Allright for some

Campaigners are demanding an immediate review  into the Royal families contribution to Government austerity measures. It seems the Queen will not face any cuts to Royal finances for at least another 2 years - despite an 11% increase in her income. In the 2 years since the Civil list was replaced by the Sovereign Grant, the Queens taxpayer funded income has shot up from £36.1 million to more than £40 mililon, which seems obscene to me, especially in today's uncertain economic climate. They are simply outdated and  in serious need of reform.
Surely  its time to auction of the crown jewels, give her homes to the homeless, as they line their pockets through strict nepotism and strategic alliances. The Royal  family is more than just an international embarassment, it is a crime against the British public. We should give thanks to those who have earned  it, than to those who were born to rule, simply  because they have the right last name.
The rule one for the rich and another rule for everybody else, obviously springs to mind. The cost is not the only reason I would  like to see the  back of ther monarchy ( and I can assure you that is my wish) - I would want them gone, even if they were free. But this latest abuse  of public money and their lack of concern  for the taxpayer is a symptom of an institution that cannot be held into account.
It surely is absurd that we still have them in this modern age. They are not elected, just inheritors of a status that is so outdated. Maybe having a King or Queen reminds the people of the old days, when Britannia  ruled the waves, along  with much of the world's land mass. The reality today is rather different though,  they simply serve  little purpose, other than  to perpetuate a divisive class system, at a time when Britain is the most unequal society it has  been in Queenies 60 year reign. I for one  hope their reign does not endure.
Is it not time  they were served an eviction  notice from Buckingham Palace and offered a council  house in return. But mind you they would have to wait around 8 years  for one to turn up, on the current waiting list from Westminster City Council.
Surely we must have sufficient  grounds by now for pressing for the dissolution of the monarchy.Time for them to give their palaces and silver and gold  back to the nation.  I long for the day when instead of singing God save the Queen or King, we cry out loud Viva Republic.


https://republic.org.uk/

After Austerity Demo - Time to Keep fighting

Went up from Wales yesterday to the Peoples Assembly Demo in London, one of the biggest I've attended for years. It saw as many as 250,000 people taking to the streets to protest against austerity. 
Masses of Trade Union banners mingling with  placards from the Peoples Assembly, the Green Party, a myriad of political groups, Anarchists, Autonomists, Quakers, Hari Krishnas, all religious faiths, Class War dancing in the streets, Hunt Sabs, CND, Stop the War, you name it, they were there, a broad church clamoring for change.
Amazing too to bump randomly bump into several people from various parts of the country, which was pretty amazing considering the amount of people.
Not once did I feel unsafe, people in masks did not bother me, the only time I felt uncomfortable was the sight of policemen in uniform, carrying out governmental orders, but that's another story.
The message of the day, was "This Far, No further" to the government and their cuts. The feeling I left with was one of solidarity, celebration, a largely peaceful affair, but nevertheless saw people managing to get their different messages out. Linking us all to the economic and political struggles coming ahead. As the government agrees £12 billion welfare cuts- hours after this brilliant swell of people, just adds insult to injury.
It is  not the end. We cannot allow ourselves to be distracted by rich politicians, bleeting  on about immigration  or aspiration or  EU referrendums. We must  unite against a system that seeks to oppress us all. After this big demo, we keep faith, keep fighting,  when  you see this many people marching together, it does release a good feeling, however much some speeches, being a tad lackluste . As a movement, we will keep on fighting, gaining momentum, with each step.

Peter Tosh - Equal Rights

Everyone is crying out for peace, yes,

No one is crying out for justice,

Everyone is crying out for peace , yes,

No one is crying out for justice.

( Happy Solstice, blessed be, solidarity)

Fela Kuti - Sorrow Tears and Blood

Dedicated to victims of Charleston shooting

"We fear for the things we no see

We fear for the air around us

We fear to fight for freedom

We fear to fight  for liberty

We fear to fight for justice

We fear to fight for happiness

We always get reason to fear

We no want die

We no want wound

them leave Sorrow,Tears and Blood "

No to Austerity : National Demonstration 20 June 2015

We  have to say no to the lie of austerity. Say no to the £12 billion in benefit cuts the Tory's are planning. No to the 4.5 billion new cuts  just announced. No to a Government that has no actual mandate to govern. No to a Government that  only 25% of the population bothered to vote for.
We must loudly say no to the vicious cuts, that will hit public services hard, including education, transport and local government. Making it even harder for councils to deliver key services such as social care.The NHS under threat too, as are our libraries. Things that matter a lot to ordinary people across the land.
This combined with the attack on the workers and the poor, the marginalised and the disadvantaged. We cannot afford to sit back and wait for their savage plans to unfold. Cameron and co have shown to us their  true intentions, their intent to go on a rampage with our lives. In July will deliver a budget with  £12 billion of cuts to welfare hitting the most vulnerable the hardest.
We need to stop them  in their tracks show them our resistance, our strong opposition. Counter their extreme ideology, as they threaten  to take away our freedoms and privileges and economic futures.That is why I will be joining others and travelling up from West Wales, a attend a demonstration in  the heart of London, the belly of the beast, on the doorstep of the very people who caused the crisis in the first  place, the bankers and their friends in government. We will demand that the bankers and the elite should  pay for this  crisis and not the vast majority who had nothing to do with it. I will support all that  release their justified anger, joining  the growing mood  of angry defiance to the capitalist system that is now emerging. We should not forget either the richest 1,000 people in this country who doubled their wealth  during the last parliament. How much more will they gain in the new one.
What will we achieve, we will have  loudly shown our opposition, stood in solidarity, find some strength  as we build our resistance, as we try to keep Britain tidy and kick out the Tory's. Their lies can be combatted, they can be defeated

