Bedroom Tax – Bristol Protest June 2013

Today’s protest, College Green, Bristol

Just returned from the protest today at College Green, well actually off of college green, hidden under the trees outside the Bristol Royal Marriott where local people had gathered in protest against the heinous ‘Bedroom Tax’ which recently came into existence.

As many know this is the tax which is actually not a tax at all but a cut in housing benefit which affects only those with local or housing authority landlords with cuts of 14% per single spare room and 25% for two or more spare rooms. A tax by any other name, and one on poverty to boot.

Plenty of column inches have been given to this ‘tax’ which when pared to the bone and stripped of all evasive government rhetoric is at its core a highly illogical, divisive, unacceptable pure and simple attack on social housing tenants by a government that claimed to be ‘Caring and compassionate’ pre election (any party that has to realign itself in the public eye with such slogans is, never was and never will be either). There are also many questions that it simply fails to even consider, for example how many people are affected where they are deemed to have a spare room yet through no fault of their own have may had no choice in the property offered when they were allocated a home by the local authority or housing association?

No my main issue today is the sheer lack of turnout or support that this protest attracted. Now the weather was nice in Bristol today, glorious in fact, and continues to be while I write this. There were also many other organised events on including the Feed the 5000 festival taking up the bulk of college green yards from the protest, something involving the NHS, and a threatened EDL rally somewhere in town which hopefully never got off of the ground, but which may understandably have made people wary of visiting the city centre today as well as spurring an anti EDL protest at the cenotaph.

Nonetheless the fact is that there are according to the Bristol post more than 4700 households in Bristol that will be adversely affected by this government sanctioned theft and eviction tax. 4700 households of people would more than fill College green admirably and make a good show of the protest in front of the Mayor’s mansion. However…. today’s protest attracted maybe a hundred at best, give or take, all huddled together in a few square metres hidden under and almost within the branches of the trees outside the Marriott as pictured above. I can also bet that not everyone there was actually affected, which is no bad thing because protests like this need to garner support from wider society. But, only about 100 people out of 4700 households?

100 PEOPLE OUT OF OVER 4700 HOUSEHOLDS?!? That was all who were able to attend?

Where is everyone?

On Wednesday night we attended the Bristol Rally for the Peoples Assembly against Austerity at Malcolm X Centre in St Pauls. Now there there were several hundred attendees giving a packed house to hear talks by speakers including the permanently texting and uninterested looking Owen Jones, the comedian Mark Steel (who was really good), Vicki Baars, Paulette North and Joanne Kaye on various issues from the downward spiralling plight of disabled people under the current government, to the impact of bankers bonuses, the continuing privatisation of the NHS, and the need for people to have hope in desperate times.

Some aspects of the night I didn’t agree with, particularly use of the term ‘Comrades’ during one of the talks which always brings to mind negative images of hammers, sickles, oppression and Stalin for me (and the ‘Comrade Stalin Salutes You’ skit in Little Britain). I am also wary of such events for their tendency to be hijacked by political groups desperate to ensnare unwary punters, such as the Socialist Workers Party who always exploit such events. I am not socialist, communist, capitalist or any other ‘ist’, I simply believe in doing the right thing and supporting those in need against political vote driven actions which are clearly wrong, such as bedroom tax. I am also not a fan of ‘Applause lines’ which are those slogans, sound bytes or other forced sentences that public speakers inject to get a round of applause from the audience, I would rather they just got to the point and were clapped at the end, not every few seconds.

Anyway, in amongst much of the political rhetoric of the night there were many positive and impressive things at the Malcolm X centre, particularly the packed turnout. I would like to think that people there didn’t turn out just to see the celebrity campaigners on display. Yet after an impassioned plea from the speakers on Wednesday night that all attend the protest against the bedroom tax on College Green, today’s protest ended up with a total damp squib turnout of probably less than a quarter of Wednesday’s audience, becoming something that could easily be dismissed by those who should be influenced and compelled by it.

Where was everyone who made it to the Malcolm X Centre? Where are those of the 4700 affected Households?

