Gardening is the most theraputic and defiant act you can do - Ron Finley ( renegade gardener and food activist)

" Gardening is the most theraputic and defiant act you can do. Especially in the inner city. I want us to become ecolutionaries, renegades, gangster gardeners. People need to realise how powerful the transformation of soil can be. Everything you experience in life happens in the garden. You learn patience, you learn systems, you learn biology,you learn sex and you learn the thing we call death may not actually be death. It may just be an energy transfer. That's what composting is."

Link to Ron Finley's blog :-
http://ronfinley.com/

Now Zen

Listen to the soft rain fall,
catch hope in hand,
when the streams of the world,
keep on passing by,
in the hours of dreaming,
breathe and inhale.

Follow the snails path,
and the trail of birds,
shifting sands, long winding roads,
beyond implosions that explode,
in satori breathe,
mind is empty and free.

In the presence of moments stillness,
we can be shores of touch and belief,
elements drifting, particles shining,
following  immediacies destination,
towards rivers long, journeys unknown,
spirits of the age, keep on turning,
in the ebb and flow of  life.

67th anniversary of the Nakba

Today marks the 67th anniversary of the Nakba. The catastrophe that caused 750,000 Palestinians, to  leave the land which they were the rightful owners of.
It marks 67 years of injustice and oppression of the Palestinian. 67 years of land theft and bloodshed  that have been  met by global political silence, time and time again.
It saw over 531 villages being cleared,  with massacres that led  to 15,000 Palestinians being killed at the hands  of Zionist para military groups like Hazanika, Ergun and the Stern Gang. Systematically removing the Palestinians from their land. An ethnic cleansing that continues to this day.
One of the worst incidents occurred at Deir Yassin on April 8th 1948, where  105 people were slaughtured, more than half of them women and children. Link to earlier post on Dier Yassin http://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/dier-yassin-remembered.html
Israel to this day has tried to erase all signs of the Nakba, it is a history that it does not the world to share or see. A state that at the end of the day was built on the ruins of someone else's land. So this is why  for many today is not seen as the birth of Israel, but a day of mourning and tragedy. 
I will continue to side with the Palestinian who dares to dream of the day of return, when they can open  the locked doors of their stolen houses, are welcomed home, recognised and encouraged by a world that acknowledges the injustice that has been inflicted upon them.




Today there are over 5 million registered Palestinian refugees, who are still waiting for justice. This fight continues as the Palestinian keep searching for a way to return home, to take back what is rightfully theirs.
So today we will see the Palestinian people renew their demands for return, to their cities, villages and lands that they were forced to leave in 1948. Many Palestinians still carry the keys to the homes they or their ancestors were displaced from all those years ago, a haunting memory of their existence.
Despite their suffering and Israels  blockade  of the West Bank and the Gaza strip they will not stop their demand for their right of return and for having Jerusalem as their capital.
I like  increasingly many others in the international community hope and dream  that their freedom is restored again, their existence  is recognised, and justice is served, despite the fact that Palestinians land continues to be stripped into pieces. From the rivers to the sea, Palestine will be free. Despite all the Palestinians will remain rooted to their land.

Listen here  to Remi Kanazi's powerful poem -  Nakba

Save the Human Rights Act

The Conservatives are currently planning to strip away our  Human Rights, they must not be able to carry out their plans.Over 107,000  people have signed the following  petition in less than 24 hours. Please sign and share as far and wide as possible. Everybody needs to sign this. It is so important, share with groups, friends,  family.
Human rights  are in place to stop corrupt Governments.
The Human Rights Act  covers everyone  living in the UK, based  on the European Convention of Human Rights, that the Labour Party introduced  in 1998 and  has repeatedly let ordinary people - hold the state to account.  It is here to protect us all, and has enabled people for example to go to court to object against the bedroom tax. The policies have been created for no reason than to protect us as human beings. Without it any one of us could be wrongly accused of a crime, the government will be allowed to breach our privacy, and anyone could fall victim to careless decisions made by authorities. What happens to innocent until proven guilty and dignity in dying?
I guess, we really are living  in dangerous times, with the Torys planning now a series of attacks on our fundamental rights. I still  cannot quite believe how these so called  human beings devoid  of any empathy and compassion, could ever get elected.
Leaves me  still with a bitter taste in mouth, and a weariness of  people, who I guess, voted in their power, but that I guess is another story.
Can you not see your rights and freedoms being eroded? Gradually being removed piece by piece. Please wake up before they are gone.
Remember Cameron along with other right wingers  tries to distract us by claiming that Strasbourg's Court is meddling in British affairs and eroding our sovereingty and our ability to govern ourselves. Absolute ***** but that is their mindset . They at the end of the day want to overturn recognised principles of human decency that we should all be proud of.
How could anyone in their right mind oppose any of the following. ( Well Tory's , but not exactly carved with compassion)



Right to life
Freedom from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment
Right to liberty and security
Freedom from slavery and forced  labour
Right to a fair trial
No punishment if you have not broken law
Respect for your private and family life 
Freedom of thought, belief and religion
Freedom of expression
Freedom of assembly and association
The right to marry and start a family


We must not allow the Conservatives to steal away our precious human rights. The human rights act is ours, scrapping it will take away the rights of everyone, and it is the most vulnerable that will suffer most. We must do everything in our power to save it.



