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Monday, 30 September 2019

If questions relating to Britain's colonial past should have been discussed during Brexit debate, what about current actions of Israeli Government?

I read an article in last week's Big Issue magazine print edition, https://www.bigissue.com/latest/susan-neiman-the-brexit-lessons-we-can-learn-from-postwar-germany/
that I initially warmed to but ended up feeling potentially misled by.

Susan Neiman: the Brexit lessons we can learn from postwar Germany

There will be life after Brexit, probably. But like Germany in 1945 we face a day of reckoning before fixing our fractured country. Author and adopted Berliner Susan Neiman looks to the future,
the article led, but ended up with an apparent slagging off of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour Party leader on account of what I regard as hearsay evidence from someone who does not seem to have as intimate a grasp of  what life is like in his constituency as I have. (My former residence bordered onto Jeremy Corbyn's Islington North constituency, and I had print copy and online access to the local freebie newspaper of that constituency; and that Islington Tribune was/is the sibling of my local freebie, the Camden New Journal.)

A German nation's "dark history" and the current sins of the State of Israel

The Big Issue interview article includes:
An American Jew who grew up in the South during the Civil Rights movement, Neiman has spent most of her adult life in Berlin, where she gained a close-up view of a society grappling with its own dark history.

“By accepting that they were the perpetrators of the war and not the victims, they were able to reach a consensus and restore some national pride,” she says.

The process is called ‘working off the past’, or, as the Germans put it, ‘vergangenheitsbewältigung’. Yes, it’s a silly and excessively long word. But might we Brits be able to learn something from it?

The Big Issue: You say we should have debated the sins of colonialism in the Brexit debate. What good would that have done anyone?

Susan Neiman: Conservatives will always say there is nothing to be gained in opening up old wounds – that you just destroy national pride and cause divisions. What I think Germany shows is that a country can go through that process and come out the better for it....
In 1985 president Richard von Weizsäcke made a speech in which he described May 8 1945 as a day of liberation. That might seem an obvious statement to the rest of us but, until then, Germans had described it as a day of capitulation.....
and pull-quote:
"There is a real aversion to discussing the sins of the British Empire,
but ends up with an attack on Jeremy Corbyn, framing him as leader of an antisemitic political party:
You describe yourself as a social democrat. You are also Jewish. What do you make of Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party?

I was delighted when he was first elected because I heard him described as Britain’s Bernie Sanders. I began by dismissing the accounts of anti-Semitism as the right trying to smear their enemies. But I read more and more about it and became more concerned because I have met many British anti-Semites that you don’t tend to find too much in Germany any more. And they dress it up as anti-Zionism.

Well I am as opposed to Netanyahu’s policies as much as anyone but to use that struggle as a vehicle for covert anti-Semitism images – or not even very covert – and not being able to distinguish between Jews and the right-wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu is very pernicious. An awful lot of Jews left the Labour Party with tears. Labour is naturally a home for Jewish people – Jews proportionally skew left more than any other religion. Corbyn seems to have been pig-headed about the whole issue. 

Do you regard him as an anti-Semite?

I don’t think he is an anti-Semite. I think he might be a Little Englander who has a problem with cosmopolitanism. The problem is when you’re a politician what counts is not the contents of your soul but what you do in public. [End of article — i.e., 'the last word'.]
I would argue that Neiman's statement that she opposes "Netanyahu's policies as much as anyone" lacks substance; it avoids actual spelling out of what Israeli Government is doing under Netanyahu's leadership. It also avoids the fact that anti-Zionist Jews such as Tony Greenstein are pilloried by those Jews who would find it too painful to attack or even have mentioned the immediately current sins of the State of Israel. They call Tony Greenstein and other anti-Zionist Jews, "self-hating Jews."

Tony Greenstein has been fearlessly flagging up the sins of the Israeli state for quite a few years now, as a search link of his website reveals.
https://azvsas.blogspot.com/search?q=self-hating+jews

In July 2010 he blogged of The Day an American Jewish Art Student Lost an Eye:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjiXEKg2LIBIdiQlwyE8yp2xo_2FrjmBAzeLqX1Cyhgainq0YsJHzie4TCC1WR9u-MpOnNQ3Jo4Dt0i96BNh2GGt9LUjfimcJ5GZQfQ6zZ-gBJWIjtOo0HhQVTddbtKWdGgiMwyopJqc4C/s1600/ramallah+05+may+31+-fadi-+400x293.gif

Like most diaspora Jews, Emily Henochowicz, was brought up to believe that Arabs are intent on injuring or killing any Jew they come across and likewise that Israel was a place of refuge for all Jews against oppression. They didn’t tell her that Jews who mix with Arabs are termed ‘Arab lover’ (just as civil rights protesters in the USA were called n***** lovers). ...

And you get the measure of the Zionist sickness, because it is a sickness, that one of these anonymous contributors to a discussion list wished she had lost her other eye too. I also have some sick Zios who write wishing that I'd died or my family had in Auschwitz, all the while professing a belief in 'the Jewish people.'