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

                                                         

                                                    
I am everyman, I am every woman
every current, every breeze,
I am in exile, looking for home
I am universal, a citizen of the world,
I am no trespasser, I come in peace
I am the colour of rainbows,
I drift among a mass of people
seeking refuge, carried on storms,
I am a witness of a world of poverty and war
I was born into revolution, turmoil and strife,
in rubble to the sound of bullets and explosions
my neighbours are dead, my friends are lost,
my homes have been  plundered, my wells emptied
I have escaped persecution and oppression,
I am in search of freedom and hope
but I am refused, and given no welcome,
I am vilified and abused, told to shut my mouth
I ride waves of persistence, move in many directions,
I am the blood and soil of humanity
I carry the kiss of different languages tonque,
I arrive with the weight of dignity
I have fled sleepless and anquished nights,
I am a world of belief and struggle
moving onwards with  memory and survival,
my voice  rings out on all continents
I am an endless  river, releasing the flow of endurance,
I am tired, but will  not be silenced or confined anymore
I am a dream that never ever fades.
                                                  

Refugee Week; 15-21 June 2015; No one is illegal

It is refugee week here in the UK a week to celebrate the rich contribution refugees bring to the UK and promote a better understanding of why people seek sanctuary, sadly however, we are currently witnessing the worst crisis since World War 11.
 One million refugees  still desperately in need of resettlement, some sanctuary, safe harbour.  Currently there are 4 million Syrian refugees struggling to survive in Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt. More than 3 million  refugees in Sub-Sahara Africa and  only a small fraction being offered resettlement. Since 2013, 3,500 people have drowned trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea in  2014, 1,865 so far  this year. People daily dying, due to drowning, starvation or dehydration.
World leaders are condemning millions of refugees to an unbearable existence and thousands to death by failing to provide essential humanitarian protection, because they pursue selfish political interests  instead of showing some human compassion.
Amnesty International have published today a new  briefing today in Beirut, ahead of World Refugee Day on June 20th




The Global Refugee Crisis; a conspiracy of neglect


https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/pol40/1796/2015/en/


Governments across the world have a duty to ensure  people do not die trying to reach safety, after managing to escape, persecution, torture, oppression, poverty, etc. Our own Government has not yet joined the United Nations High Commission for Refugees - a resettlement  programme, but has instead set up its own programme providing minimal assistance. Unlike Germany who have pledged to take 11,000 Syrian refugees as part of a UN initiative. Even much smaller countries with respect, like Sweden and Norway have agreed to take in a significant number,  to Britain's shame.
We must continue to counter the element of  persecution of migrants and refugees, who have been scapegoated for no fault of their own. That has been fuelled  by the rise of the racist UKIP party.
On the 25th  of June European leaders  will have the chance to take decisive action to save lives  and stop smugglers in their tracks  by offering refugees another route to safety.  We must resettle more people  bringing them directly and safely to  European Countries. Please act now and call on the Prime Minister David Cameron to protect refugees in the Mediterranean.


http://act.refugeecouncil.org.uk/lobby/medcrisis


It is  essential that we offer a safe have for desperate refugees, offering them protection and dignity, lets steer away from the mindset of Fortress Europe. To be welcomed and  accepted , to be treated with respect, no one is illegal, no one should be caged, imprisoned, quarantined, denied access, abused and vilified for simply seeking freedom. In  these uncertain times, we must offer them hope, and a means of survival.We must end the detentions and deportations. Let us stand together against racism and for international  solidarity with migrants and refugees the world over.
No one is lllegal, we are all human.