Please sign and share the following :-


http://www.change.org/p/david-cameron-mp-we-call-on-the-government-and-the-prime-minister-to-provide-a-national-referendum-on-the-planned-abolition-of-the-human-rights-act/

United we must stand

But they left the bankers, with their obscene bonuses, to be protected at all costs, and their friends in big business. The message it seems is that whether  you are unemployed, disabled,  or simply on a low wage, your poverty and misery are your own fault. We are all targets now. United we must stand.

Israeli illegal settlements, what you need to know in 60 seconds.

Life's rather bitter at the moment for many in my country at the moment, in the aftermath of a Tory election,  but this is nothing compared to the daily  harassment and displacement  faced by those who live in Palestine. Where the color of shame is daily spread. One of the major barriers to the Palestinians freedom is the existence and continuing growth of illegal Israeli colonies on land long recognised by the United Nations as belonging to Palestine. The new Netanyahu government is planning to extend it's support for these illegal constructions, that will  undoubtedly further inflame soaring tensions. Seen by many as a form of ethnic cleansing as the Israeli government seeks to replace Arab Palestinian populations in their own territories with Jewish Israelis. Settlers who have been accused again and again of inflicting violence on the existing inhabitants of the land they choose to build on.
You may have  heard about these Israeli Illegal settlements or even seen many images of this. But do you really know anything about how settlements effect Palestinian lives. Well in 60 seconds you will.
Friends of Al-qsa is  a British non-profit NGO company to defend the rights of Palestinians and to protect the sacred al-asqa- Sanctuary.

Viral Garden sign

                             
                                Garden centres owner  viral sign

' The only bad reaction I've had were  two Tory couples and a couple of people from UKIP,' he added ' I don't really care about the repurcussions, I don't earn a fortune and this might be the death of my business, but so be it. Sometimes you have to stand up and say what you believe in.'

Read more on this story here :-

http://gu.com/p/489b8/fb


MAY HIS BUSINESS FLOURISH , AND  LET HIS ROOTS BE HARDY

R.I.P, don't mourn, organise.

Never in my wildest imaginations, did I expect to wake up to this massive Tory majority. We will now face a more vicious government over the next 5 years than before.
We must now do our nest to alienate them and thwart all their attempts to beat us down.We do not mourn , we organise, show them no respect. Our numbers at the end of the day are much bigger than theirs,so in solidarity we gather our strength, show our mighty resistance.

Intermission Time :- A Coarse and offensive post, but I love it, no apologies.

Time to vote ! I'm not apathetic, but I am still angry

So the Pantomine is coming towards it's end. I personally  think most of the political parties seen on parade seem distinquishible  only by the color of their ties and their forked tongues.
We should note that not all who decide not to vote tomorrow are apathetic, most remain angry  and disillusioned. For many voting for the same old same every 5 years no longer seems to have any relevance. Remember Governments are only ever just in office,Capital remains in ultimate power. Austerity and welfare cuts, will continue.
Apparently it's going to be to close to call, but for the many who choose not to vote or spoil it, are taking a very conscious act, sending a clear message, that they are not happy with the system. The choice for many remains difficult. We certainly need change, but will this actually occur, at the end of the day , you have to ask yourself what does the Government do to help you. Will they continue to allow people to die, cause wars, sponsor greed, and in your name because you chose to vote for them.
If people decide to vote, I sincerely I hope they vote for some kind of change, for those that stand up against austerity, that I noticed  in the last term, not hearing  many politicians loudly speaking out against, until now, so I don't find them that trustable,  As for Russel Brand, perhaps  he should have asked Ed Milliband when  will the Labour Party  bring Tony Blair et alle to the courts for their war crimes. Until  then  they have no standing in any moral decent society, did he urge him to scrap Trident, save us £100 billion which could be spent on things we actually need.. But  I guess anything is better than the current incumbents, who left in power will carry on with their wrecking campaign.The 12 billion cuts they are planning to the welfare bill will be nothing less than a death warrant for tens of thousands of vulnerable people.People being penalised , simply for being poor. In the winter of 2012/13 when heating costs rose dramatically, there were over 31,00 excess winter deaths. Harold Shipman's murderous rampage never matched any of these figures.Angry I'm bloody livid. So if nothing use your vote against them, and any complicit so and so who you think might prop them up.
I have a certain respect for the Green Party, and here in Wales at least their seem to be some good souls in Plaid Cymru, who seem to have an open inclusive agenda, but are not likely to sweep the boards, and not likely to form the next  government.
But that old maxim 'if the government changed anything they would probably make it illegal' pops back in my weary head. At the end of the day the Government will seriously impact in our lives.Call me a dreamer, but wouldn't it be nice, if we tried a few years without one, and see how we got on. Anyway if you choose to excerise your right to vote, and I do not condemn you if you do,I would urge you  vote for those who speak of social justice, against austerity,against intolerance, xenophobia, for people who put people before profit, for fairness in our society.
But do not forget either, people thinking outside their box, already fighting, a cruel,unjust system,who will carry on shouting, speaking out, day by day, week in, week out, year in year out.
Perhaps we don't just need a regime, we need to build a brand new system.
Anyway I will be wishing you a good day,we all count, we all matter,  may the force continue to be with you.

