I've Moved To WordPress

I have decided, after much humming and hawwing, to transport this blog over to WordPress.
My new blog is called Talking Liberties, and it contains all the posts I had here, and it can be found at http://talkingliberties.wordpress.com/

Toodle-pip blogspot. And thanks for all the fish.

Violence And The G8.

Anyone following the mainstream media's coverage of the anti-G8 demonstrations in Germany this weekend, and at previous G8 gatherings, could be forgiven for thinking that those opposed to the polices of the G8 group of rich nations are nothing but violent thugs, hell-bent on chaos. Very little attention is given to the reasons why some people feel so angry that they revert to violence. Even less attention is given to the murderous violence of the G8 nations themselves, or the destructive policies they espouse. Just as little coverage is given to the overwhelming majority of campaigners who march completely peacefully.

From the television pictures I have seen this weekend, it seems plain that those involved in fighting the Police were numbered in the low hundreds, from a crowd tens of thousands strong. Of course, civilised and non-violent demonstrations are not regarded as 'sexy' enough for the BBC's, ITV's, and SKY's of this world. I know this well enough from several years of campaigning with Trident Ploughshares, CND, and the Stop The War Coalition. Ask yourself how often the daily actions and arrests at the Faslane 365 actions make the headline news, or how often people like Brian Haw feature prominently on TV? The Easter blockade of Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment I blogged about hardly raised a blip on the mainstream media's radar. But if we had thrown a couple of Molotov cocktails, or started a riot, you can be damn sure we would have made headline news. It is highly dispiriting when one is involved in a good and peaceful demonstration of one kind or another, only to find that as far as the rest of the world is concerned it did not even happen.

In my opinion it is a terrible indictment of the media that if one mentions the G8, for many people the first thing that springs to mind is the violence of a tiny minority of protesters, whether at Seattle, Genoa, Gleneagles, and now Rostock. This is how the propaganda machine works.

In actual fact, the violence of the G8 protests pales into near insignificance when set against the violence of the G8 nations themselves, whether that be military violence, or economic violence. This is what the mainstream media omit completely from their reports.

The G(reedy) 8 gang of rich industrialised nations represent the rapacious greed and war-mongering we see every day in the world all around us. These self-styled Masters of The Universe are the architects of wars from Afghanistan to Chechnya, and through to Iraq, to name but a few, which have caused the deaths of millions, and the injury and destitution of countless millions more. The G8 are the defenders of a status quo that sees the horrific inequalities in wealth between rich and poor, of a global system that sees half the world living on less than a dollar a day, while, for example, European cows are subsidised to around twice as much. According to UN statistics, somewhere in the world a child dies every 15 seconds due to the lack of clean, safe water. Roughly 30,000 people die each and every day from preventable and easily treatable diseases. And it has not improved much since the inception of this undemocratic club of the rich.

No doubt, in the coming days and weeks, the media will make much of two things, the violence of the anti-G8 demonstrators, and the so-called efforts of the G8 nations to alleviate poverty in Africa and elsewhere.

Anyone who tries to tell you that President Putin, Bush, Blair, Sarkozy, Merkel and the rest are committed to Making Poverty History, is a liar and a fraud. They exist to further the interests of their own corporate elites, paying only token lip-service to the urgent deands of the worlds poor. This much is obvious from the record on tackling poverty since 1975, when the first gathering took place.

I was at Gleneagles in 2005, when the the G8, with the conniving assistance of the thoroughly discredited Bono and Geldof, made much of their pledges on debt relief and poverty reduction. Something like $55 million dollars was earmarked for the cancellation of debt to some 30-odd of the worlds poorest states, so long as they met strict conditions. This might seem like a lot of money, but in actual fact, it is very little in the grand scheme of things. The UK government is intending to spend as much as 3 times that figure just replacing it's obscene nuclear weapons. God alone knows how much has been spent visiting death and destruction on Iraq. And yet, even these meagre commitments have not been met. The G8 does not give a damn about the plight of the worlds poor.

And this is why people are angry. Add to this that peaceful protest receives very little media coverage, and you have to ask yourself, is it any wonder some people react with sticks, stones, and petrol bombs against those who defend these cold, murderous bastards?

