UNIVERSAL SOLDIER

Written in the early 1960s by Canadian Buffy Sainte-Marie, The Universal Soldier is commonly interpreted as being written in response to the war in Vietnam, it was actually penned before the first US combat troops arrived there. It received popularity when released by Scottish folk artist Donovan in 1965. It did well in Britain, where it was first released, reaching number five on the singles charts, though it fared less well in the United States.The version here appears with a photo montage, with credit to Youtube user tolka.

The Universal Soldier is an unusual war-protest song because it blames war not on governments, leaders or corporations, but on the individuals who accept the notion that killing solves problems and one war can end future wars. As implied by the title, Sainte-Marie makes no distinction between the soldiers of different nations, religions or ideologies: they fight for different causes but the same reasons. 


WITH the recent closure of the Bridgend Army Office by members of Cymru Rydd Welsh Republicans and someone  called Rebecca, our attention will turn others recruitment  dens in the South Wales valleys. No child in Wales should ever have to grow up and fight in the English Army ( now restyled from British Army to "Army". For less than £15 a day Welsh soldiers have lost their lives fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Like the song, Gallippolli says "The real war is at home".


Who then do we fight against?


Three years ago a under cover intelligence operative for the English Crown ie  TRAITOROUS SPY, attempted to inflitrate our organisation. Being long in the tooth and having had alot of experience of Her Majesty kindness to republicans, pacifists and anyone else who refuses to be quiet little doggies, he didn't get far. That's the trouble with Wales, we are family and coomunity based.Inothers words we all know each and are related some way down the line


Whilst politicians must take the blame for wars, there is also a personal element in war, as UNiversal soldier lyrics below state (link).


1.
We must agitate amongst members of the Crown Army in Wales and asked them to refuse to fight on moral grounds as the Unified Code of the British Army allows.


2.
We must double our efforts to close the Pontypridd Army recruitment office. If we can do it in a place like Bridgend, we can do it anywhere. I dont know if Rebecca will be around. Whether or not she and her children pay clandestine visits with the magic buckets, we can raise awarness of the issue. We urgently need to co-ordinate days of action, letter writing to papers (still effective) and develop a chain of groups like the Fellowship of Reconcillation, churches, civic groups etc.


3. The Head of the Army will be Wales for several days in July so we should think about demonstration that would highlight the issues of recruitment.


Its going to be a fun, action packed Summer. 


See you soon,


Fluffy,  xxx




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A50lVLtSQik&feature=fvst

Watched the Brighton Bomb last night. Recalled my teenage years in Maesteg when my girlfriend's dad was out on the Miner's strike. The London police Thatcher called in to attack miners: "the enemy within" she called them. Then there's the antics of special branch targetting union leaders in the NUM. Not forgetting of course, the 10 Hunger Strikers in Northern Ireland. Thatcher said there no such thing as society- except for the society of millionaire yuppies living for greed, whilst kids where homless. I worked as a volunteer in Centrepoint Night shelter, Soho. Kids came to us, within 3 days they had money to get a place to live. Thatcher ABOLISHED THIS and made them wait 2 weeks.Two weeks living on the streets of London exposed to male female prostitution to get money to eat: drugs and vice. Many of these kids (16yrs +) were gay AND RUNNING AWAY FROM HOME. One young lad said his step dad would beat "the gayness out of me". Others were under 16 and thanks only to the Childrens Society had a place of safety to access immdiately. The there's lesser things, but insulting. Like John "Spock" Redwood who paid "lip service" ( badly) to our people and the National anthem. Millionaire Alun Michael, MP for wealthy Penarth, Blair's poodle who no wants to run our police.

 Then there is the deliberate sinking of the Belgrano so the Crown could rule over Las Malvinas/Falklands and all the Welsh lads who were injured and died in this war over some rocks and Penguins so that the Butchers apron could fliy over terrority of a former glory and a dying Empire. But its ensured a political re-election for Thatcher. So watching the Brighton Bomb and the horrors of violence, saddened for those who died,  perhaps, just perhaps, I could see where the Miners, the NUM, the disenfrachised young people, and the parents of Bobby Sands and the other 9: perhaps, I can just see where they're coming from. When Thatcher dies: her legacy of greed, war, individualism, colonialism and bigotry will die do. Unless Mr Cameron, a smiling, two faced vilain, will re-erect her legacy. After all, she was invited to No.10: and Labour, under Brown, did the same. 


My new years resolution is to fight for justice, for a democratic Wales, ruled by the people of Wales. Please help me in and the others in Cymru Rydd- we cant do it alone. But together, we can rise again! Fe godwn ni eto! www.cymruryddwelshrepublicans.webs.com

Historic Time for England - Irish diplomacy

An English man and an Irish man are driving head on , at night, on a twisty, dark road. Both are driving to fast for the conditions and collide on a sharp bend in the road. To the amazement of both, they are unscathed, though their cars are both destroyed. In celebration of their luck, both agree to put aside their dislike for the other from that moment on. At this point, the Irish man goes to the boot and fetches a 12 year old bottle of Jameson whiskey. He hands the bottle to the English man, whom exclaims,'' may the English and the Irish live together forever, in peace, and harmony.'' The English man then tips the bottle and lashes half of it down. Still flabbergasted over the whole thing, he goes to hand the bottle to the Irish man, who replies: '' no thanks, I'll just wait till the Garda get here!''

