مرحبا العالم

That is "Hallo world" in Arabic. I haven't the foggiest how to learn the language, so I'm sticking with google translate for now. I have listened to it, transcribed it in our Roman alphabet characters on paper, enlarged the Arabic and had a go at copying it down, right to left of course. It is annoying being such a beginner. I don't even know where to start a letter or how to do the little vertical bits, as I go along or added afterwards.

I really want to be able to read Twitter. At the moment the only words I can spot instantly are Allah Akbar, which is a good place to start, and Libya.

The next obvious place to go is YouTube for some video of people writing slowly!

Reinterpreting the crib

We have a stable with animals in it, plus an angel and our box of matches on the exterior stairs. The Holy family is outdoors to one side and the 3 kings are on their way to the other side. One king is permanently travelling on one knee. Christmas cards are all around them, including one with camels with tasselled hangings and another with symetrical, seen at dusk against a dark purple sky, palm trees.

To translate this into something T can accept I explained that it could be seen as a homage to the domesticated animals, newborns and travellers of that era and all eras: breathing, coughing, sneezing, chatting, yawning, exactly as we do now and exactly as they would have been doing then. All of them are divine, all special, all individual, all a little bit difficult to live with at times...

Maybe the ritual celebration of the birth of a child was merged with midwinter because both are stressful, yet also times out of time. Everything has to stop, we have to stay in one place and deal with each new thing which happens. When it snows here everything stops dead, we are freed from normal duties and new ones take over. We all chat to each other as we walk carefully in front of our houses and create little snowmen. Oooh, I so want it to snow!

I really want it to snow, yet am very grateful that it hasn't.

A conundrum

If I buy a box of eggs from Tesco, but will not pay more than £1.20 for half a dozen, who is to blame if the eggs were from hens living in battery farms?

The hen, the farmer's hen keeper, the farmer, the intermediary, Tesco management and shareholders or me? All are to blame, but, without a buyer, nothing in that set of transactions woild have occurred. So I am ultimately to blame and have to alter my actions. Blaming the farmer or Tesco is pointless and will not achieve better conditions. Only a decision to pay £1.90 for a box of well cared for hens's eggs will have the effect I want.

So in a monarchy, who is to blame, the all powerful monarch who commands that x is done, the prime minister, the minister for the issue x, the governor of the prison, the senior guard who is a specialist in special techniques, the junior guard, or the prisoner upside down with his feet being attacked? Without the starting point, nothing else would happen.

So I am equivalent to a monarch with respect to the harsh living conditions of a battery hen. What do you think? Do I have more influence over my world than a monarch?

Tinsel down my neck

I thought something was a bit itchy...it was the last length of glittery streamer! I love wearing a paper hat and pulling explosive streamer things which make a loud bang.

We have been sitting around the miraculously tidy and beautiful kitchen table; watching the Queen's Speech at my mother in law's; sharing out presents; watching and appreciating the 9 lessons and carols; doing a countdown at 10 seconds to midnight last night then wishing each other Happy Christmas for the first time of the day.

There is a tradition in our family of phoning my parents A and I bang in the middle of the meal to pass on good wishes and any funny stories. So I did that at lunchtime and also in the evening to catch my aunt and uncle E and S. I caught my brother J on the motorway yesterday on his way to be with them.

Yesterday I was quietly looking at the presents under the tree and noticed that the cat from next door had curled up under it. She had not knocked over a single card. Everyone else rushed down to see her there. That was the end of her peaceful nap because we made such a noise and happy fuss about her.

Every so often during the day we come together to do a special event at a time we agree, then we go our separate ways for a break. The degree of wanting our own company is pretty much equal between all 5 of us.

One of my plans for tomorrow is to go into the church and sit by my Amnesty tree for a little while. I have little paper candle and barbed wire logos to hang from the branches. I cut them out from the mailings I get. They each have a loop attached made from black thread. There isn't yet a take away slip with details for how to find the local group, so ideally I will create those too.

Beware of books

As I was clearing space to set out more Christmas cards I opened a biography of Primo Levi. Dear God, those few paragraphs at random made me feel physically sick.

I contemplated my belief that all are held at the end in God's hand, or whatever word one chooses to use. Then I needed to help my body. I decided to make some beautiful food from: apples, honey, water, wheat, salt, yeast, butter (milk), strawberries and sugar. I am worshipping tha natural world which is the basis of our humanity.

British Museum

I have a great book from the library on the workings of the British Museum in London.

The photos and personal essays by individual workers at the Museum are so varied and interesting.

I have learnt about the oldest board game in the world: the Royal Game of Ur. Apparently the board was found in Southern Iraq with pieces and dice in the 1920's. It dates back to 2600 BC.

Irving Finkel, curator of the Assyrian Collections, was rootling through the cupboards in the 1980's, found something interesting, read the cuneiform and realized that the text was related to the rules for a game. Not the rules themselves, it assumed you knew those, but comments on how to bet etc. It was replaced by backgammon in the Middle East, but seems to be still played in parts of India today.

Can you imagine the complexity of recreating Monopoly several thousand years in the future? or Cluedo? How to explain the hilarity of x did it in the Library with an Iron Bar?

The other thing which I am amazed by is that carbon dating (goes back 50,000 years) and identifying pollen are not the only methods for dating items. Voles' teeth are used too because the evolution of voles is relatively quick due to their short lifespan. Their teeth happen to display changes which can date a site. Beetles are evidence of a particular temperature range at that time and snails provide evidence too.

A site is over 350,000 years old if teeth from the European pine vole are present, because they disappeared from Britain at that point.

This is a BBC book. Why don't people make more of a fuss about how good their books are?

Knitting and knots

Taking out my knitting is a real ice breaker in a waiting room. The couple sitting opposite us asked about it, I showed what happened at the end of each row, we chatted about using YouTube to find out how to cast off.

Then we chatted about knots, sailing ones, how they are of two sorts: the type which get tighter when the line is pulled and the type which are easy to loosen quickly.

Finally...

it has taken me nearly a month to get round to it. The page was open on my iPad, so each time I went onto the internet I'd be reminded that I still hadn't done the page justice. Anyway, now I have and I am so glad to have been able to read the speech Professor M Cherif Bassiouni gave on 23rd November when he presented the BICI report to the King and court.

Pleas read it too, bearing in mind that there were people with nimble fingers tweeting phrases from the very room as he was making this speech. It caused a sensation, as such a forthright description of the faults of those in power in the same room is humbling for any government.


23 11 2011

Prof M. Cherif Bassiouni’s Speech on 23rd November

Your Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa,                                     

Your Royal Highness Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Prime Minister,

Your Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander,

Your Highnesses and Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

May peace, mercy and the blessings of Allah The Almighty be upon you and upon the gracious people of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

It is an honor to submit to Your Majesty, on behalf of the members of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, which I had the honor of chairing, the report of the Commission. In doing so, I pray that The Almighty reward our work.

I have the pleasure of witnessing, in the presence of this distinguished gathering, an event of great legal and political importance. This occasion represents a unique precedent in the region, in light of the fact that the state took the initiative, shortly after the events, to establish an international commission of inquiry without waiting for regional or international pressures to be exercised. The members of the Commission were selected with great objectivity, not only to benefit from their knowledge, experience, and legacies, but also in light of their neutrality, objectivity, dedication to the cause of humanity, and their commitment to the protection of human rights against any infringement, which is the sole means to guaranteeing human welfare.

This is a unique historic and social event because, also for the first time, a government, that is still in power, agrees to open all its files, subject itself to criticism, and to facilitate the work of those who seek to evaluate its performance and to identify its faults. This is despite the sensitivity of the situation in the country in which an atmosphere of mutual mistrust and social unrest prevails, and despite the consequences that could arise out of this inquiry.

It is also my honor to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude to the citizens of this gracious nation who entrusted us with a great task. I also express my appreciation to the political societies, human rights and civil society organizations, religious institutions, governmental, and private entities of Bahrain, all of which trusted this Commission, and were eager to communicate with it, and played an important role in revealing the facts. Without their cooperation, this large task would not have been fulfilled in such a short period of time.

 

Your Majesty,

Your Highnesses and Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) was mandated to prepare a report about the events that occurred in Bahrain during the months of February and March 2011 in addition to the subsequent related events. The Commission was also charged to make whatever recommendations it deemed appropriate for holding accountable those who had violated the rights and freedoms of individuals, and for preventing the recurrence of such incidents in the future.

As a result, the BICI has compiled a report composed of twelve chapters. The report commences with an introduction to the Commission and its methods of work, followed by a background on the modern history and system of government of Bahrain. Then the report describes the applicable legal framework during the events under investigation, and identifies the relevant law enforcement agencies in Bahrain. A detailed narrative of the events is then presented that covers the period from the beginning of February to 31 March 2011, with a special focus on the events that occurred at the Salmaniya Medical  Complex. The report then examines the human rights violations alleged to have been perpetrated by governmental agencies against individuals. These include the deaths that occurred during the events under investigation, the use of force by governmental agencies, the manner in which arrest warrants were executed, the treatment of detainees, and cases of forced disappearances. The report also tackles the demolition of religious structures, dismissals of public and private sector employees, and the expulsion of students and the suspensions of scholarships. The report then examines human rights violations perpetrated by individuals, in particular attacks against expatriates, and Sunni citizens. The report also examines the allegations of foreign involvement in the events that occurred in Bahrain, and discusses the matter of harassment by the media. Subsequently, the report reviews the measures and remedies undertaken by the Government of Bahrain to address some of the human rights violations that took place, as well as to address deficiencies in some domestic legislation.