Guy Debord's Society of the Spectacle

                                 
                                            Guy Debord

In his fascinating book first published June in 1967 the Society of the Spectacle, Guy Debord leading figure of the French Situationist International argued that to succumbing to alienation caused by capitalism we have let our lives become colonised  by an immersive experience.
This spectacle has replaced social interaction and human needs. While this is superficially satisfying it  makes us isolated and lonely individuals.It is still one of the greatest theoretical examinations  of our social-cultural conditions describing in pinpoint accuracy the dreadful corporate globalization currently sweeping the planet.The spectacle accompanies us throughout our lives, via News Propaganda, advertising, enertainment and yes social media, presenting a continuous stream of imagery, projecting a constant justification for how our society and culture is formulated.
The text https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/guy-debord-the-society-of-the-spectacle.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1r_mORBe5b6eH__t7_A8iSz9ppVP2IwVVcmiVuTrqulmA5SZAwDlvSH6Q

was  a primary influence not only on  the near-revolution of May 1968 in Paris, but also on the ethos of London's  underground press and certain aspects of punk ideology. The SI developed out of an earlier Left Bank twitch of avante garde politics, carring out programs of provocation, graffit and antiparty revolutionary outrage. The Situationists were concerned to articulate a 'theory of moments,'  propogating ideas of pleasure and depicting the personal as intrinsically political (' boredom is always counterrevolutionary ' sneered one of their mottoes. Debord dissolved the SI ( proclaiming its victory over history') in 1972, their impact has been assured. Again we need t break with conventions, break out of our desolate paradigms, and be free.Viva the Situationists.
Sadly in 1994 aged 67, in the isolated village of Champot high in the Auvergne, Guy Debord shot himself with a single bullet to the heart.

Below Guy Debords 1967 text is remade into a contemporary context and turned into a mind-bending short film,with contributions from Marshall Mc Luhan and John Berger, made bt Aska with sound by Pippin Kenworthy.

Ornette Coleman Jazz Legend R.I.P ( 9/3/30 -11/6/15)

Unfortunately blog playing up at moment, again, can no longer upload certain stuff here, in the libray, hey hot despite this must mention the passing of Ornette Coleman,  legendary self-taught saxophone player who bought to the  jazz world his unconventional 'free jazz, becoming known as an avant garde genius, sadly died yesterday morning in New York aged 85.
He began playing alto sax at age 14, partucularly influenced by  Charlie Parker. In the late 1950's and early 1960's he became  a central figure in the downtown avant garde scene. A friend of poets and musicians alike.
Mr Coleman widened the options in jazz and helped change its direction. He pioneered  and presented a style  that is not for some ears accessible, but I loved most of his body of work. Hauntingly beautiful, raw and tender. He symbolisedf the outsider American spirit as effectively as any artist of the last century. His bold and exciting music has had a huge impact on me and the shape of jazz to come.Truly amazing inspirational character, thank you Ornette. R.I.P

For Ornette

A plastic saxophone,
releases free tonal notes,
passionately in whirlwinds of intensity,
simple melodies of improvisation,
breathes of illumination.
compositions leftfield,
blowing against tradition,
otherworldly and gentle,
hauntingly beautiful,
refusing to be sensible,
keeps on soaring,
long after exit time.
thank you ornette,
for your musical gift.,
your legacy, sublime,
it will stay in place,
harmolodics will keep on talking,
the sound of imagination,
always free.

Christopher Lee (27/5/22 - 7/6/15) - R.I.P Ghost Riders in the Sky

What Amazon Isn't Telling You

It's been another  good year of Sales  for Amazon.  Its never far from the headlines, if its not tax avoidance , its treatement of its workers and its union busting activities. Their CEO Jeff Brazen will tell shareholders  how rosy everything is.  But that is just spin. While  Jeff is lining his pockets,  Amazon workers are paying the price with miserable working conditions, stress, poverty  wages and job insecurity
Here's the story Amazon does not want you to see. Share it far and wide.
If you use social media why don't you join others in sending them a little message.





http://www.amazonanonymous.org/home

Release the Vortex

Mass worldy observation,
immersed in delusion and devotion,
amongst the dark swell of the afternoons' call,
that comes down daily to breach the peace.

There are no safe districts,
we all carry different scars,
force fed illusion, the need for consumption,
walls built of separation and division.

It is time to disassemble, unravel, untangle,
turn of the t.v, mobile phone, computer screen,
because there is nothing to be seen or heard,
that has not been  glanced at many times before.

The compass is broken, 
the map is torn, time to escape,
create a new destination,
where the signals of obedience do not call,
because they have all been switched off.

Thread by thread, we can rearrange,
it only takes a moment for light to return,
as rain falls down, filling in holes,
sparkles of nourishment, on breathing leaves,
release the vortex as fresh candles are lit.

Remembering the Naksa ( The Setback)

                                            Poster issued in 1967, to commemorate event

Yesterday June 5th saw the 48th anniversary of  the Naksa (the setback)  when Israel illegally seized what was left of the Palestininian's historic homeland.( the Sinai, the Golan heights,the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem )
In 1967 more than 400,000 Palestinians  were expelled  by Israel from their land  , making  it the secomnd expulsion of Palestinians from their homeland since the Nakba ( the Catastrophe) in 1948 when 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly expelled  to neighboring Arab countries by Zionist terror groups, and 150,000 Palestinians  became internally displaced in the newly  born state.
It took less than  a week for the Palestinians to be forcibly displaced for the second time. A truly dark moment in history. The life in refugee camps, is truly miserable, whether in Lebanon, Syria or Jordan, the Palestinians today seek justice, freedom and Israel to abide by International law and allow Palestinian refugees their right to return to their homelands.

