Poetry in Haarlem on 11 May

Posted on May 11, 2008 by petrel41

This 2013 video is about Dutch poet A.C.G. Vianen.

Though this was a poetry day, this reports begins with birds and ends with birds.

From the train to Haarlem, common terns and great crested grebes.

I read my poetry next to Teyler’s museum, in Koffiesalon ‘t Teylertje, Spaarne 4.

Well, really in front of that cafe, as the weather was fine.

Of my poems, especially the one about a worker working for the same boss for fifty years, and then getting an empty envelope from the boss, was appreciated.

Other poets participating at ‘t Teylertje were:

Mirjam Al
Merik van der Torren
Hanny Hazelaar
Koos Hagen
Ad Koenraadt
Nico Kreuk
Guda Vriesman
Louis Lazaroms
Jarl van Maltha
Dorothé Rodenburg-Glorie
Joke Tesselaar.

About 70 other poets were participating elsewhere in the inner city of Haarlem.

As I walked back to the railway station, an Egyptian goose near a canal.

Later, east of Weesp from the train, a male marsh harrier.

British soldiers living in poverty

Posted on May 11, 2008 by petrel41

This video from Britain is called Message to the Troops in Iraq From Rose Gentle.

From British daily The Independent:

Exclusive report: Soldiers need loans to eat, report reveals

Senior figures react angrily to damning indictment of life inside the Army. Jonathan Owen and Brian Brady investigate

A big problem is the Army’s lack of manpower, which makes its current operations in Afghanistan and Iraq hard to sustain

Sunday, 11 May 2008

A highly sensitive internal report into the state of the British Army has revealed that many soldiers are living in poverty. Some are so poor that they are unable to eat and are forced to rely on emergency food voucher schemes set up by the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Some of Britain’s most senior military figures reacted angrily yesterday to the revelations in the report, criticising the Government’s treatment of its fighting forces.

The disturbing findings outlined in the briefing team report written for Sir Richard Dannatt, the Chief of the General Staff, include an admission that many junior officers are being forced to leave the Army because they simply cannot afford to stay on.

United States spy base in New Zealand

Posted on May 11, 2008 by petrel41

This is a video about the Echelon spying network.

Below is a statement from the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space:

On April 30 at 6am in the morning three Christian activists from “Ploughshares Aotearoa” entered the Waihopai Spy Base and used sickles to deflate one of the two 30-metre radomes covering satellite interception dishes.

The members then built a shrine and prayed for the victims of the war with no end — the so-called war on terror led by the US Empire that also controls the New Zealand taxpayer-funded base.

Samuel Peter Frederick Land, 24, of Hokianga; Adrian James Leason, 42, a teacher from Otaki; and Peter Reginald Leo Murnane, 67, a Dominican friar from Auckland were arrested by police who are considering charging the men with sabotage under the Crimes Act, an offence that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years’ jail.

Damage to the radome is estimated at more than $1 million.

The three have been granted bail and released and have a June 9 pre-depositions hearing.

Supporters rallied outside the courtroom in Blenheim on May 5 and yelled “What do we want? Waihopai Closed”.

The action has brought worldwide attention to the US spy satellite base in New Zealand and should be a positive boost to the long-standing campaign against the base by the Anti-Bases Campaign in Aotearoa/New Zealand.

The Government has abandoned its attempts to sue a penniless Northland farmer and two other peace activists for $1.2 million. Sam Land, who lives in a self-sufficient community in Whirinaki, South Hokianga, was one of the ”Waihopai Ploughshares” who in 2008 broke into a spy base and slashed one of its two inflatable domes. The trio then prayed and waited to be arrested. The Waihopai spy base, near Blenheim, is operated by the Government Communications and Security Bureau (GCSB). It is believed to be part of the ”Five Eyes” network used by Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and USA to eavesdrop on global communications: here.