Rhondda Records is with you every day bringing the news ------- that gives a view of world events different to the mainstream media or social media!
Except Sundays - our day of rest.
Image: we're back!
Journalist:To end war ------
prosecute UK, US officials
who wage(d) it illegally
October 22nd, 10:12pm (PressTV)
The world must finally put an end to the impunity of war
criminals, by holding US and UK officials responsible
for launching the illegal war on Iraq, done without
the approval of the UN Security Council, and
prosecuting them --- under the Nuremberg
principles, US journalist Don DeBar said.
DeBar made the remarks in an interview with Press TV while
commenting on a report which has revealed that the British
military inquiries into abuse against Iraqi nationals... have
been closed without a single prosecution being brought,
even though the credibility of many "shocking and
shameful incidents" during the war in the Middle
Eastern country, have been confirmed.
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said in a statement
this week that the Service Police Legacy Investigations,
which was looking at claims of abuse in Iraq, had now
"officially closed its doors."
In March 2003, the US and Britain invaded Iraq in blatant
violation of international law and under the pretext of
finding WMDs; but no such weapons were ever
discovered in Iraq.
More than one million Iraqis were killed - as the result of
the US-led invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq
--- according to the California-based investigative
organization, Project Censored.
The US war in Iraq cost US taxpayers $1.7 trillion with
an additional $490 billion in benefits owed to war veterans, expenses that could grow to more than $6 trillion over the next four decades counting interest, according to a study called Costs of War Project --- by the Watson Institute for
International Studies at Brown University.
DeBar told Press TV that the Iraq war
was illegal from the very beginning.
"It is illegal for a nation to make war on another nation if it
does not have the approval of the UN Security Council, if
any of those nations are signatories to the original UN
Charter. And it’s been adopted - that happened with
the US, as a charter member of the UN -- and it was
approved by the US Senate in the 1940s.
Consequently, the US involvement in Iraq from the beginning, and the UK involvement in Iraq from the beginning, was illegal,” he said.
“And under the Nuremberg standards, which would then
apply, each and every death consequent – intentional
or not - to either US or UK military action there, or
condoning of the US action there, by the media
or public officials, or any act facilitating that,
is an individual war crime. And, by the way,
there’s a death penalty for that,” the
journalist noted.
“No one will prosecute these people. That’s why I started
with the word impunity. And we might bookend with that
because that’s the problem. And until the world puts an
end to that impunity, until the world sees the major
contradiction in all international relations, is US,
UK, and EU imperialism, then it’s going to
continue until this eats our species,”
he stated.
A damning White House memo had revealed details of the
so-called “deal in blood” forged by former British Prime
Minister Tony Blair and US President George W. Bush
over the Iraq war.
The document, titled “Secret... Memorandum for the
President”, was sent by then-US Secretary of State
Colin Powell to President Bush on March 28th, 2002, a week before Bush’s summit with Blair at his Crawford ranch in Texas.
The sensational memo, revealed that Blair had agreed to
support the war a year before the invasion even started
while publicly, the British prime minister was working to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
The document also disclosed that Blair agreed to act as a
spin doctor for Bush and convince a skeptical public that
Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had Weapons of Mass
Destruction, which actually did not exist.
In response, Bush would flatter Blair and give the
impression that London was not Washington’s
poodle but an equal partner in the
“special relationship.”
Powell told Bush that Blair “will be with us” on the
Iraq war, and assured the president that “"the UK
will follow our lead in the Middle East."
Blair has always denied the claim that he and Bush
signed a deal “in blood”, at Crawford, to launch a
war against Iraq that began on March 20th, 2003,
that has killed hundreds of thousands of people.
The Powell memo, however, showed how Blair and
Bush secretly prepared the Iraq war plot behind
closed doors at Crawford.
Powell told Bush: “He will present to you the strategic,
tactical and public affairs lines, that he believes will
strengthen global support for our common cause.”
US cannot turn Venezuela into a colony
and steal its natural resources,
Maduro warns
December 27th, 7:55am
(PressTV)
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has warned
that the US cannot turn the sovereign Latin
American country into a colony and
steal its natural resources.
Speaking on the television channel Venezolana de Television
on Friday, Maduro called on the US politicians gathered in
Washington, DC, to abandon the failed projects that
the White House has been trying to implement
in his country ------- for the past 25 years.
Maduro said if US politicians are ready to engage in dialogue
on a respectful basis, “we will always find here a president
who represents his people, to reach out, to seek paths
to peace, cooperation and prosperity.”
In the meantime, he said, the nation ---- will
never believe the lies the US is fabricating.
“It is impossible --- for the US government to fabricate such a
virtual reality,” Maduro repeated in English, emphasizing
that the Venezuelan people have demonstrated their
ability --- “to lead the country on the right path.”
The US military has deployed a large number of warships
and soldiers in the Caribbean Sea, unprecedented
in decades.
Also, it has destroyed at least 28 “drug boats” in
international waters since September, killing
more than 100 people.
Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump
announced the seizure of a sanctioned oil
tanker carrying Venezuelan oil.
Also, the Panamanian-flagged tanker Centuries and
the supertanker Bella 1, which was traveling to
Venezuela under the Panamanian flag,
have been seized.
Venezuela has categorically denounced
the US’ “theft and hijacking” of its oil.
Caracas vows to pursue legal avenues,
including with the United Nations.
Image: People hold up a banner as they protest against Israel at the entrance of the International Criminal Court.
People hold up a banner as they protest
against Israel at the entrance of the
International Criminal Court
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
Israeli settlers damage Palestinian
properties in West Bank attack
December 28th, 5:42pm
(PressTV)
Illegal Israeli settlers have once more staged an attack
on Palestinian properties, damaging homes in the
occupied West Bank.
Local reports said on Sunday that the Israeli forces
torched three vehicles and stole house doors in
Palestinian properties in the West Bank.