Remember all Tories are the same.

Remember this week, as  the pantomine of democracy approaches, that all Tory's are the same. Whatever  period in time,  they leave us with a diabolical legacy, but at the same time still managing to convince   people that they have been doing a decent job.
Aided and abetted by their friends  in the Daily Mail, the Telegraph, the Express and the Scum. Rags  that keep carry on pumping out the same disingeneous and divisive rubbish about the supposed recovery we are all apparently experiencing. Plus the BBC misleading people into parroting Tory narratives and soundbites.
We should not forget the Tory's  ruthless, toxic and unjust policies. Their constant assaults  on the N.H.S, the Royal Mail, people on welfare, the disadvantaged, the poor, which includes poorly paid workers, then we've got people using foodbanks, pensioners with slashed fuel allowances, the hated bedroom  tax, rising homelessness, dodgy benefit assessments, all while giving their  friends the millionaires tax breaks and MPs 11% pay rises. The list goes on and on, they are truly a nasty vicious bunch of people.
We have to get rid of them by any means necessary,  because the devil comes in many shapes and sizes, and I believe it is truly at home in the Conservative Party, a demonic party, if there ever was one. They should not be given an inch.
But remember they come in all shapes and sizes, their are red ones too, we've seen the Lib Dems true mettle, Walking  hand in hand with them for the last 5 years.  Then we have so called red tory's so I would urge people against voting for Tory's in disguise.
We should not even consider voting for anyone who will simply prop them up, this is not a serious option that anyone in their right mind should  consider.
We simply cannot afford another 5 years of this rubbish, this false war of austerity.
So say  no to the Tory's and to any scum that will prop them up. Anyone who does their bidding must be strongly opposed.
I will end by saying that at the end of the day I believe  that a system that undemocraticaly elects  Governments like this, has to go as well, it needs to be replaced with something more accountable to peoples needs, based on ideas of social justice, fairness, mutual aid and sustainability. But until that day arrives kick out the tories and any bedfellows propping them up. Their time is up.

Newtown Neurotics - Kick out the Tories

Privilege Versus Poverty

(A Poem for a Royal Birth)

So a Princess is born,
the silver spoons are near
for her to be fed,
with all the vestiges of power,
that she could ever possibly eat,
while media overdrive in frenzy,
gather outside, a life of privilege awaits.

Meanwhile,
the poorest among us,
born in chains
our voices go unanswered.
and in refugee camps across the world,
children choked in shadows of rubble and dust,
their future already denied,
they are seemingly invisible.

Innocent children killed by drones,
the press ignores their story,
and people consigned to poverty and misery,
by tory austerity and welfare reform,
are expected to fawn, 
whilst queing at foodbanks ,
running on empty.

Daily the benefit claimants, pensioners,
the underpaid workers, are told to go to hell.
Royal sprog does not have to worry though,
in the 21st century it seems, we're still born unequal,
will be looked after by nannies, sent to public school,
look forward to a lifetime of pampering and privilege,
and his grannies had a bloody pay rise too.

It's weird shit, is it not?
Guess there will be more vomit to come.
Until the future, gives reasons to celebrate,
when all  divisions are  finally abandoned,
a generation from now, all of us born absolutely free,
beyond the bullshit, the flim flam and the glitter,
this day is coming, it wont be long,

when the peasants finally revolting,
stand outside the palaces gilded gates,
wave goodbye, to the monarchy,
once and for bloody all,
singing, Viva Republic,
hallelujah, hallelujah.

All born equal?

As the BBC continues  its sychopantic fawning. Here's a really positive way to respond to the Royal Baby news. Donate to the Child Poverty Action Group.
Here's a link :-
http://www.cpag.org.uk
Remember any other family living this kind of life  at taxpayers expenses would be hounded  by the  press  as benefit scroungers. No bunting for me, but I might have to go and find a sick bag.
If this event  releases  anything, it serves us all as a reminder of the appalling   inequality that still exists in our country, which is  at the core of  existence of monarchy.
Amid growing austerity,  these ocassions should remind  us too, that in 2015 modern Britain the aristocracy still own more than one third of the country continue to hold onto disproportionate power.  This baby will have  every need  pandered too, servents to make sure it goes for nothing, while others are born into poverty, whose  mums cannot  afford food or heating.
The sad fact remains, the gloss of inherited privilege, still shines,  I look forward to the day when, we are all born equal. Should not every new baby born, be headline news.

