Alternative Everything !

Its not AV we should be voting for.

Tis an Alternative Government.

Stop the war(s).
Tax the W(b)ankers.
Build homes not prisons.

View.

Room with a view.

The TUC Rally Against The Cuts.

The TUC demo, in Hyde Park, London.

We can fund war(s)
but we can't feed the poor.

Something has to change.

Smiley Culture - RIP

Police Officer by Smiley Culture.

Professors blogg: Opinion censorship in Swedish media. Link-search engine NOT the cause

 

Rixstep article “Guardian Censoring Information in Assange Case” reports on censorship exercised in The Guardian against links to Professors blogg. Wikileaks Central had reported likewise (see “Possible gag order on the Guardian re Assange case?).

Update. As to the Swedish case, preliminary conclusions contained in the article here below and in the version in Second-Opinion on the responsibilities of the opinion-censorship in the Swedish media apparatus were based in written information provided to us by Twingly. Twingly was specifically informed at the moment of our consultation that I was preparing an article in the issue to be published abroad. After my report was published in the Swedish Second-Opinion Twingly changed their version in 180 degrees and now affirms instead that it was not their clients, the  Swedish press, that exercised censorship to the Assange-articles in Professors blogg. First they say Twingly was not the responsible and implied the newspapers moderators. Now they say the newspapers were not at all the responsible. What has happened after our publication and why Källström is giving this totally new version only those actors know.

The newspapers from their part gave inconclusive versions. Svenska dagbladet informed per email that the problem was of “technical” nature and “beyond their control”, implying that it was caused by an external actor. Expressen (web-redaktionen) informed over the telephone that the responsibility of whether blogs appeared linked to their articles is clearly Twingly’s. But the journalist giving this information when I talked to Expressen's web-redaktionen 17 March, 17:28 (call loged from Italy), in spite of giving her name did not wish to be quoted.  Dagens Nyheter for their part plainly refused to comment. Twingly denied any wrongdoing.

More -

Professors blogg: Opinion censorship in Swedish media. Link-search engine NOT the cause

Shrewsbury Marches Against Cutbacks.

1000 people today marched through Shrewsbury against a massive attack on public services and jobs by the government and the Tory run administration in Shropshire. It was an extraordinary show of strength by local trade unions who were joined by young and old activists as they marched from the shire hall to the town square, clapped along the way by fellow townspeople

Mike Edwards from Shropshire trades council clearly was in awe of the turn out leading huge chants of ‘they say cutback we say fight back.’

Shropshire Council had voted earlier in the week to cut almost £40m from the budget over the next four years. Up to nine schools could be shut along with other public services with inevitable job losses

Roger McKenzie, assistant general secretary of Unison, said the event was “magnificent” and urged the crowd to go away and organise resistance.

Paul Brandon Chair of Right to Work said it was now all about the TUC demo on the 26th March and said we need to throw everything at this lot, to bring the government down with strikes, direct action and occupations. Reminding the crowd it’s a bankers crisis and not ours.

Iggy's Ashes.

Today, Iggy's ashes were scattered.
Of all places - the Ace Cafe.

We planted a tree,
drained a bottle of Jack and dropped a smoke.

Fly high, you crazy fucker.

You can walk again and ride bikes better than me.

Babylon's Burning.

The Ruts.

Prophetic...

Pops.

Just returned from a weekend spent with my dad, up norf.

Thank you, pops.

Birthday Greetings.

Some old friends have had Birthdays these last couple of days.

Happy Birthday to George.

Happy Birthday to Chris.

Happy Birthday to Jake.

May you always have what you need.

Protests in London and Manchester against education cuts

Protests in London and Manchester against education cuts

Prepare for a General Stike.
Tories and their lickspittle OUT.

Raw Video: Man Shot in Egypt Protest

Fly High, Igster.

A friend of mine has died.

Fly high, Iggy.

Your legs will work and you can now ride bikes again.

Huge Thanks To Norwich Hospital.

Two weeks ago, my father was found rowing an imaginary boat across the living room carpet.
An ambulance was called and the hospital administered anti-biotics and quality care.

On discharge, I met him at his home and continued the care.
The last evening there, his step son came round and I got a bottle of Jack Daniels.
3 times I threw up.

My father was still chuckling as I left for home the next morning.
(the blind leading the blind)

My thanks to all the staff at Norwich Hospital.
Our family are very grateful.

Ashley.

Ashley - number 1.

Noah And Evie.

Noah and Evie.

Rimini.

My latest Grandchild - Rimini.
With James.

The War THEY Dont Want You To See.

Essential viewing for those that care.

Fighting Back Against The ConDem Spending Cuts.

Letter to the leader of Liverpool Council
The following open letter has been sent to Joe Anderson, leader of Liverpool City Council, by members of the 1983-87 group of 47 surcharged councillors

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Joe
We note in your declarations that you claim there is nothing the council can do other than implement the Con-Dem cuts more humanely than government commissioners.

Workers and their families will not notice the difference between you and Tory commissioners, the effect will be the same.

We would suggest that there are several steps you could take as part of a strategy to fight the cuts.

You claim that, in addition to the projected shortfall of £120 million, the government proposes to cut up to a billion pounds over the next four years.


Liverpool lobby of council: Tony Mulhearn (holding The Socialist), waiting to speak, Daren Ireland, RMT and President of Liverpool TUC, addressing demo , photo Merseyside Socialist Party (Click to enlarge)

We reject the notion that cuts of such magnitude can be managed without savaging the incomes, employment and living standards of workers.

The alternative strategy we propose is a bold campaigning one, which the city council of 1983-1987 pursued.

The first step should be to use the council's budget reserve, reported in the Echo as £80 million, to maintain current funding levels in areas which the Con-Dem alliance is cutting.

This would buy time for more decisive measures to defeat the cuts. We understand that your figures for reserves may differ, if so then please explain the situation according to council figures.