A group of illegal Israeli settlers stormed two houses in
Hawara town, south of Nablus in the northern West
Bank, and spray-painted threatening messages
on the walls. Two Palestinian vehicles were
also torched.
The Wafa news agency reported that illegal Israeli settlers
burned a third vehicle in the Al-Jaba town of Bethlehem
in the southern West Bank.
In Turmus Aya town in northeastern Ramallah, Wafa reported,
another group of illegal settlers also raided Palestinian
properties ----- and stole the doors of houses
under construction.
The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, an official
advocacy body, has recorded 621 attacks by illegal Israeli
settlers against Palestinians and their property in the
occupied West Bank in November.
Official Palestinian data shows that by the end of 2024, the
number of Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank had
reached about 770,000 Zionists living in more than
180 illegal settlements and more than 250
settlement outposts.
In a landmark ruling last July, the International Court of Justice
(ICJ) declared the Israeli regime’s occupation of Palestinian
territory illegal, and called for the evacuation of all
settlements in the West Bank and East al-Quds.
The Israeli regime's "relentless" expansion of illegal settlements
in the occupied territory has been condemned by UN Secretary
General Antonio Guterres.
The issue of illegal Israeli settlements "continues to fuel tensions,
impede access by Palestinians to their land and threaten the
viability of a fully independent, democratic, contiguous
and sovereign Palestinian State," Guterres said
earlier this month.
Despite the condemnations, the Israeli regime's war cabinet
approved 19 more settlements in the West Bank.
"The proposal ... to declare and formalize 19 new settlements in
Judea and Samaria has been approved by the cabinet," the
regime said in a statement without specifying when
the decision was made.
"We will continue to develop, build, and settle the land of our
ancestral heritage, with faith in the justice of our path,"
said far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a
vocal proponent of settlement expansion and
a settler himself.
Israeli forces carried out mass arrests and forced dozens of
families from their homes in the town of Qabatiya in the
occupied West Bank.
Saturday was the second day of a sweeping military raid
ordered by Israel’s war minister, Israel Katz. He said he
had ordered “a lockdown and a complete cordon”
around Qabatiya.
Earlier, Israel’s Army Radio reported that
the town is subject to a “full curfew.”
Local sources said on Saturday that the entrances to Qabatiya
were sealed off while Israeli forces rounded up and
interrogated dozens of residents.
Wafa reported that Israeli forces turned several Palestinian
homes into military interrogation centres, displacing
the residents.
______________________________________
Israel killed over 700 relatives of
Palestinian journalists in Gaza:
Report
December 28th, 5:21pm
(PressTV)
Israel has killed at least 706 family members of Palestinian
journalists ----- since the start of its genocidal war in the
besieged Gaza Strip in October 2023, a report says.
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate’s Freedoms Committee
said in a report that Israeli forces killed 436 relatives of
journalists in 2023, 203 journalists in 2024, and at
least 67 in 2025.
The findings show Israeli attacks have repeatedly struck
journalists’ homes, places of displacement, and areas
known to house media workers and their relatives.
In some cases, entire families have been wiped out, leaving
journalists alive....... to bear witness to their annihilation.
The deaths continued even after many families were forcibly
displaced and sought shelter in tents and makeshift camps,
it said.
The report added that Israeli forces were systematically
targeting the families of journalists as part of a war
aimed at silencing Palestinian reporting.
The report said the attacks represent a deliberate
strategy rather than deaths as a result of war.
Israeli violence against journalists has “evolved to take on
a more dangerous and brutal dimension, represented by
targeting the families and relatives of journalists, in a
clear attempt to turn journalistic work into an
existential burden for which sons, wives,
fathers, and mothers pay the price,”
the union said.
The syndicate further says Israel is using collective
punishment to crush reporting of its genocidal war
in Gaza.
It cited a recent case near Khan Younis.... where the bodies of
journalist Hiba al-Abadla, her mother, and about 15 members
of the al-Astal family were recovered nearly two years after
Israeli aircraft bombed their home west of the city.
The committee described this as a “qualitative shift”
in Israel’s behaviour ------- moving from individual
targeting --- to collective punishment.
“Hundreds of children, women, and the elderly were killed
because of a family member’s professional connection to
journalism, in flagrant violation of all humanitarian and
legal norms,” the committee said.
By turning families into targets, it said --- Israel aims to
intimidate society itself and “dry up the environment
that nurtures the media.”
Muhammad al-Lahham, head of the Freedoms Committee,
said the pattern of attacks from 2023 to 2025 exposes
Israel’s intent to crush independent reporting in
the blockaded Palestinian territory.
Targeting journalists’ families, he said, “reveals that the
Israeli occupation is waging a comprehensive war on
the truth ------- making no distinction between the
camera and the child, nor between the pen
and the home.”
“The blood of the journalists’ families will remain a living
witness to the crime of trying to silence the Palestinian
voice,” al-Lahham added.
Press freedom groups have been condemning
the Israeli attacks on journalists, but the
killings have proceeded with impunity.
Israel... has never arrested or charged
any of its troops for killing journalists.
The targeting of the press intensified
during the genocidal war in Gaza.
________________________________________
Hezbollah chief rejects disarmament as
US-Israeli project to weaken Lebanon
December 28th, 5:02pm
(PressTV)
Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem has warned
that Lebanon is facing a “historic turning point,” where it must
choose between yielding to “US-Israeli domination” or
preserving its sovereignty through resistance.
Speaking at a ceremony marking the second anniversary of senior
resistance commander Hajj Muhammad Hassan Yaghi, also known
as Abou Salim, in the city of Baalbek on Sunday, Qassem said the
United States and Israel -------- are pursuing a project of “full
guardianship” over Lebanon.
He also pointed out that the calls for Hezbollah's disarmament,
now being presented as a “weapons monopoly,” are part of a
broader US-Israeli effort to weaken Lebanon ....and serve
Israeli interests.
