Were my precise words after hearing Chief Superintendent Zoe Hamilton, of Greater Manchester Police defend the Force’s involvement with the Askew family, insisting that the Force had done “everything possible to protect David Askew”

David Askew, 64, was found dead outside his home in Greater Manchester on Wednesday night after police were told youngsters were causing an "annoyance" at his property.

It finally all came out in the wash when it was revealed that police and authorities were warned years ago that he was being targeted by gangs.

One neighbour said he had been "tormented to death”

Earlier, Mr Askew's mother, Rose, paid tribute to her son, saying he "wouldn't hurt a fly".

Mrs Askew said: "Throughout the day I have seen and heard different reports by the Press about my son and about what has happened. I just want to say that David was a very happy person. He was kind and thoughtful. He was a true gentleman and would often help me around the house and with shopping."

Police were called to his home in Melandra Crescent, but the youngsters said to be causing a nuisance had fled. Officers found Mr Askew, who lived with his brother, Brian, and wheelchair-bound mother, collapsed outside the property. He had not been attacked and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Mr Askew's neighbour, Avona Davies, 49, said his torment had been going on for some time: "This has been going on for about 10 years. We have complained to the police and council and they put cameras in their back garden about three years ago. They tormented David for money and cigarettes. They harassed him every night without fail."

Here is what I have trouble understanding though. By putting camera’s in the backyard for over three years they must have amassed some amount of footage of these scum bags. But apparently not enough for the Police to act on? What were they? Ninjas? Shapeshifters? Let’s even assume that the cameras were not always switched on. I would imagine that if they were used even half the time there would have been sufficient footage of these scum bags. But no no no, for years the police and council knew about this mans suffering and they sat back and did nothing. Why you might ask? Because David Askew was not going to profit them. That seems to be the cold hard truth of the matter. In Britain we’ve probably all seen the commercials about how the law will come down on you like a tonne of bricks if you haven’t paid for your television licence (licence for a television? I know…insane. Thanks dystopian Britain, appreciate it). We hear about how they can track us down from anywhere. We cannot hide, the eye of the law is watching, and all these other horrible threats.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt-hcIPgYt8

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uIpbpSU3XA

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHS951iYvV4&feat...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQbz8auH4mY

 David Askew was not going to profit them. I personally believe it was as simple as that. Don’t get me wrong, I think that some police forces do a genuinely good job but when we hear of heinous crimes against the elderly, the rape of women, the abuse of children there is the vigilante heart that rises up in most all of us. We hear about all of these injustices and the natural good in each of us can’t stand hearing about injustices knowing that the criminals go free and we can’t do a thing about it

I have yet to see a commercial on television reminding us of how criminal it is to murder and rape. More often than not we’re reminded that criminals are either car tax evaders, tv licence evaders and benefit cheats. Notice the link in all of these “crimes”? they all involve money. David Askew’s case did not involve money. Here was a man with learning difficulties, good hearted and caring. The man was hounded to death. This case was not going to profit the police force or the government. The police were warned years ago about his case but all they could come up with was a few cameras. Now David Askew is dead. Give it a week and the sad zombified desensitised masses including myself will have forgotten about it. We’ll move on to some other thing that distracts us from the injustices of the world around us.

David Askew’s torment was going on for about 10 years according to reports and it wouldn’t surprise me at all. Now if David had done what would probably have come second nature to most people before we were conditioned into being scared of the very government that was sworn in to govern us, David would have possibly defended himself with a gun and this in my view would have only been right and good. But it appears to me that the government knowingly or unknowingly have become a gang, a hinderence in which a man cannot even protect his house without fear of being branded a criminal too. It always amazes me that those who defend themselves end up branded the criminal. But if you’re underage you are called a youth, a vandal, a hood.

