Hitler finds out about Labour's Manifesto

As news comes in that many  people  actually back many of the policies in Labour's leaked Manifesto, because they've written down things people actually agree with  including nationalising the railways, building more houses and raising taxes on higher earners, I offer you this hilarious and absolutely brilliant video. Watch it till the end you wont regret it.
Please share and make June the end of May. Don't we all deserve a brighter future.

Relax with the Conservatives - Peter Cook

The BBC and their political editor  Laura Keunssbergu have been under  fire this week for blatant Pro Tory bias and propaganda. The BBC  are supposed to remain neutral and impartial  but the fact that they are doing this  during an actual election campaign  seems to be absolutely  incredible.  Ofcom has been inundated  with  complaints. Viewers contacted the watchdog about more than 60 BBC broadcasts in the last month – around twice the usual number. Around two thirds of the complaints were about ‘due impartiality’ and ‘bias’ on BBC News, and current affairs programmes like Newsnight and Question Time.
It seems we wont need to be hypnotised by the Tory's, the media is already doing this on there behalf. They are trying to fool the nation. Wake up, snap out of it, don't be fooled. The truth is the Government  is starving our NHS, a Government that has cut money from disabled people, with their conscious cruelty, despite their bluster, they simply do not care. Nor do they seem to want to shape a future that will benefit people socially and economically.

Don't let them continue to fail our country. Now more than ever we must defeat the Tory's ideological driven austerity, it is their heartless policies that we have to continue to be worried about. We have to stop them in their tracks, we have far to much to lose.
Meanwhile here's a timeless classic from the late great Peter Cook.

Mental Health Awareness Week

Mental Health Awareness Week 2017 is taking place this week, between Monday May 8 –  Sunday 14.  It tries  to  bring attention and awareness to how anxiety and Depression can impact our mental health.The event is coordinated by the Mental Health Foundation https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/ and this year’s theme is “Surviving or Thriving”. It’s no overstatement to say that Britain is living through a mental health crisis. From depression, to anxiety, to eating disorders, one in four of us will experience a mental health problem each year. Many of us increasingly experiencing daily life as a battle. Emotionally, our heads are only just above water.
I personally have a trusty black dog that  calls regularly that has  made me the open, understanding and compassionate person I am. I unfortunately  have no control , it just happens.It suddenly  creates sadness , fear, and all those turbulent feelings that drives one to self destruction , and nights with no sleep. I also  get so angst ridden that I cannot leave my house, let alone phone a GP to seek help, because I fear I will be judged and blamed somehow, embarrassed and ashamed for something I have no control over. A tendency to affix blame and leave me  feeling even more unworthy.
Mental illness scares us and shames us. Those who suffer are often, like me, ashamed to speak of it. Those who are lucky enough to be free of mental illness are terrified of it. When it comes to mental illness, we still don't quite get how it all works. Our treatments, while sometimes effective, often are not. And the symptoms, involving a fundamental breakdown of our perceived reality, are existentially terrifying. There is something almost random about physical illness, in how it comes upon us , a physical illness can strike anyone – and that is almost comforting. Were mental illness to fall into that same category, then it too could strike any of us, without warning. And that is terrifying.
But more than simple fear, mental illness brings out a judgmental streak that would be unthinkably grotesque when applied to physical illness. Imagine telling someone with a broken leg to "snap out of it." Imagine that a death by cancer was accompanied by the same smug headshaking that so often greets death by suicide. Mental illness is so qualitatively different that we feel it permissible to be judgmental. We might even go so far as to blame the sufferer. Because of the  stigma involved  it often leaves us much sicker.
It should be noted  that many  people believe that our Governments policies are actually fuelling the current  mental health crisis. Budget cuts to mental health services combined with no genuine support are driving  many people to the edge. As a result many young people and adults are left isolated facing long waiting lists for mental health therapies and diagnostic assessments. Prime Minister Maggie May herself said   "On my first day in Downing Street last July, I described shortfalls in mental health services as one of the burning injustices in our country.
Despite these gestures the Tories have not delivered on their promise to give mental health the same priority as physical health.They have not offered  no extra funding and have consistently raided mental health budgets over the last seven years. There are now over 6,000 fewer mental health nurses than in 2010. The number of psychiatrists employed by the NHS has fallen by  four percent since 2014 , with a 10 percent drop in those who specialise in children's mental health and a similar drop in those working with older adults. Seven years of Tory Government have left those with mental health problems without the support they need. The only thing that the Tories deliver are empty words and actions  that are shaping a society that does  not help to tackle the injustice of unequal treatment in mental health. Also because of how dire the times are getting: not only are benefit cuts driving people to think of killing themselves, but low wages and welfare sanctions are making people ill, shortening people's lives. For many insecurity  has become the way of  life. You simply can't trust May and co on mental health.
To add  to all of  this I  switched on the television the other night to find that  Theresa May was attempting to 'humanise' herself by appearing on the 'One Show' with her multi millionaire investment banker husband. So, just an average extremely rich couple who live in the very posh Berkshire village of Sonning, where the Georgian, Victorian and Tudor style houses go for anything from £800k to £1.6 million. Someone who definitely knows the effects of benefit cuts, loss of local public services and zero hours contracts on the working poor of Britain. Mrs very privileged.  I slept restlessly.Then I awoke to find she had revealed she wants to bring back fox hunting, overturning Labour’s 2004 ban. Their priorities could not be more clear: they’re a government for the few, not the many who want to keep blood sports in the history books. It seems that there are literally no depths of idiocy and cruelty that the Tories wont sink to in their efforts to restore this country to its backward depressing Victorian values. If this does not make you mad you have become conditioned and devoid of feeling, they simply have you under control.
Too often mental health is swept under the carpet and ignored ,either because of the stigma and taboo surrounding it , so we have to keep battling to destroy the negative attitudes and stereotypes that is directed towards people with mental health issues that disproportionately affect people living in poverty, those who are unemployed, people living in isolation and those who already face discrimination, so we also have to keep challenging policies that  exasperate these problems. In the meantime I will try to keep fighting and surviving, and hope that one day mental health  becomes  a genuine Government priority that would help reduce peoples pain and suffering. And who knows one day might come when I will become strong and stable.