“Requesting a weapons monopoly -- while the Zionist regime
continues to invade Lebanon means this demand is not in
the best interest of Lebanon, but rather serves Israel,”
Qassem said.
Head of the Executive Council of Hezbollah, Sheikh Ali Damoush,
says the resistance group won’t confront the Lebanese army,
and rejects internal discord.
He further accused the US of supporting corruption and
undermining Lebanon's economy since 2019, while
noting that Israeli aggression has persisted
despite a 2024 agreement intended to
halt hostilities.
Qassem also asserted that Hezbollah, in collaboration with
other groups, the Lebanese army, and the public, has
played a pivotal role in defending and “liberating”
the country.
He described the cooperation between the army and the
resistance as a “key pillar” of national security, adding
that this coordination has greatly unsettled
Hezbollah's adversaries.
The Hezbollah chief further criticized Israel --- for its failure
to fulfill its commitments under the ceasefire framework,
including ending violations and withdrawing from
occupied Lebanese territory.
“No new action is expected from Lebanon unless the Israeli
side first fulfills its commitments,” Qassem said. “The era
of unilateral demands from Lebanon - is over.”
Qassem firmly rejected any involvement of Lebanon as a
“police force” for Israel, asserting the country's rights
to its land, dignity, and sovereignty.
Hezbollah secretary general Sheikh Naim Qassem has praised
the Lebanese nation’s resistance against enemies, calling it
an ethical and political choice.
He also emphasized that Israel's withdrawal from occupied areas
is “a necessity, not a privilege,” and called for a complete
cessation of air, land, and sea attacks, the release of
prisoners, and the initiation of reconstruction in
southern Lebanon.
Qassem ----- further reaffirmed Hezbollah's strong alliance with the
Amal Movement, describing it as “deep, stable, and unbreakable.”
He also cautioned -------- that the loss of southern
Lebanon would pose a risk to the entire country.
Qassem further stressed that discussions regarding Lebanon's
national security strategy can only commence after Israel
complies with its obligations, affirming that Hezbollah
and the resistance will persist in their path “with
dignity, strength, and courage,” despite
the sacrifices.
________________________________________
Iran FM warns against enemies’ plot
to disintegrate Yemen, urges unity
December 28th, 2:31pm
(PressTV)
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says all Yemeni parties
and groups must engage in dialogue and interaction to
neutralize the enemies’ plot aimed at weakening
and disintegrating Yemen.
Araghchi made the remarks in a phone conversation with
the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of
Yemen’s Government of Change and Construction,
Abdulwahid Abu Ras, on Sunday.
He stressed the importance ---- of preserving
Yemen’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
The top Iranian diplomat also hailed the Yemeni people's
support for the oppressed Palestinian people and their
resistance against the Israeli regime's aggression.
Araghchi further welcomed the deal between the Ansarullah
-led Yemeni government and Saudi-backed secessionists
on a prisoner swap ------ that includes nearly 3,000
people, in total.
“The solution to Yemen’s problems is the complete lifting of
the blockade, the implementation of other parts of the
roadmap, and Yemeni–Yemeni dialogue aimed at
forming an inclusive government - based on
preserving Yemen’s unity and integrity,”
he emphasized.
A senior member of the Ansarullah movement says the raging
South Yemen proxy war is meant to pave the way for Israel’s
dominance over the energy-rich region.
Tensions in Yemen intensified on December 3 as the UAE-allied
Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces seized control of
Hadramout after clashes with Saudi-backed militants.
The STC subsequently extended its reach into the eastern
governorate of al-Mahrah without encountering any
reported resistance and has been recruiting
local forces in both regions.
After the recent military expansion of the STC, Saudi Arabia
carried out airstrikes on Friday, targeting STC positions.
These included several sites used by the Hadrami
Elite Forces in the Ghayl bin Yamin area near
key oil fields. Reports indicate..... no
casualties or damage to military
equipment as a result of
the strikes.
The STC said on Saturday that it is getting closer
to declaring an independent state in the south.
“The south is approaching a decisive moment embodied by
the declaration of a state, and this hope has become
nearly complete,” said Ali al-Kathiri, head of the
STC’s National Assembly.
During the phone call, Abu Ras briefed the Iranian foreign
minister on the latest developments in southern Yemen.
He said enemies are conducting such measures to further
destabilize the region, adding that these actions will
only make the situation more complicated.
_________________________________________________
Pro-Palestinian group Handala -- hacks phone
of Netanyahu’s chief of staff, releases videos
December 28th, 1:50pm
(PressTV)
A group of pro-Palestinian hackers says it has gained access
to the mobile phone of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu’s chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman,
releasing videos from his phone showing
private parties and ceremonies ----
funded by public money.
In a statement released on Sunday, Handala said the footage
was obtained after breaching Braverman's personal cellular
device, noting that he uses public funds to pay for “lavish
private ceremonies and celebrations.”
The group also stated that it obtained sensitive information
linking Braverman to the “Qatargate” affair, adding that it
would release further material later in the day.
Netanyahu’s office denied that Braverman’s phone had been
hacked, saying “no breach has been found,” but confirmed
that the matter ....was under investigation.
Braverman is already under scrutiny for multiple scandals,
raising concerns about his appointment as Israel's
ambassador to the United Kingdom.
The latest development comes a week after the Handala
group said it had infiltrated the personal cellular device
of former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett,
accessing sensitive documents and
personal communications.
The group published a series of files extracted from his phone,
including a contact list with names of senior Israeli officials,
internal communications, sensitive documents, and
personal photographs.
The breach has sparked concerns within Israel's political circles
....regarding cybersecurity vulnerabilities among senior officials.
Handala has previously carried out a series of cyberattacks,
targeting Israeli regime facilities, resulting in the leak of
sensitive military data, diplomatic communications,
and other classified information.