Emily lost an eye at the Qualandiya check point when an Israeli border guard fired a tear gas cannister straight at her. As is normal with the Israeli army an ‘inquiry’ has cleared the army of any wrong doing. No doubt if the pressure becomes too great then Israel will hold a new inquiry, depending on whether the United States is concerned enough over the maiming of its citizen to protest. Certainly the ‘Jewish’ state is unconcerned.
 Source: https://azvsas.blogspot.com/2010/07/day-american-jewish-art-student-emily.html

The major confusion and connection between matters of how 'antisemitism' and anti-Zionism have been conflated by the Israeli State and its supporters has been in what has been labelled the 'International Holocaust Remembrance Association' (IHRA) definition of antisemitism that lobbyists have had adopted by local authorities and political parties.
https://azvsas.blogspot.com/search?q=ihra

Closing this blog post on a positive note about Jeremy Corbyn


I close with an extract from a Camden New Journal-published letter from March 2019:

Attacks on Jeremy Corbyn from his fellow party members amaze me

21 March, 2019

• THE attacks on Jeremy Corbyn, made by some members of his own party, continue to amaze me. The latest comes from Cllr Richard Olszewski, (Leading Labour councillor tells Jeremy Corbyn to resign, March 14).
I am no longer a member of the Labour Party but I have known Jeremy for many years as an MP. Our church, of which he is not a member, is in his constituency.
On numerous occasions he could not have been more personally helpful in dealing with asylum seekers, the homeless and those with other pressing problems. I have never known him to go in for unkind comment about any section of our national community.
No doubt he is not perfect – who is – but the Labour Party ought to be glad that it has now, at its head, someone of obvious integrity and single-minded concern for the whole of our community. Young people can see these qualities, which is why so many of them are attracted to his sort of Labour Party.

BRUCE KENT

N4
Blog post by Alan Wheatley, a member of Green Party of England & Wales.

I take the view that an attack on anti-Zionists of other political parties shrouded in terms of 'antisemitism' is really an attack on all anti-Zionists and freedom of speech. Having quoted Tony Greenstein, I should also add though, that he has been hugely disappointed at Labour Party Corbyn/McDonnell leadership response to 'fake antitsemitism' smears.

My focus in this blog post has been to flag up an instance of how unexamined 'facts' lead to such portrayals as 'Corbyn is antisemitic'. Of course, how Corbyn and McDonnell handle such attacks is a further development that may have a lot to do with the panic that may ensue from the dominance and pro-Zionism of the right wing news media and even the kind of organisation that is nominally a 'charity'.
https://azvsas.blogspot.com/2017/03/campaign-against-antisemitism-is.html

See also https://www.facebook.com/ShahrarAliGreenParty/posts/1327179840786844 

Sunday, 29 September 2019

Hereford highways latest highways planning survey deadline 4 Oct 2019

From 'Wye Ruin It?'

Get busy! October 4th deadline

 This is a quick, but important survey. There are 4 questions and you will need to read the background document to answer the questions, but you can just refer to the part that comes up in the survey. (The design of the survey is to generate different questions each time you open it, so we cannot give you the answers).

Please make sure to tell them to stop plans for the bypass, stop expanding road networks and focus on maximising clean, affordable, active and sustainable transport as soon as possible. Click here for details

Saturday, 28 September 2019

Parents, Poverty and the State - lecture and discussion event in London

From London School of Economics & Political Science International Inequalities Institute

Parents, Poverty and the State

Hosted by the International Inequalities Institute

Hong Kong Theatre, Clement House

See http://www.lse.ac.uk/Events/2019/10/20191010t1830vHKT/parents-poverty-and-the-state for details

Petition: Code of Conduct required to control behaviour of MPs and help prepare young people for a better world

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves10 Downing Street in London, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2019. An unrepentant Prime Minister Boris Johnson brushed off cries of
"Boris Johnson [who] came under intense criticism after briefing his cabinet on preparations for a populist election campaign that will accuse his opponents of 'surrender' to the EU. (AP)" —
Source: https://uk.yahoo.com/news/nigel-farage-to-be-investigated-by-police-after-take-the-knife-to-the-pen-pushers-in-whitehall-comment-141437964.html

Last week I had a conversation with a parent who was concerned that children are being led by campaigners — however nobly — to fear for the future. We also spoke about the court ruling that declared Boris Johnson's decision to shut down the UK Parliament had been 'unlawful'. I commented that though I've never been married, I have been a member of the Green Party of England & Wales for almost 15 years now and realised that that was a deep relationship in which disagreements could occur.

My friend observed that the MPs who promote Brexit are likely to be concerned about the EU's capacity to regulate their offshore bank accounts, while children of parents in poverty lead lives regulated by such matters as landlords annually increasing their rent while still providing inadequate heating devices. I mentioned the new Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard as a way forward.

(I also commented that perhaps there was a connection between the nature of Boris Johnson's 'love life' and his stance of being the person to deliver 'Brexit' whatever, aka 'No deal Bexit'.)

A different role model politician

Last night after Hereford & South Herefordshire Green Party AGM, I attended a Big Green Gathering at Left Bank Village in Hereford, at which guest speaker was Green Party Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and Herefordshire Councillor for the Green Party, Ellie Chowns. Ellie centred her speaking around answering audience members' questions, and of course most of those questions related to matters arising from her role as a Member of the European Parliament, perceptions of Britain within the European Parliament, and the multi-faceted 'Brexit' controversy.

Image result for ellie chowns mep
The much less well-known than Boris, but more worthy of exemplary role model status,Ellie Chowns, MEP for the West Midlands
She said that at a Questions and Answers talk as MEP at a young people's Climate Emergency Strike event, she had been baffled by the complexity of at least one of the questions; she clearly welcomed that experience as a potential for mental growth, as she said that the fear of appearing to 'not know' something should not hold people back from getting involved in politics. Those present at last night's meeting also concurred though that the reason Boris Johnson has not 'taken on board' the UK Supreme Court findings that he had acted 'unlawfully' in shutting down — aka 'proroguing — the UK Parliament, was that the right wing tabloid newspapers are his cheer leaders.

Ellie said that she dissociated herself as a UK MEP from the antics of UK Brexit Party MEPs who had turned their backs on the European Parliamentary proceedings while it was in session, but pointed out that she was not aware of that action at the time.

Neither the UK's right wing tabloid newspaper editors and owners, nor the members of the Brexit Party would be likely to respond favourably to an initiative of young people in Salford and Manchester in North-West England, and we should not be conditioned to respond to that initiative merely on account of the hostility that such bullies might have toward that initiative and/or to the Speaker of the House of Commons who has received a 'mixed press' in his time.

