frank talk

(title in homage to the pen name of steven biko_
murdered in police custody_ 12 September 1977)

just finished 2 weeks 'meditation'_
beginning as tradition requires
on the day that commemorates the beheading of John
(3 faces in the christian faith who psy_warrior has affinity with_
Archangel Mikhail, John the Baptist and apostle Paul _
is that because they're all lieutenants?
or because they don't care about the size of their enemies)

all assignments for my OU course handed in
with two exams to do in the coming weeks...
making it time to record the events of my summer here
perhaps as preparation for what comes next
or just a reflection on my first summer at liberty

i've just had an email from the bbc
apologising for having published a viewer's comments
written in a parody that was unacceptably racist _
they removed the comments
"shortly after receiving your complaint"
(that had also contained a time limit before i contacted CRE)
they conceded there was no excuse
but the 'reason' had to do with input overload _
i think the confusion over publishing the comments arose
because the viewer had added an apology
to anyone who might be offended!


i received a map of bomb-damaged Lebanon
that everyone should look at _

a more precise map is available as a jpg image or pdf file
at maps.samidoun.org
updated by lebanonupdates.blogspot.com



only thing I would ask the Israeli government_
What did you achieve?
apart from over 1000 dead_ over 3,500 wounded_
more than a third of those casualties children_
and more than a million scattered cluster bomblets
which have already killed fourteen returning refugees
and are expected to take the next two years to clear _

i'm not the only stranger thoroughly sickened by your excesses_
Lebanon and Gaza aren't South African 'bantustans'
nor is the West Bank a 'township' like Soweto_
(though Sabra and Shatila were indeed your Sharpeville)
you have no lawful jurisdiction in those countries
despite everything you connive with the US government _

although there are important differences_
nevertheless_ you are turning your own community
into the same kind that promulgated an apartheid state _
i used to admire the courage and tenacity of another Israel
and the beginning history of your nation inspired me as a child _
Ben-Gurion_ Meier_ Dayan_ Begin_ Rabin_
(where are your heroes now?!)
the truth of the matter is
that from the time of Sharon's military leadership
there has been more than one Axis of Evil
operating in the Middle East _


on a lighter note_
i finally attended a meeting of the 'A World to Win' organisation
(who describe themselves as socialist revolutionaries)
i only went after persistent invitations from their 'chief organiser'
who'd originally written to me while i was still in prison _
eventually requesting i write a short transcript
that she could read out at their 'inauguration'
then publish on their web-site_
(and which i've since had removed)

i left their meeting early
thankful for having train times as an excuse
feeling as though i'd attended a white, middle class 'support group' _
to be frank you could have used what was said and done there
as the basis for a rather tragic 'sit-com'_
the first two speakers appeared to be
philosophically at odds with each other _
one spoke of creating a constitution to change the government
the other of changing the government to create a constitution
(not the same thing by any means!)

speaker number three began_
"i know there's only forty of us in this room
but all around the country there are rooms with forty people in"
my own question about right time and place was misconstrued
(not that it matters_ but
as the first two speakers had created two starting points
i was trying to argue
that revolution in New Labour's UK was unlikely
therefore creating a constitution was the logical way forward _)
realising i'd been misunderstood
i restrained myself to a quiet assertion
that you'd need 125,000 'rooms of 40' to create a revolutionary army
which wasn't well-received by those who heard it_
nor the comment to my neighbour (who shrugged philosophically)
when i suggested the body count would be in hundreds of thousands _
subsequent proceedings were intermittently interrupted
by the only truly entertaining character in our midst_
"well, i'm an anarchist!
and i don't think we should have any rules at all" _
to catch the flavour you should read that last again (and again)
and with a slightly effeminate tone

we were there
supposedly as a forum
to produce a 'foundation document'
but despite the few intelligent comments i heard
nothing put me in mind of 1787 or the Founding Fathers
(i'm afraid the verbosity of the resulting AWTW constitution
quite literally said it all!
unfortunately it has much chance of capturing public imagination
as i have of stopping the bedlam we've created in Iraq)

but what finally dismissed them from my thinking
was the deceit carried out shortly after their next meeting
which took place at the chief organiser's home (cosy!)_
requiring paid monthly membership in future_ but only
available to those with access to credit cards/direct debit_
to pay for one full-time salary (guess whose)
and_ i quote_ "computers, the website, and broadband"_
(presumably listing these sub-categories
because there weren't any other real categories
to beef up the explanation for these fees) _
as to why those 'without the wherewithal'
were excluded from AWTW membership_
no explanation was offered at all _