The hacking group has also defaced numerous websites
and compromised the accounts of several high-profile
Israeli politicians.
In April last year, Handala hacktivists successfully infiltrated
the Israeli military's radar systems and took down the
much-hyped Israeli air defense system, the
Iron Dome.
The group substantiated its claims by sharing
screenshots documenting the hacking of
the radars.
Image: Wilfrid Sheed's Birth Day
Today, December the 27th, in 1930,
Wilfrid Sheed,
novelist and essayist,
is born.
Wilfrid John Joseph Sheed was an English-born American,
born in London, to Frank Sheed and Maisie Ward, the
prominent Roman Catholic publishers (Sheed
and Ward) in the UK and the US during the mid-20th century.
Wilfrid Sheed spent his childhood in both England and the US
before attending Downside School, and Lincoln College,
Oxford, where he earned his BA and MA degrees.
Sheed's first novel, A Middle Class Education (1961), was based
on his experiences at Oxford. His biography Frank and Maisie
was about his parents' literary establishment and
intellectual world.
He wrote satirical novels about journalism and memoirs... in his
later years. His book on US popular music, entitled 'The House
that George Built with a little help from Irving, Cole and a
Crew of about Fifty' --- was published in 2008.
He died on January the 19th, in 2011, aged 80.
Published works:
A Middle Class Education, 1961.
The Hack, 1963.
Square's Progress, 1965.
Office Politics, 1966;
The Blacking Factory, 1968.
Max Jamison, 1970.
The Morning After: Selected essays & reviews, 1971.
People Will Always Be Kind, 1973.
Three Mobs: Labour, church, and Mafia, 1974.
Muhammad Ali: A Portrait in Words & Photographs, 1975.
The Good Word & Other Words, 1978.
Transatlantic Blues, 1978.
Clare Boothe Luce, 1982.
Frank and Maisie: A memoir with parents, 1985.
The Boys of Winter: A novel, 1987.
Essays in Disguise, 1990.
Baseball and Lesser Sports, 1991.
My Life as a Fan, 1993.
In Love with Daylight: A memoir of recovery, 1995.
The House that George Built with a little help from
Irving, Cole and a Crew of about Fifty, 2007.
''It had always been a notion of mine that sanity is like
a clearing in the jungle where the humans agree to
meet from time to time .....and behave in certain
fixed ways that even a baboon could master,
like Englishmen dressing for dinner
in the tropics.''
''The desire not to destroy the palace but to move into it
oneself --- has always been the occupational curse
of revolutionaries.''
''Chicago 1968 taught one how close any civilized country is
to berserkness at all times; also how terrorism, even silly
terrorism, strengthens the cops more than anyone. Yet
already this European-style history lesson.. has been
watered down by consensus, into something crazy
we did in the 60s, just as we "did" McCarthyism
in the fifties. As if a nation changes its nature
completely every ten years; as if social
forces.. were as evanescent as hula
hoops or skateboards, instead of
as remorseless as glaciers.''
''Whether or not Big Brother is
watching us, we certainly
have to watch him,
which may be...
even worse.''
''The worse we treat people in this country,
the more delicately we talk about them.''
Israeli universities -------- face
growing academic isolation
despite Gaza ceasefire,
report says
November 25th, 8:39am (PressTV)
The academic boycott of Israeli universities in Europe has
doubled, even after the Gaza ceasefire aimed at ending
the occupying regime’s genocidal war against the
besieged Gaza Strip.... a move that further
isolates Tel Aviv --- in global higher
education, a new report says.
The Academic Boycott of Israel Monitoring Team, created by
the Committee of University Presidents in Tel Aviv, said in a
report on Monday that academic boycotts targeting the
regime have surged, with around 1,000 cases
reported in Europe by November.
It stressed that Israel’s negative image, which has persisted even
after the ceasefire over the genocidal war against Gaza -- is “so
deeply entrenched that political moves alone are not enough
to shift public perception.”
Contrary to expectations that the boycott would ease following the
ceasefire, the report notes that “the opposite occurred,” with
institutions and individual academics more frequently
filing boycott cases.
The monitoring team, whose report was published by The Marker,
the economic version of the Hebrew newspaper Haaretz ---- also
warned that this expanding boycott could isolate Israeli higher
education significantly and pose a long-term strategic threat
to its international standing.
The report further identified concrete consequences for the move,
including a drop in EU Horizon Europe research grants for Israeli
scholars, exclusion from international cooperation projects,
and a breakdown in collaborative programs.
The Association of University Heads in Israel has reportedly
recorded over 1,000 incidents of academic boycotts over
the last two years, three times the total as of a year ago.
According to the report, 57 percent of cases involve individual
researchers (mainly being excluded from research groups),
22 percent are institutional severances, seven percent
are from professional associations, and 14 percent
relate to halted student exchanges or
postdoctoral partnerships.
It also said that this crippling boycott trend --- is unlikely to reverse
soon without “major regional and geopolitical changes,” warning
that sustained isolation of Israeli academia may continue.
The boycott movement “will accompany Israeli academia for
a long time and will not ease without major regional and
geopolitical changes,” the report noted.
Israel has killed nearly 70,000 Palestinians, most of them women
and children, and injured over 170,900 others in Gaza since
October 7, 2023, according to Gaza's Health Ministry,
when it launched a brutal war against the
Palestinian territory.
Despite a ceasefire announced in October,
Israel continues to target Gaza -------
in violation of the agreement.
Hamas has urged the guarantors of the ceasefire, namely Qatar,
Turkey, Egypt, and the United States, to press Israel to abide
by the deal ---- and stop its attacks on Gaza.
Image: No thanks to Israeli goods App
The world and her daughter are calling for a boycott of the genocidal colonial apartheid state of Israel.
Place yourself on the right side of joy and sorrow by joining the world's boycott - say ''no'' to evil!
