Cofiwch Dryweryn / Remember Tryweryn

 21st October marks the anniversary of the opening of the controversial resevoir in the Tryweryn valley to supply drinking water to the residents of the city of Liverpool, it will be marking a day of grave injustice.
The battle began in 1955 when the City of Liverpool were seeking a new water supply. In the summer of that year Liverpool'sWater Committe announced its intention to drown the valley of Dolaneg, where the shrine of Ann Griffiths, the Welsh saint and hymn writer, stands. This of course, provoked uproar.
Magnaminously Liverpool bowed to Welsh demands and said they would flood the Tryweryn valley instead. This proved to be a carefully planned scheme to hoodwink the Welsh into thinking they were dictating where a resevoir could be built.
In 1956, a private members bill was put before parliament seeking to create this folly. The bill was bought forth by Liverpool City Council, which  allowed them to by-pass the usual criteria for planning permission to the relevant  landowners in the area. It would involve disrupting railway lines and road links, and at the heart of it, the flooding of the village of Capel Celyn. This one of the last bastions of Welsh speaking settlements, which had its own school, the site of Wales first Sunday school post office, a chapel, cemetery  and a number of farms and homesteads, it was  a community in every sense of the word.
Feelings were naturally instantly aroused to fever pitch as the notion of the English drowning out the Welsh, made the symbolism of the creation of the resevoir even more potent. But to members of Liverpool council, the farms that they were drowning were no more than convenient stretches of land along a remote valley floor that could be put to a more convenient and productive use to supply its own citizens with water, but to many was just an arrogant misuse of power, a flooding used primarily as a way of boosting profits.

                                
                                  Capel Celyn 

 It would be fiercely opposed, such was the passion aroused, on November 21, 1956, the people who had supposedly given Liverpool permission - in fact the entire community of Capel Celyn including their children, marched with banners  through the streets of Liverpool  protesting against the plan. It would  also see a number of individuals being compelled to take direct action against the plan, between 1962 and 1963 there were attempts to sabotage the building of the resevoir,  in acts of desperation, since previous passive demonstrations had failed. On Saturday September 22nd 1962, two men were arrested attempting to destroy the site, and then on February 10th 1963 an explosion took place at the site. It  remains to this day, the greatest symbol of the struggle of the Welsh language, a way of life destroyed on the whims of Conservative Government without consultation by Welsh authorities, its people, or  the support from Welsh M.Ps, who were to wage an 8 year battle against it. Opposition to the scheme received the backing of the vast majority of the Welsh people, with the backing of trade unionists, and cultural and religious groups.
Control over its own water became and has remained an inflammatory issue here in Wales. The political parties were to be united in their opposition to the scheme because it was considered such an affront  to the people of Wales, because such valuable resources were being stolen away from the country. The agricultural value of the land  was rich compared to some land  that could have been considered. A feeling of great sadness because a community was being shattered and families who had lived in the area for generations were being forced to lose their homes.

Shortly after the flooding a piece of graffiti appeared on a piece of wall, just outside  the village of Llanrhysted, on the way to Aberystwyth. The graffiti read "Cofiwch Drwyweryn " "Remember Tryweryn" it is still to be seen, many years later.
When  on Thursday, October 21st, 1965, the Lord Mayor of Liverpool  came to open Tryweryn dam ( built at a cost of £20 million) where every house and tree had dissapeared,  he was to be met by a vast crowd of protesters,  in 19 October 2005 Liverpool City Council finally issued an apology, but many thought it was just a worthless political gesture that had arrived far too late.
I hope that we have by now learnt the tragic lessons of Tryweryn and the reverberations that are still felt to this day. The place names like bells still ring out- Hafod Fadog, Y Ganedd Lyd, Cae Fado, Y Gelli, Pen Y Bryn Mawr, Gwerndelw, Tyncerrig, Maesydail. These bells now ring underwater and are heard by no one. An evocative image, forever stitched in time, which remembers the bells of Cantre'r Gwaelod and the loss associated with inundation. It would also feed the flames of a resurgent nationalism, re-igniting the imagination, peoples identity and defence of the language? Y iath, and would pave the way for devolution, and the strengthening and protection of the Welsh Language alongside the growth of Cymdeithas Y Iaith /The Welsh Language Society. Some would argue though  that the Welsh nation is still being fobbed off, since the assembly that has been granted to them, has no  real political power.

There is now a memorial on the side  of the lake and a memorial garden and the grave stones  from Capel Cemetry have been moved here.
At the end of the day it was not just a stretch of land that was flooded against the people of Wales's will, but a whole community of people, a culture and a language because of colonial arrogance and misuse of power. Tryweryn remains as a byword for shame and a grave injustice. Years later it would inspire the Manic Street Preachers to ask " Where are we going"?" in their song " Ready for Drowning, " 

and the following much anthologised poem by R.S Thomas.
A tragic story that we must continue to share. Reminding us of our history and our land, and how it has been exploited to serve the interests of others.

R.S Thomas -  Resevoirs

There are places in Wales I don't go:
Resevoirs  that are the subconscious
Of a people, troubled far dwon
with gravestones, chapels, villages even:
The serenity of their expression
Revolts me,  it is a pose
for strangers, a watercolour's appeal
To the mass, instead  of the poem's
Harsher conditions. There are the hills
Too; gardens under the scum
Of the forests, and the smashed faces
Of the farms with the stone trickle
Of their tears down the hills' side.

Where can I go,  then, from  the smell
Of decay, from the putrefying of a dead
Nation? I have walked the shore
For an hour and seen the English
Scavenging among the remains
Of our culture, covering the sand
Like the tide and, with the roughness
Of the tide, elbowing our language
Into the grave that we have dug for it.

Huw Jones - Dwr ( inspired by Tryweryn)

Capel Celyn - The drowning of a village

Stung

( following poem in response to actual event yesterday)

Autumn morning, playing in garden
taking time out ,mooching about,
cutting down brambles, trimming the lawn.
In the undergrowth, resting in fallen fruit,
a lone wasp waited, in flight carried poison,
in pursuit, heading in my direction,
released a direct hit above my eye,
stuck its stinger beneath my skin.
Now I sit, swollen and throbbing,
mother nature, I've already thanked
for leaving me, with this nasty surprise,
at least I have a few remedies stored
some love and affection, some healing balms
the wasp simply flew off, somewhere else 
to face the  imminent threat of death.