 

Your Majesty,

Your Highnesses and Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Commission’s work was not easy. We began our work in an atmosphere fraught with tension and were under immense pressure from the public, which was eager to have the testimonies of the many victims and witnesses heard. The Commission had to collect all the evidence, examine the documents and reports submitted to it, and conduct field visits, all of which were arduous tasks. The Commission also ensured the protection of witnesses that it heard and the confidentiality of information it received, which further complicated its work. In addition, the Commissioners and investigators worked to meet the expectations of Bahraini citizens to decisively intervene to prevent human rights violations regardless of the type of that violation or the perpetrator. Overall, the Commission received nearly 9,000 complaints, statements and testimonies and conducted dozens of on-site investigations throughout the country. The Commission also sought to resolve other problems including the dismissal and suspension of university students, employees, healthcare workers, and attempted to mitigate the negative effects of criminal prosecution.

The Commission created a database containing all the information that it gathered during its investigations. This information was divided into categories reflecting the different types of human rights violations committed during the period under investigation. This database contributed greatly to the Commission’s work and in the preparation of its final report.

Following the categorization of the information in the database, the Commissioners analysed the available evidence in a manner that was objective and inclusive of all testimonies and statements. The Commission was assisted by its investigators as well as legal, medical, engineering and media experts.

The Commission worked to maintain the highest level of professionalism, transparency and independence in all aspects of its work.  This included investigating all human rights violations committed, beginning with deaths and allegations of torture, and ending with labour dismissals and student suspensions. In fulfilling these tasks, the Commission maintained the confidentiality of the testimonies and evidence collected.

 

Your Majesty,

Your Highnesses and Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Allow me to summarise the general observations and recommendations of the report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry:

1. The forceful confrontation of demonstrators involving the use of lethal force led to the death of civilians. This caused an increase in public anger, increased the number of persons participating in protests, and led to a palpable escalation in their demands.  As protests continued into mid-March 2011, the general state of security in Bahrain deteriorated considerably. Sectarian clashes were reported in a number of areas, attacks on expatriates took place, violent clashes occurred between students at the University of Bahrain and other educational institutions, and major thoroughfares were blocked by protesters. This situation led the government to declare a State of National Safety on 15 March 2011.

2. HM King Hamad approved that HRH the Crown Prince engage in negotiations with various political parties with a view to reaching a peaceful resolution to the unfolding situation in Bahrain.
Notwithstanding the best efforts of HRH the Crown Prince, negotiations to reach a political solution were not successful.  The Commission is of the view that if the initiative and proposals of HRH the Crown Prince had been accepted at the time it could have paved the way for significant constitutional, political and socio-economic reforms and precluded the ensuing negative consequences.

3. The Commission’s investigations revealed that during a substantial number of the arrests carried out by law enforcement agencies arrest warrants were not presented to arrested individuals and arrested individuals were not informed of the reasons for their arrest. In many cases, government security forces resorted to the use of unnecessary and excessive force, and in a manner that sought to terrorise
individuals, and to cause unnecessary damage to property.

4. The Commission’s investigations revealed that many detainees were subjected to torture and other forms of physical and psychological abuse while in custody, which indicated patterns of behaviour by certain government agencies, especially with regard to certain categories of detainees. The extent of this physical and psychological mistreatment is evidence of a deliberate practice, which in some cases was
aimed at extracting confessions and statements under duress, while in other cases was intended for the purpose of retribution and punishment.   The most common techniques for mistreatment used on detainees included the following: blindfolding; handcuffing; enforced standing for prolonged periods; beating; punching; hitting the detainee with rubber hoses (including on the soles of feet), cables, whips, metal, wooden planks or other objects; electrocution; sleep-deprivation; exposure to extreme temperatures; verbal abuse; threats of rape; and insulting the detainee‘s religious sect (Shia). Generally, these measures fall within the meaning of torture as defined in the Convention Against Torture (CAT), to which Bahrain is a State Party. They also constitute violations of the Bahrain Criminal Code.  These forced confessions have been used in criminal proceedings, either in the special courts established pursuant to the National Safety Decree or, in some cases, in the ordinary criminal courts.

5. The Commission is of the view that the lack of accountability of officials within the security system in Bahrain has led to a culture of impunity, whereby security officials have few incentives to avoid mistreatment of prisoners or to take action to prevent mistreatment by other officials.

6. It was evident to the Commission that government security forces, especially the Public Security Forces (PSF), violated the principles of necessity and proportionality while engaging with demonstrators, which are the generally applicable legal principles.

7. A large number of individuals were prosecuted before the National Safety Courts and imprisoned for violating articles 165, 168, 169, 179 and 180 of the Bahrain Penal Code. The text and application of these provisions raises questions about their conformity with international human rights law and the Constitution of Bahrain.

7. Numerous violations of due process rights were recorded by the Commission during proceedings before the National Safety Courts, which were composed of a presiding military judge and two civilian judges.

8. The manner in which the security and judicial agencies of the government of Bahrain interpreted the National Safety Decree opened the door for the perpetration of grave violations of human rights, including the arbitrary deprivation of life, torture and arbitrary detention. Detainees were kept for questioning for periods that, in some cases, extended to over two months during which they were neither brought before a judicial body or presented with any charges.  The lack of judicial supervision, oversight or inspection of detention facilities operated by these security agencies allowed for the perpetration of human rights violations.

9. Thirty-five deaths occurred between 14 February and 15 April 2011, which are linked to the events of February/March 2011. Thirty of the thirty-five deaths were civilians, while five were security personnel. Investigations were opened by the different security and military agencies concerned, but the Commission has reservations with regard to the effectiveness of some investigations which only included statements by security personnel.

10. Between 21 March and 15 April 2011, security forces systematically raided homes in order to arrest individuals, and in so doing, terrorised the occupants of these homes. These arrests were carried out by masked individuals during night and pre-dawn raids. These individuals intentionally broke down doors and forcibly entered homes. These practices were often accompanied by sectarian insults and verbal
abuse, and in some cases women were also exposed to such insults by security personnel.

Overall, the total number of persons arrested pursuant to Royal Decree No.18 of 2011 following the declaration of the State of National Safety was 2,929. Of those, 2,178 were released without any charges brought against them. The most prevalent charges made against persons brought before the National Safety Courts included:  incitement of hate against the regime, illegal assembly, rioting, possession of anti-government leaflets, possession of material calling for the overthrow of the regime, inciting others to violence, threatening a civil servant, use of violence against a government official, premeditated murder, kidnapping, attempted murder, aggravated assault, membership in an illegally established society, and spreading rumours that undermine public interest. The majority of these charges involved the
exercise of freedoms of opinion and expression that are guaranteed by the Bahrain Constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

11. Many places of worship were demolished in the aftermath of the events of February/March 2011. Out of 30 places of worship inspected by the Commission, only five had complied with the requisite legal and administrative conditions. Nevertheless, the Commission notes with some concern the timing and method of these demolitions. The government should have realised that under the circumstances, and particularly the timing and manner of the demolitions, that these would be perceived as collective punishment and would therefore inflame existing tensions between the government and the Shiite population.

12. In the aftermath of the February/March 2011 events, over two thousand public sector employees and over 2400 private sector employees were dismissed for their participation in, or support of, the protest movement, and on the grounds that these protests were unrelated to labour issues.  The Commission, however, sees that the workers’ protests that occurred were within the permissible bounds of the law.

13. A large number of university students were expelled or suspended in connection with their role in the events of February and March.  The Commission finds that the universities applied arbitrary and unclear standards for issuing determinations and taking disciplinary action. The Commission welcomes, however, the move by the Ministry of Education, in conjunction with the University of Bahrain and Bahrain Polytechnic, to reverse the vast majority of disciplinary action taken against students.

14. The Commission received sufficient evidence to support the finding that Sunnis were targeted by some demonstrators, either because they professed loyalty to the regime or on the basis of their sectarian identity. Sunnis were subjected to verbal abuse, physical attacks and attacks on their private property as well as harassment.

15. The Commission finds sufficient evidence to establish that some expatriates, particularly South Asian workers, were exposed to attacks during the February/March events. Pakistanis, in particular, were targeted. Because of the atmosphere of fear which prevailed, some foreign nationals were afraid to return to their work and commercial activities. The Commission found that four expatriates were killed and many were injured by mobs as a result of these attacks.

16. The evidence presented to the Commission in relation to the involvement of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the internal affairs of Bahrain did not reveal a discernible link between specific incidents that occurred in Bahrain during February/March 2011 and Iran.  In addition, the Commission has not found any evidence of human rights violations committed by the GCC-JSF units deployed in Bahrain, from  14 March 2011.