Keir Hardie - Britain's first Labour MP - opposedWorld War One.
His namesake is stammering his way in the opposite direction.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
ROGER WATERS TO MUSICIANS:- "BOYCOTT ISRAEL"
Roger Waters formerly of Pink Floyd, in an open letter, calls on his fellow musicians --- to boycott the Zionist Israeli regime and follow the example of the cultural boycott against the ex S. African Apartheid regime.
“Given the inability or unwillingness of our governments [to act] …. I write to you now, my brothers and sisters … to ask you to join with me, & thousands of other artists around the world, to declare a cultural boycott on Israel,” Roger Waters says in his letter.
Waters says the Zionist regime has been found guilty of major breaches of human rights and international law by international organizations, UN officials and the International Court of Justice.
He touches on two such cases, saying the regime has been identified as perpetrating the “crime of Apartheid”, including in a statement on March 9th, 2012 by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and the “crime of ethnic cleansing” including in East Jerusalem (al-Quds).
Waters adds that he has been a member of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against the Israeli regime’s occupation of the Palestinian lands and Tel Aviv’s violations of Palestinian human rights for 7 years, and now wants other musicians to also join the anti-Israeli front.
“Please join me and all our brothers and sisters in global civil society in proclaiming our rejection of Apartheid in Israel & occupied Palestine, by pledging not to perform or exhibit in Israel or accept any award or funding from any institution linked to the government of Israel, until such time as Israel complies with international law and universal principles of human rights.”
The former Pink Floyd Musician also says he has recently faced a boycott by the US media after his November 29th, 2012 address at the UN on behalf of the Russell Tribunal.
In the address, he sought accountability for the Zionist regime’s violations of the international law and the lack of United Nations resolve that prevents the Palestinian people from achieving their inalienable rights, especially the right of self-determination.
____________________
AT THE FACTORY
Tickets from
www.wegottickets.com/thefactory
www.ticketweb.co.uk
browse venues in Wales
www.ticketlineuk.com
02920 230130
Cash tickets from:
The Factory, Porth Instrumental Music, Penygraig Spillers Records, Cardiff
Indulge in a delicious cake and a cup of tea while enjoying music and sing-along songs from fantastic Welsh musicians.
Ticket information:
The Cultural Services Booking & Information Line:
08000 147 111 or book online at
www.rct-arts.co.ukÂÂ
*************************************************
Mid Rhondda Modelling Club...
7pm - 9pm
Tonyrefail Comprehensive School Mid Rhondda Modelling Club
has been running for over 30 years.
We meet on a regular basis
& enjoy making models for display.
We encourage both Gentlemen
and Ladies to attend, and also young people aged 12+.
However, Young people under 16, must be accompanied by an adult.
Ticket information
£1 contribution every week. Under 16's free
Telephone Mr. Davies on 01443 686658
************************************************
Comedy In The Laughter Lounge
The Park & Dare Theatre, Treorchy.
COMEDY IN THE LAUGHTER LOUNGE
Join us once a month in the intimate setting of the Laughter Lounge for some top notch comedy with some of the biggest and brightest rising comedians on the circuit.
Laugh? You'll snort like a pig!
Hilarious - TimeOut.
www.rct-arts.co.uk
Rhondda Records exists to express the Rhondda's vision --- when it was confident, powerful, caring, and socialist.
A Rhondda very aware of the media's poisonous tricks -- how they con working class people into attacking each other, or racial groups, or, often, even their best allies and friends... instead of seeing their real enemies:--- an elite who hate the very idea that working people can think, create, or achieve a fairer society.
Thatcher said her proudest achievement was Blair and New Labour - who parachuted in careerists and expenses fiddlers - to stop local Labour members having a say, and who made genuine socialist MPs leave the Labour party in disgust and many members and voters to despair... and the young to stop voting.
Jeremy Corbyn was always attacked because he was trying to reverse all that New Labour corruption --- that's why membership was flooding in all over the UK.
______________________________________
Get Involved!
– If you feel you’ve been ‘purged’, take this online survey:
– Request all your own data that the Labour Party holds on you:
http://www.labour.org.uk/pages/privacy
_______________________________________
IF - YOU THINK you HAVE BEEN UNFAIRLY BARRED:
“Any member who is suspended & intends to appeal the decision should throw in a ‘Subject Access Request in accordance with the Data Protection Act’ --- for ALL data that the Labour Party hold on them.
The Labour Party are Data Controllers and therefore have to, by law, provide you with all material/information they hold on you.”
If anyone is in contact with anyone who was barred from voting --- please can you pass this info on:
The Labour leadership election was under the jurisdiction of the electoral reform services.
If you were unfairly deprived of your vote you can call them on 0208 365 8909 and lodge your complaint, and inform them of your Data Protection request.
https://www.electoralreform.co.uk
The notification letters barring new members did not give a clear reason, or information on how to appeal, so Vox Political suggests that anyone in this situation, could also contact Liz Davies here: http://www.whycantivote.com
She is a barrister --- who can advise members on what to do.
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PONCY LABOUR MPS PROBLEM?
A huge drop in working-class Labour MPs, caused a massive drop in support among voters with similar backgrounds, reveals research seeking to explain why support has dwindled in the party’s heartlands.
The study says past leaders like Kinnock and Blair made a concerted effort to pick “more and more middle-class candidates to run for office, during the 80s and 90s, as part of an effort to rebrand” -- which had initial successes at the ballot box.
But this “conscious electoral strategy” stored up problems, as working-class voters who initially, just didn’t vote in response, now seek an alternative.
The solution?Trust each constituency to put forward its own candidates, and don't impose ‘party-approved’ choices who can't do the job.
Now, unfortunately, there are "entryist" MPs who, for decades, have been groomed by CIA cold war relic organisations -- like the Atlantic Council -- and are now trying to misdirect the Labour Party towards cuts, a militarised police, and a US war agenda... - and their anti-Corbyn slant is hobbling Labour.
