Revealed : How the Coalition has helped rich by hitting the poor.

In a  landmark study of the coalition's tax and welfare policies  6 months before a general election,  it has been revealed how money has been transferred   from the poorest to the better off,  apparently refuting the chancellor of exchequer's claims that the country has been 'all in it together.'
According to  independent research published today, and seen by the Observer Newspaper George Osborne has been engaged in a significant transfer  of income from the least well off half of the population to the more affluent in the past four years. Those  with the lowest incomes have  been hit hardest.
In an intervention that will  come as a major blow to the government's  claim to have shared out the burden of austerity equally, the report by economists at  the London School of Economics and the institute for Social and Economic Research at the  University of Essex, finding that :-

1. Sweeping changes to benefits and income tax  have had the effect of switching income from the  poorer half of households  to most of the richer half, with the poorest 5% in  in the country in terms of income loosing nearly 3% of what they would  have earned if Britain's tax and welfare system of May 2010 had been retained.

2. With the exception of the top 5% who lost 1% of their potential  income. It is the better half of the country that has gained financially from the changes, with an increase of between 1.2% and 2% in their disposable income.

3. The top 1% in terms of income have also been small net gainers from the changes bought in by David Cameron's government since May 2010, which includes a cut in the top rate of income tax.

4. Two-earner households, and those with elderly family members, were the most favourably treated, as a result  of direct tax changes and state pensions respectively.

5. Lone-parent families have done worse, losing much   more through cuts in benefits  and tax credits and higher council tax than they ever gained through higher income tax allowances. Families with children in general. and largefamilies in particular, also did much worse than the average.

6. A quarter of  the lowest paid 10% have shouldered a particularly heavy burden, losing more than 5%  of what would have  been their income without the coalitions's reforms.

For more on this see here:-


http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/nov/15/coalition-helped-rich-hitting-poor-george-osborne


and more here


http://www.welfareweekly.com/
Not that any of the above surprises too much, this is what the tories and their friends do, look after the rich, lie to the people, persecute the sick, diabled and vulnerable. Surely they are not fit to represent the people of this country. It is is time to destroy this nasty coalition.

Henry Miller (26/12/1891 - 7/6/1980) - Utopian Speculations.

An American writer I admire, Henry Miller, is known for breaking existing  literary forms, who sought to reestablish the freedom to live  without  the constraints and  restraints of civilization.
His works often reflected   hos own personal experiences, measured with  a humanism that often shocked and outraged. Writing about all phases of his life, everything that happened  to him struck  him as being of equal and monumental importance.His total  surrender  to life without meaning has resonated with me for a while,  and despite succumbing  to what some people have referred to as 'existential despair' he never  completely  surrendered reason. He has become one of the worlds forbidden writers, forbidden because he dared to speak from his dark passionate heart, of some place beyond ideology , where the shadows of the soul  know no time.The perception of Henry Miller as a writer and literary outlaw remains today.
The following paragraph was quoted in  Normal O. Brown's Life against death and he comments on  Millers's text as follows:' Utopian speculations such as these of Henry Miller must come back into fashion. They are a way of affirming faith in the possibility of solving problems that seem at the moment insoluable. Today even the survival of humanity is a utopian hope.'
Here's to Henry Miller spiritual Anarchist.

' The cultural era is past. The new civilization, which my take centuries or a few thousand years to usher in,  will not be another civilization - it will be the open stretch of realization which all the past civilizations have pointed to. The city, which was the birth place of  civilization, such as we know it to be, will exist no more. There will be nuclei of course, but they will be mobile and fluid. The peoples of the earth  will no longer be sent off from one another within states but will flow freely over the surface of the earth and intermingle. There will be no fixed constellations of human aggregates. Governments will give way to management, using the  word in a broad sense. The politician  will become as superannuated as the dodo bird. The machine will never be dominated, as some imagine; it will be scrapped, eventually, but not before men have understood  the nature of the mystery which binds them to  their creation. The worship,  investigation and subjugation of the machine  will give  way to the larger one of power - and of possession. Man will be forced to realize that power must be kept open, fluid and free. His aim will be not to possess power but to radiate it.'

Africa Stop Ebola

There's already a song about Ebola by high profile Francophone West African musicians. Why doesn't Mr Bob Geldof simply promote this song? Or even acknowledge  its existence? 'Africa stop Ebola' features a number of international  stars :- Tiken Jah Faloky, Amadou and Marian, Salif Keita, Ounu Sangare, Kandina Kora, Mory Kante, Sia Tolno, Barbara Kana and rappers Didire Awadi and Markus and Mokoke, so why another rehash of the grotesque ' Do they know its Christmas'. We should remember that this crisis is part of a long colonial disengagement, Geldof just compliant in  glossing neo-liberal policies  towards the continent with a humanitarian/ anti poverty sheen of respectivitety, gathering together in my humble opinion a worthless pile of toss,  which ignores the richness of Africa's own musical voice that is already out there.
The Ebola crisis is tragic and devastating, a crisis for humanity,the fight against it, is a fight well  worth supporting but we should not ignore or erase the efforts of those that come fromAfrica  while making it appear that western actions  are what saved the poor diseased Africans once again. We should not either forget  that the aid industry that has emerged from efforts like Band Aid, have themselves  fuelled human rights abuses, and corruption across the African continent and missed the Ebola crisis in its entirety. Ebola is a pestilance but we  must carry on treating  sufferers and  the people from country's effected with dignity and respect.