In addition you could take Liverpool Direct back in-house thus saving a reported £29 million a year.

1983-87
Then, as we did in 83-87, you should work out how much is required to fund the existing council services in 2011 and pass a budget in line with inflation.

This would no doubt produce a short-fall in the council's income. The amount of the shortfall could be identified, say £50 million.

A campaign could then be launched to oppose the cuts with the specific demand that £50 million be restored to the Liverpool City Council as a means of defending jobs and services.

You could issue a call for all local authorities to embrace the same strategy, and call for support from the local authority trade unions and the wider labour movement, in concert with community organisations which are planning to resist any cuts in their own localities.

If Liverpool makes a courageous stand, this could act as a beacon to other local authorities and campaigning organisations to join the campaign.

Strategy
If a number of the main local authorities adopted this strategy of refusing to cut jobs and services to compensate for Tory cuts, backed up by a campaign of mass demonstrations and industrial action, the Tories would be compelled to retreat.

Already the magnificent action of the students has created chaos in the ranks of the Lib Dem wing of the government which, let us remember, is ruling without a popular mandate.

We call on the Labour group to totally reject the cuts and to join, not with the Lib Dems, but with the trade union and labour movement in defending the mass of Liverpool's working people.

It was such a campaigning strategy which resulted in the Thatcher government releasing funds to the city worth some £60 million which allowed us to carry out our electoral promises.

The alternative is a programme of cuts which will devastate the jobs and services which thousands of working families rely on, and signal a return to the dark days which we inherited in 1983.

Those dark days resulted from a catastrophic 65% collapse in the Liverpool economy between the mid-seventies and 1983, made worse by the £30 million which the Tory government cut from Liverpool's rate support grant.

If the Con-Dem cuts are implemented in Liverpool we will see a return of those dark days which we should all campaign to avoid.

Signed: Paul Astbury, Harry Smith, Tony Mulhearn, Alan Fogg, Felicity Dowling, Frank Mills, Tony Rimmer

Happy Birthday, Leona.

My eldest daughter is 29 years old today.

Happy Birthday, Leona.
May you always have what you need.

(Where did 29 years go ?)

Hung Like A...

Riots In Greece

People have had enough.

Everyone Blames Everyone Else.

Noticing I'm attracting attention from people willing to blame others for the troubles in their lives.

Whenever we look outside of ourselves, we are missing the real reason(s) for our unhappiness - ourselves !

If only people took responsibility for their own actions, it would be a far happier world.

Abusers and women batterers especially...

Strange people make for a very strange world.

Ann.

It is twenty one years ago since an old friend died.

How time flies.
Her children have grown up and one is a mother, herself.

Her death hit a lot of people very hard.
Im thinking of her mother who having lost her daughter,
brought up two small, heart-broken girls.

Time has passed but the sad memories linger.

Fly high, Ann.

7/7 London Bombings

The inquest today began with a minutes silence.
Then the names of the 52 dead were read out.

It hopes to investigate the emergency services response
and, whether MI5 and the Police could have done more to prevent the atrocity.

As the 7/7 bombings were the catalyst for the UK Government
to fully support the USA in the invasion of Iraq.
Remembering, there was a huge anti-war movement, especially in London,
opposed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Perhaps we need to look at the act of terror itself and the events we do know.

On the morning of 7/7, Peter Power, of Visor Consultants, was running a mock exercise in regard to whether our emergency services could cope with a series of terror acts in London.
His team was reputed to have involved over a thousand people.

Visor Consultants mock scenario involved bombs going off on Tubes
at Aldgate,Russell Square and Edgware Road.

As actually happened !

Not only that, Peter Power's team also had in their 'exercise' a bomb being detonated on a bus somewhere in the city.

That would be Tavistock Square !

Peter Power, of Visor Consultants, should be called upon to name his clients, so a proper investigation into this unbelievable 'coincidence'
which has led to hundreds of thousands of deaths.
Not just the 52.

Peter Power, Visor Consultants, BBC News - youtube for those interested.

Change.

A friend of mine is in "stuff" and looking to turn her life around.

She has plugged me into my own past when I felt the need to change things in my life.

In the begining it was so hard.
Breaking bad patterns and creating more gentle, safer ways to live was my goal.

I remember my family and friends finding it quite difficult to be around me.
They felt threatened by my plans and my need to do different things and meet different people.

They had the thought my 'letting go of my past' meant my letting go of them.

When we go through change - everyone around us changes, too.

Change IS good.
When the painful Past controls the numb Present, change is imperative !

At first, change is uncomfortable for everyone.
For the one needing to change - even more so.
The support of family and friends is so important in this process.

I once again acknowledge and thank those who loved and supported me during that emotional roller-coaster of a ride.
Without you in my life, I would not be the person I am today.

Clun.

Building Off Grid.

For the last few years, I have been toying with the idea of building a straw bale house and going off the grid.

Creating my own shelter from nothing and designing a water harvesting system for my needs has always appealed.

Utilising the wind and solar energy to produce small amounts of electricity is easily possible.

I now have the time.
Now I need the land.

Tony Blair Must Be Prosecuted For War Crimes – By John Pilger | Sabbah Report

Tony Blair Must Be Prosecuted For War Crimes – By John Pilger | Sabbah Report

Wow.
John Pilger agrees with me.

Fight Cuts In Living Standards.

Am I missing something ?

The UK is aiding the USA in two wars.
(we are still in Iraq)
At a fiscal cost of billions, trillions...
Oh who's still counting ?

While our eyes were on the war(s) and online porn,
the B(w)ankers stole all the money.
Yet they are in the club(s), casino's and brothels
whilst we get the bill for it all.

Lengthening dole queues and pay cuts for all.
(well us - again)
Now they want to implement the pension age rise.

