On International Women’s Day solidarity with Yarl’s Wood hunger strikers

At the beginning of the 20th Century women across Europe and America were finding their voice.That wanted and demanded decent jobs, better pay, emancipation and the right to vote and hold public offices. It was out  of this air of dissatisfaction,  that International Women's Day was born. A day that today we can still recognise the oppression that still flourishes, caused by both capitalism and patriarchy. Still an unfortunate and undeniable reality for many women today. The fight for woman's  rights might look a little different today, but many are still facing discrimination and injustices across the globe.
In recent times, issues of woman's political and economic inequality have been joined by broader struggles against racism, war, violence, oppression, for  social justice. So today as I observe International Women's Day, I stand up for all women still trapped by injustices. I believe the women's struggle is a struggle for the freedom of all  people, recuperating the fair value of people over things. I recognise the practice and theory of mutual support that women have laid, that are the foundations of social change that we must keep building.
Today in particular  I acknowledge those who are among the most vulnerable in the present moment of time- the refugees. In the same month that we have celebrated the centenary of (some) women's suffrage in the UK, we should not forget over 100 women who have been on hunger strike since February 21 against the inhumane conditions at the Yarl's Wood detention centre and the government's practice of indefinite detention, and their lack of human rights.
"We feel it is our responsibility to call the Home Office out, and take action with our bodies too," the Freedom Fast Yarl's Wood campaigners said in a statement."It is outrageous that 100 years after some women got the vote, elected governments can still openly enforce these inhumane and racist measures."
Some of the demands include an end to charter flights, snatching people ftom their beds in the night, an end to menial work for £1 per hour and to stop detaining vulnerable people and victims of abuse. They are also asking for adequate healthcare and amnesty for people who have lived in Britain for more than 10 years.The hunger strikers demands are for a fair system and an end to the hostile environment policy towards people with legitimate reasons to remain in the UK.A full list of the strikers demands can be found here:-  https://detainedvoices.com/2018/02/25/the-strikers-demands/
Each year over 1,500 women who have sought asylum in the UK are detained  at this infamous detention centre which has been the site of numerous scandals. Most of the women detained there are survivors of rape, torture ,sexual and gender based violence and  other abuse. The UK is currently the only country in Europe with no time limit on detention. A practice opposed by Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the SNP, the Green Party, Plaid Cymru and many other civic and political organisations. This barbaric policy has no place in a so called civilised society. https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/end-indefinite-detention.html
However the Home Office has failed to acknowledge their demands has since taken punitive action, including attempting to deport two hunger strike participants Florence and Opela Kgare on Saturday 3rd March, before there case was complete. This deportion attempt was halted thanks to pressure from the women's friends, the involvement of Labour MPs and the intervention of Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes.
Today activists from across Britain will be taking part in a 24 hour fast on International Women's Day in solidarity with the Yarl's Wood hunger strikers. Migrant's right campaigners have united with the friends of those in the detention centre to call for a Freedom Fast on this day. They have urged " all people of conscience" to join.We must support the protestors and their demands, and stand with them in denouncing the Uk's  inhumane and fundamentally wrong treatment of them.
This International Women's Day, I simply ask everyone to stand in solidarity with female refugees, whatever the stage of their journey, and keep building a society where women's human rights are respected and in which they are free from persecution. Important  steps are already being taken, but it is a long road ahead. Today celebrate the women who are walking it: migrants, asylum seekers, refugees and women in the wider community working together. On the centenary year of women's suffrage in the UK , lets not forget those women, whose voices are too often not heard.It is also  time to keep on calling for the  closure of Yarl's Wood detention centre.

Yemen concerns

'Currently Tory Prime Minister Theresa May  is welcoming vile and  misogynist Saudi Arabian tyrants with open arms, with the aim of selling them even more British weapons to commit war crimes in Yemen.
Mohammed bin Salman is starting a three-day visit to the UK amid protests planned against his country's role in Yemen.
Jeremy Corbyn has accused the government of "colluding" in war crimes by selling arms to Riyadh.
The 32 year old crown prince,who is seen by some as a modernising force in the Gulf State. He has already had lunch with the Queen and Duke of York, and is due to have dinner with the Prince of Wales and Duke of Cambridge.
The UK hopes to capitalise on the Saudi economy's opening up, but this decision has been met by protesters outside Downing Street against the killing of thousands of  Yemeni civilians in air strikes by a Saudi -led multinational coalition, backed by the UK and US, in what is is considered to be a forgotten war, where this crisis  grows daily, spawning an escalating, political, military and humanitarian crisis.
Also if  this Saudi Crown  Prince is truly a reformer, he must stop the execution of 18 young people for the'crime' of attending protests and put an end  to the shocking abuse of human rights.

