Monday 6 January 2020
We're all gonna die.
We all will go eventually, our time will come. It is sadly inevitable, travelling through on an evolutionary timeline,it's universal, an equalizer, one of the few absolute inevitabilities about the experience of being human, utterly unavoidable. It's always a bit of a shock, tinged with heartbreak and tragedy, especially when it's someone we actually know..
The late great Charles Bukowski once said " We're all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each another, but it doesn't . We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing."
So, we shouldn't waste our time, while we are still here, we should make the most of it, while we have the chance, and it is still rife, We will all experience emotions of empathy and sorrow, unless your a sociopath that is, so best to embrace the beauty of the world, Try to end the suffering of the world, so at least when we have gone, we might contribute a little to a brighter future.
I have thought and pondered about death a lot, it is I guess equally both a blessing and a curse, can inspire both fear and gratitude, at this moment in time I'm so glad that I'm awake and hopefully see tomorrow's sunrise.
Some believe in higher powers or the gift of reincarnation. Some dream of immortality. But at the end of the day life is a terminal condition. The bad news is Death, The bad news is you are going to die. I'm going to die. We are all going to die from something. Whether it be cancer, a heart attack, a stroke, the flu, diabetes, alzhheimer's disease, war, poverty, hunger, by your own design or simply by accident.
So in the meantime I hope all can find some kind of peace in this extraordinary thing we call life. It's so easy to become blinded and complacent as we travel through lifes precarious walkways. Reject comfort zones ,keep on pushing boundaries and try and keep following the precious paths of mutual aid, laden with solidarity and love.
Friday 3 January 2020
No War With Iran
Not soon after another year had just started on Thursday,President Donald Trump ordered the Joint Special Operations Command of the U.S. to assasinate a leading member of the Iranian state and military Qassem Soleimani and another militia commander inside Iraq with a targeted drone missile strike at the Baghdad Airport.
Trump, in a signal he can do whatever he wants in the world, posted a U.S. flag in a tweet.
"Iran
never won a war, but never lost a negotiation!" Trump first tweeted
Friday morning, although it was not immediately clear what the president
meant by the statement.
In
follow-up tweets later in the morning, Trump said Soleimani was
responsible for numerous deaths, including of thousands of Americans,
and that he "was both hated and feared within the country."
"General
Qassem Soleimani has killed or badly wounded thousands of Americans
over an extended period of time, and was plotting to kill many more ...
but got caught! He was directly and indirectly responsible for the death
of millions of people, including the recent large number .... of
PROTESTERS killed in Iran itself," Trump tweeted.
"While Iran will never be able to properly
admit it, Soleimani was both hated and feared within the country. They
are not nearly as saddened as the leaders will let the outside world
believe. He should have been taken out many years ago!"
Trump
later followed up with another tweet saying that the Iraqi people
"don’t want to be dominated & controlled by Iran" and noting the
vast amount of money the U.S. has spent on the country.
"Over
the last 15 years, Iran has gained more ... and more control over Iraq,
and the people of Iraq are not happy with that. It will never end
well!"
The US tried to justify its actions as necessary to protect US personnel , but in reality, this act blatantly violated international law. The US dos not have the authority to murder a General of a country they are not at war with. .Iran has declared that it will retaliate after a three day period of mourning,
Iran's Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Forcea figure was considered by many be the second-most powerful person in the Iranian government behind supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and recent polling showed that Soleimani was the most popular Iranian public figure, with 8 in 10 Iranians having favorable views of him, according to a public opinion study published by the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland in October.
The US tried to justify its actions as necessary to protect US personnel , but in reality, this act blatantly violated international law. The US dos not have the authority to murder a General of a country they are not at war with. .Iran has declared that it will retaliate after a three day period of mourning,
Iran's Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Forcea figure was considered by many be the second-most powerful person in the Iranian government behind supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and recent polling showed that Soleimani was the most popular Iranian public figure, with 8 in 10 Iranians having favorable views of him, according to a public opinion study published by the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland in October.
Since this incident Democratic leaders in Congress have criticized Trump's decision. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said late Thursday night that the bombing was carried out without "authorization for use of military force" or consultation with Congress and called on the administration to immediately brief lawmakers on the next steps under consideration.