Workers in France and Greece and...
kick off against the attacks on their living standards.
Thu UK just accepts, doesnt even criticise.

A revolution is what is needed.
We should be out on the streets.
If we dont do it now - when are we ?

One Working Week.

A week to forget ?
A week to remember ?

Our workshop is a fridge in the winter
and a greenhouse in the summer.

We have been busy and hot.
Which may have contributed to me waking up tuesday feeling groggy.
My body stiffened up rapidly and every part of me hurt.
Weird.

To my rescue came the girls next door.
The most painful, deep and releasing massage ever.
Then I slept for two hours and went back to work.
(I sat still and did nothing - couldnt)

The next day ?
Back to normal.
(whatever that is ?)
Opened an email from my daughter, Grace.
Our communication has been scant and poor.
She was angry - again...
Blah blah.

Shouted at in the street by the Tops Pizza manager.
'Bad man come here'
I guess he read one of my blogs.
I didnt.
His words made me think I am his perfect mirror.
More to come on that one, Im sure.

But, Friday, flee the city and spend time with the girlie.
Relax cool down sleep.
Yahoo.
But Abbies breast is lumpy and she has had pain.
And I cant get no sleep.

Quite Silent Pool.

One of my favourite places.

The Longest Day.

What a strange, beautiful day it has been.
Perfect weather for the ride into London.

Arriving around midday to an organised, busy chaos.
Worrying about a family member who appears to have gone walkabout.
Fretting - the perfect word.

Reminded and remembering the summer solstice of 1990 (0r 1991 - my bloody memory)
When my X and I lost a child in Bangor Hospital.
(yes we did look behind the sofa)

One child born on a winter solstice.
One child lost on a summer solstice.

The longest day, indeed.

Wikileaks Under Attack From Pentagon.

I didnt think the Pentagon would be so stupid to go after Wikileaks.
How wrong was I ?

Pentagon officials have announced the detention of Army private Bradley Manning, as well as stepped-up efforts to locate Julian Assange, the founder of the WikiLeaks web site, in a security crackdown sparked by the release of politically damaging video of a US military massacre in Iraq.

On June 7, Defense Department officials confirmed that Manning was in confinement in Kuwait “for allegedly releasing classified information.” Three days later, Pentagon investigators told the web site Daily Beast that they were looking for Assange in connection with the Manning investigation. The Australian-born WikiLeaks founder had scheduled speaking engagements in New York City and Las Vegas last week, but canceled them, citing “security considerations.”

WikiLeaks, which solicits leaks of government and corporate criminality worldwide and makes them public to a global audience on the Internet, published a decrypted and edited version of the video footage in April, using a special web site entitled “Collateral Murder.” The original video was shot by the US military in 2007 in the course of a helicopter assault in eastern Baghdad which left some 15 people dead, including two Reuters journalists.

The video and the accompanying voiceover of radio traffic, in which American soldiers joked about exterminating Iraqis, sparked widespread international outrage and a furious counterattack by the American military/intelligence apparatus. Defense Secretary Robert Gates denounced the release of the video, although he conceded that the footage was produced by the US military and had not been doctored.
According to press accounts, Manning was detained May 26 after he made the mistake of confiding in an online acquaintance, Adrian Lamo, an experienced hacker. Manning told Lamo that, in the course of his work as an Army military intelligence analyst at Forward Operating Base Hammer, east of Baghdad, he had been able to acquire a vast stockpile of internal military and State Department documents and communications, including the original footage from which “Collateral Murder” was produced. Lamo turned Manning in to the Army and FBI.

Manning is reportedly being held at a military facility in Kuwait. Several computer hard drives taken from him arrived in Washington Thursday and are now being analyzed by government computer experts to determine what documents Manning downloaded and what he did with them.
Manning enlisted in the Army in 2007 and held a Top Secret/SCI clearance. He reportedly told Lamo that he had been looking through military and government networks for more than a year and found “incredible things, awful things… that belonged in the public domain, and not on some server stored in a dark room in Washington DC.”
Besides the video which became “Collateral Murder,” Manning said he supplied WikiLeaks with a second video showing a May 2009 US air strike near the village of Garani in Afghanistan, in which more than 100 people were killed, including many children.

The main focus of the military/FBI investigation is Manning’s claim to have downloaded some 260,000 secret diplomatic cables, which he described as showing “almost criminal political back dealings.” Manning added, according to an e-mail to Lamo, “Hillary Clinton and several thousand diplomats around the world are going to have a heart attack when they wake up one morning and find an entire repository of classified foreign policy is available, in searchable format, to the public.”

WikiLeaks has denied being in possession of the 260,000 secret cables. Assange has reportedly offered to help finance Manning’s legal defense.
The detention of Manning and the pursuit of Assange must be opposed by all those who defend democratic rights. The American people, and the people of the entire world, have a right to know of the crimes committed by the American military/intelligence apparatus under the orders of the American president.

The attack on WikiLeaks and its collaborators is part of a broader security crackdown by the Obama administration. As reported by the New York Times this week, the White House has decided to go ahead with the prosecution of Thomas Drake, a whistleblower at the National Security Agency, who sought to expose financial mismanagement at the NSA by providing information to a reporter for the Baltimore Sun.
According to the Times article, “The indictment of Mr. Drake was the latest evidence that the Obama administration is proving more aggressive than the Bush administration in seeking to punish unauthorized leaks. In 17 months in office, President Obama has already outdone every previous president in pursuing leak prosecutions.”
This stepped-up crackdown on leaks came the same week as the issuance of a report by Physicians for Human Rights that doctors working for the CIA collaborated with interrogators who conducted torture of prisoners. The doctors monitored the torture sessions to make sure the prisoners did not die—so they could be interrogated and tortured further—and to refine the methods used to make them more painful and effective. The report’s title speaks for itself: “Experiments in Torture: Human Subject Research and Evidence of Experimentation in the ‘Enhanced’ Interrogation Program.”