17. The Commission concluded that much of the material shown on national television contained derogatory language and inflammatory coverage of events, and some may have been defamatory. However, the Commission did not find evidence of media coverage that constituted hate speech.  The Commission also identified numerous examples of defamation, harassment and, in some cases, incitement through social media websites. Both pro- and anti-government journalists were targeted through social media channels.

 

Your Majesty,

Your Highnesses and Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Commission’s report is not limited to outlining, compiling, and analysing the human rights violations that occurred in Bahrain during the period under investigation. Rather, the Commission also submitted the following recommendations to the Government of Bahrain:

1. To establish an independent and impartial national committee that consists of personalities of high standing representing the government, opposition political societies, and civil society to follow up monitor and implement the recommendations of the Commission. This committee should re-examine the laws and procedures that were applied in the aftermath of the events of February and March 2011 in order to make recommendations to the legislature for the appropriate amendments to existing laws and to develop new legislation, in line with the recommendations of this Commission.

2. To establish a national independent and impartial mechanism to hold accountable those in government who have committed unlawful or negligent acts resulting in the deaths, torture and mistreatment of civilians with a view to bringing legal and disciplinary action against such individuals, including those in positions of command, whether civilian or military, in accordance with the principle of superior responsibility.

3. To consider the Office of the Inspector General in the Ministry of Interior as a separate entity, independent of the Ministry‘s hierarchical control. The tasks of this office should include receiving complaints, and should protect the safety and privacy of complainants.

4. To amend the decree establishing the National Security Agency (NSA) in order to keep the organisation as an intelligence gathering agency without law enforcement or arrest authorities. Legislation should also be adopted to provide that the detention of individuals shall be governed by the Code of Criminal Procedure even during the application of a State of National Safety.

5. To adopt legislative measures requiring the Attorney General to investigate claims of torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.

6. To allow for the review of all convictions rendered by the National Security Courts where fundamental principles of a fair trial were not respected.

7. To conduct effective investigations in all cases of deaths attributed to security forces and identify those responsible for these deaths.  Likewise, all allegations of torture and similar treatment should be investigated by an independent and impartial body. In addition, a standing independent body to investigate all complaints of tortureor ill-treatment, excessive use of force or other abuses at the hands of the
authorities should be established.  The burden of proof to demonstrate that treatment complies with the prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment should be on the state.

8. To implement an extensive program of public order training for the public security forces, the National Security Agency and the Bahrain Defence Force, including their private security companies, in accordance with UN best practices in order to ensure future compliance with the Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials.

9. To avoid detention without prompt access to lawyers and without access to the outside world, and, all cases of detention should be subject to effective monitoring by an independent body.

10. The Commission recommends that the government urgently establish, and implement vigorously, a programme for the integration into the security forces of personnel from all the communities in Bahrain.

11. To train the judiciary and prosecutorial personnel on the need to ensure that their activities contribute to the prevention and eradication of torture and ill-treatment.

12. To annul or mitigate convictions of persons charged with offences involving political expression that does not involve the incitement to violence, and to commute the death sentence for cases of murder arising out of the events of February/March 2011.

13. To compensate the families of the deceased victims in a manner that is commensurate with the gravity of their loss, and to compensate all victims of torture, ill-treatment, or prolonged incommunicado detention. In this respect, the Commission welcomes Royal Decree no. 30 of 2011 on the establishment of a compensation fund for victims, which was issued on 22 September 2011.

14.  To ensure that the remaining dismissed employees have not been dismissed on the basis of their right to exercise freedom of expression, opinion, association or assembly.

15. To consider relaxing censorship on mass media and to allow the opposition greater access to television broadcasts, radio broadcasts and print media.

16. To undertake appropriate measures including legislative measures to prevent incitement to violence, hatred, sectarianism and other forms of incitement, which lead to the violation of internationally protected human rights.

17. To develop educational programmes at the primary, secondary, and high school levels and at the university level to promote religious, political and other forms of tolerance, as well as the promotion of human rights and the rule of law. In general, the Commission also recommends that the Government of Bahrain develop a national reconciliation program that addresses the grievances of groups which are, or perceive themselves, to be deprived of equal political, social and economic rights and benefits across all segments of Bahrain‘s population.

 

Your Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa,

Your Highnesses and Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In conclusion, I must express my gratitude to all those who have worked at the Commission, including experts, investigators, assistants and administrators, who have left their homes and laboured for long hours for a full five months under the supervision of the Commissioners in order to prepare this report, which I consider to be a truly unprecedented accomplishment. This report was not limited to describing the events or their context and identifying those accountable for them, but also, in fulfilment of its mandate, analysed the constitutional, legal and administrative structures of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

I hope, Your Majesty, that the government will begin to place, without delay, a timetable for the implementation and follow up of the recommendations of this report.

Finally, Allah the Almighty says in the Holy Quran:

“And say, Work, and Allah will surely see your work and also His Messenger and the believers”.
(Surat Al-Thawba, 9:105)

May Allah the Almighty protect the Kingdom of Bahrain and its people, and honour the dignity and prosperity of its people.

Google sleuthing

I am finally starting on the Amnesty International USA's Write-a-thon. Do I get a prize for tracking down the full name and address of the DPRK's ambassador to the UK? It was pretty well hidden.

For the record it is:

His Excellency Mr Cha So'ng-nam, Embassy of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to the United Kingdom, 73 Gunnersbury Avenue, London, W5 4LP.

I also needed to do some work to get all the details for the North Korean Ambassador to the UN, the details for are:

His Excellency Mr So-se Pyong, Ambassador of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, United Nations, Palais des Nations, CH-1211, Geneve, Switzerland.

I now have a sore arm from using a biro to write long letters. I may give feedback to AI USA that they keep the paragraphs short.

I do feel a lot better knowing I have made one small gesture for the people in the grim prison camps. The person who was the subject of this letter has been held since before I was married. That is a very long time ago, dark ages even....sorry, the worse the situation, the blacker the humour.

Anyway, I always enjoy a google challenge and tend to find what I want.

Polar bear on my desk

I brought home a mother and a baby polar bear a couple of weeks ago. They were instantly adopted by T and H. The big one has been sitting at the table with us and just now is taking up all the space on my desk in the kitchen.

It is nearly time for me to start really creating mid winter chaos. I will shift my piles of paperwork and "stuff" to make way for my parents' visit tomorrow. Then more stuff will be shifted out of the way to allow for the cards to be displayed. All the laundry needs to be hidden too. My parents are shocked at clothes drying in our kitchen, so I hide it all.

H would like the drawing room to be a Christmas room and I like the idea of us each having our own tree to decorate.

It feels as if it might snow, the sky was an eerie grey and there was just-about-sleet on the car windscreen earlier. My hands are about to get all dry and my hair will be full of static. Time to feed the birds and put water out for them.

We have just moved the bear back to his place at the head of the table. He needed a coat so T and I put his furry arms in the arm holes and did up the zip. Very cute!

S has some books for his team, so it looks as if he is starting his own book group!

Back to Autumn

I have just been for a walk. It was drizzling nicely. Only people who love drizzle will understand! It was warmer than earlier on, more like autumn than mid-December.

The weather here almost never matches with the billing, hence all the discussion and amazement when it actually is a wintry day....in winter, or roasting hot in summer.

In the middle of the village there is a field for hens and 3 sheep. They avoid the big fallen apples, so on a night like this there is a rich smell of fermenting and composting as I go past the fence. Yum. Those apple trees are so prolific.

There is another path which goes past a paddock for horses, I can anticipate the smell there too.

Busy crashing

I finally settled down to do some research for the Amnesty Christmas Tree I am decorating for the Tree Festival at our village church.

There is a certain irony in this. Were I not trying to do a PR job via a tree, I would be doing some actual letter writing. I have already promised 5 letters for the Amnesty USA Write-a-thon happening right now. There are 3 new actions for Bahrain too. I am half way through reading the BICI report, but had to take a break when I found it too dense. So that is on hold too.

Last night I was so exhausted I lay on the sofa for 6 hours. I spoke and moved my hands a bit as gestures to go with the speech, but that was it. No eye opening or laundry, washing up, cooking, tidying or general organizing and communicating with others operations.

The lesson I draw from this is that it is a good thing different people are full of energy at different times. Overall it will balance out. If sofa time is needed then so be it.

I did manage to light a log fire though....and collect a pillow and duvet.

Gasp

S came back from his travels with a tiny, beautiful box tied with ribbon. We decided to wait til after supper to open it and have a delicious chocolate each. He opened it and we saw two little orange packages, rather like fireworks.

The disappointment and the gasps as we realised that it was a box of special luxury toiletries!! No round truffles tonight, or cherry liqueurs....

Squares

I have started on a knitting plan. Brown, red and golden squares will make up one blanket and blue, green and purple ones will make up my second blanket.

I am on my 3rd square so far. Apparently it is normal to feel tense when knitting. I had expected to feel all at one with the universe, but got a pain in my back. I shall experiment until it is no longer a problem.

The needles are quite pointy so I have sore first fingers. To relieve this I am knitting as loosely as possible. Mind you, if my hands are dry and slippery the needles slip away entirely onto my lap. Learning is a stop/start business round here.

