100th Anniversary of the Murder of Joe Hill ( 7/10/1875-15/11/15)

I have written of the great Joe Hill before, he is a great inspiration, so on the centenary of his judicial execution, it gives me the opportunity to write about him once more.
Swedish born ( his actual name was  Joel Emmanuel Haggland ), he emigrated  to New York aged 23, with his brother Paul, after the death of his parents, spending his time as a wandering itinerant and musical troubadour, engaging in the struggles of his time, hopping from one freight train to the next, working as a labourer, washer of dishes, sweeper of floors, moving cargo on docks, picking crops and working in construction. He was later to adopt the name Joe Hill after being blacklisted after trying to start  a union in Chicago,  he was to become a legend in in his own lifetime because of his actions and deeds.
He also wrote satirical  songs to be sung by the people, songs about struggles that he was actively engaged in, using  his songs as weapons  in the class war that he was engaged in such as  There is Power in the Union, The Preacher and the Slave and The Rebel Girl along with hundreds more . He also became a senior organiser of the Industrial Workers of the World (the IWW) most commonly known as the wobblies . His aim along with hundreds  of other fellow workers and revolutionaries was to emancipate the working classes, creating unity and solidarity under one big union.
He would go to Mexico at the time of the revolution in 1911, fighting with his comrades under a red flag like the true rebel that he was. trying to overthrow the dictator Porfirio Diaz. Next stop onto San Diego in 1912 to support fellow workers protesting against police banning of street meetings. Then onto British Colombia helping organise a national construction strike,  then on to San Pedro to help dockworkers. This  would  lead to the first recorded encounter with the police who arrested him on the charge of vagrancy.
He would inspire many, his fellow workers and comrades, but to the bosses saw him as  someone to be feared, someone they considered dangerous, he was in their eyes a marked man.
On the evening of 10th January 1914 in Utah  he sought medical treatment for gunshot wounds, he claimed they had been inflicted upon him after quarrel with a man over a woman, and refused to elaborate anymore, earlier that evening in another part of town, a grocer and his son had been shot and killed. One of the assailants was wounded, so Hill's injury  implicated  him in the incident. Yet despite the uncertainty of witnesses, no one coming forward to identify him as one of the assailants at the scene of the crime no blood of Hills found at the scene a local jury was convinced of his guilt. No physical  evidence linking him to the murder he was accused of.
He was scheduled to be shot by firing squad,  this  caused outrage across the world.  an international campaign to exonerate him was launched, from Britain to other European countries and even President Woodrow Wilson calling for a retrial.  Those looking at the case eventually declared its willingness to hear testimony from the woman's husband, but Hill loyally  refused to identify his alleged assailant in case it damaged the reputation of the lady involved.
Sadly the eventual day came and he was executed and shot down by firing squad on this day 19th November 1915. 
Whilst waiting his execution he wrote the following words which were later turned into song :-

My will is easy to decide
for I have nothing to divide
My kin don't need to weep and moan
Moss does not cling to a rolling stone
My body?  oh, If I could choose
I would to ashes it reduce
And let the merry breeze blow
My dust to where some flowers grow
Perhaps some fading flower then
Would soon grow up and grow green again
This is my last and final will
Good luck to all of you, Joe Hill

Among his  final words were  " Don't mourn , organise "

and just before he was assassinated  in reply  to a question if he had anything further to say he answered "Fire" unfortunately they did.

Up to 30,000 people would attend his funeral, he was subsequently cremated and his ashes divided into 600 envelopes, that were sent to IWW branches across the globe.

Scenes of Joe Hill's funeral cortege

He would become  a martyr for the Labour Movement across the world, who is forever remembered today and tomorrow because he planted a seed upon the earth  that still makes the parasites shake,  in every place where people organise together  his legacy still spins, his power still resonates, as we remember that " an injury to one is an injury to all."
You can't  kill the spirit of Joe Hill,  this spirit lives on in his songs and in the deeds of men and women across the globe who carries his message  forward, in unity and  strength, in solidarity forever.

Paul Robeson sings the song  Joe Hill

Joe Hill's Preacher and the Slave as sung by Utah Philips

Link to last years with poem dedicated to him, and links to two other posts here :-

http://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/joe-hill-7101879-191115-injury-to-
one.html

Some useful links :-

IWW Cymru/Wales

https://www.facebook.com/walesiww/

British and Irish region of the IWW

https://iww.org.uk

USA Branch

http://www.iww.org


https://www.iww.org

The late great Tony Benn on the Middle East

The late great Tony Benn, spot on as usual , check out the following video where he talks about arms sales to the middle east, make you think.
It should be noted that serving in Egypt during Britain's colonial days he witnessed the cruel effects of the British Empire. The speech  I post below that he delivered to the house of commons in November 1992 sadly still has so much relevance to us today. At the moment the profiteers of  pain and sorrow, the arms manufacturers are seeing their deadly trade boom. 
It should also be noted that ISIS  strength in power arose after the destruction of Iraq and Syria, largely funded by selling oil on the black market and by using weapons left by Americans in the Iraq war, and then in Syria used to fight Bashar al- assad.
I do not understand how more violence will help the situation, but sadly the ones clamouring for war seem to have the loudest voices at the  moment.We should not succumb to fear being stirred up at moment  but must keep pushing for peaceful solutions to the massive problems we are currently facing. 

Tony Benn - Arms sales to Iraq

What Jeremy Corbyn actually said about the shoot to kill policy

This is what Jeremy Corbyn actually said about the shoot to kill policy regarding a terrorist situation,that he has now been forced to accept,  but don't expect to read it in the right wing corporate mainstream media.