The Obama administration is striving to plug leaks, not out of concern that the lives of American soldiers could be endangered, as it habitually claims, but for the same reasons that motivated the Bush administration: top government officials—in the Pentagon, CIA, NSA and in the White House itself—could face war crimes charges, either in the United States or before an international tribunal, based on the evidence produced by such revelations.

Relatives of those killed in the helicopter gunship attack in Iraq criticized Manning’s detention. Nabil Noor-Eldeen, whose brother Namir was one of the Reuters employees killed in the assault, told the press, “Justice was what this US soldier did by uncovering this crime against humanity. The American military should reward him, not arrest him.”
Manning is not a criminal, but someone evidently motivated by revulsion against the crimes committed by “his” military and “his” government. The World Socialist Web Site joins with all those demanding that Manning be released without any charges being brought against him. We further demand the dropping of all efforts to investigate and suppress the activities of Julian Assange and other WikiLeaks activists.
Patrick Martin

Cut and pasted from The World Socialist Web Site

BMW Motorcycles - London

A customer turned up with a running issue on his BMW R80 rt.
BMW couldnt solve the problem without spending loads of money on it.
(ie swapping parts rather than diagnosing the problem)

In desperation he found his way to us.
Three hours later, he left with the problem sorted.

I do love it when we can help people and their bikes.
But why is there such a dearth of good mechanics in London ?

They Shoot Babies Don't They ?

Another victim of the Israel - Palestinian conflict.

Problem With The Boss ! - Tops Pizza - W9 London

Not once has the boss asked about our neighbour who lost her house.
Wanker.

Tops Pizza - W9

Tops Pizza - W9.

One of their riders just popped by with a centre stand issue.

We were closed but made sure it was safe.
As he was leaving, I noticed his rear tyre was flat and started to put some air in it.

The boss of Tops Pizza came by and started shouting 'He's got a delivery - go go.'

I kept him waiting till his bike was safe(r).

Bosses - no thought for the driver(s).
You are such a wanker !

Customers !! Ours Are Often Right.

Another of our customers/friends hands us a cheque to help with our losses after the fire.

We are slowly picking up the pieces and returning to some sort of normality.
(whatever that is)

Thank You, Emma.

Shoot Anything That Moves !!

From Wikileaks

Tops Pizza - Awful Behaviour.

The Mews is nearly back to its old ways.

The road has been cleared of most of the burnt out bikes and debris.
We have used 150 litres of degreasant as well as the council's own clean up squad.
And a huge THANK YOU to them.

Pauline's burnt out house is still a testament to one persons moment of madness.

As I look down the street - for the two thousandth time, all I see is the remains of Tops Pizza's bikes.
Still we wait for them to move them.

It would have been so nice for them to have offered their help in the clear up.
(they didnt)
But, at least, move your goddamn bikes...

Most of our neighbours have been great during this period.
Tops Pizza - good neighbours you aren't !

Total Devastation.

One idiotic act...

Deleted Post.

I never delete posts.
Did it once, to my shame, and vowed never to delete again.

Tonight - I deleted.

I wrote it whilst angry but I was probably very disappointed.
(tis easier to feel anger)
But, it was all about I...

After posting, I went out for a fag and a look around.
My neighbour came out and wept in my arms.
She told me how scared she was and she looked so tired.

I promised to stay at the workshop and she went to bed less afraid.

The fire is a life-changing event.
Not just for the woman who has lost her home and her memories.
For all the neighbours and their friends and family, too.

And now Im angry again...

Final Day Of Treatment.

Today was Abbies final session of Radiotherapy.
No more treatment.
Tis a strange feeling now.

Is she cured of the cancer ?
Isn't she ?

'Normal' life resumed ?
Cease being the girl in the bubble ?

The last 9 short, so long months have taken their toll on her body.
Now, I imagine, it could be on the mind.

Well done, Abs.
Onwards and ever upwards yahoo.

Carphone Warehouse Demand Charge After Arson Attack.

My homeless neighbour phoned Carphone Warehouse to cancel her internet connection.
(The phone no longer works there)

'There will be a charge, madam.'
'My house got burnt down',she replied.
'That will mean a £70 disconnection fee'. said Carphone Warehouse.

First of all it was the Banks, now its Big Business taking the piss.

Carphone Warehouse - may you get all you deserve.

Moscow Bombings.

Re the bombs going off on the Moscow tube system, today.

I cannot, for one minute, imagine my life becoming so bad that I would blow myself up to take out my enemy.

Then again, I dont live in Chechnia, Palestine, Iraq etc etc.

Because, if I did, then who knows...

There but for the grace of God.

Halifax Credit Card Dis-Services.

Got a great letter this morning from customer relations at Halifax Credit Card.

I made a complaint about AOL taking money from my account and, in the process, discovered a couple of flaws in Halifax's system.

To my amusement(!), a Nicola Payne, from the Halifax, wrote that she is declining my complaint.
She further adds that she knows I will be disappointed !

Well done, Nicola Payne and the Halifax.

I am disappointed.

Robbing Bastards - AOL Talk Talk.

Whilst welcoming the Government drive to get everyone on Broadband by 2012, I fear for many customers who will have dealings with companies such as AOL.

AOL have been robbing my bank account for months.
Apart from the £9.99 a month they take for one account, they have taken it upon themselves to charge £14.99 for an account I cancelled last year.

Several phone calls to AOL only resulted in them assuring me they were only taking £9.99.

Finally got through to someone who tells me they have been lying.

Talking to people, I have realised that this is not an isolated case.

More people on line can only mean more people are robbed.

Shameful.

No Bowel Control.

Is it me or is there more dog crap around ?

Everyday, I have to sidestep at least one pile that has been kicked around the pavement.

Walking home from work earlier, only the squeals of a small child alerted me to the shit I was to walk in.
His squeals were because he had walked in and through it.