Please share and support the above project , all profits of which go to Medecins Sans Frontiers/Doctors without borders

http://www.msf.org.uk/ 

" We will kill you. We will break your bones.".

Torture is an everyday reality in Tibet yet survivor accounts are rare, used by China as a weapon against political dissent, since the Chinese forcefully took over Tibet in 1959.Harsh treatment is common at the prisons where diissidents are held, with prisoners routinely subjected to torture,  beatings, and forms  of abuse.

Ex-political prisoners are closely monitored by Chinese authorities, their families often under threat if they speak out and escape into exile  overseas is increasingly difficult. When Tibetans  do share information they are risking everything.

Hear from  torture testimonies read  by the actors Dominic West, Alan Rickman, Juliet Stevenson and David Threlfall. 
As many as 133 Tibetans have also set themselves ablaze in self-immolation protests calling for Tibetan freedom, opposing Beijing's rule and calling  for the return  of their exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. As others have also resisted their actions represent the wishes and  aspirations of  countless Tibetans living under  repressive Chinese rule.
You can also read about recent incidents and learn how you can join the campaign to stop torture in Tibet.
Please  share the testimonies widely,  lets show the Chinese that the world is watching, and continue to help global Tibetan groups who campaign to secure the release of courageous individuals who symbolise the enduring resistance  of Tibetans inside Tibet.

Free Tibet.

http://freetibet.org/

Berlin Wall vs Palestine Wall

Of  course a real comparison  would be measured  by   how the soviets regularly pulverised West Berlin from the air and occasionally  launch massively destructive ground attacks  destroying Berlins  basic infrastructure, and preventing all flights landing, and refusing to talk to whatever government the population elected.  And refusing to allow most goods into the city.
It is a good thing  that Israel  is the only democracy in the region, means anything other than the best equipped army running the show.
Remember too,  that the Berlin wall was 96 miles long,  while the Palestinian wall is significantly larger stretching out over 400 miles.
Anyway  yesterday Palestinian youth  destroyed a hole in Israels security wall  with the Palestinian territories as a symbolic gesture  to mark 25 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Like the Berlin Wall previously  it snakes through Palestinian land, isolating people from their land, extended family and friends, and one day soon, this oppressive apartheid wall  will one day fall. too Despite all obstacles the Palestinian peoples determination  to be free remains as strong as ever. Their thirst  for freedom grows, the walls that surround them, do not protect, but cruelly divide, they don't prevent a peoples existence, but only serve to incite resistance.


    

Lest we forget

90% of victims of war are civilians , lest we forget to move forward from  bloodshed and work for peace. If as much money was put into this objective as  there is  nto killing  and its misery it would benefit the whole world.
Those who benefit the most financially are those  with investments in the war machine and land/resource grabbing. Today I feel  reinforces the ideal of patriotism and militarism,  in stark contrast to the original ' Armistice day' when the   nations of the world  hoped to be united in peace. The horrors and misery of World War 1   still need remembering,   but not in a way that reinforces an ugly military agenda. Today politicians stand praying for peace while preparing for war...their hypocrisy abounds. The grisly facts  and horrors of war in all our histories is worth more  than  all the false red poppy illusions that are being seen today. Sadly  the red poppy today has been hijacked  by arms companies, look how last week Lockheed Martin, the World's biggest arms company sponsored the Poppy Rocks Ball., and Thales joined Boris Johnson in a Big Red poppy Billboard at Westminster.  
Today I remember all those sadly lost, in two World Wars but also those that everyday risk their lives  to build peace and prevent conflict, and time  turn to one another as friends, united in our goals  working together, so that the future potential of conflict could be resolved to the extent  that all the current spending on arms and the war machine was no longer necessary.

Israels protective edge operation.

When we talk of Israels protective edge operation in Gaza, we  should not forget over 2130 humans bombed to death, the over 500 children  or the 89 families  exterminated. We speak of the living, and this is their life. Tens of thousands  of refugees  will be finding shelter from the cold, wind and the rain,in bombed United Nations schools and the remains of  their destroyed homes.
And Gaza remains beseiged, the biggest ghetto in the world awaiting the next round of oppression, knowing that  any form of resistance will be labelled terrorist.
Boycott Israel.

Remember, remember!

'Behind every mask  there is more than just flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea..and ideas are bulletproof.'

-Alan Moore -'V for vendetta'

Solidarity with all those marching tonight, may you ignite the world with passion. Gorgeous moon tonight also, don't forget to look up as it lights the way. Together we can all dismantle the masters house

Moan

Still can't upload  photos or video in libraries, but that is the least of our problems. At the moment in time we have a corrupt authoritarian government thrashing everything decent about this country, flogging of our public services, cutting our beloved welfare state- all of which we have paid for, killing 1000's through their cruel draconian policies, founded on social Darwinism and eugenics by stealth, and what are the nation and media babbling on about? How much Millibland  gave a woman who was begging, and how he looked while doing it, the same as he usually does. Tories, labour, the bloody liberals, where  is the difference. There whole damn country seems to be heading back to the workhouse times. A man immoral bunch that make me ashamed and angry to say the least
Tens of thousands  of desperate jobseekers will be forced to cancel Christmas too, due to benefit sanctions, job centres develop a scrooge like mentality at this time of the year, about 59,000 job seekers were sanctioned  in December 2013.
Gradually all are support and sustenance is being kicked away. Bah.

Prisoner of Palestine - by Seize the Day

A powerful song from the band Seize the Day about the conflict in Palestine. No images just words.

Seize the Day are a great  forward thinking bold green anarchist band.


Still having problems with libraries computers please bare with me.