The truth is that unless protests like this receive the support they deserve, then those 4700 households will simply become a footnote on the road to continually worsening poverty UK wide. Homelessness is on the rise. Foodbanks are on the rise. Extreme poverty is on the rise. Society is riven by government and media driven rhetoric about masses of non existent ‘scroungers’ which is fuelling a rise in hate crime against disabled people and others. In addition the political process itself IS broken; Parliament is stuffed with career politicians on all sides, many of whom have no concept of life beyond private schools, Oxford, Cambridge or the square mile. Corruption continues to be in weekly evidence as seen in recent days with the return of traditional Tory Sleaze and another ‘cash for questions’ scandal, this time with revelations regarding Patrick Mercer. It also no longer seems to matter who you vote for, you always end up in the same situation rendering the electoral process not just a stick with shit at one end, not just a stick with shit at both ends, but a stick that has been rattled around in the stank pail so much over the decades that it now permanently exists with shit all over it. People are unhappy, you need only look at ever decreasing turnout to realise that many simply see no point in voting, they have no trust in politicians, and they have no faith or hope that things can ever change for the better. Bristol for example now has a Mayor and a Police and Crime Commissioner for whom only about 10% of the relevant electorate voted, which is quite honestly scandalous. Major decisions are being taken and significant positions of power filled by individuals who have no popular mandate. In many ways however, those who are disillusioned have every reason to be so, and I completely identify with them.

In my mind therefore, the only way to combat such a situation is for people to get out onto the streets and to stand against it, to support positive causes such as today’s, look past the placards with Socialist Workers Party splattered unnecessarily over them, look past the so called democratic process which no longer delivers, see the issue of an unfair bedroom tax on the poor for what it is, and decide for yourself what you believe is right. Sign petitions, vote with your feet, kick up a stink and make those in power take notice!

At the end of the day there is plenty of evidence out there that the bedroom tax will save the government nothing and will actually cost more, including reports from within parliament itself. Local authorities have already said (and been ignored by central government and Iain Duncan Smith) that they don’t have the properties available to downsize many of those affected. Some local authorities have called for the bedroom tax to be scrapped recognising that it is going to cause sever damage, including Fife Council. Many housing authority housing tenants could however be left with the unsavoury choice of possible homelessness or moving into the private rental sector where the cost to the public purse through housing benefit will only skyrocket. It is also not as simple as IDS suggests of going out and working; many affected DO work, and for many others there are quite simply not the jobs out there for them to do so because Iain Duncan Smith and his government have quite simply failed to pull the requisite jobs from their collective backsides which they claim are out there (while they scandalously continue to hire unpaid interns) and comprehensively failed to deal with their pals in the banks who refuse to stimulate employment by not releasing liquidity to small companies (though many of the cash strapped banks somehow have the money to keep ALL of the lights burning through the dead of night in their properties down on Canary Wharf.)

The bedroom tax policy is therefore rendered little more than a stunt and ideologically driven attack against what the government sees as an easy target; a minority of society who are seen, largely thanks to media and government rhetoric, as an ocean of scroungers simply not worth caring about. That is of course utterly wrong. The bedroom tax brings no benefits to anyone; none to the so called lower, middle or upper classes and therefore has no justifiable reason for its existence. What it does bring however is hardship and human cost aimed at those least able to combat it. What this also means however, is that many in society whether affected by it or not have no reason not to get out and protest against it on such terms. If anything the often touted and put upon ‘Taxpayer’ has every reason to protest against it because it will simply cost them more tax in the long run.

So the next time there is something that desperately needs support and is a wholly worthwhile cause such as today’s protest, please get out and show your support. There are many who don’t support this tax, many many more than attended today, but you all need to stand up and be counted, get out and make a difference.

Anyway, in a lighter mood (but only slightly), here’s a funny photo that someone out there on the Internets mocked up a few months back, and in terms of the sentiment, I agree with it wholeheartedly.

IDS is a man who shows absolutely not a drip of compassion for anyone anywhere as his disgusting, divisive and ideologically motivated policies whether directed at social housing or the disabled literally destroy lives and society while he enjoys the rent free multi millionaire existence that has only come to be expected from members of parliament, whichever side of the political divide they sit on.

Amazingly this man once visited Easterhouse in Glasgow and claimed to have been moved to tears at the levels of poverty he witnessed there. Its truly fascinating what people like him will say to win power, particularly where his policies since gaining power seem to be those of a man that rather than help those in extreme poverty would rather just wipe them off the map by any means necessary. Perhaps he is still sore that we never elected him as Prime Minister (Thank god we didn’t!)