We should, I believe, respond to this young people's initiative in terms of its own merits and how much different we would feel about ourselves and the world we grew up in if such a Code of Conduct had helped to shape the world we emerged into.
  1. What kind of world do you want for future generations? 
  2. What kind of role modelling?
  3. How can that be achieved?
UK Parliament debating chamber in session

Lisa, Jaiden, Olivia and Precious started this petition to the Speaker of the House of Commons
We are four young people from Salford and Manchester who think politicians should be people we can look up to and be inspired by.

But yesterday in the House of Commons we saw MPs joking about domestic abuse, shouting at each other, and using words like "betrayal" just because they disagree.

The four of us have dreams of working in politics in order to change society for the better. But seeing the way these adults behave and the abuse that they face will put young people off going into politics. It makes us doubt whether we ourselves should ever get involved and aim to work somewhere like that.

The language used by some political leaders yesterday and over the last few months has been so nasty, insulting, and dehumanising.

We don't see how they can stand there and talk to each other in that way when they are meant to be sorting out issues of national importance. There’s no way we’d get away with speaking like that in school or college, so why should they?

So that's why we have worked with RECLAIM in Manchester and Compassion in Politics - who want to make politics kinder and more inclusive - on a new Code Of Conduct we want MPs to all agree to. This would ensure that from now on MPs must:

- Not use violent or de-humanising language or name-calling
- Commit to showing each other, the public and their staff respect
- Put the interests of the public first, prioritise healing division, and help engage more people in politics.

We are asking the Speaker of the House of Commons to introduce this new Code Of Conduct as soon as possible - please sign so that he knows just how many people agree with us.

Young people like us are being shown an appalling example by some of our politicians and are being put off getting involved as a result. Please sign our petition to make politics a place of respect, honesty, and dignity.

Thank you.

Lisa, Jaiden, Olivia and Precious
To sign the petition, go to https://www.change.org/p/the-speaker-of-the-house-of-commons-a-new-code-of-conduct-for-mps-5553e26c-1ba1-41f5-b44e-55b0743d34bd

I should add that at the end of last night's meeting at which Ellie Chowns thanked those present for their support in getting her into the EU Parliament and praised the support she had received from her highly competent Personal Assistant Helen Heathfield, she went around bidding everyone present a personal adieu. Clearly, she wants continued support of like-minded others for the future and realises that such support comes of mutual respect and liking.






Wednesday, 18 September 2019

Advice4Renters September 2019 Newsletter promotes Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard

Advice4Renters September 2019 online Newsletter top, with cartoon.
Old Style light bulb says: "I love the new hairdo!"
Energy efficient light bulb replies: "Thanks!... I had no
idea that getting a perm would make me so much more energy efficient!"
Cartoon ©  2011 by Sardonic Salad

Advice4Renters is based in London Borough of Brent and an Information, Advice & Guidance charity promoting the interests of renters in the private sector. A4R's Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard campaign kicked off at Queens Park Festival on Sunday, 15 September 2019.

More at https://mailchi.mp/9747a45ed5de/minimum-energy-efficiency-standard-mees

UK Government getting public ready for Brexit and more

Private Eye reports in its 'HP [Houses of Parliament] Sauce' section 20 September-3 October issue, p10:

Boris Johnson's adviser Dominic Cummings has made it a "TOP PRIORITY" to try to collect vast amounts of user data from the govbernment's information website gov.uk, Buzzfeed News revealed last week. Users (anonymously, we're assured) will be tracked across their interactions with the site to see their behaviour patterns. Departments have been told the info is needed to aid prparations for leaving the EU, the aim being to serve "targeted and personalised information" to individuals.

Facebook's Ad Library stats already reveal that the government is spending up to £20,00 a day on ads telling the public to "Get ready for Brexit" — nearly ten times as much as the current next biggest spender, the Lib Dems. This is a massive ramp up from the average government spend of around £2,600 a month over the last year. The Conservative Party, however, is saving its pennies, spending about £500 or £600 on Facebook ads a day. Despite recent events, the ads all maintain that Brexit is definitely set to happen on 31 October, and each directs anyone wanting more information to that ripe-for-the-harvesting, gov.uk....

Actually, the same kind of messaging to 'prepare people for Brexit' comes across on televised adverts that are repeated a few times each day on the commercial tv channels, costing how much?

I am reminded of Noam Chomsky's book title, 'Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media' published in 1988, before Facebook et al. I am also reminded of the term 'operant conditioning' from behavioural psychology, and a Private Eye cartoon from Xmas 2016 about Brexit voters being like turkeys voting for Christmas.

Weekly TDEs resume at Left Bank Village, Hereford, Weds 18 Sept 2019

Hello Everyone,

At last - getting back in to the pattern after the summer break!

Wednesday 18 September 2019, 7:30pm-9pm-ish

Cultural Emergence

Cultural emergence is a toolkit designed to create cultures of personal
leadership, collective intelligence and planetary care. Developed by
Looby Macnamara in Conjunction with  other global visionaries, join
Looby to find out how Cultural Emergence can support you in creating
regenerative  cultures in your own life and relationships, as well as
how it can ripple out in to the world. Discover a message of hope and
tools for empowerment.

Looby Macnamara is an experienced permaculture teacher, author and
designer, and runs Applewood Permaculture Centre in North Herefordshire.

Organized by : Herefordshire Green Network.


Wednesday 25 September 2019, 7:30pm-9pm-ish

99% : How creating economic opportunity for millennials will help save

the environment.

Mark E. Thomas, author of the book ‘99% : Mass Impoverishment and How We
Can End It’, will talk about why we are now looking at the first
generation in living memory that can expect to be poorer than their
parents. This is mass impoverishment in action and the result of
political choices rather than cast-iron laws of economics. He will show
how we got into this mess, how we can get  out. He will show that five
key actions that we need to end mass impoverishment are precisely those
we need to tackle climate change.

