Thursday 2 October 2014
Moazzam Begg - Wronged Man is free again
Moazzam Begg a native born British citizen, family man of Pakistani descent, spent three years incarcenated in the most notorious detention centre created, Guantanamo Bay without being charged with any crime.
Arrested in Pakistan in 2002 he was transferred to Bangram Air Force Base in Afghanistan, where he suffered torture and witnessed U.S interrogators beat an innocents taxi driver to death, he would spend the next three years in very tortuous uncomfortable conditions.
Throughout this time, Begg , now 45 was repeatedly, deprived of legal rights, but after public outcry was returned to Britain in 2005. Despite the indignation and suffering he encountered, he did not lose his humility or dignity.
He went on to become a prominent human rights activist, writing books, advocating on behalf of other prisoners of conscience, whilst campaigning against the so called war on terror, and working with survivors of abuse and mistreatment across the globe.
But constantly he was harassed and intimidated, marked out because he was probably seen as one of Britains most prominent muslims. Well known to muslims and non-muslims alike as a representative of justice, truth and human rights in the face of oppression , and injustice.
Last December at Heathrow his passport was confiscated, and told it was not in the public interest to retain it, then later he was arrested for having allegedly travelled to Syria to assist Syrian rebels in terrorist activities, but had not visited this land since December 2012 and this was to assist in humanitarian relief and support.It seems that he may have become a victim of the government again, because of his continuing outspoken criticism of the British governments conduct during the War on terror. The arrest of one of the Wests most prominent Muslim critics certainly raised alarms with many. Using dubious charges against dissidents has been a hallmark post 9/11. Though these tactics are routinely condemned, they still continue to be implemented, showing us the crude corrosive measures our governments use, which ultimately undermine the foundations of western freedoms.
After 4 months in Belmarsh, Londons Central Criminal Court acquitted him yesterday of all charges, prosecutors saying " there is no longer a realistic prospect of conviction in this case.'"
"The more this continues, the more it's going to alienate people." Begg said about his case. Campaigners are now concerned that the governments new hardened line as spelled out at their recent party conference will result in greater harassment and victimisation.
So it comes that an innocent man, has been freed for the second time in his life. Lets hope his voice can now be used again to speak out against injustice and to contribute to our understanding of each other , and that the world knows now what was always crystal clear -that this is an innocent man.
I am overjoyed by his release but outraged by the imprisonment itself.
Gareth Peirce Beggs solicitor said : "Moazzam Begg is a good and brave man. He is a rare individual who will talk to everyone and listen to everyone, even to those he profoundly disagrees. He has spent the near decade since he was released from the the torture of Bagram and Guantanamo in attempting to wake the world up to injustice and to comprhehend its causes and effects. His intelligent voice of reason and intelligence is desperately needed now. We are relieved he is free again."
Long may it be so.
Here is a link to CagePrisoners the human rights group founded by Moazzam Begg
http://www.cageuk.org/
Wednesday 1 October 2014
Cassetteboy - Cameron's Conference Rap
Applause please for Cassette Boy , with another fantastic satirical mashup.
Cassette Boy has made him speak the truth for once. Seriously though Dave thanks for legalising parody videos.
Tuesday 30 September 2014
poets for change - Cellar bards - watch out theirs a teifidancer about
Here's the cellar bards and friends reading out their poems on the theme of change in Cardigan West Wales UK at 4pm Saturday September 27th 2014 on the Quay on the banks of the Teifi. Oh and a rare look at teifidancer out in the wild.
Monday 29 September 2014
Dannie Abse - Poet Doctor R.I.P (22/9/23 - 28/9/14)
' The human race is the only one that knows it must die and it knows this only through its experience. A child bought up alone and transported to a desert island would have no more idea of death than a cat or a plant .' - Voltaire
It is with sadness that I have heard of the passing of poet, playwright, doctor and novelist Dannie Abse at the age of 91.
Born and bought up in Cardiff, he drew on his career as a doctor, his Welsh roots and his proud jewish inheritance to establish himself as one of Britains most popular poets. Many of his themes were international in outlook, combining elements of loss, love, the passing of time, his rich medical understanding and its moral implications. This gave him a compassion for the suffering of the world. His awareness and humanity gave him a conscious awareness.
The brother of Labour M.P Leo Abse, much of his life was spent in loving devotion with his wife, Joan who tragically died in a car accident in 2005, and like many of us he struggled to deal with his grief, but managed to write elonquently a lovely collection called the 'the Presence' which won the Welsh book of the year award in 2008.
His two autobiographies 'Ash on a Young Man's sleeve' and 'Poet in the Family' are now rightly considered to be classics. I recognised his account of his medical training through my own fathers who was to become a G.P. Alongside a deep understanding of the world, ran an overwhelming sense of humour, awash with an experience of thought.. Like Dannie Abse I also undersood some of his themes of exile, he moving from Cardiff to London and personally me having at a very young age moved from Cardiff to here in West Wales.