Thanks to Maelgwyn, King of Kings, for this rather witty-ish gem of  political understanding of the Irish question.

Remember- cutting edge political debate starts with Fluffy- the dragon with an opinion on chips.

Thieves, Robbers and the new 'Old Labour'.

It is now an established fact that Labour have been removing Plaid stakes from the Caephilly constituency, by the hand of none other than than Wayne David, the Labour MP. It shows just how desperate Labour are to secure power in  the area because of the very real possibility of a Plaid win thanks to Ron Davies, who has, arguably done more for Welsh devolution than any other Labour politician. It shows that Labour may be willing to break the law to remain in power, and so postal votes should be suspect. When will Labour stop bringing the democratic process in Wales to the level of Pakistan?

After robbing MP's  we have the Robbing Bankers who have brought financial disaster on the UK with their relentless, greed driven persuit of profit. Despite the public outrage, even banks owned in large part by the UK government, are paying bonuses in excess of  ten times the wage of the lucky bankers who receive this 'gift.'

The NGO Positive Money (http://www.positivemoney.org/) has spent three years researching the best voting method to hold banks accountable. Ben Dyson, their chief  director writes:

"Tommorrow, the UK will have its first referendum in 36 years. We’ll be deciding whether to keep the existing ‘First Past the Post’ system to elect Members of Parliament (MPs), or switch to the ‘Alternative Vote’. The outcome could affect our chances of securing real banking reform any time soon. 
After weighing up the different concerns, we’ve come to the conclusion that the chances of fixing the banking system (and ending their power and privilege to create money out of nothing at the expense of the rest of society) are higher under Alternative Vote (where you rank candidates in order of preference) than under First Past the Post (where you get just one choice).

Sticking with the current system?

If we stick with the current system, we’re destined to have alternating Labour and Conservative rule for the next few decades. Given that these two parties were at the helm during that last 30 years, and did nothing to limit the power of the banks or to reform banking in the interests of ordinary people, I’m not convinced that this would be the best thing for the nation. It might work well for the banks, however.

In Summary

1. AV would allow us to vote honestly to support the issues that we really care about.
2. Growing support for these issues would be reflected in the first preference voting figures.
3. The large parties would react to this growing support by adopting these issues into their policies.
4. It’s questionable whether either of the two main parties will take the risk of challenging the banks when the current voting system guarantees them power by default at least every decade or so. Growing support for smaller parties is likely to be an important way of increasing pressure on the two main parties to take real action on the banks, and AV makes this more possible."

And Finally…
From a personal point of view, this comment on a newspaper website sums up my concern with keeping the existing system, and the main reason why I’ll personally be voting yes to AV on Thursday:

“I’m 62 now and I’ve spent the last 41 years of my life disenfranchised. If I vote ‘NO” to AV, I shall probably spend the rest of my life in the same condition. That is why I shall be voting YES TO AV. This referendum has nothing to do with Conservative, Labour or Liberal Democrat to me. It’s to do with my right to a meaningful vote.”

Real change and real justice can be achieved. Tommorrow can be the start. You decide.

Bankers R W******* (fill in your favourite adjective)

 "Aristotle considered the most hated and unnatural profession to be that of the banker. Likewise all the Abrahamic faiths historically considered the charging of interest to be an exploitative practice. Very few of the mainstream parties are willing to takle in the inherent injustice of  personal and national debt caused by the use of private loans from private bankers. The Independent Wales Party, in its first manifesto, "The Road to Cymru" (2001) advanced a policy that would create true wealth  (http://www.cymruryddwelshrepublicans.webs.com/) which received the backing of organisations such as the Christain Council for Monetary Justice. Since then, small scale initiatives have found success, such as the "Valleys Pound" championed by Plaid's Lianne Wood in the Rhondda. In the past such schemes were mocked. Now that sterling has devalued and the Labour government ruled over the first bank run (at Northern Rock) for well over a century, such schemes are providing a lifeline for all those who have struggled with the tax cuts, removal of  "safety net" benefits and Working Tax Benefits.

On a desert island, you will soon die if your try to eat a £5 note, but a coconut or fish could keep us going until  Prince William comes to rescue us with his chopper.

The resources of Wales have been exploited for centuries. Its time to end our debt, and take back the wealth that is truly ours.

Another

I'm reading a book about the history of glue, and I can't put it down. 

Joke

My friend's addicted to brake fluid. It's not a problem; he can stop at anytime.