- " We live in dark and dangerous times and the shoot-to-kill-policy is specifically aimed at terrorists in a hostage situation, is the right policy given the emergency situation that members of the special services will find themselves in" he said .
" It is the right thing to do in those circumstances and  we have given that power to those responsible to make that decision."

Corbyn has also long been opposed to a wider military campaign and said this morning that French strikes would "probably not" make a difference. Once again only saying what a lot of people genuinely feel. Do we really  feel it necessary to spread more danger  that could end up highly counterproductive. I have little sympathy for Hilary Benn, and other Labour dinosaurs rushing out to condemn.  loved his father,  but have the utmost respect for straight talking Jeremy Corbyn holding on to his principles along with his friends at Stop the War.
Are we not allowed to question things anymore?
Let us not forget that the last time that guns and high adrenaline got together in London, an innocent Brazilian electrician named  Jean Charles De Menzies was executed in cold blood in error. 
Of  course we must continue to be on guard in the aftermath of the Paris terror attack and carry on opposing the cycle of war, terror and racism, not forgetting either that it was Western interventions in the Middle East that have been partially responsible for many  terrorist attacks taking place.

Confession

I admit I suffer from depression, anxiety too,
but if you bumped into me in the street, 
could give you a misconception,
as I release my smiley face,
offer you a firm handshake,
as the weight of the world,
brings me down.

A constant war inside myself,
mind in constant rearrangement,
feelings lift from  time to time,
clouds depart, to provide glimmers of hope,
from the darkest of nights,
to bright days awakening.

I chase dreams, vapors of positivity,
never feel that I'm losing the fight,
it might be hard, but often I win,
find some dignity stored, some self respect,
but depression can be such a lonely thing,
often grateful for the friends who have called.

I've got better at coping nowadays,
but should avoid the internet and the daily news,
guess that's just a pattern of my behaviour,
sit in  the library within the confines of knowledge,
found in moments of waking, this is my confession.


  

Paris Aftermath, some further thoughts

To people currently blaming refugees for attack in Paris yesterday, do these people not realise that it is these people that the refugees are trying to flee from.
"Who mourns for whom? Whose gaze and who speaks for whom? Who names whom and, who are the perpetrators or the victims? Who speaks the truth? Who cares ? Who?" - Anon
Do we forget the people of Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkey, Syria,Kenya, Beirut, Palestine, etc etc ?
We all share one commonality, that we are all human. Is compassion limited only to those we identify  with? Should we not find outrage and sadness for all victims of war and terrorism?
Should we not be trying to stop all wars, that help feed terrorism? Western powers should be reminded of their part in ongoing terrorism. Should we not be praying for the whole world? Lets hope we can continue to spread some simple messages of truth and restraint.Let not our collective guilt be moulded into hate, with dignity and respect lets try and foster peace. Sadly I feel that this crappy world will keep on delivering more shame, let us cry together not in our names..
Remember too that the perpetrators of yesterdays attacks weren't Muslims they were cowards using religion as a vindication for their cowardice. We are one world and family it is time we started  showing one another respect. We must stand together, this after all is how we will grow.
Lets continue to show our solidarity with  people rather than nation states.

" Whoever  kills  an innocent person it is as if he has killed all of humanity."

- The Koran 5:32

Auguries of doom

(for victims of Paris Terror attack)

Terrorism is hate
it cannot win,
love must triumph
because this vein of brutality is sick,
chaotic warped voices
breeding messages of darkness,
with futile redundant deadly intention
on blood splattered streets,
the music falls silent
darkness dances with senselessness,
tears drop onto pavements
paths of destruction carry fear,
contaminated ideology
lies polluted and poisoned,
confused and twisted
against humanity sows
rampant seeds of disregard,
but peace love and compassion
will never surrender,
as heartbreak's pain throbs
and hate arrives in Paris,
spread by deluded stalkers of death
let us pray,that terror won't win,
let us  plead for peace, again and again
even though we don't know who the enemy is.

Street art of Banksy in Palestine with David Rovics singing "Occupation"...

This post dedicated  to Boris Johnson, who has just had  to cut his Middle East trip short because of stupid  disrespectful  remarks he made on the Israel-Palestine conflict. He has spread misinformation on the situation, and has consciously displayed  denial of the occupation that continues daily  to oppress the Palestinians. Daily confiscating land, destroying homes, detaining children and violating international and humanitarian law on a daily basis.  His dismissal of BDS (Boycott divestment sanctions) tactics simply displays an arrogance and dismissal of the Palestinian people. It should not be a great surprise to him that he did not  get a great welcome from them.. This is what occupation, looks and sounds like.