Dogs just wont control their bowels when their out.
Even if the park is just round the corner.
Dog owners will have trodden in shit some time in their lives.
Yet still allow their animals to foul.

A small selfish act or not giving a fuck ?

Leiden University Appoints Anti Human Rights Professor.

Leiden University employ Professor Adam Fairclough, author on American Civil Rights.

But Professor Adam Fairclough does not support everyone's Human Rights.

Shame on Leiden University.

Professor Adam Fairclough And Alison Gelfand - The Result Of Your Creation.

Adam Fairclough, Author, and Professor American History.
Alison Gelfand, Merrick, New York.

After feeding a small child a diet of worms, you have achieved your goal.
My daughter is lost to me.

I guess you may be proud of your actions.
But, at what price ?

A small childs happiness and her right to know her parents.
Stripped from her by your selfish actions.

Hang your heads in shame.

Happy Birthday, Grace

Happy Birthday, Grace.

May you always have what you need.

Thank You, Abbie.

Spent the weekend with abs.
Thank you, lady.

Third week after chemo brings relief from feeling so unwell.
She had to endure the neighbours partying til 3.30 sunday morning.
(why didnt they invite us, the bastards ?)

I slept blissfully, throughout.

Chemo round 6 is on thursday.
The sixth and final.

My prayers are for you, lady.

Brimstone And Quaker.

I was reminded of you both, today.

My Blessings and Thank You.

For Alison Gelfand And Adam Fairclough, Author, American History.

So apt...

Chem Trails.

That, in no way, is normal.

Don't Fall, Santa.

One Life Costs. Four Don't.

Welcome home, Peter Moore.
(though you left your bodyguards behind)

Our government does not do deals with terrorists.
So how come you survived ?

Our government ARE the terrorists !

Chemo Round 5.

Christmas has come and gone without much ado.

I have been ill the last few days with a cold.
Unable to help much with the stress of today.
Full of guilt that the chemo may be cancelled.

Anne has just picked up Abbie and taken her off.
Blood tests in the morning and chemo in the afternoon.

What am I doing ?
Coughing my guts up trying to smoke a fag.

Laughable - if it wasnt so painful.

Late Morning.

CB750 And Ice.

Paul was late in this morning.
He was riding on my CB 750, which I have started riding as my winter hack.
As he turned the corner, I knew there was a problem.

He had hit ice in camden and went down the road.
Luckily, he was ok and the bike, too.
A used footpeg and all was well.

Both rider and bike hard as nails.
Yahoo.

(DONT do it again - either of you)

The Days After Chemo - Round 4

Last weeks chemo appeared to have little side effects.
The weekend was spent with little vomiting and tiredness.

She has cracked it we both thought - yahoo.

Yesterday and especially today has been the nightmare.
Retching and constipation have nearly crippled her.

I returned to london yesterday.
So now feel completely helpless.

My thoughts and prayers are with you, lady.

Just returned from spending the weekend with Abbie.

She spent a couple of nights at her friends in the week,
allowing herself to be waited on - nice one, lady.

Now, she is starting to worry about the pounds she is putting on.

Ah people.

Get well then diet.
Problem ?!

Chemo Trip 2.

Abbie has had her second lot of chemotherapy.

She sounded tired and depressed on the phone.
The anticipation of the nausea overshadows all.

For the next few days her white blood cell count falls dangerously low.
Risk of infection is high.

Five more months of this !
Jesus.

3/4 Reasons To Hate Car Drivers.

My first two customers, this morning, were riders who had been hit by car drivers.
Both were shaken but not hurt.

One bike had only minor damage, the other, written off for insurance purposes.

What made it worse was the driver who had smashed into the bike had given false contact details !
Luckily, the rider had the good sense to make a note of the registration.

Just before lunch, a friend turned up after just being rammed from behind by a car.
With both bike and rider on the ground, the car reversed to untangle the bike, then rode around him and away !

After lunch, I got a call from another rider.
Her bike had been driven into and knocked over.
She had parked it up when visiting a friend.
A note had been left apologising for the damage and contact details - not false.

A strange day.
Made worse for me, as an observer, to note that only one person out of four had taken responsibility for their expensive and dangerous mistakes.

Car drivers - I hate them.

Dumping In Our Hospitals.

Whilst visiting a friend in hospital, I noticed a commode by a bed.
The nurse was pulling the screen across to give the elderly woman privacy.

The ward had 3 other beds - all female patients.
4 metres across the room a door led to the 'Patient's Toilets'.

I wondered if the lady couldnt manage the toilet and preferred the commode.
For a moment.

The room filled with the smell of defecation (such a great word).

Hold on.
My partner is recovering from surgery as are the others, im presuming.
Molecules of shit floating round the room !
Just as important, the feelings of the people using the commodes.

I understand that for many patients toileting is an issue.
Pissing behind a screen ?
Not a problem.

When it comes to shitting, perhaps we should spend the time to get patients to the toilets.
It has to be better for hygiene and dignity.

Motorcycle Parking Charges Bring London's Bikers To Westminster.

Westminster City Council failing to respond to the traffic congestion and penalising the solution.
Listen to the people.

Yellow Pages Rip Off.

We have been paying for advertising with Yellow Pages for years.
No more.
Why ??

Their distribution system lacks something !!

Watching You.

Watching you at all times.

Not Forgetting The Past.

Letting go of the past.
Such any easy thing to write, say or do !
Not.

Our past defines us.

Where we come from.
Our actions in any given situation.
All experiences which shape us,
make us or break us.

Letting go of the past ?
More like embracing and integrating it.
We are our past.
Deal with it.

Alison Gelfand, Merrick And Adam Fairclough, UEA. I Mean You.