If you need to talk to someone, the NHS mental health helpline page includes organisations you can call for help, such as Anxiety UK and Bipolar UK. or call The Samaritans on 116 123.

For a lover ( Poem for Jane Elizabeth Husband, 9/5/60 - 8/1/17 )

When there’s someone, one someone, who makes your days brighter, makes your joys greater, makes your heart lighter…Someone, one someone, you want to share with, do everything with, go everywhere. Someone, one someone you want to live for…You have something called love.”

- Kahlil Gibran

Today would have been my beloved's birthday, she would have turned 57 years young, nevertheless her spirit and magic I still feel on every sunrise,  in the early morn, after the moon has set , arriving every dawn, neither west, east, south or north, her petals following no borders,her footsteps still following rhythmic beats of the world, dancing freely, I still see her holding out her hands, in these days of confusion her words still clear, I tell myself she is free, where skies gleam and trees sway ,a drifting peaceful beauty.I offer to sweet Jane this poem.

For a Lover

Born in May like an exquisite flower
The joy she bought never surrendered,
Now in vast eternity, I am still caught
In my garden this light still shines,
Not forgotten, well attended
A passion that still has time to call,
Whispering through the trees
Releasing the memory of breath,
This great mystery who delivered kindness
In this world her love I  crave,
Because there was wisdom in her eyes
And so much laughter too,
She was faithful  true, lended strength
To let sadness flee and escape,
Though she  has gone far away
And her words are silent now,
I often wake from dreaming of  this angel form
Even while unceasing winds have blown,
With the knowledge that she bought me peace
And the greatest of all lifes' gifts- companionship,
Strong memories will always survive
The bonds of love cannot be measured,
Reaching out from  beyond final resting place
Ever so distant, yet so near and dear in heart,
I will wait  until its time to meet  again once more
For us to hold, share and love together,
On each birthday I will continue to celebrate
My special friend and lover who in poetry forever lives,
Whose passion and fire will never  fade
Still guiding and so close to me,
No matter how far  and out of reach
In galaxies of time, presence still, reverberates.
                                             