Jamal Abdi, president of the National Iranian American Council
(NIAC), also issued a grave warning. "The last thing the world needs is
yet another disastrous American military adventure in the Middle East,"
said Abdi in a statement. "The assassination of IRGC Quds Force
Commander Qassem Soleimani is a profoundly reckless move that will be
viewed as an act of war in Tehran.""Iran is a nation of 80 million innocent people," added Abdi, "most of whom do not want war and oppose the actions of their own government. Similarly, Iraq is a nation of 38 million who deserve peace after lives filled with war. And the American people have seen enough of wars in the Middle East that have no end, only new beginnings. Yet many thousands of innocents in each country will be the victims of a conflict that will be difficult to confine within any one nation's borders."
The Stop the War Coalition is asking all its members and supporters to step up up organsing now against the threat of war on Iran
In a statement by Lindsey German it says :- The assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani is an act of war by Donald Trump. The act was carried out in Baghdad, violating all agreements with the Iraqi government. Both Iran and Iraq will retaliate. Trump has been heading for war since tearing up the nuclear deal with Iran and if he succeeds will create a bigger war than we have seen in the Middle East. It will draw in major players across the region including Israel, Saudi Arabia and possibly Russia.
This is the bloody result of two decades of war started by the US after 9/11. Those of us who said war in Iraq would lead to endless conflict and misery were absolutely right to do so. And those who justified those wars are now looking on while the situation escalates.
We must do everything we can to oppose war with Iran - and attacks on Iraq if it demands the withdrawal of US troops.
And just a thought for the new year. US troops are still in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Libyan civil war continues with NATO member Turkey about to intervene there. We have to end these interventions now and demand that our government does not join in Trump’s conflicts. http://www.stopwar.org.uk/index.php/news-comment/3550-qassem-soleimani-assasination-is-an-act-of-war
The anti-war movement now needs to respond strongly and quickly, in London an anti-war protest has been called outside Downing Street at 2-3pm tomorrow (Saturday) under the heading No War With Iran.There are also calls to organise protests wherever you are. Trumps' strike on Iran now jeapardises his vow to stop 'endless wars' and with his deliberate provocation now seems likely to increase tensions that has a grave risk of instigating a unnecessary war with Iran that would be a tragic disaster for the United States and for the world that could have catastrophic consequences.
President Trump's latest actions are just the latest unilateral actions by his administration following him pulling out of the historic and successful Iran nuclear deal in May 2018, embarked on a 'maximum pressure' campaign that sent thousands more U.S troops to the Middle East; and imposed crippling economic sanctions on Iran which has seen relations between the countries deteriorate ever since.
Furthermore Iran shares a border with a number of countries, that the US considers allies and has a military presence in, including Turkey, Iraq and Afghanistan. None of these countries are especially stable at the moment, as they all continue to deal with ongoing conflicts and their consequences, including millions of displaced people.
Iran is allied with Russia and China, and its unclear how these major powers might react if conflict breaks out. Key US allies Israel and Saudi Arabia , which are adversaries of Iran and just a stone's throw away from it are also likely to get sucked into a US-Iran war.
A war with Iran would fail to achieve any of its aims, but would launch an entire region headlong into deadly conflict, putting the world in grave danger and unleash untold civilian suffering unless we and our political leaders have the strength to stop it , and their is no greater urgency than
now.Trump's unhinged foreign policy has needlessly endangered the lives of many. We should not bee led into another illegal war, er must give peace a chance and prevent anymore bloodshed.
Wednesday 1 January 2020
Woody Guthrie's New Year Resolutions
I am however, a great admirer of the legendary singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie born in Oklahoma in 1912, who has claim to be the first singer-songwriter in the modern sense of writing to express his own personality and perspective.
Guthrie’s social conscience was born during the 1930s, when “Okies” from the arid dust bowl states trailed west to the supposed Eden of California. It was America’s internal migrant crisis, with despised and dispossessed families living haplessly in squalid camps, and Guthrie eagerly took up their cause.
On January 1, 1943, Woody drafted a delightful list of " 33 New Year's Rulin's" he carried a notebook with him everywhere and he would write down everything that he found interesting.
