Blair buster David Lawley Wakelin to appear before magistrates Nov 16h - show your support!

Dear all, 

Further to my interruption of The Levison Inquiry where I alerted the inquiry to the fact that Tony Blair is a war criminal, I have been summonsed at 09. 30 on16th November to appear at Highgate magistrate’s court accused under the public order act 1986 for using threatening abusive or insulting words or behaviour that may have caused someone harassment alarm or distress.

As someone who has shown a personal interest in the Iraq war, I would very much like to invite you to consider giving your name to the letter of support below.

Please come along and support me from the public gallery on the day.  This would be a great boost to my effort to keep this issue in the public eye.  I am committed to arguing that Blair (and Bush) should be tried for war crimes.

Under the law it states that in my defence I should now be able to demonstrate that my conduct was reasonable: 

My Mother and Father fought for this country in the 2nd world war to see off the imperialist evil that was Hitler and the Nazi’s ..My father was in the Normandy landings whilst my mother witnessed the blitz finding herself evacuated from her home..

When I was just three months old they adopted me bringing me up in a very stable loving home .After all they did for me and being a British citizen of this country my conscience will  not just allow me to stand by whilst our nation’s good name has been criminally disgraced ..

As a nation we are being asked to turn a blind eye. A blind eye to what millions of us believe. That a former Prime minister of ours, Tony Blair whilst in a co-conspiracy with George Bush deceived us into a corrupt Iraq war that took the lives of over half a million people 

As with all crimes there has to be a motivation. One question: Do you truly believe that Tony Blair and George Bush didn't discuss the business opportunities that would be available in Iraq back in the Crawford ranch in 2002.Opportunities in Banking, OIL, Construction, and the Arms industries  

It’s worth just remembering George Bush making  that ‘mission accomplished speech’ from the USS Abraham Lincoln in May 2003. It shows that he and Blair got it terribly wrong . They thought that due to the fact that Iraq was crippled from ten years of sanctions the war would be over in months and no one would notice the business side of the deal . Blair guessed that five years later, after he left office it would all be old news, swept under the carpet. Five years later, the war was still raging and hundreds of lives were being lost every week. You might just conclude that Blair was caught with his hands in the till.


Ministers may well be dishonest about their expense claims, they may well be dishonest about their dealings with the press, but if there is one thing a Prime minister must be absolutely honest about then surely its his country’s decision to go to war, as that is obviously the one decision that might just involve the loss of somebody else’s life..

The lies that Blair told have been highlighted time an time again: 

The dodgy dossier with Tony Blair’s forward that it was beyond doubt that Saddam Hussein had WMD and they could be ready within 45 minutes. There was no evidence for this claim..

The intelligence services were telling Blair that the intelligence on Saddam’s weapons was limited yet two weeks later he was telling the house of commons that it was ‘extensive detailed and authoritative’..

Why did Blair not accept the original advice of the then Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, that the war was illegal.

Major Tim Cross and Claire Short had told Blair that the plans for post war Iraq were inadequate and that the war should be delayed. Blair ignored them 

I think it is worth remembering when George Bush made that ‘mission accomplished speech’ from the USS Abraham Lincoln in May 2003. It shows that he and Blair got it terribly wrong . They thought that due to the intelligence that Iraq was crippled from ten years of sanctions the war would be over in months and no one would have noticed. Blair guessed that five years later, after he left office it would all be old news, swept under the carpet But when, five years later, the war was still raging and hundreds of lives were being lost every week he was caught, you might say, with his hands in the till.

The world is now perilously close to a III war in the Middle East , yet ask yourselves what would happen if we were indeed to bring Bush and Blair to The Hague to stand trial?  Apart from regaining some of our damaged reputation throughout the world you can be sure that there would very little public sympathy on either side of the Atlantic for any future imperialist wars. 

I believe that we do indeed have a responsibility to rest of the world, and to our children to stand up to these crimes.

As a servant to this country, I now say to our current Prime Minister, Mr. Cameron.
In light of all the evidence and circumstantial evidence that has become clear, you must now to refer Tony Blair and George Bush to the International court in the Hague for   ‘Crimes against peace’.


Please come and support me on 16th November at Haringey Magistrates court
Highgate Court House
Bishops Road
Archway Road
Highgate London
England
N6 4HS

Thank you
David Lawley-Wakelin 



LETTER OF SUPPORT  


I  ________________   am supporting the effort of DWL to defend himself of the charges laid against him Highgate magistrate’s court , where is accused under the public order act 1986 for using threatening abusive or insulting words or behaviour that may have caused someone harassment alarm or distress.