" You ask me how  it is
That I dare take a side
You say I loathe myself
For pointing out that you have lied
You say it's tribal warfare
But I disagree
For the dynamics of the situation
Are not difficult to see
On one  side is the fighter jet
On the other side the stone
On one side is the slave
On the other is the throne
For the many there are checkpoints
While foreign soldiers rule the streets
For one side there is victory
But the people don't accept defeat

(CHORUS)

The word you need to know is occupation
The very definition of a land without a nation
And if  peace is what you're after then let us not deceive
it will  come on the day the tanks return to Tel Aviv

On one side there is hunger
And  bulldozed olive trees
On  the other is the Army
Ruling by decrees
Caterpillers  maul the streets
And destroy entire city blocks
While children swallow shrapnel
For the crime of throwing rocks
Fences are erected
Around the towns they flatten
And Herzi's own fanatics
Sleep on  sheets of satin
And they water their plantations
Drilling  ever-deeper wells
While the displaced children of the hopeless
Are filled with bullet shells

(Chorus)

... It will come on the day the settlers return to Tel Aviv

On one side there is the Mossad
Rounding up the men
Thrown in jail without trial
Being tortured once again
On the other there is rage
Helplessness and fear
And a growing realization
That another holocaust is near
On the outside there are prisons
Inside detainees
Being stripped of their humanity
Beaten naked to their knees
Outside ghetto prison walls
There are stormtroopers all around
While inside the hungry people
Yearn for liberated  ground

(Chorus)

.... it will come on the day the jailguards return to Tel Aviv

All across the world
You can hear the people say
The children  of Jerusalem
Will be free one day
In overcrowded camps
Amidst  the stench  of death and flies
To the suburbs of Detroit
You can hear the extinguished cries
While in the land of Israel
With God ever on their side
Walls and fences are constructed
And papers are denied
People fight for their existence
While the world turns a blinded eye
And  those who should know better
Insist on asking why.

David Cameron admits to being a cluless idiot

Multi millionaire man of the people has admitted being a clueless idiot  he has just written to his local council to complain about the obvious disastrous consequences of his own chancellors destructive ideological austerity agenda. A man whose party is committed to make significant cuts to our frontline services from our elderly day centres, to our libraries and our museums. His ignorance would be funny, if it was not for the fact that  his and the tory's toxic  policies are currently causing untold misery to many. He is clearly out of touch.
This mans judgement already called into question many times, as he and his party carry on inflicting pain across the land. From the outset Cameron's strategic blunders, confused demeanor and errors of judgement have been plain to see, as he spreads discontent and misery across the nation, with his bluster and belligerance and his damaging array of economic policies. As a result of his austerity measures according to Oxfam 800,000 British children will be plunged into poverty over the next ten years, over the same period 1.5 million working age adults will fall into poverty as well, by 2018, 900,000 public sector workers will have lost their jobs, and the bottom 10% of British earners seeing their income fall 38% over this Governments 5 year term. His austerity measures serve no purpose than to cut the welfare state  so that can reduce taxes on the rich, to the cost of the vulnerable , the marginalised and the less better off. Combined  with tax redit cuts shambles, and ongoing plans  to cut public spending by £30 billion including £12 billion in welfare cuts the mind truly boggles.
It is obvious that David Cameron is an idiot, so tell me  where are the mass marches, riots of uncaged emotion? It seems  that, like it or not , (as he fills a lot of us with  feeling of loathing )he still finds lots of supporters  and commands respect from people  who  are still not convinced that austerity is a lie, that austerity is a con. Who would probably still carry on voting Tory even if Cameron killed, and dismembered a baby live on T.V.
For God's sake lets stop him in his tracks he is clearly not fit to run the country.

Vote no confidence in David Cameron :-

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/104471

Make your stand today

If you stand for nothing. You fall for everything. Make your stand today. There's a lot of injustice spreading  across this land ( and most others too)  don't just stand by. Do something. Join others and fight injustice together. 
In life things change, imagine for a minute if everything stayed the same, month after month, year after year. We should always be determined to stand firm, stand strong, in order to make a better world. Never be afraid to use your voice for honesty and compassion, use it to speak out against injustices, lying and greed,  that is daily spread but not in our names. Be a weapon of good.
Now is the time to make your stand, because if we don't the rot will continue. Don't remain silent, speak out against injustice, large or small, and share the voices of those who continue to expose them. Do not be discouraged, be a force for change. It is too easy to sit back and do nothing, we can't afford to keep quiet, for a more equitable society to be achieved, we have to lend our voices to the invisible.
Hail all that make a stand against injustice. So stand up, speak out, and I will stand together with you. 
They will try to make you falter, try to make you fall, but we will strive forward because there is no other way.

Why I choose to wear a white poppy.

                               for all those who have died fighting for the wealth of a few

On 11 November and the days around it, many people choose to wear a red poppy as a symbol for those who have given their lives in battle.
The red paper poppy was initially adopted as a symbol for those who fought in the First World War, and was introduced by the American Legion in 1921. Today it is more commonly used in the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
The flower was chosen because it grows wild in many fields in northern France and Belgium - where some of the deadliest battles of World War One took place.
When it was first adopted, it represented mourning and served as a pledge that war must never happen again. Indeed, the words “never again” were emblazoned on the original design.