Human Rights Explained

This incredible 2-minute animation by http://www.rightsinfo.org  will tell you everything you need to know about your human rights and why they matter.

I have the right

I have the right to my own opinions
to state what I believe to be the truth,
I believe in freedom of thought
I believe in freedom of speech,
I have the right to be free from bondage
to be free from chains and mental slavery,
to choose what I want to be, where I need to go
because this is my right to be free.
I have the right to speak out
this is my choice, this is my conscience,
this is my right to freedom of expression
this right allows me to speak out against oppression,
this right allows me to stand against trangression, 
                                           aggression, exploitation
this right acknowledges that all born equal and free,
everyone a unique individualistic form 
that all have a right to life and liberty,
with dignity and pride, with the security of protection
that allows us to cry, to love and laugh,
remember that when justice is forgotten 
alternative paths trample down opposition,  
decency and justice, respect, and all that has been given
so  keep on fighting for human rights with no inhibition
remember actions speak louder than words
and what unites us is greater than what seperates

Reality check!

If this  individual was carrying a knife,why did they need  10 men to shoot her?
If Jerusalem was united, why does it's mayor call only on Jews to carry guns to protect themselves?
What should Palestinians carry? Potatoes?
If Israel feels unsafe among Palestinians, why build colonial settlements on stolen Palestinian 
land?
11,000 Palestinians have been  forced out of East Jerusalem by deliberate Israeli policy.,
Are new checkpoints and concrete blocks at the entrance of neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, not acts of provocation?  
How many innocent lives have been effected by tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition? 
Should we not be alarmed about Israel's  policy of extrajudicial killing aimed solely at Palestinians?
Why is the collective punishment reserved  exclusively for family members of Palestinian, but never against those in settlements?
800,000 illegal israeli settlers use more water than the entire Palestinian population of 3 million.
Israel has demolished 15,000 Palestinian homes.
70.7% of the entire forest area in the West Bank has been destroyed to build settlements.
100% of illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are illegal under international law.
Why are families not allowed to rebuild destroyed homes?
As Israeli aggression against Palestinians continues  the need for solidarity intensifies too.
Does my empathy for victims, not simply make me human?
Can their ever be peace when their is occupation?

A New World in our hearts ( a poem)

We are building a new world in our hearts
red and black flags united against the system,
with courage to demand nothing for us alone
but everything for everyone else,
following a map towards tomorrow
developing our own journeys,
both individually and collectively
as we travel, exiting dark pathways.

We don't want to rule others
and we will not be ruled,
we have no masters, our thoughts are free
we have removed the chains that bind us,
demanding the impossible 
disintegrating capitalism,
creating the world we want

with messages of power.

They try to reject us
degrade us, belittle us,
shame us and ignore us
because together we are strong,
but in unity we are fearless
as we eradicate their consensus,

with revival of revolutionary spirit
we grow wiser, move beyond obedience.

At the moment, our insides ache
filled with emotions of love and rage,
the daily delusionary shackles of greed
living only now to feed our need,
among widening circles that reach
                              out across the world,
believing in hope, not the detritus

fill our pockets with resistance,
keep on building  new worlds in our hearts.

United Nations to look at UK's deadly disability cuts.

The UK has become the first country in the world to be placed under investigation by the United Nations for violating the human rights of people with disabilities amid fears that thousands may have died as a consequence of controversial welfare reforms and austerity driven cuts to benefits and care budgets.
They are expected  to arrive  in the country within days to begin gathering their evidence. Figures  released by the DWP ( the Department for work and persecution) in August 2015 revealed  that 2,380 people died between  2011 and 2014 shortly after having their benefits stopped. A further 7,200 people also died after having their benefits reduced and being dumped  in groups to apparently help them prepare for a return to work. Leaving many without the means for daily living and the means to survive.
This at a time when austerity has no moral legitimacy or indeed any other kind of basis for validity.The Tory's using the most vulnerable  people in society for  political and ideological gain, leading to suicides, hardship and much suffering.The work and capability assessments have been notorious for providing unreliable assessments of peoples fitness to work and failing to treat disabled people with respect.  Disability rights campaigners have long argued that disabled peoples quality of life has declined immensely under welfare reform and government cuts to services.
We currently have a right wing authoritarian government running amok, and destroying peoples lives, they must be challenged and be reminded of our basic human principles. We are all equally  precious, each life has equal  worth. But the Tory's want to tear these notions apart, surely a society that is not founded on these basic principles of decency, dignity and mutual respect is not worth tuppence.  
As I remember the Governments victims I hope this investigation will lead to the government being held for account and that Ian Duncan Smith finally apologises for what has taken place under his administration. 
Time for the persecution to stop.

                                Disabled protestors and activists on the streets of Manchester 
                                at the time of the Tory party conference

Respite

In the evening
I try to resist,
the strain of life
I have become world weary,
tired of the daily news
and the hard truths,
that leave me overwrought.

So skip pass the headlines
throw newspapers in the bin,
turn of the T.V, uncork a bottle of wine
open back door, to let moonshine in,
allow my thoughts to step outside
to stop them from being consumed 
                             from deep within.

I roll myself a cigarette
peppered with magic herbs,
go outside where the air is clear
find myself alone again,
but with hope, peace and love
my spirit sparkles in the night.

I notice, the changes in the sky,
clouds sweetly rolling on by,
inhaling  deep aromatic smoke into lung,
on the stereo indoors, the release of singing tongues,
my arms and legs, a little drunk, sway and dance
this is my truth, my night vision stance. 

I am an outsider, looking far out
an observer in the shadows of time,
my mind is scattered and in fragments
dispersing in thousands of pieces,
until the morning turns, comes round again
and news arrives of people standing up screaming,
the modern world turning once more in abyss
I give up my journey and rejoin the fight.