October 30th UK.Drugs debate..

On October 30th, 2014 the UK Parliament  will host a debate on the country's drug policy. To ensure your MP represents you at the debate and works to support evidence-based drug laws in the country. visit here:-



http://www.talingdrugs.org/parliamentary-drugs-debate

Blog Stuck in rut


Blog unable to upload photos or videos at moment in time, I hope it's temporary, any suggestions please?Also missing a dear  friend, but that's another story. Meanwhile between 13 and 26th October a joint police Operation called 'mos maiorum'  takes place  in nearly all European countries to  identify, imprison  and finally  deport illegallised  migrants. Thousands of  people will be subject to so called ' racial profiles ' and will be harassed and criminalised  upon those criteria.
The following site tries to document the actions that are part of 'mos maiorum'  and to make these effects visible to everyone.
Please contribute  to document public police checkpoints  or identify  checks throughout the European union.


http://map.nadir.org/ushahidi

The Battle of the Tarpaulin - Police Brutality

Hundreds of police officers attack Occupy Democracy participants because they don't want them  to sit on tarpaulins. This was after Occupy Democracy broke  away from  the TUC march on  Saturday and headed to Parliament Square for an open Assembly,  wardens had asked protestors to leave under an old by law, then sent the police in, and  then their was a total overreaction, on behalf of the police and a standoff lasted till yesterday. What was witnessed was a scene that  had reminiscences of Hong Kong, less freedom seen in Parliament Square. The protestors sound system was confiscated and   tents and sleeping bags were not allowed into the camp. The massive overpolicing and  attempshut down this democratic forum is truly shocking and outrageous. The protestors plan to occupy  the square for the next week.  Viva  freedom.

George Orwell on the police ;-

" I have  no love for  the idealized 'worker' as he appears in the bourgeois mind, but when I see an actual flesh and blood worker in conflict with his natural enemy, the policeman, I do not  have to ak myself which side I'm on."

Freudian Slip

Freudian slip:-

Tory welfare minister Lord Freud apparently thinks disabled people  should be paid less than the minimum wage. And where is the opposition to these  remarks, Millibland just keeps on shuffling and smiling,  he needs to wake up...  did he read any of his dads books for gods' sake... somewhere he must have some guts.
Lord Freud the same heartless individual who said ' The poor should take more risks as they have the least to lose.' Lord Fraud every time he opens his gob,  a shallowness  emerges  that says much about his character and  very much about the nasty party  that he represents. People holding these views should not be in government, they are  reckless and damaging, but their they are pontificating about realities that they know nothing about. He has no previous experience of the welfare system  Baron Fraud, but who asked him first to provide a review of these services, Mr Tony Bliar under New Labour. You couldn't make these things up. My mind boggles. Oh blundering Mr  Fraud has since apologised, but  he's done that before as well, over previous  gaffes of his  own making, time he got another job, same applies to the rest of his cohorts in government who are equally complicit in their appalling attitudes to the poor and disabled.

The truth of Charlie Chaplin's 1940's anti war message for all humanity rings down the ages.

Charlie Chaplin's inspirational final speech  in  "The Great Dictator "

On 15 October 1940 Charlie Chaplin's first talkie The Great Dictator debuted in New York (while the US was still formally at peace with Nazi Germany)

The physical resemblance between the Tramp and another famous man with a little black mustache was not lost on Chaplin. In his first all-talking picture, he plays both a Jewish barber and his double, Adenoid Hynkel, the absolute ruler of Tomainia. As Hynkel and his henchmen Herring and Garbitsch engineer the persecution of Jews and the invasion of neighboring Osterlich, the amnesiac barber may be the only person innocent enough to stop them. Throughout the anti-fascist film Chaplin powerfully exploits the deflating power of parody, while in the finale he abandons both character and comedy to deliver one of the most inspirational speeches in recorded history with an impassioned plea to the audience for human tolerance, encouraging us in opposing all forms of oppression,Many years later, the  world still needs to stand still and listen and stand against the forces of fascism.An earlier tribute  of mine to this great man can be found here :- 

http://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/charlie-chaplin-b1641889-251277-citizen.html https://

Here is the full transcript.

I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an emperor. That’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible- jewish, Gentile, black men, white…

We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each others’ happiness, not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone. And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way.

Greed has poisoned men’s souls; has barricaded the world with hate; has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical; our cleverness, hard and unkind.

We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery ,we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost. The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in man; cries out for universal brotherhood; for the unity of us all.

Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women, and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people.

To those who can hear me, I say “Do not despair.”

The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish.

Soldiers! Don’t give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you and enslave you; who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel! Who drill you, diet you, treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder!

Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men—machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines! You are not cattle! You are men! You have a love of humanity in your hearts! You don’t hate!

Only the unloved hate; the unloved and the unnatural.

Soldiers! Don’t fight for slavery! Fight for liberty!

In the seventeenth chapter of St. Luke, it’s written “the kingdom of God is within man”, not one man nor a group of men, but in all men! In you! You, the people, have the power, the power to create machines, the power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. Then in the name of democracy, let us use that power.

Let us all unite.

Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give youth a future and old age a security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power. But they lie! They do not fulfill their promise. They never will!

Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people!

Now let us fight to fulfill that promise! Let us fight to free the world! To do away with national barriers! To do away with greed, with hate and intolerance!

Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness.

Soldiers, in the name of democracy, let us all unite!

Wonderful news: British MP's vote to recognise Palestine as a state.

