Broken people can get mended

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

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

Tremble under blazing suns

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

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

and too much drink.

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

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

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

climbing up mountains, found places of magic

listened to the river, followed it's source home

from chaos within, found an echoing calm.

African Liberation Day

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

Kwame Nkrumah

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

Anniversary of bombing of Alicante in Spanish Civil War, 1938

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

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

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

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

Aerial attack on Alicante

Well done Ireland

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

The scandal of food waste

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

So please consider signing the following petition

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

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

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

Cosmos

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

BBC guilty of broadcasting pro-Israeli propaganda.

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

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

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

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

http://bit.ly/1BaeJss