Fly Kites not Drones : Poppit Sands, nr St Dogmaels, Cardigan, West Wales.

 

 

Over  the past couple of months we have witnessed drone strikes in at least seven countries -  Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Palestine, Yemen, Egypt and Iraq and Syria probably on the list soon. Devastatingly killing innocents it is now is clear  that  our political leaders  are  using  these
lethal forces  rather than look for diplomatic  or political situations.
Join me tomorrow, kites not drones at Poppit Sands near St Dogmaels, Cardigan, West Wales, in a symbolic, 'Stop the drones' demonstration supported by Drone Network Cymru/Wales and CND Cymru/Wales. We need to build a world where children can   play and fly  their kites safely, instead of spending their lives in fear.
Please  take a look at the following link:-

Child victims of drone warfare.

-http://childvictimsofwar.org.uk/get-informed/drone-warfare/

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/

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.

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.

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

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.

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.