May Day Greetings ; Sarah Teasdale (8/8/1884 - 19/1/33) May Day

A delicate fabric of bird song,
Floats in  the air,
The smell of wet wild earth
Is everywhere.

Red small leaves of the maple
Are clenched like a hand,
Like girls at their first communion
The pear tree stand.

Oh I must pass nothing by
Without loving it much,
The raindrop try with my lips,
The grass with my touch;

For how can I be sure
I shall see again
The world on the first of May
shining after the rain?

(  as the light returns,and the days lengthen and summer begins its journey upon the earth, it's renewal time,   reach out, and find what you seek, thoughts go out to all who need strength in the coming weeks or months. Life doesn't get any easier for some )

Happy International Workers day, comrades and friends.

Beauty in Everyday Gaza

The news about Gaza tends to conjure up images of destruction, decimated buildings and human suffering. But theirs a beautiful side to the area that is often ignored and artist Lara Aburamadan, wants to show it off.
Where their is much hardship and suffering, Gaza remains a place of beauty, survival, and endurance.
Despite the horrors of Israels constant wars and  occupation.

These little piggies

Simples, but their mates in the Tory press, won't tell you this. A toxic lot, money minded machine men, selfish grasping simpletons, born with some essential part of the soul missing.
Hey i'm far from perfect, but will never be a bloody tory, or remotely tory-lite.
As the piggies cry, wee, wee, wee, try to sell  us their believe, and try to make us follow their roads of self destruction, avenues paved with capitalism's delusion, contained with self-fullfillment, Revolt against their messages. But please be careful, don't allow them into your home.

The Labour Party calls on Tarzan

I'd be the first to admit , that  I think the Labour Party lost it's soul  years ago,  but this thought has been rekindled on hearing the news that they have called on Michael 'Tarzan' Heseltine, to help advise a Labour Government, on business policy.
Some people might say, fair enough, good old Heseltine,  he was one of the more level headed, responsible,so called compassionate Tory's. Sorry Labour Party,wake up, this is a multi miilionaire, whose roots, however wet he looks, run deep in the pockets of the Conservative party and big business.A political dinosaur, who I first encountered, when he was a swivel eyed loon, dressed up in military regalia, evicting harmless peace  protestors at Molesworth Peace Camp, later when left in political wilderness, still to be cheered on and on, as he strode on to platforms at  Tory |Party Conferences.Oh Yes, Mr Milliband,  seeking advice from a real man of the people, a man who  back in the day stood for all that the Labour Party supposedly did not stand for, former miners and steelworkers up and down the country must be thinking of this offer in disgust.  Tarzan let me remind you, or Lord Heseltine of Thelford ( oh  the nice bit, is his mum hails, from West Wales), was a deputy Prime Minister of a ruthless Tory Governmrnt that ruled for nearly two decades, while he was their  he supported their right to buy policy, with whatever way you look at it, his ideology and his approach is grounded in favour of Capitalist economics, that bring no benefit to the people. He for many simply represents a living embodiment and reminder of a cruel Tory Government that neither cared nor understood who governed.
Ah but the Labour Party, not of old, for a long time now,  turning ever so Tory Lite. Forget about Tarzan,  it's simple, how about an effective tax rate on high earners, jail the bankers, scrap trident, offer people real jobs, appropriate training, make sure the power of capital is broken, find a heart, do not allow the  deceitful whiff of big business and their friends, do your bidding. Sadly I guess, the Labour Party of today, no longer  looks and searches for bold radical alternatives and policies, that we all richly deserve.