Petition here:-

https://act.reprieve.org.uk/page/content/saudiexecutions?source=ansa1

Here is a letter I managed to get published in my local paper Tivy-Side Advertiser yesterday expressing my concerns :-

THIS week the UK Government is rolling out the red carpet to Mohammad bin Salman the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, even as innocent children are being killed by the ongoing Saudi-led coalition bombing campaign in Yemen.
Since 2015 British weapons companies have made a staggering £6 billion from arms sales to Saudi Arabia the country leading the coalition bombing Yemen
At the same time, the British taxpayer is sending more than £200 million in life-saving aid to the Yemeni people.
As one of Saudi Arabia's key allies and arms suppliers, there is a risk that British bombs are being dropped on Yemeni children.
Thousands of innocent young lives have already been lost in airstrikes and explosions, and thousands more from hunger and preventable diseases like cholera and diphtheria.
Yemeni children are dying every day from preventable causes like hunger, disease and war.
It may be a far-away conflict, but I believe Britain has a moral obligation to help end the suffering.
I think our Government should stand up for Yemen's children and ensure food, medicine and fuel get into the country and that children are protected from bombs and bullets.

                                                                                                 Dave Rendle
                                                                                                 Teifi Terrace
                                                                                                    Cardigan

Alan Moore on Art and Magic

Comics legend Alan Moore, who has long been an inspiration is the the author of titles including Watchmen, The league of Extraordinary Gentlemen, V for Vendetta and From Hell.and the epic novel  Jerusalem . Not only being a prolific writer and visionary , he also happens to be a ceremonial magician and co-founded the Moon and Serpent Grand Egyptian Theatre of Marvels. Alan also sees an  inextricable link between magic and artistic creativity. Do we not all hold the keys to transformative power that lies within that has also has the power to change society for the benefit of all mankind.
Beyond general consensus, and ideas of conformity, we can find different rules to follow, actually alter the world around us., shape it and in the process create a better society. There is nothing more powerful than when our perceptions can change, collectively can actually impact on others and change awareness.Through art and creativity , we can connect to our senses , bodies and minds  and in the process this can enable us to spur thinking, engagement and even action, that has the possibility to motivate others into new ways of thinking. From the local to the global help us seek solutions to the challenges that face us all in the world today, a necessary persistence of the imagination that in this age of sceptical attitudes can actually alter and change consciousness and at same time, our trapped mindsets.

" Magic is a state of mind. It is often portrayed as very black and gothic, and that is because certain practitioners played that up for a sense of power and prestige. That is a diservice. Magic is very colorful. Of this. I am sure."

" I believe that magic is art, and that art, whether that be music, writing , sculpture, or any other form. is literally magic. Art is, like magic, the science of manipulating symbols, words or images, to achieve changes in consciousness, and  that i why I believe that an artist or writer is the closest thing in the contemporary world to a shaman..."

-Alan Moore

Alan Moore on Magic

Pethau Bychain Dewi Sant - Bob Delyn a'r Ebillion (geiriau / lyrics)

Today as has become traditional I mark St David's Day/ Dydd Dewi Sant. Saint David is the patron saint of Wales. This day was chosen to  commemorate St David's death on this day around 589 AD. It has been celebrated as a national day within Wales since the 18th century.
I love my country,  but avoid the nationalism,  I prefer the  mystical  deep streams.
So here I offer you this beautiful song from Bob Delyn a'r Ebillion called Pethau Bychain Dewi Sant ( St David's Little Things) from the album Dore .Happy St David's Day/ Dydd Gwyl Dewi hapus.  Heddwch/peace

Pwy oedd Dewi Sant. Who was St David?
Dewi Sant oedd nawdd sant Cymru. Yn ol straeon amdano, bu fyw  am dros 100 mlynedd a bu farw ar Dydd Mawrth, y cyntaf o Fawrth  (Gwyl Dewi Sant heddiw). Ei eiriau i'w ddilynwyr oedd mewn pregeth ar y dydd Sul blaenoral. Meddai Byddwch yn llawen, a cadewch eich ffydd ac eich cred. Gwnewch y pethau bychain mewn bywyd yt ydych wedi fy ngweld i yn ei wneud. Fe gerddaf i y llwybr y troediodd ein cyndeidiau.