Ok I would be the first to admit that I don't always like what emerges out of the  house of commons, but  as a result  of tireless campaigning, yesterday finally  resulted  in the historic occasion  which resulted in the UK Parliament  voting to recognise the state of Palestine. This follows the Swedish Parliaments decision to do the same. Wonderful news. It  saw as many as 274 voting for the motion to 12 against in a momentous  event that  gave  me much joy, when usually the only thing that emerges from these dusty corners are dark shadows.
Surely it is a big thanks to all  who for years  have marched, demonstrated  for the rights of the Palestinian people and is  also a sign of times in the fact   that British Parliament seems to have noticed and reflected  what  it's people really feel  in the wake  of  Israels recent onlslaught in Gaza, that left over 2,000 Palestinians dead,  and that people are now wide awake to its continuing illegal military occupation and recognise that Israel is losing the battle for public opinion and is part of a growing international trend that demands justice for the Palestinians. The time is  now right for the Palestinians to have the state that it deserves.
This symbolic  vote will mean absolutely nothing if further action is not taken, to bring the  Palestinians dream of statehood into reality. International pressure must continue to be mounted  until oppression is ended and the maxim  from the 'rivers to the sea' is finally achieved.

Steal this poem - Claire Faucet

This poem is copyleft.
You're free to distribute it and diffuse it,
re-write it and abuse it,
and use it.
For your own ends,
and with your own ending.

This is an open source poem
entering the public domain.
Here's the source  code,
add a little salt and pepper if you  like,
share it out amongst your friends.

Because I didn't write  this poem
I moulded it,
picked the lines out of a skip as I was walking on over here
took used up fragments of leftover ideas,
and put them to use.

Think about it -
I can't tell you anything new.
In all these millennia of human existence
there certainly can only be a few ideas to be thought through.
So we treat them like rare commodities?
Plunder artistic reserves for new ideas buried deep beneath the permafrost,
suffocate them with patent protection
and junk the rest?
Or  do we re-use them and recycle them?
Pile our public spaces high with shared ideas beyond anyone's imagining.

So I steal a verse  here and a line there
a riff there and a rhyme there
pass it on around the circle,
roll it up
add a joke
here have a toke
does it get you high?

This poem  is indebted to Gil Scott Heron. Abbie Hoffman, Jim Thomas
   and Sarah Jones
This poem is indebted to all the words I've read and the voices I've known
This poem is a community  of intellect, your and mine
This poem  is ripped off line after line after line

Because intellectual property is theft
and piracy is our only defence against the thought police.
The revolution
will be plagiarised!
The revolution will not happen if ideas are corporatised
So steal this poem
and use it
For your own ends
and with your own ending.

This poem is copyleft
all rights are reserved

Claire Faucet is a performance poet, activist and researcher for Corporate Watch.
Her poetry can be found online at http://www.re-clairethestreets.blogspot.com
and her political writing at http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk

The above poem reprinted  from:-
This poem is sponsored  by : Poems  in the face of corporate power
2007

Apple : Irony alert

Apple one of the the major  success stories of the dot-com era  is often accused of treating its own workers poorly and is no stranger to controvery.
According to recent Pocket Gamer  report  Apple has pulled 'Sweatshop' a satirical  game designed  to raise awareness about the inequities of forced labour, from its APP store, because it was 'uncomfortable selling a game based  around the running of a sweatshop. Though it apparently  has no such qualms  about selling a sweat shop produced phone. The technology giant whose own Foxconn facility  is routinely plaqued by suicides, riots and human rights allegations, has cited  clothing factory managers as routinely 'blocking fire escapes,' 'employing child labour' as reasons why the game was unsuitable for sale, according to Simon Parkin, head of games at liitlecloud, which created the game to highlight the human cost of fashion.
There is nothing ethical about apple, remember that they pay contract workers so little in China that they have been committing suicide, while their founder Jeff Bezos sits on a personal fortune of 427 billion, and Apple itself recently announced a $13.5 billion profit for the first quarter of 2014, while its warehouse workers suffer low pay and unfair working conditions, combined with a long term practice of using underpaid student labour and underpaying its  own share of British corporate tax. Long too,  has it had a history of allegations concerning human rights and labour rights abuses and lets not forget . Where things have improved recently for Apple is within its  public relations department, but scratch under the surface it is still very sensitive to any outside criticism. Apple's reputation still not squeaky clean, their thirst for maximum profit still seems to be their major concern and is still  in many peoples eyes a less than honest company. Apple also happens to be one of the most aggressive  patent lawsuit filers in the world, that  agressively pursues litigation  and excessive  claims  against its competitors. In effect a bully.Apples' dismal record on human rights has long been questioned and is probably worse than we know about such is this companies insistence on secrecy, besides treating  humanity with disrespect, Apple documents  show that suppliers  to the company also disrespect the environment, their suppliers routinely  discharging  toxic waste into our communities,  without regard to the  effect the  waste has  on  residents, wildlife or the planet, its commitment to ethical values  continues to be very dubious.  Scratch under the surface, Apple not as  nice and shiny as they try to make out.

