After Banksy: the parlour guide to Gaza

In response  to graffiti artist Banksy's Make this the year you discover a New destination Gaza tourist video,  a video from the Guardian, that shows what real life is like there  and their dreams beyond the border. Here lies the world's biggest open air prison. The people daily occupied, no one allowed to enter or too leave. People forced to live among ruins, and devastated squalid condititions. Surrounded by apartheid walls, their plight daily insufferable, but despite the destruction all around, the Palestinian peoples resistance and resiliance  remains strong. Come and share with the youth of Gaza as they invite us to come and share their lives ( what's left of them)  their food ( if your ok  with a lean diet) and their culture and subculture ( things that an't be destroyed)  so  come run with them, better still stand with them, show them your solidarity. Boycott Israel.  

The Karl Marx Mastercard

Just found out recently that in Eastern Germany in a town once called Karl Marx Staad, a bank called Spakasse Chemnitz ran an online poll letting customers vote for image to put on their credit cards. They chose Karl Marx. There was  an old joke  in Russia that everything that we were told about by communism was a lie, but nowadays everything  they tell us about capitalism is true. I wonder what the annual rate for the Karl Marx mastercard would be. Everything you have. It confims  old Karl Marx's own adage that the capitalists would sell  the  very rope that would be used to hang himself.

Credit is  the new Opiate of the masses.

When you seize the means of production from the bourgeoisie, use the Karl Marx mastercard.

From each according to his ability, to each according to his need. For everything else here's the Karl Marx mastercard.

The only  card for internationale travel.

A spectre is haunting Europe - the spectre of cash bank and low low interest rates.

 Das Kapital £10, Red Flag £30  prices risings as we rise up against our oppressors.

All property is purchasable. Take the dialectic out of your materialism with a Karl Marx mastercard.

Have your proletariat revolution now,  pay  for it later.

Yes humor could be  the death of me, but not as dangerous as capitalism, that out of control  will  carry on chaining us down, and unregulated  is already killing millions. With the global economy in protracted  crisis , and workers around the world, burdened by joblessness,  debt and stagnant income.
Yes Capitalism and the system that props it up like back when Karl Marx wrote his original words, is still inherently unjust and self desctructive, impoverishing the masses as the worlds wealth is concentrated in the hands of a greedy few. Time to through the cards that they use to curtail us away, and occupy the banks.
Anyway here's an old poem of mine

Money can't buy our love

http://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/what-money-can-buy.html

To the sisters ( solidarity forever)

Solidarity means, that together, we must stand,  fighting hand in hand for a more dignified world. Remember on International Women's Day just  the act of  writing or speaking in public for some is a political act. We should all be aware of these conditions, bearing witness, denouncing injustice and patriarchy that can be reasons for division.
Today we remember all those women who have stood up and fought back, for their rights, for equality, for justice, for dignity, for freedom. We remember your strength and remember too that  we are all much stronger in struggle when we are united.
As I write it should be noted that there is still too much gender inequality, discrimination and injustice globally. We must continue to carry  the voices of all who are silenced.

Happy International Womens Day

Solidarity with women of Selma, Ferguson, Kobane, Mexico, Afganistan, Gaza, women of the world, to my sisters nearer home and to all the comrades  who are still fiercely opting to break every chain
solidarity forever.

Heddwch/Peace.

Janet Dube - atom ( a poem to mark International Womens Day)

Tomorrow marks International Womens Day, I have chosen to mark the occasion with this  from the poet Janet Dube  from her  collection Lifeline which was published by Gomer in 2000.
Janet Dube was  born in Fulham, London and now lives in Carmarthenshire, West Wales. She studied at St David's University College , Lampeter, and has worked as a teacher and playworker. She was active in feminism and the anti-war movement.

I am the atom
tiny, invisible, powerless,

Yet from my body
came the word, for I
am the seed  of all that is;

for I was  in the beginning
and without me was not
anything  made that was made;

and I am the sand,
yet more than the sand;

and  I am the stars,
yet more than the stars;

and I am the hungry;
yet more than the hungry;

and  I am the rich,
yet more than  the rich;

and I the healing water
and I the cleansing earth

and I the seed of all that is
am divided against myself;

tiny, invisible powerless
I am divided,
and I am you.

It's the sign of the times. its the time of our lives.

We've got food banks
swastika armbands,
hate in abundance
governments, leaving us angry.

It's  the sign of the times,
it's  the time  of our lives.

We've got corporations causing  unecessary death
carving up the world with austerity and stealth,
as days drift by, rivers of sadness grow
souls get deep, but still manage to flow.

It's the sign of the times,
it's the time of our lives.

We've got polticians demonising the poor
masters of destruction, seeking war,
who cry blue murder if a person hungry
gets caught,shoplifting as a means of survival.

It's the sign of  the times,
it's the time of our lives.

we've got famine in the third world
dirty water and contamination hurled,
refugees being criminalised,
simply for trying to flee for their lives.

It's the sign of the times,
it's the time of our lives.

We've got apartheid walls, we've got wars of attrition
we've got people being daily denied,
cleared from their lands, words and memories stolen
no opportunity to grow, hope daily scattered.

It's the sign of the times
it's the time of our lives.

As big brother gets bigger, participation is left small
with seeds of destruction, a life of suffering and exploitation,
the world at tipping point, on a downward spiral,
we have to reach out find some means of survival.

It's the sign of the times,
it's the time of our lives.

And we've got smart phones and social media
viruses that arrive daily with hidden intent,
webs of confusion, threads of division
branches ragged,  but still enough to cling too,

It's the sign of the times,
it's the time of our lives.

tomorrow delivers a special offer
admission price is free
dreamers will come  overthrow the world,
take the pain away,and try and start again,.

Because it's the time of our lives,
it's the time of our lives.

