Tory welfare minister Lord Freud apparently thinks disabled people should be paid less than the minimum wage. And where is the opposition to these remarks, Millibland just keeps on shuffling and smiling, he needs to wake up... did he read any of his dads books for gods' sake... somewhere he must have some guts. Lord Freud the same heartless individual who said ' The poor should take more risks as they have the least to lose.' Lord Fraud every time he opens his gob, a shallowness emerges that says much about his character and very much about the nasty party that he represents. People holding these views should not be in government, they are reckless and damaging, but their they are pontificating about realities that they know nothing about. He has no previous experience of the welfare system Baron Fraud, but who asked him first to provide a review of these services, Mr Tony Bliar under New Labour. You couldn't make these things up. My mind boggles. Oh blundering Mr Fraud has since apologised, but he's done that before as well, over previous gaffes of his own making, time he got another job, same applies to the rest of his cohorts in government who are equally complicit in their appalling attitudes to the poor and disabled.
Charlie Chaplin's inspirational final speech in "The Great Dictator "
On 15 October 1940 Charlie Chaplin's first talkie The Great Dictator debuted in New York (while the US was still formally at peace with Nazi Germany)
The physical resemblance between the Tramp and another famous man with a
little black mustache was not lost on Chaplin. In his first all-talking
picture, he plays both a Jewish barber and his double, Adenoid Hynkel,
the absolute ruler of Tomainia. As Hynkel and his henchmen Herring and
Garbitsch engineer the persecution of Jews and the invasion of
neighboring Osterlich, the amnesiac barber may be the only person
innocent enough to stop them. Throughout the anti-fascist film Chaplin powerfully
exploits the deflating power of parody, while in the finale he abandons
both character and comedy to deliver one of the most inspirational speeches in recorded history with an impassioned plea to the audience for human
tolerance, encouraging us in opposing all forms of oppression,Many years later, the world still needs to stand still and listen and stand against the forces of fascism.An earlier tribute of mine to this great man can be found here :-
I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an emperor. That’s not my business.
I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone
if possible- jewish, Gentile, black men, white…
We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want
to live by each others’ happiness, not by each other’s misery. We
don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room
for everyone. And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone.
The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way.
Greed has poisoned men’s souls; has barricaded the world with hate;
has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed
speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance
has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical; our cleverness,
hard and unkind.
We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery ,we need
humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness.
Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost. The
aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very
nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in man; cries out
for universal brotherhood; for the unity of us all.
Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world,
millions of despairing men, women, and little children, victims of a
system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people.
To those who can hear me, I say “Do not despair.”
The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the
bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men
will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people
will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never
perish.
Soldiers! Don’t give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you and
enslave you; who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to
think and what to feel! Who drill you, diet you, treat you like cattle,
use you as cannon fodder!
Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men—machine men with
machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines! You are not
cattle! You are men! You have a love of humanity in your hearts! You
don’t hate!
Only the unloved hate; the unloved and the unnatural.
Soldiers! Don’t fight for slavery! Fight for liberty!
In the seventeenth chapter of St. Luke, it’s written “the kingdom of
God is within man”, not one man nor a group of men, but in all men! In
you! You, the people, have the power, the power to create machines,
the power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make
this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure.
Then in the name of democracy, let us use that power.
Let us all unite.
Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a
chance to work, that will give youth a future and old age a security.
By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power. But they
lie! They do not fulfill their promise. They never will!
Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people!
Now let us fight to fulfill that promise! Let us fight to free the
world! To do away with national barriers! To do away with greed, with
hate and intolerance!
Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness.
Soldiers, in the name of democracy, let us all unite!
Ok I would be the first to admit that I don't always like what emerges out of the house of commons, but as a result of tireless campaigning, yesterday finally resulted in the historic occasion which resulted in the UK Parliament voting to recognise the state of Palestine. This follows the Swedish Parliaments decision to do the same. Wonderful news. It saw as many as 274 voting for the motion to 12 against in a momentous event that gave me much joy, when usually the only thing that emerges from these dusty corners are dark shadows.
Surely it is a big thanks to all who for years have marched, demonstrated for the rights of the Palestinian people and is also a sign of times in the fact that British Parliament seems to have noticed and reflected what it's people really feel in the wake of Israels recent onlslaught in Gaza, that left over 2,000 Palestinians dead, and that people are now wide awake to its continuing illegal military occupation and recognise that Israel is losing the battle for public opinion and is part of a growing international trend that demands justice for the Palestinians. The time is now right for the Palestinians to have the state that it deserves.