There is a richness at the heart of his work that I will forever cherish, which I also know will continue to endure.I have been fortunate to hear him read on a few memorable occassions.
He died surrounded by his family after a short illness. The Welsh nation and the world has lost a truly great poet of real conviction.
Dannie Abse R.I.P
from Anniversary
' What happens to a flame blown out?
What persists? Only the view,
never my my magified hand in yours.'
Dannie Abse - A Simple tribute
Dannie Abse reading poems for Oxfam
Sunday 28 September 2014
Specks of hope
Yesterday I was one of thousands of poets around the world who participated in 100-Thousands Poets for Change day. I took part in a reading organised by my local live literature group, the cellar bards, in conjunction with our local community bookshop, Leafed Through in an event that took place between 4 pm and 5pm, at Prince Charles Quay here in Cardigan, West Wales.In an inspiring event we gathered to celebrate and promote peace and sustainability and call for much needed serious social environmental and political change with poems written on postcards. It was good to be involved in something so positive, with hundreds of cities representing and over 100 countries signed up to the 100 TPC global initiative.More details here :- http://100TPC.org
The poem I read is included below.
Specks of hope
With this pen
no walls are drawn,
unity's breath spins
cancels out division,
solidarity's comfort lifts
and a strong flame burns,
showering the earth with reason
releasing leaves of hope,
gently painting the sky
in rivers of language,
opposing injustice
in whirling devotion,
planting smiles on an ugly world
spreading seeds of peace.
Friday 26 September 2014
Why the UK parliament should say no to bombing Iraq
David Cameron will ask MPs in the UK parliament to vote to join the US bombing campaign against Iraq, Chris Nineham from Stop the War coalition, interviewed by the BBC on 24 September 2014, asks, has nothing been learnt from the disasters of wetern inttervention in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. He urges MPs to vote no, like they did last year, when Cameron wanted a bombing campaign against Syria. To save lives and protect human rights the genocidal fundamentalists of Isis must be stopped, whose barbarity shows no limits but surely there are other ways. Do we repeat past mistakes, do we all become complicit in the end. Ultimately war is not civilised, war is failure.
There are no easy answers. But there is this certainty, killing people rarely kills peoples ideas.
Tuesday 23 September 2014
The illusion of choice
I am sharing it because I believe it is important for you to be aware of who is supplying the different brands and goods served on your dinner table.
Click to enlarge it shows that most products we buy are controlled by just a few companies. Despite a wide array of brands to choose from, it all comes back to the big guys.Ten mega corporations control the output of almost everything you buy; from household products to pet food to jeans. These corporations create an illusion of choice, a chain that begins at one of 10 super companies. Lets not forget that 90% of the media is now controlled by just six companies, down from 50 in 1983. Yes it is indeed a funny old world. Daily now I continue to consume and use social media platforms run by globalists like Google, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc but be switching off in bit and heading back to the garden, But Globalisation is just another word for monopolisation. Do we actually have a choice in choosing , or is it just the case of free market capitalism destroying any real sense of freedom?
Monday 22 September 2014
Stand up for the Earth - Gary Snyder( b 8/5/30) on Ecology and Poetry Parts 1-4
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Because of this I feel, we cannot fail to ignore the urgent issues that Mr Snyder brings up. We must keep working together to put an end to the destruction of the Earth by forces of human greed and ignorance, and remember too the devastating effects of capitalism upon nature.
Sunday 21 September 2014
Threads
Standing together
threads unwrapped,
impenetratable, not complicit
we remember innocents lost
to remote controlled killing machines,
from within sources of passion woven
richness of colour, keep us dreaming
stitches of time, spinning,
searching clearly for waves of hope.
As winter grows near
something already is being changed,
tomorrow will be time, for light to shine
together tracing unity's breath,
touching horizons. North, South, East and West
from this place, like singing birds
faith is restored, love rekindled,
as voices float freely through the sky,
we continue following paths of heddwch, peace.
wonder who this could be
Saturday 20 September 2014
Sad... no not really
Well I have not slept for a couple of days, better then, than the other week, in South Wales when I only managed in a week to get about an hour a day shut eye. And oh that reminds me, the last time I put on the television left me feeling a tad miserable. Yet despite this, and what they are saying, there has been a huge vote for independence, despite media manipulation a large percentance of the population of Scotland rejected the corrupt undemocratic Westminster system in an unprecedented number.
So though very tired, had a sublime night of dub music by the magical Maya Mitten down in my local, the cellar bar, I remain faithfully optimistic for the future. I think that with creativity and diversity we can create a brighter future, beyond the neoliberal consensus and bullshit, that says no to cuts and austerity, to nuclear missiles, yes to the N.H.S, together we reject political parties that offer us no choice, so wee keep on fighting for some real change, and will not rest until, the day comes, that we will win.
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