R.I.P 'Louakanikos' The Greek Riot Dog

'Loukanikos'  a ginger mongrel internationally known as the 'Riot Dog' has sadly passed away at the age of 10, His name translates into English as 'sausage'. This valiant much loved stray dogs health was adversely affected by  police asphyxiating  gas and from being kicked on numerous occasions by the police. Forcing him to retire from active protest 2 years ago. More than just a dog, he was a protector and a beloved comrade facing down riot Police daily as demonstrators took to the streets  of Greece against the police murder of Alexandros Grigoropoulos, a 15 year old Greek student  who was gunned down in cold blood in the center of Athens, and later against austerity measures, he was usually  to be found at the thick of all the action in front of the crowds, charging and yelping alongside protestors when they confronted  police on the streets of Athens.So legendary was this noble creature that he had a bar named after him in Madrid, and. In 2011 Time magazine listed  Loukanikos as one of its personalities of the year.
He was on the couch sleeping when suddenly his heart stopped. A leftist newspaper Avgi, says the dog  has been buried in the shade  of a tree in the city centre. This  courageous four legged revolutionary who led many a fight for justice will bark no more.
Rest in Power.

Louakinikos in action

Once a time in Athens - The Legend of the Riot Dog

David Rovics - Riot Dog

7 facts about Workfare.

" There is little evidence that workfare increases the likelihood  of finding work.... workfare is least effective  in getting people into jobs   in weak labour markets where unemployment is high." This week their is a week of action against it, workfare profits the rich by providing free labour, whilst hurting the poor by taking away  welfare rights if people refuse to work. The government is misleadingly calling it now 'Help to work' but it is business as usual, it is draconian, exploitative, unjust and wrong, many charities are now refusing to have anything to do with it because :-.

1. There is no evidence that workfare schemes lead to employment.

2. You're  five times more likely to be sanctioned than get a job on a government work programme.

3. Workfare  is undermining voluntary and  charitable values.

4.Forced Labour is illegal.

5. Workfare is not just for the long-term unemployed.

6.Courts have repeatedly ruled  against workfare schemes.

7. Workfare is heading for collapse but we need  to  push for it.

Facts reblogged from here, where you will find more information.:-

http://realfare.wordpress.com/2014/10/07/7-facts-you-need-to-know-about-workfare/

Empty promises and broken 'pledges' lead folk to one conclusion:-

and its too late for Cable and Clegg to start sounding off now, they have backed the Tories throughout, we all know now what their party stands for, everything the Tories have done has been done with liberal democrat support. Milliband as for him apparently shifting his party to the left, come on, same as Blair,who created a version of the social democrats mark 2, under the guise of New Labour, where is their pulse, where is their opposition, their anger, their fiery direction.As for the Tories, unreformed unapologetic Thatcherites and UKIP more of the same. I feel political scepticism is more than justified, most people I encounter feel alienated from the lot  of them, and do not understand the need to rush out to vote for them. Its not that people are disengaged with politics as a whole, I think  people just feel let down by the so called democratic systems and norms that does nothing for them in return.Regarding most careesrist politicians as fraudsters and liars, a self serving elite, who carry on  wining and dining, fostering division, with empty gestures, carving and making scapegoats out of sections of the community, as austerity grippens,  is it any wonder  that people increasingly feel abandoned, and left with not much hope, pessimistic and more than a little dissillusioned. Many people feel nauseated with the lot of them and simply cannot be bothereed with their message.
To change this country for the better, me thinks, the only hope for us, is to start thinking outside of the box, but  people are still demonstrating, occupying, resisting with direct action, it is not a question of people simply apathetic, people are wide awake, change is happening NOW. Anger,does not reflect disengagement, and as we see, people are able to express their political dissatisfactions in so many different ways in our modern world. But the status quo carries on regardless, carries on not listening, as no confidence in their empty hollow words  continues to grow.
But out of their fading  embers, hopefully a fairer, system can be built, personally for me one that proactively is used to combat oppression, exploitation and repression, surely another world is not impossible.

How the ISIS theatre of murder was born - Heathcote Williams

David Cameron says he is 'standing firm  and will not be cowed" by ISIS brutality. Poet Heathcotte Williams  responds.

Montage and narration by Alex Cox.

Overgrow the system... Give thanks to the Mother

Tuira Kayapo is an indigeneous Elder Mama warrior  who showed the world  what happens  when Women   take  charge of their power. She walked  into the 1989 Altamira Gathering in Brazil  against the destruction  of Dams in the Zingu, in her war paint, naked and carrying a large machete. She then walked up to the President of Brazil's Light holding Company Petrobras  and running the blade of her  machette  three times over his cheeks, proclaimed his act  on her people and on the entire Amazon as an act of war. She then stated in Kayopa :-
" You are a liar - We do not need electricity. Electricity is not going to  give us our food. We need our rivers to flow freely, our future depends on it. We need  our jungles for hunting and gathering. We do not need your dam."
Everyone stood in absolute  awe  at her audacity, especially the President of Petrobras who looked quite afraid .. yet what I see in her is a true example of WHAT Mamas are capable of in their full  Power...
We have ALL become tired of this mess the world is in... It is time to reclaim our truth. Don't play with our good hearts and intentions. I am grateful  for women like  Chief Kayapo, who was bold enough  to say no to colonialist exploitation. Bravely demanding respect, to allow her and her people  to live as they want and choose, expressing the feelings of her entire nation.

Fly Kites not Drones : Poppit Sands, nr St Dogmaels, Cardigan, West Wales.

 

 

Over  the past couple of months we have witnessed drone strikes in at least seven countries -  Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Palestine, Yemen, Egypt and Iraq and Syria probably on the list soon. Devastatingly killing innocents it is now is clear  that  our political leaders  are  using  these
lethal forces  rather than look for diplomatic  or political situations.
Join me tomorrow, kites not drones at Poppit Sands near St Dogmaels, Cardigan, West Wales, in a symbolic, 'Stop the drones' demonstration supported by Drone Network Cymru/Wales and CND Cymru/Wales. We need to build a world where children can   play and fly  their kites safely, instead of spending their lives in fear.
Please  take a look at the following link:-

Child victims of drone warfare.