Remembering the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide

A hundred years ago today, amid the upheaval of World War 1, countless villages across the Ottoman Empire became killing fields as the desperate leadership of this region, having lost the Balkans and facing the prospect of losing its territories as well, saw an imagined threat at home.
Worried that the Christian Armenian population was planning to align with Russia, the then primary enemy of the Ottoman Turks, officials embarked on what historians have called the first genocide of the 20th Century.
Nearly 1.5 million Armenians were systematically killed,  becoming tragically part of one of the biggest atrociies of the Great War. Initially intellectuals and community leader were rounded up, one by one, then thousands were  instantly slaughtered, there were reports  of mass burnings, others  put in concentration camps,  to be tortured and gassed,  others left  to die of starvation, exhaustion and disease. Rape was frequently reported too. All this occurred between 1915-1923, to   further add to this misery, the great bulk of the Armenian population were forced from Armenia to Syria, where the vast majority were sent into the desert to die of thirst and hunger.
This  horrific moment in time has since with great shame been bitterly contested by Turkey, under President Erdogan the successor of the Ottoman Empire, who has consistently denied the word genocide, as an accurate term for what happened. Years later the issue of whether to these killings a genocide remain raw and emotional, both for the Armenians, who are descended from those killed, and the Turks, the heirs to the Ottomans. For both,  the question touches as much on national identity, as it does on historical facts.
Whilst at the same time for geopolitical reasons the U.S.A too, has never  labelled the atrocities committed by Turkey as genocide, being close  friends with Turkey, their allies in  the NATO alliance. It should be noted that Robert Dole in the Senate introduced a mild resolution commemorating 1990 as the 75th anniversary of the Armenian  genocide, at the time the Israeli government worked with the Turkish government to lobby against it. ( The resolution was subsequently defeated in the Senate) Obama himself, pledged in his  Presidential campaign to call it genocide, but two terms into to his Presidency , he remains silent.  The fact that Israel has been very strongly opposed to efforts being made to recognise the Armenian genocide, for me is really quite astonishing. Especially from a country founded  in the aftermath of its own genocide, holocaust. There are growing calls from within Israel for them to finally recognise this historical fact , and  not to be  in denial, which would be good, since  both peoples, the Armenians and the  Jewish people having suffered the same fate, the same terrible tragedies.  But at the end of the day the Turks are their allies, and you don't want to alienate allies, do you, because that's much too important. Israel thinks it's not their business, lets simply not talk about the Armenian holocaust, but any  conciliatory offerings, I am sure will be welcomed. Sadly , too, the British government will not recognise it. Despite , that  during the time of Lloyd George, in fact even Churchill  himself wrote "There  is no reasonable  doubt that this crime was planned and executed for  political purposes." He also used the phrases "Administrative  Holocaust" and  "clearance of race".
Yet countries  like Canada, Argentina, France, Greece and Russia, Poland and Switzerland where the survivors  of  the Armenian genocide and their descendents live have officially recognised the Armenian genocide, thus helping the process of healing.
I believe the voices of the people killed and those haunted should not be forgotten, we should mark their identity, and  the psychic wounds that have passed through generations.
Today the anniversary will be commemorated, the date the Ottomans rounded up groups of Armenians in 1915, as the first step in what many agree was a wider plan for annhiliation.
Armenians from Turkey and the diaspora are preparing to gather in Instanbul's central Taksim Square to honor the dead. A concert will feature both Armenian and Turkish musicians.
Years later Hitler would use this model of genocide for his own tools for a Holocaust. Hitler and Himmler, guided by the same evil,  were inspired  by the Ottoman Empires own methods of quiet extermination. Mass genocidal maniacs since  like Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot followed suit with their own reigns of terror and slaughter of millions.
We should recognise the sad fact that Turkeys lack of contrition leaves descendents struggling to reconcile loss and renewal. It is simply implausible that we should still question the reality of this appalling terrible injustice.
It is a moral necessity that we continue to condemn these massacres and ethnic cleansing of Armenians, that began on this day. To continue to deny this truth amounts to a criminal lie. We need to enshrine in our collective memory this crime against humanity, so as to ensure that it is understood, learnt and transmitted to future generations. We need to recognise the wounds  that have never been able to be healed.

Armenian refugee children 1915

Please consider signing the following Armenian Genocide petition

http://www.genocide1915.info/petition/sign/

No time for music

There is no time for music today,  
realities tears flow, that cannot be denied,
remembering children, mothers,
who were taken, and dragged away,
words to be silenced forever,
the scattering of bones.

The Armenians memory, still suffering,
choking, in bitter frustrated rage,
echoes still screaming out over the age,
the sorrow and the sadness,
continuing to burn today,
as people  seek recognition,
some form of reconciliation. 


thanks to Mr P James and Mr chomsky ........

Hazel Jane Dickens (1/6/35 -22/4/11) - The Rebel Girl

On the fourth anniversary of her death, lets remember Hazel Jane Dickens, bluegrass singer, songwriter, double bassist and guitarist. Singer of pro-union and feminist songs, a clarion vocal advocate for coal miners, working people and the downtrodden.
Below she sings Joe Hill's outstanding song about Elizabeth Gurly Flynn, the original rebel girl, feminist, wobbly (Industrial Workers of the World) and activist.
Hazel Jane Dickens was born June 1st 1935, in Montcalm, West Virginia, U.S.A. One of 11 children, she grew up in a family whose survival depended on the coal industry. Her father was a Baptist preacher and a forceful singer, who hauled timber to feed the household. Her brothers were miners and one of her sisters cleaned the house for a supervisor at the mines.
A reluctant feminist role model, Hazel said she was originally scared to write about issues like sexism and the oppression of women.
Her music was characterised  by a high lonesome, singing style. If you like old time, country and bluegrass music, and  a dose of left wing politics, you will probably like Hazel Dicken's work. Cultural blogger John Pietaro noted that " Dickens didn't just sing the anthems of labour, she lived them and her place  on many a picket line,staring down gunfire and goon squads, embedded her to the cause."