Palestinian lives do not seem to matter to the BBC

                       
                         14 Palestinians killed in 2 days and  above is how the BBC report it.

Currently the British government is carrying  out the biggest attack on our movement yet. But I will continue to stand by the BDS campaign as I always have.
I will not condone the disproportionate reporting of the BBC either or the brutal murder of Palestinian citizens by Israels IDF. Everyday Israel forces shoot Palestinians often with video evidence of them breaking international laws, and the BBC news covers the situation always with the amount of Israeli deaths. Anyone who does not look behind the reports would draw the opinion that the Palestinians were at fault entirely.
Palestinian deaths are mentioned as a passing comment.  It seems that the life of a Palestinian simply has no value. The illegal occupation of Palestine by Israel merely presented as  a 'conflict' or even a 'war.' In the coverage of the situation the BBC often fails to convey the reality of the situation. The result is we are often presented with a completely false picture, that there are two sides fighting each other, but one presented as victims and the other side to be disproportianately to be blamed.
Today alone Israel has injured 66 Palestinians with live ammunition  during confrontations with Israeli army in Ramallah, Nablus and Tulkrum,  are they trying to provoke another intifada, it seems so,http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=29536.  Also accrding to Keneth Roth of Human rights watch ' indiscriminate or deliberate firing on observers and demonstrators who pose no imminent threat violates the international standards that bind Israeli security forces :-https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/10/11/israel/palestine-human-rights-watch-investigator-shot
We should be angry and speak out when the BBC and David Cameron remain silent, to the never ending brutal murder of children and the people  of Palestine.
So I will continue to support the representatives of Palestinians civil society,  call for broad boycotts and implement  divestment initiatives against Israel similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era, until a form of justice is served, that forces to comply with international law,  respect fundamental human rights and thus end its occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people. There will sadly be no peace until the occupation ends.

You can make a complaint to the BBC here if you wish :-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/

Assata Shakur ( b:- 16/7/1947) - " Love is a contraband in hell."

Shakur was a  civil rights activist and member of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army, an underground nationalist-Marxist organisation of the 1970's, and also an accomplished poet - she was convicted of killing a New Jersey State Trooper. Many believe she was innocent. 
Described by Angela Davis as ' a compassionate human being with an unwavering commitment to justice.'
She escaped from prison in 1979,and fled to Cuba, where since 1984 she has been granted political asylum. She has remained a political refugee ever since.

"Love is a contraband in hell"

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

Fascist Oswald Mosley gets knocked down.

 

Sir Oswald Mosley is perhaps Britain’s most notorious fascist. A member of the ruling classes by birth, Mosley lived a privileged life and used his charisma and oratory skills to court some of the biggest names in 1930s Europe and to develop a devoted following for his right-wing, authoritarian beliefs.

Aged just 21 and with little experience or higher education, Mosley decided to go into politics, running as the Conservative candidate for Harrow in the 1918 general election. He was elected with little opposition and became the youngest member of the House of Commons to take his seat.

Immense self-confidence and eloquence quickly established him as a force to be reckoned with in the Commons. He opposed Conservative policy in Ireland and successfully ran as an Independent MP in 1922 and 1923.

 In 1924, Mosley switched alliances once again, joining the Labour Party and campaigning hard against

Neville Chamberlain in the seat of Birmingham Ladywood, losing by only 77 votes. He was eventually returned to parliament by a by-election in 1926 as the MP for Smethwick. Following Labour’s win in 1929, Mosley was appointed as the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster by Ramsay MacDonald. Disillusioned by Labour, who he viewed as too slow to adapt, Mosley founded his own political party: the New Party. Initially, it gained a good deal of support from cross-spectrum figures, but as the Depression took hold in 1931, it became increasingly radical and authoritarian, quickly losing the burgeoning support it had.

By the early Thirties, Oswald Mosley’s ruthless pursuit of personal power had incurred the distrust of his parliamentary colleagues, and so his chances of leading a British political party, any party, had gone. But this vain,man had no intention of being side-lined. He had been watching two men take different and successful routes to power: Hitler in Germany, and Mussolini in Italy. Mosley noticed too that, like Germany and Italy, Britain was suffering widespread discontent due to high unemployment, with its attendant hopelessness and starvation-level poverty. The situation therefore looked very exploitable, and Mosley decided to make the leap.

Mosley visited both Hitler and Mussolini, who received him well, and when he returned to England in 1933 he founded the British Union of Fascists (BUF). He modelled his movement on that of Nazi Germany and, like Hitler, selected the scapegoat upon whom the disenchanted and workless could vent their spleen. Thus, anti-Semitism became the main thrust of Mosley’s manifesto. Emulating Goebbels, the successful Nazi propaganda minister, Mosley threw in large visible doses of patriotism by holding mass rallies coloured by seas of Union Jacks and fascist flags.

Mosley built his movement into a sizeable, brutal force whose provocative parades and meetings in Jewish areas created constant disturbances and kept the police at full stretch. He also gathered support from certain wealthy industrialists and sections of the national press. The BUF also established provincial branches and, while they had no chance of achieving success by normal parliamentary process, they were Mosley’s last hope. 

On this day in 1937, he was due to speak on some vacant land by Queen's Drive, Walton, Liverpool .with the aim of  preaching his vile  fascist beliefs but instead of what he was expecting, was greeted by a crowd of more than 800, many of them hostile, and vehemently anti-fascist. Just moments after getting up on a van,and giving a fascist salute, before he could even utter a word. he was met by a volley of bricks and stones, with hundreds of missiles thrown. The streets of Liverpool clearly  did not want to give him  a warm  welcome and he was hit by a stone on the temple and knocked unconscious. His minions fleed and scarpered, and Mosley was to spend a week recovering from concussion at Walton hospital.

 

Liverpool  had an honoured tradition in the fight against fascism. Around 130 local men, among them the late  Trade Union leader Jack Jones, had joined the International Brigades in Spain, in their fight against the fascist  forces of  General Franco.

Liverpool was not the only place in the 1930's  where the local working class would not tolerate fascism, Moseley's fascists were  also attacked by workers anti-fascists, communists and others in Devon, Manchester, Newcastle, London, Stockton and elsewhere.

From 1937 onwards the appeal of the fascist blackshirts thankfully waned and Mosley''s British Union of Fascists (BUF) were disbanded and proscribed by the British Government snd the scumbag that was Mosely  was eventually detained in prison  in 1940, for the duration of the war.

After the war Mosely formed new fascist groups  but again they faced stiff opposition and were again chased of the streets by ant-fascists.