Well done Charlotte Church

Good to hear  that Charlotte Church has been standing up against austerity and for our NHS, welfare  state and public services. At a press conference for the Peoples Assembly she outlined her position.  She should  be congratulated  for making the direct link between progressive income tax and desperately needed services. She has also said she would be happy to  pay 60 to 70 % top rate of tax  if it meant saving services, which are the lynchpins of our society, adding that inequality made her ' angry as the hulk'.. This is a Welsh working class girl who has not forgotten  her roots, we should be very proud of her,we need more like her, who are prepared to lend their voice, this is how momentum gathers.
Asked recently why as a millionaire she had taken to marching against austerity, she said 'being poor is not a  prequisite for empathy'. She also publicised an anti austerity rally to be held in London on June 20th, urging members of the public to attend. 70,000 have already pledged their support to attend.

http://www.thepeoplesassembly.org.uk

Charlotte Church a leading voice against austerity

House of Greed

As the incapacitated, unemployed and elderly are about to be hit with another round  of George Osbourne's austerity  cuts, it is simply astonishing  that the Government has now agreed to a 10%  pay rise, with no cuts  to their expenses, so now an ordinary M.P will get 74k a year, while people I know are survivng on £40 ta week hardship after sanctions, which includes disabled people, rhe mentally ill and the vulnerable, who have been unfairly sanctioned. Children now need  breakfast clubs at school,  people rely on food bank vouchers, while PIP is being refused to wheelchair users. It is quite frankly bloody obscene.
It simply represents the modern politicians detachment from reality, in this House of Greed, full of a self-serving political establishment that rewards itself as ordinary people struggle.
In a period of  sky high rising energy bills  for the rest of us, job insecurities.
At the end of the day these M.Ps are being rewarded for obdedience and conformity, little else, it certainly does not seem to be based on commitment or highly held priniciples. Their rising pay, will make them  more resilient to change, complacent and loyal to the status quo. Not in touch with the tough financial  conditions that the rest of us have to endure.
Surely Nurses, teachers, etc  represent more better value, 
Perhaps their pay should be subject to a medical, as metered out to people on benefits, I am sure there would be no  increase or reward for many.
And to no ones great surprise, David Cameron, who said he would not accept a rise, takes it after all, after calling it simply unacceptable. To be expected I guess.

Charles Kennedy (25/10/59 - 1/6/15) R.I.P Principled man of integrity

Sad news, former Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy has been  found dead at his home aged 55. A liberal yes,  but also a staunch internationalist and proud scot. On all accounts a kind hearted man, seemingly unencumbered by institutional  political spite, humorous and quick to smile. Unlike most politicians he seemed almost human and was one of the few politicians that I respected.
The only Lib Dem who retained his integrity while the rest betrayed us all, who in his  innate wisdom stood  out against the coalition, while the rest of his party ignored him. Always a man of the left, he acted as the unofficial leader of the opposition to the coalition in the Labour Party's  5 year absence. Such a shame people will only learn  about this mans steadfast principles through todays obituary columns.
I remember too  his courageous opposition to the Iraq war, the only party leader to do so,  while others flinched, who said at the time ' I  find it personally and politically very difficult indeed to support a war in which there is no mandate from the UN and no sense of legitimacy on the international stage.' Not afraid  to stand up  for social justice and what he believed in,  who was able to admit his own human failings, with great dignity, his humanity and his kind nature endured him to many. Sadly  this did not extend to the Palestinians, he did have close links to the JNF , a group that wants to ethnically cleanse the Palestinian, sometimes we make mistakes. But for many a  good and decent man, a genuine person. And at end of the day we all have to make hard choices and then live with them.
He will be missed by all that encountered him.
Charles Kennedy R.I.P 

Charles Kennedy's finest hour

30 years anniversary of Battle of Beanfield

The Battle of the Beanfield took place over several hours , 30 years ago  today on the afternoom  of Saturday 1 June 1985. When Wiltshire police prevented a vehicle convoy of several hundred New Age Travelers, known as the 'Convoy'  and referred  to  as the ' Peace Convoy' by the media,  from setting up at the 11th Stonehenge Free Festival in Wiltshire, England. 
It resulted in innocent people, women and children being violently beaten up in their own homes, after 12 years of gathering  in the same place of celebration, by the combined  forces of the state, who armed with shields and batons ran savagely amok. There was carnage and mayham as the marginalised  and dispossessed were brutally  targeted by a police forces  under the auspices of  Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Government,  were allowed to get seriously out of control, trying to suppress a peoples thirst for freedom, this quasi military force carried out serious abuses of their power with an unrelenting  frenzied brutality following similar attacks in the year on the miners. 
A horrible time, like today, when people who live on societies  edges are attacked simply for being different. Women and their babies were left showered with glass after the police had smashed up their vehicles. It would  leave over 116 travelers  hospitalised. and 420  of their number arrested ( few arrested were ever prosecuted) as  their homes were systematically looted, smashed and burnt  with their possessions stolen..
A dark day for British justice and civil liberties.  30 years later people still  suffering the consequences , and bearing the scars of this dark passage in history. But the stones remain.

