I’ve just been reading, during the commemorations for the Battle of the Somme, Wilfred Owen’s poem ‘Anthem For Doomed Youth’ about ‘these who die as cattle’. A comment by a member of the fantastic group, Veterans For Peace UK, on Facebook about the ceremonies says, ‘All the talk of fallen and sacrifice gets me. Those men did not fall they were ripped apart.’ which is exactly right. Senseless mass slaughter……and I couldn’t get Owen’s poem out of my head.
First published in New Dawn magazine: ‘Strange days indeed’ sang John Lennon, and one can only ‘imagine’ what a man at the forefront of creating positive planetary change in his day would have made of where we are now? Because these are indeed extraordinary times in which the very foundations of everything we collectively believed to be ‘how things are’ […]
John Pilger: ‘In these dark times, Craig Murray’s truth-telling is a beacon. He is owed our debt of gratitude, not the travesty of a prison sentence which, like the prosecution of Julian Assange, is a universal warning.” Craig Murray was released from prison on St Andrew’s Day yesterday and was greeted by a cheering crowd. (video below). He was jailed […]
BSNews editor Alison Banville: The Syrian presidential elections are underway and just as in 2014 regime change countries are closing their embassies in order to prevent Syrians from voting. Why? Because they know President Assad enjoys overwhelming popularity. If ever a situation demonstrated the utter contempt these so called freedom loving nations have for democracy it is this cynical attempt […]
This morning I had an experience which was extremely poignant on more than one level. I had just entered my local supermarket having been asked by the security guard on the door if I have a mask to which I’d replied confidently, ‘I’m exempt’, thinking as I strolled past him, ‘exempt from this authoritarian madness’., and I proceeded to peruse […]
Recently, whilst scanning a sea of angry comments on Facebook raging, quite rightly, at the injustice of the Covid scandal, I came across one particular remark which triggered unexpected deep emotion: ‘can anyone offer me some words of hope?’ it read. I was arrested by this simple plea which seemed to carry more force precisely due to its plaintive directness. […]
This co-editor attended the huge protest in London yesterday (April 24th 2021) against the Lockdown, vaccine passports, masks – all restrictions, in fact – and the experimental jab itself. The day was bright sunshine, music, laughter and above all, solidarity. In our own communities we may be outnumbered by the unawakened and it’s easy to feel isolated and depressed, but […]
(All photo credits: Janice Kortkamp) Syria is not a “shit hole” country. I hate that term. To me it represents both extreme ignorance and arrogance. In my life and travels I’ve seen how there is good and bad, beauty and ugliness everywhere. Introduction and overview There is not one single American I’ve ever met (other than people of Middle East […]
BSNews editor Alison Banville writes: The great Jim Radford has died aged 91. I was privileged to know him through Veterans For Peace UK and spend time with him, like here when he took me to his local pub for a sing with his folk group. Jim was 15 years old and a cabin boy on a boat at D-Day […]
Who defines national security? In its own small way, my case illustrates the conflict and tensions around the issue of “national security”. I would argue that the Iraq war was not only against our national security but has been catastrophic for global security as a whole. In fact, Lord Goldsmiths’ own legal advice at the time (prior to him changing […]
Please help our friend Nick in his fight to cure his cancer without mainstream medical intervention. This is an incredibly brave path to take and we hope you will stand with him as he raises funds for his treatment. Nick is a truly inspirational person who is already thinking about how he can help others once he has cured himself. […]
IN A SMALL MEXICAN TOWN, LOCAL INDIGENOUS RESIDENTS HAVE CREATED A NEW, DEMOCRATIC, AND LARGELY PEACEFUL COMMUNITY. THE QUESTION, WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS? Murray Bookchin, in his seminal work in the field of social ecology, The Ecology of Freedom, criticised the tendency of history to focus upon the ‘achievement of power’, the empires with their ‘temples, mortuaries and palaces’ […]