Ouch, transition time

Changes upset our household, or myself at any rate. S is off to the Gulf for a few days. We are all irritable and in each other's way, or is it just me?

I am in the laundry room and someone comes in more quickly than I like and expects me to move out of the way so they can do what they planned to do. I walk out in an annoyed mood, it is my laundry room and I like to do my work in there in peace....grump, grump. If I am a housewife then I do expect to be able to actually do housewifely activities from time to time.

So I am now sulking in my lovely drawing room and may set up a soothing log fire to burn away my cobwebs. Being here on my blog is a good thing, I feel better already.

I have promised to cook something for my children so I'll head off and do that. First I will lay the fire, then cook and do some knitting in the kitchen, what a life of drama and incident!

Lego corner

We had an Advent craft afternoon at our village church today. My contribution was a rug and a big box of Lego. I found a spot between a pew and an altar rail well away from where small children might be roaming.

I sat in a corner with it all in a heap while 2 boys in particular sat and played. They said "Awesome" each time they found a piece they recognised from a set.

I declared the corner shut while a story was read out and then a treasure hunt happened. It is a strong convention that children are to take part in what the others are doing. I reopened the corner after the hunt had finished.

It was so lovely so hear the chatter as they peacefully made their plans, tried this and that, showed things to each other and had the odd disagreement. I think Lego plus time is a soothing combination. I am happiest being around children who are working things out for themselves.

Deep sleep

For some reason I was washed out, exhausted, tired beyond tired, just like when I was pregnant. I lay right down on the sofa and still felt as if I needed to lie down. The cat who visits us helped me to drop off to sleep, her head and arms resting on my shoulder.

Oh my, I now see from Twitter that Troy Davis' sister Martina died yesterday. I have added a blog to my list written by a photographer who was in Georgia with her the night of 21st September this year. It is called Scott Langley Photography. Please see his tribute to Martina.

I have also found these wonderful words of strength said by Martina after Troy Davis died by execution:

"I want people to know that we didn't fail. As long as we keep hammering away at this thing, as long as we refuse to give up, we haven't failed. We'll be doing what Troy would have wanted us to do."

BICI Report

I have been reading the BICI report published in English and Arabic last Wednesday, 23rd November.

The Arabic version has been withdrawn due to discrepancies between the versions, so I am assuming errors in translation of some sort.

I have read up to page 259 out of 501. I have brain indigestion when I read it. It is so dense but all the words matter. It is time for a break, so I am being kind to myself and taking some days off.

Power of Twitter

I check 'TroyDavis' every day on Twitter and retweet a message to keep supporting others who are working for changes.

Some things can only be sung. Video link.

Solidarity from Antarctica

There is a photo showing a group of people and their banner in snowy and rocky Antarctica: link here.

I went to the announcements, hot drinks, chat and shared lunch at Wallingford Meeting today to see if the Occupy movement was under discussion. It was!

Don't Afraid

I think it is a big moment to see solidarity from people in Egypt with the people in OccupyOakland and other Occupy places. Link.

I watched some of the live feed from this afternoon's Sermon from the Steps in front of St Paul's London. If I find a film made from the series of short sermons I will link to it.

Read All About It - Occupy London

I have a link to the first day's paper produced by OccupyLSX, ie the camp outside St Paul's Cathedral in London.

Read and enjoy.

John Taylor Gatto would appreciate a letter

Evidently he is recovering from a stroke and has had a few get well soon letters. As one of the inspirations for home education he could do with some more. I have just sent one :)

http://radiofreeschool.blogspot.com/2011/10/john-taylor-gatto-send-john-get-well.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+RadioFreeSchool+%28radio+free+school%29

That is a link to a longer piece about him, with a photo and email contact details.

Two weeks ago tonight

Watch this beautiful tribute to Troy Davis:

http://t.co/shEM5jkp

I really don't know what to write on here any more. I feel my efforts are more powerful on Twitter. I aim to spend about an hour each day retweeting important information relating to the abolition of the death penalty. In order to be able to do this long term I make sure it is in the early evening if possible, so I get my sleep and don't burn out.

There is too much to say and my mind is a jumble. There are some new blogs on my side bar now though. Have a look at them.

Ed Pilkington of the Guardian has been covering this. The FT seems to have looked the other way for two weeks' solid now. Why is that?

Even ex-prison wardens and directors spoke up for Troy Davis

Here is the letter sent on behalf of Troy Davis by 6 ex-wardens of US prisons:


Home
Corrections Officials Sign-On for Troy Davis
Date of Publication:  09/21/2011
Media Contact: Ron McAndrew, 352-342-1450 (EST) and Jeanne Woodford, 415-243-0143 (PST)

ATLANTA, GEORGIA-This morning, six retired corrections officials, including Dr. Allen Ault, retired Director of the Georgia Department of Corrections and former Warden of the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison where he oversaw executions for the state, have sent the following letter to Georgia Corrections Officials and Governor Nathan Deal asking them to urge the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles to reconsider the decision they made on Tuesday, September 20, 2011 to deny Troy Davis Clemency despite concerns about his guilt. Davis is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday, September 21 at 7:00pm at Georgia Diagnostics & Classifications Prison in Jackson, Georgia.

Statement:
We write to you as former wardens and corrections officials who have had direct involvement in executions. Like few others in this country, we understand that you have a job to do in carrying out the lawful orders of the judiciary. We also understand, from our own personal experiences, the awful lifelong repercussions that come from participating in the execution of prisoners. While most of the prisoners whose executions we participated in accepted responsibility for the crimes for which they were punished, some of us have also executed prisoners who maintained their innocence until the end. It is those cases that are most haunting to an executioner.

We write to you today with the overwhelming concern that an innocent person could be executed in Georgia tonight. We know the legal process has exhausted itself in the case of Troy Anthony Davis, and yet, doubt about his guilt remains. This very fact will have an irreversible and damaging impact on your staff. Many people of significant standing share these concerns, including, notably, William Sessions, Director of the FBI under President Ronald Reagan.

Living with the nightmares is something that we know from experience. No one has the right to ask a public servant to take on a lifelong sentence of nagging doubt, and for some of us, shame and guilt. Should our justice system be causing so much harm to so many people when there is an alternative?  

We urge you to ask the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles to reconsider their decision. Should that fail, we urge  you to unburden yourselves and your staff from the pain of participating in such a questionable execution to the extent possible  by allowing any personnel so inclined to opt-out of activities related to the execution of Troy Anthony Davis. Further, we urge you to provide appropriate counseling to personnel who do choose to perform their job functions related to the execution. If we may be of assistance to you moving forward, please do not hesitate to call upon any of us.

Respectfully and collegially,

Allen Ault – Retired Warden, Georgia Diagnostic & Classifications Prison
Terry Collins – Retired Director, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
Ron McAndrew – Retired Warden, Florida State Prison
Dennis O’Neill - Retired Warden, Florida State Prison
Reginald Wilkinson – Retired Director, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
Jeanne Woodford – Retired Warden, San Quentin State Prison


The actual URL is:

http://www.schr.org/action/resources/corrections_officials_sign_on_for_troy_davis

Letter written by Troy Davis

“To All” – A message from Troy Anthony Davis
by Soa Watch on Wednesday, 21 September 2011 at 15:17
To All:
 
I want to thank all of you for your efforts and dedication to Human Rights and Human Kindness, in the past year I have experienced such emotion, joy, sadness and never ending faith. It is because of all of you that I am alive today, as I look at my sister Martina I am marveled by the love she has for me and of course I worry about her and her health, but as she tells me she is the eldest and she will not back down from this fight to save my life and prove to the world that I am innocent of this terrible crime.
 
As I look at my mail from across the globe, from places I have never ever dreamed I would know about and people speaking languages and expressing cultures and religions I could only hope to one day see first hand. I am humbled by the emotion that fills my heart with overwhelming, overflowing Joy. I can’t even explain the insurgence of emotion I feel when I try to express the strength I draw from you all, it compounds my faith and it shows me yet again that this is not a case about the death penalty, this is not a case about Troy Davis, this is a case about Justice and the Human Spirit to see Justice prevail.
 
I cannot answer all of your letters but I do read them all, I cannot see you all but I can imagine your faces, I cannot hear you speak but your letters take me to the far reaches of the world, I cannot touch you physically but I feel your warmth everyday I exist.
 
So Thank you and remember I am in a place where execution can only destroy your physical form but because of my faith in God, my family and all of you I have been spiritually free for some time and no matter what happens in the days, weeks to come, this Movement to end the death penalty, to seek true justice, to expose a system that fails to protect the innocent must be accelerated. There are so many more Troy Davis’. This fight to end the death penalty is not won or lost through me but through our strength to move forward and save every innocent person in captivity around the globe. We need to dismantle this Unjust system city by city, state by state and country by country.
 
I can’t wait to Stand with you, no matter if that is in physical or spiritual form, I will one day be announcing,
 
“I AM TROY DAVIS, and I AM FREE!”
 
Never Stop Fighting for Justice and We will Win!
 