The red poppy appeal, organised by the Royal British Legion (RBL), specifically represents remembrance associated with the British Armed Forces.
However, a number of issues have caused people to feel uncomfortable with it , with many believing the red poppy symbolises remembrance of British armed forces and its allies rather than enemies and civilians who also died in wars.
Others feel the red poppy has become politicised over time,in Northern Ireland, for example, it became regarded as a Protestant Loyalist symbol because of its connection with British patriotism, and that politicians use it to help justify war,and  has become a symbol of death.
Personally speaking  people have the right to wear a red  Poppy if they choose to, but I am  put off by the red poppy, to  much association for me, with the glorification of war, and all its bloodshed, a mere marketing brand, used as a tool to promote current wars,  but do acknowledge that  many people choose to  wear them  to remember lives lost in conflict.
But there are alternatives, to this mass imposed red flower, that acknowledges the many civilian lives too. It is called the white  poppy. Designed by the Co-operative Women's Guild in 1933 and adopted the following year by the Peace Pledge Union (PPU) as a symbol of anti-war and pacifist sentiment. There are three elements to the meaning of white poppies: they represent remembrance for all victims of war, a commitment to peace and a challenge to attempts to glamorise or celebrate war, the PPU website says. White poppies symbolise the conviction that there are better ways to resolve conflict than through the use of violence. They embody values that reject killing fellow human beings for whatever reason. The white poppy recalls all victims of all wars – both combatants and civilians of all nationalities – seeking to bring to an end "the exclusion of civilians from mainstream Remembrance events".It aims to promote the idea that there are different ways to avoid conflict than through violent means, with the PPU stating: "The best way to represent the victims of war is to work to prevent war in the present and future."
To wear one is not to be unpatriotic or anti British, or disloyal, it is I guess just a badge of pride. The White poppy not just on show for  one day. but bought and sold all year round, used to remember all victims of war, acknowledge  that over 85%  of casualties and deaths are civilian. This year alone has seen the rise in childrens deaths, with thousands of others made homeless.
We who choose to wear the white poppy do not claim that the lives of servicemen and women are of any less value than those of others. After all, all life is sacred.
I also acknowledge  too all those conscientious objectors who chose not to fight and kill and truly honor their choice. I refuse to accept the current narratives, refuse to join in with  jingoism but will continue to show my respect. The greatest tribute to those who have sacrificed all is to carry on working for peace, remembering all the victims.
There incidentally is also a black poppy, that remembers all  those who who died in, and all those who resisted and continue to resist, the capitalists’ wars. To those who mutinied, went on strike, shirked, refused to kill. For all those they executed for deserting.
Rememberance was intended to be a pledge that war must never happen again, not to be used  to glorify or sanitise war. Arms dealers are currently still make profits out of war, from slaughter and mass misery, not  sparing a thought to  the carnage they’ve brought, but they'll still  wear their red poppies with pride. On November 1I  I will wear a white poppy with peaceful intent.

R.S. Thomas - Pact.

Britain fell silent today, to mark the eleventh day of the eleventh month to honour those who died in conflict and those still fighting for freedom, to mark the time when in 1918 gunfire ceased on the Western Front and the First World War ended,and the idea of ending all wars. A fact our leaders have not heeded.
So I consider the following poem, most apt. Heddwch/peace.

This is my child;
that is yours. Let
peace be between them
when they grow up.

They are far off
now; let it not
be through war they are brought
near. Their languages

are different. Let them both
learn it is peace
in the hand is the translation
of peace in the mind.

WARNING :- Serious proposals to Library services in Ceredigion to to be discussed by Council Cabinet tomorrow.

It has been drawn to my attention ( someone kindly passed me on an internal memo) that tomorrow, 9th November , Ceredigion County Council Cabinet  in Aberaeron to discuss proposals  to discuss options for changes within the library services in Ceredigion. I am alarmed that no one seems to know what is going on, let us hope those with responsibility will allow wider consultation with the wider public.
I guess the reasons for the consideration, is due to the severe cutbacks made by the Conservative Government to local Government funding and expenditure to public services occurring across Britain at the moment. Whatever happens the authorities have a duty to keep us informed with their proposals.
There are 3 proposals to be discussed. :-

1. Closure of Llandysul library and reduction of the mobile library by two vehicles ( one large and small vehicle)

2.Closure of Llandysul and one further static library

Reduce the number of static libraries by two through the closure of Llandysul and either Cardigan, Lampeter or Aberaeron. The Mobile library service would be re-designed to provide a service for the towns where static libraries have been closed but the frequency of visits across the county would be reduced.

3.Closure all static libraries, bar Aberystwyth.

Reduce the number of static libraries to one, Aberystwyth only and re-design the mobile  library service to provide a service across the County  but the frequency of visits to all Towns would be reduced.

All the above options will also include an element of staff reduction through automation and support processes.

In my opinion all above, very alarming and worrying, in a county that is bilingual, keen to promote its identity and language access to free literature and services in their own language I would have thought would be paramount.
Libraries are places  of intellectual freedom, places of learning, I believe access to them is a basic human right, knowledge after all gives us power.
People in the community on any income level can daily access information via books or computer, for those of us who cant afford to go elsewhere.
Local library's also act as an essential hub in the community, where service users gather, to read newspapers, catch up with friends, to feel a sense of belonging, providing safe and friendly environments for young and old for social networking. With dedicated hardworking staff always on hand, who seem to have been kept in the dark about the plans, with minimum amount of consideration or consultation.
Also provide the first gateways to a childs pathway to learning. A place to keep warm, a  place that really change lives. Also provide the first gateways to a childs pathway to learning. A place to keep warm, a pl;ace that really saves lives.
Furthermore currently the library in Cardigan ( I know this, because I use it everyday, I write as a loyal library user)  is the only service that provides free source of internet access to poorer members of the community. It is used to apply for and access benefits, job hunts and fill in job applications, and source any level of government information. I am aware that a significant part of the community who cannot afford to buy a computer or pay for broadband to access the internet in their own homes. My own partner found her current home accessing the services of Cardigan library. The only opportunity that some of us to  access the internet at the moment, is in the library.
Without our library services a significant percentage of Ceredigion's community would be disenfranchised, from these essential services and resources, and I say nothing about the poets, the bloggers and creatives amongst our numbers.
I sincerely hope that when the cabinet meets tomorrow to discuss their proposals, they have the tenacity to take on board some thoughts contained within this post. My mind really reels that they are actually thinking of these proposals, that they may actually come into being.
Our libraries should remain and continue to play an important and pivotal role in our community. Books are essential to survival for society and the individual. Surely there must be other things the council could be looking at.