Even more amazing is the fact that he claimed recently that he could live on £53.00 per week if he had to, yet just this week it is being reported in various outlets that he can’t even eat breakfast for less than £39.00, and when he does he tries to claim it back on expenses! Who the hell spends £39.00 on breakfast in the first place, and then tries to claim it back from the public purse? Iain Duncan Smith, that’s who. Its not good enough for the tax payer to be charged to help keep those less fortunate off of the breadline, but its A-Ok to pay for Duncan Smith’s breakfast. Toss me a pot.

Anyway, until next time, Adios!

Rush live at the O2 arena, London, May 2013 – review

After a year of waiting having purchased our tickets back in April 2012 we finally arrived in London last night to see Rush perform on their Clockwork Angels tour at the O2 Arena in London.

Rush are one of our favourite bands, we’ve seen them three times before on their R30, Snakes and Arrows and Time machine tours in various venues including the SECC in Glasgow and the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle. We have been marginally disappointed on occasions in the past due to poor sound systems at some of these venues although on each occasion the band have quite obviously been playing their collective asses off. I had therefore hoped that last nights gig would be the best yet sound wise given the way the O2 big their arena up on their own website, which to quote says:

The arena at The O2 truly creates a new benchmark in what both fan and performer can and should expect from a rock or pop concert in the UK. You will only see the world’s hottest and most sought after acts on this stage; Bon Jovi, Justin Timberlake, Scissor Sisters, Prince, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, Take That… and what a way to enjoy them. With perfect sight-lines from every angle, crystal clear acoustics, obscenely comfy seating, wide concourses between aisles and a huge variety of snack and drink options to enjoy throughout the show. We’ve even put paid to that excruciatingly painful and frustrating tradition of the “fifty minute queue for the loo” by fitting 548 toilets.

This pretty much seems to say that the sound and venue would be good, at least better than Scotland’s SECC which is really just a giant metal shed and not the best venue for live music. However…. Last nights gig was by far the second worst live music experience we have paid for (The absolute worst was a gig by Alice in Chains a few years ago at a total dump in Govan, Glasgow, also funnily enough called the O2 where the sound engineer drove everything way up beyond distortion to the point where standing in front of a jet engine would have been more enjoyable).

From the moment we arrived I knew something was wrong. The doors which were supposed to open at 6 according to the ticket didn’t open until about half seven, so the concert started late, though not admittedly as late as anything involving Axl Rose. There were rumours of some kind of incident delaying the gig which were confirmed by one of the arena doorman when we left at the mid show break, and I have seen mention since of a Fox loose in the venue on other sites.

The interior of the O2 is certainly imposing, a massive cavernous space with 4 tiers of seats going up to the rafters probably several hundred feet in the air all round, a mighty distance to fall should you slip or trip on your way down the stairs to your hard plastic seat. The stage however was tiny for a venue of its size, the O2 has a capacity of 20,000 apparently. The PA and stage however looked no bigger than the system we have seen at venues half the size, all strung up in the lighting rig on thin looking wires. I don’t know whether the PA belonged to the house or whether it was brought by the band. The background pre show music being piped through the system, the usual mix of Genesis, Kansas, King Crimson and other stuff familiar to Rush concert goers was also barely audible through this system from where we were sitting, a portent of things to come.

As we sat waiting for the venue to fill up excited at the prospect of a good show for which for once we actually had a good view, eventually the house lights went down and the usual Rush pre gig comedy skit fired up on the screen. Problem was again we could hardly hear any of it, just an echoey mush. Then it ended and the opening keyboard chords of Subdivisions started pumping out, the band kicked off, the lights went up and… splat! The show rapidly went downhill from there.

Instead of the usual Rush powerful clear sound (and the promised ‘Crystal Clear Acoustics ) what we got was a muddy indecipherable roaring noise of harsh sounding guitar, keyboard, earth shattering subsonic bass, some drums (not the whole kit, mostly only a trebly snare and cymbals) and howling vocals all buried together in a wall of noise more reminiscent of a nearby hurricane than a premier rock band. Not one word Geddy Lee sang could be heard clearly, Neil Peart‘s usual needle sharp drum fills were lost completely in a wash of reverberation, and the bass was just a continuous rumble, any and all notes lost to the wind. As for Alex Lifeson‘s guitar, it was lost somewhere in the ether, only really cutting through on his solos, but painfully so as the noise screeched through at such an intense high pitched shrill volume that the only thing it really cut through were probably the ear drums of every dog in the East end of London, as well as our own. Painful.

