Jena Louisiana, population 3,000 - black population 450 - the old school has a spreading tree in it's yard which affords shade to pupils when it's hot, white pupils that is, yes, this is the USA in the year 2007 - black kids can't share the shade of a tree with white kids.
A black kid dared to stand under the tree and take shade, the next day three nooses were on display from the tree's branches - remember this is the poisonous red neck state of Louisiana where, between the years of 1882 and 1968, 335 black people were lynched, yes you read that right 19 68 was not an error, those who put up the nooses got suspended for 3 days.
Tension - a white kid pulled a gun a black kid got hit over the head with bottles - later a white youth was kicked unconscious by 6 black youths, the white youth with the gun and the white youths with the bottle attack were not charged while the 6 black youths were charged with attempted murder and are looking at up to 80yrs. their victim attended a school disco that same night.
Black demonstrators are now supporting the 'Jena 6' - at a protest rally, a blast from the past the Rev. Al Sharpton from the Selma and Alabama days with doctor King said " in the 20 Th. century we fought to sit on the bus, now we fight not to sit in court, we have gone from being slaves to being prisoners" one tee shirt proclaimed ' we are here to cut down the white tree of white supremacy' they are still marching and singing "we shall overcome" does anyone doubt them ?
This is the same America which, as I write is busy all over the world exporting American values, from the barrel of a gun, this is the USA 2007.
Friday, September 28, 2007
NATWATCH
Lib.Dem./SNP cabal continue to hit the most vulnerable in Renfrewshire - since coming to power 5 months ago they have done the following.
price rises for after school care in the poorest areas.
Price rises for Council halls, these apply to disabled and pensioner groups etc. as well.
Reduction in hours for Educational Session workers, they have admitted that it was either this or the closure of adult learning centres.
Get this - the removal of free tea and coffee for those who drop into the homeless unit - honestly !
This sits beside the announced cuts of £2. 3 which they refuse to give details of.
In addition they campaigned in opposition to save Millarston Playing Fields and the land at Manse Crs. Houston. They quickly reneged on promises not to sell these pieces of land.
Perhaps though, the most worrying thing yet over this shameful 5 months, particularly if you are a council employee was Council leader the SNP's Derek Mackay's refusal to honour labour's guarantee which has stood for 27 yrs. of no compulsory redundancies, 3 times he was asked in public, twice by me and once by Labour Councillor Tom Williams.
The cock crowed and the treacherous SNP denied the council employees 3 times - people of Renfrewshire, you were warned - the Glib. Dem/Gnat conspiracy can't be trusted.
price rises for after school care in the poorest areas.
Price rises for Council halls, these apply to disabled and pensioner groups etc. as well.
Reduction in hours for Educational Session workers, they have admitted that it was either this or the closure of adult learning centres.
Get this - the removal of free tea and coffee for those who drop into the homeless unit - honestly !
This sits beside the announced cuts of £2. 3 which they refuse to give details of.
In addition they campaigned in opposition to save Millarston Playing Fields and the land at Manse Crs. Houston. They quickly reneged on promises not to sell these pieces of land.
Perhaps though, the most worrying thing yet over this shameful 5 months, particularly if you are a council employee was Council leader the SNP's Derek Mackay's refusal to honour labour's guarantee which has stood for 27 yrs. of no compulsory redundancies, 3 times he was asked in public, twice by me and once by Labour Councillor Tom Williams.
The cock crowed and the treacherous SNP denied the council employees 3 times - people of Renfrewshire, you were warned - the Glib. Dem/Gnat conspiracy can't be trusted.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
WELCOME TO OUR TOWN
We are decent hard working people here in our town. Our population has halved from a million to half a million over 60 yrs. and in the first half of this year 13,600 homes have been repossessed, 10 yrs. ago that figure was 3,400 and last year it was 7,000 so it's worsening, and it's scary we don't understand what's happening, we need help.
Companies going bust are up 71% since last year, during August 245,000 lost their homes country wide, fast talking salesmen have conned people into massive debts, many immigrants came here fleeing poverty and now they are worse off, dying without a home after a lifetime of hard work.
60 families a day lose their homes, this is not regarded as an emergency, not regarded as unacceptable, nobody is organising protests, it doesn't make the headlines - where is this ? is it some banana republic run by a bloodthirsty military dictator, no it's not.
Because this is the city of Cleveland in the mid west of the world's self appointed greatest country America, this is now Sept. 2007 - this is a society which is rotten to it's capitalist core.
These poor people still sing 'god bless America' and stick the 'stars n bars' in their yard if they are lucky enough to still have one, the power of propaganda is such that they are terrified to admit that ' The American Dream ' is a cruel scam which exploits them, they are scared stiff of being labeled un-American or un-patriotic, they should try singing 'God Help America' and learning to fight back - in the words of the great American Union man who was murdered by the state Joe Hill " don't mourn, organise"
Companies going bust are up 71% since last year, during August 245,000 lost their homes country wide, fast talking salesmen have conned people into massive debts, many immigrants came here fleeing poverty and now they are worse off, dying without a home after a lifetime of hard work.