(like i told them_ i was never a member anyway)

i might not have the same socially acceptable 'credentials'
but that's actually okay
my credentials come from my understanding of 'socialist'
which includes such concepts as 'equal class' & 'pan-ethnicity'_
it means prioritising the poor_ the disenfranchised_ the unemployed_
in short the 'underclass' who weren't represented at this meeting _
but i'd suspected something wrong with this lot earlier in the year
when i was informed they didn't support 'makepovertyhistory'(!)

i think all this 'chief organiser' has done
is weave herself a web of a few well meaning people
(and some miscreants)
who she hopes may financially support her
and provide her a website where she can publish her art reviews _
if ever there did come a 'Glorious Day of the Revolution' corinna
the one thing for certain that uprising would not see
would be any sign of you _



back on the ball_ UK politics wise
like i said in my 'have your say' blog_
i've been watching the special schools issue with interest _
now that the children's commissioner has spoken out
Lord Adonis needs to be watching this space _

inshallah

thousands of people are being displaced
from a warzone in southern lebanon
their homes_ their livelihoods_ wiped out
many thousands more unable to leave
now living in extreme peril
and under warning from an invading army
intent on eradicating its enemy
and who will probably shoot on sight
(as they do in gaza)

unicef reports that children
are bearing the brunt of these hostilities
(as they do in gaza)

lebanese children
"account for nearly a third of those killed
and for nearly half of the displaced"
according to a unicef spokesman

meanwhile the venality of blair's premiership
has so far prevented the uk from having a voice
with which to condemn israel's belligerence
or stop it's collective punishment of innocents
at the hands of it's euphemistically named 'defence force'
who are resupplied with weapons through a uk airport
(that ought to be closed down by protest)

un observers are dead
with officials suggesting those deaths were intended_

just as they have been in gaza
when british aid workers and journalists
have been deliberately targeted and knowingly killed
and relatives receiving restrained government assistance
because their loved ones were "on the wrong side"
in the endemically racist 'war against terrorism'

the only winner to come out of 9/11
was the zionist lobby in america
in their unholy alliance with the neo-conservatives_
cashing in on the deaths of those innocents
and creating the circumstances
that would mutilate or destroy
the innocent lives of thousands more

and when the corpses are returned
each to their grieving family
in lebanon,
in gaza,
in china,
in finland,
in austria,
in canada,
in iraq,
in america
and in the uk_
barbara bush publicly states
that she doesn't want "her beautiful mind"
sullied by such images

whilst blood might not defile your ignorance mrs bush
it defiles the hands of your immediate family
and your immediate friends
not one or two stains, but many many thousands _
history will attest to your son's guilt in this
but if you are remembered at all
it will only be on the Day of your Atonement
(and Heaven help you)

if anyone has a comment to make
then be sure to let me know _
i have a new address you can email_
psy_warrior@bintjbeil.com
and like the defenders of that city
to friend and to foe alike_
i welcome your arrival _

have your say

temporary silence from this blog
denotes a 'double-weighted' assignment
towards a social policy degree
and doesn't mean
there's stuff that doesn't need saying

i'm watching with very close interest
the issue of special needs schools
being closed by local councils
with the government's tacit and silent encouragement
'insidious' is the word which springs to mind

meanwhile the bbc 'have your say' website
finally accepted and reproduced
one of psy_warrior's 'irregular' contributions!
this time they were asking for opinions on murdoch
(who recently suggested his scandal-sheet press
might back cameron at the next election)
the bbc wanted to know public opinion
of the news tycoon having so much clout in uk politics

what i found most interesting
(what bbc decided to print)
is that cameron and blair together will be
'meeting news corporation executives in california'
probably this very weekend
the curious coincidence
is that other world leaders and various 'dignitaries'
meet in sonoma county around this time
for a mysterious gathering at the Bohemian Grove
(click the link to find out more)

the bit that gets me is that b&c are going there together
pointing up the sham of our elections
and our freedom to choose a leader
who's already been introduced and 'approved'
by those who are really in charge of our planet
and who can never be removed from those positions_
at least not by anything 'free and fair'

local issues on 'radio psy'

interviewed by bbc radio in brighton the other day _
ostensibly to talk about my local railway gate campaign
but for some reason the subject of parole came up_
(said to Brat_ who'd predicted similar)
"hotter topic and more national concern"

i was slightly more surprised
when my interviewer
opened me up to questions from listeners!
one man emailed
in reference to prison sentences
"why isn't 'life' life?"