‘How Can I Deselect My Labour MP?’ A Short Guide to Reselection and Democratic Accountability by Eric Sim, excellent free advice here:
http://novaramedia.com/2016/07/13/how-can-i- deselect-my-labour-mp-a-short-guide-to- reselection-and-democratic-accountability/ CHRIS BRYANT - SUPPORT THE MEMBERS' LEADERSHIP CHOICE & POLICIES - OR GO!
Chris Bryant, the Rhondda's dodgy MP, was on TV -- as soon as the PLP coup started -- telling us that Jeremy MUST go, because it was the ONLY way to act in the Labour Party's interest...
Chris Bryant's voting record: from TheyWorkForYou.com
On Tuition Fees:
On 27 Jan 2004: Chris Bryant voted in favour of university tuition fees increasing from £1,125 per year, to up to £3,000 per year.
On 31 Mar 2004: Chris Bryant voted to allow university tuition fees to increase from £1,125 per year, to up to £3,000 per year.
On 31 Mar 2004: Chris Bryant voted for the introduction of variable university tuition fees (top-up fees) of up to £3,000 per year in place of the previous fixed fee of £1,250 per year.
On 31 Mar 2004: Chris Bryant voted to allow university tuition fees to increase from £1,125 per year to up to £3,000 per year, and to make other changes to higher education funding and regulation arrangements.
On 14 Sep 2004: Chris Bryant voted against: the immediate abolition of all tuition fees, the re-introduction of maintenance grants of up to £2,000 for students from low-income homes, and changes to the country's higher education system.
On 14 Sep 2004: Chris Bryant voted to reject the Liberal Democrat policy of abolition of tuition fees.
On 25 May 2016: Chris Bryant was absent for a vote on Queen's Speech - Forcing Schools to Become Academies - Further Rises in University Tuition Fees
On Human Rights:
Consistently voted for introducing ID cards
Almost always voted for requiring the mass retention of information about communications
Generally voted for mass surveillance of people’s communications and activities
On the Environment:
Generally voted against greater regulation of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to extract shale gas
On Special Interests:
Almost always voted against limits on success fees paid to lawyers in no-win no fee cases
Generally voted against a statutory register of lobbyists
On War or Peace:
Generally voted for use of UK military forces in combat operations overseas
Consistently voted for the Iraq war
Consistently voted against an investigation into the Iraq war
Generally voted for replacing Trident with a new nuclear weapons system
On 2 Dec 2015: Voted to support UK airstrikes in Syria [without UN authorisation]
On 2 Dec 2015: Voted to support UK airstrikes in Syria [without UN authorisation]
On Independence:
Generally voted for more EU integration
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Chris Bryant Labour MP From Wikipedia
(aka 1962-1986: Mr Christopher John Bryant 1986-1991: The Reverend Christopher John Bryant, 1991-2001: Mr Christopher John Bryant, 2001-: Mr Christopher John Bryant MP.)
Born in Cardiff, to a Scottish mother & a Welsh father, Bryant grew up in Cardiff, Wales (where his father worked for 5 years), and Cheltenham.
He was educated at Cheltenham College, an independent school for boys in the spa town of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, where he was captain of the school swimming team, and Mansfield College at the University of Oxford, where he graduated in 1983, with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in English. This was later promoted to a Master of Arts degree (MA (Oxon)), as per tradition.
After completing his first degree, Bryant began training to be a priest in the Church of England at Ripon College, Cuddesdon, in Oxfordshire. There, he obtained a degree in theology.
Although a member of the Conservative Party, and an elected office-holder in the Oxford University Conservative Association, he joined the Labour Party in 1986, after leaving Oxford.
He was ordained deacon in 1986 and priest in 1987. He served as a Curate at the Church of All Saints, High Wycombe, from 1986 to 1989; then as a Youth Chaplain in Peterborough, as well as travelling in Latin America.
In 1991 Bryant left the ordained ministry, after deciding that being gay and being a priest, were incompatible. Statements made by Richard Harries, then Bishop of Oxford, also influenced his decision.
After leaving the priesthood in 1991, Bryant worked as the election agent to the Holborn and St Pancras Constituency Labour Party, where he helped Frank Dobson hold his seat in the 1992 general election.
From 1993, he was Local Government officer for the Labour Party; he lived in Hackney and was elected to Hackney Borough Council in 1993, serving until 1998. He became Chair of the Christian Socialist Movement.
He is both a member of the Labour Friends of Israel and Labour Friends of Palestine & the Middle East. From 1994 to 1996 he was London manager of the leader-grooming "charity", Common Purpose.
He was Labour candidate for Wycombe, in the 1997 general election (he lost by 2,370 votes), and Head of European Affairs for the BBC, from 1998.
His selection for the very safe Labour seat of Rhondda, South Wales in 2000, shocked many people given Bryant's background – gay, an ex- Anglican vicar, and someone who was a Tory, while studying at Oxford, and a member now, of the Henry Jackson Society 'think tank' --- described by The Guardian newspaper as 'neoconservative'. It is pro-US, pro-NATO and pro-military intervention, as well as being fundamentally anti-socialist.
Fifty-two people applied for the candidature and a local councillor was hot favourite to win, before Bryant was parachuted in.
In 2004, a photograph of Mr Bryant in his underpants, which he had posted to a gay dating website, was published in 'papers.
When an interviewer suggested he was a 'disgrace to the Rhondda', he replied: "They can't get rid of me."
His pay, allowances and some expenses:
The basic annual salary for an MP, from April 1st, 2016 is £74,962. MPs also get expenses: to cover the costs of running an office, employing staff, having some- where to live in London, plus, in their constituency and travelling between Parliament and their constituency.
