This week in the papers 7

Posted on 30/05/2012 by Compound| 2 Comments

THIS WEEK IN THE PAPERS 7

Do you know anything about Marius Milner? What about Luc Delany? You probably don’t know a thing about them – but there is a good chance they know something about you. Delany used to be Google’s European policy associate and Milner is a software designer from Hove in East Sussex. Still in the dark? Well, Milner has patented inventions for Google and one of these was the ‘Street View’ programme for Google designed to gather information via cars fitted with cameras and antennae.

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Posted in Current Affairs

Loyalists need a blue-collar hero

Posted on 30/05/2012 by Compound| Comments Off on Loyalists need a blue-collar hero

Dr. John Coulter is a former ‘Blanket Magazine’ columnist and, at present, is  Northern Political Journalist for the Irish Daily Star. Dr. Coulter is also a member of the NUJ’s Belfast branch.

Loyalists need a blue-collar hero:

Working class out of politics loop.

Loyalists badly need a working class hero who can deliver the type of human
and civil rights which Martin Luther King won for the Afro-American
community.

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Posted in Current Affairs

A tribute to the fallen comrades of compound 18

Posted on 30/05/2012 by Compound| 1 Comment

 

As RSM of all UVF / RHC compounds during the mid seventies, I sincerely welcome the formation of this long overdue site. For far too long we the old Ulster Volunteers of the late sixties and the early seventies, have set back and allowed the sincerity, the service and the sacrifice of our fallen comrades, to become tarnished and belittled by the feuding, treachery, self gain, extortion, drug dealing and informing, practiced by many of those who have attempted to follow in our footsteps.

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Posted in prison life

Balmoral Review

Posted on 22/05/2012 by Compound| Comments Off on Balmoral Review

The Irish News – 21 May 2012

The “Balmoral Review” at Ormeau Park on Saturday was billed as the first in the Decade of Centenaries. It marked a century since the original Balmoral Review, when 200,000 were addressed by Edward Carson during the campaign against Home Rule.

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Posted in Loyalism Today

This Week in The Papers 6

Posted on 22/05/2012 by Compound| Comments Off on This Week in The Papers 6

THIS WEEK IN THE PAPERS 6

I see that the old ‘Prod Basher’- Hugh Jordan has been his usual self again. Last week in the Sunday World he wrote an article about Paula Bradley, a DUP MLA for North Belfast. Jordan variously describes Bradley as a ‘curvaceous party girl, a pretty brunette, a curvy DUP babe, a fun-loving politician with a fondness for Jaegermeister shots, part of a loved-up couple, a lovebird etc.

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Posted in Current Affairs

Where Now?

Posted on 22/05/2012 by Compound| Comments Off on Where Now?

Where Now?

 

 

Where now the No Surrender men

Where now their cries of Never?

Where now the pledges cheaply made,

Without the courage to deliver?

Where now the hands that would not shake,

The bloody hands of slaughter?

Where now the papers boastfully waved

For guns that would not utter?

Where now the wavers of the flag,

Where now the ranks of marchers?

Where now the Resistance Red berets?

All sold out by your masters.

All sold for riches, power and fame

Lie betrayed the cannon fodder

Misused, disowned, shamefully cast aside

In exchange for Stormont’s plunder.

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Posted in The Arts

He was a Friend of mine

Posted on 18/05/2012 by Compound| Comments Off on He was a Friend of mine

HE WAS A FRIEND OF MINE

 

Robert ‘Bobby’ Spence

 

Born:  7th March 1929

Died:   12th October 1980

 

Bobby grew up in Joseph Street, Shankill Road, he had four brothers and two sisters.  He went into service in both the Royal and Merchant Navies.  While in the Royal Navy he was awarded two medals, a distinguished service medal whilst serving during the Korean War and a United Nations Medal.

 

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Posted in Current Affairs

This week in the papers 5

Posted on 14/05/2012 by Compound| Comments Off on This week in the papers 5

Have you ever started reading something and, after a couple of paragraphs, wondered if it was a wind-up? Happened this week to me.  Anthony McIntyre’s site – The Pensive Quill, posted a contribution from a group called – I’m not making this up – ‘No Royal Beacons at McArts Fort Cavehill Campaign Group’. (What a mouthful).

 

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Posted in Current Affairs

The Hawk

Posted on 14/05/2012 by Compound| Comments Off on The Hawk

The Hawk

 

Imperious—on high—almost a dot
plummets in a freefall—like a gunshot
focused—fixed and resolute
homing in—an Exocet—astute–
doesn’t waiver—zooms in at a hundred plus,
with precision-an arrow straight and true
A dive-a drop from cloudy heights
Plumage sleeked back-its hue,
brown/grey to conceal from unsuspecting prey
The prey-camouflaged-amidst the wire-it thinks:
Cowers in awe-in trepidation-slinks–in dread
at its impending doom-petrified-frozen to the spot
turned to stone—and not—wanting to move—presents itself:
A shrill piercing cry—a salutation from a monarch of the sky:
Impact—swift—incisive—a flurry of feathers–Rip—and Slash:
Then stillness—surveys the scene—and begins to pluck-to tug and preen—then gone—its prey grasped by its talons—hooked around its lifeless form.

Written by an old compound man – a veteran of most of them in fact – the inspiration for this short piece came from the many hours spent by he and a number of prisoners watching the bird of prey. No one can be sure if in fact it was the same bird all the time but when the shout echoed through the huts – ‘The Hawk’s Up’ – there was a dash to the wire to see this wonderful act of nature unfold.

 

 

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Posted in prison life

Assessment of HET review processes and procedures in RMP investigations cases.

Posted on 13/05/2012 by Compound| Comments Off on Assessment of HET review processes and procedures in RMP investigations cases.

Patricia Lundy’s research interests are in the study of post-conflict transition, ‘dealing with the past’, contested memories and the legacy of human rights abuses. She has studied unofficial community-based ‘story’/ ‘truth recovery processes and official police-led historical enquiries.

She is particularly interested in ‘truth’ recovery and ‘bottom-up’ participatory approaches. In collaboration with Northern Ireland Life and Times (NILT), she co-authored a Northern Ireland wide survey on ‘Attitudes Towards a Truth Commission for NI’ (2006) Her most recent research is an in-depth study of the Historical Enquiries Team (HET) police Service Northern Ireland (PSNI).The HET is an innovative police-led initiative which breaks new ground in transitional justice and offers lessons internationally.

 

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Posted in Current Affairs