60 families a day lose their homes, this is not regarded as an emergency, not regarded as unacceptable, nobody is organising protests, it doesn't make the headlines - where is this ? is it some banana republic run by a bloodthirsty military dictator, no it's not.
Because this is the city of Cleveland in the mid west of the world's self appointed greatest country America, this is now Sept. 2007 - this is a society which is rotten to it's capitalist core.
These poor people still sing 'god bless America' and stick the 'stars n bars' in their yard if they are lucky enough to still have one, the power of propaganda is such that they are terrified to admit that ' The American Dream ' is a cruel scam which exploits them, they are scared stiff of being labeled un-American or un-patriotic, they should try singing 'God Help America' and learning to fight back - in the words of the great American Union man who was murdered by the state Joe Hill " don't mourn, organise"
Thursday, September 20, 2007
ANTI SOCIAL NEIGHBOURS
I saw this in a paper and thought it worth sharing.
"We have a big council house in our street - the large extended family is overseen by a grumpy old woman who keeps fierce dogs. Their car isn't taxed or insured , but the police do nothing about it. Her bad tempered old husband is always upsetting everyone with racist remarks. A local shopkeeper has blamed him for ordering the contract murder of his son and his son's girlfriend but nothing has yet been proved. All the kids have broken marriages except the youngest.
They have two grandsons who are out of control, they are supposed to be in the Army but are always in and out of clubs and pubs. Their outrageous behaviour is always getting reported in the press, they are completely beyond the pale. really who in their right mind would live near Windsor Castle ?"
"We have a big council house in our street - the large extended family is overseen by a grumpy old woman who keeps fierce dogs. Their car isn't taxed or insured , but the police do nothing about it. Her bad tempered old husband is always upsetting everyone with racist remarks. A local shopkeeper has blamed him for ordering the contract murder of his son and his son's girlfriend but nothing has yet been proved. All the kids have broken marriages except the youngest.
They have two grandsons who are out of control, they are supposed to be in the Army but are always in and out of clubs and pubs. Their outrageous behaviour is always getting reported in the press, they are completely beyond the pale. really who in their right mind would live near Windsor Castle ?"
CATERPILLAR CRAWL AWAY FROM MURDER
4 years ago a young American peace activist named Rachel Corrie was killed by a Catterpillar Bulldozer. On Sept. 18 Th. 07 an Illinois court refused her family permission to sue the Caterpillar Co. They sell these machines to the Israel Defence Force who use them as an efficient means of destroying palestinian homes, whether they are inhabited at the time or not.
The families claimed that Caterpillar sold these machines to Israel knowing that they would use them to demolish homes in violation of international law, the family described it as a war crime, the USA Govt. gave evidence on behalf of Catterpillar, shock horror !
In 2002 in the West Bank while the Omar al-Shu'bi family slept in their Nablus home, an Israeli bulldozer destroyed their house without warning - 4 men 3 women (1 pregnant) and 3 children aged 4, 7 & 9 were killed - a good nights work for the Israelis, this is war Israeli style, be fair now, the 4, 7 & 9 year olds could have been very dangerous.
The Church of England following this voted to disinvest from companies making profit from the occupation, then like the good Christians that they are they voted to keep their shares in Catterpillar !
Yesterday a 16 Yr. old Palestinian boy was killed by the Israeli Defence Force using a Catterpillar Bulldozer. Israel and America must be proud of themselves, surely ?
The families claimed that Caterpillar sold these machines to Israel knowing that they would use them to demolish homes in violation of international law, the family described it as a war crime, the USA Govt. gave evidence on behalf of Catterpillar, shock horror !
In 2002 in the West Bank while the Omar al-Shu'bi family slept in their Nablus home, an Israeli bulldozer destroyed their house without warning - 4 men 3 women (1 pregnant) and 3 children aged 4, 7 & 9 were killed - a good nights work for the Israelis, this is war Israeli style, be fair now, the 4, 7 & 9 year olds could have been very dangerous.
The Church of England following this voted to disinvest from companies making profit from the occupation, then like the good Christians that they are they voted to keep their shares in Catterpillar !
Yesterday a 16 Yr. old Palestinian boy was killed by the Israeli Defence Force using a Catterpillar Bulldozer. Israel and America must be proud of themselves, surely ?
REDUNDANCIES BY THE SNP
Meeting of Renfrewshire Full Council Sept. 13 Th. 07 --- The scene is the council chamber, the GNAT/GLIB. DEM. cabal have announced price rises for after school care for paisley's two poorest wards, they have also announced price rises for hall hires, this includes users less fortunate than most of us such as Pensioners and groups with learning difficulties.
