Why we hate the Daily Mail

The Daily Mail is rightly getting hammered at the moment....which has been cheering me up greatly. Here's last nights stand off on Newsnight. 10 minutes in Paul Dacre gets it! We're still living in dangerous times, however, and the right wing media and their poison need to be fought tooth and nail.
 Long has the Daily Mail's brand been tainted. It's unique combination of bullshit, scaremongering and hatred making it one of the worst newspapers in the world, for some time it has exhibited a right-wing stance on both society and politics. It still holds an inherently racist outlook, whilst supporting whatever right-wing  crazies that cross their path, ie, the Conservative Party, U.K.I.P, or the English Defence League. Combined with a lack of trustworthy news, hypocricy and bullshit. A bully that is constantly attacking the poor, the vulnerable, the unemployed and disabled benefit claimants. It's headlines long fuelling xenophobia, bigotry, public anxiety and islamphobia, for too long now it has just been a poisonous piece of toilet paper, that needs to be shut down in the name of human decency, and is strictly beyond the pale.
Lest us not forget that during the 1930's and 1940's this newspaper (if we can call it one) openly supported the Nazis and the Blackshirts.

Daily Mail Poem

I pour scorn on its petty margins,
its distortion of realities silhouette,
the daily shame, should be its new name,
cross out all its lies, we'd be left with empty pages.

Drinking toasts to underbellies of nastiness,
it sharpens its pen on bile,
its agenda of spreading hatred,
is enough to scramble your brain.

Acts like a bully, but is simply scared
                                               of everything,
its dark heart is a destroyer of dreams,
as its wedges of venom drives people apart,
in truth, it reminds me of nothing at all.

In these times, when I think people,
should be drawing closer together,
its pinning sense of intolerance,
fuels only fear, with its jackboots
                               gnashing daily.

its message is not one I want to hear,
we are so diametrically opposed,
dont ever think I will ever be able
                             to call it a friend.


(An earlier headline from this odious paper.)

Hurrah for the Blackshirts

In Memory of Mohammed Al-Durrrah

On September 30th 2000 Mohammed Al  Durrah and his father were filmed crouching behind a concrete block along one of Gaza streets as Israeli army soldiers showered them with heavy gunfire. Moments later, the terrorized boy collapsed dead on his father’s lap whose attempts to shield his son from live ammunition proved to be futile.

This incident became one of the most evocative events of the occupation and haunting images of the intifada. Jamal al-Durrah and his 12-year-old son, Mohammad, were filmed by Talal Abu Rahma, a Palestinian cameraman freelancing for France 2, they are seen with their, backs pressed against the wall, Jamal’s arm shielding his young son whose mouth is oval with what must have been a paralyzing fear. And then the shots. After an emotional public funeral, the 12 year old became a symbol of the struggle of the Palestinian people against a ruthless occupier.

After initially taking responsibility for killing Mohammad, a bogus Israeli army investigation concluded that the killing of Mohammad was a hoax, that Palestinians were to blame, that the France 2 journalist who shot the video was part of a conspiracy to ‘delegitimise Israel’.The Prime Minister’s office released a document  officially denying Israel’s responsibility for the death and stating that the 

footage was staged.But the boy did die in conflict and his own father could not save him.

Abu  Rahmeh told the Al-Monitor news website that his French employer had posted on YouTube the entire raw video to put an end to attempts to discredit him through claims that the footage was staged.

The footage of al-Durrah was popular because it captured human emotion, he said: “It moved the world and whoever saw it because it reflected a real human emotion of a father unable to protect his young son.”

Here is a report by the Guardian newspaper on the case, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/23/israeli-report-denies-death-al-dura. Thousands of other Palestinian civilians died too and he symbolized their plight.The footage, became the most potent symbol of the Palestinian resistance against the decades-long Israeli occupation.Drawings and pictures of the scene were painted on walls across many parts of the world in support of the Palestinian cause.

The fact remains that Israeli soldiers still do kill little Palestinian boys on a regular basis,with impunity sometimes just for throwing rocks.Human rights groups’ reports are never short on distressing details: 954 Palestinian children were killed between the Second Intifada in 2000 and Israel’s war on Gaza, the so-called Operation Cast Lead in 2008. In the latter war alone, 345 children were reportedly killed. Years years later, we should remember this terrified boy, remember his name and all the other innocents since trapped in the fogs of war and occupation.

Benefit Concert for Medical Aid for Palestinians :- Cardigan 6th October 2013

 

Quick plug for this event.
Sunday 6th October 2013 Benefit Concert for Medical Aid For Palestinians, a cause very close to my heart,http://www.whatevertheweatherwales.co.uk/en/events/fundraiser-for-palestine  As part of Drones Action Week this concert is organised by Bro Emlyn For Peace and Justice http://www.bepj.org.uk/ Featuring West Wales based rock band Scene Red https://scenered.bandcamp.com/, Pembrokeshire based singer sonwriter Bob Fish, Swansea based stand-up comedian Ben Jenkins and Carmarthen based performance poet Bill Vester. The venue is The Small World Theatre http://www.smallworld.org.uk/ in Cardigan. Doors open at 7.30 the event starts at 8.00pm and tickets are availabe at the door priced at £8.00p (£7.00p for usual concessions). All profits from this event are being donated to Medical Aid For Palestinians http://www.map-uk.org/ . The organisers are also hoping that China Fish of Circus To Palestine will be able to give a short talk on her recent experinces in Gaza.

Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) works for the health and dignity of Palestinians living under occupation and as refugees.

MAP delivers health and medical care to those affected by conflict, occupation and displacement.

Working in partnership with local health providers and hospitals, MAP addresses a wide range of health issues and challenges faced by the Palestinian people.

With offices located in Beirut, Ramallah and Gaza City, MAP responds rapidly in times of crisis, and works directly with communities on longer term health developoment.

Please feel free to share the above flyers with as many people as possible.

Petition and Protest, 10,000 Cuts and Counting: A Ceremony of Rememberance and Solidarity

Please sign this petition to the British government to end the "War on Welfare," which currently has over 55,000 signatures but needs 100,000 to be eligible for a Parliamentary debate, https://submissions.epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/43154
Since the Tory Government came to power their vicious assaults on the poor, the ill, the unemployed and the disabled has been relentless, in it's pure callousness, backed by their partners in crime the Liberal Democrats and the majority of the mainstream media. Currently the Labour Party have been making gestures, but these gestures and fighting talk should have started a long time ago.
Many people  are  now sick and tired of it all and are, refusing to accept this govennment's relentless attacks, sadly many people   have had their lives devastated by the austerity programme, including more than 10,000 people who died shortly after undergoing the Atos Work Capability Assessment, a degrading test used by the government to assess the needs of people receiving benefits related to disability and ill health. I welcome the Labour Party's decision to scrap Atos, a truly harrowing process, that is simply not fit for purpose, but lets  not forget who introduced in the first place, yes, the Labour Party. They also persisted with WCA's (Work Capability Assessments) until the 2010 General Elections, so a whiff of hypocricy surrounds them.
This Saturday coming there will be a ceremony of rememberance and solidarity for all those who have their lives destroyed by austerity at Parliament Square 28/10/13 from noon http://www.10kcuts.org/

The gathering will demand an immediate end to the Work Capability Assessment, as voted for by the British Medical Association, and a New Deal for sick and disabled people based on their needs, abilities and ambitions.
Disabled people are leading the fight back against the injustices of auterity: we cannot stand idly by while our communities and institutions are devastated by this government.
Across the U.K over a thousand people have died only months after being told to find work, we must not forget them, and must ask ourselves the question  what kind of civilised society are we living, that allows this to happen to our citizens. How many more people will kill themselves because of government cuts to their benefits?Personally I think powers should be given back to G.Ps who are the only people that can be truly  trusted to decide who is sick or not, whose valuable opinions are currently ignored. Please sign the wow petition above.

Below is a link to a powerful poem from a poet friend, that  sums up the harsh realities  and remembers  the victims of the Tory's cruel policies.

The Cull of 2013

http://jackie-news.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/the-cull-of-2013_22.html

DON'T FORGET

REMEMBER THE VICTIMS!

The futility of emnity.

                       
                        Westgate Mall,
                        Nairobi, Kenya, Picture :-Andre Vitchek

There are some,
who use the alleged word of god,
to kill and hate,following messages
with hearts and eyes closed,
who shut out the music of humanity's hymn
engaged wth poisoned vision,
storm across sanctuaries
with masks of division,
their cloaks of faith
just a cruel disguise.
Tears overflow from negations cup
as the machine gun rattle fades,
the world  keeps company with grief.
Tomorrow,I pray,we toss lights,
to disintegrate, the poison.

.

Right wing Blogger Ian Dale assaults elderly man protesting for the safety of the planet

I was waiting for a plumber to arrive this morning, and had news on, and was amazed to see controversial  right wing Conservative blogger Ian Dale completely losing the plot, as he assaulted an eldely man  and his dog, outside the Labour Party Conference on the Brighton seafront.
The elderly man a pensioner named Stuart Holmes from Manchester,  was simply an anti-nuclear protestor, undertaking his right to protest, while Daybreak TV's Damien McBride was about to undertake an interview .Next their was an unseemly tangle as he was tussled and shoved to the floor.
Good luck to Mr holmes if he undertakes any legal action, televised to the nation, with many witnesses.

Stop the privatisation of war

Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCa's) are profiting from war and insecurity.
Unnacountable and unregulated these companies are complicit in human rights abuses across the world, putting profit before people and fanning the flames of war. The British government believes PMSCa's are best left to police themselves through national standards and an International Code of Conduct.

This voluntary International Code of Conduct was launched on 19 September 2013.

For more information visit
http://www.waronwant.org/campaigns/corporations-and-conflict/private-armies/watch/17980-new-video-stop-the-privatisation-of-war

Filmaker: Adib Nessim

Composer: Eric Samothrakis