It is claimed that David lived for over 100 years, and he died on a Tuesday 1 March (now St David's Day) His last words to his followers were in a sermon on the previous Sunday. Rhygyfarch transcribes these as ' Be joyful, and keep your faith and your creed. Do the little things that you have seen me do and  heard about. I will walk the path  that our fathers have trod before us.' 'Do the little things in life' ( Gwnewch y  pethau bychain mewn bywyd) is today a very well known phrase in Welsh.

Geiriau

Pethau bychain Dewi Sant
nid swn tan ond swn tant.
Nid derw mawr ond adar mân,
nid haul a lleuad ond gwreichion tân.

Ond o, dyna chi strach, trio cael hyd i sach
 i gadw'r holl bethau bach.

 Pethau bychain Dewi Sant,
 y ll'godan ond nid yr eliffant.
 A darnau'r gwlith nid dwr y moroedd,
 ond yn y briga', stwr y mae.

 Ond o, dyna chi strach, trio cael hyd i sach
 i gadw'r holl bethau bach.

 Pethau bychain Dewi Sant,
swn 'yn traed ni yn y nant.
Yr hada' yn disgyn yma a thraw,
a'r tamad, y tamad ola' o wenith yn dy law.

Ond o, dyna chi strach,
trio cael hyd i sach i gadw'r holl bethau bach.

Map y byd yn llyfr y plant,
pethau bychain Dewi Sant.

Y pellter sydd rhwng dant a dant ar ol nawdeg naw a chant
 pethau bychain Dewi Sant.

Ond o, dyna chi strach,
 trio cael hyd i sach i gadw'r holl bethau bach.

English Translation Lyrics:

St David's little things,
not the sound of fire
but the sound of chords.
Not a large oak but small birds,
not the sun and moon but the sparks of fire.

But oh, what a hassle it is to try and find a sack
to keep all of the little things.

St David's little things,

the mouse but not the eliphant.

And the dew drops, not the water of the seas,
but in the branches, uproar is found

But oh, what a hassle it is to try and find
a sack to keep all of the little things.

St David's little things,
the sound of our footsteps in the stream.
The seeds fall here and there,
and the scrap, the last scrap of wheat in your palm.

But oh, what a hassle it is to try and find a sack
to keep all of the little things.

The world's atlas in a children's book,
St David's little things.

The distance between a tooth and a tooth between ninety nine and a hundred - St David's little things. But oh, what a hassle it is to try and find
a sack to keep all of the little things.

Brexit Bill threatens UK Human Rights warns Amnesty International

According to Amnesty International  the current EU withdrawal bill will "substantially reduce human rights in the UK" and members of the British public " don't even know", it has warned in its latest annual report, The State of the World's Human Rights : https://www.amnesty.org.uk/report-world-human-rights-2017
Amnesty's 409 page report on human rights around the world says the decision to convert the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights into domestic law via the withdrawal bill means British citizens  will be stripped of protection.The Charter is important because it protects fundamental  issues that are important to us all, such as dignity, workers rights, equality, fair trials, free speech, children, LGBTI, disabled people and more. It provides a stronger defense of fundamental rights because it overides acts of Parliament when there is a conflict over basic rights, thus making it a much stronger legal defense when combating violations of human rights.
The Government has decided  not to convert  the Charter into UK legislation after Brexit,https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/678333/Factsheet_6_-_Charter_of_fundamental_rights.pdf  claiming that  human rights will not be jeapordised by Brexit, saying that protections in the EU charter will  still be protected by domestic law, contending that the citizens of the UK are protected through the democratic process, assuming that the ability to elect Members of Parliament is an adequate assurance that our representatives will protect their basic rights. It seems foolish, however, to found an entire group's basic protection solely on the goodwill and moral compass of the government. I personally do not trust their word one bit. The end result being that we will all now face a lower protection of our human rights. Lets not forget that we have been warned, after all our human rights are the basic freedoms that all human beings should be guaranteed.
Kate Allen, Amnesty International's UK  director, said :" You don't have to be pro or anti Brexit to see that without reform the EU Withdrawal Bill is set to substantially reduce rights in the UK.
" Under cover of Brexit the Government is planning to strip the British public of protections, - and people don't even know their hard won rights are under threat."
We should all be very concerned. After all the current government has long had a poor relationship with human rights, having previously wanted to abolish the Human Rights Act and now wants to remove the Charter as well. They should not be allowed to continue with their plans unchallenged.
The report also warned that the Governments drive to secure new trade deals has seen UK ministers and officials " soft pedalling" with regimes who have poor human rights records. Also highlighting recent UK trade delegations to Saudi Arabia,  and  USA, that have shown an "unwillingness to speak publicly about human rights overseas."
The UK is set to quit the EU on 29 March 2019, at 11 pm.Theresa May has said previously that her vision of Brexit will be one that focuses on "the good we can do together in the world as a global Britain." However, any Brexit that ends up, prioritising and promoting  arms sale and building ever closer relationships with human rights abusers is one that will only contribute  further to war, conflict and the further erosion of freedom for people across the globe.
Brexit was just one of many topics  mentioned in their annual report, Amnesty's report  also criticized world leaders for promoting "hate and division to further  their own political ends, suggesting that in the 70th year since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, human rights protections are under serious threat, with authoritarian leaders seeking to narrow  or withdraw them"
The group also highlighted the work of activists and protest movements around the world inspired by what it called regressive policies.

