LEGIS CANTIO CONTRA INEPTOS CRITICOS

It looks like someone didn't appreciate my little rant against the attention-seeking media whore in a local rag and wrote in to complain.

It was fascinating to read Sir C4's scatter-gun and ill-informed diatribe against MP Adam Price, Plaid, the European Union, Cuba and Carmarthenshire Council (Carmarthen Journal, March 12).

I trust his BA (Hons.) thesis was better researched and better presented.

Those of us who wish to be citizens of an independent Wales want our own membership of the EU and our own seat at the United Nations.

In this, we follow the pattern set by the Republic of Ireland as one of the most successful and prosperous nations in Europe, yet still independent, because they have embraced the realities of the 21st Century. None of this is anti-English; I am an Englishman who chooses to live and work in this country.

I wonder if Sir C4' has even visited Cuba, toured the country and met the people as I have.

Yes, there is a concentration camp on the island, where people are incarcerated without charge, without trial, and without access to lawyers, and are subject to the torture that is officially sanctioned by Washington. It is the American base at Guantanamo Bay.

If Sir C4' is reluctant to go to Cuba, he could visit Florida where five Cuban citizens, Rene Gonzalez, Antonio Guerrero, Gerardo Hernandez, Fernando Gonzalez and Ramon Labinino, have been imprisoned in Miami for the past nine years, following a travesty of a trial, which had little to do with justice but a lot to do with US politics.

I would be happy to furnish Sir C4', or anyone else, with full details of the plight of the Miami Five, and anything else that may open closed minds.

Philip D Whitehead
Foelgastell
Cross Hands

Oh dear, I've hurt the feelings of a poor little left-wing hippy. Here is my retort:

I would like to thank Mr. Philip Whitehead for his reply (Journal, March 26) to my previous letter (Journal, March 12). I feel honoured and privileged that he took the time to defend the indefensible.

Does any rational person actually believe that the Irish Republic (or Britain for that matter) is at present a truly independent country within the European Union when it has been the openly stated goal of the EU in all it’s guises over the past fifty-one years to bring about a ever-closer economic, military and political union all the continent’s nations? The EU is the fulfilment of Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolf Hitler’s shared dream of a sinister European Super-state; an Orwellian nightmare that if it is allowed to usurp our time-honoured traditions of liberty and justice, will reduce our human rights and living standards to those of Cuba (or worse still, North Korea).

I am well aware of the harm Guantanamo Bay does to its inmates and America’s reputation as the self-proclaimed leader of the Free World. I’m also sure that Mr. Whitehead would agree with me that American sanctions against Cuba (as well as Iraq and North Korea among others) have been counter-productive, as the political leadership have exploited them to further entrench their power at the expense of the people whilst simultaneously making America the scapegoats for the hardships of the citizenry.

However, despite these serious injustices and the plight of the Miami Five, the crimes against humanity committed by the Castro clan, Ernesto "Che" Guevara and their cronies cannot be overlooked or excused. Cuba viciously represses dissent against the regime, tortures and executes its people (particular minority groups such as homosexuals and until the mid-1990s, Christians) and exported mass-murder and terrorism to Central and South America, Africa and the rest of the Caribbean during the Cold War. I’m also sure that despite the rights or wrongs of what has happened to the Miami Five, they have been treated far better than poor Normando Hernández González and the fifty-eight other journalists imprisoned in Cuba.

It’s for that reason that I wouldn’t want to visit Cuba or any other third-world socialist hellhole like Venezuela, Zimbabwe and China (though I must confess a certain perverse curiosity to pay a visit to the Stalinist museum / death camp known as North Korea). Yet I can understand how hard it is for apologists like Mr. Whitehead to remove their rose-tinted spectacles (circa 1960s) and realise that all the socialist dogma they consumed with their mothers’ milk was a fatal conceit for billions of people during the last century and still is for over a billion souls to this day. He and his ilk have my pity, the organ grinders of tyranny will have to eat the metaphorically lead of my trusty scatter-gun.

P.S.: LEGIS CANTIO CONTRA INEPTOS CRITICOS.
(Incantation of the law against inept critics.)

Brilliant, don't you agree?!? Only a women's reserve team goalkeeper for Romford Hockey Club could get the better of "Mr. Marmite".

Roars Of Silence Heard In Rose Hill, Oxfordshire

Despite the scandal of the Home Secretary Jacqui "Smith" Spliff attempting to deport gays and lesbians back to certain arrest, torture and execution in Islamofascist Iran, there is been no word of condemnation against Spliff's actions by the supposedly lesbian Labour Councillor for Rose Hill, Oxfordshire, Antonia Bance.

Could it be that little Miss Bance just doesn't give a damn about LGBT rights? Is she in fact a faux-lesbian?!? Or is it that Antonia cares more about "Working Towards The Führer" than standing up her princples (if she has any, other than the pursuit of absolute power for her tribe). I bet that if it was a Tory or Liberal Democrat Home Secretary that was deporting homosexuals to Iran, we would have had day after day of blog posts from Miss Bance expressing her righteous indignation at the "baby-eating homophobes".