But we should always be on our guard, and when they try to gather, as they still do, trying to spread their filth on our streets. We will meet them with resistance and force, and continue to knock the fascists down.

They shall never pass.Nazi scum never given a welcome. No pasaron.

Anti-fascist mural from the 1930's

Tunnels of Life

( In memory of Liz, writer, who people are saying goodbye today R.I.P )

Walking side by side
the comfort of friendship and companionship,
passes through our waking breaths
releasing the gift of laughter and kindness,
love and comradeship, sharing possibilities
the spark of imagination, dreams, magic and joy.

As tears are now shed
words arrive to pick people up,
whispering and soothing our cry's
carried on the tips of leaves, and trees,
to remember all the happy times
that life still has much in store.

Above us shine the constellations of the universe
near to the shining bright moon aglow,
when stars sail across the sky
weaving among shifting patterns of time,
peace in the sky, blooming in eternity
souls flying high, on journeys return.

A singular voice, is carried now
on embers of autumnal gold,
taking wing like a bird
a voice of vision, never to be forgotten,
in time we will continue to talk
read her stories, share her tales
we will be able to bring her back at will.

Lost ( a poem for National Poetry Day)

( poem for National Poetry Day, written in 10 minutes, Llyfrgell Aberteifi/Cardigan... 14.51

Poetry lives
in order to be free, 
precious and unguarded
but sadly is often not noticed,
as people walk on by
not even looking,
so simply ignored.

Like a big issue seller
wearing an invisibility cloak,
words written in life's  frenzy
in times emotion,can be rejected,
left behind, stuck on a page
lonely and lost.

Sometimes clumsy
after  sipping too many wines,
just takes a chance
thinking about yesterday
and the days to come,
words escape to express feeling
contained within.

Searching for meaning
waiting to be set free,
with shaking fingertips
imperfect thoughts,
half formed released,
because there is
no other way.

As the winds outside
continue to blow,
words unregulated
arrive random and unexplained,
the sound of a heart beating
a lonely cry.

Mind continues to explore
the silence that has no room to contain,
wandering full  of love and spirit,
will continue to spread
a wild virus of precious intent.
making it all up as I think,
refusing to be abandoned.

Outrageous a Tory got egged

Bit late with this one I know, but been kind of busy. A Tory walks the streets of Manchester, where the Tory's are currently not welcome, and is seen laughing and waving a picture of Margaret Thatcher, a clearly divisive figure to the anti-austerity protestors who have this week gathered in Manchester. Provoking  and  antagonising, clearly taking the piss , at all those who had gathered, and then some people are outraged when he receives an  egging!
I'm outraged too, that  the people who are now stealing tax credits from hard working families, making people rely on food banks in order to survive, cutting benefits for pensioners, sanctioning the unemployed, the sick and vulnerable and making life unbearable for disabled people,  spreading daily the cruelty of poverty are allowed to walk free around the streets with such arrogance.
Egg throwing is a continuing long, proud tradition of British protest. Eggs are usually used because they are cheap, and easy to detonate, and leave a lot of mess.
I want to shake the hand of the individual who threw the egg. Not that Im actually advocating that you should throw anything at anyone. Wish though it had been David Cameron who was left with egg on his face.



' He's just a Tory boy from a privileged family, egged in the mush for laughing loud at poverty.'

Cabinet of millionaires ( A Poem)

The cabinet of millionaires, dining now on the misery they cause
filling their guts with the carcasses of the people,
the richest parasites in Britain, gathered in one place
guarded and protected in their ivory towers,
eating from silver spoons, gorging from golden troughs
negating and abusing with denigration and labels,
calling their undeserving victims layabouts and scroungers
rejects and lazy bastards, this all from a self serving elite,
drunk on political power, running wild and amok
spreading pain, and broken promises, for own personal gain,
plutocrats gaining from capital and corporate shares
bankrolled by big business and multinational strength,
in the spirit of their ideology, continue to plunder all that we possess
making the underclass below their feet weep, as obscenity is spread,
but the people outside have grown weary and tired, and have had enough
time now to subvert their authority, after all we have nothing left to lose,
apart fromour poverty and chains, and self respect,
so take back what's been stolen, from their piggy bank
singing bread and roses, people not profit, Tory's out.

Why has Saudi Arabia been welcomed into the UN's Human Rights Council ?

Saudi Arabia  a country with appalling notorious woeful reputation  for human rights abuses has been welcomed to the UN Human rights council, facilitated in part by our own PM, David Cameron, has himself looked at curtailing many of our own personal freedoms, indeed he has already eroded many. I think I see a pattern emerging.
Saudi Arabia continues to try convict and imprison political dissidents and human rights activists solely on account of their  peaceful activities. Still subjecting hundreds of people to unfair trials and arbitrary detentions. People  daily being curtailed carrying   out  their beliefs. Saudi Arabian judges routinely sentence detainees to floggings with hundreds of lashings, the use of torture an every day occurrence. Women's rights  hardly in existence at all.
It is a mockery of humanity, when  a country that carries out  cruel inhuman punishments, that shackles its media, who in the last 20 years  has had over 2,000  people executed can be welcomed  by the UN in this way.  last year alone 175 people executed, for crimes that were hardly capitol offences. Saudi Arabia executes more people than any other country except China and Iran.
But the fact  that Saudi Arabia sits on the  world's largest  reserves of oil, could have been a contributing factor.
This decision by the UN  mocks the pain off dissidents currently languishing in Saudi Jails.