The overwhelming majority of the violence, chaos, crime and disorder comes from the G8 themselves. Just don't expect to be told that on the evening news.

Plymouth CND Quiz Night

Friday night's Quiz Night staged by Plymouth CND went off quite well considering none of us had organised such an event before. Despite us not having as many people turn up as we would have liked, the evening was a success. We raised a little money, and most importantly, everyone had a good time.

I had the dubious honour of being the compere for the evening, reading out the questions through a microphone in my think Scottish brogue. Pleasingly, I was understood most of the evening!

To save embarrassment, the names of the members of the PCND team who came in last with a score of 13 out of 50 will be withheld. Their efforts won them the booby-prize, which to be fair was far too good for them!

Afterwards, a couple of us went to the Princess's place and talked the night through with a bottle of vodka, in between sessions on the guitar. The following day I awoke at 2pm, which was slightly problematic as I was supposed to be at meeting at 12... Hopefully I will be forgiven as this is something I am not known for - missing meetings, or staying up all night drinking vodka.

Hopefully we will be able to use the venue we had on Friday again, for other events. Next time we will have to promote the event a bit better, and time it better. I don't think it did us any favours that Friday was the start of half-term, and the Bank Holiday. One or two of us aired the notion of putting on an open mic/karaoke night, which I think is a fantastic idea. I can just see myself scaring the punters with a punk version of Beethoven's 'Ode to Joy'!

Who said political activism can't be fun!?

Plymouth CND at the Lord Mayors Parade

Despite the best efforts of Plymouth City Council to ban us for being "too political", anti-nuclear activists took part in the annual Lord Mayors Parade, carrying the Plymouth CND message. In line with the declared 'maritime' theme, we carried an 8ft paper-mache submarine and banners requesting the use of the seas for peace. We were generally well received, and up until the Sandra-incident, I personally experienced no negativity from anyone. On one or two occasions I heard parents explaining to their kids "It's a nuclear submarine, darling. It's about the bombs."

At another point, a council employee doffed his hat to us and clapped us as we walked past.

According to some of my colleagues, we would have been booed 10 years ago. The people of Plymouth are coming round to the dangers of Trident on their doorstep, on all our doorsteps.

We are winning.

Sandra Leslie Is Barking.

For the last several months, probably approaching a year now, myself and a couple of other activists I work with have been the target of slanderous and hate-filled diatribes from one Sandra Leslie. I have been accused of being a bully, a fascist, a nepotist, a fifth columnist, a boss's pet, a homophobe, and a few things more besides. Sandra has taken to emailing all and sundry in Trident Ploughshares and CND about my so-called crimes, as well as posting them on her public websites. As I have the full support of National CND, and the TP Core Group, I have not felt the need to respond to Sandra's vindictive missives, until today.

Things took an unsettling turn for the worse on Saturday, when Sandra actually physically attacked the Plymouth CND procession in the Lord Mayor's Day Parade, in front of scores of onlookers. Leaping in amongst our group, she started screaming "Nazi's!" at the top of her voice at us, myself and Mark in particular, before starting to physically attack the paper-mache submarine that I and another colleague were carrying. This carried on for several hundred yards along the route, with pleas for her to cease and desist falling on deaf ears, and only seeming to enrage her more. Without a doubt she had completely lost the plot, and was immune to reason or placation. It was decided that the best course of action was to remove ourselves from the procession, Sandra effectively managed what Plymouth City Council have failed to do for the last couple of years - prevent Plymouth CND from completing the Parade. No doubt she is proud of herself. All this after spending months accusing us of "sabotage"!!!