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Last Words

I'm sure no one reading this will be surprised that the last words I am quoting come from Troy Davis, spoken yesterday evening.


Final words

Davis' final words are reported as follows:
“ I'd like to address the MacPhail family. Let you know, despite the situation you are in, I'm not the one who personally killed your son, your father, your brother. I am innocent. The incident that happened that night is not my fault. I did not have a gun. All I can ask ... is that you look deeper into this case so that you really can finally see the truth. I ask my family and friends to continue to fight this fight. For those about to take my life, God have mercy on your souls. And may God bless your souls.[124] ”

From Wikipedia

I am shocked that Anmesty petitions, even a message from the Pope, plus all the other requests were not enough to change the minds of those responsible. I wonder who the legal system in Georgia is accountable to. Maybe to the voters in Georgia? Who employs them and pays their wages? Authority comes from somewhere and is paid for somehow.

For a few minutes I was a tree

Before we went to the dentist today I decided to imagine what it was like being the life force or soul or tree-ness of a tree. I shut my eyes as trees do not have eyes. I imagined how my branches would shift about and birds would come and go. I thought of the different temperatures in the air by day and night, the heat from the sun and the wind. I didn't think about icy winter though!

It occurred to me that the tree's body as it were, the trunk, bark, leaves would be growing and being shed without any conscious decision from the life of the tree. We do not tell out hair to grow, it just does, so with the leaves.

So the aliveness of the tree was doing nothing as such, apart from constantly being alive, never departing from the tree, always and forever in one spot. Sometimes being listened to by humans who talk to trees, otherwise just being there, ever patient.

I told H on the way to the dentist. He was quite taken by this or tactful. On reflection I had chosen to be deciduous, not an evergreen, a fully grown tree and definitely in England. Funny how such definite choices were made without any moment of conscious choice.

Words of wisdom

Read, reflect and inwardly digest this guidance from those ahead of us on the Home Educating journey.

Each paragraph is like a warm bath or a smile. All those reminders of exactly what this is about. The reasons for the groups and email discussions, late nights and deep breath decisions.

Shouting in the dark

The film showing on Al Jazeera about Bahrain is also available on YouTube.

Seeing a doctor weeping on his desk is heartbreaking.

Seeing the doctor begging for help on the phone takes me back to hearing these desperate calls in the middle of the night on the radio as they were broadcast as part of the news. The news people shared the tapes because they could hear the need and must have known how important it is to break the silence.

You are, have been and will be prayed for, letters have been written for you, links have been shared, Twitter has been overused into the nights.

The same old ghastly tactics of bullying are not special, they have been brought out in all parts of the world. The same old tired denials are nothing new either.

....

I wrote this a few weeks ago, before the film was pulled and people started putting links to it on Twitter. Then I felt embarrassed about publishing this as I am so far away and don't even speak Arabic. But now I feel braver as Bahrain is back on the news, AJE, BBC and SkyNews etc.

Voices and faces

Over this summer I have heard my father I's voice in H's as H calls me on his mobile from upstairs!  I saw my cousin S in T's face, hair and way of holding himself as he sat at the table.

Once my grandfather P told me, as I made a gesture with my hands, that his mother in law, who I never met, used to make that very same gesture.  So that wave of the hand had been transmitted genetically, lain dormant for 2 generations and then surfaced as we were chatting in the hall!

After my grandmother R died I would get a shock when I'd look at myself in the mirror.  I could see the same facial structure and could therefore tell what I might look like once dead.  Hmm.  When I smiled at myself the resemblance would go, so I smile at myself a lot now!  I'm also a bit plumper and that helps me look more lifelike.

Remember the flags being unrolled from the flyovers?

And the YouTube videos of the flag being sewn, the anthem being played from inside shopping bags and the statement being read out in a side street at 90 mph by people bundled up in sunglasses and scarves?

Here is an article about one of the people who did these actions. Guess what, he is from Wales!

Update, 31st August, there is a video too.

Oh My God!

I just heard that expression, with an American accent, from something T is watching on his laptop on the other side of the kitchen table. I instantly thought of that YouTube video of the man with Gaddafi's hat. Am I the only one with this reaction?

Here is the genius-like music video. And here is the wonderful original, watch it to the end.

Shouting at children

In all the coverage of Tripoli I haven't seen a single instance of a parent shouting at their child. What does that say about our culture of violence, stress and disconnection here in the UK?

T and H have fled the room

They have finally had enough of the coverage. I am glued and explain that it is so important to watch. While I try to listen to the words they chat loudly about armalite and are looking at airsoft sites. I say, but this is the real thing, this is why people actually fight, see how they react and what they say. See their faces, read the joy and relief. Imagine if we'd been under occupation for 42 years and had only just been freed.

Just waiting for the car horns

It looks like this is it for Tripoli, gun shots, shouts, car horns....twitter going mad.

More shouting, I wish the interview on Skynews would stop so I can hear properly.

Yes, it is clear now.

Pink, black and green

I'm wearing pink (red), black and green as a gesture of support for the events in Libya. Feeling tired after being up on Twitter til 2am. I really didn't feel comfortable seeing the journalist reporting from the Rixos, knowing that any moment things could get very nasty for them. Then I didn't feel comfortable about just going to sleep, but decided it was a good thing to do, even though it is like switching off a problem, too easy and wrong.

The smile on the face of the Libyan ambassador just now speaking in London outside the embassy. It's lovely to see emotion showing through on the face of a person in a role like that.

Antidote

I took up the offer of being prayed for in the street in Wallingford today. It took me a little while to work out that I had a problem I could offer. Then I beetled through the rain to see if the people had closed for the day. Not quite... It was good to stand there in a little circle and share my issue, then be prayed for. I had a big smile on my face.

1 Min - Special

This is just the right topic for today. I have just been on facebook and found a link to a retreat organised specially for war photographers. Why is it that we need beauty and order even in our photos of war? Is it that the photographer's eye finds some visual meaning and balance in a situation we would be scared by? It is a vocation to be a witness to whatever happens next.

1 Min - Priorities

This makes me think of Come Dine With Me, some people plan an entertainment or game as a focus for the evening and some people are concerned with the details on the table and their make up.

Can you tell one of our priorities is watching this wonderful programme from the beginning each time, so as not to miss a word?

This is wierd

I was having a browse around the web reading up about Ramadan, finding out that no drinking was part of it too, wondering at the Arctic Circle issues, looking at the photos from round the world including the man sitting on a pavement in new Delhi under his umbrella, reading carefully.

And it hit me, dawned on me if you like, what a good feeling it is to know that so many others are having a special time and are sharing it on Twitter so I can see and be glad too. It's a bit like smiling at someone with a new baby, I'm glad for them, but am aware that it is their turn for special time, not mine. The happiness spreads all round though.

Wise passiveness

Here is a link to some quotations from Charlotte Mason's books. Take what you need from it, obviously. I'm taking the phrase "wise passiveness" because that is what I find works for our house at the moment.

Shivering

I've just realised what it is about this book I am finishing: it is written from the grandchild's viewpoint, or great niece's. That is what resonates for me.

Maybe this book will open a dialogue which is more open, less intense, less personal, less impossible than the conversation between me as a 21 year old and my great aunt of 70 or so. Asking 'What was it like?', and there being no possible answer beyond a mention of being made to queue naked, making friends for life and the message of her still being alive being passed to her parents by, I believe, a young man who used to work for the father.

I think I have been reading horror stories all my life in preparation for learning more: Solzhenitsyn, Vietnam.

I used to think that the military history section in WH Smiths was deeply odd! Now I think that books establishing the facts again and again is a basis for other types of reflection. It is a speaking of the truth, a refusal to be silenced, a part of our freedom here in the UK.

It is called The Invisible Bridge, written by Julie Orringer.

Giving up swearing

I have been shamed into giving up swearing by the high standard of English on the twitter streams I follow. Disclaimer, I can't read the Arabic, so I'm only assuming that it's clean too... If people in such circumstances can keep it clean, then maybe it's time for me to do some moral housekeeping.

When I have let out the odd swear word since giving it up it feels odd and unusually violent and pointless. Generally I say, hmm, I have given up swearing, so I need a moment to put this differently. I can see it coming and try to find a better way.

It certainly doesn't mean that I have a new blind love for deceit, lying and other things which used to rile me to bad language. I'm just being a bit more Norwegian or Twitter-ish about my dislike, disapproval and protest.

Oh where did my trust go?

I'm having my own moment of consumer madness, I looked up 'riots' on Twitter and found so many links to blog posts. They are all so interesting and different. It really is like being in a free sweet shop!

This one has some great toes, look and see, plus a reference to a lack of trust in the authorities. I love his last paragraph on what to do now.

I hope the trust issue will be picked up on by more people. A culture of deceit is no good for any of us.

Even now I find it hard to be truthful with myself on what needs doing at home and how long it will take. It is so basic, but I'm still at the beginning of knowing how to deal with things in a realistic way. I default to smiling and saying everything is fine.

In reality we have ivy growing up our walls, a eucalyptus tree has died and one of our wooden garden chairs collapsed last week of old age, nearly hurting someone badly. All these things need to be acknowledged and put in a provisional action plan with a budget. By me, not some mythical house fairy.

Remember the policeman using his shield as a sledge in the snow?

Well, they are multi-functional: a tea tray and great tool for raising morale!

Keep Calm and Get Your Broom

I love the footage of everyone out clearing up the streets and shops.

The website coordinating cleanups is beautifully designed too! Apparently somewhere passengers were shaking the hands of nearby police as they went into a tube station.

#OperationCupOfTea on Twitter is a good antidote to all the drama, it reminds me of the Libyan Freedom tea YouTube clips earlier in the year.

My parents and brother live in London so I hope it all calms down physically, though shooting a man after following the taxi he was in sounds like an odd way of keeping the peace. That and kettling are unpopular tactics any day.

There is so much to take in and so many comments to read. A lot of English (not UK) life seems to be revealed through this, the good and the bad. It's like a snapshot of how things are plus the innards of our system laid bare, for example the detail that pretty much all of the indie music stocks went up in flames, and the sight of the old man beside the burnt out building of his company with his son standing right there.

My last random thought is that the guidance at the end of this blog post might help things.

What's new? Oh, it's us....

I looked on the news channel, expecting to see shootings in Syria, instead I saw filming from a helicopter not that far from where we used to live in Hackney, East London.

It's a bit of a shock to be centre stage on Al Jazeera!

When T came into the kitchen my advice was that if he were ever caught up in looting, for goodness sake do all he can to prevent people from starting fires. Looting is ethically bad, but fires are so very dangerous, just don't.

I have just been on Twitter and see that we are the light entertainment via the hashtag 'londonBHstyle'. To the West down the M4 I have Ian Henderson's estate and to the East I have London. I hope the harvest and the sheep round here don't attract attention.

Living in a vicarage

The odd thing about this old vicarage is that there is no obvious chapel or holy corner. I would have thought that an oratory was about the only obvious room to have in such a house. It doesn't feel any different from our other houses either, none of which has had a prayer place.

Only 2 of my 7 educational institutions had a chapel, The Cavendish School and Trevelyan College, Durham. I think it is a special and wonderful thing to have a quiet, dedicated space for this.

One household I visited had an oratory with an exercise bike in it. I didn't go in or even put my head around the door. I wish I had now.

We have a falling down old stable in the back garden. It is a great place to sit and experience feelings with just the bird song and insects for company. It is dusty, cold, uncomfortable and wild. It is my favourite place in this household.

Google English

I have been using Google Translate to have a go at understanding text in Arabic. I have to say that only the poetically inclined can get through the garble of English that comes out after the translation process. It is infinitely better than nothing, since I can only read French and German, and just 2 words of Arabic. I am grateful, but I'm just saying how very far away it is from accurate, clear, simple, direct translation.

This is the story I read today for example. It is hard to read on all levels, but it is important to try.

2064 and 2065

It feels like leaving Earth's orbit, yesterday's numbers for my 1000 Gifts book were the years when I and then my younger brother will or would be 100 years old. I am now into uncharted territory.

Sandstone

I have just found out that sandstone is made from the desert sand formed on the first landmass as it moved up from where the South Atlantic is now, past where South Africa is now, to the Equator. Sand = sandstone. Simple really, but all my life I had no idea about this!

Learn Nothing Day

Every year the 24th July is Learn Nothing Day, which is impossible by the way!

So, what happened on that day for us? I found out that those red and green berries which grow on a thick stalk are thriving at this time of year; T found out about Khan Academy via a TED talk; H found out how melatonin helps with his sleep cycle; and I found out what the King and Queen of Norway look like and how beautiful the singing is in their Cathedral.

All nostalgic for the Lego years!

I have just come across a photo from 2007 of T and H sitting on the rug in our Toy Room (sitting room) in a sea of Lego and smiling. Time is flying right past me.

Forgetting

I found a great site all about meditation. As I read some of the articles I realised that it has been a while since I did any meditation or mindful anything at all. How could I forget something so important? Very easily!

Here is the link: www.deerparkmonastery.org

Intense, important work

After 3 1/2 years of home education it is the right time for me to look back to the year leading up to the moment of deregistration. Every few days I read more pages from that year, surprisingly lucid notes, mainly written in an unusually readable hand.

One day a Big Issue seller asked me if I was alright. Kind, blessed stranger who could see things clearly.

While I am doing this all is quiet in the household. We are on a super long summer because GCSEs finished for T weeks ago and H is around all the time anyway. Tackling this task has been no hard task, I knew I wanted to do it some time. I knew there is no structured format for doing this with others, so I have the freedom to do it in my own time.

My learning style involves making notes and putting information in categories, preferably by month or year. I like to analyse freely, using my own headings. I need lots of time away from the analysing to let my mind settle.

I look forward to feeling lighter when I know why things turned out the way they did. I may find that the sequence of events was not as I have remembered it. This is the first time I have gone back in time to that year in a systematic way. I may find that my blame is placed differently. Maybe even replaced with understanding.

Sore eyes

I get so uncomfortable reading any blog with white text on a black background. T told me how to  reverse the colours:

Press ctrl/alt/the apple button next to it, then press 8. What a difference! Do the same to reverse the colours back again.

Hansard

I feel really proud when I see chunks of Hansard quoted around the internet. I have seen 2 today; one for home education and one for Bahrain.

Rebooting process

I find I need to reboot my thinking every day: what am I working towards, what is the point, will it work, etc? Is there a way to bypass this recreation of a whole way of thinking each day and start each day at the point I left off the day before?

Famous Last Words

...but my 2 boys like being in the same house as each other. Home is not a dirty word. We mill around and eat stuff. We all get loads of free time on our own to read/play/watch what we want. We go into the rooms where the others are every so often and chat, but apart from that we are a social free zone.

Seriously, when was there last a humdinger of an argument, with slammed doors and all that???

We do have very late nights and very late mornings, which helps!

Gosh, what planning!

Here is how to menu plan, complete with photos. I want to move in with her right away and hang around in the kitchen waiting to be given tasks like chopping onions, stirring or changing the channel on the radio.

Have fun trying to read her writing in the pictures...

Early alarm beeps

Between now and the 15th June there are only 2 days when T and I will have to get up really early.....wonderful.....Then I'm not sure what happens between then and the end of term. After that there are weeks of summer holidays....which means more late mornings = bliss.

Housewife and mother

It means I have a library of books close at hand, the whirr of the washing machine coming through the doorway and the opportunity to eat my favourite foods every single day.

If the children are ill I just settle in for the duration until they are well again and snatch sleep when I can.

The cat from next door stops me from doing useful tasks by wanting to fall asleep on my lap, so eventually I give in and let her sleep, sprawled and peaceful.

It was not a peaceful existence when the children were little, it was the absolute opposite, I don't know how I survived, or how they did, I was so aggressive and pushy, getting to places on time and making things happen. I went to meetings and made them come shopping with me. We went on tiring trips to visit relatives and I was trying so hard to do what other people thought was correct.

I was so easily upset by others' comments and criticisms. Now I try to judge people by what they say and do, rather than let myself be judged by them.....The next step will be to just watch it and let it go like each day's weather or like people who comment underneath YouTube videos, some I agree with and some I really don't.

Now we chat when we want to and our house is peaceful. There are frictions of course, but they are our own frictions, which makes all the difference.

The jangling of keys

It meant 'time to go' and was used in the Czechoslovak 'Velvet Revolution' uprising back in 1989. It seems such a long time ago now.  

Yossarian's logic

'They're trying to kill me,' Yossarian told him calmly.
'No one's trying to kill you,' Clevinger cried.
'Then why are they shooting at me?' Yossarian asked.
'They are shooting at everyone,' Clevinger answered. 'They're trying to kill everyone.'
'And what difference does that make?'...

'...but Yossarian had proof, because strangers he didn't know shot at him with cannons every time he flew up into the air to drop bombs on them, and it wasn't funny at all.'

chapter 3, Catch-22
Joseph Heller

Almost overnight the Glorious Loyalty Oath Crusade was in full flower

"Without realising how it had come about, the combat men in the squadron discovered themselves dominated by the administrators appointed to serve them. They were bullied, insulted, harassed and shoved about all day long by one after the other. When they voiced objection, Captain Black replied that people who were loyal would not mind signing all the loyalty oaths they had to. To anyone who questioned the effectiveness of the loyalty oaths, he replied that people who really did owe allegiance to their country would be proud to pledge it as often as he forced them to. And to anyone who questioned the morality, he replied that 'The Star-Spangled Banner' was the greatest piece of music ever composed. The more loyalty oaths a person signed, the more loyal he was, and he had Corporal Kolodny sign hundreds with his name each day so that he could always prove he was more loyal than anyone else.

'The important thing is to keep them pledging,' he explained to his cohorts. It doesn't matter whether they mean it or not. That's why they make little kids pledge allegiance even before they know what 'pledge' and 'allegiance' mean."

chapter 11, Catch-22
Joseph Heller

Gold, resin and onyx...land, rivers, a garden...

"A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates."