Diversity & Inclusion – Love Has No Labels ( a message of hope for our times)

At the end of the day are we not all born equal,  we are all meant to love  one another, not judge. The truth is, love conquers all, we should not be so quick to pass judgement,  on people based  on the color of their skin, their age or their physical abilities. The above video, which I think is marvellous is part of  the Love  has no labels campaign which challenges us to open  our eyes to our bias and  prejudice and  work to stop it in ourselves, our friends, our families, and our colleagues and captures the heart of this beautiful message.
I am not perfect, far from it, but I am still learning to try, and love makes our world spin, it makes us strong too. Love is a human experience that can be shared  for all, it sees no borders either, we should allow these feelings to be shared and grow, love after all  passes over all the many perceived boundaries that we  encounter.
It gives me great hope that as I speak this  video is now being shared by many  people across the world,  a virus, that is necessary in today's troubling times. We desperately need to embrace diversity and help end bias, and keep spreading the word.

Find out more about this wonderful campaign here:-

http://lovehasnolabels.com/

30th Anniversary of Miners Strike marked by benefit compilation

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the return to work of the striking miners of 1984/85 who had remained  out in protest against the  closure of the pits. A benefit compilation has been released  featuring  a stellar cast of  some of the most influential  left wing British musicians of the past 30 years. Superb!
The album produced in association with Philosophy football  features artists like Billy Bragg, Sleaford Mods, New Model Army, Chumbawumba, TV Smith, Attilla the Stockbroker and many more singing songs of resistance and protest, passionate, angry  traditional and modern.


The Orgreave Truth and Justice cd, is available for £9.99 with all profits going to  the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign.
You can order this essential collection  by visiting the following  link.
It is only £9.99 with all profits  going to the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign.


http://www.philosophyfootball.com/view_item.php?pid=1200

The Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign includes ex miners, Trade Unionists, and activists  and others who are determined to get justice for miners who were  victims  of police and cover ups at Orgreave in June 1984.
Orgreave  was a massive injustice, where hundreds of police  under the orders of Margaret Thatcher carrying riot shields, targeted unarmed miners with truncheons, inflicting serious injury. Miners were kicked  and punched  in a savage attack of police brutality.
We should never forget the miners bitter heroic struggle, nor the fact that not one single  police officer has been disciplined, let alone prosecuted, serving as a reminder of one of the biggest miscarriages of the 1980's. We remember too how Thatcher unleashed a class war destroing peoples ways of live, that paved the way of the political climate and mess we have today.
Today many are still waiting for justice. Seeking it for all miners victimised by the police at Orgreave. We remember too how the power of the state is still used against its people.


Here is  a link to the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign


http://otjc.org.uk/

No to Maximus / WCA

In work - out of work  -  these lot have it covered. Their one aim  to take  away your entitlements and leave you penniless.


Currently a controversial American company  is taking over the contract  to assess the fitness of benefit claimants to work,  having replaced the French firm Atos, who quit the contract last March. They will be used by the government again to help cut  benefits of sick and disabled people, who have already been disproportionately targeted. Two million people have had their benefits sanctioned since 2013, this is the Governments true agenda, hand in hand with companies like Maximus are hitting the poor the hardest.
The Work Capability assessment has proved  to be a very expensive disaster in both financial and human terms.  A growing  number of suicides have been directly  linked to this stressful procedure, whilst medical  staff and claimants themselves  have warned  of the desperate consequences  for those  left with no money at all by the system.
People who  cannot work, for various reasons  should be supported, it is unnecessary to pay millions and millions of pounds to  private companies like Atos and Maximus. Are our own G.Ps not to be trusted.
Today disabled activist groups  and supporters will across  the country vigorously  protest against  these heartless work  tests.
It should also be noted  that Maximus  are also involved in helping to privatise the N.H.S, running the  fit for work occupational  health service  designed to bully and harass.
I personally am in a support group, my crime, I periodically suffer from depression and anxiety but it looks like Maximus has been given a green light to  diminish  people  like me.
Maximus like Atos  before them alongside the Work Capability Assessments must be stopped in their tracks, they are  profiteers of the sick and vulnerable and because of them combined with Tory policies people are suffering. People before profit should be the maxim.
Maximus another ruthless company doing the governments dirty work.


Here are details of the call out by DPAC ; Disabled People against cuts


Please support them, after they have finished with us they will start on the rest.


http://dpac.uk.net/2015/01/disabled-claimants-welcome-to-maximus-march-2nd-everywhere/

The Welsh Language - Alan Llwyd (b;1948 -) Happy St David's Day/Dydd Gwyl Dewi Hapus.

From the pen of literary critic and most prolific Welsh language poets of our time. Happy St David's day/ Dydd Dewi hapus. At the end of the day we are all different,  but fy iaith, still standing despite it all.  All the best  Heddwch/peace

Stand above the abyss, and shout into the cleft:
she's the thunder in the silence, the noise in the cold emptiness;
although fugitives grope for their splintered ropes on the cliff,
she's the one who prevents our fall into the great muteness.

She's the rain that refreshes the earth, the ruby's sheen,
the harvest breeze,rolling in the corn and the wheat;
the precious sapphire,  the emerald in the grass that is green,
the restless rustling of barley, and bright gleam of light.

She protects from the mute edge, the fort that keeps  enemies at bay,
and above the gaping abyss, she is our tether;
she keeps our dignity; our home against all disarray,
the knot that unites; she gathers her people together.

should the link shatter and break, what would be amiss?
Knot  by knot the rope now opens above the abyss.

trans. the author

Reprinted from ; A Book of Wales, an anthology;
selected by Meic Stephens;
JM Dent, 1987

Time to Change/Amser i Newid

On St David's day/ Dydd Gwyl Dewi a hopefully eye opening film about Wales's share of global inequalities/ Ffilm fydd gobeithio yn agorad llygad fewn i shar Cymru o anghydraddoldebau byd-eang

Banksy leaves his mark on Gaza!