Tony Martin had the right idea when he defended his home. But of course the government is against anyone who wields any kind of real power. They don’t want you to be strong all by yourself otherwise you might begin to see that really, you have no use for their kind of government.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Martin_(farmer)

So when reading about David Askew’s case and what Chief Superintendent Zoe Hamilton, of Greater Manchester Police said in regards to helping him, The Force did “everything possible” they could to help. But he’s dead!!!!! Is this to say that Mr Askew’s only true foreseeable fate was death? I mean, if you did everything possible to help the poor man and he still ends up dying I can’t put that much faith in the Greater Manchester Police. All I can say is thank Jesus the Greater Manchester Police isn’t our sole defence against international terrorism otherwise Britain would be a landscape of ash and radioactivity. They hadn’t the intelligence or manpower to stop a few teenagers that had been tormenting a man for over 10 years. Wow!!!

I was inspired to write this article this morning after reading a few emails that Chanel sent me concerning comments on her tarot deck “A king’s journey”.

 For a long period of time i had been struggling to show my art online for fear that people would critique it to death, to pick it apart and tell me where i went wrong in designing it. But there came a time when i realised to myself that chances are i will always feel that my art could be better. I think that is what it comes down to though. you are always learning and getting better as the years go on. But when do you say " it is good enough to show someone"?. If you hold back for fear of critizism then perhaps it will never be shown. It was then i realized that although i lacked a lot of self confidence, i couldn't let it rule my creativity. i created my art after all as a means of communicating things i had no words for but also to present to people nice visions.

I knew i had to overcome my fears of how my art would be percieved. Here is what i would suggest to anyone wanting to see their work in a better(and probably more realistic) light.

 Write down all the compliments you receive on your artwork. I would suggest this especially when starting out with your artwork (or other business). This may seem vain or egotistical to some people but the truth is it is a good way of remembering your worth. When you feel inadequate you should refer to your file of compliments. The human mind seems to hold on most tightly to negative criticism and tells itself “ I’m not good enough” or “he/she is better”. For a lot of us, I would say especially artists and musicians, we create from the heart and when someone picks apart your work the confusion starts in you and you feel they are pointing the finger at you personally. It is not the easiest thing to separate yourself from the thing you created (ask any mother)

 Keeping a file is a bit like giving yourself a CV or Resume. You give these to others to tell of your self worth just like Artists have their portfolios to say “ here I am”. But with a file of all your compliments you are reminding yourself that you are good enough and that your artwork must be doing something right. Some of the most talented people around have self esteem issues and I have met a few in my time. I wondered to myself “ how can they struggle with self belief when they are fantastic and everyone thinks they are great”. The problem is they either do not believe the compliments they receive or their mind has been running a negative programme for far too long and has decided that the compliments were not worth remembering. We then must consider negative thoughts. What makes them so special that we hold onto them? I believe that we hold onto negative thoughts of this nature out of caution. This is after all low self esteem, a lack of confidence. So naturally we don’t want our confidence shaken any more as perhaps there have been traumatic events in the past where our confidence has been undermined so much. Perhaps you have been called a failure by parents or teachers or by a dear loved one, or maybe you’ve been compared to someone else who was wiser or more talented or more of whatever it is that you feel you are not. Rather than your mind encouraging you and silently letting you know “we are all at different levels of experience” or “ this man has more experience because he has led a different life with different people, different paths, different opportunities, encouragement, love” it can say things like “ I will never be as good as that” or “ I will never achieve all of this”.

 But I have learned that people do not need to say anything. No one owes you anything. They don’t even have to acknowledge your presence. So for someone to say to you “ I like this” or “I like the way you have drawn that” or “ I love the mood of this artwork”, these are compliments that you should keep in your mind, and if you can’t bring them to your mind every so often then write them down and put them in the file. And if you know no one who is willing to say anything nice ever about your creations then you have to take the responsibility of asking yourself. “ is this person any good to my self esteem” or “ is this person jealous”. Most people may not feel the need to comment on an artwork and that is fine. We don’t need people to always remind us if a particular artwork is good. If you find it pleasing even to yourself then isn’t that good enough? However, everyone likes to be recognised for their efforts, and we especially see this in children when they want their work plastered all over the refrigerator. Adults still have that desire to have their work recognised and rewarded, if only with a compliment.