On her website, a new comment has appeared with regard to Saturday's debacle. Incredibly, she accuses us of persecuting her! As if it was us who attacked her as she took part in a procession! She also makes up some fantastical story about a shop refusing to serve myself and Mark because of our "nazism". Truly the workings of a delusional mind. What actually happened, was that after our group had removed ourselves from the Parade due to Sandra's harrassment, we planned to go for a drink in the Barbican. While Peter, Ian, and young Marc went into town in search of a cash-machine, Mark and I went to the nearby Spar to get cigarrettes and some chocolate. While we were waiting outside the Spar for the rest to appear, Sandra came striding across the road shouting about "Nazi's", "stalking", and "persecution". She accused of us stalking her, of mounting a "campaign of hate" against her, and various other allegations too silly to mention. She then, rather shamefully, started ridiculing Mark's mental health, and his bi-polar condition. No-one overheard Mark or myself "abusing", "degrading", or "petrifying" Sandra, because this did not happen. It was Sandra who was engaged in these acts, while Mark and I refused to lower ourselves by retorting to her poisonous and hate-filled vitriol. After she left, we went back into the shop for more chocolate. The shop assistants served us with no problems.

Sandra's behaviour on Saturday was nothing short of shameful. Fortunately, a good portion of the march had already been completed by our group before this sordid episode transpired, and her actions did not ruin an otherwise excellent day.

There is one part of her recent web-comment that is accurate, I did take video footage of Sandra losing the plot and calling all and sundry "Nazi's", not to mention her nasty verbal attack on Mark. If I can figure out how to post it, I will in due course. Until then, anyone wishing to view Sandra's mad behaviour can email me and I will send the clip as an attachment.
Peace

Bayeaux Tapestry

Through a website I visit, I came across this fantastic new plaything,

a make your own Bayeux tapestry!

http://www.adgame-wonderland.de/type/bayeux.php

I made this tonight and it gave me a good chuckle.

(just in case anyone does not get it, it is inspired by the film Deliverance)

"squeal like a pig, boy!"

What Is Right For The Country...

"But I ask you to accept one thing. Hand on heart, I did what I thought was right. I may have been wrong. That's your call. But believe one thing if nothing else. I did what I thought was right for our country."

These were the words of Tony Blair in his speech today, announcing that he is stepping down as the UK's Prime Minister on the 27th of June. No doubt these words are a great comfort to the millions dead or displaced in Iraq, and all the armed forces and their relatives who have also suffered in Iraq.

These words also, might have been the words of David Keogh and Leo O'Connor, who have just recently been found guilty of breaching the Official Secret's Act. David Keogh, a civil servant, thought he was doing the "right thing" when he leaked a copy of a secret memo detailing talks between Blair and George W Bush about the war in Iraq to Mr O'Connor, a researcher for the Labour MP Anthony Clarke. Mr Keogh had hoped details of the memo would make it into the public domain in order to help expose Bush as a "madman". It has been suggested that the memo details Bush's enthusiasm for bombing the offices of Al Jazeera, which would be proof of a pre-meditated war-crime.

You'd think, considering everything, it would be Keogh and O'Connor who would be getting the plaudits for doing what they "thought best for the country". But no, for trying to expose the genocidal and murderous impulses of those waging war in the name of our "great nation", they are to be imprisoned. They have been found guilty of trying to do "the right thing for the country". The Prosecution argued that -

"the unauthorised disclosure of information in this case is likely to prejudice the capability of the armed forces either to carry out their tasks or lead to the loss of life or the possibility of loss of life or injury."

In this crazed through-the-looking-glass world we live in, it is Blair getting the applause, for doing what he 'thought' was right. Somehow his actions did not "lead to the loss of life or the possibility of loss of life or injury".

He stood shoulder to shoulder with Bush, and invaded a sovereign nation illegally, against the wishes of hundreds of millions around the world, and Iraq has paid a terrible price for this decision. Hundreds of thousands are dead and continue to die, and the Middle East is more inflamed than it has been in decades. Yet Blair can go at the time of his on choosing, paying no penalty for his decisions, while being cheered to the rafters by his sycophantic supporters.

Blair's mea culpa - "I did what I thought right" - would probably find an echo with the Stalins, Hitlers, Pinochets, and Pol Pots of this world. He is hardly going to say anything else now, is he?

And so, as Keogh and O'Connor slip into their jail cells, Blair heads into the sunset. Three men bound by a war and the decisions of their conscience. Doesn't seem right, does it?

No wonder Blair thinks this is a "great country"! It is, quite literally, the one that has let him away with murder.