Hazel Dickens - Rebel Girll

Hazel Dickens - Fire in the Soul

Hazel Dickens - Old and in the way

Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard -  Working Girl Blues

Sanctuary

(Poem inspired by my garden)

The earth at play again,
whispers monologues of devotion,
among paths of nature, freedoms creation,
strong in faith, firm in love.

Vapour trials, in the sky above,
create residues of escape,
swallows sweep  through time , 
descend  across the landscape.

The smouldering garden slumbers,
waking slowly, to be re-moulded, re-cast,
as the day turns soft and still,
mind wanders, rests in observation,
watching wildflowers colour, 
weaving through the grass.

Plants offer protection,
to bright insects, 
dancing in the cool shade,
bluebells shimmering,
bursting with life,
as afternoon, again is made.

Ceridwen's breathe calls again,
swirling and whirling, among healing herbs,
scenting the air with magic,
while the cauldron stirs,
releasing seeds of  enchantment,
vibrant pulsations, to catch the heart and soul

The shame of Fortress Europe

This week we have  seen  the tragic loss of 400 peoples lives , dying in an attempt to reach Italy from Libya, after boat capsized.  The boat was carrying about 500 people in total, according  to some of the  150 survivors who were rescued.  Italian coastguards intercepted 42 boats on April 12 and 13, carrying 6,500 people attempting  to make the crossing to Europe.
Human beings seeking a new way of life, many driven by desperation, fleeing persecution, violence, the torture, or the threat of,  fleeing from regions where human rights abuses are rife, inncents simply seeking a future. As many as 700 people have now been lost at sea this year alone. Human beings with dreams and fears in pursuit of some happiness.
Europes response has been shameful, inadequate, inhumane, and quite simply pathetic.We are after all talking about what is an injustice.
The European Union and its member states, under the guise of its Fortress Europe policies has been complicit  in these tragedies to occur, again and again,  leading to innocent   people needlesly and shamefully dying on Europe's doorstep. A result  of inhuman policies still in place today  that deny access to the asylum system for refugees.
These  deaths are not isolated incidents but the direct consequence  of tightening our immigration policies and controls. In the face  of civil war, conflict, global politics and social unrest, Europes  response has been at the end of the day disgusting, with the use of  practices and  policies that turn a blind eye to the root causes of migration.
I do not feel we will find answers in building the walls of fortress Europe higher, what is needed is the provision of more  safe and legal channels for people to access protection. For human beings to be treated  with respect and dignity. The decision  to close doors and build fences, means that men, women and children are forced to risk their lives and take a desperate journey across the sea. The boats will not simply stop. Ignoring the situation, will not make it go away. This is Fortress Europes daily shame.

McDonalds :- Now Serving Homeless Spikes

McDonalds  has come under fire after metal 'anti-homeless spikes' were installed outside one of its Leeds branches. Simply inhumane and shows a complete disregard for homeless people who struggle every day.
Homelessness is one of the worst  injustices within our society, having a place  to live  should be a right not a privilege. These spikes show a complete disregard and lack of respect for homeless people.
McDonalds claim they were there to tackle anti-social behaviour,  not target the homeless, saying  they welcome all customers through their doors.
Well they have since been hit by a 70,000 strong petition still growing. By the way I would not reccommened you eating their  food, it is definitely not good for your health. As disgusting to taste too, like their actions.

Here's a link to the petition
sign and share.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/952/690/366/remove-anti-homeless-spikes-outside-mcdonalds-on-briggate-and-everywhere-in-leeds/

Eduardo Galeona ( 3/09/40 - 12/4/15) R.I.P Poet laureate of the anti globalisation movement

Sadly another truthsayer has gone, Eduardo Galeona,  poet laureatte of the anti-globalisation movement, a Uruguayan writer, poet, anti-capitalist, radical author and journalist of much depth. A committed  socialist, whose historical works condemned European and US  colonialist exploitation of Latin America over 5 centuries, which made him a revered figure among leftists. He died aged 74 after a battle with lung cancer.
Weaving tapestries of society obscured by historians, his books ( he was a productive writer of over 30 books) presented alternative histories that gave equal weight to the suffering of the downtrodden, as to the grand achievements of better known historical figures.

Born in 1940, he turned his writing , and indeed his life, into a powerful manifesto against injustice and exploitation. As he himself put it, Galeano wrote for “the hungry, the sleepless, the rebels, the wretched of this earth.”  