The folk singers list is a great mix of aspirations that range from goals like"work more and better" and "wear clean clothes-look good" to the more philosophical in "keep hoping machine running" "dream good" and "wake up and fight." A feeling of joyful playfulness is evident throughout the list, though his goal to "help win war-beat fascism" is a stark sign of the times - at the end of 1941, the U S was dragged into World War 11 by the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor on Dec 7.
The list is a fascinating piece of social and cultural history. that really gives an insight into what drove this brilliant prolific singer and activist as he mixes the personal with the political, poetic in composition, passionate in composition.They are often shared and re-shared on the internet every year, perhaps because they capture Guthrie's hopeful and optimistic ideals.They still resonate with the times we live today and can also serve as an inspiration at any time of the year when pondering about what to do with our lives.
Take a look at the list here, then see the handwritten document below, complete with Guthrie's original sketches.
1. Work more and better
2. Work by a schedule
3. Wash teeth if any
4. Shave
5. Take bath
6. Eat good — fruit — vegetables — milk
7. Drink very scant if any
8. Write a song a day
9. Wear clean clothes — look good
10. Shine shoes
11. Change socks
12. Change bed cloths often
13. Read lots good books
14. Listen to radio a lot
15. Learn people better
16. Keep rancho clean
17. Dont get lonesome
18. Stay glad
19. Keep hoping machine running
20. Dream good
21. Bank all extra money
22. Save dough
23. Have company but dont waste time
24. Send Mary and kids money
25. Play and sing good
26. Dance better
27. Help win war — beat fascism
28. Love mama
29. Love papa
30. Love Pete
31. Love everybody
32. Make up your mind
33. Wake up and fight
.
You can learn more about Woody Guthrie’s life and music at woodyguthrie.org.
And here are links to two previous posts in relation to Woody.
It's a very worrying time for all at the moment, but nevertheless I wish everyone the happiest year they can have, especially if you’re
vulnerable, poor, oppressed and afraid or hopeless of what lies ahead
And while not a Resolution maker myself I will try to follow a few of Woody's Read Lots of Good Books, Stay Glad, Dream Good. Dance Better, Love Everybody, Keep Hoping Machine Running,Wake Up and Fight, while Beat fascism should be something we all should try to pursue every day of the year.,
Jewels In Time
The air is awash with ghosts
as another year turns dead
beyond the darkness of the world
time to lay it all to rest
let light call, beyond the fear and dread
poetry and song, dreams that give peace of mind
as time rumbles on with uncertainty
the treasure of friendship will forever be kind
in our gardens flowers will flourish
memories not forsaken, delivering strength
beyond the politicians emptiness, that break us down
lets your ears and heart be immersed with music
that kisses the soul, and enlivens the tonque
remembering smiles that lifted us, be guided by love
we will continue to rise up, patch up the hurt
our words still ever so clear, solid under every morn
a beautiful resistance that keeps on calling
the taste of truth will fill our bellies
as we ponder which paths to pursue
travelling on the haunted waves
let the wealth of our combined afflictions
soak up like a sponge, the living waters
generating channels that nurture sustenance
with earnest mischief in this game of chance
dancing undeterred with fervent belief.
( Blwyddyn Newydd Da / Happy New Year
Heddwch/Peace.)
Monday 30 December 2019
Is It Time To Scrap the Dishonourable Honours System?
It's become increasingly clear to many that the honours system is anachronistic and filled with irrelevant cronyism that is constantly stained with controversy. Stretching right back to Norman times, honours were historically bestowed for wartime bravery or to monied aristocrats. In 1917 George V invented the Order of the British Empire to honour everyday citizens, particularly those in non-combative roles during World War One, honours for celebrities followed.
The British government’s website declares “the honours system recognises people who have made achievements in public life and have committed themselves to serving and helping Britain”. Those fit to receive a knighthood, MBE or OBE should also “have made life better for other people or be outstanding at what they do” https://www.gov.uk/honours
Now, Queen's Honours are dished out twice a year - to approximately 3,000 people in total, names from the world of showbiz, sport and politics have recently been announced Though there are some worthy recipients, more and more people are becoming disillusioned with the current system as it is seen as being used as a political pay off, and the list of those who have been awarded honours only to be exposed as being unworthy of anyones admiration keeps getting longer.