Marx on Commune de Paris

March 11 - May 28  1871

This month marks the anniversary of the World's first socialist working class uprising.On March 18 1877, the people of Paris rose up against a despised and detested government and proclaimed the city independent, belonging to itself. The workers of Paris, joined by mutinous National Guardsmen, seized the city and set about reorganising society in their own interests based on workers' councils. They could not hold out, however, when more troops retook the city and massacred 30,000 workers in bloody revenge.
It is said to be one of the first examples of  working people taking power.

It is an event that has become significant to revolutionary socialists, anarchists as well as Marxists.  But for many Anarchists,even the existance even a proletarian one was intolerable For Karl Marx however it was to act as a confirmation of his ideas. Here from a performance of  Marx in Soho by Howard Zinn, Marx describes the Paris Commune and shows how Socialism could really work.
There are many valuable lessons that we can learn today.

Edward Carpenter ( 29/8/1844 - 28/6/1929) - The simple need and hunger of the human heart; a poetical vision

On short break this week, to recharge my batteries, I have been reminded of the pioneering  visionary writings of Edward Carpenter, the English socialist and radical philosopher poet, after attending an event called Land of Promise in Hay-on -Wye, which explored through words and music, Britain's radical utopian tradition.This rich legacy of hope which was the dominant strand of political thought for five centuries, which sadly in the past  40 years  we have stopped asking the question.
 I have written before of this great man, an early champion of homosexuality, animal rights, ecology, womens' suffrage, recycling, prison reform, and sexual freedom, opposing imperialism and war, s simpler, more sustainable way of living. A man so ahead of his time, who throughout his  life campaigned and wrote on a whole range of social concerns, he is  a huge inspiration ( who incidentally also happens to share a birthday with me).
Influenced by the work of John Ruskin, Carpenter began to develop ideas about a utopian future that took the form of a primitive communism, that still resonates strongly today.He sought a personal liberation of brotherhood and emancipation, a life of liberty and love,a world free of class struggles,ways of life he embraced himself,ideals that we should all be proud of,
The following is an extract from one of my favourite books Towards Democracy which has served me well over the years, acting as a kind of personal bible. Nearly every word contained within its covers, glistens with beautiful reasoning. I would urge anyone to seek out this vivid book, and carry on hungrily building upon the seeds that are contained within. How come though, are still seeking?

' As I walked restless and desperate through the gloomy city.
And I saw the eager unresting to and fro - as of ghosts in some sulphorous Hades -
And saw the crowds of tall chimneys going up, and the pall of smoke, covering the sun,
covering the earth, lying heavy against the very ground -
And saw the ghastly half-roofless smoke -blackened house and the black river flowing below, -
As I saw these, and as I saw again far away the capitalist quarter.
With its villa references and its high-walled gardens and its well-appointed carriages, and its face turned away from the waggling poverty which made it rich, -
As I saw and remembered the drawing room airs and affectations and its wheezy wheezy pursy Church going and its gas reeking heavy-furnish rooms and its scent bottles and its other abominations-
half consious - knowing not clearly - the shape of the evil - on the grasp of some heavy nightmare.

Then out the crowd descending towards me came a ragged little boy,
Came - from the background of dirt disengaging itself  - an innocent wistful child - faces begrimed like the rest but strangely pale, and pensive before its time.
And in an instant ( it was as if a trumpet had been blown in that place ) I saw it clearly, the lie I saw and the truth, the false dream and the awakening.
For the smoke-blackened walls and the hills and the tall chimneys, and the dreary habitations of the poor, and the drearier inhabitations of the rich, crumbled and conveyed themselves as if by magic;
And instead, in the blackened vista of that face, I see the joy of free life open under the sun :
The green sun - delighting earth and rolling sea I saw - The free sufficing life - sweet comradeship, few needs and common pleasures - the readings endless burdens all and aside,
Not as a sentimental vision, but as a fact and a necessity existing, I saw
In the background vista of that face.

Stronger than all the combinations of Capital, wiser than all the committees representative of Labor, the simple need and hunger of the human heart.
Nothing more is needed.
All the books of political economy ever written, all the proved impossibilities, are of account.
The smoke-blackened walls and tall chimneys  duly crumble and convey themselves away:
The falsehood of a gorged and satiated society curls and shrivels like a withered leaf,
Before the forces which lie dormant in  the pale and wistful face of a little child.

1896

Broken people can get mended

Once upon a time
a man was left drifting
flowing in fields of dolemite
after dark shadows had called
with cruel fists that left him
beaten and broken.