His MP's expenses story:
Chris Bryant changed second home twice to claim £20,000: the deputy leader of the House of Commons, "flipped" his second home twice, in 2 years, allowing him to claim almost £20,000 for renovations and fees.
Chris Bryant, MP for the Rhondda, split over £92,000 of expenses between 3 properties in Wales and London --- within five years.
In 2004, he attempted to claim £58,000 to overhaul his second home in Wales, after allegedly complaining that properties in his constituency were "terrace or mine owners' houses".
Mr Bryant, a former Church of England clergyman, wanted the money for a new bathroom & kitchen, and to demolish his conservatory. He'd bought the detached house for £97,500, under a year earlier.
He submitted a claim to the Commons fees office for £58,493.26 --- almost 3 times the annual maximum. He noted that the claim exceeded his allowance.
His alleged justification was disclosed... in correspondence between Commons officials. By email, an official wrote: "He had problems finding a suitable property because in the Rhondda there is a choice mainly of terraced property or mine owners' houses." When approached by the Daily Telegraph, Mr Bryant said: "I have never said or thought anything of the sort".
In all, he successfully claimed over £13,000 for renovations, repairs & appliances, in 2004. Along with other bills, his annual claim was £20,902.
In April 2005, he flipped his expenses to his flat in west London, which he bought for £400,000 in April 2002. He also claimed £630 a month for mortgage interest, along with other bills. After claiming over £3,600 over 3 months, he sold the flat in July 2005 for £477,000.
Mr Bryant used his profits to buy a more expensive flat in west London, which was valued at £670,000. He immediately flipped his second home expenses there, claiming almost £6,400 in stamp duty, legal fees and mortgage fees, incurred in the purchase.
He then began claiming interest of £1,000 a month on the mortgage. He also claimed a further £6,000 a year for the flat's service charge and ground rent.
In all, he claimed £92, 415 in second home expenses, from 2004 to 2009.
Mr Bryant said at the time: "I moved flat in London, so as to be closer to Parliament."
Research by Channel 4 News in 2015 found that at least 46 MPs had this kind of system in place – a move one Labour backbencher described as “a new fiddle”. Channel 4 reported then:
“Our investigation found that many of the MPs bought their London properties with the help of the taxpayer, when a previous expenses system allowed them to claim back mortgage payments. But when those claims were banned, following the expenses scandal, they switched to letting out their properties, in some cases for up to £3,000 a month. They then started claiming expenses for rent and hotels in the capital.”
Among those identified was Chris Bryant, shadow leader of the House of Commons. He had already bought a penthouse in London back in 2005 and claimed around £1,000 a month in mortgage claims under the old system.
But after the expenses scandal, he started renting the property out. It’s since been advertised by estate agents as having a private lift and a porter, with rent at about £3,000 a month. Meanwhile, Bryant moved into a new flat;- claiming his own rent on expenses.
Image: Russian scientists and Scottish ones
Russian/Scottish scientists hail long-range secure quantum communication system.
A group of scientists from ITMO University in Saint Petersburg, Russia, has developed a new approach to constructing quantum communication systems for secure data exchange.
The experimental device based on the results of the research is capable of transmitting single-photon quantum signals across distances of 250 klmtrs or more, which is on par with its cutting edge analogues, the ITMO press-service says.
"Now researchers are on a mission -- to create a fully-fledged quantum cryptographic system, that will generate & distribute quantum keys and transmit useful data simultaneously", ITMO says.
Information security is becoming more and more of a critical issue not only for large companies, banks and defense enterprises but even for small businesses and individual users.
But the data encryption algorithms we currently use for protecting our data are imperfect - in the long-term, their logic can be cracked. Regardless of how complex and intricate the algorithm is, getting around it, is just a matter of time.
Unlike algorithm-based encryption, systems that protect information, by making use of fundamental laws of quantum physics, can make data transmission totally immune to hacker attacks, in the future.
Information in a quantum channel is carried by single photons that change irreversibly if an eavesdropper tries to intercept them. The legitimate users will instantly know about any kind of intervention.
Researchers at the Quantum Information Centre of the International Institute of Photonics and Optical Information Technology at ITMO Uni., Russia, along with their colleagues from the Heriot-Watt University, in Edinburgh, have devised a new way to generate and distribute, quantum bits.
This makes it possible to share quantum signals --- via optical fibres --- 250 kilometres in distance.
"To transmit quantum signals, we use the so- called side frequencies," says Artur Gleim, head of the Quantum Information Centre, at ITMO University,
"This unique approach gives us a number of advantages -- such as a considerable simplification of the device architecture and the large pass-through capacity of the quantum channel. In terms of bit rate and operating distances, our system is comparable to absolute champions in the field of quantum communications."
According to Robert Collins, research associate at the Institute of Photonics & Quantum Sciences at Heriot-Watt University, and one of the authors of the study, this may become a pivotal point for the whole field of quantum communication and cryptography:
"Down the track, this new approach can enable smooth coexistence of numerous data streams with different wavelengths in one single optical cable. On top of it, these quantum streams can be fed into the already existing fibre optic lines --- along with conventional communications."
The research paper is published in the Optics Express journal.
Scottish universities are to be congratulated for their strong & growing links with Chinese and Russian universities....
What a shame, that Wales is lying low --- with academics too scared to break from US military research.
Image: BRICS
Image: March 26 London anti cuts demo
KILLING THE ELDERLY BY CLOSING CARE HOMES
Did you know that each time a local authority
closes a care home for the elderly, within 8
months, around half the residents are dead?
Campaigners liken the cuts and their effect to euthanasia of the UK's elderly. What to do?