POST UPDATE 

10/11/15

They have decided to put it out to public consultation,  put the onus on us, we must demand and shout loudly  that we want the service that we have and need , a free public library for one and all.

A Persistent Peace

As leaves lie fallen on the ground
and people remember, stand in silence,
in every city, town and village
carrying the weight of sorrow,
an insistent echo keeps ringing

choruses of amity everflowing,
beyond the wasted bloodshed
and the pity of war,
in dark days, brings light
gives purpose, for us to achieve,
upon every week, upon every month
upon every year, on all occasions,
breathing on our arms and different skins
peace's persistent kiss, could disarm us all,
softly, carries on calling
releasing message strong,
on dawn, break of day and sunrise
there is nothing that it fears.

Shot at dawn in the First World War and the Welsh opposition that seems to have been forgotten.

During the First World War some 306 British and Commonwealth soldiers were shot for mutiny desertion and cowardice. Most of them were sentenced after a short trial at which  no real opportunity for defence was allowed.
Today, it is recognised that several of them were underage when they volunteered and that many were actually suffering from shell-shock or post traumatic disorder. Andy Decomyn's statue ' Shot at Dawn' is modelled on Private Herbert Burden of the 1st Batallion Northumberland fusiliers, who was shot at Ypres in 1915. aged only 17. His name and the names of who suffered the fate of being shot at dawn are listed on the stakes arranged  in the form of a Greek theatre around the statue, symbolising the tragedy that those events signify. The location of the memorial in the most easterly point of the Arboteum means that this is the first place to be touched by the dawn light.
He was one of 306 young British soldiers who met this  cruel fate, including 15 of my own fellow Welsh countrymen, induced by the horrors of the Great War, that at least Jeremy Corbyn has had the tenacity to acknowledge. I remember too  how the late Keir Hardie duel M.P for Mertyr Tydfil and Aberdare raised his opposition to this cruel war. What is also forgotten is around 200,000 miners in  the South Wales valleys  went on strike at the height of the First World War. Not everyone signed up to the  jingoistic version of patriotism that continues to be spread.
There were between 700-900 conscientious objectors in Wales during this period, it was no soft option. It meant tribunals, imprisonment and hard labor. Conchies as they were  known faced with humiliation, called cowards and shirkers. By 1916 Home Office intelligence reports revealed the extent of anti-war, revolutionary opposition in South Wales, it was large.
After the 75 year secrecy Act was lifted, members of the Shot at Dawn Organisation started campaigning for pardon. This week as rememberance Sunday approaches I remember them all not as cowards or traitors, but as victims of injustice that were not given the chance to survive.
I support all those that strive to ensure that a radical anti-war message remains fully embedded in our hearts, without disrespecting others that fell. So on Sunday I will proudly wear a white poppy. Remember these other  heroes that time has forgotten.
Finally in the words of Harry Patch the last WW1 veteran in Europe (1989 -2006)

' War is organised  murder and nothing else. Politicians  who took us to war should have been given the  guns and told to settle their differences themselves instead of organising nothing netter than legalised murder.'

                                      World War One Conscientious Objectors                             

And so it is.

  ( I try to avoid rhyme in my poems, but with this little one, made the effort. I do not understand either, why some poets resort to using  rhyming dictionary's online or in  book form, I believe a poem should come from the mind and heart of the of the poet,  so I choose not to use them.)

There are days of gladness
swimming alongside grains of sadness,
living attentively, passing time with no regret
following things beautiful, among earth's scent,
allows me moments to release poems bright
tales, sometimes whispering with disquiet,
as the world contains me, I try to protect delicate skin
the pulse and echo weaving among humanity's din,
following endless rivers of transformation                              
carried under the moon and sun,
the unquenchable thirst of longing
this voice, so far never conforming, 
falling apart sometimes, but somehow clinging on
in this world of constant transition, 
messages escape to spread freedoms mission
allow me to surrender wild imagination, 
until that fateful day, when wings rip 
and I will fall upon a landing strip,
as death calls and takes me far away
in departure to sail on horizons distant fray.

98th Anniversary of the Balfour Declaration

Lord Balfour

Today marks the 96th anniversary of the cursed Balfour promise or Balfour Declaration, by means of which those who had no ownership (Britain) permitted those who had no right to establish a national homeland on an established country Palestine. Lord Balfour bought about a promise that marked  the confiscation of the Palestinians homeland with displacement of its people. Balfour I believe will continue to turn in his grave  because of the historical injustice which Britain committed against the Palestinian people.
The Palestinian conflict does not begin in 1948 but in 1917, with this  declaration. It is necessary that we go back to this crucial watershed in the history of the Middle East and the roots of the continuing betrayal of the Palestinian people.As a result Palestinians were evicted from their ancestral  homeland to be expelled to refugee camps, to live in exile across the globe, to this present day.The continuing seperation of the people of the West Bank andthe open prison that is Gaza.
 Because of the broken promise, Britain can be given the blame for setting the stage for the conflict that exists today.We are approaching soon the 100th anniversary of this grave injustice. And in this moment in time the current gravity of the situation in Palestine cannot be overstated.
Britain must accept its  full responsibility in  moretheless creating this current situation, which has left a legacy of deceit, injustice and oppression..
I also acknowledge that Balfour was not unique in history in giving what he did not own to those that were not entitled to it. It is time for Britain to apologise for the Balfour declaration.