He'd daily pay a visit to a bottle
his new warm and beloved friend
that left him confined to his cage
where he would sleep through raging storms
creating his own inner salvation.

Tremble under blazing suns

tossing and turning
twisting and churning
mulling things over
through the days and nights,
shivering in summer
steaming in winter.

Following paths
shaped with disorder
where God never called, 
unhinged by confusion 

and too much drink.

one day something changed
he grasped for something fresh
tingling with reparation
he began to persist
started again to smell freedoms taste.

With practice, he learnt to play again
go  once more outside into the world
to follow again, the delicate steps of breathing
to dance again with the wild glow of tomorrow
to try and shake of the residues of sorrow.

inhaling now, the sweet blossoms of the morning,
in trust again, with the whirling vastness of life

climbing up mountains, found places of magic

listened to the river, followed it's source home

from chaos within, found an echoing calm.

African Liberation Day

May the 25th is African Liberation Day. African Liberation Day was founded in 1958 when Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana convened the First Conference of Independent States held in Accra, Ghana and attended  by 8 Independent African Sates. 

Kwame Nkrumah

April 15 was declared African Freedom Day. Between 1958 and 1963, 17 countries in Africa won their Independence. On May 25th 1963, thirty-one African Head of State convened a summit meeting to found the Organisation of African Unity (OAV). They remamed African Freedom Day to 'African Liberation Day' and changed its date to May 25th. To mark each year onward and the progress of the Liberation Movements and to symbolize, the determination of the people of Africa to free themselves from  500 years of the most brutal suffering known to humanity, the rape of Africa and the subsequent slave trade, which cost Africa in excess of 100,000,000 of her children, the masses  of African People singurlarly, seperately, individually, in small  disconnected groupings had said, 'enough' to years of  foreign domination, colonisation and exploitation.
Not a day for merrymaking , but for one of sober reflection. It continues to contribute to the struggle to raise the level of  political awareness and organisation in African communities worldwide.It hs also been a source of information about the struggles for liberation and development.
Many organisations use an outline of the map of Africa, as a feature to symbolise the day. Pan-African colors , which are widely used for the day, come in different sets of three colors, the green, gold  and red colors used in the red flag of Ghana, and the red, black and green colors adopted  by the American based Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA), For more information on African Liberation Day visit the African Liberation Day website https://africanliberationday.net/

Anniversary of bombing of Alicante in Spanish Civil War, 1938

The Spanish Civil War, that dark passage of history  remains a period that the Spanish people still show great reluctance to talk about, as memories still cling in the minds of survivors who lost loved ones due to fascist atrocities.
Today on the 25th May 1938, Italian fascist bombers with the full blessing of Fascist General Franco of Spain, launched an attack  on Alicante which is remembered as one of  the deadliest aerial missions of the Spanish Civil War.

After the Aragon Offensve, Franco wanted to eliminate the Republican maritime commerce and destroy th Republican morale and he authorized the Italian Aviazone and the German  Legion Condo to undertake indiscriminate bombings of the cities, Valencia, Barcelona, Alicante, Granollers , other Spanish towns and cities were also bombed.
25 May 1938,  was a busy day in Alicante, one of the last cities still loyal to the Republican Government, the  busy market bristling with activity and life, when  more than 90 high explosive bombs were  dropped from the sky on the central market at 11.am in the morning. It  emerged as one of the  first deliberate ,cowardly, unprovoked attack against civilians during the Spanish Civil War. Te anti-aircraft artillery in the city were obsolete and the air-larm system of the city did not work,

In the aftermath of thee bombings there were between 275 and 393 civilian deaths, manly women and children, with a 1,000 left wounded. Which was as many as those killed in Geurnica. 6 days later the city of Granoller was bombed too , leading to a death toll estimated too betwee 100 and 224 as not all missing adfter the aaack were ever found. The bombings provoked protests in London.

For many millions of tourists who visit Spain every year, the war, and the injustices that sprung from it are still largely unknown. I for one will try to remember it's legacy and the evils of fascism.
For 75 years there was nothing to mark this terrible injustice, to remember what was done in the name of fascism .However in May 2013 anti-fascists were allowed to lay down a fitting tribute in the facade of the new market. This was subsequently vandalised, such is the extent that some still do not want the past to be remembered.
The message on the plaque reads " In homage to the citizens vilely murdered. For them , for the young people of yesterday, for those that did not make it,  for the young people of today and tomorrow."

Aerial attack on Alicante

Well done Ireland

Huge congratulations to friends in Ireland, for winning equal LGBT marriage yesterday! Still a long way to go until we wipe  out  bigotry and prejudice based on gender and sexuality of this planet. But we won't stop fighting.**** the bigots, spread the love .