The anonymous but eminent British artist known as Banksy  has again taken aim at Israel's policies regarding the Palestinians, and the daily injustices that they face. Sneaking into the Gaza strip and filming the devastation in the wake  of last summers IDF Operation Protective Edge. The two minute video is entitled "Make this the year you discover a new destination". Showing us what the mainstream media do not want us  to know or see. Depicting for us the lives of the ordinary Palestinian . The destruction that he witnesses was the result of the 50 day conflict which saw 539 Palestinian children dead, and close to 3,000 injured. In total more than 2,000 Palestinians were killed according to United Nations figures.l
Utilising the  language of a low budget tourist video, with the footage of the Palestinians quarantined within. A brilliant charged combination  of art and politics in a place  now devoid of beauty.
And we should remember that today and tomorrow, children like the ones portrayed in the video, will continue to  play amid the rubble and destroyed  building, and that resistance is existence, that existence is resistance.

Dear David Cameron

Last week I talked about Margaret Thatcher's legacy, now I turn on her heir. With  his slicked back hair, Mr Cameron always seems to be willing  to  pose for a photo. Always with his friends keen to castigate  poor people on benefits, with their 'culture of entitlement ' jibe, a man who  stands next to the likes  of Malcolm Rifkind and his ilk, people who  seem to think they are entitled to more as they try to defend themselves after recent  'cash for access scandal.
David Cameron sure keeps delivering, giving us pain, pain and pain, he does not seem to want to give us any hope.
So David Cameron, is this your vision,  to scapegoat the poorest and the most vulnerable  in our land.  Your Big Society initiative, is largely seen as a failure, those at the bottom are clearly  bearing the brunt of austerity. People living daily in fuel and food poverty, the escalating costs  of lifes' basics, please  don't get me started on our beloved N.H.S. Remember  the state provision that we paid for, you have demolished purely for ideological  reasons. You and your party clearly believe  that society should be founded on inequality - that the poor deserve poverty, whilst the wealthy deserve incentives. I am sorry to dissapoint you, but the people are growing tired, and will not  tolerate your hands of unfairness anymore.
We have noticed  that you are nothing  but a slave-owning descendent who has never worked a single day  of your life. With your inherited wealth and all the vestiges of privilege that has been bestowed on you, it is clear that you do not have much  understanding of the real world.
Oh and delivering speeches that threaten to throw teenagers  out onto the freezing streets, it does however reveal something heartless, a person devoid of compassion. Your ideas  reek of arrogance, toxic, the whiff of inequality stalks your foul breath, as you keep cosying up to your friends and crony's the super rich.
As your friends dodge   and fail to answer questions on their tax avoiding  millionaire friends, your party has decided to stigmatise benefit claimants who are deemed  overweight with the threat of punitive sanctions. Picking on the vulnerable again, is your way of life, your creed.
So out of touch you are verging on the ridiculous, cheap and nasty is your cloth. We have not got time  to go,  but I sincerely hope you are soon kicked out of No 10, as well as your rabble of right wing wreckers. Yes I hope we do without you, as support  for anti-austerity policies grow, it is time to create an economy that works for everone, based on fairness,  not just for the privileged few and those nesting at the top. So Mr Cameron I believe your time is up,  it is time  that you and the rest of  your nasty party are kicked out of power.


( oh and remember)

Journey of Sound

( for sapientia, she who knows)

Some haunting blues
sounds of the desert,
the holler of liberation
breezy kora  leaping,
reggae bass, middle eastern oud drifting 
ragas and  dub mutation,
tabla and djembe's rhythms mixing
percussive beats soaring,
releasing chords of souls simplicity.
I love the wind, when  it blows on through
breathe in rhymes, messages of freedom,
a familiar dance, moving through spaces
coming down easy, on a sunday afternoon,
the revolution is right here
the groove is in my heart,
got that high time feeling
it don't hurt at all,
releasing pressure 
respites of musical pleasure,
here on the edges of time.

Miriam Makeba - Malcolm X

Miriam Makebas song for Malcolm X  on the  anniversary of his death. The prescient words  of brother Malcolm X, still  today  slice  today through our lives,  slicing through  the rhetoric of politicians and pundits alike as if he still walked among us. His opinions, his work, his deeds, still matter, strike a chord, as we  still work  towards  goals of social justice  and continue to remember his transformative power. we continue to make a stand against racism wherever it may raise its ugly head.

Everybody seems to be preaching revolution
Though no one ever seems to show appreciation
To that man  over there who  bought about a  new generation
To that man  over there who  bought about  a new black  nation

Do you remember Malcolm
Do you remember him, Malcolm
Yeah brother  Malcolm
Don't you know he was  a great man

He tried to keep the people away from oppression
From day to day M lived for liberation
Until that man with a man  took away his devotion
He and his wife and kids without protection

Do you remember Malcolm
Do you, remember him, Malcolm
Yeah brother Malcolm
Don't you know he was a  great man
Oh yeah

It seems  life  and death  seem to go  together
For me in my heart. Malcolm will live forever
Especially when I think about the blackness he reflected
I said especially when I think  about the one he represented


Do you remember Malcolm
Do you remember him, Malcolm
Oh yeah brother Malcolm
Don't you know he was a great man
Oh yeah

No to Margaret Thatcher Memorial Library and museum.