Link to post on 95th anniversary here :-

http://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/95th-anniversary-of-balfour-declaration.html

Dissapearing Palestine - Richard Hamilton

Despite the above, I still strongly believe that 'From the river to the sea'
one day Palestine will be free.

Remembering the 1910 Cambrian Combine Strike, the great Unrest and the Tonypandy riots.

On 1st November 1910, coal miners working for the Cambrian Combine began a ten month strike, because of having to exist on starvation wages, which which would lead to the Tonypandy riots. Also at issue was the  price to be paid for a new seam of coal. During this period in the early 1910's which is often  called " the Great Unrest.' the South Wales valleys were  experiencing its fair share of industrial tension and unrest.
30,000  miners in the Rhondda, Aberdare and Maesteg went on strike  or were locked out.
The strike would mark one of the few occasions in British troops were deployed against striking workers, ( I remember how Margaret Thatcher would later deploy the British police as her  own unofficial private army against the miners in the 1984/85 strike.)
On 7 November 1910, thousands of striking miners marched across the Rhondda valley,  they had walked  out over mining magnate D.A Thomas's decision to sack the whole workforce at  the Ely Pit in Penycraig, Rhondda. They demanded better pay and working conditions. After  one striker had been killed, a miner called Samuel Rhys and mass pickets had failed to stop  police from scab herding,( they had bussed  in scab workers from Cardiff to keep the colliery running,) tensions already high erupted, and an uprising ensured, which is  now known as the Tonypandy riots. (Incidentally my own grandads sister ended up living there) strikers attacked shops in the town who had  put families on a credit blacklists not allowing  them to buy enough food,  thus aiding the bosses. Blackleg trains were stoned and halted.
Winston Churchill. then Home Secretary sent in the troops. The striking miners ( many accompanied by their women ) fought back although  the troops were wielding rifles with fixed bayonets.
People were bludgened, kicked and maltreated , with many suffering serious injuries, such was the brutality inflicted. 13 miners  were arrested and prosecuted for their part in the unrest.
After almost one year on strike these brave miners who had had to endure so much hardship returned to work. Though their demands  were not met, the strike helped change the face of British Trade Unionism, still inspiring workers fighting for better conditions today, giving rise in South Wales to increased militancy, the growth of revolutionary syndicalism in the workers struggle against their bosses.
Winston Churchill would be despised by many in South Wales, for the rest of his life, for  the actions that he took .

Awakenings ( a poem for Samhein, Jane and Shaker Aamer)

 ( a poem for Samhein, Jane, and Shaker Aamer)

Today after waking early,
I noticed the trees of life,
natures guardians with deep roots,
watchers of time and presence,   
as I carry feelings of  love,
raptured  forms of ecstasy,
that are not illegal to possess.

I cross a bridge in Aberteifi,
no longer does its river,
entice me to plunge into its depths,
today a day  of celebration,
as the veil between the worlds of life and 
                                                     death lift.

I will travel soon. to see my beloved,
gentle soul, beautiful companion,
currently stuck in hospital in West Wales,
as I remember the dead,  still look after the living,
as precious petals cast away doubt,
on this spinning whirling day of divination.

As Hecate Queen of the witches,
walks with Persephone,
deep in the underworld,
above ground,
I drift in this world,
of light and air.

I walk with beauty,
she draws me close,
from afar,
two heartbeats ,
of companionship,
journeying  together,
side by side in unity.

And today I rejoice for another reason,
Shaker Aamer the last British resident,
of Guantanamo Bay  prison camp,
has been set free, home again where he belongs,
so today is also a good  day for justice and freedom,
a time of jubilation as innocent hearts smile,
hope exists on this  earth, so blessed be, blessed be,

The flow of magic.

( possibly  without access to computer tomorrow, so an old  post of celebration)

Happy Samhein/ Calan Gaeaf


As Octobers, splendour surrenders,
coalesces and dissolves,
and the veil lifts again  on the earth,
poets try to communicate,
the sliced magic of things once witnessed,
to breathe a little  life out of thougths which grow within.

Near the rivers edge, time moves  in slow motion,
bubbling invocations leave their notation,
as words slip and slide, on thresholds rotation,
planting seeds from beneath skin,
this night of divination, allows us to keep searching,
with seas of ink and love, to replenish the earth with feeling.

Minds flying full of cobbled webs and threads,
follow the hubble bubble of exchange,
scribbled echoes and dreamscapes cast free,
to tunnel  our breaths with light and shade,
verses shaking loose undercurrents of imagination,
tides sweeping letters adrift on seas of navigation.

Our arrows shoot far into the sky,
pierce the night and its shadows,
from bright gatherings, nourishment, 
                       gets  released into air,
resonating with human care,
keeps this grinning manic world,
spinning with the afterglow of reason.

One Hour of Yiddish Communist Music

Following  yesterday's post, some more music......  normal service might resume soon. Though tell me what is normal? Boycott consensual reality.
Let freedom ring.

One Hour of IWW Music

Some musical respite - One hour of music from the Wobblies, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). The Union for all workers,  who used music more  pervasively than any other labor group.
Their songs and messages still resonating deeply with us today.  
Solidarity forever, remember an injury to one is an injury to all.