                                    

Bob Dylan - Subterranean Homesick Blues

Some musical  respite. "Subterranean Homesick Blues" is a song by Bob Dylan , originally released on the album  Bringing it all Back Home in March 1965.  Bob was a little ahead of the 'music video' trend when, on  this day May 8, 1965, he got the idea to make a short film of the song.He was filming what would become the documentary "Don't Look Back" when the idea hit him.
The short film that follows  features him standing in an alley next to London's Savoy Hotel , just accompanied by his friends Allen Ginsberg and Bob Neuwirth, flipping giant cue cards with the lyrics of the song on them.

The video, which many feel was one of the first "music videos," would become an iconic rock moment. The song sounded like nothing nobody had  heard before and  it utterly transformed Bob Dylan's career and the history of popular music along with it.
In 1963 Dylan had become one of  the leading figures in the folk revival, writing socially conscious anthems like "Blowin' in the Wind." As of his fourth album, Another Side of Bob Dylan, released in August 1964, he was becoming less interested in political material and more interested in songs with poetic, allusive imagery, but he was still playing them on an acoustic guitar or piano and his ever-present harmonica. In January 1965, however, Dylan went into the studio with a five-piece electric band -- two guitars, piano, bass, and drums . The first product of this effort was "Subterranean Homesick Blues," In four lengthy verses, with no real chorus (though the line "Look out, kid" appeared in the second part of every verse) and no mention of the title, Dylan delved into a free association of rhymes and catch phrases. This was Dylan’s first successful attempt to integrate the emotions of the Beat Generation which he had understood from Alan Ginsberg and others combining the thoughts of the moment with three minutes of everything that was happening in the world of the mid 1960s.
Like the Beat Generation poetry before it took a scatological approach to lyrics and rhyme, rejecting all that had gone before, linking the future to the past and back again, finding new models, new expressions, new ideas, even if no one knew what they meant.
The song contained depictions of a variety of characters including Johnny, "the man in the trench coat," "the man in the coon-skin cap in the big pen," Maggie, "girl by the whirlpool," and others, and, in the second parts of each verse, various pieces of cautionary advice for the kid, including everything from "Don't try No Doz" to "try to avoid the scandals." It wasn't a protest song in the way that some of Dylan's earlier songs had been, but the lyrics clearly expressed social discontent, with lines like "Twenty years of schoolin'/And they put you on the day shift." Dylan spat out the words in a staccato rhythm while the band rollicked along in a ramshackle manner.
The whole thing was oddly exhilarating, but "Subterranean Homesick Blues" was easily the strangest single Columbia Records had ever released. It was also a hit, at least a modest one, peaking just inside the Top 40, Dylan's first single to reach the charts. Rolling Stone magazine has it in the top 500 greatest songs of all time. A personal favourite of mine.
Here's Bob in London, 52 years ago today.

(As for those) in the basement
(Marijuana's) the medicine
(And those) on the pavement
(Burning down the false) government
The man in the trench coat
Badge out, laid off
Says he's got a bad cough
Wants to get it paid off
Look out kid
It's something you did
(Jah) knows when
But you're doing' it again
You better duck down the alley way
Looking' for a new friend
The man in the coon-skin cap
In the big pen
Wants eleven dollar bills
You only got ten

Maggie comes fleet foot
Face full of black soot
Talking' that the heat put
Plants in the bed but
The phone's tapped anyway
Maggie says that many say
They must bust in early May
Orders from the D.A.
Look out kid
Don't matter what you did
Walk on your tip toes
Don't try "No Doze"
Better stay away from those
That carry around a fire hose
Keep a clean nose
Watch (those) plain clothes
You don't need a weather man
To know which way the wind blows

(You) get sick, (then) get well
Hang around an ink well
(Things fell), hard to tell
If anything is going' to sell
Try hard, get barred
Get back, write Braille
Get jailed, jump bail
(Don't stop, you don't) fail
Look out kid
You're going to get hit
By users, cheaters
Six-time losers
Hang around the theaters
Girl by the whirlpool
Looking' for a new fool
Don't follow leaders
Watch the parking' meters