It is really hard as hell to see how the following qualified or see what they had done to deserve an award. Child abusers like Jimmy Saville and Liberal politician Cyril Smith were both given knighthoods by the Queen on the advice of the Uk Prime Minister, alongside rogue businessmen like Fred Goodwin and Philip Green, who went on to destroy their companies through their greed. The likes of cricketer Geoffrey Boycott too who was convicted of domestic abuse of his partner and now it's been announced that former leader of the Conservatives, architect of controversial Universal Credit system and of death and misery Iain Duncan Smith MP is going to be given one too by Boris Johnson. It was his reforms and total incompetence at the DWP that saw thousands of vulnerable and disabled people die, and cruelly suffer. The announcement has sparked a furious backlash, with a petition, entitled 'Iain Duncan Smith should not receive a Knighthood' already having been signed by 150,000 people, in it he is labelled as "responsible for some of the cruellest most extreme welfare reforms this country has ever seen"' https://www.change.org/p/uk-government-and-parliament-we-object-to-iain-duncan-smith-receiving-a-knighthood
Opposition parties said it "beggared belief" that someone whose policies had caused so much distress should be honorued in this way. Labour's Lisa Nandy said it was a "disgraceful decision by Boris Johnson to reward a legacy of cruelty and failure",
Writing on Twitter, she added, "This regime deliberately removed the safety net. It stripped people of their dignity. There is no honour in that."
The Labour MSP Neil Findlay has submitted a motion to the Scottish Parliament calling for the honours system to be scrapped. His motion described the honours systemas "completely discredited" and Duncan Smiths knighthood "an award for services to the Tory party and nothing else."
Many critics see the whole honours system, including appointments to the bloated unelected House of Lords, as an affront to democracy. In his six years as Prime Minister David Cameron stuffed unelected cronies into the House of Lords at a faster rate than any Prime Minister in history. He thoroughly deserved his ‘Dodgy Dave’ nickname. He stuffed so many establishment insiders into the unelected upper house that the House of Lords is now the second biggest legislative chamber on earth, second only to the Chinese parliament. The fact a Chamber of 800 failed politicians, retired Bishops and Archbishops, assorted do-gooders from the professions and 92 Hereditary Peers, who are there because of birth right, have the ability to delay and amend laws is just unacceptable and makes a mockery of ‘British democracy’.
There are thousands of incredible ordinary people who go through life caring for others,,that we should be grateful to, our healthcare professionals, our educators and those involved in voluntary organisations who enrich our society, and many other deserving recipients who have done good work in their communities, who never appear on the radar of the political administrators who prepare honours lists, and .subsequently go without any kind of official reward. Thus the honours list is too narrow and fails to recognize the achievements of many while rewarding a select few.
A number of well-known individuals have refused an honour for a variety of reasons, whether political, personal, or because they did not feel it was appropriate. For example Ken Loach the film director, is one of a very honourable group of individuals who have turned down a discreditable British bauble. He told the Radio Times in March 2001:
“It’s all the things I think are despicable: patronage, deferring to the monarchy and the name of the British Empire, which is a monument of exploitation and conquest.
“I turned down the OBE because it’s not a club you want to join when you look at the villains who’ve got it” http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1217962.stm. and Benjamin Zephaniah, the celebrated black British poet, was similarly strident in 2003 when he referred to why he turned down a British Honour offered by war criminal PM Tony Blair:
“Me? I thought, OBE me? Up yours, I thought. I get angry when I hear the word ’empire’; it reminds me of slavery, it reminds me of thousands of years of brutality, it reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalised.”
“My obsession is about the future and the political rights of all people. Benjamin Zephaniah OBE – no way Mr Blair, no way Mrs Queen. I am profoundly anti-Empire” https://web.archive.org/web/20100616162002/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/benjamin-zephaniah-declines-an-obe-in-protest-against-colonialism-737107.html.