We shall return - Return is a human right

                                               We shall return - Return  is a human right

                                               Artist :- Alberto Smith Seravia

The right of return is a universal right, that is binding under international law, enjoyed by every people regardless of where they come from.
The idea of universal rights is an ancient one, but one of its first international expressions is found in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) which was proclaimed by the United Nations in 1949 "as a common achievement for all people and all nations."
One  of the core rights set out in the UDHR is the right of return, Article 13 (b) of the UDHR states :- "Everyone has the right to leave any country including his own, and to return to his country , Palestinian refugees are entitled to this binding universal right in the same way that all other refugees are. There is a broad consensus that the right of return, along with the right of self-determination, is the foundation of the 66 year old struggle of the Palestinian people.
We must remember how the majority of the Palestinian people up to 750,000 were forcibly displaced and uprooted from their homes and lands in 1948 never to be allowed to return to their homes or communities that they were displaced from.
Today there are more than 7 million Palestinian refugees scattered across the world. Their right of return must be recognised in order for the ongoing conflict to be restored. The end of the occupation would certainly help achieve this, .Anything   less would be a denial of justice.
However the government of Israel opposes these moves  therefore making it impossible for peace to exist, Until Israel recognises this right and corrects the  ongoing injustice that has and is still being perpetrated against the Palestinian people, hope lies in pieces.

Scattered thoughts in October

                                   
As the day drifts,
leaves scatter,
people too,
spreading little thoughts,
across the land.

The sky turns grey,
as wild geese fly home,
I remember that life is a journey,
with opportunities of return.

My heart can be heavy,
but dreams can awaken,
as I wear autumns clothes,
with  jumpers to warm,
offer some protection,
as nights grow colder.

Walking alone,
I have felt a lot of damage,
left me in the past, a little undone,
but there is magic in the air,
as I play with  words,
am now travelling forwards,
on the road to somewhere else,
searching for seasons new adventure.

Britain accused of doing bidding for Chinese regime.

Britain has been accused of doing the bidding of the Chinese regime after UK police raided  the family of a Tiananmen Square survivor for standing in the road holding up protest banner in Central London. 
Chinese democracy activist Shao Jiang, 47 was arrested in the street outside Londons Mansion House where a reception was being held for visiting Chinese premier Xi Jinpig.  Shaos computers and mobile phone were seized as well. Shao helped organise the 1980 student protest in Tiananmen , managed to escape China, after being jailed for months, and moved to the UK where he now writes about China for Amnesty International. A totally over the top response by London's police doing the same now as oppressive forces in China.
Two pro Tibetan activists were also arrested at the same protest.
Britain's fawning warm reception has been criticised by human rights experts for ignoring Chinas history of violating individuals citizens rights. My thoughts are currently with struggling British steel workers about to be tossed on the scrap heap due to the impact of cheap Chinese imports, and how Britain is ignoring  Chinas human rights abuses , as human rights activists currently left languising in Chinese prisons while my Government pursues lucrative deals at the expense of humanity. China's continuing infringements of civil liberties will damage the interests of the whole world including the UK. Business as usual then as Britain carries on sucking up to totalitarian regimes.

Steve Bell's cartoon in the Guardian newspaper earlier this week.

Child of the refuge

( after sadly catching the news the other night, so an amalgamation of reportage.)

                                  Aya is 8 years old,
                                  her home is in  detention,
                                  behind barbed wire and fences,
                                  in a no- man's land,  
                                  a landscape mired in abandonment.
     
                                  Aya is shivering with cold,
                                  her jacket was once white,
                                  now it is drenched with rain,    
                                  and covered in mud,
                                  her brother cries, he  wants the touch of his mother,
                                  her father is desperate as well,
                                  wants them both delivered to safety,
                                  this is not a place where dreams will flourish,
                                  there are no tents for shelter, just seas of misery,
                                  disturbed intersections, between what passes as 
                                                                              a frontier of freedom.     

                                  Aya exists  in this world of chaos,
                                  with her companions, the walking wounded,
                                  crumbling  through the night and day,
                                  as a news cameraman pans in and out,
                                  relays images back to safe European homes,
                                  to be easily digested,  in the comfort of sanctuary.

                                 Aya one fragment of many shattered journeys,
                                 the nagging pain of humanity's pulse,
                                 the drifting sadness  of frightened children, 
                                                                               terrified people,
                                 with broken hearts and broken homes,
                                 four thousand refugees stranded and abandoned,
                                 within yards of the European Union.
                                   
                                 Aya I am truly ashamed, 
                                 of the despair that follows your journey,
                                 wish I could point you in the direction of paradise,
                                 support your tiny soul, strengthen your arms,
                                 stop the  nagging persecution, detention, trauma,
                                 release  you from the tears of seperation, anxiety and grief,
                                 clasp your wishes,  send you protection, 
                                 allow you to  continue your journey,
                                 to a land of security and hope,
                                 anywhere from this grim wasteland,
                                 no place for an innocent child.  

https://iamnotasilentpoet.wordpress.com/2015/10/29/cild-of-the-refuge-by-dave-rendle/
                                   
                             
                                     

Aberfan - Lest we forget, this gross injustice

49 years ago a on Friday October 21, 1966 , approx 9.16 a.m shortly after school assembly many tons of collier rubbish (slag heaps) swept down the sides of a  Merthyr Mountain  above the town of Aberfan after several days of heavy rain, Liquified and pouring down  this black tidal wave would engulf everything in its path in this catastrophic tragedy.
Following  Monday's post about Tryweryn, another tragic memory from Wales's turbulent living history.
Aberfan was to many a result of a conflict of financial interests, which would see the death of 144 people, including a 116 innocent  children, many of whom were between the age of seven and ten along with, five of their teachers, in what is now known  today as one  of one of Wales worst mining disasters in it's history, not forgetting Senghennydd which I've written about previously when in 1913 over 400 were killed.
By the time the landslide stopped, it had demolished Pantglaas Junior School and 20 houses, severely damaging the Secondary School.