Organized by : Hereford Green Party, Nat Waring.


Last Wednesday we had our first "Second Wednesday of month World Film
Night".

"Women without men", a 2009 film adaptation of a Shahrnush Parsipur
novel, directed by Shirin Neshat.
Shirin Neshat is an Iranian-born artist and photographer whose work
explores gender issues in the
Islamic world. Neshat, banned from even visiting Iran since 1996, lives
and works in New York city.
She left Iran in 1974, just before the Islamic Revolution that drove the
Shar into exile.
The film profiles the lives of four women living in Tehran in 1953,
during the American backed coup that returned the Shar of Iran to power.
The film was called "visually transfixing" by the New York Times
reviewer Stephen Holden - "with fierce beauty and precision of it's
cinematography. Two of the film's recurrent images are of a long dirt
road extending to the horizon on which the characters walk, adn a river
that suggests "a deep current of feminine resilience below an impassive
exterior."
We much enjoyed this film whist agreeing that we found it's rather Avant
guard and surreal presentation made it difficult for us to follow at
times.
A powerful portrayal of the oppression of women in this Islamic society
with expectation of acquiescence to arranged marriage and limitation of
personal freedom forcefully exemplified by a brother saying to a very
unwilling woman expected to meet a suitor "If you leave this house I
will break your legs".

Best wishes,

Alan & Nat.

Benefits & Work Publishing Ltd Newsletter, 18 Sept 2019

The latest Benefits & Work Publishing Ltd Newsletter is out, and offers 20% discount on B&W Publishing Ltd guides to claiming various benefits. The 20% discount offer expires "at midnight this Friday."

Award of PIP
“Friday morning, the dreaded brown envelope made an appearance through the letterbox. To our surprise, it stated that my wife had been awarded the enhanced rates of both components as an "ongoing" award. This was the last thing we expected as she did not have to attend a face to face meeting and the only health professional i could mention on the form was her GP.......and she is new to the practice & i would imagine not fully aware of her health condition. Having been on the lower rates of DLA for over 20 years, this is the last thing we expected. Thanks to all at B&W for the assistance over the years.......could not have done this without your guides and help.”

 
USE YOUR 20% OFF ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP COUPON BEFORE MIDNIGHT FRIDAY: 26857
  • PIP [Personal Independence Payment] Claim Success At All Time Low; 
  • PIP and ESA [Employment & Support Allowance] Appeal Success At All Time High; 
  • Over Half ESA Claimants Put In Support Group
You can read this newsletter online.

Also includes info on
  • New DWP [Department for Work & Pensions] Secretary of State Denise Coffey — including the fact that she is one of 72 MPs who is a landlord, and her parliamentary voting record
  • Tribunal Service Webchat

I close this link item by copying and pasting from that Newsletter:

TRIBUNALS SERVICE WEBCHAT
 

As part of its ongoing, cost-cutting plunge into online appeals, the Tribunals Service has launched a webchat provision.

Webchat is in addition to telephone support.
It means that claimants completing an online form to lodge an appeal, for example, can get support in a pop-up window without having to leave the page they are working on.

People using paper forms connected to their appeal are also free to use webchat, by visiting the gov.uk site.

Questions about why waiting times are growing whilst the number of appeals is falling will probably not be appreciated, however.

Good Luck,
Steve Donnison
 Reminder:
You can read this newsletter online.
https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/4087-18-september-2019-update


Alan Wheatley

John Iadarola interviews Naomi Klein on how to enact Green New Deal

Link to 7 mins 50 secs youtube video, that kicks off with 7 mins 20 secs interview with Naomi Klein about her new book, On Fire: The Burning Case for a Green New Deal.

Her focus is "how best to map out the next economy"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNkgz7QD8CM

Legalising cannabis has been Green Party of England & Wales policy for at least as long as I've been a member

Last weekend, The Observer reported:
Siobhan Benita says the capital should make the move to tackle youth crime

Photo caption: Siobhan Benita, Liberal Democrats candidate for London mayor next year, says legalising cannabis would help police tackle violent youth crime in the capital

The legalisation of cannabis should be tested in London to improve public health and stop young people being drawn into crime, a London mayoral candidate has said.
Siobhan Benita, the Lib Dem candidate for next year’s election, said the idea of legalising the drug was “no longer controversial” and the serious crime in the capital meant it was the right place for the idea to be trialled.

“Illegal drugs activity, especially in the capital, is a big part of pulling young people into serious violence,” she told the Observer. “I want to remove power from those gangs. My question would be, why haven’t we done this yet? It’s not controversial any more. We’ve got enough examples now of countries around the world and we can compare and contrast how they have done it. We now have lots more evidence on where it is working well.”

More at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/sep/14/legalise-cannabis-says-liberal-democrat-candidate-for-london-mayor

Re her question, "Why haven't we done it yet?" perhaps one answer could be, "Because we have not yet had Green Party of England & Wales in majority political power yet."

