In a brown envelope with a return address to Belfast, Northern Ireland, came a letter from a DWP office in Aberdeen, Scotland regarding the fake medical Atos test I was forced to undergo in Bangor, North Wales back in the first week of October. It said I had only scored 12 points on my Work Capability Assessment (15 are needed to be awarded ESA and be put into a worse position than I was, even more are needed to put me into the situation I have been in, for now I will be put in a far far worse position). They will stop paying me in January.

I am going to appeal.

Merry Fucking Christmas (and Happy Hanukkah)!

A worthy torch passing.

“We know too well the heavy cost of this war. More than 1.5m Americans have served in Iraq. Over 30,000 Americans have been wounded and those are only the wounds that show. Nearly 4,500 Americans made the ultimate sacrifice,” he said. “We also know that these numbers don’t tell the full story of the Iraq war. Not even close.”

Obama made no mention of Iraqi deaths. The cost in Iraqi lives is heavily disputed but is generally believed to run in to the hundreds of thousands.

Which is better than the BBC whose only mention was in photo caption of US soldier memorials-

Nearly 4,500 US troops died in Iraq while tens of thousands of Iraqis also lost their lives

Why is it ‘heavily disputed’? We tend not to dispute the death tolls caused by nations or forces our elite wish us to dislike, whereas their/our crimes are minimised. I recently re-watched Jack Gold’s movie ‘Escape from Sobibor‘ a fairly PG telling of the revolt and escape by Jewish prisoners at Sobibor extermination camp run by the SS-Sonderkommando. After the uprising/riot/escape Himmler immediately ordered the camp destroyed and the area was planted with trees to hide any trace of the death camp. However survivors carried the truth with them and the genocide machine there was exposed. We were receptive to that truth because the Nazis were our enemy, for comparison even today when mentions of our raid on Dresden is mentioned in mass media the deaths are minimised. At some future point we may know the fuller truth of Iraq, those who think our media and politicians and military have told them the truth today are the same brand of useful idiot that enabled Himmler to point at the freshly planted trees and say all is well, we may make mistakes but our proud nation is mystically, intrinsically less evil than our enemy. Though the walking time bombs of damaged veterans will be the daily reminder war is maybe not all it’s cracked up to be.

Maybe.

In the beginning was the bass, and Sly & the Family Stone saw it was good, but it needed some funky slapping

Thank You / Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin

Now just listen to that bass break at 1:14, for verily many ages later did Jam & Lewis come upon this funkfest and thereupon they didst sample it and make a greateth choon for Janet Jackson

First General Assembly 7 & 8 Dec -11 Bangor NW

on the 7th and 8th of December 2011 the Occupy North Wales will hold its first General Assembly. Bythe cenotaph in Bangor near Y Hen Glan Public House.
Please Bring
- A Tent
- A Sign
- Something warm to wear
- And if you have hot drink
#ONW
FaceBook Link:
http://www.facebook.com/events/295638193792571/
facebook.com/occupynorthwales

occupynorthwales.tk
@MeddianwnOccupy

At the same time Adennill y Nos Reclaim the Night will also be marching-

Reclaim the Night
Come march against violence against women, reclaim the streets and raise awareness.
People of all genders and none welcome.
Leave from Main Arts foyer at 5:45pm.
Rally at the Clock at 6:10 pm
Party at the Gwynedd Museum afterward!

I hope to be able to get to Bangor and stream some video.

Update: 7/12/11 Evening: Not a critical mass to make an occupation viable but well done to all and good to see (& meet) local journalist Rhodri Barker covering events, local Beeb take note!

The shortest answer to why are we going to attack Iran is:- because precisely zero of the war criminals who lied us into attacking Iraq have paid a scintilla for their crime, in fact they are lauded, celebrated and loved. The exposure of the Fox/Werrity/Gould nexus has not really upset plans all that much, especially as further digging into it has provoked the standard cries of anti-semitism, (even from people who should know better that trusting Islamophobe Martin Bright in the Jewish Chronicle).

Among a rash of stories today by avid war pimps-

Con Coughlin the neocon intelligence agency stooge in the Torygraph -Iran’s Revolutionary Guards prepare for war- which is relayed and amplified in Ha’aretz. While Ynet frolics around with -Tehran residents fear imminent strike. Closure of foreign schools in Tehran prompts fears among Iranians; ‘I and all my friends have stockpiled goods at home,’ local resident says- and the twofer -Obama seeks Jewish vote. President working to court Jewish voters as Republicans seek to chip away at support- (note Ynet conflating Zionism with Jewish, yet oddly rarely get accused of anti semitism for that) which is about as non subtle as you can get during a run up to an attack atmosphere that is being created among elites. The shot down drone excuse of ‘it got lost’ is plausible enough, hence it might be true or indeed the attackers now know some more about the effectiveness of Iran’s air defences. This round up by Jasmin Ramsey over at LobeBlog is a good further collection showing the temperature of the water. Our own baldy Yorkshire pillock Hague pulling out UK embassy staff in response to the storming (though it is fair to stay it didn’t happen without IRI approval, these were not just random students the police forgot to stop, as Parsi says it was designed to show Iran reaction to aggression will not be harmless shrug) is an extreme response and one that does work into the war drum rhythm. Hague had other options but none so clearly labelled ‘Things to do in advance of military attack’.

So our beloved war pimps will get some more Middle East blood on their already dripping hands, because hey, why not? Never did them any harm. Luckily the wave of terrorist attacks that an attack on Iran will herald will stimulate growth in the security industry that is a little bored labelling Occupy campers as terrorists. So it’s a win/win for violence loving authoritarians and really isn’t that what’s important about being British ruling class? Even without an Empire they can still feel their anti-democratic oats. Death over there, beatings and mass imprisonment here. It’s little more dispersed mind, back then when you could get all that done in one neighbourhood secure in the knowledge a shit gargling fuckwit like Niall Ferguson will come along decades later and present Empire- the rosy tinted reboot, now in schools everywhere! But still, it gets the job done, wealthy and luxury off the backs of beaten, burned and bombed lesser animals. So why not just for this Christmas, as a special treat have a nice big roast Persian for your dinner, if your oven isn’t big enough just roast one of the kids and know that you’ll be helping the war effort, lawks, brings a tear to the eye. God Save the Queen [Olympic 2012 remix]!