The sores and wounds of this disaster are now forever  stored in the memories  and feelings of the people of Wales because of the whole collective loss of a generation that was wiped out. So today again we  try not to forget  the children and adults who died, this human tragedy, that  many say could easily have been  prevented. The National Coal Board  (NCB) were repeatedly warned to move the slag heaps to a safer location, because they were also  close to natural underwater springs. Did the NCB have the decency to acknowledge their blame, to bow their head in shame, like hell no, but we were to  learn sadly far too late that the NCB was ostensibly a capitalist organisation more concerned with profit than lives.  A report by the government at the time said " Blame  for the disaster rests upon  the National Coal Board. The legal liabilities of the National Coal Board to pay compensation for the  personal injury ( fatal or otherwise) and  damage to property is incontestable and uncontested." The Government of the day was also extremely insensitive to the victims families, and people whould have to wait for years, for compensation.
So today we remember  the people of Aberfan, a community  that still profoundly affected by this disaster, one in three survivors still  suffering  from Post traumatic stress,  nearly 50 years after this tragic event took place.  People felt guilty that they were  left alive, they did not feel like survivors, cases of children not being allowed to play in the street, in case it upset other parents.
Let us  hope that lessons learnt from this incident can be learnt for tomorrow, and  remember that this bitter legacy still continues, what with continuing social and economic problems in the South Wales valleys still  being wrought  because of successive governments who have made lives a  continuing source of discomfort.  Combined with the failure of responsibility by the relevant authorities and the appalling behaviour of  some parties in the aftermath of the disaster.
Today, however there is very  little to remind visitors of  this tragic path, just an abstract memorial garden in the village and the childrens section in the graveyard.


Lest we forget, people before profit.

R.I.P the little angels that were lost forever.

shaker aamer - pj harvey

Repost of this song

PJ Harvey released this powerful song in 2013, to highlight the ongoing detention of last British resident held inside the US prison at Guantanamo Bay. Harvey recorded the track to help  maintain  pressure to help Shaker, whose family live in South London, to be released back to to Britain.
Saturday 24 October will be Shakers 5,000th day in Guantanamo.
First sent to the notorious camp in 2002, but subsequently cleared for release in 2007,  proving that the US authorities had no intention of bringing him  to trial for the last  7 years or so. This  Friday will  mark the end of the 30 day notice period to the US Congress that he is to be released and returned to his home , here in the UK.
On the following day Sunday 25th October, Shaker should be free and on his way home.
The US must keep their promise to Shaker and the world, a man who has endured all these years with much dignity and fortitude, 13 years imprisoned without any charge or trial, 13 years without ever getting to see his son. At present he is on hunger strike in protest at his  continual  detention and the appalling conditions in which he and his fellow detainees are held. In retaliation, he has been beaten, confined to a tiny cell and forced to spend long periods in solitary confinement. Many of his supporters are now also fasting for 24 hours in solidarity with him.
 Shaker must be freed and get the justice he deserves and the much needed treatment for his failing health,riddled with arthritis, combined with other medical problems, that no man should ever have to put up with.
There should  be no further delay to this injustice, time to bring Shaker home  immediately.
His eventual release will be a source of comfort and  joy to the many people  who have campaigned so hard for this moment to take place.

There will be a protest   outside Downing Street this coming Saturday  2-4 to highlight Shaker's case one more time.

Shaker Aamer

No water for three days
I cannot sleep, or stay awake.

Four months hunger strike.
Am I dead, or am I alive?

With metal tubes we are force fed.
I honestly wish I was dead.

Strapped  in the  restraining chair.
Shaker Aamer, your friend.

                                             In Camp 5, eleven years
                                             Never charged. Six years cleared.

They took away my one note pad,
and then refused to give it back.


I can't think straight, I write, then stop.
Your friend Shaker Aamer. Lost.

The guards just do what they're told,
the doctors just do what they're told.

Like an old car I'm rusting away.
Your friend, Shaker. Guantanamo Bay

                                    Don't forget -

                                                            
                                                             PJ Harvey 2013

Michael McClure (b.20/10/30) - ACTION PHILOSOPHY

Michael McClure, the fantastic poet playwright turns 83 today, so hats of. Best known for his participation in San Francisco famous Six Gallery Poetry reading where Allen Ginsberg first publicly read Howl and his friendship with the band  The Doors, he was to become a prominent figure in the Beat movement, writing poetry and plays. His 1965 production The Beard faced obscenity charges, but were subsequently dismissed.
His writing reflect his Bhuddist practice and his appreciation of the natural world using elements of typographical expression, with an exquisite sensibility. I like his work a lot, so thanks Michael, and happy birthday.

                                                             ACTION PHILOSOPHY

                               THAT GOVERNMENT IS BEST WHICH GOVERNS LEAST.
                                                 Let me be free of ligaments and tendencies
                                                             to change myself into a shape
                                                                 that's less than spirit.
                                                                LET ME BE A WOLF,
                                                                 a caterpillar, a salmon,
                                                                                 or
                                                                                an
                                                                          OTTER
                                                             sailing in the silver water
                                                                 beneath the rosy sky.
                                                               Were I a moth or condor
                                                                   you'd see me fly!
                                                    I love this meat of which I'm made!
                                                  I dive in it to find the simplest vital shape!

                                                           AH! HERE'S THE CHILD!!!
                                 
                                         WHAT'S LIBERTY WHEN ONE CLASS STARVES
                                                                       ANOTHER?