i agreed with him in some respects
suggested that as 'life' in prison terms
is often a misnomer
they should simply stop quoting it _
use it only when that's what they really mean _

since i was mainly talking about rehabilitation
the interviewer asked me
what would i say to anyone who believes
prison is only about punishment

where to begin with that one?
off the cuff_ 'on the air'_ time ticking
to be honest i don't know what i said
that was useful to the public

towards the end of the show
i was given an opportunity to have my own say_
i spoke about long term solutions
and not listening to sound-bytes_
i repeated lord ramsbottom's comment
to tony blair from the day before
"i wish he'd just shut up"
i quoted statistics_
77,000 total
16,000 waiting judgement
6,500 children

i said "overcrowded prisons is a symptom
of what's happening to the 'have-not' half of society
as the 'have-it-all' society gets smaller
and richer
and moves further away"
(if you give me air time
don't expect me not to say it)
i didn't have long_
but i used the moment well >; )

the rest of this blog is a short supplement
to everything i spoke about the other morning_


Tolstoy said
"You can judge a society
by the state of its prisons." _

Whether or not prison should be
about punishment or rehabilitation?

Sometimes it's neither_
in some cases prison is just about confinement_
keeping people behind closed doors
limiting them from doing society any harm
or of doing any more harm to themselves_

don't misunderstand me
all of those in 'confinement'
have been charged for a crime
which they may or not have been guilty of
(and quite often they are guilty of that crime
in the same way a four year old is guilty
when they drop a jug of water)

the statement on our society
is that their 'conditions' were often discovered
only because they committed the crime
and sometimes not even then _
quite often their conditions were diagnosed
after their confinement began_ sometimes long after

prison staff explained to me
the cost of keeping them in the prison regime
is a small fraction of the cost of keeping them
under similar conditions of confinement
but in circumstances that could help them

the prison i was in had nine wings
one was exclusively for 'vulnerable prisoners'
i'm not saying it was full
because the wing also had cells for inmates
who the prison system had assessed
would not prey upon the vulnerable

so it wasn't full of 'vulnerables'_
but then the other 8 wings
weren't full of unvulnerable 'normal' people either_
(please don't think that)

if you're looking for an explanation
you could say that the system
had some kind of balance/imbalance going on _
just like 'outside' in many ways
(except 'inside'
people are being confined in this country
sometimes for many years
under conditions completely unsuited to their obvious needs _)

in the twenty months i spent on the vulnerable wing
i met many people who were seriously in need of real help
often confined under sedative prescriptions _
for a time i was banged up with a young man
who tried to cut himself open constantly
who bought vast quantities of stuff on his canteen
(presumably funded by his family?)
and who_ at his first opportunity_
disposed of the new contents from all these 'goodies'
down the toilet
he would continuously flush it for over an hour _
an 'extreme case' maybe?
he is an example_
and he was without any shadow of doubt
definitely in a similar condition
prior to committing a crime _

interested at all?
then find out how many prisoners
have cut wounds on their arms_
don't just look at prisoner suicides statistics
find out how many times prison staff
prevent a 'successful' outcome to a suicide attempt
if you're interested then find out_
because it must concern you
how many human beings are being slowly destroyed
not by their personal 'circumstances'
but by being confined in this way_

surely it concerns you
(surely indeed)
point is the underlying truth it points at_
behind the actual conditions of our society's prisons
AND IT'S PRISONERS!
is our nation's collective social attitude
which helps to create/condone the social policies
that confine people in this way _
(in other words
we are all to blame _)

try this at home_
report to your local a&e with a mental problem _
and you'll be seen within a couple of hours_
but if you truly succeed in committing yourself
even with a 'prior history'
then_ and only then_ can you talk to me
about pleading insanity in a common criminal trial

in no way assume
that what i've blogged is a condemnation
either of the hard-working external prison staff
or of the prison service itself_
but it is the truth _

the system we all live in and under
would defend itself by reminding the angry public...