Tories not welcome in Manchester, and are definitely not welcomed here.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators are descending on Manchester this weekend to protest outside the Conservative Party Conference - and feeling are  justifiably running high, since  the Tory's cruel  policies are leaving a lot of ordinary people in desperate poverty and misery, so  people are resisting and standing against austerity  and public spending cuts.
Too many people are now suffering under their discredited ideology of austerity. Two thirds of leading UK economists say they blame George Osborne's austerity policies to be damaging to the economy.
Austerity is not necessary,  there is another way, a better way. The ideology of austerity must  be exposed for the life destroying lie that it is. It is  just an ideological obsession being used by the Tories and their friends in the media to pick on easy targets that cannot fight back,   to scapegoat and pick on the poor, the vulnerable, the unemployed,  to distract us from the real wreckers of our society the bankers and the corporate world, as they continue to try and suck the last vestiges of hope from us all.
The Tories are  currently obsessed  with the concept  of shrinking our welfare state, privatising services and  reducing the public sector to virtually nothing. Attacking our human and Trade Union Rights, combined with their unrelenting attack on those who desperately need the support of the welfare state, we must remember those who have been  treated with brutality, incompetance and indifference, with many sadly having losit their lives.
So now is the time to fight back, not just in Manchester, but across the country, we simply cannot afford more years of Tory misrule, if we do not, we will lose everything, so we must  keep up the pressure, standing in solidarity in order to defeat the  government. We must start building alternatives, to their supposedly comfortable capitalist consensus, send out clear messages, saying no to austerity,  outside parliament, in our communities, in our workplaces.
They have gatecrashed into power, and are simply not welcome anymore.
It is time now to kick the Tories out of power.

Newtown Neurotics - Kick out the Tories.

Don't bomb Syria, it's the last thing they need at moment..

Grateful Syrians have spoken of their relief that so many friendly bombs are now blasting them towards peace. A few weeks ago it was Assad bombing them from the air and ISIS, shooting them from the ground. Now the Americans and Russians have joined in too.
The Syrian civil war has already left more than 240,000 people dead and created millions of refugees. We should not make matters on the ground even worse, just to show a largely futile show of force. 
Tell your MP to stand against any further military escalation in Syria. Another destructive  bombing campaign, will do no good at all. It will only lead to more death and destruction, leading to the death of innocent civilians, which will only serve to increase resentment, leading possibly to more acts of terrorism, and will not make Britain a safer place. The UK will be dragged into a deeper complex cynical game played  out in Syria by foreign powers and the Assad regime. We need to start helping the victims of wars that our governments so enthusiastically pursue, building roads to peace, and try fostering a more humane policy towards refugees.
Please tell your MP to stand against any further military escalation in Syria and prevent another disastrous intervention.

http://act.stopwar.org.uk/lobby/stopbombingsyria

Happy Birthday Human Rights Act

Today marks exactly 15 years  since our Human Rights Act came into force - and  it has been protected the rights of ordinary people across the UK ever since.The Act allows British citizens to raise human rights concerns in British courts rather  than have to go the European Court of Human Rights. The Tory Government has promised to repeal the act as stated in their general election manifesto. Human rights  put in place to stop corrupt Governments and to hold them to account.
Here are 15 ways the Human Rights Act has made all our lives better and 15 reasons why the Government must not be allowed to make this anniversary its last.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/mairi-claire-rodgers/human-rights-act_b_8227590.html?utm_hp_ref=uk

Join the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement

Free Palestine - Support the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions ( BDS) movement. BDS is a strategy that allows people around the world to contribute to the Palestinian struggle against Israeli apartheid and for freedom, justice and equality. It is used as a key tactic of solidarity with the Palestinian people,  creating a pressure that cannot simply be ignored. I remember how the South African apartheid system was itself bought to an end by an effective boycott campaign. That only needs to last until Israel ends its illegal  occupation and complies with international law.

http://www.bdsmovement.net/

Goodbye Liz Whittaker ; storyteller ( 1944 -2015) R.I. P

( a post prompted by my partner Jane, this is effectively her post.)

Sad to say goodbye to Liz Whittaker, friend, author, playwright, creative advocate of the arts scene here in Wales. A magical weaver of words, who touched many peoples lifes. A dear friend to my partner, who were able to bring great comfort and joy to one another. I personally grew to respect her immensely, this  passionate individual, who touched the lives of many, with her supportive manner, passion and kindness. Whose appreciative comments and thoughts  will be missed by all who encountered her. My community has lost a creative spark.
My heart goes out to her family and her many friends.

For Palestine with Love

(today the Palestinian flag will be raised at the the United Nations for the first time, a proud and emotional day.)

I have never been to Palestine

But it is a country I have grown to love 

The scent of its soil so close

Even though as I write  it is in chains 

And its cities daily bleed, voices weeping

I cannot afford to grief, because its future cry's out

Where faces shine with hope and trust

The land from the rivers to the sea, free again 

With one soul, hand in hand, the end of occupation 

The lands fragrance, penetrates awareness

A homeland restored, to how  it used to be 

Thousands return from exile 

With kindness, humbleness and respect

Refusing to surrender ever again 

Allowed to snatch a few moments of joy 

Watch olive trees blossom, vineyards flourish

No longer uprooted or denied 

From,the desert earth, insistence grows 

Oppression banished, the people awake again to laughter

No more babies maimed, no more crying 

Air around discharge vapours of peace 

Iinfectious smiles again released 

As  suffocating walls of apartheid are destroyed

Until this freedom is returned,

I will continue to speak out 

With my pen, try to transform  darkness into light 

Keep delivering messages, for Palestine with love.
but it is a country I have grown to love
the scent of its soil so close
even though as I write  it is in chains
and its cities daily bleed, voices weeping.
I cannot afford to grief, because its future cry's out
where faces shine with hope and trust
the land from the rivers to the sea, free again 
with one soul, hand in hand, the end of occupation
the lands fragrance, penetrates awareness,
a homeland restored, to how  it used to be. 
Thousands return from exile
with kindness, humbleness and respect
refusing to surrender ever again
allowed to snatch a few moments of joy
watch olive trees blossom, vineyards flourish
no longer uprooted, or  denied 

from the desert earth, insistence grows
oppression banished, the people awake again to laughter.
No more babies maimed, no more crying
air around , breathes in peace, infectious smiles again released
as the suffocating walls of apartheid destroyed
until this freedom is returned, I will continue to speak out
with my pen, try to transform  darkness into light,
keep delivering messages, for Palestine with love.

Under the influence of a blood red moon.

Last night I witnessed a  phenomenom, 
as the moon passed through earth's shadow, 
turning a deep bright, red, 
shining crimson, dancing over tears,
under the spell of autumn's return.

It kept me captured, intoxicated ,
like the color of the wine I sipped,
in the blossom of the afternoon,
flowers for thought, as autumn returned,
under the  influence I swayed and danced.