Blair speech in full - http://politics.guardian.co.uk/tonyblair/story/0,,2076754,00.htmlKeogh, O'Connor case - http://politics.guardian.co.uk/media/story/0,,2075820,00.html

Like A Puppet On A String

I had to laugh today when I read that young Arthur Batchelor, one of the sailors captured by Iranian forces a few weeks ago, could not return to his ship HMS Cornwall as planned, because he had "lost his passport".
You have got to feel a little sorry for this poor lad, he's had a rough time of it of late!

To begin with he is dispatched to participate in an unpopular, unwinnable, immoral, and completely illegal war. Then the poor boy is sent on a 'routine' boarding operation, physically nearer Iran than Iraq. Thanks to the wisdom of his commanders, he finds himself part of a group that ends up in disputed waters with no helicopter support, and easy prey for Iranian border guards.
The poor wee lamb then spent about 3 weeks enjoying the hospitality of the Iranians. Sadly for him, the Iranians did not provide him with facilities to match those at Abhu Graib, Bagram Air Base, or Guantanamo Bay. No orange jump suits or electrodes for our Arthur. They made him eat naan bread, play chess and ping-pong, forced him to be measured up for a suit, and gave him gifts. They also blindfolded him, and most heinously, took away his i-pod. To add insult to injury, he then had his neck "flicked" by a guard. Oh, and an Iranian guard said he looked like Mr Bean.
Ah, for the comforts of Gitmo, eh?
After surviving that ordeal, young Arthur returned home to be "debriefed" by the UK's Ministry of Defence. (At least the Iranians let him keep his briefs...)
The MOD decided to let Arthur and his compatriots sell 'their' stories to the press for a few gold coins, and then swiftly changed their minds, hanging him out to dry. Then the paparazzi plaster pictures of him, having a laugh about the ordeal with his mates in a nightclub, all over the country.

In the matter of a short month or two, the boy has went from poorly paid cannon-fodder, to heroic hostage, through wealthy celebrity, a Tarzan, and now on to national disgrace.

One can imagine that the last few weeks have been a bit of a steep learning curve for him. Possibly he has learnt that the establishment he is meant to serve so dutifully, is not so worthy of loyalty after all?

If I were him, I think I'd 'lose' my passport too.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/tm_headline=arthur-s-my-tarzan&method=full&objectid=18854854&siteid=89520-name_page.html

http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=449887&in_page_id=1770&in_page_id=1770&expand=true

Splitting the Union?

This Thursday, Scottish voters will be going to the polls to elect a new administration for the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood. And for the first time in their history, the Scottish National Party(SNP) look set to win the largest share of the vote, and control the levers of power in Scotland.

I think it is fascinating how this has come about, when one considers there is no great enthusiasm in Scotland for independence, the SNP's raison detre.

According to a poll cited in today's Independent on Sunday, only about 22% of Scots favour splitting from the Union, though it seems twice that number are prepared to vote SNP anyway.
I believe the vote in Scotland is more about the murderous disgrace that is the Labour Party, than about the convincing arguments of the SNP.

Not that long ago, it was often said that a monkey could get elected in Scotland if it wore a red rosette. The Labour party would have to do something really bad to lose that level of support.
And by god, it has.

I have never been a supporter of independence, but I wish the SNP every success in this election.

For me, this election is about Iraq, and Trident.
Scotland, as part of the UK plc, plays a big part in the genocidal policies emanating from Westminster, it is home to the barbaric and obscene Trident nuclear arsenal, and it has many soldiers fulfilling dubious service in British uniform abroad. We could do the whole world a favour by putting a spanner in this works.

Anything that can halt or derail the murderous path that Great Britain is embarked upon is fine by me. If it can be done through ballot and referendum, so much the better!

One Million Blogs For Peace.

While looking for blogs for peace today, I stumbled upon an initiative called "One Million Blogs For Peace".
The rather obvious idea, is to get one million bloggers to agree with their pledge, which states -

"I believe in the immediate withdrawal of all foreign combat troops from the nation of Iraq. I believe in using my blog, in whole or in part, as a tool toward this end."

Hell yeah, count me in.

Feel free to join up too - http://bluepyramid.org/peace/

US School Shootings.