'angry public_
did i say angry?
are the public angry about this?
no_
the public
fed by the media
who themselves feed from the likes of rupert murdoch_
the public are angry about parole and lenient sentencing

i'm not denying there's some who shouldn't have parole
and some God-awful mistakes have been made recently
by a system that they finally admit is collapsing
'unfit for purpose'_

(the enormity of that concept
'our home office doesn't work'
is dwarfed
by the underlying_ overbearing reason behind it_
our fast moving_ throw away society
wants the home office to work
but isn't really interested how_
when they really really ought to be!

but where was i?
yes ofcourse_ prison is only about punishment...

to anyone who thinks that_
prison is only about punishment
i would advise you to look ahead in your lives for a moment_

if you truly believe that your own future
will never require any evidence
to disprove a charge of 'lack of mercy'
(and where such evidence might 'save' you)
then continue to judge others as you do now _

responding to the 'armed response unit'

if the two brothers arrested in the forest gate 'terror' raid last week
have just been released without charge
then obviously neither of them was in possession of a gun
even though one of them was shot during the arrest
(supposedly by his own brother!)

so it was CO19 (renamed from SO19) who did the shooting
but the statement the police made after the brothers were released
makes no reference to that wounding _
so presumably the public must await yet another ipcc inquiry
(and in the meantime just be thankful that a wounding is all it was!)

is it any wonder the police feel no need to comment?
in the last two days
i've spent about 12 hours trawling the internet
for statistics on the 'Specialist Firearms Command' - CO19
specifically to compare the figures of casualties
between those who were innocent of any wrongdoing
and those who were 'deserving' of a police bullet _
in our 'open democracy' those comparative statistics don't exist

what word would you use to describe
firing seven bullets into a man's head at point blank range
as was done with jean charles de menezes
on an underground train_

killing?
murder?
execution?
somehow none of these words sufficiently describe it _

what would a high court judge say about such horrendous action
prior to handing down a life-sentence to the perpetrator?

after the ipcc handed in a dossier of their findings
on the menezes case (to scotland yard ?!)
the crown prosecution service said that they
"hoped to decide by Easter
whether any officers will face criminal charges"
but Easter has long since passed
and the public has heard nothing _

take the case of harry stanley_
a man recovering from a cancer operation
shot by two police officers whilst carrying a table leg
which they mistook for a sawn-off shotgun _

anyone who knows about these things
(and these officers had 'SO19' training)
is well aware the lack of potent range a 'sawn-off' has
especially against a police semi-automatic _
so what phrase could you use to define stanley's killing

death by misadventure?
unlawful killing?
or an act of cowardice?

in the second inquest into the shooting of harry stanley
a verdict of 'unlawful killing' was pronounced because
"the jury did not believe the officers
when they said they felt under imminent threat"

the point is that these two cases are linked
by more than the victim's unnecessary death _
the police commisioner sir ian blair went on public record
with his description of jean charles as 'a terrorist'
because he was afraid that his armed response unit
would 'down tools' and abandon him
just as they had only eight months earlier
when the officers who shot harry stanley were suspended from duty _
(under these circumstances it might have been better if they had)

and now at forest gate
we are given a story of one man shooting his own brother
and still no explanation for what was obviously not the truth
what is becoming clear from all of this
is that CO19 consider themselves to be 'above the law'
and do their best to avoid prosecution for their actions
by resorting to 'industrial action'
or coercing their senior officers into 'covering up'
with the contrivance of half-truths and blatant lies
and yet our prime minister says they have "101% of his support"

well mr blair_
your record of support for 'armed response' speaks for itself
and during the bloodbath of iraq you would probably be best advised
to say nothing at all on this particular subject _

in the interim a metropolitan police commander goes before the BBC
to ask for continued cooperation and trust from the community_
"What is more likely to develop increasing trust," he asks_
"what's more likely to deliver effective police
and community responses to situations like this?"