As the first half progressed we sat desperately hoping the sound would clean up, that maybe someone somewhere would inform the sound engineer that the band sounded like a bag of drowning cats pumped through 100,000 watts of PA, these were some great songs that were being played somewhere out front after all. However it did not for the entirety of the first set. Song after song of inaudible vocals, gut rumbling bass and Peart’s whipcrack echoing snare drum, the only audible part of his kit washed over us. I found myself getting more and more annoyed, not to mention deafer as the distorted and unwelcome high frequencies pouring forth from the dangling PA took their toll.

Later as the first drum solo of the night kicked off the problems remained the same. The kit was awash with reverb and distortion from a clearly over driven PA, the sound bouncing off of the back of the venue creating a chronic slapback. The crowd obviously wearing beer muffs cheered on nonetheless, and as the band came back in after the drum solo I found that I could no longer make out what song they were playing. They later kicked into the Analogue kid, one of my favourite Rush songs, and it was ruined by the fact that what is a simple guitar, bass and drums rock tune with nice flashy fast riffs was rendered a reverb soaked murky mess in which you couldn’t separate guitar, bass, drums or vocals from the treacle mix. Lastly they played Far cry, and the only clear sound of the night emerged from the murk, the usual massive pyrotechnic spiralling firework bang at the end of the second ‘Circuits Blowing’ line (the first time they did that song at the SECC years ago I just about s**t myself at that point!).

After that the house lights went up and we headed outside wondering whether to bother with the second half. I had been looking forward to the performance of Clockwork Angels with the string ensemble, but once outside, woolly eared and very pis**d off, I didn’t want to go and sit through another hour and a half of ear splitting noise. So we decided to call it a night and head off to get something to eat down in ‘Entertainment Avenue’ more on which later…

All in all it was a completely disappointing night and represents probably the last ‘arena’ gig we will ever fork out for.

As for the O2 itself what can I say? This is our first and probably last visit to this soulless end of the line overblown marquee. I remember the controversy this place whipped up when first built as the ‘millennium dome’ as our government of the day saw fit to dump truck loads of public money into what appears to be little more than a giant grubby tent squatting over a concrete carpark. Today it houses the worst sounding music venue we have ever been to, and that is saying something coming from someone who has previously been to numerous gigs at Scotland’s very own gig spoiling barn the SECC on the muddy (sound wise) banks of the Clyde.

Not only does it house the worst sounding music venue, it is also stuffed full of the typical usual suspect high street fast food eateries along the outskirts of the O2 arena itself which the owners have jokingly called ‘entertainment avenue’. The only difference between the branches of these chain eateries in the O2 is that they charge way over the odds in the O2 than they do on most high streets. The same can be said in the arena itself, nearly £3 for a normal bottle of oasis fruit juice? RIPOFF!
Some adjectives to describe ‘entertainment avenue and the arena’ could include ‘Cold’, ‘Soulless’, ‘Concrete’, ‘Expensive’, ‘Windy’, etc.

As for being ‘Entertaining’, well that adjective is really more apt for the outside North Greenwich tube station where we actually managed to hear some Rush music with a bit of clarity, a happy busker standing at the top of the escalator, at the exit doors from the station to the O2 playing an instrumental of ‘Closer to the Heart’ to a backing tape which with his single guitar and two small tinny speakers on the floor at his feet sounded a thousand times better than the real thing in Thunderdome outside with several thousand watts of PA at their disposal, a lot of our money and a sound engineer who I suspect was either unconscious drooling over the mixing desk or just somewhere else entirely while the sound of Mad Max and Masterblaster battling it out continued on stage.

So, where does the fault lie with the sound issues on this gig? To be honest I am not entirely sure. Did the band bring their own PA and engineer, or was the PA part of the O2? I would really like to know. If it belonged to the O2 then the fault lies with them and possibly the sound engineer. If however it was the Bands sound system then to be honest they should really be ashamed of the sound quality they are offering to those fans who have paid out a lot of money to come and see their favourite band live, and at the very least the sound engineer should really be for the high jump for presenting the band in such an awful light. Other than that I have to say that despite the awful sound it was quite obvious that the band were actually playing really well, they continue to be at the top of their game as musicians unlike pretty much all of their peers from the 60′s, 70′s, 80′s, 90′s etc. Its just a pity we couldn’t hear it.