His commitment to seeing Tony Blair and George Bush brought to trial on charges of War Crimes is unquestionable and one that resonates for more and more people around the world.  We have only recently heard notable figures such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu speak out on this very matter.

I wish DLW every good luck in his campaign.

Interview with Neil Kramer - Author of 'Unfoldment'

BB chatted to Neil about this latest book and his work and path so far....

BB. You’re obviously a seeker of personal transformation, willing to invest enough of yourself and your time into investigating a wide range of mystical and esoteric concepts and traditions – some of them quite obscure – what motivated you to go down this road and what sustains you when obstacles appear?

NK. My motivation for mystical study and practice was due in part to my natural suspicions regarding the mainstream reality paradigm. I just didn't buy the story of reality at any level - political, cultural, or scientific. So I looked for better perspectives... and found them. When obstacles come my way, I call to mind that there are always a number of approaches to any seemingly impassable brick wall. You can run away, break it down, spray graffiti on it, mentally deconstruct its existence, transform it alchemically into something else, make yourself into a ghost and pass through it. There are many angles to contemplate. In this way, all obstacles are opportunities for exercising one's capacity for lateral thinking and creative resolution.

BB. The back cover of your latest work ‘ The Unfoldment’ states that the book contains a ‘body of sacred wisdom and an elegant system of spiritual practice that puts real power and real magic into the hands of those who seek a path of awakening’. As many of these concepts have been touched upon within the pages of many a ‘quick fix’ new age manual – do you think you’ll find a large enough audience of those willing to embark on the real path of transformation (rather than the ones offering  overnight change)? 

NK. I think people are becoming painfully aware that quick fix books don't really work. You know the kind, the seven magical keys to success with women or business or happiness or whatever. Simply stated, we have to work hard on our inner self if we want to engage with the real juice of existence. We have to de-condition from the untruths that we have been tutored in, purify our mind, constantly evolve, and be willing to peer into the thickest darkness of the self. Only then can we begin true transformation and live the kind of life we want. With all the intense misery and confusion in the world right now, I know that more and more people are ready to push their boundaries further, so they lead more fulfilling lives. These are the people I most enjoy speaking with.

BB. The Unfoldment also talks about the 7 densities of being. Could you say a little about what this system describes? As is the case with many spiritual traditions, is the 4th ‘density’ the one around which the others hinge?

NK. In my reality model, there are seven densities of being, a bit like dimensions. They enfold each other. The second enfolds the first. The third enfolds the second and first etc. Yet it is more to do with the refinement of consciousness than actual physical spaces. The fourth density is the immediate enfolding realm that surrounds our familiar third density. It is from here that all our experiences of transcendence, magic, and the extraordinary arise. Rudimentary mystics might've called this the spirit realm. Metaphysically speaking, we can say that it's more complex (and interesting) than that. The fourth density certainly represents a major threshold of conscious attainment. You can't really go into it with any lucidity or consistency with a sloppy, unrefined consciousness. So all the lessons of the third density are aimed at helping to cultivate a deeper and more elegant mode of conscious operation.

BB. There’s an idea that our current problems, numerous and diverse as they are, all stem from a ‘break’ in our connection to the natural world and our true place in it  – the death of the imaginal realm as it were – do you believe that a return to archaic tradition and immersion in the mystical can heal this rift? If so, what is the first practical step?

NK. A return to certain traditional values of kinship, self-sovereignty, and a profound connection with the natural environment would definitely be a good idea right now. But we have to create new paradigms, not simply try to re-discover or return to the old ones. That would be too easy and not provide real resolution, it'd just make us feel better. What we can do right now is to begin forming networks of communities that are increasingly independent from the mainstream grid, both in terms of power, resources, politics, and philosophy. It's good to create a situation for yourself where, in the event of a mainstream social collapse (gradual or swift), you could gather with your strong, compassionate, well-resourced, spiritual kinsmen and thrive. Psychological and emotional preparedness are more significant than anything else in this respect. We have thousands of years of mystical perspectives, knowledge and techniques to help us achieve this very thing. Though the particulars of each mystical tradition are somewhat singular, the principles are - at the higher level - entirely universal. There is one truth. To make contact with it we have to begin clearing away our inauthenticity now - not later. This is the best way to prepare oneself for surfing the end times. What an adventure!

Despite the rain....

Despite the never ending 40 odd days of rain endured my little veg patch has managed to so far yield some very tasty potatoes (that I had for dinner tonight!), with the promise of broad beans, aubergines, french beans and tomatoes on the way! 


Hooray for the return of the sun!

Interview with Karrie Fransman - Creator of The House That Groaned

BB had a chance to catch up with artist Karrie Fansman recently…dig below!