After my ex-partner died, her family went to Court and lied and whined to the Judge.
The result was the turning over of MY child to uncaring, unfeeling bastards.
(My thanks to our legal system which appears to support wealthy scum over ordinary people)

Sadly, Adam Fairclough, Professor of American History at UEA, Norwich, felt he couldnt cope with a child who had just lost her mother and shipped her off to his sister in the States.

Alison Gelfand, of Merrick, New York, didnt want to cope and packed her off to Boarding school in New York.
No thought of what this would do to the child in their care.

Do you truly believe that Siabreen would have wanted you to give up on our child ?
If you didnt want her why did you go to Court ?
Why couldnt you have got in touch with me and we could have acted together for Grace's sake ?
Like any family would !

Unthinking, unfeeling wankers.
You have a lot to answer for.

G20 Police Medic Batters Crowd.

What the fuck ?

What Breaks Hearts ?

This weekend, I have been remembering peoples concern and support for me after my heart attacks.Last weekends visit to Telford plugged me in to the fragility of life and my need to make changes to my own.

The urgent, physical needs; diet, smoking and a regular sleep pattern have been addressed.
(ok, the fags have slipped, but I have pegged them to 5 - their I draw the line)
I continue the prescribed medication - the beta blockers, the statins, the aspirin, the super aspirin, blah blah.
Life is different and I am adapting.

So why did my heart attack me ?
Is all the change I have made of any consequence ?

For nearly 20 years, I have been aware of the power of thought.
Dis-ease in the mind creates disease in the body.
Thought IS creative.
Positive thoughts - positive, happy people.
Negative thoughts - negative, miserable people.

One member of the family called the attacks - karma.
(I am aware that I am loved and hated)

It isn't karma.
12 years ago, my heart was broken when I left my daughter.
For twelve years, I have hoped for reconciliation and my daughter back.
People have gone to Court and even under oath, lied or repeated the lies of others.
Heartbreaking !

12 years of a broken family using a broken legal system to keep a father and daughter apart.
Heartbreaking !

Unbreaking my heart.
Now that is the goal.
And how do I do that ?
By letting go of the past and with it my daughter ?

Heartbreaking !

4X4 - Registration Number - EF05 GXE.

The female driver of a 4x4, registration EF05 GXE, reversed into a customers bike last night, knocking it over.

Then drove away.

She even had children in the back seat, shamefully giving them the impression that it is ok to ignore criminal damage.

Anyone with information about the car please email me.
(Hammersmith area)

Thank you.

How Ian Tomlinson Died !

Blair Peach.
Liddle Towers et al.

The Police !!

Freeing Child Abusers.

An article from Thursdays Sun, reports that 229 child abusers were let off with a caution, in a three year period, between 2004 and 2007.

Ronald Boothby, a 57 year old, from Blackburn, had been convicted of assaulting a girl in 1980.

Earlier, this year, Boothby was given a years prison sentence,by Burnley Crown Court,for assaulting a 12 year old girl, with learning difficulties.
Suspended for two years !!

Eric Cole, 71, from Bedford, had been jailed for 15 months, in 1998, for abusing a 12 year old girl.
In 2006, he was arrested for molesting a 6 year old girl.

Cole pleaded guilty at Oxford Crown Court, but Judge Julian Hall suspended his nine month jail term and put him on a Sex Offenders Programme.

Judge Hall ordered Cole to pay £250 to his victim, so she could buy 'a nice new bicycle that might cheer her up'.

For fucks sake !

Spy In The Classroom.

Daddy dropped an elephant on my head',

An innocent saying from a small child, in school.
Not any more.

Comments like this are now recorded in the school's Child Protection Book, without your or your childs knowledge.

Who has access to this information ??
Schools.
Social Services.
Local and County Councils.
Police.

Educating our children is no longer the priority it once was.

Something is VERY wrong !!

The Result Of Our Creation.

Well done to Alison Gelfand, of Merrick, New York.
Also Professor Adam Fairclough, UEA, Norwich.

Others worth a mention, Gary Seaman, Melfyn Summers, Marion Wills.
There are many others of note, but eh ?
You all know who you are.

Look at our creation(s).

A broken child, kicking out in pain, seduced by promises of pink cars and coloured mobile phones, all wrapped in pretty bows.

I acknowledge my part but stand in awe of the contributions you have all made.

You must be so proud !

What Will I Be In 2013 ?

2012.
Like many people, I have hope of a major shift for people.

Spiritually, emotionally, mentally.
A beginning, not an end.

The lion lie down with the lamb ?

And, in 2013, I will be..?

Text, Pictures Or Video ?

I have been thinking about my blogs this last period.

My reasons for beginning and my uses for them now.

The first blogs were pain filled and bilious.
So my healing process began.
I moved through my grief and anger and began to simply relate my story.

Was it ever my intention to embarrass ?
Oh yes.
(Most of those posts/blogs I have now deleted)

I am guilty, also, of shaming people and organisations.
(Easily sorted - dont shit in front of me)

Nowadays, I use them as a diary.
Small pointers to help maintain my memory.

I am now thinking VIDEO.

Three years behind.

Happy Birthday, Angel Po.

Happy Birthday, Angel Po.

May you always have what you need.

Your Love Is Worth Pants, Lynn.

LOVE.

Small word big meaning.

We love and are loved.
Passionate and demanding.
Innocent and childlike.

Love, not money, makes the world go round.

I love you !
Three little words.
One huge meaning.

Love, sadly, is now treated as a commodity - conditional.
'Course I love you, now what do I get..?'

Worse than this, products of love are treated as weapons.
Children treated as big sticks.

Adam Fairclough, UEA.
Alison Gelfand, Merrick, New York.
Lynn Turner.
And all the other ABUSERS.

Stop using children as weapons.

Turner Shame.

People Who Know Nothing.

What a shit night.
No sleep and a head full of sad memories.