Genesis chapter 2, verses 10-14
The Old Testament

1 Min - Fire

Every few years my big focus changes. Just now I'm all fired up over Bahrain in particular and human rights in general. First it was breastfeeding, then I moved on to home education and autism. I haven't yet acquired the heap of books which have come along with each passion. This firing up is all internet based.

Ian Henderson and Adel Flaifel

Google both names to find out more. Not good.

Saudi women protesting

This American interview speaks of the great importance of the women in the Middle East who are marching and speaking up for their rights.

Quaker Meeting

I haven't been for several months now, but last Sunday I was in the mood. It is so simple, sitting (somewhat uncomfortably) and being with others who are also just sitting in silence. Sometimes I keep my eyes shut, sometimes I look right out of the window ahead of me.

There has been a change since last time I went, a loud cockerel was crowing every 3 minutes of so. No one spoke, but we never know that until the whole of the hour has passed, so at every shift I go on alert wondering what that person will say, then they just change their sitting position. When I recross my legs or move my cushion I guess that others are waiting for my wonderful words!!

Afterwards we have notices, which is more fun than it sounds, then get up and chat over tea or coffee. It is special because I don't have to believe anything at all, or verbalise agreement to anything, I'm free to just sit in the company of others.

1 Min - Early, late or on time?

I used to be late for everything, even once I was at work. I wanted to be welcomed into the office if I came in before 9am, but there was no chat or friendliness as far as I could perceive if I did.

I decided to get to places before the set time when my children were roughly mid/late primary school age. I worked out that in order to chat to other parents and also give my full attention to my children when they came out of the building I would have to be there early. It works really well and I still enjoy pre-event chat times now.

What does it say about me? That I don't pick up on these things intuitively, I have to work it out intellectually or find it out by reading an explanation by someone kind enough to put it clearly.

Oslo Freedom Forum

Live stream and video clips here. I am very lucky to be an English speaker and that this forum is being conducted in English, so I can follow it easily.

Wedding flowers

These are so much more beautiful in real life, I keep on moving the vase to different places. There are blues, pinks and white from bluebells, forget me not, aquilegia, campion and something lovely I found in my mother in law's garden today.

I put another bouquet down by our drive way with queen anne's lace, honesty and campion.

What a day! Just lovely to have a fun day with slightly too much Pimms....We all wound up on Google trying to find out 'what Harry said to William'. No one had managed to lip read it by then.

Knock me down with a feather!

H
Car journey
Radio 4
Kathleen Ferrier
How do you know about her?
I read a lot online
You just read Twitter

Friday Fiction - Steel

I am a steel joist way up high in a building in New York. Now I am hidden, but I was snapped as I swung through the air many years ago. That photograph is part of the history of my country now.

When the storms howl past in the winters I hear the creaking and groaning in the upper stories of this building. I shift slightly and flex.

In the hot summers I heat up and expand with the others, just a bit, just enough to acknowledge nature and the seasons.

I cannot see into my future. When will I relax into a molten furnace again and become my next selves? I must wait and just be myself until change carries me elsewhere.

More tears, so moving

I read out some of the description of the service to T, but couldn't continue, just passed my laptop over for him to read the rest.

And here too, the groups of tall candles remind me of the orthodox way of putting candles in trays of sand, all at slightly different angles to each other.

Iran

Iran has been busy today. I have had 8 hits all at once from there. The US is having a day off from internet sweeping, not a single hit today, most unusal for them!

A while back Taiwan hit me 23 times in one day...

1 Min - Trash/Treasure

It's odd that 99% of the items in my house I am still giving space to are things I deep down just want to get rid of. I love the way the cat from next door has no possessions at all, just her body, mind and soul, all wrapped up in one. When did we humans start to drown in stuff?

1 Min - Judge

I am putting a lot of links about Bahrain, Libya and other political issues on Facebook at the moment. I am making a judgement that the people who dislike this will 'hide' me and one or two will read the links.

So that's why!

The reason why I never got into 'Two Gentlemen of Verona' was because T started coming home much  more often on the earliest train. I would drive down to the station to pick him up and he'd be there already. That had been my reading slot in the day.

So when term begins again I'll simply aim to be there 15 mins earlier than before so I get my reading time back.

1 Min - Fail

When I took my driving test I knew that if I failed it I wouldn't be able to afford more lessons. I was so very pleased when I passed!

Time

I have a useful phrase: "It might take a few days, weeks, months or years."

It is my antidote to the comments about how a new skill can be grafted onto a child over a few well-planned days. Ha! is what I say. Other people's timing is nearly never the same as mine.

The hard part for me is getting to the point where I have forgotten that I am supposed to ensure skill x,y or z is part of the child's way of life.

From then on life is easy until the lovely time when they suggest the idea themselves and I think "Wow!" and give myself a virtual gold mothering medal.

Ring

The ringing of church bells after midnight mass on Christmas Eve. I used to hope and hope it wouldn't wake up the children just when I needed to put the stockings in their rooms.....tip toe, creak, tip toe, creak!!

Fast4Libya

Yay! I did it, just about to nibble a date. First time for me. I had the times written in biro on my hand.

Relief

I felt gradual relief as news came through bit by bit that Iman Al Obeidi was still alive in Libya.

Summit

I don't feel the need to get to the summit of a hill. I prefer to get to a sheltered, comfortable spot where I can feel the breeze, the hot sun and read my book in peace!

1 Min - Animal

When I look at animals or birds I try to appreciate their seeming ability to enjoy the sunshine and to do the work they need to do. A blackbird and I looked at each other this morning. She had a worm in her mouth, but she took a moment to stand still and look back at me also standing still.

Part 2

Actually the first thing I thought of when I saw the word animal was that logo in a special font which is on the back of 4 x 4 cars and clothing. I have absolutely no idea of what it connects to and it is refreshing to be utterly disconnected from something's meaning. A bit like looking at Arabic, I see it, but I get none of it!

1 Min - Wierd

I always misread that word as 'wired', perhaps because we used to have a lot of wires and cables in this house.

Long hot summer

Does anyone else have that feeling that it's going to be a long, hot, uncomfortable summer of freedom fighting and campaigning?

If so, how to pace oneself? How to focus on specific issues and let the rest go so I can stay attentive to my own household? I spend a lot of time online and need to pull away a bit.

Being in a free country with a 'vote them in, then vote them out again' arrangement means having a greater range of action without risking life and limb or the safety of family. Having that option also brings with it an obligation to consider using that freedom for others who can't at the moment.

Someone wrote how they feel that their action is so tiny, like one pebble when a wall is needed, yet as Bishop Tutu once said in Durham to the whole market place from the town balcony, 'Everything you do matters', not sure of the exact wording, but it's direct and encouraging!

I had a relative who was taken away in the middle of the night and held for a year or two back in WW2. She certainly enjoyed her life afterwards, water skiing and the South of France, but I'm not up to reading about her camp in Germany yet. Even reading the titles on the spines of the books in the Imperial War Museum bookshop made me wary of even touching them and I'm a lot older now than she was during her incarceration.

Friday Fiction - Battery

We used to live to the north east of a shed of battery chickens. The smell was bad! But the wind blew in from the south west.

One day I moved into fiction land and went into the building, dressed in black, reduced in size to a 2 inch wiggly rat like guerilla. Inside I found a rather lovely library and oasis of peace. Hidden from the world and well disguised by the machine pumping out foul smells to deter visitors. It was a work place for the British Secret Service, less like Bond and more like my ideal home!

And what did I do with my new-found knowledge....absolutely nothing. I crept away, leaving them to their dastardly deeds. Back to the land of real and onwards to buy a house several miles away, have my children and land up on my own blog.

And that is the end of my mini story.

I Min - Crash

All I remember is snapshots from one second apart and the happy feeling of knowing the car was not going down the slope towards the motorway. We stopped on the grass in the middle of the roundabout.

Symbol

How to create an image which can be recognised anywhere: a supporter of Ai Wei Wei created this woodcut design based on the porcelain sunflower seeds shown at the Tate Modern.

1 Min - Ask

I think of those phone calls from doctors and others, asking, begging for help. Listening to the news at night, learning what those voices sound like.

Meal in a box

Genius! This blogger has a photo of how she puts the ingredients for each meal in a separate box in her fridge. If it works for her it could work for anyone. Visual boxes probably work a lot better than written lists.

Enough posts for one day??

1 Min - Move

Move house, move my furniture, move like in 5R or CI, move mountains!!

Labyrinth

Here is an online labyrinth. I haven't tried it yet, but I put it here for others to consider.

You can light virtual candles too, they last for 48 hours.

1 Min - Harder/Easier

I think this is about fighting something or accepting how it is and doing something about it minus the 'it shouldn't be like this' thoughts. Zen-ish approach.

1 Min - Problem

Eeek...I solved a big problem by altering my desk heaps. Now my top priority heap concerns money. That's it!

Fishing

'"He is two feet longer than the skiff," the old man said. The line was going out fast but steadily and the fish was not panicked. The old man was trying with both hands to keep the line just inside of breaking strength. He knew that if he could not slow the fish with a steady pressure the fish could take out all the line and break it.