Personally the distasteful honours system is a shame on our country. greatly discredited, problematic,and not fit for purpose, yet what is extraordinary, is the British public’s continuing acceptance of it all, as 2019 draws to a close and 2020 approaches is it not time for us to consider that this outdated and ultimately archaic and devalued relic of our country’s colonial past, be scrapped, or at the very least we could get rid of the life peerages and knighthoods, because they smack of elitism. and replace the current system with a people's panel recognising and honouring only conspicuous public service and sacrifice and those that are truly deserving. Remember to daily honour too all that you consider worthy, our mothers, the peacemakers and advocates of positive change, that truly make a difference to our lives.
Saturday 28 December 2019
Poem For My Mother, Sheila Rendle nee Todd- Jones ,8/2/33- 26/12/19)
Let me introduce you
to a beautiful presence
my dear mother Sheila
daughter of a violin playing miner
born in Ton Pentre, Cwm Rhondda,
who taught me to read and write
the joys of books and poetry
prompting me to question everything
listened when things went awry
delivered often with glad assurance
asked for nothing in return
fierce, proud, defiant but gentle
wrapped now strongly in hearts
that can never be taken or stolen
she opened windows, points of consciousness
allowed us to accept life's frustrations
gave us reasons to try and always dispense care
delivered the most important lesson of all
love that keeps on releasing
the weight and depths
that cannot be scaled
I bless her for all she gave
it has served me so well
my allegiance is forever
this my simple way of homage
in endless sky and eternal seas
when the wind blows wild
in days and nights of silence
may she forever rest in peace.
Tuesday 24 December 2019
Tis The Season Again
Peter Kropotkin
It's come round again, the time of year when I usually feel like some kind of traitor, because I don't enter into the spirit of things. It's not that I'm a total misery guts, I like it if it snows, but that's about it,I just don't get this time of the year. There are the usual suspects, the seasonal fakery, the waste of paper, the misery that explodes , and the annual artificial need to guzzle and consume vast amounts, whilst people commodify and profiteer from our faked jollity. Santa the manufactured symbol that resides right next to the sick heart of capitalism and consumerism, christmas at the foodbank the new order of the day. Tolerating neighbours stupid light displays and crappy Christmas carols. Reflecting on life and loss in general. The list goes on and bloody on.
We sing about peace and good will, while people caught up in war zones, and countries are fractured by division. Our natural impulse is to give, share and support others, feelings of solidarity and mutual aid, these qualities find their form in the midwinter festival that in this part of the world, is now known as Christmas.Today, as the tentacles of the capitalist market reach into every part of our lives, those feelings are commodified, as we are encouraged to pay for the convenience of expressing our feelings for our fellow beings through gift giving. We fret about our purchases, are they good enough? Will the person like them?
But, as well as this, people across the world think of those who have less and donate food, clothes, toys and money.It is worth remembering that these acts of solidarity are part of our nature, that the impulse towards mutual aid is not just a once in a year anomoly, that it was a deciding factor in our evolution and is something we need to nurture, that Peter Kropotkin wrote in Mutual Aid, is a factor of evolution. that we need in order to survive.
Blessed Saturnalia, roast chestnuts underneath the pagan tree, ..... oh dear oh me.... But children love it I suppose , this shindig of excess. Their sun will rise anyway, rudolph will leave eat all the carrots and someone will have bamdoozled the sherry.
I suppose it is is a time when many do genuinely take some time out to celebrate their faith, fair enough , but the original meaning seems to have got lost a long time ago now. I also reflect at this time of the year, will think of dear friends, lovers, poets gone too soon, but won't get to deep, need to retain strength, Time also to consider those less well off, those who may be alone at this time of year, those who may not even have a place to call home, others who have lost friends, family and loved ones, those too who have become lost to a society that simply does not care. Remember the many organisations and services providing comfort to those that need it most, people facing homelessness and benefit disruption over the festive season. For some, this time of the year is a time of immense difficulty, fear and uncertainty, people left in isolation, feeling alone, left cold, hungry and without support, in a downward spiral. People who feel they do not belong, who are discredited and denied their status as human beings.