Legalising currently illicit drugs has long been Green Party of England & Wales policy, as a keyword search of Green Party website reveals:

About 120 results (0.48 seconds)
https://policy.greenparty.org.uk/du.html
DU405 Cannabis would be removed from the 1971 Misuse of drugs act. The possession, trade and cultivation of cannabis would be immediately decriminalised, ...
https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news-archive/2893.html
1 Mar 2007 ... On Monday 5th March, Grandmother and medical cannabis campaigner Patricia Tabram is due to appear at Carlisle court for cannabis ...
https://www.greenparty.org.uk/archive/news-archive/709.html
Leading Green jailed for cannabis cultivation. 31 July 2003. Shane Collins, the Green Party's national spokesperson on drugs and one ofthe country's ...
https://www.greenparty.org.uk/.../caroline-allen-uk-drugs-legislation-is- failing-us-all/
7 May 2014 ... And it's because we know that a legal, safe supply chain for cannabis will cut off cash from the black market and shady, ruthless, criminal drug ...
https://www.carolinelucas.com/.../access-to-medical-cannabis-8-apr-2019
8 Apr 2019 ... Access to Medical Cannabis (8 Apr 2019). Caroline Lucas: Some reports suggest that even Alfie Dingley, whose case gave rise to the new ...
https://jeanlambertmep.org.uk/cannabis-friendly-dating-site/
28 May 2019 ... Chronic souls cannabis friendly mean in finding 420-friendly partners as it turns out, also, canada. My420mate is full of online dating site for ...
More at: https://cse.google.com/cse?q=cannabis&ajaxSearch_submit.x=0&ajaxSearch_submit.y=0&cx=014602880548773237108%3Abfmqbz3c1w4&ie=UTF-8


Follow-up questions might include, 
  1. "Why has Green Party of England & Wales not been given sufficient broadcasting time under the UK's 'First Past the Post' electoral system to outline its drugs policy?" and
  2. "Why have journalists not drawn more attention to the full range of Green Party of England and Wales policies?"
Have I taken cannabis during the time I have been a Green Party of England & Wales member? No; just because I believe something should be legalised does not mean that I believe it should be compulsory.

Alan Wheatley, a Green Party of England & Wales member since October 2005

Tuesday, 17 September 2019

Prospective 'good will' from sponsorship of a sporting event in times of Climate Emergency



Soon to impact on TV screens around the world is the matter of the Rugby World Cup in Japan this weekend, trailers on ITV have informed me. That brings with it huge sports sponsorship deals between rugby nations and multinational brands. That can work for or against global brands, and I sure hope it works against global insurer AIG's plans to underwrite Adani's coal field in the Great Barrier Reef and also sponsor the New Zealand All Blacks Rugby Team!

(My initial thought regarding Rugby World Cup 2019 was the matter of how the air miles of the travelling fans might impact on global warming.)

SumOfUs: 'Fighting for people, not profit', write:
In just a few days, the All Blacks will be charging onto the field at the Rugby World Cup proudly wearing the Silver Fern. 

But as thousands of Kiwi Rugby fans put on their black shirts this week, they will also be wearing another, more sinister logo: principal sponsor, AIG.

AIG is not just another boring insurance company. It is doing what 14 other companies have refused to do: insure the Adani Carmichael mine. The most bitterly opposed mine in Australia’s history.
This matter refers me back to Eleanor MacLean's highlighting of how sponsorship of mass media distorts social perspectives, as outlined in the Table of Contents for her 1981 book: Between the Lines: How to detect bias and distortion in the news and everyday life.

Between the Lines
How to Detect Bias and Propaganda in the News and Everyday Life

MacLean, Eleanor
Publisher:  Deveric, Halifax, Canada
Year Published:  1981  
Pages:  296pp   ISBN:  0-9690919-0-7
Library of Congress Number:  P91.M23   Dewey:  302.2'4
Resource Type:  Book
Cx Number:  CX8412

An exploration of medthods of "dec-doing" our daily newspapers and radio/TV news. Examines our predominant sources of information (mass media) and indicates the existence of many alternative sources of informaiton.

Abstract: 

Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgements
1. What gave you that idea?
Introduction
Forming opinions
Thinking clearly
The mass media of communication
Further reading
2. Getting the message
Introduction
Determining the overall message
Bias and propaganda techniques
De-coding some messages
News and current events
Mass culture
Impact of propaganda and advertising
Further reading
3. This message was brought to you by . . .
Introduction
1. Where the news comes from
2. Ownership and control
3. How do present trends affect the media's message?
4. Where does government fit in?
5. The global village
6. Isn't there any good news
Further reading
4. Propaganda, bias and point of view
Introduction
The first casualty
The Bloody Road to Zimbabwe
Textual analysis of The Bloody Road to Zimbabwe
The other side of the story
Further reading
5. "Underdevelopment": Case studies
Introduction
Case Study #1: Brazil
Case Study #2: The Atlantic Provinces
Conclusions: Where is the "Third World"?
Further reading
6. Do not adjust . . .
Communication and modern world problems
1. The analysis
Postscript: the experience
2. Resources
Subscriptions/ newsletters
Information centres/ sources
Of interest to educators
Appendices
For Chapter 1:
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
For Chapter 3:
Atlantic Canada media ownership
Maclean-Hunter
Thomson newspaper chain
Southam
Torstar
A missing section on the elite
For Chapter 4:
Last of the few
Notes
List of tables
Index

Source: https://www.connexions.org/CxLibrary/CX8412.htm

A question from all this might be, "Will ITV News attempt to play down the issue of how controversial the All Blacks shirt sponsorship deal is?"

Another question might be, have mainstream media news channels reported sufficiently about the global implications of Adani Carmichael's climate criminal activities regarding global warming prospects? If not, perhaps a key influence has been the desire not to upset potential advertising revenues for commercial mass media?

Monday, 16 September 2019

Universal Credit changes October 2019: When it gets paid, how it affects you and how much you'll get

From Manchester Evening News:

Universal credit changes: When it gets paid, how it will affect you and how much you'll get

Universal credit changes next month - here's everything you need to know

By
Rachel PughMoney-Saving & Consumer Writer
  • 16:52, 12 SEP 2019

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has confirmed that Universal Credit will change from October 2.

The changes were announced in the budget, and will see the repayment cap lowered from the 40 per cent maximum, down to 30pc. This means that some claimants will be able to keep more of their money, as the DWP will be able to deduct less from benefit payments to pay back rent arrears, advanced payments or sanctions.

