The following video link features a discussion I took part in last week vis a vis the use of UAV and drone technology and the increasing use of Artificial Intelligence in the development and deployment of unmanned vehicles on land, on the sea and in the air. Great debate.
Monthly Archives: Nov 2012
Softly, Softly, into Slums: New Law permits Councils to turn Homeless away
Softly, Softly, into Slums: New Law permits Councils to turn Homeless away.
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Arguments that every Liberal Democrat would do well to hear
Arguments that every Liberal Democrat would do well to hear.
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Buzz Box: Drone tests over West Wales enrage locals
Russia Today news item on Drone Testing at Aberporth, they cut most of what I said but at least they highlighted the issue…
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SEARCHING FOR A HANG
ON THE STREET WITH THE TRAMWAY FROM TAKSIM SQUARE
IT SEEMS THERE ARE MUSICIANS BUSKING EVERYWHERE
HALFWAY ALONG THE RAILS NEAR THE ADA BOOKSHOP BAR
FIFTEEN TURKISH FOLK SINGERS SING SONGS FROM ANKARA
THE SWEETEST SONG THAT NIGHT CAME NOT FROM ANY TONGUE
BUT FROM THE DULCET FINGERS OF SOME HIPPY WITH HIS HANG
ON A CARPET COVERED CUSHION OF YELLOW BLUE AND GREEN
THE HANG RESTED ON HIS KNEES LIKE AN UPTURNED SOUP TUREEN
A CROWD OF PEOPLE GATHERED AS HE WOVE HIS RHYTHMIC SPELL
EACH CAREFULLY CHOSEN NOTE CLEARER THAN A CHRYSTAL BELL
FAR FAR SWEETER SOUNDING THAN ANY BELL THAT EVER RANG
NOW EVER SINCE THAT NIGHT I’VE BEEN SEARCHING FOR A HANG
Copyright Harry Rogers – 17th October 2012 – Istanbul
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Below Topkapi Palace Walls – the chilly dogz
This is The Chilly Dogz version of my poem Below Topkapi Palace Walls written during my holiday in Istanbul in October 2012.
BELOW TOPKAPI PALACE WALLS
The horse chestnuts are dropping conkers
Outside Topkapi Palace walls
Beautiful wooden houses
Frequented by queens
In the evening gently smoking
To Blue Mosque prayer calls
Across the way yet another ruined shack
With an Istanbul stray cat
Sit sipping from a small glass
One more Hot Apple Tea
Staring out from beneath the rim
Of that old battered tennis hat
It’s hard to believe that we’re all
So close to war in the 21st century
They say this is the place
Where East and West collide
But wherever you come from
This just might be the perfect place to hide
Whilst waiting for the start of
A nuclear Winter bomb as it falls
Find me smoking apple aniseed hubble bubble
Outside Topkapi Palace walls
Yeah
Find me smoking apple aniseed hubble bubble
Outside Topkapi Palace walls
Copyright Harry Rogers – 18th October 2012
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Do Ya Go Down Deptford Anymore?
Do ya go down Deptford anymore?
Do ya? Do ya?
Do ya go down Deptford anymore?
Thinking back forty years
The summer of seventy two
Stalls on the High Street
A few Rock Steady sounds
Mooch down Douglas Street
For a glass of Sarsaparrila
On the steps of St Pauls
A couple short and tall
Both of them know
It’s the last throw
Throw of the dice
It’s the last throw
Of confetti and rice
The decked out Daimler waits
Girls look on through the gates
Flashbulbs pop then hit the floor
The priest is none too sure
Do ya go down Deptford anymore?
Do ya? Do ya?
Do ya go down Deptford anymore?
Three old drunken scrumpy boys
They stagger down Broadway
Head towards Carrington House
Someplace for their heads to lay
Young mudlarks splash in the Creek
Old Billy Bleach fights the law
Totters flog a bent antique
Lewisham boys try to score
Jamaican patties on a stall
Some cab drivers ride shotgun
Hippy trippers ten feet tall
Paddle in the Brookmill sun
Students are all fussy
There are no new builds
The Oxford Arms is buzzy
With tales from Crossfields
Do ya go down Deptford anymore?
Do ya? Do ya?
Do ya go down Deptford anymore?
Copyright: HarryRogers – 2/11/2012
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LIVING IN THE NO FLY ZONE
LIVING IN THE NO FLY ZONE
LIVING IN THE NO FLY ZONE
HEAR THE SOUND OF A DRONE
NEIGHBOUR MAKES A GROAN
BEEN LEFT ON HIS OWN
HAPPENING MORE AND MORE
LIVING ON THE FLOOR
UNDERNEATH A DOOR
THIS IS MODERN WAR
DON’T WANT NO UCAV
BOMBING YOU AND ME
DON’T WANT NO RFID
TRACKING YOU AND ME
DON’T WANT NO CCTV
WATCHING YOU AND ME
ALL WE WANT YOU SEE
IS A COUNTRY THAT IS FREE
SOLDIERS HAVE ALL GONE
BUT THIS WAR CARRIES ON
THE CEASEFIRE IS A CON
IT’S OUR ARMEGEDDON
DON’T WANT NO UCAV
BOMBING YOU AND ME
DON’T WANT NO RFID
TRACKING YOU AND ME
DON’T WANT NO CCTV
WATCHING YOU AND ME
ALL WE WANT YOU SEE
IS A COUNTRY THAT IS FREE
Copyright: Harry Rogers – 05/06/2012
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Tough Luck
I wrote this poem two years ago today and thought that now is the right moment to publish it here after listening to Melanie Phillips make the comment “What’s not to like?” in support of the use of UAVs or Drones in modern warfare on last night’s Moral Maze programme on Radio 4. She made me very angry indeed.
TOUGH LUCK
A NERD IN NEBRASKA
BOMBS HOMES IN PAKISTAN
A BIBLE BY HIS LAPTOP
FRAMED FAMILY ON HIS DESK
HE’S NEVER HAD A PASSPORT
NEVER BEEN UP IN A PLANE
A UCAV PILOT
WHO HAS NEVER BEEN ABROAD
SPENDS ALL HIS WORKING DAYS
AIMING LASER GUIDED MISSILES
AT SOME HOUSES IN THE HILLS
BASED ON DODGY INFORMATION
BOUGHT FOR VERY LITTLE MONEY
USED TO FUEL SOME JUNKIES HABIT
CAUSING COLATERAL DAMAGE
AT SOME YOUNG GIRLS BIRTHDAY PARTY
MEANWHILE CLINTON AND HER MINIONS
COULD NEVER GIVE A FLYING FUCK
THESE SO CALLED ACCIDENTS OF WAR
THEY DEEM EXAMPLES OF TOUGH LUCK
THESE SO CALLED ACCIDENTS OF WAR
THEY DEEM EXAMPLES OF TOUGH LUCK
TOUGH LUCK
TOUGH LUCK
HILARY SAYS “TOUGH LUCK”
Copyright: Harry Rogers 1st November 2010
harri seeing red 