-http://childvictimsofwar.org.uk/get-informed/drone-warfare/

Moazzam Begg - Wronged Man is free again

Moazzam Begg a native born British citizen, family man  of  Pakistani  descent, spent three years incarcenated  in  the most notorious detention centre created, Guantanamo Bay without being charged with any crime.
Arrested  in Pakistan in 2002  he was transferred  to Bangram Air Force Base in Afghanistan, where he suffered torture and witnessed U.S interrogators  beat an  innocents taxi driver to death, he would spend the   next three years in   very tortuous uncomfortable conditions.
Throughout this time, Begg , now 45 was repeatedly, deprived of legal rights, but after public outcry  was returned to Britain in 2005. Despite the indignation and suffering  he encountered, he did not lose his humility or dignity.
He went on to become a prominent human rights activist, writing  books, advocating on behalf of other prisoners of conscience, whilst campaigning against the so called war on terror, and working with survivors of abuse and mistreatment across the globe.
But constantly  he was harassed and intimidated,  marked out  because he was probably seen as one of Britains most prominent muslims. Well known  to muslims and non-muslims alike as  a representative of justice, truth and human rights in the face  of oppression , and injustice.
Last December  at Heathrow his passport was confiscated, and told it was not in the public interest to retain it, then later   he was arrested  for having allegedly travelled to Syria  to assist Syrian rebels in terrorist activities, but had not visited this land since December 2012 and this was to assist in humanitarian relief and support.It seems that he may have become a victim of the government again, because of his continuing  outspoken criticism  of the British governments conduct   during the War on terror. The arrest  of one of the Wests most prominent  Muslim critics certainly raised alarms with many.  Using dubious charges against dissidents  has  been a hallmark  post 9/11. Though these tactics are routinely condemned, they still  continue to be implemented,  showing us the crude  corrosive measures our governments use, which ultimately undermine the foundations of western freedoms.
After 4 months in Belmarsh, Londons Central Criminal Court acquitted him yesterday of all charges, prosecutors saying "  there is no longer a realistic prospect of conviction in this case.'"
"The more this continues, the more it's going to alienate people." Begg  said about his case. Campaigners are  now concerned that the governments new hardened line as spelled  out at their recent party conference  will result in  greater harassment and victimisation.
So  it comes that an innocent man, has been freed  for the second time in his life. Lets hope his voice can now be used again to speak out against injustice and to contribute to  our understanding of each other , and that the world knows now what was  always crystal clear -that this is an innocent man.
I am overjoyed by his release but outraged by the imprisonment itself.
Gareth Peirce Beggs solicitor said : "Moazzam Begg is a good and brave man. He is a rare individual who will talk to  everyone and listen to everyone, even to those he profoundly  disagrees. He has spent the near decade since he was released from the  the torture of Bagram and Guantanamo in attempting to wake the world up  to injustice  and to comprhehend its causes and effects. His intelligent  voice of reason and  intelligence is desperately  needed now. We are relieved he is free again."
Long may it be so.

Here is a link to CagePrisoners the human rights group founded by Moazzam Begg

http://www.cageuk.org/

Cassetteboy - Cameron's Conference Rap

Applause please for Cassette Boy , with another fantastic satirical mashup.
Cassette Boy has made him speak the truth for once. Seriously though Dave thanks for legalising parody videos.

poets for change - Cellar bards - watch out theirs a teifidancer about

Here's  the cellar bards and friends reading out their  poems on the theme of change in Cardigan West Wales UK at 4pm Saturday September 27th 2014 on the Quay on the banks of the Teifi. Oh and a rare  look at teifidancer  out in the wild.

Dannie Abse - Poet Doctor R.I.P (22/9/23 - 28/9/14)

' The human race is the only one that knows it must die and it knows this only through its experience. A child bought up alone and transported to a desert island would have no more idea of death than a cat or a plant .'  - Voltaire

It is with sadness that I  have heard of the passing of poet, playwright, doctor  and novelist Dannie Abse at the age of 91.
Born and  bought up in Cardiff, he  drew on his career as a doctor, his Welsh roots and his proud jewish inheritance to establish himself as one of Britains most popular poets. Many of his themes  were international  in outlook,  combining  elements  of loss, love, the passing of time, his rich medical understanding and its moral implications. This  gave him a compassion for  the suffering of the world. His awareness and humanity gave him  a conscious awareness.
The brother of Labour M.P Leo Abse, much  of his life was spent in loving devotion with his wife, Joan who tragically died in a car accident in 2005, and like many of us he struggled to deal with his grief, but managed to write elonquently a lovely collection called the  'the Presence' which won the Welsh book of the year award in 2008.
His two autobiographies 'Ash  on a Young Man's sleeve'  and 'Poet in the Family' are now rightly  considered to be classics. I recognised his account of his medical training  through my own fathers who was to become a G.P. Alongside a deep understanding of the world, ran an overwhelming sense of humour, awash  with  an experience of thought.. Like Dannie Abse I also undersood some  of his themes of exile, he moving from Cardiff to London  and personally me having at a very young age moved from Cardiff to here in West Wales.
There is a richness at the heart of his work  that  I will forever  cherish, which I also know will continue to endure.I have been fortunate to hear him read  on a few  memorable occassions.
He died surrounded by his family after a short illness. The Welsh  nation and the world  has lost a truly great poet of real conviction.
Dannie Abse R.I.P

from Anniversary

' What happens to a flame blown out?
What persists? Only the view,
never my  my magified hand  in yours.'