Those who are currently being charged 40pc will receive more money from October.

More at 

including:
  • What is Universal Credit?
  • Who can claim Universal Credit?
  • What Universal Credit is replacing
  • When will Universal Credit get paid into my bank account? — and how that varies from bank brand to bank brand!
  • What happens if my Universal Credit payment day lands on a Bank Holiday or weekend?
  • How much Universal Credit will I get?

The article tails off with:
The official government website suggests using one of the following:
For more detailed information on Universal Credit, you can contact Citizen's Advice here.

 This blog editor advises that claimants go to all interviews with a friend if possible, and that includes Citizens Advice interviews. (The golden motto of Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group is: Never attend anywhere official alone.) This is now especially important when obtaining Universal Credit-related information, advice and guidance from Citizens Advice, as can be gleaned from the implications of a Disability News Service article:

Citizens Advice signed gagging clause in return for share of £51m from DWP

Two charities that will receive £51 million in government funding to provide advice and support to claimants of universal credit (UC) signed gagging clauses that prevent them bringing the Department for Work and Pensions “unfairly” into “disrepute”.

Both Citizens Advice (CA) and Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) signed grant agreements with Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) – worth a total of £51 million – that include the same clause....

Alan Wheatley



Friday, 13 September 2019

School exclusions and taxpayers' value for money

I note that one of the lead stories at Camden New Journal website is currently:

Nearly 700 children excluded from Camden schools in a year, data reveals

New pledge to work with the families of pupils at risk of removal
12 September, 2019 — By Helen Chapman



NEARLY 700 children were excluded from Camden’s schools in a year, council data has revealed as the Town Hall pledged to focus on why so many were being removed from classes.

Councillors reviewing the new research gathered as the result of concerns about the extent schools were using exclusions – and the knock-on effects for those involved – said they were worried pupils from black backgrounds were being hardest hit.

Experts warned earlier this year that there could be a link between the level of exclusions and a rise in violent youth crime.

The data presented to the cross-party children’s scrutiny committee on Monday evening showed that 679 pupils were excluded, either on a permanent or fixed-term basis – a figure which amounts to 3 percent of the school population....



More at http://camdennewjournal.com/article/nearly-700-children-excluded-from-camden-schools-in-a-year-data-reveals

I note, however, that schools opting out of local authority control and operating as 'charities' has been a feature of post-2010 Tory Government in the UK, and central government funding of local authorities has declined to the point where central government funding of local authorities to carry out the responsibilities of local authorities will soon be non-existent.

As 'charities' independent schools secure tax relief even while they help perpetuate privilege. (I obtained this Internet link
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/16/private-schools-charitable-status-strip-benefits
via keyword search
independent schools charities tax relief

At that related search link, the
Independent Schools and Tax
Charitable status significantly predates the modern taxation system, but all charities pay tax and independent schools are no exception. Charities benefit from tax exemptions and reliefs, but estimates of charity tax reliefs are inherently unreliable.
find is provided by the Independent Schools Council, an 'umbrella organisation' promoting the interests of 'independent schools'.)


Meanwhile, one of the major ways that independent schools manage to maintain high quality results in their school throughput is by their pupil selection. What pledges do they make — if any — toward supporting the families of the pupils they exclude altogether and who cannot afford to pay their fees on top of income tax, Council Tax, etc and have much less 'disposable income'?

Camden New Journal reader's letter: How independent traders could be given assistance

I saw the below published at the website of my former locale's main freebie weekly newspaper, and commend it to my readership.

Alan Wheatley

How independent traders could be given assistance


Closed down Monica clothes shop, South End Green, Hampstead, where Pret is planning to move in
Photo: Camden New Journal

• WE value independent traders for the greater variety offered to customers, for the wider range of jobs undertaken locally, for the typically shorter supply routes, for recirculating a greater proportion of their income locally, for not being so involved in tax-avoidance havens and, local studies found in Archway and in Highgate, often for lower prices, (Family businesses fear for future as Pret A Manger makes move on Hampstead, September 5).

Around Archway an independent trader in Junction Road was found to be the cheapest and a supermarket at the Nag’s Head the most expensive.

The MP Jeremy Corbyn, having expressed hope that such traders could be relieved of some business rate burdens, took up a suggestion of the Better Archway Forum in 2013 that this could be done by extending the scope of small business rate relief which would assist 11 rather than only three of the 15 traders in the N19 5QT part of Junction Road alone.

A significant part of the threat to our high streets lies in the fact that while internet suppliers pay low levels of rents and rates for remote warehouses, shopkeepers face the spike as in the case you report. In that case the planning permission, or prior approval, will also be needed for the change of use to restaurant if any sales are to be consumed on the premises.

ADRIAN BETHAM
North Road, N6

Thursday, 12 September 2019

Unite the Union Community membership Herefordshire Action Day on Universal Credit — time and place

Unite the Union Community membership
Herefordshire Action Day on Universal Credit
College Road Estate, HR1 1HW
Saturday 14th September, 10:30am-12:30pm
Herefordshire Action Day on Universal Credit
College Road Estate, Hereford HR1 1HW
Saturday 14th September, 10:30am-12:30pm

Map location link: HR1 1HW

How to get there by public transport:
http://www.travelinemidlands.co.uk/wmtis/XSLT_TRIP_REQUEST2?language=en&timeOffset=15
Traveline — for journeys within the South, East, and West Midlands,and by train or coach from most towns in Great Britain



Tuesday, 10 September 2019

Comparison of 'news stories' highlights importance of readers asking questions in what is called 'Information Literacy' and 'Critical Thinking'

I apologise for presenting a sketchy blog post here as I am a slower operative with a lot to do away from blogging, while I hope the below gives readers 'food for thought'.