This symbolic vote will mean absolutely nothing if further action is not taken, to bring the Palestinians dream of statehood into reality. International pressure must continue to be mounted until oppression is ended and the maxim from the 'rivers to the sea' is finally achieved.
This poem is copyleft.
You're free to distribute it and diffuse it,
re-write it and abuse it,
and use it.
For your own ends,
and with your own ending.
This is an open source poem
entering the public domain.
Here's the source code,
add a little salt and pepper if you like,
share it out amongst your friends.
Because I didn't write this poem
I moulded it,
picked the lines out of a skip as I was walking on over here
took used up fragments of leftover ideas,
and put them to use.
Think about it -
I can't tell you anything new.
In all these millennia of human existence
there certainly can only be a few ideas to be thought through.
So we treat them like rare commodities?
Plunder artistic reserves for new ideas buried deep beneath the permafrost,
suffocate them with patent protection
and junk the rest?
Or do we re-use them and recycle them?
Pile our public spaces high with shared ideas beyond anyone's imagining.
So I steal a verse here and a line there
a riff there and a rhyme there
pass it on around the circle,
roll it up
add a joke
here have a toke
does it get you high?
This poem is indebted to Gil Scott Heron. Abbie Hoffman, Jim Thomas
and Sarah Jones
This poem is indebted to all the words I've read and the voices I've known
This poem is a community of intellect, your and mine
This poem is ripped off line after line after line
Because intellectual property is theft
and piracy is our only defence against the thought police.
The revolution
will be plagiarised!
The revolution will not happen if ideas are corporatised
So steal this poem
and use it
For your own ends
and with your own ending.
Apple one of the the major success stories of the dot-com era is often accused of treating its own workers poorly and is no stranger to controvery.
According to recent Pocket Gamer report Apple has pulled 'Sweatshop' a satirical game designed to raise awareness about the inequities of forced labour, from its APP store, because it was 'uncomfortable selling a game based around the running of a sweatshop. Though it apparently has no such qualms about selling a sweat shop produced phone. The technology giant whose own Foxconn facility is routinely plaqued by suicides, riots and human rights allegations, has cited clothing factory managers as routinely 'blocking fire escapes,' 'employing child labour' as reasons why the game was unsuitable for sale, according to Simon Parkin, head of games at liitlecloud, which created the game to highlight the human cost of fashion.
There is nothing ethical about apple, remember that they pay contract workers so little in China that they have been committing suicide, while their founder Jeff Bezos sits on a personal fortune of 427 billion, and Apple itself recently announced a $13.5 billion profit for the first quarter of 2014, while its warehouse workers suffer low pay and unfair working conditions, combined with a long term practice of using underpaid student labour and underpaying its own share of British corporate tax. Long too, has it had a history of allegations concerning human rights and labour rights abuses and lets not forget . Where things have improved recently for Apple is within its public relations department, but scratch under the surface it is still very sensitive to any outside criticism. Apple's reputation still not squeaky clean, their thirst for maximum profit still seems to be their major concern and is still in many peoples eyes a less than honest company. Apple also happens to be one of the most aggressive patent lawsuit filers in the world, that agressively pursues litigation and excessive claims against its competitors. In effect a bully.Apples' dismal record on human rights has long been questioned and is probably worse than we know about such is this companies insistence on secrecy, besides treating humanity with disrespect, Apple documents show that suppliers to the company also disrespect the environment, their suppliers routinely discharging toxic waste into our communities, without regard to the effect the waste has on residents, wildlife or the planet, its commitment to ethical values continues to be very dubious. Scratch under the surface, Apple not as nice and shiny as they try to make out.
'Loukanikos' a ginger mongrel internationally known as the 'Riot Dog' has sadly passed away at the age of 10, His name translates into English as 'sausage'. This valiant much loved stray dogs health was adversely affected by police asphyxiating gas and from being kicked on numerous occasions by the police. Forcing him to retire from active protest 2 years ago. More than just a dog, he was a protector and a beloved comrade facing down riot Police daily as demonstrators took to the streets of Greece against the police murder of Alexandros Grigoropoulos, a 15 year old Greek student who was gunned down in cold blood in the center of Athens, and later against austerity measures, he was usually to be found at the thick of all the action in front of the crowds, charging and yelping alongside protestors when they confronted police on the streets of Athens.So legendary was this noble creature that he had a bar named after him in Madrid, and. In 2011 Time magazine listed Loukanikos as one of its personalities of the year.