This sort of hypocrisy is a typical play from the Gospel According To St. Terry Kelly. There are two morals to draw from Miss Bance's deafening silence:

1) It's okay to deport homosexuals back to their deaths in Iran and Cuba, so long as it is done by the Labour party.

2) If you're a gay or lesbian fighting against deportation back to a country that will kill you because of your sexual orientation, don't count on any support from Antonia Bance.

Israel Is Evil (According To Terry Kelly)

I sometimes wonder if the infamous Cllr Terry Kelly lives on the same planet as the rest of us. Take this question I asked him for example:

"Are you aware that Israel is the only true democray in the Middle East, surrounded by half-a-dozen Arab and Islamic dictatorships that would love nothing more than finish what Hitler started (not that they would admit to there being a holocaust in the first place)?

Under those circumstances, Israel has every right to defend itself against such aggression."

However, the self-appointed champion of the Palestinian people sees it differently:

"I can’t see anything or anyone in the Middle East that comes anywhere near the crimes committed by Israel."

This remark though has me questioning his sanity:

"They are not a good advert for democracy, they are the cause of the problem ."

And Cuba is?!?

The Price Of Hypocrisy

I have just sent off this letter to two of my local rags:

My friends and I are extremely concerned about the judgement and philosophy of our MP Adam Price. While Mr. Price is to be commended for trying to impeach Tony Blair and for putting Carmarthenshire on the political map, we believe that he seems to be more concerned with developing his own media profile than doing the job he was elected to do and represent us, not himself at Westminster.

Many of Mr. Price’s constituents have found it strange and disappointing that it took him two years to publicly express his opposition to the controversial gas pipeline running though the constituency.

Mr. Price supports his party’s oxymoronic Europe policy, even though it runs contrary to Plaid’s long-term goal of an independent Wales. Does Mr. Price really believe that Welsh lives and issues would be better served in Brussels and Strasburg than they are at present (however imperfectly) in Westminster and Cardiff Bay? An ‘independent’ Wales within the EU isn’t independence at all! Plaid’s policy smacks of anti-English prejudice for it’s own sake rather than a stance based on a conscious, rational process of thought.

Perhaps most disturbingly of all, Mr. Price signed Early Day Motion 982 (February 20) in support of Fidel Castro’s tropical gulag in Cuba. Though Plaid’s leader in Westminster, Elfyn Llwyd’s support for this EDM came as no surprise to me, Mr. Price’s support for an EDM also signed in favour of by controversial figures such as George Galloway and Paul Flynn certain did. Does our MP really believe that liberty and human rights are less important than having supposedly “first-class free healthcare and education provision for the people” and “very good dentistry” as claimed by some other MPs?

Is Mr. Price aware of the plight of journalist Normando Hernández González who has been imprisoned by Castro and his thugs for ‘endangering national security’? Is Mr. Price aware that Mr. Hernández is in poor health, but been denied the right to take up a generous offer of asylum from the government of Costa Rica by his jailers? Is Mr. Price also aware that Cuba jails more journalists than any other nation bar China, with 59 presently in captivity? Would Mr. Price and his Plaid comrades like to see an independent Wales governed according to the Cuban model?!?

It’s ironic that a man that was recently named Gay Politician of the Year and according to his profile on the social networking website “Facebook”, claims to be a Libertarian should give his support for a regime that has outlawed homosexuality and imprisons, even executes gays in labour camps.

Adam Price is not a bad man, but he urgently needs to pay more attention to us, instead his own ego and Elfyn Llwyd, otherwise he may find himself on the dole after the next general election. May I suggest that Mr. Price focus his energies on fighting for a better deal from Carmarthenshire Council, who continue to treat Iori Jones, Trish Breckman, Eddie Roberts and all of us with casual contempt.

I must give credit to FIDO The Dog for some of the background information.

Jacqui "Smith" Spliff Is A Homophobe & An Accessory To State-Sanctioned Murder

Paul Canning explains why here. No doubt Terry Kelly, fan of the homophobic murderer Fidel Castro would approve of Spliff's actions.

Quote of the Day 27.11.2008: Deluded Terry

"Ele Commandante Fidel Castro, scourge of America and no fewer than 10 of it's wretched presidents, those who are still alive can still be heard muttering "why me, why me, why did my years in office have to be overshadowed by this giant of history, why oh why me" ?" - Cllr Terry Kelly

ROFLMAO! OMG!! My sides are splitting!!!

Someone call the men in white coats for El Tel?

Cuba 'Elects' New President

Outgoing President Castro gets up off his sick bed to congratulate his successor

BREAKING NEWS: SNP ends 'cigars for Chocolate Oranges' trade agreement with Cuba!