Either way, having had the ‘Evening with Rush’ spoiled I would really love some of our money back, and then I might instead invest in the inevitable live DVD when it comes out and enjoy the concert properly on a decent sound system and wide screen at home.

So if you are considering shelling out for future gigs at the O2 arena, think long, think hard and maybe consider saving your money and not going as its bloody awful, and really disappointing if you travel a long distance to see something you have been looking forward to for over a year only to have it spoiled by inexcusably bad sound, and ridiculously expensive drinks. I have it on good authority that certain other gigs have been marred by similar problems. If however you are happy to slap the booze down your throat, strap on several thousand watts of chronically band sound and try your hardest to pretend it was actually a good night as you race toward alcohol soft middle age, then please, don’t let me stop you.

Now we are off to see the Happy Mondays in Bristol at the Harbour, with any luck they will hopefully sound much better than last nights ‘ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated’ long distance runaround.

Addendum

The Happy Mondays in Bristol were great. With a tiny stage and several thousand less watts of power than Rush had to play with, and only a few minutes of soundcheck on a stage shared with various acts (including 808 State) prior to their headline performance, they and whomever the sound engineer was managed to fill an open air concrete space on Bristols harbour-side amphitheatre with a really impressive sound, and performed brilliantly. The live sound was well mixed, loud, powerful and clear. Hundreds of pounds wasted on Rush vs a relatively cheap but highly enjoyable gig. Corporate arena rock sucks.

Charity Funding Drive – North Bristol Advice Centre

To all my friends, family, readers, conspirators and contributors and would be philanthropists.

If you shop online at Amazon, Tesco, ebay, iTunes, Expedia, Waitrose, Marks & Sparks, Ticketmaster, New look, and dozens of other online shops, and if you would like to do a little charity fundraising while you are at it with no extra cost to you other than a simple mouse click then please use this click through website and if in particular you would like to help the very worthy charity organisation which does a lot of vital community work in the face of increasing government cut backs, I would greatly appreciate it if you could please enter ‘North Bristol Advice Centre’ as your chosen charity. Then when you click through from this website to Amazon, Tesco, Ebay or wherever you shop those retailers will contribute a donation to North Bristol Advice Centre to help us continue to do our good work which ranges from providing free advice and advocacy to those in need to directly supporting vulnerable members of our community with many diverse and vital support and social services.

As I said it will not cost you anything more than the normal price of your purchase and you may actually get discounts through the website, all for the simple click of a mouse. It couldn’t be easier, and you will be bringing a little sunshine into the lives of those most in need

To do some good, then before shopping please go through this website and where asked enter North Bristol Advice Centre
http://www.shop2fundraise.co.uk/directory.php
?

If you would like to the North Bristol Advice Centre website to read about our work and projects please click the North Bristol Advice Centre logo below, please note that if you wish to you can make a direct donation to the charity through the website.

Thanks in advance,

Mike.

Newspapers set out Ridiculous Self Regulatory Proposals

It seems that the governments proposals for regulation of the media are still not going down well with news groups including News International, Associated Newspapers and telegraph Media Group who have rejected government proposals for regulation in favour of their own brand of non statutory self regulation as reported here today.

I have to say this report if true provides one of the biggest laughs of the day as these groups which publish between them such fine and respected ‘news’ publications as the Daily Mail and The Sun have essentially set out proposals for what amounts to NON regulation. Some of the more laughable elements of their proposals include the fact that they claim that they want to set up a ‘Tough and Independent new system of self regulation’. Read that again, ‘Independent’ and ‘Self regulation’ in the same sentence. Is that not simply the mother of all double negatives? How can you possibly have an Independent system of regulation when you are regulating yourself? To be honest I don’t often agree with government proposals these days but I think a statutory form of regulation would certainly be far more independent than a newspaper ‘Self regulating’ any day.