Dannie Abse - A Simple tribute

Dannie Abse reading poems for Oxfam

Specks of hope

Yesterday  I was  one of thousands of poets around the world  who participated  in 100-Thousands  Poets for Change day. I took part in a reading  organised by my local  live literature group, the cellar bards, in conjunction with   our local  community bookshop, Leafed Through   in an event   that took place between 4 pm and 5pm, at  Prince Charles Quay here in Cardigan, West Wales.In an inspiring event  we gathered to celebrate and promote peace and sustainability  and call for much needed serious social environmental and political change with poems written on postcards. It was good to be involved in something so positive, with hundreds of cities representing and  over 100 countries signed up to the 100 TPC global initiative.More details here :- http://100TPC.org
The poem I read is included below.

Specks of hope

With this pen
no walls are drawn,
unity's breath spins
cancels out division,
solidarity's comfort lifts
and a strong flame burns,
showering the earth with reason
releasing leaves of hope,
gently  painting the sky
in rivers of language,
opposing injustice
in whirling devotion,
planting smiles on an ugly world
spreading seeds of peace.

Why the UK parliament should say no to bombing Iraq

David Cameron  will ask MPs in the UK parliament to vote to join the US bombing campaign against Iraq, Chris Nineham from Stop the War coalition, interviewed by the BBC on 24 September 2014, asks, has nothing been learnt from the disasters of wetern inttervention in Iraq, Afghanistan  and Libya. He urges MPs to vote  no,  like they did last  year, when Cameron wanted a bombing  campaign against Syria. To save lives  and protect human rights the genocidal fundamentalists  of Isis must be stopped, whose barbarity shows no limits but surely there are other ways. Do we  repeat past mistakes, do we all become complicit in the end. Ultimately war is  not civilised, war is failure.
There are no  easy answers. But there is this certainty, killing people rarely kills peoples ideas.

The illusion of choice

The above chart might look  familiar, that’s because it originates from a well-circulated report that Oxfam International puts together to show consolidation in the mass consumer goods industry.
I am sharing it because I believe it is important for you to be aware of who is supplying the different brands and goods served on your dinner table.
Click to enlarge it shows that most products  we buy are controlled by just a few companies. Despite a wide array of brands to choose from, it all  comes back to the big guys.Ten mega corporations control the output  of almost everything you buy; from household products to pet food to jeans. These corporations create an illusion of choice, a chain that begins at one of  10 super  companies. Lets not forget that 90% of the media is now controlled  by just six companies,  down from 50 in 1983. Yes it is indeed a funny old world. Daily now I continue to consume and use social media platforms run by globalists like Google, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc but be switching off in bit and heading back to the garden, But Globalisation is just another word for monopolisation. Do we actually have a choice in choosing , or is it just the case of free market capitalism destroying any  real sense of freedom?  

Stand up for the Earth - Gary Snyder( b 8/5/30) on Ecology and Poetry Parts 1-4

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Throughout his life the poet and activist,Gary Snyder has used his work to act as a  strong voice for the planet, using a simple message, that is  beyond urgent,  it is so  necessary right now. Above he  talks about a great  number of issues and also discusses, some of his work and his beliefs. This week an international conference  for climate change meets. At the end of the day will anything shift, now is the time  the world needs to reorganise, I fear  though that it is already to late.
Because of this I feel, we cannot  fail to ignore  the urgent issues that Mr Snyder brings up. We must keep working together to put an end to the destruction of the Earth by forces  of human greed and ignorance, and remember too the devastating effects of capitalism  upon nature.

Threads

Poem  read out at above event, this afternoon where I joined  over 150 people gathered  at ParcAberporth to mark Intenational Day of Peace. A symbolic 'drape the drones' took place,   and we called  for an end  to militarism, no to drone warfare,  and a halt to plans to spend £100b of  taxpayers money on rplcing the Trident Weapons system.

Standing together
threads unwrapped,
impenetratable, not complicit
we  remember innocents lost
to remote controlled  killing machines,
from within sources of passion woven
richness of colour, keep us dreaming
stitches of time, spinning,
searching clearly for waves of hope.
As winter grows near
something already is being changed,
tomorrow will be time, for light to shine
together tracing unity's  breath,
touching horizons. North, South, East and West
from this place, like singing birds
faith is restored, love rekindled,
as voices  float freely through the sky,
we continue following paths of  heddwch, peace.

wonder who this could be

Sad... no not really

Well I  have not slept for a couple of days, better then, than the other week, in South Wales when I only managed in a week to get about an hour a day shut eye. And  oh that reminds me,  the  last time I put on the television  left me feeling a tad miserable. Yet despite  this, and what they are saying, there has been a huge vote for independence, despite media manipulation a large percentance of the population of Scotland  rejected the corrupt undemocratic Westminster system in an unprecedented number.
So though very tired, had a sublime night of dub music by the magical Maya Mitten  down  in my local, the cellar bar, I remain faithfully optimistic for the future. I think  that with  creativity and diversity  we can create a brighter future, beyond   the neoliberal consensus and bullshit, that says no   to cuts and austerity, to nuclear missiles, yes to the N.H.S, together we reject  political parties that offer us no choice, so wee keep on fighting for some real change, and will not rest until, the day comes, that we will win.

Give the Tories a benefit cut they will never forget.