Macavity Terry

19.2.2008 -09:11 [RfS]: I look forward to Terry's blog being updated today with another fawning article about a gay-bashing murderer.

19.2.2008 - 16:10 [RfS]: no update on Terry's site yet. Maybe he has been overcome by grief. Do you think we should send him some flowers?

20.2.2008 - 20:24 [Clairwil]: Well he probably couldn't work out a way to blame the SNP for Castro's retirement so it letting it pass unremarked.

Fidel Castro retires as Cuban president

HAVANA (Reuters) - Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro said on Tuesday that he will not return to lead the country as president or commander-in-chief, retiring as head of state 49 years after he seized power in an armed revolution.

Castro, 81, who has not appeared in public for almost 19 months after undergoing stomach surgery, said in a message to the communist nation that he would not seek a new presidential term when the National Assembly meets on February 24.

"To my dear compatriots, who gave me the immense honour in recent days of electing me a member of parliament ... I communicate to you that I will not aspire to or accept -- I repeat not aspire to or accept -- the positions of President of Council of State and Commander in Chief," Castro said in the statement published on the Web site of the Communist Party's Granma newspaper.

The National Assembly or legislature is expected to nominate his brother and designated successor Raul Castro, 76, as president. Raul Castro has been running the country since emergency surgery to stop intestinal bleeding forced Castro to delegate power on July 31, 2006.

Cubans on the empty streets of Havana were not surprised by his retirement.

"Everyone knew for a while that he would not come back. The people got used to his absence," said Roberto, a self-employed Cuban who did not want to be fully named.

"I don't know what to say. I just want to leave. This system cannot continue," said Alexis, a garbage collector.

In a deserted Revolution Square, site of many hours-long speeches by Castro to massive crowds, a lone soldier stood guard at government headquarters and the city was calm.

'COMANDANTE'

The title of "Comandante en Jefe" or commander-in-chief, was created for Castro in 1958 as overall leader of the guerrilla forces that swept down from the mountains of eastern Cuba to overthrow U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista.

His retirement draws the curtain on a political career that spanned the Cold War and survived U.S. enmity, assassination plots by the CIA and the demise of Soviet bloc communism.

A charismatic leader famous for his long speeches delivered in his green military fatigues, Castro is admired in the Third World for standing up to the United States but considered by his opponents a tyrant who suppressed freedom.

"It's incredible that 50 years of dictatorship can be accepted by Cubans and will continue to be accepted," said Ninoska Perez of the anti-Castro Miami-based exile organization, the Cuban Liberty Council.

Perez said Castro's retirement did not mean anything would change in Cuba and the news was unlikely to bring cheer to Cuban exiles waiting for an end to communism in their homeland and an opportunity to return.

"The real celebration will be when he (Castro) can no longer write about it," she said.

Castro's illness and departure from Cuba's helm have raised doubts about the future of the one-party state.

"Fortunately, our Revolution can still count on cadres from the old guard and others who were very young in the early stages of the process," Castro said in his statement.

"They have the authority and the experience to guarantee the replacement," he said.

U.S. President George W. Bush, in Rwanda while on a trip to Africa, had no immediate comment on Castro's plans to step down, White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.

Johndroe said "the president was informed" about the developments with Castro and that he would receive a briefing later. Washington has maintained a more than four-decades long economic embargo against Cuba to try to isolate Castro.

Castro has been seen only in pictures and video film since he handed over power provisionally to his brother, looking gaunt and frail. His health improved enough a year ago to allow him to reestablish a public presence by writing reams of articles published by Cuba's state press.

"This is not my farewell to you. My only wish is to fight as a soldier in the battle of ideas. I shall continue to write under the heading of 'Reflections by comrade Fidel.' It will be just another weapon you can count on. Perhaps my voice will be heard. I shall be careful," Castro said in Tuesday's message.

Castro could remain politically influential as first secretary of the ruling Communist Party and elder statesman.

Raul Castro, Cuba's long-standing defence minister, has run raised expectations of economic reforms to improve the daily lot of Cubans since standing in for his brother, but he has yet to deliver.

"It was logical for Fidel to quit because he has been saying that he is not well," said a musician leaving a cabaret. "But nothing will change until the government makes economic reforms that Cuba needs," he said.

I bet that poor Terry will be crying into his porridge when he finds out.

Quote of the Day 9.10.2007: The 750th Post

"Terry [Kelly], now you've done it - my dander is all fired up. 'Twisting' Che [Guevara]'s words indeed!

Still, I suppose Guevara is a natural fit to the rest of Kelly's Heroes - Stalin, Fidel [Castro], [Erich] Honecker and any murdering African despot with his hands in the till.

Just a suggestion Terry, but if you added in the Yorkshire Ripper and the Glasgow/Omagh bombers, you'd have a full-house you could be proud of." - Byeck