He is a great fish and I must convince him, he thought. I must never let him learn his strength nor what he could do if he made his run. If I were him I would put in everything now and go until something broke. But, thank God, they are not as intelligent as we who kill them; although they are more noble and more able.'

from 'The Old Man and the Sea'
by Ernest Hemingway

Nettle soup time

Here is a recipe for potato, onion and nettle soup. I dare myself to make it. Add a comment if you have the daringness to make this too.

Rapes of journalists working for us all

Sometimes one group is able to speak out to protect another. I am not a journalist, I do not work abroad in dangerous countries and I am not working in the field to get information out to the mainstream media about shifting political situations.

Since I am safely at home in the UK I will blog this link to a page written about rape of female journalists, maybe men have this horror too. Blessings to them all and a secure recovery with people they trust and who love them.

Hotel California

'You can check out any time you like,
But you can never leave!'

The proposed (and being slipped in by the back door) 20 school day waiting period between deregistering and the child's name being taken off the roll made me think of this song. Sorry to be flippant about such a serious topic and I do realise that 20 days isn't never.

Go to the Badman Review Action Group for further discussion and actions. It is on yahoo groups, search under that name. Join for the first time or start paying attention again to the digests piling up in your inbox.

Counting good things

Last year sometime I read about the concept of counting up to 1000 gifts, ie good things that I see each day. It was from Ann Voskamp's blog, inspired by a dare from a helpful friend of hers and probably a tool many have used over the eons in different ways.

It was odd getting to the magic 4 digit number and realising the obvious, I'm now carrying on with numbering through dates like 1066. I'm still in the second millenium. I may alter to simply doing a list for each day after I hit 2011.

Each year S is given a massive tome of a desk diary by a generous company. It is exactly right for me. I used to use it to note narrations, ie things T and H told me about, a doable version of the Charlotte Mason narration technique. It also held nature observations, but now it is just for 'things I am grateful for' last thing at night.

To counter gratitude I am still working on a daytime alternate version, a problems book, where each problem can be numbered and given a page where I note ideas for tackling it. For me this is a way of being real about the not so good aspects of life and giving them a home rather than worrying around them and carrying them in my head all my waking hours.

It took time for me to learn how the gratitude book worked best for me and it is still taking time for me to find the best way of using my problem book. At the moment I am in a non action phase with it, but I know that when I come back to it I will have moved on in some way and will be closer to using it well for me or finding a different method.

Power Of Facebook

Go and join this Facebook group to support Iman Al-Obeidi and call for her release.

Our beautiful lambs

As I drove past the field a few days ago I saw a mother ewe with one lamb snuggled up on the ground next to her and the other happily and neatly sitting up on her mother's back. I swear the ewe was smiling!

Another time I drove past and saw the little pink ears lit up from behind by the afternoon sun.

It is a miracle we cars get past in one piece, I keep on looking out of the window and slowing down.

Eye witness account

From the FT magazine this weekend, page 25, article written by David Pilling:

'The last person I speak to in the evacuation centre is Tomoya Kumagai, a 58-year-old fisherman who had been on his boat when the earthquake struck. "The boat always rocks, of course. But when there's a big earthquake, the water moves differently," he explains. "You get these triangular-type, jagged waves. I knew it was a big one. So I headed back to the dock."

  Mr Kumagai found his wife and mother-in-law and drove them to safety. From a hill, he saw everything clearly. He gives me the most vivid description of the tsunami I have heard yet. "The first wave was about seven metres tall," he says. "It didn't make it over the defence wall. But then it sucked out to sea and it came in a second time. The amount of water doubled and it broke the wall. It came in many times after that, four big ones. Once the water came onto the land, it didn't flow back because more kept pouring in from the ocean." '

Our own HE meet up

Our town now has a fortnightly swimming pool meet up for home educating families. I even met someone I used to know maybe 8-10 years ago and she is home educating too. So that was a wonderful surprise.

I am very grateful for the public resource of a pool plus a cafe with a big car park. I now have my eye on the arts centre in the town. It has an art gallery, cafe and nearby free parking.... I wonder if anyone else fancies a meet up there from time to time?

March

From the chapter on March:

'The great spotted woodpecker - a completely medieval bird, like a joker, or a jester with mask, cap and bells. The black and white skullcap, the deep red velvet tail. the barred, flamboyant costume and the outsized conk of a beak, absurdly vigorous in its hammering. How on earth does it stabilize its brain?

from 'Notes from Walnut Tree Farm'
by Roger Deakin

Warm weather

Warm weather means all sorts of bees finding their way into our house. I see them on the floor and gently slip them onto a piece of paper and take them outside. Sometimes they start moving, which is heartening. Even if they have died, I think it is better for them to decompose in nature, where they came from, rather than in a landfill site.

In a bad mood

I should be full of the joys of spring, what with daffodils out at the front of the house where I planted them in the autumn and the tiny white lambs in the field.

If I do watch the news, it's bad, and if I don't, I feel I should have been paying attention. What my viewing will ever do to help I don't know.

One thing which jumped out at me was the recurring wish and need of people to be able to *do* something.

As H has his own plans and interests I am rather out of the picture and doing the laundry and washing up only takes so much time. I may resort to planting some seeds and getting my own gardening therapy going.

Boring

Chatting with T in the car coming back from school. So glad we live in the boring old UK, no earthquakes, no gun toting dictators, no extreme religion. Location, location, location is all.

Tuesday was or will be Science

I have been engrossed in Brian Keenan, so have skirted around my little heap of science books. I'll take them up to bed with me!

I read a few days ago that the 3 year mark is when HE parents often hit a wall. Maybe I have, maybe I haven't. Anyway whatever I hit, it provoked me to find some **structure**, because while H busies himself all day long, I need a plan to keep sane.

My plan has boiled down to a topic a day and I have laid out the books for each one in a heap on a table. 7 heaps for 7 days in the week. With any luck this will lead to more purposive conversation and more interesting topics in my home ed tracking diary.

So far today our discussions have not covered Alaska in any shape or form (or science!), but they did take in an Amnesty International booklet which was lying on the kitchen table. H had a browse through it while I laptopped and surreptitously ate bits of apple, we discussed the fact that it described the various campaigns they are working on and I suggested he look at the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at the back. He read out the one about legal remedies and so we discussed that.

Monday was Geography

So I spent it with Brian Keenan in Alaska, starting his book about going there with his family to explore.

GCSE run up

This is involving retail therapy on Amazon. Revision guides plus books to read. How can I say no to such reasonable and admirable requests? School fees are just the start! It's all in a very good cause though and I'm glad to be asked.

Today

Book day for T at his school, so I sent him off with a signed form agreeing to lots of book buying, plus some cash to top it up with. He is such a keen book person, he came back with Catch-22 amongst other things and made a tower of his unread books!

HE review day. I sent off my written review of the whole of 2010 for H. I'm worried that I have included details which maybe I should have not included. Here's my advice: sit down and read though your review, delete anything which bugs you in any sense at all. Then do this the next day too. Only then send it off by post.

This is one of the massive down sides to home ed, the underlying worry which never goes away. H is 13 and so I have 3 more years of this. After that the LA won't care about his education and won't be on our case. We will care of course, irony of ironies, and we will fund it willingly until he is about 21 or so in all likelihood. He will care about his education too and will pursue it as he does now, day in day out, term time and holiday time.

Minecraft has arrived

We have a new game in our house. If you dig down too far you get to the lava layer. This doesn't seem too bad until you realise that you can dig anywhere you want but you can never leave. So then it is time to respawn and start again!

At night, real time, the stars come out. I wonder when the sun comes up in its morning.

Here's a surprise

BBC Parliament channel (81) is covering more and more of the world...it's now stretching to the US, with a budget discussion. Maybe it's meant to be any parliament now, not just our UK Parliaments/Assemblies?? I did wonder what was going on for a moment!

Mini-holiday

I have:

Been to Yo Sushi! for lunch
Been to the Pitt Rivers museum
Walked around the huge tree stumps from Africa in the mud
Got myself the History of the World in 100 Objects
Visited the De/Install exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art
Found a hat shop with black top hats in the Covered Market
Had rhubarb and raspberry cake 

and am now resting after a busy holi-day.

Good habits

The moment I blog about a new and good habit it disappears, so I will be good privately from now on. 'Pride comes before a fall' is so true!

My cup runneth over

T quoted this to me today, or I did to him, as his hot chocolate splurged all over the sides of the mug and we took out the glass plate to clean it.

I explained it was from the Bible, (mind you it doesn't sound Shakespearean, hymn-ly or nursery rhyme-ish so it just couldn't be from anywhere else!) and it seems we are creeping ever closer to actually opening ....The Book Itself.... to see what great stories and quotes lie within.

News/Al Jazeera/Change

T and H have been unsettled by the news I have been watching.

Now the tv is off down here in the kitchen and sitting room. I want to follow what is happening, but they don't. I should have thought of that.

Now I catch up on a blog which is frequently updated, so they don't see or hear anything.

Larry, the new insider at number 10

We have been chuckling at the film of that big rat trotting past Number 10 during the news! The FT has started a column written from Larry the cat's point of view.