There are plans afoot to build a memorial to Margaret Thatcher, but lets  not forget their is already a memorial to her, they are called food banks.
Personally I feel  neither should ever exist, nor should they be  pitted against each other as either/ or option.
Thatchers legacy  is as one of the most divisive political figures that this country has ever known, who is still universally hated  by the majority of the citizens who lived  under her brutally destructive  policies.
To spend a single penny in her memory, whilst her dark  shadow lingers among foodbanks,  the growing number of homeless and continuing N.H.S cuts would be an absolute disgrace.
Thatcher is dead but  Thatcherism lives on. No public money should be spent on idolising this ugly spirit, it should be noted that her poisonous policies helped shape the policies of all our current mainstream policies.
I have searched deep, but have been  unable  to find anything good about her to remember. This was a woman ( can I even call her that) that  unleashed so much damage to our country, lets not forget  that because of her  our manufacturing industries were destroyed which led to mass  unemployment. She also precipitated the social housing crisis that is still felt today. Her whole manta was the destruction of peoples way of life. We are still struggling because of her, and the legacy that she left is a very bitter  pill to swallow.
She also  supported Pinochet, Saddam, Suharto, Botha and the House  of Saud, that speaks volumes about the kind of demon she was.
There was something  heartless about her,  her complete lack of compassion and blatant disregard for peoples feelings. It always seemed that she hated us all, this is what defined her twisted ideology. Miners, steelworkers, trade unionists, local councils, benefit recipients, single mothers, gay people, the Irish, the Scots, the Welsh, the entire North of England - all were in her sights.
Yes I hated all she stood for and years after her death these feelings do not rescind. Yep I still hate Thatcher  and everything she spawned, and always will
We need to bury Thatcherism and her memory now more than ever , please consider signing the following petition.


https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/no-taxpayer-funding-for-margaret-thatcher-memorial-museum-library#




Two earlier posts you might be interested in

http://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/margaret-thatcher-her-legacy-personal.html


http://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/the-witch-is-dead.html

ON APRIL 8th WE PARTY ON

KEEP ON TREADING HER MEMORY DEEP DOWN IN THE EARTH

John Davies (b 1938 -16/2/15) The Welsh nations historian. R.I.P

Sad to hear the news earlier that I heard of the passing of John Davies, one of  Wales's most eminent historians. His book " History of Wales" I consider to be an essential read, a story of two milliennia , a masterful account  that traces  the political, social and cultural  history  of my land and country,that he weaved with much articulateness, and humor. Alongside being  a historian he contributed largely  to the fortunes of the Welsh language. He is remembered as one of the founders of the Welsh language society/Cymdeithas Y Iaith. He was also regular broadcaster here in Wales on television and the radio. It was from him and the late Gwyn Alf Williams that I rediscovered my peoples history, not the English history that was forced down our throats when we were at school. A huge loss to the nation of Wales. R.I.P
Here is a poem that I have just written in his and Gwyn's  memory.

Hanesydd/Historian.

As pages turned, they helped us remember,
what had lay forlorn, almost forgotten,
allowed us to search for the past again,
to capture memories, tales of yesterday,
the hiraeth of longing of byegone time.
In our nations soil, buried deep,
ancient shadows, greeting today and tomorrow,
reflecting what has been, what will continue to grow,
as our nation drowns in the tears of history
we hold on now, waiting for the continuance of our journey,
forever unfolding, what began so long ago.         

700 British artists have signed a pledge to boycott Israel

Good news 700 British Artists have signed a pledge to boycott Israel, as  long as it  " continues to deny  basic Palestinian rights," This is the latest major success for the Global Boycott Divestment and  Sanctions of Israel Movement.
It is a response to the call from Palestinians artists and cultural  boycott of Israel. The artists include Roger Waters, Brian Eno, Ken Loach, Mike Leigh and many others.
The call reads, according to the Group Artists for Palestine |UK which organised the pledge as follows :_

"Along with  more than 600 other fellow artists, we are announcing today, we will not engage in  business as usual cultural relations with Israel. We will accept  neither  professional  invitations to Israel, nor funding, from any institutions, linked to its government. Since  the Summer war in Gaza, Palestinians have enjoyed no respite  from Israels unrelenting attack on their land, their livelihood, their right to political existence. "2014" says the Israeli human rights organisation B'Tselem was " one of the cruellest and deadliest in the history of the occupation." The Palestinian catastrophe goes on.

More here

 http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/13/cultural-boycott-israel-starts-tomorrow


The initiative comes from Artists for Palestine. A full list of other cultural figures who signed can be found here :-

http://artistsforpalestine.org.uk/

The cultural boycott against Israel it seems  to be on the rise and will do  as long as Israel continues to deny basic human rights to the Palestinian people  combined with discriminatory laws like those of Apartheid South Africa. It is good to know that  modern artists have not  thrown their moral compasses away, and choose not to engage with Israel, until the time that the Palestinian people are free once more. Personally I reject  all forms  of bigotry and discrimination, including anti-Semitism, but proudly  support a moral and inclusive movement  that is struggling against the oppressive policies of a country, that defines  in religious exclusive terms, that seeks to deny  the Palestinian their most basic human rights simply because they do not share the same religion.

Arhundati Roy(24/12/61) - How civilisation works

" To slow a beast, you break its limbs. To slow a nation, you break its people. You rob them of volition. You demonstrate your absolute command over their destiny. You make it clear that ultimately it falls to  you to decide, who lives, who dies, who prospers, who doesn't. To exhibit your capability, you show of all that you can do, and how easily you can do it. How easily you could press a button and annihilate the earth. How you can snatch a river away from one gift to another. How you can green a desert, or fell a forest and plant one somewhere else. you use caprice to fracture a people's faith in ancient things - earth, forest, water, air?

Reprinted from; Cost of Living, 1999

Steve Strange ( 28/5/59 -12/2/15) - Fade To Grey R. I .P

Sad to hear that Steve Strange, lead singer from 1980's New Romantic band Visage  has passed away , as a result of a heart attack in Egypt. His life was not a masquerade, he could never be capable  of conforming to the logic of order, consensus reality was  very far from the pavements he walked.
In the post punk years remember his presence, the electronic pulses, danceable with shades of Bowie and Roxy, krautrock and disco, a shapeshifter of the 80's,  blitzing through it's shadows. He himself emerged from the working class mining community of Caerphilly,  liberated by punk, he saw the Sex Pistols on his home turf in 1976, he escaped to London, abandoning all hope of a conventional career. In his day, with echoes of social deprivation on a par with today, his only real options, if he had stayed at home, was life on the dole, the factory, building site. or the pit. He sought  refuge in the bright lights of London town, where he would go and look for some kind of irreverent freedom.Treated appallingly by the music industry that championed him. Chewed  up and spat out. He decamped back to South Wales,where he kept planning for his return to centre stage, a life lived full,with fantasy and wild abandon and the whiff of hedonism  never a far distance behind.
It's all a matter of taste, but being outrageous was his reality.
Steve Strange .R.I.P