Nowhere is this commitment more clear than in his masterpiece, “Open Veins of Latin America.”  Ever since it was published in 1971, the book has never stopped selling — and has indeed been immortalized as a Latin American monument. 

 Even today, it’s a required text in many social science courses around the world, including in universities.  Written furiously in just 12 weeks, while military dictatorships took control of Brazil, Chile and Argentina ,“Open Veins in Latin America” denounces the systemic exploitation Latin America has historically been subject to. 

 In a style that was at the same time polemical irascible and accessible, Galeano exposed the hidden brutalities of colonialism and corporate globalization,– as well as the unsung beauties of the humble, the vernacular, the quotidian across Latin America. 

 “No computer could count the crimes that the pop culture business commits each day against the human rainbow and the human right to identity. But its devastating progress is mind-boggling. Time is emptied of history, and space no longer acknowledges the astonishing diversity of its parts. Through the mass media the owners of the world inform us all of our obligation to look at ourselves in a single mirror. " 

“Whoever doesn’t have, isn’t. He who has no car or doesn’t wear designer shoes or imported perfume is only pretending to exist. Importer economy, impostor culture: we are all obliged to take the consumer’s cruise across the swirling waters of the market. Most of the passengers are swept overboard, but thanks to foreign debt the fares of those who make it are billed to us all. Loans allow the consuming minority to load themselves up with useless new things, and before everyone’s eyes the media transform into genuine needs the artificial demands the North of the world ceaselessly invents and successfully projects onto the South.”  

Galeano was one of earliest writers to popularize an understanding of the structural relation between great affluence and accumulation in some parts of the globe and amongst a small stratum of society within every country, and the suffering and deprivation suffered in the vast “backyard” of this narrow but tremendous privilege:  “

To turn infamies into feats, the memory of the North is divorced from the memory of the South, accumulation is detached from despoliation, opulence has nothing to do with plunder. Broken memory leads us to believe that wealth is innocent of poverty.”

He was forced  to flee from Uruguay  to neighboring Argentina in 1973, after he was briefly imprisoned by the  recently  installed  military dictatorship, which banned his book Open Veins. He was blacklisted by death squads in Argentina following a military coup and tried to  kill him but  he  fled to  Spain.and  survived.

Persecuted for his journalistic provocations, Galeano spoke truth to power and inspired readers to stand up to the fascist terror and militarism that had gripped so many Latin American countries for decades.  An indefatigable risk-taker and provocateur, Galeano served as editor of important journals like Crisis, which he had co-founded and which focused much of its substantial intellectual energy on critiquing abuses of power in Uruguay and elsewhere in Latin America. 

"We have a memory cut in pieces"  he once told Democracy Now. "And  I write trying to recover our real memory, the memory of humankind, what I call the human rainbow, which is much more colourful and beautiful than the other one, the other rainbow. But the human rainbow has been mutilated by machismo, racism, militarism, and a lot of other isms,who have been  terribly killing our greatness,  our possible greatness, our possible beauty." 

The following is one of his  fine poems. R.I.P

The right to dream of a better world ( El derecha a sonar)

The right to dream is a poem written and read by Eduardo Galeona.
In  1948, and again  in 1976, the United Nations  proclaimed long lists of  human rights, but most of the worlds people still enjoy only the rights to see, hear and remain silent.
Suppose we excercise the  never  proclaimed right to dream? Lets set our sights above  the abominations of today, to divine another possible world

Edward Galeano - Interview ; Living without fear.

Transitory

I follow the start of the rising tide,
sit and wait for shifting frontiers, 
to reset empty agenda, to seek change,
as people decide for whom to vote, 
if they take part in the process at all.

The politicians' luck is running out,
on a point of  flickering departure,
hopefully smiles  will be seen again,
on every turn of the corner,
if hollow policies, can be exposed,
we can all be left to our own devices.

We  have learnt how to stand still,
how to run, how to leap,
though we are closely watched,
we have strength in numbers,
to change the status quo,
but beware of paths of complacency,
the jackals are outside the door,
waiting patiently still to devour us all.