Shadows, turned to eclipse the mind,
visions lulled the darkness away,
as the the hazy day continued to play,
floating hypnotised, as evening called, 
silhouettes of truth revived,
in time's reflection,
to catch dreams again,
from the underground.

Hands of our NHS

Our NHS is currently under attack, facing a massive threat from the Tories and is in grave danger. Ihave seen the impact daily as I've been visiting my partner in Glangwili, West Wales General Hospital. Dedicated, compassionate staff under increased pressure, leading to low moral. Recent figures have emerged that 2/4s of hospitals have been warned about dangerous staff shortages.
This combined with creeping privatisation, major budget cuts and attacks on staff pay and pensions, and the ominous threat from the Health and Social Care Act and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) among other things.
Have recently  discovered that an £80 million contract to run cancer scans  for the NHS has been given to  a private health care firm with a Tory M.P  on board, despite a rival NHS consortium offering to carry out the work for £7 million less. Specialists of 11 Royal colleges have also witten to the health secretary warning that proposed  contracts for junior doctors represented  too, a real and immediate threat the current stated priorities of the NHS.
We should however be proud, that since 1948 that we actually have one of the best health systems in the world, regardless of age, social status, ethnic background or belief. It is ours, and belongs to us,  from the cradle to the grave. We own it and pay for it,providing local medical cover, available free to all, but slowly the Tory's are ripping it from our grasp. In the long term those that need it most, the chronically ill, people with mental health problems,the vulnerable and those from lower socio economic groups and older people losing out.
We must defend  and protect it with all our might, so that it can  continue to care for us,that puts people first not profit.
I would urge people to support or join the  protest "NHS NOT FOR SALE"" part of a National Week of action taking place 3-7 October, Manchester at the time of the Tory Conference.
Details here :-
http://www.thepeoplesassembly.org.uk/demonstrate_at_tory_party_conference

Remember it our NHS the Tory's must be told to keep their bloody hands of it and give David Cameron all the contempt that he deserves. We must stop this valuable resource from being plundered in front of our eyes.
In the words of Nye Bevan " It will last as long as there are folk left with faith to fight for it."

James Kier Hardie (15/8/1856 -26/9/15) - Man of the people.

I remember today James Kier Hardie, on the 100th anniversary of his death. This giant of the socialist movement, who rose from coalminer to become the first Labour Party leader, and one of the greatest evangelists for the ideas of socialism.
His life was deep-rooted in the hard lot of the poor, for whom he fought so sturdily  and from whom he never turned away. He was born Agust 15, 1856, in a single room cottage near Newarthill, in the heart of the Lanarkshire coalfield, and was the eldest of a family of seven sons and two daughters.
He would derive from his mum, many  of his good qualities. She was a woman of marked individuality and strength of character, nothing could daunt her, or dampen her convictions.
At the age of ten, he went to work in a local mine, where through self-education he would learn the lessons of solidarity and comradeship. This would help him as he used his voice to speak of a world where woman and man were born equal. Denouncing the rich, the politicians and the establishment, all exploiters, and would see him calling for the destruction of the capitalist system. He was one of the greatest agitators of his day. ( who reminds me of another bearded teetotaller, another frugal person with their diet and advocate of passion currently spreading his message, Mr Jeremy Corbyn)
He was to help found the Independent Labour Party in 1893, and was one of the first 2 Labour M.Ps elected to the UK Parliament. He was to mark himself out as  a radical both by his dress - he wore a tweed suit and a cloth cap, whilst  most other members of Parliament wore more formal dress - and the subjects that he advocated - the nationalisation of the coalmines, for the unemployed, womens rights, republicanism and free education. Stuff that still echoes strongly today . 
For over twenty years he tirelessly addressed meeting after meeting, nearly every day and night, travelling long distances, ,to be known for his powerful oratory negating meals, and continuing to carry on  spreading ideas with comrades long into the night. Never to forget his working class roots,  these people he completely understood,  he realised their plight, never deserting them, with his untarnished devotion and faith in their cause.
his first constituency was in West Ham (London, 1892 ) and then Merthyr Tydfil, here in Wales. He would spend  the rest of his life devoted to the causes he believed in, publicy defending general strikes, syndicalism and militancy. He was one of the first  people also to call for equality between the races of South Africa, and because he was a lifelong pacifist and humanist, this led him to believe that the interests of the working classes were inseperable from peace,and when the First World War  broke out in 1914, he was to oppose it, and was to go on to address countless anti-war demonstrations up and down the country and to support conscientious objectors.
Sadly his dreams of peace were not realised , and after a series of strokes he died in Glasgow on 21 September 1915, a true man of the people, no richer when he died than when he began his political career having never surrendered his primary beliefs. Long may his deeds and words be respected.

  

Shaker Aamer to be released

Just returned home from Carmarthen, visiting partner in hospital, a bit of an ordeal, but nothing in comparison to the one the  man pictured above. has had to endure. So fantastic to hear the  news that Shaker Aamer the last British resident of Guantanamo Bay is to be returned to the UK according to the UK Government. Wondrous, had been thinking of his case only this morning, and members of my local Amnesty international will be jubilant, I know those who have personally campaigned and battled for this day.
The earliest date that Mr Aamer could be released to the UK is 25 October. Yes it is good news, but sadly has arrived 13 years too late, does not account for the terrible ordeals he has been through and the absolute travesty of justice that has been reaped upon him. May he get the help and treatment he deserves for all the trauma inflicted, and allow his story to be told without any whitewash.
Lets hope he can be with his family and friends as soon as possible and not forget more than 100 other detainees who will be left behind in Guantanamo Bay. So as we celebrate time now  for Guantanamo to be closed once and for all..

Song for Shaker - Four Feathers

This roots reggae song by the band Four Feathers  featuring the journalist Andy Worthington is now available as a download, 25% of sales going to Shaker Aamer's family.
It calls for Shaker's release from Guantanamo and his return to his family here in the UK. It starts and ends with Shaker's voice. Shaker Aamer,a charismatic figure  was born in Saudi Arabia, and has four children with his British wife. He has been twice  approved for release from Guantanamo. The first time was in 2007 under George W Bush then in 2010 by Barak Obama. Even David Cameron has personally asked Obama for his safe return to the UK. 
Now 45 he has spent nearly 13 years behind cars, detained without charge - apparently indefinitely, in these years Shaker, who is said to be riddled with arthritis and other medical problems, has claimed to have been tortured, and  in addition to his own torture has witnessed the torture of others.
He is still contained because certain  people are more afraid of what he might say upon his release than the continuing injustice of his case.
No more excuses time to bring  Shaker Aamer  home now.