Dont Buy Israel Blood Diamonds for Valentines Day 14 Feb 2015

This Valentines Day help expose the global trade in Israel's blood diamonds  - Israel's No 1 export commodity and major source of funding for the illegal occupation of Palestine. Diamond exports from Israel  generate revenue that are used to fund the Israeli military, please help raise awareness about this jewellery industry scam that facilitates  and sustains this belligerent apartheid regime.
It is worth noting that evidence given to the Russell Tribune on Palestine in 2010 indicated that the Israeli Diamond industry generated over $1billion a year  in funding the Israeli military/security complex.
Blood diamonds from Israel are often mixed with diamonds from other countries making it impossible for consumers or jewellers to identify them. The latest revelations concerning the operations of the bank H.S.B.C  reveal that a number  of Israeli Diamond dealers held accounts containing billions that were out of reach of tax authorities in the UK and Israel, dealers of a currency of broken bones and shattered lives in Gaza.
Despite claims  of honesty, openness, transparency and accountability, this  industry continues to con the public by claiming diamonds are conflict free and ethically sourced while facilitating and profiting  from the trade in blood diamonds  from Israel that bankrolls a criminal regime guilty of gross human rights violations on a daily basis. Remember too that diamond exports that generate revenue
Please do not insult your loved ones by buying a blood diamond from Israel, your hard earned money may go towards funding the next IDF massacre in Palestine.
Remember a glittering diamond that pays for oppression is not necessarily a girl or a boys' best friend.

Raise Your Voice for Shaker Aamer ; Newport, February 14th 2015

A quick  advertisement  for this event, a day of action taking place in Newport, Pembrokeshire, Wales  next Saturday 14th February, marking  the 13th anniversary of Shaker Aamers arrival at Guantanamo  its last British resident and the birthday of his youngest son. This man has faced  no charge and  has been cleared for release in 2007  and again in 2009, and over the years has had to endure all manners of torture and abuse.
We will be calling for his release, and his safe return to his family.

http://www.westandwithshaker.org/

I hope to  read the following  poem

For Shaker

Far from home, torn from  family and friends,
no place to run, no place to hide,
imprisoned in a man made hell,
in a cage of suffering, and isolation,
held without trial or charge,
Shaker's voice reaches us from afar,
from his prison cell, his shadow dances,
against the branches of iniquity,
we light candles to shine against the darkness that contain,
in the name of peace and justice,
our messages  keep calling for his freedom.

As days trickle  over captive thought,
it is time to restore some life and dignity,
as the world continues to recognise his plight,
we remember Shaker now,
his  hungry thirst for liberty,
between the sky and land,
fleeing into the future.
Every story hinges on a dream of change,
against  oppression and persecution,
with unflinching determination.
We wait for the walls of Guantanamo,
and its gates to crumble forever,
for voices within to wander freely once more.

"Let Them Freeze!" – Politicians in Frozen the Musical

Thousands will die from living in cold homes. Millions have to  make the desperate  choice between heating and eating. It is a national scandal. It is time to take action to help end  this cold home crisis.
1 person every  7 minutes freezes to death of related illnesses  as a result of being cold.
Here is a song  for our disgusting government. It is time to wake them up. In 2000 political parties promised  to end this scandal. 15 years later it is cleared they  failed. They  must be forced to commit the money to end this home crisis once and for all.


http://www.energybillrevolution.org

Royal Family : Stop pushing weapons to dictators

The Times newspaper reports today that Prince Charles " doesn't  like being used to market weapons and now sidesteps such activities where possible. " He has a funny way of showing it, at the end of the day he is nothing but a hypocrite.He is  about to go on  another little jaunt to the Middle East made at the request of the government. After  he recently  visiting Saudi Arabia, the arms company BAE systems  announced it had finished their latest multi-billion  pounds weapon deal.
Yes it's business as usual for members of the Royal family often seen dancing for autocratic rulers,  to be seen at sumptious dinner parties, where the Queen  entertains despots, torturers, dictators and murdering tyrants across the globe.
Daily they release their nauseating displays of wealth, power and privilege,  they are not powerless and  are certainly not harmless. The royal family also profits from  uranium and other components of the war machine through Royal Ordnance sales and exports.Instead of prancing around the international stage acting like arms dealers, toadying up to Friends of oppressors, perhaps they should start promoting human rights. At the moment I do not understand at all, why we offer them any respect at all.  It is time to start making peace profitable too. 

Inheritance - Heathcotte Williams, montage -Alex Cox

Palestine is not your Charity case

Palestine is not your charity case, your charity will not stop his bullets. There is only one side here. The beast  with the gun  and all his ilk must go.  The lioness has courage  and full rights, the west simply does not understand.

Langston Hughes (1/2/02 -22/5/67) - Dream Deferred

Happy birthday James Mercer Langston Hughes, pioneering African-American  social activist, novelist, playwright and Harlem Renaissance poet. He confronted racial stereotypes, and protested social conditions, he supported the Scottsboro boys, stood proudly with the anti fascists in the Spanish Civil War, and strongly opposed the McCarthy witchhunts,   and was to become known as a peoples poet. He was also one  of the earliest innovators, of the then new literary art form called jazz poetry,  the following poem of his was written 1951.

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore-
And then run
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over-
like a sugary sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like  a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

here's an animated google doodle celebrating his birthday and his poem ' I dream a word.'