Hey Karrie,

You're gaining ground as a graphic novelist (if you term yourself that way), but what got you into the genre in the first place? What was your background?

Ha ha, yes I like the term 'comic creator'- more down and dirty, although 'graphic novelist' does have it benefits if you're trying to appear sophisticated! I was reared on picture books and a bit of the Beno and grew up scribbling stories, but only discovered the comic medium in a conscious way when I was 22 and read Ghost World. An amazing depiction of a female relationship by a male comic artists. I fell instantly in love and knew I had to make them for myself. I didn't let the minor inconvenience of never having been to art college get in the way!

Do you have a particular inspiration or hero?

My all time favourite comic artist is an American indi artist called Eleanor Davis- her smallest sketch book scribbles have more narrative in them than some whole books. But she hasn't, to my knowledge, yet written a long graphic novel and I would give my arm (o.k...maybe just the left one) for her to do one. BUT I normally exercise caution in having too many heroes from the same genre as myself as it's much easier to get inspiration from different sources. So I'd say my childhood picture book artists- Kit Williams and Maurice Sendak are my all time creative crushes.

Your latest work THTG explores some fairly stark realities of modern life - are you reciting personal experience or is it more of a commentary on your vision of urban life?

Well the original inspiration was not urban life but our material bodies and our anxieties with them. I guess that has it's roots in my personal experience as I almost died of meningitis as a child and have always been a bit morbidly fascinated with our physicality. The house was supposed to symbolise a slowly decaying body and the isolation we feel from each-other and the world. But most of the big newspapers that reviewed it emphasised the isolated, urban living. That's fine! I like it when people interoperate the book in their own way!

Do you see your work, and indeed the graphic novel as having an important function to play; for example, a great way to unpack important issues for a lay audience?

I believe an artist's sole responsibility is to engage the reader/viewer emotionally. Comics are fairly cheap to produce and consume and are accessible to all regardless of age, education or nationality and have the power to reach a wider audience with their messages... whatever that may be! u there is a trend to do graphic memoirs and re-tellings of classic stories. There's even a 'graphic medicine' movement that emphasises doctor and patient experiences of illness through the comic medium. My personal emphasis is on sociological issues, psychology and gender. To sum it up in a nut shell!

Are you already onto your next work - any hints?

Ha ha! My next book is still at a very early stage but i'm incredibly excited about it! It will play with the form and language of comics and seep off the page and into the digital worlds while telling a dark tale of friendship, power, destruction and creativity. In the mean time I'm doing reportage comics for The Guardian and Psychologies magazine, working on some short story commissions and have been invited in July to the Interregional Hayes Festival in Beirut. Very excited!

Finally, are you a fan of the veritable veg we've named our store after? If so, what's your fave way to eat it!

Certainly! I'd say baked, sliced and with Crème fraîche and dill on top. nyum.

Get the book here at Beetroot Books

Rain, Rain and Rain

Oh since they shouted about drought it seems it hasn’t stopped raining. Mind you if a spell needs to be cast then what better way to do it in England than talk about the weather? Anytime anyone makes a proclamation about what it’s going to do or worse, has an expectation about how it will turn out, you can guarantee that what actually happens will be counter to what is desired. We just don’t learn! And since it is April it’s not like we’ve not heard that tune about showers before.

But it’s all good stuff. Things are going in to the ground almost daily here at Beetroot HQ; beetroots (you wouldn’t expect otherwise would you?), French beans, Broad beans, red onions, spring onions, aubergines, basil, mint and potatoes, and they all need lots lovely water and of course sunshine (hoping for more of that this summer)!

So best not too get too down in the mouth about the weather, it’s as comedian Billy Connelly says: ‘there is not bad weather, only the wrong clothes’!

Peak Oil has arrived

Back in 2008, I heard about Peak Oil for the first time. Very much out of the mainstream at that time, the theory, that world oil supplies would imminently peak in terms of accessibility, posited that this would occur sometime between 2006- 2020.

The consequences of this peak are numerous, technical and intrinsic to the way in which world economies are wired – in others words unpredictable. Nevertheless there are deemed to be indicators: fluctuation in oil price, recession, social unrest, foreign conflict.

If this sounds familiar its because it now seems as if world oil production actually peaked in 2005. Now we’re on a downward trajectory of demand continually outstripping supply, ever more desperate extraction techniques (Alberta Tar sands, Gulf of Mexico), resource wars (Irag, Afghanistan, Libya and now Iran) and price hikes.

Don’t take my word for it. The future has arrived and you might want to prepare for a bit of a bumpy ride. Look up Peak Oil to find out more.