We can start by urging our MPs to sign EDM 2251:
EDM 2251: The contents
This House notes with deep concern the worsening crisis for elderly care as growing numbers of local authority and private care homes face closure
Acknowledges concerns that the loss of elderly people's care homes causes fear, anxiety and, in many cases, a higher mortality rate, when vulnerable, elderly people are forced to leave their homes
Further notes that the Southern Cross crisis will increase needs for local authority care
And therefore calls on the government to hold a public inquiry into the deaths after closures, of local authority care homes, and impose a moratorium on the closure of local authority care homes, until that inquiry publishes its results, to ensure that vulnerable, elderly people's lives are not put at further risk.
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MAKING THE CONNECTION IN WALES
Households across three more English areas will be able to access superfast broadband in the latest phase of a Government scheme to connect rural homes and businesses.
The £50 million funding package for Devon and Somerset (£30 million), Norfolk (£15 million) and Wiltshire (£4 million) will aid the roll- out of superfast broadband services unable to be reached by the market alone.
Areas will also receive financial support from their local authorities and private investors, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport says.
So it's Broadband Heaven for England...
and crapola for Wales' broadband - the
slowest, worst Broadband in the UK !!!
Lib Dems in Scotland might have received a pummeling for Clegg and his betrayals, yet, in Scotland, their campaign centred on it becoming the "most connected country in Europe," to massively boost their economy.
In Wales, which political party is now willing to put into practice scientists' recommendations: that Wales' hilly topography requires establishing
free 'wireless' broadband?
It could connect the people of Rhondda and the world, boosting Wales' economic regeneration, like no other move.Wireless technology is now supplying free broadband to an entire island off New Zealand's coast.
Come on; if New Zealand can do it - so can we !!!
Image: China's rapeseed blossoms this Spring.
Western China has embraced "green-mode development" - with painful changes from which, Wales could well learn.
Eastern China has seen fast growth and urban mess. The West, a mining and agricultural area, has not.
Xi'an Chan-ba Ecological District, is a model for reclaiming old mining areas.
It took six hard years, but now Xi'an is showing the world how best to change, by turning a badly polluted rubbish landfill site, into an all new environment-friendly development.
As China's economic focus moves from east to west, it's using the lessons learned during 30 or more years of rapid industrial development.
The green way for China's west, is to combine green industrialization & green urbanization.
The western region's strategy is to adopt effective energy-saving and environmental protection technologies... AND to extend its industry through science and products unique to China's West, together with strong vertical growth in agriculture and all its ancilliary economic & professional spin-offs.
In undertaking this industrial revolution, the western region will keep a sharp eye out - to avoid all polluting non-sustainable industries.
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A BIG DROP OF HONEY !!!
Spring is beekeeping and honey-processing season in Yunnan province, in China.
Waves of bees flit across vast fields of flowers.
Local beekeepers and many from other places, such as Sichuan and Fujian provinces - set up their base in tents among the rapeseed farms.
The 430,000 hectares of rapeseed blooms in Luoping attract myriads of bees, which produce 15 - 20 million tons of honey a year.
Local people now look to brand their county as a honey production base & increase sales to outside markets.
Luoping Tianyuanmiyu Bee Industry Co Chair, Zhu Hongkun, founded his enterprise in 2009.
It mainly produces honey, propolis and propolis powder.
His company works with 270 plus beekeepers, who each earn 80,000 yuan a year on average.
Some earn 200,000 yuan annually, Zhu says.
Who says beauty endowed by nature isn't worth a fortune?
The whole of the uplands of south Wales could be as beautiful & productive, if used wisely!
Image: retirement China style
CHINA's PREMIER POINTS WAY FORWARD
As the Tories threaten a "bonfire of the Quangos", perhaps Wales should take note. Now extracting all our mineral wealth has been stopped (apart from sand and rock) we find ourselves "in" the 1st World of the UK, but with a 3rd World economy, only just kept going by quangos which promise much... but deliver little... and rely on weak public support.
We could WAKE UP & understand that we either do something, or stay as begging bowl cases.
China's premier points the way forward for Wales:
"Industrial restructuring is the key... only by developing energy-efficient, indigenous innovative and high value added products can our companies and economy, achieve sustainable development."
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WHILE FRANCE, GREECE, IRELAND, ETC, STRUGGLE TO STOP THE PENSION AGE RISING HIGHER AND HIGHER...
An online survey on qq.com, a popular Chinese news portal, finds that 91% of its over 800,000 respondents, are against raising the current official Chinese retirement age.
745,123 of those surveyed say they oppose raising retirement ages -- 72,456 support it.
China's scholars & the public have been debating whether to raise the retirement age, for the past few years, but the issue rose to prominence after remarks by an official.
Wang Xiaochu, the official vice minister of the Ministry of Human Resources & Social Security, said at a press conference that the government was "studying the matter"...
The retirement age in China is generally set at 60 for men and 50-55 for women.
Wow! Bet you didn't know that !!!
Image: unemployment in Wales
FARMING AND SCIENCE COULD REGENERATE WALES
A new UN General Assembly report warns "vast areas" of cultivated land are lost each year, and that this could lead to unrest.
The report says up to 30 million hectares, an area the size of Italy, is lost each year to environmental degradation, industry & urbanization - the growth of cities - and all because of speculative building and greed.
The UN special rapporteur Olivier De Schutter, gives the example of eastern Africa, where the amount of cultivated land has declined by half --- in just one generation! "
As rural populations grow and competition with large industrial units increases, plots cultivated by smallholders are shrinking year after year," says De Schutter.
"Farmers are often relegated to soils that are arid, hilly or without irrigation."
The UN officer also mentions India as another example, where the average landholding fell from 2.6 hectares in 1960 to 1.4 hectares in 2000. A cut of nearly half in 40 years!
He says 500 million small farmers suffer from hunger, partly because their right to land is being violated. The expert warns of the devastating consequences, as foreign investors compete for larger and larger areas of the world's land for "their" agriculture.
Rhondda Records says Wales could rebuild its new economy by basing it on a fresh approach to high-value added products, using science and agriculture... such as the Altzeim project in Gwent.