Anniversary of 1981 Brixton Riots

 On Saturday 11th April 1981, Brixton was set ablaze as hundreds of local youth fought with the Metropolitan Police. The country was in recession, unemployment amongst African Caribbean  members of the community was high, and the quality of housing was poor. In the week preceding the Brixton Riots, Operation Swamp 81, saw over 1,000 people ( mainly  from the  young black community) being stopped and searched adding to the increased  frustration of the local people. Tensions were high.
What happened next was to become one of the most significant outbreaks of civil disorder in 20th Century London. Police continued operating their hated 'sus' laws,  where in order to stop someone, police only needed suspicion.  At the time the police were exempt  from the Race Relations Act, and many people targeted  were from  the ethnic community, which  led to accusations of racial prejudice.
After arrests were made  tensions rose again, igniting violence which spread across  the streets. The streets  of Brixton became a battle zone. After police arrived in  full riot gear, people started gathering to throw makeshift petrol bombs and set light to police cars. 
By the  time hostilities  had ended,  over 360  ppeople had been injured,  28 premises burned and another 177 damaged and looted. The police arrested 82 people. 
After the riots a police enquiry was held under Lord Scarman that held that policing in a civil society can only succeed with  the  consent of  the community. But 4 years later the Police  shot Mrs Cherry Grove, , causing again disturbances  in the area. There have been many many miscarriages of justice since.
34 years later there are many lessons to be learned.  Police racism continues, as does unemployment and poverty. Capitalist society still suffers from a sickness that breeds ,the big criminals of the land get rich and fat, get rewarded for their crimes (ie the bankers) whilst the poorer members of our communities are stigmatised, getting poorer, punished because of the greedy.  Sadly conditions in  Brixton are not vastly better than  over 30 years ago. Unrest can easily be fermented, when conditions on the streets are ignored. Riots that have happened since, like those seen in Brixton do not happen without a reason.

Guns of Brixton  -the Clash,  with collage of Brixton riots.

This Farage Twit

I happen  to think that Nigel Farage is a twit of the first order. Many of his supporters though idolise him, on social media they don't  seem to like any criticism,  let alone  any satire, despite a whole host of mishaps and blunders. I have had people trying to have a 'pop' when I have tried to spoil their gilded view.
They claim  that UKIP is a libertarian party, all I see is  xenophopbia, authoritarianism and the whiff of racism. But  his supporters, carry on gleefuly, dancing to his chorus, carry on being misinformed , claiming media bias, and misrepresentation, but  their policies are  dangerous and blinkered that seek out to divide communities,demonising people , whilst creating stigma too.With their chief political philosophy  being that  immigrants are to blame for everything. This Is why I will personally keep taking the piss, as above Nigel Farage gets Dr Seussed. We must keep challenging their brand of intolerance, keep on questioning their point of view.
When people excuse, dismiss or are silent, about racism and hatred they contribute to the acceptance  of a more racist society. We should not forget the strong connection that exists between UKIP and extreme  far right fascists.
Oh Nige was said to be a bit tired a couple of days ago, after he bonded with Joey Essex, over their secret love of fish, after boarding a boat in Grimbsy.

At the end of the day, the picture below captures my feeling entirely. after hanging around with Joey he was caught standing behind the most appropriate sign. Ah a picture can help paint a thousand words.

Two years after Margaret Thatcher's death, time to bury her legacy once for all

For all the gushing plaudits  and tributes dedicated to Margaret Thatcher, upon her death, she still remains an extremely divisive figure. This is because  many people are still  living with the dire consequences of her actions. As election time approaches, her breath and twisted ideology still lingers among all the mainstream parties.
Many of us are still unable to forgive her for the devastation she wrought to our communities, the damage  she caused to our industries, our whole way of life. She fought against the miners, not giving a hoot, or  an inch of compromise, then   put her sights on our welfare state, whilst leaving an entire generation to be thrown on the scrapheap.
Her whole twisted ideology  was to try and tear up the post 1945 consensus and privatise our public services, sell of our nationalised industries, whilst smashing up Trade Union rights, embarking on a systematic  path of of destruction. Carving up the land, shifting  the balance of social economic wealth between the rich and poor, very much  detrimental  to the latter.
Being kind, she was just a sower of destruction,  not  an ounce of compassion within her, a creator of mass unemployment too, a fosterer of division with her cruel policies. A liar too, about Hillsborough, who also bombed retreating ships.
While she shafted all and sundry she still managed to be friends with right wing dictators like Pinochet and P.W Botha. I can never forgive her.
She is still hated and always will be, despite her pulse stopping, her  awful legacy lives  on, in the  toxicity that is Tony Blair who called her after her death, " a unique and towering figure" then their is the rotten tory party, still here today preaching  the same stinking doctrine. The scars and pain she caused remain.
The witch might be dead, but the stench of Thatcherism still unfortunately, fills the air it is time I think, that we bury her awful legacy, once and for all,

Some earlier thoughts.

http://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/no-to-margaret-thatcher-memorial.html

http://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/margaret-thatcher-her-legacy-personal.html

http://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/the-witch-is-dead.html

Everything wrong, with humanity in one short animation.

The above  film, old that it may be,still relevent, though  looks at mans relationship, with the natural world,  addresses us  with issues that remain today, as urgent today, as they have always been.
At the end of the day, all are horizons can look much clearer, everything is true, everything is happening.
Patriarchy too, continues its' desire to conquer,and destroy, but out  of of control, enslaves hungry thirst and thought. Everythings wrong, everythings right.
Don't let the world hold you down. keep  releasing thought, seeds of survival, at the end of the day , don't  just sit there, look for answers,  solutions, when everything seems so wrong, keep on looking, keep searching for some  possibility.