Exhibit A


On Friday 6 September 2019, Yahoo! News saw fit to publish a 'news' story headed:



Voters fear Jeremy Corbyn in Number 10 more than a no-deal Brexit, poll shows

David Harding
Contributor

Britons are more worried about Jeremy Corbyn in Number 10 than a no-deal Brexit, according to a new opinion poll.
Almost half of all voters would rather Britain left the European Union without an agreement rather than see the Labour leader in Downing Street, the poll from Politico claims.
The poll found that 43% of voters would favour the UK crashing out of the EU while just 35 per cent would prefer Corbyn as Prime Minister.
A further 22% did not want either, seeing them as equally bad options....
As surely as some 'think tanks' are very far from transparent about who funds them, it occurred to me on reading that story that the potential vested interests of the pollsters concerned were not declared, like who commissioned them? One of my contacts suggested the poll's author might be Dominic Cummings, Special Adviser for the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Neither does that report declare how many people were polled in this instance, though the report states:
"Almost half of all voters would rather Britain left the European Union without an agreement rather than see the Labour leader in Downing Street, the poll from Politico claims."

Talking of numbers, New Statesman pointed out in July 2019 that just 0.13 per cent of the UK population voted for Boris Johnson to be its Prime Minister — "a group of people roughly the size of a decent football crowd."  That fact alone renders the legitimacy of his authority as Prime Minister highly suspect, even before his unilateral 'coup' to shut down or 'prorogue' Parliament.

Eleanor MacLean (1981) Between the Lines: How to Detect Bias and Distortion in the News and Everyday Life presents a 'Checklist for Careful Thinking' that I highly commend. The 'Checklist for Careful Thinking consists of six categories:
  1. What is a source?
  2. What is the basic message?
  3. What is presented in support of the point of view?
  4. How is the message conveyed?
  5. Who stands to gain?
  6. Conclusion
In this era of online pollsters and especially with such a tiny proportion of a national population, more and more use is made of 'opinion polls' in order to lull the electorate into a stupor, as can be deduced from this instance, and it would be pretty obvious that such a story would or could be engineered to further the image of Jeremy Corbyn as the worst of the options available.

None of the poll questions outlined in the report attempts to gauge how much or how little the sample population knows or might know regarding concerns they might have about the potential harm that a 'no-deal Brexit' could open the UK to. My suspicion has long been that with the likes of Boris Johnson and Michael Gove in charge, their 'end game' is destruction of the welfare state.
"Boris Johnson" "Michael Gove" "welfare state" brexit

One of my other sources replied, to the idea that Dominic Cummings might have been the poll's author: "Dominic Cummings once manipulated an issue with a poll that gave his side 60%. The poll consisted of 10 people!"

And as one demonstrator against Boris Johnson's coup spelled out recently, "More people applied to Love Island than voted for Boris Johnson" to be UK Prime Minister.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnQnf2QrWDjowrMebT5CItLmj5PNyUWugFV1PpD-SnnpHCGx_zuKcqqoe1AKwD9zpJ7jpzVaEkXvBqQhPh9sSlHjzArDsMfN1jZJRYK7DzeyBDWYXML3MOXHImafxOHd8MYcsllmAEOu17/s640/IMG_5514.JPG
Placard: More people applied to Love Island than voted for Boris Johnson"Photo: Martin Francis of Wembley Matters blog


Exhibit B

By contrast, the previous day John Pring of Disability News Service reported:

Baroness Grey-Thompson speaking in the House of Lords
Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson said that it felt as though
the impact of a no-deal Brexit on disabled people had
"been forgotten and will be ignored"



Trio of disabled peers pledge to fight off no-deal Brexit ‘time bomb’


 
Three disabled peers have pledged to do all they can to avert the significant impact on disabled people of a no-deal Brexit, with one warning of a “time bomb” that is now likely to “detonate”.

They spoke out this week as MPs and peers returned from their summer recess, facing the threat of the UK being forced to leave the European Union (EU) without an agreement at the end of next month.

The disabled crossbench peer Baroness [Tanni] Grey-Thompson told Disability News Service (DNS) last night (Wednesday) from the House of Lords that a no-deal Brexit would be “disastrous” for disabled people.

She said: “I will do everything I can to avoid it.”

She said she was “completely against a no-deal Brexit” but was unclear about what action she would take.

She said: “The action I’m likely to take is more likely to be in the chamber rather than outside and I’m just trying to get through each vote and plan around that....
More at https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/trio-of-disabled-peers-pledge-to-fight-off-no-deal-brexit-time-bomb/

As a now blessed by state pension as quasi-'Unconditional Basic Income' retired jobseeker, I, like many disabled people have learned to question and be suspicious of those peddling 'no deal Brexit' and other such forms of 'disaster capitalism' that would accelerate the corporate demolition of the welfare state and make the UK politically more like the United States in plutocracy terms.

Their objections to the prospect of 'no-deal Brexit' are based on disabled people's collective experience of social transformations based on bias and distortion.

Part of my sense of mission in promoting this blog is to help make Disability News Service and its revelations better known to my readership.

Further reading on 'Critical Thinking' and 'Information Literacy'

"Critical Thinking"

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=%22critical+thinking%22

"Information Literacy"

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&sxsrf=ACYBGNSnvf3876ZV8dP_IMXxTyyISFiySQ%3A1568134849442&ei=wdZ3XabXGreW1fAP5OWG6A0&q=%22information+literacy%22&oq=%22information+literacy%22&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0l10.287526.299112..300639...1.2..0.306.4172.0j15j5j1......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i71j0i67j0i131j0i7i30.K-OARN7flnA&ved=0ahUKEwjmu6TF3cbkAhU3SxUIHeSyAd0Q4dUDCAs&uact=5


A principal finding from my previous study of information literacy informs me that a good Table of Contents can help illumine the reader's mind without having read a book from cover to cover. The Table of Contents for Eleanor MacLean (1981) Between the Lines: How to Detect Bias and Distortion in the News and Everyday Life is an excellent case in point:

Between the Lines
How to Detect Bias and Propaganda in the News and Everyday Life

MacLean, Eleanor
Publisher:  Deveric, Halifax, Canada
Year Published:  1981  
Pages:  296pp   ISBN:  0-9690919-0-7
Library of Congress Number:  P91.M23   Dewey:  302.2'4
Resource Type:  Book
Cx Number:  CX8412

An exploration of medthods of "dec-doing" our daily newspapers and radio/TV news. Examines our predominant sources of information (mass media) and indicates the existence of many alternative sources of informaiton.