Both of the above price hikes could cost jobs with halls closing and people who rely on after school care being unable to afford it--- then another announcement--- a budget cut of £2.3 Million - that could mean jobs as well.
The following exchange then took place, Cllr. Kelly ( for it was I ) to Council leader Mackay SNP " labour gave our workforce a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies, we honoured this guarantee for the 27 Yrs. we were in office, will you Cllr. Mackay give the same guarantee" Cllr. Mackay - no answer - the question was put again on three other occasions, Cllr. Mckay - no answer - he stared into the middle distance like a rabbit in the headlights of a car.
What does it mean ? well to our approx. 9,000 employees it means that the Labour guarantee of no compulsory redundancies which has protected you for 27 yrs. has been ditched by the new Glib/Dem. Gnat alliance, after 27 Yrs. it has taken 4 months for them to sell their work force down the river and this is them just starting - you were warned !
Both of the above price hikes could cost jobs with halls closing and people who rely on after school care being unable to afford it--- then another announcement--- a budget cut of £2.3 Million - that could mean jobs as well.
The following exchange then took place, Cllr. Kelly ( for it was I ) to Council leader Mackay SNP " labour gave our workforce a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies, we honoured this guarantee for the 27 Yrs. we were in office, will you Cllr. Mackay give the same guarantee" Cllr. Mackay - no answer - the question was put again on three other occasions, Cllr. Mckay - no answer - he stared into the middle distance like a rabbit in the headlights of a car.
What does it mean ? well to our approx. 9,000 employees it means that the Labour guarantee of no compulsory redundancies which has protected you for 27 yrs. has been ditched by the new Glib/Dem. Gnat alliance, after 27 Yrs. it has taken 4 months for them to sell their work force down the river and this is them just starting - you were warned !
Monday, September 17, 2007
SPORTS AND FORECASTS !
I predicted that France would beat Scotland home and away, which tells you that even experts like me can get it wrong. I would wager though that the French would love to play the game again tonight, that doesn't take away the enormity of the two results and I am happy to see the emergence of some good players at this level for Scotland, very well done to them and especially to McFadden two spectacular goals in succession, if we overlook the French goalie waving at the ball.
Young McFadden only has to keep doing this on a regular basis to be called a great player, Bobby Charlton did this with monotonous regularity so why can't young James ?
I am not the world's greatest cricket fan but, I watched India play Pakistan in a twenty over game from South Africa. Being only twenty overs and between the Celtic and Rangers of cricket it was incredible, these guys were smashing the ball out of the park regularly and heroics were being performed in the field by men throwing themselves at the ball in a very dangerous way.
We all remember the great snooker final between Davis and Taylor where it incredibly came down to the last black ball out of 35 frames well, this came down to Pakistan needing one run from the last ball to win, unbelievable but true the batsman predictably lashed out and started running and was run out, the game was tied and they went to a 'bowl out' no I've never heard of it either, five bowls each from five different players at an unguarded wicket.
Just like a penalty shoot out, Pakistan missed four out of five, victory to India, exciting or what ? I must watch more of this. 'A bumping pitch and a blinding light, an hour to play and the last man' this is a bit different, but still brilliant.
Young McFadden only has to keep doing this on a regular basis to be called a great player, Bobby Charlton did this with monotonous regularity so why can't young James ?
I am not the world's greatest cricket fan but, I watched India play Pakistan in a twenty over game from South Africa. Being only twenty overs and between the Celtic and Rangers of cricket it was incredible, these guys were smashing the ball out of the park regularly and heroics were being performed in the field by men throwing themselves at the ball in a very dangerous way.
We all remember the great snooker final between Davis and Taylor where it incredibly came down to the last black ball out of 35 frames well, this came down to Pakistan needing one run from the last ball to win, unbelievable but true the batsman predictably lashed out and started running and was run out, the game was tied and they went to a 'bowl out' no I've never heard of it either, five bowls each from five different players at an unguarded wicket.
Just like a penalty shoot out, Pakistan missed four out of five, victory to India, exciting or what ? I must watch more of this. 'A bumping pitch and a blinding light, an hour to play and the last man' this is a bit different, but still brilliant.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
HENRY CRUN - A TRULY, DEEPLY UGLY PERSON
Henry Crun is the name that this person hides behind, he talks tough but does so from a position of anonymity, that's another way of describing a coward.
He doesn't like what I write about Nelson Mandela so, from his hiding place he sends me comments which are repulsive and nothing but foul mouthed rants, he sounds in fact like a white South African apartheid supporter, a real storm trooper, remember the words of the song ? 'I've never met a nice South African'
Write again Henry Crun and if you try to resemble a human being, I will, as I do with everyone else answer you, I may need to wash afterwards but I will answer you.