the answer to that question is obvious
and probably one his armed response unit doesn't want to hear_
if you want co-operation and trust
then get it the way everyone else has to... EARN IT!

head above the parapet

so bullyboy campbell makes the headlines once again
not for his journalistic abilities
but for his outmoded phillistine attitudes about women
(who incidentally are doing a job that he can't do)

he tells us that his 'comments'
were intended to provoke interest in labour's website_
succinctly demonstrating how desperate
the chinless wonders of new labour must be
and his world cup blog page states
that "offensive or abusive responses will be deleted"

i left a blog there reminding him of his indirect role
in the death of dr kelly_
ending with the sentence
"get off our front pages and hang your head in shame"

whether it was or wasn't abusive to say that_
dear reader_ you decide...
but i bet you anything you like
you won't see psywarrior's blog response printed there

who remembers september 11th? (1973)

despite yesterday's claims by the ministry of defence
that desertions from the uk armed forces
"have remained constant"
the escalating figures speak for themselves_
in 2001 there were only 81
in 2005 there were 377
this year it's 189 so far_
small wonder then that parliament is creating a new law
allowing life-term jail sentences for desertion

the reason for absconding
at first seems fairly obvious
today two more uk soldiers died in iraq
making the total deaths of service men and women 113
(33 dead during the actual invasion
all the rest since the 'ending of hostilities')

i was a soldier once
and i would proudly remind anyone
this is the british armed forces we're talking about_
these men and women have recently fought and served
in northern ireland, sierra leone and bosnia _
they aren't leaving because they're afraid
there's much more to it than that_

flight lieutenant Kendall-Smith was recently sentenced
for refusing to return to iraq for 'another tour'
because the conflict is illegal_
the bbc has a quote from an sas soldier
who was allowed to resign
after he was no longer prepared to return to Iraq
because of illegal acts he witnessed
carried out by the US forces he served with
and he's not the only one_
there are a lot of live interviews
that mention exactly the same thing

abu ghraib_
fallujah_
this week the pentagon wraps up it's inquiry
into what happened in haditha last november_
where us marines wiped out innocent villagers
because one of their number had been killed by a bomb
this weekend The Times
quotes a 10year old girl who watched as
"US soldiers deliberately shot and killed almost her entire family
as she lay hiding in the corner"

how many other 10year olds have done the same thing?
how many of them survived to tell us about it?
please don't think these questions are rhetorical
this is real _

about three years ago i was listening to radio4's 'question time'
and the bleating complaints of UK citizens
concerned about 'american aggression in iraq'
so i telephoned the programme to basically say
that you people really do need to wake up_
american foreign policy hasn't recently 'deteriorated'
it's ALWAYS been like that
up till now it's taken place in parts of the world
that the UK public doesn't normally focus on_

in Chile_ on september 11th 1973
after Project FUBELT
the CIA-backed Pinochet overthrew
the democratically elected Dr Salvador Allende _
(see also - wikipedia)
the main difference between the horror of 9.11.2001
and the terror of 9.11.1973
was in the amount of casualties_
the chilean figures are in tens of thousands
and they didn't all perish on the same day either
many many chileans died after months of torture

as one witness to those atrocities recently stated
"And now we see that on the same day
people were killed by terrorists in the USA.
We condemn terrorism
but the USA uses indirect terrorism
to overthrow democratically elected governments such as Allende's"

meanwhile back in iraq
the number of civilian deaths goes uncounted
last year the US was buying ammunition from all over the world
because it had exhausted its own supplies _
according to the pentagon's own statistics
US forces were averaging 250,000 bullets per dead 'terrorist'

most english citizens_ no matter their politics or background
have an intrinsic sense of honour and fair play
normally portrayed by our armed forces throughout the world _
the same cannot be said about our 'brothers in arms'
i lived in the 'land of hope and freedom' for three years_
at the age of 11 every american citizen attending school
swears allegiance to their flag on every week day _
their own 'intrinsic sense' is all about america

are we as a nation going to learn anything from iraq?
other than punishing our own servicemen more severely
because they listen to an english sense of right and wrong?
i look at the calibre of people in westminster today
and i'm afraid to say i doubt it