The scandal of food waste

Food waste  is morally unacceptable when their are people starving. In a year a supermarket like Tesco's admits  that 28,000 tons of food to waste was generated in its stores and distribution centres in just 6 months. And this just the tip of the iceburg when added to what other supermarkets throw out. How many could this have fed?  A great deal of this food  is still perfectly edible, for ***** sake!
If we did not live  in a profit obsessed capitalist society this simply would not happen. "We make less money if people got some  of our food for free " is the main argument why food is being wasted.But Capitalist companies that cannot make a profit on a commodity, would rather scrap it it than give it away, and allow the poor to eat, because there would be no profit in this. 
Then again if we did not live  in a capitalist society, poverty would not be such a problem either. We must stop these scandulous levels of foodwaste, 50% of edible and healthy food is routinely wasted, and serves as a symbol  of what is so wrong in our society.
Rather than wasting millions of pounds worth  of food  that is still usable, why not make supermarkets donate their leftover  produce that are still safe to eat to food banks.
Encourage existing customers to donate towards a delivery service to needy people in their area on the delivery run.
Is it not time to end this supermarket waste scandal

So please consider signing the following petition

or  just  simply take away for free what they do not want

http://secure.38degrees.org.uk/food-banks

Right my posts are going to be getting rather quieter from this day on, as I'm going on a short break. I might post a few things while away, and on my return, not sure how often , I will  post in the future, I will have a little think. All the best heddwch/peace.

Cosmos

A million years  ago, perhaps more,
another universe was possibly known,
floating above the earths crust,
deep, deep in space,
stoned us, kept us in our place,
with lightning strikes, instead of weapons,
it hits the earth with empirical devotion,
from the cosmos, arrived transcendental,
in spirals of space time continuam,
before the beginnings of blind faith,
and the tears of evolution.

BBC guilty of broadcasting pro-Israeli propaganda.

Not the first time either, this is meant to be a news  organisation without an agenda.  In a ruling  the BBC''s editorial committe agreed with complainants that an online BBC article  about Gazas tunnels http:///bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-28430298 breached the organisations accuracy guidelines,  but Eadot Hechts  propaganda  piece ( minus the word 'independent' in  his biographical note ) remains on the BBC website..
Also this week, the World Service programme Business matters http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02r6snd  is running a programme every day from Israel and the Occupied territories, which again  contains much innacuracy. Israel did not pull out of Gaza in 2005, Israel  remains the occupying power in Gaza and is recongnised  as such by the UN and international governments. Hamas did  not  take over Gaza it was elected to govern. Israel did not close down its borders with Gaza because Hamas  'is committed  to its destruction' but as part of its policy of occupation. etc etc
The Palestinian people are under occupation, or in exile, millions living as refugees. A programme like this does not make any sense unless these basic facts are  explained.  The BBC cannot keep making programmes about Gaza where Israel lies are presented as fact by a BBC presenters.
There are no comparable articles commissioned by the BBC from  Palestinian or Pro Palestinian commentators, in which they are given  carte blanche to set out their point of view. This a privilege afforded by the BBC  only to Israels spokespeople  and until now these  spokespeople have taken full advantage of this freedom across the BBC output, whether broadcast or online.
Israels propaganda time and time again is given prominence on the BBC whose news programmes reach 81% of  the UK audience
It is hoped that two ECU rulings  will go some way  to pushing back these privileges and introducing something that resembles professional journalism  in the BBC's coverage of Israels ongoing occupation of the Palestinian people.

Please dont be silent. Make your voice heard. Please  make an official complaint to the BBC everytime you see a whiff of bias.  It's our service, they need to be challenged.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/complain-online/

Link to article that bought this matter to my attention :-

http://bit.ly/1BaeJss

Hetty Bower over 90 years a campaigner for peace and justice

The remarkable inspirational Hetty Bower  died on the 20th May 2013 at the age of 108. From the First World War to the day she  died she was a tireless campaigner for peace and justice, who was still marching and joining demonstrations well into her second century.

For Hetty the myth of ‘our brave boys’ going off to fight the enemy was quickly dispelled when she saw disabled and limbless servicemen returning during World War I.  She had met people who were committed to not killing and seen how badly conscientious objectors were treated in 1918.  She became and remained a pacifist. 

In  a lifetime of campaigns she was involved in the General Strike campaign in the 1920s, she could recall the "battle of Cable Street" in 1936 when fascists were stopped from marching through east London.  During the Second World War, During the war, with two young daughters to care for, she volunteered to help at the offices of the Czech Refugee Trust Fund and subsequently ended up running a Czech Refugee Hostel in North London for Trade Unionists, Socialists, Communists, Jews and anyone else they could get out of Czechoslovakia during that period. She was also a founding member of the Campaign For Nuclear Disarmament, and a veteran of many other progressive causes, joining the anti-war protests over Iraq. An activist to the very end. 

She said: "I have lived for a very long time and I have a very good memory. I've lived through two world wars and I have spent most of my adult life working for peace on our planet. I don't think human beings are civilised while we still waste time and money killing each other, when we should be sitting at a table discussing how to improve the lives of ordinary people."

