First ever post

(It is remarkable how easy it was to set this blog up. And it was free! So thank you blogger.com since I spent good money on software which was virtually unusable without a degree in web-page design. The web-design software responsible, WebPlusX4, was also unstable, so I removed it from my computer.)

This first ever post coincides with the publication of a poem of mine at Poetry24 called 'The Devil's Own' which was inspired by the video of a little Iraqi girl whose family was murdered by US marines in revenge for a roadside bomb which was nothing to do with them, or any of the other families killed by the marines. To begin with it was denied that the marines had anything to do with these civilian deaths, and that shrapnel from the roadside bomb had killed the families, while others were allegedly killed in crossfire. When it could no longer be denied guilt was admitted. A trial, farce might be a better word, exonerated these soldiers.

At the same time Bradley Manning has been held in a US military prison since May 2010 for allegedly leaking the truth about US war-crimes. My brain will not let me rationalise the release of war-criminals and the detention of an honest man. Am I missing something?