He was on the couch sleeping when suddenly his heart stopped. A leftist newspaper Avgi, says the dog has been buried in the shade of a tree in the city centre. This courageous four legged revolutionary who led many a fight for justice will bark no more.
Rest in Power.
Louakinikos in action
Once a time in Athens - The Legend of the Riot Dog
" There is little evidence that workfare increases the likelihood of finding work.... workfare is least effective in getting people into jobs in weak labour markets where unemployment is high." This week their is a week of action against it, workfare profits the rich by providing free labour, whilst hurting the poor by taking away welfare rights if people refuse to work. The government is misleadingly calling it now 'Help to work' but it is business as usual, it is draconian, exploitative, unjust and wrong, many charities are now refusing to have anything to do with it because :-.
1. There is no evidence that workfare schemes lead to employment.
2. You're five times more likely to be sanctioned than get a job on a government work programme.
3. Workfare is undermining voluntary and charitable values.
4.Forced Labour is illegal.
5. Workfare is not just for the long-term unemployed.
6.Courts have repeatedly ruled against workfare schemes.
7. Workfare is heading for collapse but we need to push for it.
Facts reblogged from here, where you will find more information.:-
and its too late for Cable and Clegg to start sounding off now, they have backed the Tories throughout, we all know now what their party stands for, everything the Tories have done has been done with liberal democrat support. Milliband as for him apparently shifting his party to the left, come on, same as Blair,who created a version of the social democrats mark 2, under the guise of New Labour, where is their pulse, where is their opposition, their anger, their fiery direction.As for the Tories, unreformed unapologetic Thatcherites and UKIP more of the same. I feel political scepticism is more than justified, most people I encounter feel alienated from the lot of them, and do not understand the need to rush out to vote for them. Its not that people are disengaged with politics as a whole, I think people just feel let down by the so called democratic systems and norms that does nothing for them in return.Regarding most careesrist politicians as fraudsters and liars, a self serving elite, who carry on wining and dining, fostering division, with empty gestures, carving and making scapegoats out of sections of the community, as austerity grippens, is it any wonder that people increasingly feel abandoned, and left with not much hope, pessimistic and more than a little dissillusioned. Many people feel nauseated with the lot of them and simply cannot be bothereed with their message.
To change this country for the better, me thinks, the only hope for us, is to start thinking outside of the box, but people are still demonstrating, occupying, resisting with direct action, it is not a question of people simply apathetic, people are wide awake, change is happening NOW. Anger,does not reflect disengagement, and as we see, people are able to express their political dissatisfactions in so many different ways in our modern world. But the status quo carries on regardless, carries on not listening, as no confidence in their empty hollow words continues to grow.
But out of their fading embers, hopefully a fairer, system can be built, personally for me one that proactively is used to combat oppression, exploitation and repression, surely another world is not impossible.
Tuira Kayapo is an indigeneous Elder Mama warrior who showed the world what happens when Women take charge of their power. She walked into the 1989 Altamira Gathering in Brazil against the destruction of Dams in the Zingu, in her war paint, naked and carrying a large machete. She then walked up to the President of Brazil's Light holding Company Petrobras and running the blade of her machette three times over his cheeks, proclaimed his act on her people and on the entire Amazon as an act of war. She then stated in Kayopa :-
" You are a liar - We do not need electricity. Electricity is not going to give us our food. We need our rivers to flow freely, our future depends on it. We need our jungles for hunting and gathering. We do not need your dam."
Everyone stood in absolute awe at her audacity, especially the President of Petrobras who looked quite afraid .. yet what I see in her is a true example of WHAT Mamas are capable of in their full Power...
We have ALL become tired of this mess the world is in... It is time to reclaim our truth. Don't play with our good hearts and intentions. I am grateful for women like Chief Kayapo, who was bold enough to say no to colonialist exploitation. Bravely demanding respect, to allow her and her people to live as they want and choose, expressing the feelings of her entire nation.