They are also arguing that their own proposals are intended to allow them to maintain their independence from politicians. Really? Publications such as the Sun and the Daily Mail who are admittedly and unashamedly staunch Conservative Party Supporting publications are arguing that they want to retain independence from politicians? Why then if they genuinely want such independence do they align themselves so closely to one political party? This is particularly on the part of the Mail which makes a regular point of criticising any tory opponents to the extent of often using such glorious catch phrases as ‘Lefties’ and ‘Trotskyists’, and of misreporting or twisting genuine news (even lying on occasion) to influence their readership and push their own deeply ingrained and morally questionable political agenda. Recent examples of such reds under the beds rhetoric include painting those opposed to the funeral of Margaret Thatcher as ‘The Left’, a report on how ‘The Left or Left Wingers’ are hijacking the Princess Diana memorial fund. Lets also not forget the way they have demonised large sections of society as ‘Scroungers’ fuelling public hatred towards the vulnerable and those unfortunate enough to be in the position of having to look for work or being ill to the point that they could not. Then of course there is the Sun with the Famous ‘If Kinnock Wins Today…’ article in 1992, their attempts to influence the Scottish elections with their SNP noose front page and their public turning back to the tories prior to the last election.

Its also not just tory supporting papers, there are those who support the Labour party also. Personally I do not believe that newspapers should be able to try to influence the political debate or the electorate in any way shape or form. The question is therefore not one of them retaining independence at all because they are simply not politically independent. I instead often find them more akin to propaganda pamphlets such as Der Stürmer willing to stir up the public to their own political drum beat, but independent? nah.

Here is another brilliant part of their proposals, and I quote directly from the Guardian, my emphasis added-

…..newspapers would retain a “veto” of appointments to the board of the new regulator. The self-regulatory body’s board would have to include a majority of people who are independent of the press, along with a “sufficient” number of people with experience of the industry, including former editors and senior or academic journalists.

So these ‘news’papers would retain a veto, effectively allowing them to seed their own ‘Independent Self Regulatory body’ with their own approved members. Independent? They are getting farther away from the meaning of that particular word with every sentence of their proposals.

So all I can say is that the proposals of these pamphlet pushers is really just a load of old cobblers. A number of these publishers were deeply embroiled in criminal activity over the phone hacking scandal to the extent that one of their offerings the ‘News’ of the World was forced to shut its doors, yet now they want to evade any future regulation of their activities.

No, they should not be allowed to do so, they should be regulated (in the case of The mail, regulated out of existence would be fine by me) and it should be by law which can be quite easily tailored to allow for true and proper public interest investigative journalism. Freedom of speech is one thing, freedom to print what you like, how you like and by whatever methods you wish through self-regulation regardless of who you harm (for example lets not forget the way the Sun trampled on the people of Liverpool with their disgusting ‘The Truth’ reporting on the Hillsborough Disaster, not to mention everyone who has ever had their phone hacked) is quite another.

Government U-Turn on Equality Repeal

Two pieces of interesting news today affecting employment law and equality.

Firstly it looks like the Government is going to take the welcome step of dropping their odious plans to repeal section 3 of the Equality Act 2006 which imposes a general duty on the Commission for Equality and Human Rights to further the positive causes of Human Rights, equality, respect and diversity in society.

Secondly it appears that the House of Lords have for the time being blocked the Governments equally odious attempt to push through legislation that would pave the way for workers surrendering employment rights to employers in return for (worthless?) shares in their employers company including those rights protecting them against unfair dismissal or redundancy along with training and flexible working rights, though this will now ping pong back to the House of Commons for further consideration.

In the last couple of years we have seen the government conduct an almost non stop attack on fundamental Human rights, employment rights and the vulnerable all in the name of austerity (but really in the name of standard tory policy and ideology), all of which would have a marked negative impact on society. Its good to see some positive decisions being taken for a change.

 

 

War on the Disabled

As we come up to the 3 year mark for our Conservative Government (Yes its a conservative government propped up by an ineffective soul selling sad puppy dog eyed Liberal Democon stooge), here are a number of websites that paint a fairly (un)pretty and indeed disturbing picture of life in Britain for many over the last 3 years.