If you find that you have no one who is willing to build you up, then you must seek them out, preferably offline but online is fine. Join communities and seek like minded people. Simply put we all need to feel we belong and are accepted. But most importantly keep a file of all the compliments you receive. I started doing this when the first images of A King’s Journey were shown online. I put my best work into that and the compliments are starting to give my artwork the recognition that I feel it deserves. I have now amassed many many compliments and on the times I worry about its success or reception I remind myself of the compliments. The thing about a compliment is, it only takes a few seconds to say it vocally, but when the moment passes you may soon forget, it’s like a little high that goes away. But negative comments take seconds to say also. But they can last so much longer. That is why we have to counteract them with the positive.

 Your cynical mind might be saying to you now “ but their compliments aren’t their real thoughts, they were just trying to be nice and supportive” but how do you know that? You will never know the real thoughts of someone but you have to allow yourself to trust and take someone at face value. I’ve learned that people are sometimes cruel, sometimes intentional and sometimes not. You are always going to have opposition and not able to please everyone, so when someone says or does something nice to show appreciation for you or your creativity, you should accept it as it is.

If you find that keeping a note of all the compliments will remind you of why you should believe in your art, then I would recommend that.

 Sometimes I compare it to a mirror. We sometimes assume that a person who looks at themselves a lot in the mirror must love themselves. They must be so vain to look at themselves for so long. But I would hazard a guess that most of them are not looking in the mirror to admire themselves. No, they are wanting something better to stare back at them, they want what they see in front of them to change into someone nicer, more pretty. They spend long amounts of time wishing they could change themselves. So keeping a file and looking at it now and again may be that mirror that you look at hoping to see something better about yourself. i hope you find it and see the value of your creative efforts staring back at you in the form of compliments. You are not looking at the file for ego, you are looking at it to help your self esteem. I believe it works. I'm not sure but it's probably been done by others long before now.

So if you fear it would be too egotistical to keep a file of compliments on your creativity, even on yourself for that matter, I would ask that you ask yourself a question. Do you think it would help? Chances are if you are positive and upbeat and completely believe in yourself then you don’t need reminding. But this suggestion is for those who struggle with self confidence and I would like to encourage you to keep doing what you love and be the best you can be.

 James Battersby

jamesbattersby.webs.com/apps/blog/

a poem i wrote in 2007 after ruining a friend's trust in me. Many of us have either been there,or been the victim.

Let my honour return to me

Like a kingly robe wrapped around me

To hide a body broken by sorrows

To cover a multitude of regrets

And time like a river

Sweeps me ever onwards

Ceaseless in it’s delivery of me

To a sea of uncertainty

But certainly I am wracked with sorrows

I cannot go back to make things right

The currents of time cannot

be fought against and won

there is only ever forward

so let my honour return to me

that I do and say things

the things that nobility demands

let my heart be strong with courage

protecting as a loving brother

protecting as a loving son

to all men and women

until the memory of my existence fades

with the fading of my bones

J Battersby 2007

A song by me :)

Although i am not a good public speaker, i did decide to make this video and in it discuss what it was like to illustrate "A King's Journey Tarot" for Chanel Bayless. It has taken about a year to complete it and i think it may appeal to not only tarot readers but also those interested in artwork with a medieval magikal fantasy theme. I hope if you watch the video, or even my artworks here on enchantedfolk, you will see that this is some of my best ever work. I originally was going to start this project When i was in America about 5 years ago but i am glad that i declined then as my artwork, and also my technical knowledge of print/file types was not as good. Years later i feel a lot more confident that my artwork is good enough to be incorporated into the tarot world.