More details on his case here :-

http://westandwithshaker.org/ 

Link to earlier post  which includes poem  for Shaker penned by me.:-

http://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/raise-your-voice-for-shaker-aamer.html

Happy birthday John Coltrane ( 23/09/26 -17/7/67) - FOR TRANE (Breathing upon)

" My music is the spiritual expression of what I am - my faith, my knowledge, my being. When you begin to see the possibilities of music, you desire to do something really good for people, to help humanity free itself from its hangups. I want to speak to their souls " - - John Coltrane

Remembering the great John Coltrane who was born on this day in 1926. One of the most influential musicians in the history of jazz, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes and was at the forefront of the free jazz movement.  His style encompassed the modal jazz first explored with Miles Davis, the complex chord structures of his own compositions, and ultimately the extremes of timbre, dynamics, and register associated with free jazz. Coltrane’s total mastery of the tenor and soprano saxophones, the rich harmonic density of his compositions, and his clear projection of emotion enabled him to reconcile technical virtuosity with an often spiritual profundity  who bought  new innovations to a constantly innovative musical form. Born today on the autumn equinox. The quality of his music still  continues to inspire me,  reminding me that the root of the word inspiration is ' Breathing upon.'  Happy birthday John Coltrane.

FOR TRANE ( Breathing upon )

Gone now, but in the shadows of time, his music remains, still gathering attention, saving us from high above, poet of the infinite,seeker, priest, his timbre still flying high,  through time and space, releasing a music that testifies to life's force, that recognises the power and spirit of our breath, strong enough still, to give back the power that renews, a sustenance of tenderness, fills days of anxiety, anticipation and separation, with eternal rhythms of presence, knocking on doors, from one border to the next, a moving force of affirmation, releasing a love supreme that forever sings, from his  impulse spirit soars, as stars blaze across the sky.

Blessed be, John Coltrane 

John Coltrane - Equinox

Love Supreme - John Coltrane

(one of my favourite LP's)

I didn't have sexual relations with that pig - David Cameron

It has been alleged that while Jeremy Corbyn was protesting against apartheid in South Africa, David Cameron was smoking dope,  burning money in front of down and outs, smashing up restaurants and having sexual relations with a severed pigs head. According to a new book by Tony Donor Lord Ashcroft.
Even if it proves to be untrue it does present us a golden opportunity to take the piss out of this sanctimonious Tory. One has to have a laugh from time to time. Have not heard calls for the hide of the author, or signs that he will sue. One thing is for sure, he ***** the poor everyday.


First Cameron ****** a pig,but I did not speak out, because I am not a pig,
then Cameron******  the unemployed, but I did not speak out because I was not unemployed,
then Cameron ***** the NHS, and I did not speak out because I am not sick,
then Cameron ***** the Trade Unions, and I did not speak out,because I am not a member,
then Cameron came and ***** me but there was no one left to speak for me.


Cassette Boy vs David Cameron - Getting' piggy with it.

Gratitude

( a poem for the Autumn Equinox)

As summer fades, and autumn returns,
time to pause, reflect,
give thanks to loved ones,
family and friends,
to bless and be blessed.

As leaves turn gold,
and apples fall to ground,
follow paths of passion,
release gentle laughter,
overcome obstacles,
within and outside.

Gratitude and love,
are such beautiful seeds,
stitching the horizon,
regenerating the light of tomorrow,
spreading hope and love,
that never surrenders. 

Support the Love Bank 5

This week dedicated activists  were sentenced to 10 weeks imprisonment. Their crime?
Daring to provide a sanctuary for damaged and vulnerable people in our society, after occupying an unoccupied former Bank of England building, and use it to set up a support center to shelter and feed  the city of Liverpool's homeless, also providing help for people on benefits, a clothes bank and a library. 
This is not justice. This is a system abusing the power handed to it.War has been declared on Homeless activists
The real criminals are those in power who allow people to die on our streets  and children to go hungry.

Free the Love Bank 5.
Please send messages of support to the above addresses.

https://www.facebook.com/loveactivistsmerseyside

Mikhail Bakunin (18/5/1814 - 1/7/1876) - State and Government

Though welcoming Jeremy Corbyn's victory last Sunday and recognising his passion and peoples  genuine hunger for change here in the UK. and how clearly people can be mobilised and really hoping that these forces can continue to be garnered against the evils of capitalism, exploitation and austerity, igniting the struggle that I feel that is needed in the coming days and months ahead. I truly feel that a new better society cannot be forged if the capitalist state is still in place.
I might be naive but believe that the Labour Party is still a party political machine, that is l used as an instrument to prop up the state, one that I am not particularly fond of,  tied in with the usual bureaucracy and compromises that bind it together, so I really do have mixed feelings.
Anyway here is a pertinent and still convincing message from the past from Russian Revolutionary Anarchist and founder of collectivist anarchism Mikhail Bakunin.