Whatever you do, try take it easy out there, and hope you have a good time, follow your dreams, your currents, each according to your need. Stay positive and stay human.and I wish you a happy peaceful new year. Hard times are approaching, we ain't seen nothing yet. Conservative compassion knows no boundaries. We don't have to take what our leaders want to deliver, we can still make a difference. as foodbanks continue to grow, the Tories should confront the poverty they helped create. For now if its your kind of thing merry Christmas, nadolig llawen, hanukkah, solstice, Yuletide, Saturnalia, Kwanzaa, Festivus, or anything else you care to celebrate.Reach out to those that need help, to those too weak to look after or defend themselves. not just for the holidays, but the days and years ahead, Think I've said enough. Laters...... heddwch/peace
Santa Claus says Free Palestine
David Roviks - Christmas Song
Monday 23 December 2019
Banksy's Scar of Bethlehem
The British street artist Banksy has bought a sombre Christmas spirit to a hotel he founded in the West Bank town of Bethlehem , with a nativity scene evoking the Palestinian- Israeli conflict.
It marks the Bristol-based artist's first foray into the public spotlight having released a mural in the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham, a fortnight ago highlighting homelessness.
Dubbed the “Scar of Bethlehem,”' the artwork features a traditional nativity scene, a miniature Jesus, Mary and Joseph under a rendition of Israel's concrete West Bank barrier punctured by bullet holes, the largest of which resembles a star over the manger. Three large wrapped presents sit at the forefront of the scene, while the words 'peace' and 'love' are graffiti tagged in English and French on the concrete,
The work is installed at Banksy’s Walled-Off Hotel, which he opened in March 2017,where all rooms overlook a concrete section of the barrier built by Israel to cut off the occupied West Bank from Israeli territory,offering "the worst view in the world."and is filled with original Banksy artwork. The hotel also contains a small museum on the history of the separation barrier.
Hotel
manager Wissam Salsaa called the work a "nativity scene," saying that
"Banksy has his own contribution to Christmas.""It is a great way to
bring up the story
of Bethlehem, the Christmas story, in a different way -- to make people
think more" of how Palestinians live in Bethlehem, Salsaa says. “Banksy
is trying to remind the world that people of Bethlehem, where
Christmas was started, are not celebrating Christmas like the rest of
the world,” he said.
"Christmas is known for the Star of
Bethlehem, that led people to the birthplace of Jesus," said hotel
manager Wisam Salsa. "You see there is a scar, there is a hole on the
wall that marks the wall and the life in Bethlehem how it is today."
.Israel began building the separation barrier , in parts concrete, with other stretches consisting of fencing,in 2002 during the Palestinian uprising, or intifada. Built mostly inside the West Bank, Israel says it is necessary to prevent attacks, but Palestinians label it an apartheid wall, a symbol of their ongoing oppression, separating them from Jerusalem. The Palestinians consider the barrier illegal and call it an Israeli land grab, noting that it has engulfed large chunks of the West Bank onto the Israeli “side.” Aside from dominating the landscape, the barrier separates Bethlehem from much of the land owned by its people, and, crucially, it also severs it from Jerusalem. The structure, has been ruled illegal by the UN's International Court of Justice.'
Traditional Bethlehem Christmas festivities will take place this week at
the church built on the spot where Christians believe Jesus was born. That is being
continually squeezed by Israeli encroachment and by the imposition of
the winding separation barrier through its land. As the separation
barrier expands, Bethlehem’s territory shrinks and shrinks. Its
continued ability to exist as a viable town reduces every year. The impact of the occupation daily bringing its heavy burden.The Church of the Nativity is famously located in Bethlehem, but pigrims vising the birthplace of Jesus will also witness one of the striking ybols of Israeli occupation - the Apartheid Wall Peoples journeys blocked by checkpoints and thirty foot high slabs of concrete. Nothing calm, nothing bright..Israel began building the separation barrier , in parts concrete, with other stretches consisting of fencing,in 2002 during the Palestinian uprising, or intifada. Built mostly inside the West Bank, Israel says it is necessary to prevent attacks, but Palestinians label it an apartheid wall, a symbol of their ongoing oppression, separating them from Jerusalem. The Palestinians consider the barrier illegal and call it an Israeli land grab, noting that it has engulfed large chunks of the West Bank onto the Israeli “side.” Aside from dominating the landscape, the barrier separates Bethlehem from much of the land owned by its people, and, crucially, it also severs it from Jerusalem. The structure, has been ruled illegal by the UN's International Court of Justice.'
A longtime critic of the occupation, the manger scene and hotel are far from Banksy’s only West Bank imprint. as has also created a number of works in Bethlehem and on the separation barrier itself.