France: Migrants, Asylum Seekers Abused and Destitute

Asylum seekers and migrants living in destitution in the port city of Calais experience harrassmet at the hands of French police. The abuses include beating and attacks with pepper spray as the migrants and asylum seekers walk in the streets or hide in trucks in the hope of travelling to the United Kingdom. We should not forget these ongoing  methods of repression against migrants that continue to happen on a daily basis. 
Also when European politicians from the extreme centre parties justify the deaths by drowning in the seas surrounding Fortress Europe on the grounds that this will dissuade people fleeing in search of a better life, We should not fail to notice why these people are here in the first place, humans trying desperately to escape conflict ridden countries trying to escape suffering,  fleeing from extreme poverty, seeking refuge  from violence and  persecution.We should remember who actually creates these unfair conditions in the first place. Is it not time to create and enforce a fair, coherent and humane asylum system. We must stop these individuals from being dehumanised. Often their journeys fraught  with danger, with at least 23,000  people estimated to  have lost   their lives trying to reach  Fortress Europe since 2001.
No person should be illegal, no borders are necessary.

Holocaust Memorial Day 70th anniversary lest we forget

A film made by Pembrokeshire animator from Newport  by the name of Gemma Green-Hope to mark the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz- Birkenau .We should never forget this legacy of heartbreak, those that died in these Nazi Concentration Camps. The  gays, slavs, poles, Anarchists,  Communists, gypsies, Jehovah witnesses, resistance fighters ,trade-unionists, those with mental or physical illnesses, who did not fit into the Nazis warped  view. Today I remember all the precious human lives  lost during this holocaust. It would be so sad to forget even one precious life extinguished so ruthlessly. The past still tragically around us, in continuing crimes against humanity.
                                                                                                                             

Naima Shalhoub - Ferguson-Gaza Blues

Nina Simone said " that it is an artists  duty to reflect the times.", I take that call seriously"

Lebanese-Amercian singer perfoms her song  paying homage to the struggles of Ferguson and Gaza

Ysbryd/Spirit ( a poem for Dydd Santes Dwynwen / St Dwynwens day; The Welsh Patron Saint Of Lovers)

(for Jane and all lovers)

St Dwynwens spirit lives again today
dances on the earth, echoes amongst heartbeats,
she opens up our eyes, to unite and embrace
with residues  of light, releases feelings of joy,
traces the smiles of laughter and deep expression
the breath of kindness, the bliss of kiss,
moving us together, on paths of harmony
as we walk on strong, together hand in hand.

Though her tale was cruel, marked by pain
She wraps her arms around us gently,
to comfort and protect, the flow of shining time
shimmering with protective potency,
under star-studded sky, allows  goodness to prevail

she heals again, answers our whispering cry,
fortifies and keeps us warm, in the name of love
her flame planting chords of harmony and peace.

A beacon of hope, enables hearts to conquer 

unweighted. unburdened,  unconstrained,
allows poetry to flourish, to be shared
moments to cherish, the taste of  ebullience,

Welsh lovers look to  her for help in courting their true love
or for forgetting a false one, that became an obstacle, 
a sparkle that flutters amongst the crazy folds of life
infuses the world again, with scents of passion.

Free Raif Badawi blogger who dared to criticise Saudi Arabian clerics.

It is time to free Raif Badawi, the Saudi blogger who is to be publicly flogged 50 times, each week who is to be publicly flogged 50 times, each week over 20 weeks for daring to criticise  Saudi Arabian clerics, despite  appeals around the world for him to be pardoned.
Flogging is prohibited under  the convention against torture a law which Saudi Arabia is party to. Badawi was found guilty  last year of  insulting Saudi Arabian clerics on his blog Free Saudi Liberals, a now shut website he created.He was given a sentence  of a decade in prison and 1,000 lashes. A court  had originally sentenced him to 600  lashes and  7 years in prison, but a judge increased the sentence after appeal.
All that he did was write about secularism, and about what it meant for him, a free society and freedom of expression.He has become a symbol for many thousands of other men and women who are in prison for doing nothing more than expressing their opinion.
We must stand with him and condemn  the use of this cruel  inhuman and degrading punishment in all circumstances.
His flogging has been postponed on medical grounds,  but this does not mean his suffering has ended. His flogging could resume at any time.
Keep up the pressure.



https://www.change.org/p/free-and-safeguard-the-liberal-saudi-raif-badawy-no-600-lashes

http:/campaigns.amnesty.org/actions/write-for-rights-raif-badawi

Time to think outside their box

As billionaires and politicians gather in Switzerland this week for their annual meeting of the World Economic Forum at Davos, we should remember that 1% of the world's population still owns  more wealth  than the other, in the 21st century surely a ridiculous state to be in.
But we should also remember how the oligarchs that rule are world, like to distract us from these inequalities, how they want to maintain their status quo, through the media that they own, keep feeding us a steady diet of entertainment, disinformation and lies, designed  to distract and misdirect us.
The world of television and modern media has become a tool of de-evolution and propaganda and social control. Since the rise of the Tavistock institute in the early 20th Century, nearly unlimited resources have  been applied  to understanding how to manipulate the human psyche through television and other forms of mass media.
What we have today  is an increasingly sophisticated full-spectrum assault on free will and psychological well-being,  and we have come to a point where it  is no longer even necessary for media institutions to attempt to hide their blatant work of manipulating public opinion, manufacturing consent and creating  winners and losers in the minds  of an already brain-washed public.
With the  increasing pace of globalisation, the ownership of many mainstream media resources  like newspapers, television channels and radio stations, are  increasingly concentrated in the hands  of an enormous smaller number  of enormous companies.
As a result, the tiny number of individuals that own and control these companies enjoy effective control over a huge  percentage  of information that is seen by the public. So  what happens  is the news becomes to reflect certain oligarchs  own world views, shedding their own distortions. I'm talking about the likes of media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
The focus on sensationalism and entertainment lend  initially to  short segments composed of 'sound bites' making it extremely difficult to introduce concepts that fall outside so called 'accepted wisdom' of a particular wisdom. This is how the 'status quo' excercises its control, seeks to blind us, in accepting their versions of truth, try to prevent us for looking for alternatives, new models of fairness, paths towards  more tolerance and understanding, routes of progress, where avenues of social justice can be truly addressed.
We have to learn  to start thinking outside the regulators box, find other sources to tell our truths, or the world  of George Orwell's totalitarian control will be upon us.
The internet  has already proved to be an effective to overcoming  barriers put in our way, beyond  their corporate spin,  it has been proven to be effective too  in building an impressive network of support, sharing alternative ideas to a mass audience. A revolution already taking place in cyberspace, where people are already learning to  think outside their box.
However in light of recent events, where freedom of expression was attacked, the powerful now  uses tragedy to censor free speech even more, blocking the sharing of information, hinder innovation and control how internet users get online, they want to monitor everything we say on social media, to try to shift the blame on the state of the world on a small minority of users, in a way that enables them to stay in control, in charge. As is often the case, it is a small amount of people trying to make these decisions behind closed doors, about how we should all operate, threatening our freedom to connect and communicate. We must  be allowed to carry on speaking out, defending our internet freedom.
I personally will continue questioning, find my own perspective, think outside their box. beyond the hierarchies of coercion and control, continue looking for sources of hope,  allowing our collective struggles to be  grown and exchanged.
We must  move forwards, find another way, a brave new world , if  we try hard enough it  could all  simply be round the corner.