State and Government

" I have no hesitation in saying that the State is an evil, albeit a historically necessary evil,  as necessary in the past as its utter extinction will sooner or later prove to be, as necessary as were men's primitive brutishness and theological meanderings. Historically, in every land it was born of the marriage of violence, rapine and pillage - in short, of war and conquest - with the gods successively invented by nations' theological fantasies.  From its inception, it has been and remains to this day a divine sanction upon brute force and triumphant iniquity.
Revolt against the state is a much easier undertaking because there is in the very nature of the State something that is an incitement to revolt. The State is authority, force, the display of and fascination with force. It does not wheedle and does not seek converts: and every time it dabbles in these,  it does so with very bad grace: for persuasion is not in its nature which is rather to impose and compel. To what lengths it goes to conceal its nature as the lawful trespasser against men's wills,  as the standing negation  of their freedom. Even when it serves the good, it does it disservice and spoils it, precisely because it commands good, and any command provokes and inspires freedom to righteous  revolt: and because the good, once it is commanded becomes from the vantage point of true morality, human ( though not, of course, divine morality, and in terms of human respect and liberty, the bad.
Exploitation and government, the first affording the means whereby to govern, and representing the pre-requisite as well as the object of all government, which, in turn, guarantees and legalises the power to exploit, are the two indivisible terms of all that goes by the name of politics. Since the beginning of history, they have indeed constituted the stuff of the life of States, theocratic, monarchial, aristocratic and even democratic. Previously and up until the great Revolution at the end of the 18th century, the intimacy between them has been disguised by the fictions of religion, loyalty and chivalry: but ever since  the rough hand of  the bourgeoisie tore away all the veils, which had in any case become fairly transparent, and ever since its blast of revolution scattered all the empty concrete under cover of which Church and State, theocracy, monarchy and aristocracy had for so long managed, undisturbed, to perpetrate their historical vileness; ever since the bourgeoisie, wearying of being the anvil, took its turn at being the hammer; ever since it ushered in the modern State - in short, that necessary connection has turned into a revealed truth, indeed, an incontrovertible truth as far as everyone is concerned.
Exploitation is the visible body and government the soul of the  bourgeois rule. And as we have seen, the one and the other in such intimacy, are, in theoretical as well as practical terms, the necessary and faithful representative of metaphysical idealism, the inescapable consequence of that bourgeois doctrine that looks outside of social solidarity for the morality of the individual. That teaching results in exploitative government by a tiny number of the fortunate or elect, in exploitative  slavery for the greater number, and for all and sundry, in negation of all morality and all liberty."

Reprinted from :-

No Gods, No Masters; An anthology of Anarchism - Daniel Guerin,

AK Press 2005

Time for something new

This is how our government respects war veterans - it abandons  them to a life on the streets. No wonder some people refuse to sing in praise of Queen and Country. A generation of brave men and women fought fascism so that people could live in a society witm to have forgotten this. There are may people in this land who as  republicans and non-believers  it would  be totally insincere to sing the national anthem God Save the Queen. Surely in the twenty first centurys why would anyone want to cow-tow to an outdated concept like this. It is such a breath of fresh air to see some people resisting the consensus, we need to embrace this wind of changeThe increasing societal compulsion to do as we are told , should be resisted at all costs. For republicans and atheists and anyone with good taste God Save the Queen is an awful song set to a funereal dirge.No one should be forced to sing it. Surely a national anthem is one that unites, not divides and should be about country maybe, but surely no need for God or Queens.  Do we not live in a country unlike somewhere like North Korea where individual  beliefs are allowed not to be expressed.
Time to scrap the privy council too while where at it, and the demeaning tradition of kneeling before the Queen,it is time for change. There is nothing disgraceful I believe in any of the above, but there is something extremely disturbing about living in a country where the rise of poverty and austerity goes unchecked.Now that is something that should be daily challenged.

https://republic.org.uk/

Sex Pistols - God Save the Queen

 

A Nations Hero :- An Ode to Owain Glyn Dwr ( 1354- 1416)

Not a lot of people know this but September 16th marks Dydd Owain Glyn Dwr/Owain Glyn Dwr,Welsh/Cymry natonal hero, known in English as Owen Glendower in honor of the uprising that began on this day, that sparked his stand against the English crown. The following is a poem in his honor

Hail Owain, a nation's hero
heir to Cadwalder the blessed
for years he wandered among his brethren
resurrected the feeling of pride and love of country
defender of the common people, never to be betrayed
hatched and fed our fledgling dreams 
to this day his inspiration fires.
He saw the people of his land
writhing under, tyranny and misrule
until one fair day in September 1400
Glyndwr attacked the town of Ruthin,
raised his standard high, left it in flames
took possession of the lands of Lord Grey

the slumbering Welsh dragon awoke to breathe it's fire.

Welshmen hastened from all parts of the country to join him
and in short time he had a huge rebel army under his command,
over the coming years, great victories were heralded
churches followed towns into flames,
the castles of Abergavenny and Crickhowel,
Caerphilly and other castles fell,
and the Bishops palace at Llandaff raised.

panic and fear  gripped  the Englshman's heart

Henry IV sent his army to Owain's home at Sycarth
and in revenge burned it  down to the ground,
but this saw Owain's  army cutting of their supplies
and saw them scuttling back to England in rapid haste.

At Machynlleth he created a Welsh Parliament

and here was crowned Prince of Wales,
he gallantly told the Parliament gathered
of his plans to build and create great Universities,
and promised to restore the old laws of Howell the Good
King Henry though managed to stop him in his tracks
And in 1405  took mighty vengeance,
saw many Welsh rebels brutally slain
for Owain, sadly came defeat after defeat,
but faithful friends clung to him to the end
until he simply disappeared  became a myth and legend.
To this day his resting place remains unknown
Centuries have passed, but his name forever honored
by us Cymry, because he was the peoples champion,
his ideals continue to inspire his beloved nation
still haunted by his lightning vision, fight for freedom  
yonder his light shines on all who believe in his cause
hoping  one  day will rise again  to liberate his people.  

The Bogus Woman - Kay Adshead

The Bogus Woman by Kay Adshead is curently touring England and Wales. An African woman arrives in a strange country fleeing for her life, seeking safety and asylum. Having committed no crime she is indefinitely confined, interrogated, humiliated and abused. She witnesses the cruelty of the authorities and their casual disregard for an individuals  human rights. This strange country is England.

' a passionate story about the experience of one African woman arriving on these inhospitable shores... Adshead tells it with such spare poetry and blistering rage.' - The Guardian, Lyn Gardner

In 2008, the Bogus Woman played to over 3,500 people during a sell ot run at Theatre by the Lake - in the Lake District.It was evident that this powerful and poetic one-woman play should be shared with a wider audience.
Tragically, seven years on, the asylum debate still remains at the centre of British politics and the play continues to be just as relevant and challenging. Krissi Bohn (Coronation Street) once again delivers Kay Adshead's outstanding monologue-bringing to life the 51 sharply etched characters who retell the experience of this young woman.
My local Amnesty International Group will have a stand in the foyer at tomorrow's performance here in Aberteifi/Cardigan.

For tour dates and bookings click here :-

http://theboguswoman.com/tourdates