Ah get born, keep warm
(Girls come) learn to dance
Get dressed, get blessed
Try to be a success
Please her (to please me)
Don't steal, don't (shop) lift
Twenty years of schooling'
And they put you on the day shift
Look out kid
They keep it all hid
(You come out from the dark zone)
Light yourself a (fire torch)
Wear (your) sandals
Try to avoid the scandals
Don't want to be a bum
(Get yourself a gun)
The pump don't work
'Cause the vandals took the handles

The History of Religion, From Magic Rocks to the Modern Day

Cartoonist Paul Kinsella takes us through the history of religion, one picture at a time:

Evolution is not a religion.

Evolution is a constantly observed, reviewed , and never disproved fact.

If this conflicts with your religious beliefs then I suggest you observe and review whatever it is you believe.

Evolution is backed by tangible evidence.

Your beliefs are not.

Does it really matter?

We are all designed to go.

Some of us  unfortunately never reach the " Growing up" stage.

Magic does indeed rock.

Better make the most of it.

By the way my imaginary friend is better than yours.

Footnote :-

The Irish blasphemy investigation into Stephen Fry continues a very dangerous trend of European countries using blasphemy laws to silence criticism of religion.
We cannot afford to let religious conservatives turn back the clock on decades of social progress.
Blasphemy laws make us all less free, and they suppress our ability to criticise unfair practices and to work for a fairer, more secular society where everyone is treated equally.

The questions you should be asking canvassers…

 

Local elections are over, revealing  clear  and damaging lines of division, but at least Prince Phillip has gone, and who knows if there really was a God up there by June we might see the end of May, either way as the general election  campaigning gets under way, the next four weeks we’ll be bombarded with slogans, leaflets and canvassers at every turn. But when someone turns up on your doorstep, what are you going to ask them? You might not actually feel inclined to open the door, let alone be that welcoming.

We could ignore, as those who seek to represent us come with  their deaf years, their strong handshakes and smiles, choreographed for years, enough to test anyone's patience. But if we choose to engage, we need to know our stuff – and make sure who ever is running our country they are committed to protecting our rights.Do not let them insult your intelligence  with vague and non committal type answers.Don't let  them fob you off. The way currently things seem to be going, I'm giving up hope, but it's out there, just needs to be awakened and spread.
Here are six things to ask every canvasser (as they seek to become your paid representative)  who comes to your door:

1. Will you protect the Human Rights Act?

The Human Rights Act is our law. It’s helped our troops, victims of crime, disabled people and minority groups including BAME and LGBT communities.

You can also ask party leaders to protect the Act by signing Mark Neary’s petition on Change.org.

2. Will you make sure we stay signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights?

The Convention is a beacon of hope across Europe and beyond.

It outlaws torture and slavery, upholds free speech and religion, protects life and liberty and promotes other basic rights. The Human Rights Act makes the Convention UK law – letting us defend those rights in our own courts.

3. What will you do to combat division and discrimination?

Successive governments have demonised migrants, enforcing policies which spread hate and build borders in our classrooms, hospitals and even our homes.A growing wave of hatred is directed against immigrants, fed by reporting in newspapers like the Daily Mail. Demonising immigrants has a real impact on people’s lives and feeds a small-minded politics which sees people from elsewhere as a threat.

With hate crime on the rise, now is the time to build bridges, not sow division.

4. Will you fight to protect our human rights as we leave the EU?

The next government must promise to safeguard our workers’ rights and equality protections – and not to use EU nationals as bargaining chips.

5. Will you commit to a targeted state surveillance system which protects our rights?

The Investigatory Powers Act is now law, letting the Government record and monitor everything we do online.

We need a surveillance system that targets suspects instead of swamping spies with too much data, putting our personal information at huge risk and disregarding our rights.

6.How can we trust you to ensure the NHS is legally protected in any trade deals we do with Trump’s USA?
We’ve been told that Brexit gives us the opportunity to negotiate dozens of new trade deals – including with Donald Trump’s US. But this could threaten our NHS, and access to healthcare around the world because trade deals often favour privatisation over public solutions to healthcare.

https://www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk/