We should never forget, today  people will be honouring them at the Orgreave Mass Picnic & Festival taking place at  Catcliffe Recreation Ground.
The  miners 1984 was one of the longest and most brutal in British labour history. A community fighting for jobs and survival was wholly denigrated and depicted as violent by the majority of the media. The above film THE BATTLE FOR ORGREAVE puts the record straight, as miners recount their own history, their economic and political struggle over decades and the trial they endured for 48 days in Sheffield when charged with riot at Orgreave - facing life imprisonment.
Containing compelling testimonies, emotive cinematography, in depth analysis coupled with meticulous detail of the mass picket and the ensuing events of June 18 1984 at the Orgreave coking plant, the documentary also has unique footage of police violence - all these make this an historic and important document of our time.
See the film at the British Film Institute.
http://www.bfi.org.uk/
or purchase from journeyman Pictures at
http://www.journeyman.tv/
30 years later  many still seek some form of justice.

For  further details of the Orgreave Peace and Justice Campaign

I refer you to this excellent site

http://otjc.org.uk/

An earlier post on the 30th anniversary of the Miners Strike can be found here

http://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/30th-anniversary-of-miners-strike-their.html

Enjoy the World Cup but consider the injustice of it all.

First things first, I confess I am not a fan of the so called beautiful game, but with massive protests breaking out daily against the World Cup in Brazil  because  of mass unemployment and severe poverty I can also understand why many indigenous youth  do not support the World Cup  currently being held in Brazil  and realise why the large scale opposition that is taking place has so much validity.
Many Brazilians see their government having wasted billions of their money on  this event, while their futures  offer little hope,  as billions of  pounds  of money, seems to have been wasted, instead of being  directed elsewhere on essential things like  healthcare and education.
A country rich in this  games history, afterall having won 5 World Cup titles, more than any other country, anticipating a win against their first game against Chile later, one would have thought  this event would have garnered some kind of favour, but at the end of the day the poorest people of Brazil  will not  not benefit, from this most  expensive World Cup to date . 
People of the World should consider the many people evicted, from their once proud homes and neighbourhoods to make way for this global corporate event, with street vendors  removed from their daily sufficiency.
If this occasion, draws attention to the underprivileged Brazilians,it will possibly be of some worth.
Daily protests are rising in numbers, and hopefully the World's stage will be able to witness  the people of Brazil speaking out against injustice with their increased  public displays of anger.
The world will  hear Jennifer Lopez sing 'We are One'  but  might also  understand  the the clear voices of opposition standing below,   risking  arrest for simply  displaying their outrage.
Any further  disruption to this  event I will completely understand, from the favelas and the streets that link, I will support their hungry resistance, with solidarity's breath.
Anyway message spread,  enjoy the World Cup, if you can.

 

 

Bush and Blair: The fatal attraction that killed 1m Iraqis

Written  by Heathcotte Williams

Voice and editing by Alan Cox

Babylon Royal

http://bit.Iy/1I1teKn

Rick Mayall ( 7/3/58 -9/6/14) - Don't Fear Death R.I.P

Real crap news and sad to hear  that comic genius Rik Mayall had died suddenly yesterday, I fondly   remember his celebrated characters in sitcoms like the  Young Ones, Blackadder , the New Statesman, the Comic strips on Channel 4 , lest forget  his alter ego Kevin Turvey, and off course the inevitable Bottom. An early inspirations to my own  anarchic impulses, even though his portrayal  in the Young Ones was off a pompous, cowardice, halfwit... I still remember fondly it's sheer brilliance.
His eyes bulging, silly and chaotic, and always a little rude, stupid  with outbreaks of sheer violence, guess  that's why we loved him, his command of physical comedy was simply amazing, a true shining light.
He along  with his comic  writing partner, Adrian Edmondson, along with others  like Alexai Sayle, Dawn French and Jenniffer Saunders, amongst others injected an energy  into the British comedy scene of  1980's, which was to be known  as 'alternative comedy'.
He seemed to have disappeared for awhile after a vehicle accident left him in a coma back  in  1998, but he survived, however he was left with in epilepsy.
However he  returned to the stage, and  starred in a few films..... but the peoples poet Rik of the Young Ones is now dead and I will miss his work, I will still hate fascists and will still snort on about the evil of Thatcher and her cohorts.
He has left us far to early, but left us with this contribution   to a black comedy aired last August on Channel 4, called  'don't fear death' screened as part of Channel 4's Random Acts series... it adds  that 'death is your passport to complete and utter freedom. No pulse, no responsibility. Carpe mortem - seize death'.
I end with some personal favourites from Rick's career. R.I.P

Don't Fear Death

Rick Mayall as Kevin Turvey

Rick Mayall - Poetry

Alan Bastard on Healthcare

Alan Bastard Conference Speech

15 Top Moments of Rick Mayall as Rik in the Young Ones

The Young Ones - The Peoples poet

Who the **** is Katie Hopkins

Who the **** is Katie Hopkins.
In reality a person of increased insensitivity, a caustic piece of venom, the only job she does is the theatre of cruelty that she has embraced. A husband stealing, failed Apprentice Contestant turned media rent-a- mouth, spewing forth all sorts of bigoted nonsense as she tries to drown out common sense with her coarsing voice releasing  her demented breath as her swivel eyes turn.
I too can use my voice, to attack, but what difference does she make either, this acid tongued bore, who on all accounts does not seem to have a bit of decency or dignity in her soul that continues to release rather fascist tendencies .
 Unlike her I genuinely feel sorry for her victims,  who are all are open to her radar, sick children, immigrants the unemployed, the late Trade Union leader Bob Crow who she insulted only minutes after his passing, the poor and the vulnerable, societies marginalised, yesterday coming out in favour of spikes embedded in spikes to deter rough sleepers. She uses her voice and her cloak of privilege, to be employed by the lowest of all our rapid tabloid journals the Sun. There never seems to be an ounce of remorse, as she carries on blaming her victims.
In the news again recently as she speaks out against people in long term unemployment, suggesting that they are issued with special unemployed persons uniforms, writing on Twitter " Time we issued  an unemployed person uniform. She is a real nasty piece of work, whose only gainful employment is to sprout her controversial views. Guess I'm a direct opposite to all she stands for, but unlike her I will admit when I'm wrong, she however will never offer an apology and carry on regardless.
We live supposedly in a free and tolerant country I guess,  so we are entitled to our differing views, but surely in this  melting pot of a world, the world is emptier, when especially  we still have room for the likes of Katie Hopkins, I wish her no real harm, but the world would surely be a happier place, if she disappeared  from our earshot and our T.V screens.
Rant over..... I will carry on  dreaming  of a fairer, equal world, that really cares about people, a future full of bright possibility, where our diversity's is celebrated, the voiceless too are aloud to speak and  bacterial division and scorn is not  spread.