As an outsider looking in, the mass killings that have just taken place at a college in Virginia, USA, are just stunning, unbelievable. That this could happen again is just incomprehensible to me.
Why can this happen?
Certainly, the gun control laws in America need to be reformed in some way. It just should not be possible for a known 'disturbed' person to purchase a weapon and ammunition in twenty minutes flat. End of.
But there is more. As Michael Moore's documentary 'Bowling for Columbine' shows, there is the same availability of guns in Canada as in the US, but vastly different gun crime statistics. Canadians, apparently, can get hold of a gun just as easily as Americans, yet they don't seem to have the habit of blasting holes in one another as their neighbours do. Why is this so?

There could be several reasons.
As Michael Moore, amongst others has suggested, it could have something to do with the American national posture as defined by it's last several governments. Since the second world war, America has bestrode the globe like a bully, using it's overwhelming firepower in a long sequence of military actions against weaker and smaller states. The American people have been on the recieving end of a barrage of propoganda by governments and the military/industrial complex, for decades, justifying this overwhelming use of force abroad.
Is it totally surprising that an over-assertive and violent state breeds the odd over-assertive and violent individual?
In a great many Hollywood movies, the violent and aggressive male is often the central character - knee deep in blood, saving the day with his heart of gold....
Non-violence, compassion, understanding, accomodation, these are the ways of the effiminate, or the cissy to our errant cousins. Complex disagreements are reduced, to simple 'good vs evil' nonsense, or shouted down altogether.
The national character is of win-at-all-costs, for to lose is to fail. And failure sucks, because that means poverty.

And to be poor in America is to be desperate indeed. Despite it being the richest and most powerful nation the world has ever seen, it has frightful levels of poverty. At least 36 million people live in poverty in America, according to this - http://www.peacetakescourage.com/American_Poverty.html

But what I really wanted to talk about was drugs.
According to http://www.sltrib.com/ci_5686225 , the lad who killed 32 people in Virginia this week was on anti-depressents. Many American children, and increasingly UK and European children, are on prescribed medication for one reason or another. I recall reading of one such drug, for attention disorders, which gave a kid a "laser-like" attention in class!
Michael Moore was interviewed recently and has said that prescription medication is one area he did not explore in Bowling for Columbine. http://www.drugawareness.org/home.html Apparently, both the Columbine killers were on a drug called LUVOX....

A further sad aspect to this, is that no-one seems that surprised by it. Is the American model now seen as so debauched and far gone, that these sort of things are almost inevitable?

Instead of medicating their citizens, the American establishment should think about the reasons why people are in need of medication in the first place!

RIP Kurt Vonnegut

It was with great sadness that I learned of the death this week of Kurt Vonnegut, one of my favourite writers.
As well as being the author of many a wonderful novel, he was also an activist in the Humanist movement, I believe being it's President at one point. His stories were often inspired by his puzzlement over the behaviour, or misbehaviour, of the human beings he shared the planet with. These stories have in turn made me laugh out loud on trains, and weep on buses.
So it goes.
He once wrote a note to Trident Ploughshares to decline an invitation to join us on an action.

"You of Trident Ploughshares 2000 are the shock troops of the sane in the war against insanity. I am honored by your invitation to be on the front lines with you at faslane on Saint Valentines' day, and especially in a year so full of zeros . . a blank slate. Yours will be among the very first messages to end its blankness, and with this oldie but goodie: Thou shalt not kill."
Sorry I can't be there. Pax Vobiscum Kurt Vonnegut"

Pax Vobiscum to you, Mr Vonnegut. Peace be with you.

"The most important thing I learned on Tralfamadore was that when a person dies he only appears to die. He is still very much alive in the past, so it is very silly for people to cry at his funeral. All moments, past, present and future, always have existed, always will exist."

Trident Ploughshares Blockade at Aldermaston.

Earlier this week I was at the Atomic Weapons Establishment(A.W.E.) at Aldermaston in leafy Berkshire, in order to take part in a non-violent blockade organised by Trident Ploughshares.