Abstract: 

Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgements
1. What gave you that idea?
Introduction
Forming opinions
Thinking clearly
The mass media of communication
Further reading
2. Getting the message
Introduction
Determining the overall message
Bias and propaganda techniques
De-coding some messages
News and current events
Mass culture
Impact of propaganda and advertising
Further reading
3. This message was brought to you by . . .
Introduction
1. Where the news comes from
2. Ownership and control
3. How do present trends affect the media's message?
4. Where does government fit in?
5. The global village
6. Isn't there any good news
Further reading
4. Propaganda, bias and point of view
Introduction
The first casualty
The Bloody Road to Zimbabwe
Textual analysis of The Bloody Road to Zimbabwe
The other side of the story
Further reading
5. "Underdevelopment": Case studies
Introduction
Case Study #1: Brazil
Case Study #2: The Atlantic Provinces
Conclusions: Where is the "Third World"?
Further reading
6. Do not adjust . . .
Communication and modern world problems
1. The analysis
Postscript: the experience
2. Resources
Subscriptions/ newsletters
Information centres/ sources
Of interest to educators
Appendices
For Chapter 1:
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
For Chapter 3:
Atlantic Canada media ownership
Maclean-Hunter
Thomson newspaper chain
Southam
Torstar
A missing section on the elite
For Chapter 4:
Last of the few
Notes
List of tables
Index

Source: https://www.connexions.org/CxLibrary/CX8412.htm







"Will new 'serious case panel' probe benefit-related deaths?"

Following petitioning promoted by Disability News Service pursuing justice for Jody Whiting, "The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) appears to have secured funding to set up an independent panel to examine cases where its own failings have led to the deaths of benefit claimants, reports John Pring of Disability News Service in his 'top story' of Thursday, 5 September 2019. (Disability News Service is published weekly on a Thursday.)

You can read more of this at
https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/will-new-serious-case-panel-probe-benefit-related-deaths-dwp-stays-silent/

The Observer: "Mother searches for answers a year after her daughter set herself alight in council housing office"

I flag this up now with thanks to Revd Paul Nicolson of Taxpayers Against Poverty, as urgent after having missed it yesterday while I was offline.

Mother searches for answers a year after her daughter set herself alight in council housing office

“This didn’t need to happen – that’s the thing that hurts,” said Melanie’s mother.
"This didn't need to happen — that's the thing that hurts," said Melanie's mother.
Photo: Karen Robinson/The Observer

Grieving mother still has questions over daughter's death which followed months of anxiety over eviction threat


It is a year since Melanie Smith* walked into the housing offices of Barnet council and set herself on fire.
Yet her mother, Marie Bennett,** fears vital lessons that could protect others have not been learned. “This didn’t need to happen – that’s the thing that hurts,” Bennett said. “I don’t think anyone has taken on board that they could maybe prevent other deaths.”
Bennett is also still waiting for answers to her questions, including about Smith’s final conversation with council housing officers, after having experienced months of anxiety about being evicted from her home of two decades. “No one has told me who spoke to her that day, or what was said,” she explained....
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/sep/08/unlearned-lessons-death-of-woman-housing-mental-health-crisis
Whoever Melanie Smith spoke to in the housing office of London Borough of Barnet Council in September 2018, it would not have been "Conservative members of the House of Commons from whom the Whip has been withdrawn and Amber Rudd." Those Members of Parliament "all voted for the cruel pressures she and millions of other tenants are now suffering," argues [retired] Revd Paul Nicolson of Taxpayers Against Poverty.

"Council officials administer laws that render low income tenants powerless," observes Paul Nicolson. 
"Government policies have stripped the housing market of truly affordable housing. Housing and other benefits have been shredded. Rent arrears are inevitable and landlords merciless. 83,700 evicted families, many of them unemployed, with 124,000 children are now in temporary accommodation in England, up 74% since 2010. They are made one offer of a permanent home which they are compelled to accept, sometimes miles from their long term home.

"Some are forced into the private sector with unaffordable rents, others into property not fit for habitation.

"If they refuse that one and only offer, they are deemed intentionally homeless and the council withdraws from its duty to house them."
Regarding Paul's comment that landlords are merciless, I note that a Direct Line Landlords Insurance advert fuels landlords' loss of mercy. Targeted at landlords whose tenants' rent arrears lead to lost sleep for the landlord, the advert says, "We will pay all the unpaid rent until the tenants are out." How does that relate to Advertising Standards? What does such advertising do to tv viewers' moral norms?

I would add though, that Barnet Tory Council has been especially keen to support Barratt Homes at the expense of LB Barnet's council housing stock.

In my own 2005/06 past as a domiciliary care worker, after I struggled for over a year attempting to support vulnerable adults while
  • council cuts had rendered in-service training virtually non-existent and 
  • Jobcentre 'administrative errors' left me without Jobseekers Allowance top-up to declared part time earnings for months, rendering me in danger of rent arrears-related eviction
I observed that care workers were likely to be punished for their in-work negligence while 'key decision-makers' never were, and so I resigned from that work with greater determination to campaign for justice for those affected by cuts that were occurring even before 2010.

NB:
* and **: Names changed to protect family privacy