An old friend commented on one of my blogs last year
and asked me to get in touch.
Because I hadnt heard anything for a few weeks I posted on her Facebook page.

She answered straight away,
leaving me in no doubt that Lynn was NOT my friend.
It appears I was to get in touch only for her to kick off at me.

Just to respond to a couple of points you made, Lynn.

Firstly, Siabreen's brother, Adam Fairclough, though an author and professor of American history at the UEA, Norwich is a liar.
Any information from him will be corrupted.

Did he tell you that Grace and I was in communication and Siabreen was in favour of our contact when she died ?

Did Adam Fairclough, UEA, tell you it was Grace who contacted me to tell me of Siabreen's death ?

Did he tell you that Gary Seaman, and the rest of the family snatched the phone away from her when we were talking.
(The last thing I heard was her weeping and telling me she was scared)

Did Adam Fairclough,uea, tell you he has a gagging order on me ?

Did Siabreen tell you that when going to Court many years back, she threatened to tell the police I had raped her ?
I can hear her voice, even now.

Lynn -You know NOTHING.

Finally, its cold enough for Husky Dogs.

Estate Agents In Woking, Surrey.

Last year, my partner handed over a months deposit (£1,090) to Leaders Estate Agents in Woking, Surrey, for a flat managed by them.

On January 2nd, she left the flat to rent another property managed by them.
Leaders Estate Agents have still not returned her money.

Estate Agents are ALL liars and thieves.

Militant Tendency. Obituary - Ted Grant.

Obituary

Ted Grant

Trotskyite behind the Militant Tendency's infiltration of the Labour party

* Bob Wade
* The Guardian, Thursday 27 July 2006
* Article history

Ted Grant, who has died aged 93, was a Trotskyite revolutionary who, although born in South Africa, spent most of his life in Britain. He founded and became the leading force in the political group Militant Tendency, which was active within the Labour party until the Labour leader, Neil Kinnock, took it on at grassroots level in a speech to the party conference in 1985 in an attempt to make the party electable.

Only his family and a selected few will ever know Grant's real name. Even in his autobiography he is referred to as Isaac "Blank". He said this was to protect his family, understandable when entering revolutionary politics in the 1930s as the fascist tyrannies swept Europe. But it was a secret he kept all his life.

Born in the South African town of Germinston to a Russian father and a Parisian mother, he completed his political development after his parents divorced. His mother took in lodgers, including Ralph Lee, a founder of the South African Communist party, who was expelled for his support for Trotsky's Left Opposition. Lee formed a new grouping that included the 15-year-old Isaac and his sister, Zena.

But revolutionary expectations were limited in this colonial backwater, and the South Africans recognised that their talents could be better used in Europe.

The first to go in 1934 were Isaac and fellow Jewish revolutionary Max Basch. As the only passage they could secure was on a German-owned ship, they took the wise precaution of anglicising their names and documents - to Ted Grant and Sid Frost respectively, names "borrowed" from two of the ship's crew. On arrival in Paris, Grant met Leon Sedov, the son of Leon Trotsky. It was explained that the new Trotskyist movement was well served on the Continent, and the young South Africans would be of more use in Britain.

In London, Grant was joined by Lee and a small band of South African émigrés, but they had little time for the discussion-circle embryo of British Trotskyism, which Grant despaired of as "your typical Bloomsbury bohemians".

Subsequently expelled from the "official" British section of Trotsky's new Fourth International, Lee and Grant formed the Workers International League. They were joined by two former Communist party members and capable organisers, Jock Haston and Gerry Healy. As the second world war erupted, the WIL began to make some headway, particularly after the Communist party became the most fervent supporters of the Churchill coalition government on the shopfloor, in their bid to secure the "Second Front".

Although never numbering more than several hundred, the WIL nonetheless notched up some notable successes during the war years, including widespread support among the 8th Army in North Africa and effectively taking control of the Royal Ordnance Factory in Nottingham, where production became the highest of all ROF plants.

Yet Healy, with the backing of James Cannon, who was now in control of the Fourth International following Trotsky's assassination in 1940, continually manoeuvred against Grant to gain control of the organisation. It was a feud of Albanian proportions that would continue throughout their lives - as late as the 1970s, when both were in their sixties, if ever they met by chance at labour movement events they would still square up to each other, only to be pulled apart by their respective minders.

The Fourth International eventually cajoled the WIL into "reunification" with the failed "official" British section, to form the Revolutionary Communist party. The RCP was a shooting star that soon spluttered when the end of the war saw not a 1917-style revolution, as Trotsky had predicted, but a weary world settling down to the new consumer benefits of a protracted capitalist boom.

Grant and Haston were the first in the Fourth International to expand upon the prognosis being put forward by the dissident American Trotskyite Max Schachtman, that far from Western capitalism and the Soviet Union being weakened by war, thus paving the way for revolution, both had been immen-sely strengthened and a capitalist boom was on its way. There were hard times ahead for revolutionaries.

The Fourth International was aghast at such heresy, and gave the green light for Healy to purge the British organisation. Grant was kicked out after refusing to support the expulsion of Tony Cliff, later founder of the Socialist Workers Party. After a brief period working as a door-to-door salesman, and then as a switchboard operator - where by all accounts he spent all his time phoning his far flung points of support to build a new organisation - Grant rejoined his old comrades Jimmy Deane and Sam Bornstein to begin rebuilding an organisation out of the ashes.

By the late 1950s a new group had been painstakingly rebuilt, with its main points of support in London and Liverpool. An important acquisition was made in 1960 - Peter Taaffe, who proved to be the organisational gravy to Grant's theoretical meat. The Militant Tendency was born.

Of the three main strands of British Trotskyism that resulted from the RCP (Healy's Workers Revolutionary Party, Cliff's SWP and Grant's Militant Tendency), Grant kept his small force tied to the "entryist" tactic of staying inside the Labour party, while all the others bailed out during the student protests of the 1960s. By the 1970s this began to pay dividends. Within a decade the Militant Tendency was a household name, with 8,000 members, three MPs, a seat on the TUC, control of Labour's youth section, effective control of Liverpool council and more full-time organisers than the Labour party.