About 10 of us set out on the Monday for Reading, where we would be staying the night. We arrived late in the evening, thanks to the Easter holiday traffic, to find some 50-60 odd activists all hard at work plotting, scheming and rehearsing for the following days actions. After a hastily devoured meal, we got ourselves organised, and assumed roles for the blockade. After planning to get myself arrested, I found that it would be impractical as I was the only designated driver for the minibus we had hired! I had to contend myself with the role of getaway driver!



The Police were outside when we awoke, and they followed us closely as soon as we left. Sure enough, within about 15 minutes we got the flashing-blue-light treatment and were pulled over. This was not good news, as I had in my bus the arrestables for the boilerhouse gate, who were sitting in the back nursing an arsenal of lock-on tubes! A Policeman beckoned me out of the bus. He informed me that under section 163 of the Road Traffic Act, he was entitled to pull over "any car, at any time, for any reason". I do not recall him explaining his particular reason. Fortunately they did not search the bus, and the Police allowed me on my way after taking my details and checking my documents. He asked where I was going, as if he did not know, and when I told him I was going to Aldermaston to take part in a peaceful demonstration against illegal nuclear weapons, he said 'so long as it isn't violent'. And thus began this Officer's education in the non-violent principles inherent in Trident Ploughshares actions.



Anyway, we got to Aldermaston with the Police still on our tail like a smell you can't shake. With the Police so close, the original plan of stopping at the gates to allow those blocking to hop out and lock-on was likely to be thwarted as soon as attempted. Plan B was hastily conceived on an Esso forecourt under the watchful eye of the Thames Valley Constabulary. We pulled out and headed for the Boilerhouse Gate. As we approached, we noticed that some of our colleagues were already there making a vivid, and colourful presence with banners and music. Traffic was slowing, and the Police were still behind us. Thirty yards or so from the gate, I stopped, and out jumped the brave S, to stand in the road in front of the Police car, arms out-stretched like Jesus, allowing me to nip on nearer the gates to dump my other passengers and cargo unimpeded. And as you can see from the photo above, it worked a treat. It took me an hour to walk back after I had found somewhere to park the bus! Still, it gave me a chance to check out the scenery, and see the traffic chaos that the actions at our gate, and elsewhere at other gates, was causing. A lot of people work at Aldermaston it seems, certainly a great deal of construction work is going on. And was going on long before the parliamentary vote on Trident replacement took place.


I believe 14 people were arrested during the actions on Tuesday. All of whom will take to court the argument that they are acting to prevent crime, not cause it. This blog salutes them.

Apart from delays, little actual harm came to the dastardly activities beyond the electric fences of Aldermaston nuclear weapons factory. But we made some ripples, we publicised the issue, and raised awareness, and that will have to do for now, until we have enough numbers to shut these places for good.
They are preparing for horrific crimes at Aldermaston, and we the people have a right, if not a duty, to try and stop them. They are after all our government, representing us. And if we do nothing, they will drag us with them into barbarity and genocide.


This action was one of a hundred ways you can protest against possession of nuclear weapons, but by god, it has to be the most fun! And the most inspiring and invigourating. Almost without fail, the most interesting and jolly-well-decent people I meet, are anti-nuclear activists. It is always a pleasure to spend time with such sincere and honest souls, to compare notes, to exchange tips, tales and jokes, to create music, share food, and make contacts.
Sure beats sitting at home writing letters, or indignant emails and blogs!

Iran and the UK Marines and Sailors.

I have not posted for a wee while, though I am sure no-one has missed me!

Anyway, I have just found out that the UK marines and sailors that were captured by Iran, and released unharmed, have been allowed by the MOD to sell their stories to the press!
One has to wonder why?
Well, no doubt one big reason is control. The stories of these military personnel would have come out sooner or later. As far as the MOD is concerned, these stories are better controlled while these people are still in the military. In fact, they near as damn it say so themselves in the linked article to the Plymouth Evening Herald.

A statement from the MoD said: "It was clear that the stories they had to tell were likely to have emerged via family and friends regardless of any decision the Navy took.
"It was therefore decided to grant permission to speak to the media to those personnel that sought it, in order to ensure that the Navy and the MoD had sight of what they were going to say as well as providing proper media support to the sailors and Marines...