The three flowers - silent short film

Produced by Gaza Style Team

In defence of freedom of speech, tyrants of the world unite.

Following recent posts,  I am reminded that the ability to be mocked, or mock yourself is a cornerstone of our humanity,  so it was funny to see at the weekend, a rogues gallery of 40 world leaders, perpetrators of  imperialist wars, colonial occupiers, feudal despots and serial jailers of  inconvenient journalists, gathered together in defence of freedom.
So today I remind you of what has been done in the name of the leading marchers,who seemed to  be as they walked to be spreading hypocricy in all its many directions.
So we have Prime Minister Rajoy of Spain, whose government has just passed  a new gag law placing historic restriction  on the right of protest in Spain, who was responsible  for 16 lawyers of Basque political prisoners being arrested, and 11 Anarchists arrested merely for their beliefs.
Next comes  Foreign Minister Lavrov  of Russia, who last year jailed a journalist for "insulting a government servant."
Then we get Foreign Minister Shoukry of Egypt who has detained Al Zazeera staff and the Journalist Shawken for around 500 days.
Along comes King Abdullah of Jordan  - who last year sentenced a Palestinian  journalist to  15 years in prison with hard labour.
Followed nearby by Prime Minister Davutegbu of Turkey, which  imprisons more journalists than any country in the world.
Oh lest not forget Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel,  whose force was responsible for killing 17 journalists in Gaza, last year, then their is Foreign Minister Lamamra , which has detained Abdessami Abdelhai  for 15 months without charge, then Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates  who in 2013 held a journalist incommunicado  for a month. According to Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, freedom of speech is severely restricted here, Amnesty saying that more than 100 peaceful activists and government critics have been detained since 2011.
Prime Minister Jomaa  of Tunisia - jailed blogger Yassine Ayan for 3 years for 'defaming the army'.
 Next we get the Prime Ministers of Georgia and Bulgaria both of whom  have a record  of attacking and beating journalists.
Still with me, next their is the Attorney General of  the U.S where police in Ferguson have already detained and assaulted Washington post reporters, lest us forget Guantanamo, and the wars of division that have been fostered in America's name, and guess how many times the U.S has bombed Al -Jazeera.
Prime Minister Samaras of Greece - who  riot police beat and injured two journalists recently.
The Secretary General of Nato, he really had to join in didn't he, an organisation who are yet to be held to account for  deliberately bombing and killing 16 Serbian journalists in 1999 bombing of Bedgrade, an organisation intent on warmongering too, and spreading fear.
President Keita of Mali, where journalists are routinely expelled  for covering human rights abuses.
Foreign Minister of Bahrain - here's the 2nd biggest jailor of journalists   in the world per capita ( they also torture them).
Sheikh Mohammed Ben Homad Ben Kalifa Al Thani of Qata, which jailed a man for 15 years for writing the Jasmine poem.
Palestinan President Mahmoud Abbas  who had several journalists jailed for insulting him in 2013.
Prime Minister Cera of Slovenia, which sentenced a blogger to 6 months in prison for defamation in 2013.
Prime Minister Kenny of Ireland, where blasphemy is considered a criminal offence.
Prime Minister Kopaaz of Poland  , raided a magazine  to seize recordings  that were embarrassing for the ruling party.
Prime Minister Orban of Hungary - the autocrat who  Amnesty International  recently said - " has put an end to the free press in Hungary.                                             
Last but no means least we have our very  own Prime Minister Cameron of the UK, where authorities destroyed documents obtained  by the Guardian and threatened prosecution, who as I type wants to reintroduce 'internal exile' a hallmark of the worlds most oppressive regimes, yet more  civil liberties stripped  by the Tory regime.
Yes my mind truly boggles at times, here we have  predators of press freedom, mingling with terrorists and other suppressors of freedom, taking part in a rally against terrorism, in support of freedom of speech in what must amount as an example of shameless political opportunism, in a cynical photo op, that seemed to suggest that they were leading the million people  gathered. Freedom lives, so above are a list of people we can continue to seek out to criticise, hypocrites all, enemies of the poor and oppressed every single one of them, we would be fools if we ignored these simple facts, we carry on then, pointing the finger at those that richly deserve the piss being taken out of them.
So in this time,let us   remember the hundreds of journalists targeted and silenced.
The above so called defenders of free speech, should continue to be mocked and scorned, because this is what  freedom is for, so this is why  today  my pen  pours scorn on theses powerful  yet corrupt  leaders of privilege, let our freedom of expression and thoughts continue to seed,and rebel against all, those that seek to rule us with tyranny and  oppression, and speak up for the powerless.                                                           
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
                                                                

Tom Waits reads Nirvana by Charles Bukowski

A link to what is for me, to be  one of most  thoughtful and melancholy poems the great Charles Bukowski ever wrote, a poem whose words I feel immensely.Filmed  in Forest Hill, London Dec 1, 2010. I for one am still looking for Nirvana.