But revolutions often eat their own fathers. Despite the expulsion of Grant and four other key members from the Labour party in 1983, the Militant Tendency bounced back with a successful campaign against the poll tax. This created the illusion for the Taaffe-led organisation that activism was all.

Grant, meanwhile, was beginning to see the writing on the wall from the Soviet Union, in that there would not be a "political revolution" as he had previously predicted following the collapse of Stalinism, but instead a triumphant West and an ideological counter-revolution. It was going to be hard times again.

Once more he was expelled, this time by the Militant Tendency he had created. He took 200 members with him to form the "Socialist Appeal" group (the name of the original WIL paper), cheerfully explaining that: "Well, that is the best split I've ever been through!" After his expulsion, Militant soon split into several warring factions. While his group stumbles along in the UK, inter-nationally Grant has begotten several organisations that today are creating a similar impact to that of the Militant Tendency in Britain in the 1980s, notably in Pakistan and Latin America.

Grant was not the easiest of people to work with. During his RCP days, his exasperated comrades famously locked him in his room, refusing to let him out until he had written a promised article, only to discover he had escaped out of the window to go to the cinema.

But he was not the mindless automaton derided by the tabloid media in the 1980s. He liked to bet on the horses, loved cowboy films and had an infectious laughter. He clearly had had his loves too, and late into his life old female revolutionaries from the US and France often asked after him.

Grant remained active until three years ago, when he suffered a stroke while speaking at a meeting in London. He leaves no family, following the death of his eldest sister, Rae, in Paris last year.

· Ted Grant, founder of the Militant Tendency, born July 16 1913; died July 20 2006

Grace May Nelson

Grace May Fairclough.

Happy Birthday, Grace.
Always in my thoughts.

Dad x

Whats In A Name ?

Re Norwich Union's change of name to Aviva.
Tis a well known fact that criminals use deception and aliases to con people.

Norwich Union stopped good business practice nearly a decade ago.
Their greed and need to appease shareholders has cost them dear.
They hope that a change of name will mean a change of fortune.

Let us hope not.

Baby P.

I have been browsing through the comments that my post about baby P had received.

Such emotion !

Scary to think that so many people still believe in our legal system.

More scary is the knowledge that these sadists have family.
Where were they when their daughter, son, nephew, brother or sister were torturing baby P?

What about the neighbours ?
No challenge from them ?

This tragedy only occurred because family, friends and neighbours said and did NOTHING.

Just like the last time AND the next time.

Why Did My Heart Attack Me ?

Oh, all this heart stuff is doing my head in.

I have stopped smoking.
I have changed my diet and other patterns of behaviour.

Yet, still panic when I have a 'sensation' in my chest.
Freak when I become breathless after exertion.

The fear that this has brought up for me is possibly worse than the heart attack(s).

Named And Shamed. The Killers Of Baby P.

The Mother(!) of Baby P is one Tracey Connolly, of Penhurst Road, Tottenham.

Steven Barker is the boyfriend that loved baby P to death.

Jason Owen, the warped and twisted lodger.

May God grant them ALL they deserve.

St Peter's Hospital In Surrey.

After 48 years of burning candles, chain smoking and no thought for tomorrow, I fell down with a heart attack.
Tut.

My Thanks to ALL staff at St Peter's Hospital in Surrey.
From the A+E department through to Coronary Care - you are Angels.

Theft Of A Nation.

We have all been hearing about the crisis in our financial industries.
But do any of us know the real facts about our money supply ?

We work hard for money.
When we have it we store it.
We hoard it and we dream of more.

Some people lie and steal for it.
Some people even kill for it.

It is paper !

On the paper read the words 'I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of 5, 10, 20, 50 pounds.'
It is an IOU for the amount in the GOLD reserves of the nation.

Or it USED to be.

Governments have always had to regulate their Banking system, for obvious reasons.
History has shown us there are no 'good, honest banking practices.'
Only corrupt, greedy people.

Margaret Thatcher 'deregulated' the UK banks in the early 80's.
(Multi-millionaire husband, Dennis - a Banker - was much pleased. As were the many Tory Ministers who moonlighted on the Boards of the major clearing houses.)
For deregulation read let off the leash.

Banks could now print money that was not related to the country's gold supply.
Instead, they used OUR debt to them (ie bank loans, mortgages, etc) as THEIR pot of gold.
They printed money on OUR promise to pay them back in the future !!

An IOU for an IOU !?

And it worked.

First, the Yuppie revolution.
Gambling, cough, through the shares markets.
Then the Housing bubble.
The DotCom bubble.
The War machine bubble.

First, Millions then Billions, now Trillions.

This crazy, mad system is now grinding to an end.

Thank God for that.

Google Earth - Wow

Embedded Video

Double wow

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Dad Smothers Children.

I shed a few tears when reading about the dad who killed his kids in Southampton at the weekend.

As a father of two girls, one I am not allowed access to, I can sympathise with the mans actions.
I am not saying I would kill my children, but I HAVE wanted to kill my ex and her family.

Fighting the Legal system and bilious family members once brought me to my wits end.
Without the support of my friends, I know I would be either in prison or dead.

Losing contact with your own children hurts so much and ultimately twists your mind.
Combine that with the pressures and stress of Court action, the lies and gossip when other family members get involved, is it any wonder that tragedy is the result.

When couples separate, the only thing in the parents and the Courts minds should be the welfare of the children.
Unfortunately, the children are used as weapons.

This type of incident WILL happen again.
And it wont be the fault of the lone parent.

Both parents, the families and our Legal system IS to blame.

Support not blame.
For the sake of the children.