In 2007, he painted a number of artworks in Bethlehem, including a young girl frisking an Israeli soldier pinned up against a wall.
In 2005, he sprayed nine stenciled images at different locations along the eight-meter-high (27-foot) separation barrier.
They included a ladder on the wall, a little girl carried away by balloons and a window opening onto a peaceful mountain landscape. Banksy also is believed to have sneaked into the Gaza Strip to draw four murals there.
One was painted on a remaining piece of a building destroyed during the 2014 war between Israel and Gaza’s ruling Hamas militant group and featured the Greek goddess Niobe cowering against the rubble of a destroyed house.
Palestinian graffiti artists, too, have made the separation wall a place of political and artistic expression.
Like elsewhere in the world, Banksy’s works in the occupied territory have become tourist attractions, in part due to him often ghosting in to create his works in the dead of night.
“Banksy is trying to be a voice for those that cannot speak,” Salsa said. "He “is creating a new model of resistance through art.”
For now I hope you have a peaceful holiday and a happy new year.
Banksy art on Israel's highly controversial West Bank barrier in Abu Dis in 2005.
Sunday 22 December 2019
The Man Who Shouldn't be King (Trailer)
The royals are no longer immune to effects of that crisis, with recent events in parliament exposing the Queen to criticism and prompting serious debate about royal powers. And of course Prince Andrew continues to avoid proper scrutiny having plunged the monarchy into one of its most serious crises for more than 20 years.
January sees the official launch of The Man Who Shouldn't Be King. You can watch the trailer below.
The Man Who Shouldn't be King is a powerful new documentary that spells out the risks of King Charles and why his failures are the failures of the monarchy. It. takes a critical look at Prince Charles, landowner, businessman, political operator and future king.
He may turn out to be a nice old King, but I along with many others are hoping for a different future, when the people of the land substitute him with a president as head of state. Prince Charles is another royal who keeps getting called “phony” for claiming he cared about the environment while exploiting natural resources more than the people he’s preaching to.
Former government minister and Parliament member Norman Baker recently published an expose called …And What Do You Do?: What The Royal Family Don’t Want You To Know that
called into question some of Prince Charles’ biggest controversies.
Baker accuses the future monarch of tax evasion, greed, private jet
usage, fakery, and perhaps worst of all, of being completely oblivious
to all of it because he’s so entitled.
But whether he realizes it or not, millennials are not in love with the monarchy like older generations were. A YouGov poll found that only 41 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds believe the monarchy should still exist.The British monarchy has been around so long that most people
take its existence for granted. But in reality, the royal family is currently
serving at the pleasure of the people. If Parliament decided to withdraw funding tomorrow,
they could all fade into obscurity. Following Prince Andrew's involvement with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, many critics are coming to the natural conclusion that the institution that is the monarchy no longer has use or relevance or a place for the royals in the
modern world at all,it's a perplexing obscenity that we have them, and in the 21st Century should simply be confined to the dustbins of history.
The Man Who Shouldn't be King (Trailer)
The Man Who Shouldn't be King (Trailer)
Saturday 21 December 2019
Counting The Ring Of Years (A Poem For The Winter Solstice)
Counting the ring of years
on this the shortest day
every thousand years
a bird flickers past
and announces, all is not lost
reach out for another shore
quietly and slowly dive
snow flakes embrace the moon
finding the same root as us
breathe the air as needed.
.
Look to the stars for guidance,
as the evening navigates
be at peace among friends
there are places to escape
where enemies are not welcomed
upon every false dawn
break of day and sunrise
on lands full of ever changing patterns
we cling on with strings of thought
with our deeds, reach for tomorrow.
The earth still breathing
wonder at it's sacredness
among the storm clouds brewing
the taste of future days to behold
all in the end must come true
but our words will not fail us
life's mystery, there now
runs silently beside us
reaching out,rejuvenating
let's us sing out, keep reaching.
As the tickets of time
still clutches firmly
the embrace of solidarity
inhaled and shared
beyond cruel winds
the rising tide of hopelessness
across the earth, scattered
far from the stains of cruelty
choose now gentle rejoicing
feelings that give mind strength.
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