Some final thoughts. The establishment is running scared, the government,  big business and the banks have bought  out their big guns to try to scare the Scottish people, but  its inhabitants seem to be wide awake, despite the propaganda being spewed against them, they have been taking to the streets, organising, winning hearts and minds. I really hope they have not left it too late, and that they are brave enough to kick Westminster in the guts and win their freedom, and  that they remind the rest of us , that it is ok not to be complacent.
We need to  remember that the Tory government has no mandate, was not voted in, least of all the Lib Dems, who are have been propping them up, a  government still fixed on austerity whilst lining their own pockets and that of their friends. So I really hope David Cameron gets a big message - Fuck off now. I really hope these seeds  of discontentment grow and the hope  for a fairer more caring  and prosperous  society spreads like a virus,  reflecting a growing  disillusionment with Westminster led policies, a river of change that leaves the status quo shaking  in its boots. A yes vote on Scottish independence would plunge Cameron  into a leadership crisis  that could force him to quit. It's up to the rest of us to finish the job.

Yes/Meh ( some thoughts on the Scottish referendum)

David Cameron thought he was being  clever when  he forced Scotland to take a straight yes or no vote in  laving the union. But smugness is his middle name and this could be the most political gamble of his whole tawdry career..
With a day to go, he seems to be panicking as the vote looks as if it could go either way. Lets remember this vote is not about nationalism, it is about redressing some balance. It is about a nation that has been violently supressed, a working class that has been binded in chains, that  has been ripe in exploitation and oppression. This for many is now being seen as a vote against the Conservatives and their friends who have for years mismanaged Scotland's economy. The same Conservatives   who in Scotland are more reviled than since the days of Thatcher, who many blame for the  poverty that wreaks  daily misery on peoples lives.
It would not be heartbreaking if the people of Scotland chose a new beginning,  it would  just be part of a journey of recovery that  often people need to take. If not taken now it could be centuries before the opportunity arose again. It is  interesting how his so called opposition  both the Labour Party and Liberal democrats   leaders joining Cameron in calling for a no vote,  see how much these abusers of power have so much in common.
Whatever the outcome Salmod as leader of the SNP  finds himself in a win win position, even if he loses his vote Scotland could be granted new powers,  but a no vote would leave Scotlands hands tied, when  like all small nations what is needed  is their absolute freedom. I personally  as a Welshman have never seen myself as being part of the UK, I also reject the class system that this institution  is based on, believe  no borders are actually necessary that power needs to be given back to the people, we need to say no to sham democracy, yes to more equality, more autonomy.
I like the fact that the yes vote has   garnered new strengths of feeling, a kind of anti-capitalist rhetoric, bravely dancing towards a future, not dancing to  the intruments of division that has kept many people downtrodden in yesterdays memories. A fight for a different society, a fight for fairness and social justice, a struggle that could in the end inspire us all. A new future that sets a template about how our different wealth is shared.
New hopes where imagination is recaptured, dreams are  nurtured, a  different form of society is experimented with, for the good of all. Sadly the fact remains that  like all  governments,  a future independent Scotland  will nor be able to maintain the promises that is is making,   it might be unable  to share its wealth, protect the NHS,  like other governments,  will seek to attack  the unemployed, the disabled, outsiders, night get stuck in the narrow contstraints of nationalism,  but in the end  like any new democracies, opposition to its policies will still be encouraged.  It's gotta be better than the template already in place, some say I'm a dreamer, but I am not the only one, and in all my hopes I  really do like the idea of Cameron and his coherts getting a real good kicking, and I support a new society that arises that creates   new possibilities, against the stagnation of the present system in place, a new era of radical change.
The Westminster  government   tells us we must   keep a 70 year old weapons  system called  Trident, operating from the West Coast Of Scotland, and Independence  threatens this,   but they don't say is that there are millions of pounds worth of oil and gas reserves here too, and that by removing Trident   these fields become more viable for the economic prosperity of Scotland as a whole, that could see it becomming one of the richest economies on the planet.
I truly wish more people were taking a stand and challenging the notions of the British state. A new politics that everyone is not afraid to engage with, that excites, and does not forget the power of the individual.more  power to the people. The powerful do not want to see anymore change, but the people daily are increasingly restless., and  with collective pressures for social, economic and political change, surely that can only be a good thing. Yes or No,  we need  people to  keep pushing  for a more caring society, some radical change, otherwise the status quo just sits back and smiles, carries on beating us, this political consensus and  our compliance I believe needs to be shattered, for the sake of us all.Voting does not  change thing, many of my friends say, but critical support for an independent Scotland is better than no change at all. This celtic cousin is holding his breath , hoping  for something that changes our political landscape forever, whatever the outcome, the way the UK is governed will  never be the same again, and the voters decisions in Scotland, whether they vote or not  will have a lasting impact on our lives here in West Wales too.

William S. Burroughs (5.2/14 -2/8/97) - We have a new type of rule now.

                                 Fabrizio Cassatta

In terms of   political philosophy, William Burroughs was never far from hitting the nail on the proverbial head. Hopefully these machines of order are finally losing their credibility.

' We have  a new type  of rule now. Not one-man rule, one rule of aristocracy or plutocracy, but of small groups elevated to  positions  of absolute power by random pressures, and subject to political  and economic  factors that leave little room for decision. They  are representatives of abstract forces who have reached power through surrender of self. That  iron-willed dictator is a thing of the past. There will be no more Stalins, no more Hitlers. The rulers of this most insecure  of all worlds are rulers by accident, inept,  frightened pilots at the  controls of a vast machine they cannot understand, calling in experts to tell them which buttons to push.'

- Interzone Viking 1989