He doesn't like what I write about Nelson Mandela so, from his hiding place he sends me comments which are repulsive and nothing but foul mouthed rants, he sounds in fact like a white South African apartheid supporter, a real storm trooper, remember the words of the song ? 'I've never met a nice South African'
Write again Henry Crun and if you try to resemble a human being, I will, as I do with everyone else answer you, I may need to wash afterwards but I will answer you.
Monday, September 03, 2007
A PRISON BREAKOUT
A recent poll for the first time ever has come up with a majority who agree with something that I have been saying for years, that is that prison as we know it does not work, this large poll follows two recent smaller polls which produced similar results 51% say prison doesn't work, a truly incredible result.
Incredible ? yes because there is no other issue which compares with crime and punishment when it comes to the rule of the mob orchestrated by the gutter red top press, no subject is used more ruthlessly to sell papers than this, non stop lurid savage headlines has been the currency used by these evil rags and yet, at last people are starting to listen to reason.
The truth is that a 25 yr sentence does not stop someone who is determined to get hold of a gun and murder someone else.
We have the highest prison population ever, approx 90,000 for the whole of Britain, people are asking why and what's the point, 80 % of them have two or more mental health problems that's approx. 72,000 prisoners that is not, repeat not, a misprint.
Should we lock up young women for a fine default and then chain them to a bed during childbirth ? I say no, also the treatment of male prisoners is shocking, locked up for long spells because of overcrowding, how would you like to open the cell door of a violent prisoner with mental health problems who has been locked up for 23 hrs staring at the wall ?
How much could be saved by a more enlightened sentencing policy which keeps people out of prison and still punishes them ? probably billions of pounds.
Much more space in prison, much more time for prison staff, more training more programmes better results, we take prisoners in just now and after 4,5,6 years they are released worse than when they came in, just think about it a prisoner goes in innumerate and illiterate and comes out 6 yrs later still innumerate and illiterate, this is madness is it not ? do we want to solve the problem of crime or are we doomed to repeat past failures.
Perhaps the public are at last beginning to see through the posturing of right wing politicians like Tory 'druggy Dave Cameron' and Kenny 'gies a drink ya Engurlish B-----d' McCaskill SNP Justice minister, it's never too late to see sense and it's long overdue.
75% of young male prisoners re offend ------------------ FACT
This can be cut by 22% using community sentencing- FACT
37% Illiterate that's 29,600--------------------------------FACT
50% addicts of one kind or another---------------------- FACT
Only 10% of addicts get treatment------------------------FACT
There are many more reasons to change but these are some of them.
Conclusion ? when a politician tells you that prison works, particularly against a backdrop of some terrible crime like right now on Merseyside he/she is lying.
Incredible ? yes because there is no other issue which compares with crime and punishment when it comes to the rule of the mob orchestrated by the gutter red top press, no subject is used more ruthlessly to sell papers than this, non stop lurid savage headlines has been the currency used by these evil rags and yet, at last people are starting to listen to reason.
The truth is that a 25 yr sentence does not stop someone who is determined to get hold of a gun and murder someone else.
We have the highest prison population ever, approx 90,000 for the whole of Britain, people are asking why and what's the point, 80 % of them have two or more mental health problems that's approx. 72,000 prisoners that is not, repeat not, a misprint.
Should we lock up young women for a fine default and then chain them to a bed during childbirth ? I say no, also the treatment of male prisoners is shocking, locked up for long spells because of overcrowding, how would you like to open the cell door of a violent prisoner with mental health problems who has been locked up for 23 hrs staring at the wall ?
How much could be saved by a more enlightened sentencing policy which keeps people out of prison and still punishes them ? probably billions of pounds.
Much more space in prison, much more time for prison staff, more training more programmes better results, we take prisoners in just now and after 4,5,6 years they are released worse than when they came in, just think about it a prisoner goes in innumerate and illiterate and comes out 6 yrs later still innumerate and illiterate, this is madness is it not ? do we want to solve the problem of crime or are we doomed to repeat past failures.
Perhaps the public are at last beginning to see through the posturing of right wing politicians like Tory 'druggy Dave Cameron' and Kenny 'gies a drink ya Engurlish B-----d' McCaskill SNP Justice minister, it's never too late to see sense and it's long overdue.
75% of young male prisoners re offend ------------------ FACT
This can be cut by 22% using community sentencing- FACT
37% Illiterate that's 29,600--------------------------------FACT
50% addicts of one kind or another---------------------- FACT
Only 10% of addicts get treatment------------------------FACT
There are many more reasons to change but these are some of them.
Conclusion ? when a politician tells you that prison works, particularly against a backdrop of some terrible crime like right now on Merseyside he/she is lying.
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