Shape Shifting

Music flows like water
Between shadows and light,
As books are read for therapy
And love returns, carried deep inside,
The alphabet of trees, offers comfort
Some sculptured imagination,
Releases language of truth
Memories of everlasting breath,
In the politics of free fall
Magic remains undiminished,
Takes us back to where we had begun
From outside, rearranges,
Shape shifting, through corridors of time
Allows us to keep on pursuing brightness,
Swallows every thought, beyond constant fear
In a world of confusion, revives tongue,
Communicating to the lonely
Shouting rebellion to those who listen.

Why do we keep offering deference to the Royal family in the 21st Century.

For me the Royal family represents inequality and conservatism, a dynasty that has no place in the modern world. Just look at the above photo, it represents everything that's wrong with the monarchy. The sense of entitlement on one side. the unquestioning deference on the other.
Far from uniting the country, the monarchy's role is seen by many people to be illegitimate and offensive, and simply entrenches hereditary pivilege at the heart of public life. While our government patronisisingly preaches democracy to the rest of the world, they still preside over an undemocratic system at home with an unelected head of state .
With their vestiges of privilege, the royal family continues  to  award themselves medals, appoint themselves to top military ranks that they simply they do not deserve. Allow themselves to be nominated as patrons of charities , degrading the real efforts of those who have really made general contributions. At a time when Britain  is going through a time of national economic and social stress due to Brexit , austerity, incoming roll out of Universal Credit and so on. The Conservative Government currently imposing a draconian, financially crippling sanction on jobseekers because they dont want to pay out any money to those who are unfortunately out of work, while the Royals get there houses refurbished  at tax payers espense, while many people cannot afford to heat their homes or put enough nutritional meals on their tables.
While so many far more importanst issues face us everyday, this continuing fawning to members of the Royal family and their hangers on,I simply find embarrassing. At a time of inequality, when public services, public sector jobs, wages, attacks on the most vulnerable among us continues, in the  most savage round of austerity meaures ever seen in modern times,  how the hell can some people still be proud of this patronage ridden monarchy is beyond my imagination. It certainly reinforces my feelings that some people are born better than others. It's the piacle of the class system which has held or socirty back for so long, enforcing the idea of an elite rling class.
Their nauseating displays of riches, power and privilege ,is simply an affront to human decency.I believe in a society, where we can all look into one another's eyes as equals , whatever our purpose or position in life. This continuing deference to them is simply offensive, and it has its consequnces. Since  you and I, and every taxpayer across the land will have to fork out tens, if not hundreds of thosands  of pounds for the Queens son's forthcoming marriage. The Royals  have claimed that they will be paying, but the truth is, that on May 19 it is the taxpayer who who will be lanfed the enormous bill. I don't believe thiw is ok, they need to pick up the bill. So on this note would urge you to join more than ten thosand people in signing the following petition calling on MPs to make sure the royals pay for their own wedding.https://www.republic.org.uk/petition/royal-wedding
Here's to a better, more egalitarian world, yes a brighter monarchy, confine these pointless ornaments to the dustbins of history