I love Badgers, so I'd rather their was a cull of Tories

The new Conservative Government will apparently continue their cull of badgers, regardless of complaints from the public. One thing, the Conservatives have proved time and time and again is their arrogant indifference and callous disregard to our wildlife, let alone, people. The savage immorality of them, must be stopped. As they plan to waste an obscene amount of money on this senseless cull, whilst at the same time  planning £12 billion of new welfare cuts. It is simply ridiculous logic.
The Defra Press office has confirmed  that Lord Gardiner has been  appointed as their Lords minister for DEFRA,  former Deputy Chief Executive  of the Countryside Alliance,http://markavery.info/2015/05/18/really/  yes this says,  clearly where their heart really lies.  However hard you look, you will never find a trace of compassion under their skin.
I would  urge you all, to send a little message, surely our countryside would be better served by lovely badgers, than, the roaming virus of Tory destruction.
I say save the badgers, cull all Tories

Ian Curtis (15/1/56 -18/5/80) - Gone but not forgotten T

Today marks the tragic anniversary of the suicide of  Ian Curtis,  the  mercurial,  singer and lyricist  of the band Joy Division.after struggling with depression and epilepsy throughout his life. A lot of my formative years were   spent listening to his songs, and in a roundabout way,  introduced me to the work of such  fascinating literary writers like William Burroughs and  J G Ballard. Words meant a lot to him as they do to me. 

He left behind  at the young age of 23, a wife and daughter  and for many the whiff of sadness, but also left a musical legacy of much genius and musical depth.that  continues to illiuminate.

I still dig out his records, and find them the opposite to the labels put on them, like depressing and bleak, I genuinely find them uplifting. His poetic magnificence and majesty of his lyrics matched by his compelling stage presence as front man of Joy Division reveasaled his one of talent.

Here are a few of my favourites songs of his. His absence still  resonates with many, gone but not forgotten. Love, love does not need  to tear us apart . 

"Reality is only a term, based on values and well worn principles, whereas the dream goes on forever."

'Existence is.. well.. what does it matter? I exist on the best terms I can. The past is now part of my future. The present is well out of hand.” --Ian Curtis:

 Joy Division - Transmission (1978)

Radio, live transmission.
Radio, live transmission.

Listen  to the silence, let it ring on.
Eyes, dark grey lenses frightened of the sun.
We would have a  fine time living in the night.
Left to blind destruction,
Waiting for  our sight.

And we would go on as  though  nothing was wrong
And  hide from these days we remained all alone.
Staying in the same place, just staying out the time.
Touching from a distance,
Further all the time.

Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, to the radio.
Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, to the radio.
Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, to the radio.
Dance,dance. dance, dance, dance, to the radio.

Well I could call out when the going gets tough.
The things that we've learnt are no longer enough.
No language that we've  learnt are no longer enough.
No language, just sound, that's all we need know, to synchronise
love to the beat of the show.

And we could dance

Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, to the radio.
Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance to the radio.
Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance to the radio.
Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance to the radio.

New Dawn fades (1979)

A change of speed, a change of style.
A change of scene ,with no regrets,
A chance  to watch,  admire the distance,
Still occupied, though you forget.
Different colours, different shades,
Over each mistakes were made.
I took the blame.
Directionless so plain to see,
A loaded gun won't set  you free.
So you say.

We'll share a drink and step outside,
An angry voice and one who cried,
Well give you everything and more,
The strains too much, can't take much more.
Oh, I've walked on water, run through fire,
Can't seem to feel it anymore.
It was me, waiting for me,
Hoping for something more.
Me, seeing me this time, hoping for something else.

Shadowplay (1979)

To the centre of the city, where all roads meet, waiting for you,
To the depths  of the ocean when all hopes sank, searching for you,
I was moving through the silence without motion, waiting for you,
In a room with a window in the corner I found truth.

In the shadowplay, acting out your own death, knowing no more,
As the assassins all grouped in four lines, dancing on the floor,
And with  the cold steel, odour on their bodies made a move to connect,
But I could only stare in disbelief as the crowds all left.

I did everything, everything I wanted to,
I bet them use you for their own ends,
To the centre of the city in the night, waiting for you,
To the centre  of the city in the night, waiting for you.

Love will tear us apart (1980)

When routines bites hard,
and ambitions are low,
And resentments rides high,
But emotions won't grow
And were changing our ways, taking different roads.

Then love, love  will tear us apart again,
Love, love will tear us apart again.

Why is the bedroom so cold?
You've turned away on your side.
Is my timing that flawed?
Our respect runs so dry.
Yet there's still this appeal that we've kept through our lives.

But love, love will tear us apart again,
Love, love will tear  us apart again.

You cry out in your sleep,
All my feelings exposed.
And there's a taste in my mouth,
As desperation takes hold.
Just that something so good just can't function no more.

But  love, love will tear us apart again
Love, love, will tear us apart again.
Love, love, will tear us apart again,.
Love, love , will tear us apart again.

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