No Love, no friendship, no kindness is ever wasted.

(an experimental utopian prose adventure)


In dangerous times, we need to remember what we have almost lost. Take a walk and climb, look out to sea, let the salt waves surge over gorse flower, peace to arrive softly, mingling with our days,with  restorative sigh.
Remember too, that no friendship, no kindness is ever wasted. Tiptoe gently through the land, allow words of comfort to scatter,leave them on park benches, allow them to float down easily, for anyone to claim. There is no such thing as loving in vain, true one  can love someone who does not return it back. But for every unrequited  love another bigger love is born. The more  people you like, the more people will like you..The more you give, the more will be yours to give, forget about profit, forget about war.
Remember that the more smiles you put into circulation, the more will fly back. Let love and friendship and smiles be the currency of life. Not to be hoarded, to be shared, for all to benefit, to be kept in constant circulation, then we all benefit, under the moon and sun. We are all born in individual moments, not tarnished by injustice, essences of innocence..
Our  infinite possibilities contain keys to unlock the doors, we are denizens all,  here  just for a short time, so tread carefully, follow hands and the trail of sunsets, adventures mixed with diversity, return to tomorrow, be alive with mystery, knock on doors of memory, when moments come calling with doubt and bewilderment, shoulder to shoulder, we can learn.Together we are strong, strained of all its worries and misfortunes, life could be endurable, shaped with the glow of possibility, breathing gently, unveiling a future world of heddwch/peace.

Dark days for freedom of speech

I personally do not follow any Gods or masters, I believe though in the realities of the rain and wind, the dark shadows that fall, light and shade.
The savage attack on the offices of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo are simply atrocious, it is an attack on our fundamental freedom of thought and expression, and Europes vibrant press culture. It is  a dark time  when voices are silenced in this horrific way. I personally follow too solidarity's breath, so this is why I must stand with the victims of this barbaric attack. This evil in religions disguise now spreads across our lands, and I cannot condone, a twisted exploitation of  sacred pieces of paper, that only seeks to divide people in the name of unreason, and does not represent the words and deeds of the majority of followers of Islam., we must support those muslims, who might be attacked because of what some madmen have tried to exploit.
This is not the first time that the offices of Charlie Hebdo  have been attacked,  and sadly unfortunately wont be the last time that it will be either .A magazine well known for its satirical content,  that has caused deep offence to many different faiths. Yet those  who kill for the mere reason of offence have done more damage to their faith and community relations, than anyone with a pen or a cartoonists brush.
Allahu Akbar the alleged attackers shouted ' God is Great' in Arabic, this is not an act of  religion though, it is an act of war, I express my sympathy with the victims,  and my condolences and compassions to all muslims who I believe will be as horrified as the world. I hope the French people also reject the persecution of innocents, and resist the temptation to resort to stereotyping.
And though I do not defend or endorse everything that has been published in this magazine,today though Je suis, Charlie Hebdo

Powerful Palestine Rises triumphantly

                                             
                                            image - Palestinian artist Imad abu Shtayeh                                       
                                           
As Palestine seeks to join the International Criminal Court, powerful Palestine rises triumphantly: Despite the destruction, they remain steadfast, the Palestinian  voice grows stronger day by day - they have  not lost their hope or their dignity. Even though they have experienced pain and loss in an unimaginable way, they will not give up  until they get their deserved freedom, and an end  to their ongoing repression. The survival of the Palestinian  people is their strongest resistance, they do not see themselves as victims, but a people whose hopes and aspirations grow stronger everyday.
The right of the Palestinian people to self-determination remains undiminished and it is up to the international community to respect their rights and remind Israel of its obligation to respect this.
Remember too  that the International Criminal Court  specifically  finds that "Crimes against Humanity" under  the Rome Statute of 2007, Article 7, states that these offences include murder, forcible deportation or transfer of members of a group, torture, persecution of members of an identified group (ie the Palestinians ) and the crimes of apartheid.
May 2015 bring Peace and freedom, this freedom means refugees finally being allowed to return home. A freedom  that means that the Palestinian people can move around without having to hide from checkpoints or walk around walls. A freedom that means not being discriminated against, not being denieid passes. A freedom that  means having a functioning economy, that has not been stolen by the occupier, that has seen it taking  over the Palestinians tourism, agriculture, industries, land and natural resources. A freedom that does not see friends and relatives killed or homes demolished.
From the rivers to the sea I hope Palestine will be free, we should all  keep asking for justice and dignity for today's generation of Palestinians and the next ones to come, but we should  also remember that freedom is never given voluntarily by the oppressor it must be demanded by the oppressed. This freedom must be allowed to prevail, as it did in South Africa, I strongly  believe that the arc of the universe is bent towards, this goal, even when at times, it does not seem to look this way. This is one of my dearest goals.

Onwards and Upwards

Sadly the country is still full of people who will continue to vote for the Conservatives in May, but if we have any sense at all, surely it is time to show them the door.Currently  in Great Britain Tax cuts are given  to the rich, bankers are getting 35% pay rises... and even last week I read that the government has nearly  doubled its intake of champagne, all paid for by us. Food poverty grows daily, and the governments plan for recovery will mean  that people on low incomes, things will get a whole lot worse, before it gets any better.
Their arrogance and lack of empathy  is astonishing. The sooner the Conservatives and their allies are consigned  to the dustbins of history the better.We must cleanse ourselves of the shreds of their corruption and  finally show the sheer magnitude of their rampant theft  and pillaging of our countries assets.
 The media I guess is part of the problem, because the media  is not going  to stand up against a system that its owners benefit from, a few voices get through but it is not enough. Sadly the opposition  is weak too, so I'm not holding my breath for a good outcome.
"The Revolution will not be televised"
Anyway happy new year/ blwyddyn newydd dda, hope  change is truly on its way, best wishes , heddwch/peace. One final determined push should do it.