The Conservatives have tried really hard to convince the public that Britain is broken. The truth is judging by their behaviour Britain isn’t broken and never was. Politics is broken however and has been for a very very long time. Remember all the lies of ‘Kind and Compassionate Conservatives’ before 2010? The fact that they even had to try and sell themselves as being such speaks volumes about the type of people that inhabit government today, the type of people who have largely done one hell of a lot to drive our country backwards from issues of equality, the type of people who through the media are fuelling a bigoted and discriminatory fire-storm of media propaganda designed to convince the public that the disabled are scroungers. The type of people who will use the slightest excuse to justify removing the civil and human rights that we have fought long and hard for to protect ourselves against the state. The type of people who will force legislation to allow secret courts through Parliament just to protect themselves from having the truth exposed about their clandestine skullduggery abroad.

The disturbing thing is that the public buy into this stuff. Many believe it and Many act upon it. There are reported rises in hate crimes against the disabled for example (see below). Words such as scrounger are bandied about casually from Government down through the civil service to those working in Job Centres who are supposed to be there to help. Then there are the suicides quietly happening around the country which Government refuses to hear about. Years and years of fighting for Human Rights, Equality and the abolition of discrimination are slowly being picked apart.

If you have the time and interest, please check out some of the links below and the stories behind them, including a surprising one from the Daily Hate.

There are now just over 2 years left and counting to the next general election, and no doubt during this time far more irreversible damage will be done to society all in the name of austerity (Austerity: Noun. Byword for a government more willing to piss billions into nuclear weapons, weapons of war and just War in general than they are willing to actually care about the society and people they claim to represent) leaving the country more socially divided and torn apart than ever before. Hopefully by then we will all have learned that it is time to take the power back and instigate a right royal clear out of Parliament. I doubt it though, we will probably all end up blindly falling into Labours hands again, then back to the Tories, then back to labour, ping pong, ping pong, ping pong, ping pong, all the time the Lib Dems pimping themselves to whomever will get them past the gates of the ivory tower, ping pong, ping pong, ping pong ad infinitum (or is that ad nauseum?) never ever achieving a truly fair and balanced society.

The following links are a random selection of sites that can be found online, these are not my sites, I do not endorse them and in some cases I don’t agree with the politics behind them, but I do largely agree with their stance on the specific issue in question. They are all an illustration of some of the ideas, truths and stories out there regarding what is happening today and part of the reason why we are truly on the express elevator to hell.

And remember kids, say NO to ATOS, IDS, and Fascists everywhere.

Links:

http://liberalconspiracy.org/2012/06/12/the-war-on-the-disabled-people-just-winning-a-few-battles-isnt-enough/

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2012/11/sick-and-tired-coalitions-war-disabled-and-destitute

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/the-war-against-the-disabled.13686753

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/features/columnists/latest/9915073.This_unfair_war_on_the_disabled/

http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/Government-making-war-disabled/story-16521655-detail/story.html#axzz2OP9Wq5bw

http://wheresthebenefit.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/coalitions-war-on-disabled-people-is.html

http://rosecrystal.blog.co.uk/2012/12/04/sick-and-tired-the-coalition-s-war-on-the-disabled-and-destitute-15278590/

http://www.stopwar.org.uk/index.php/cost-of-war/2294-scapegoating-the-poor-sick-and-unemployed-to-fund-britains-war-machine

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?375051-The-War-on-Disabled-People-is-an-Invitation-to-Fight-Back

http://blacktrianglecampaign.org/2012/12/06/camerons-declaration-of-war-on-disabled-people-is-an-invitation-to-fight-back-gina-ravens/

http://www.dpac.uk.net/2012/09/the-austerity-war-and-the-impoverishment-of-disabled-people-chris-edwards-2/

http://truth-reason-liberty.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/tabloid-propaganda-and-governments-war.html

http://www.stephenleehodgkins.net/Grog.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/enough-is-enough-disabled-people-are-driven-to-suicide-because-of-the-governments-welfare-reform-8197640.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/fear-of-fitness-to-work-tests-driving-disabled-patients-to-suicide-say-6-of-gps-8197432.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2117718/British-people-committing-suicide-escape-poverty-Is-State-wants.html

http://www.publicservice.co.uk/feature_story.asp?id=20622

http://www.dpac.uk.net/2012/08/remembering-those-whove-died-at-the-hands-of-atos-healthcare/#comment-3393

http://quiet-nomad.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/disabled-people-committing-suicide-as.html

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2011/11/suic-n15.html

http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2011/06/06/brutal-benefit-cuts-for-the-disabled-are-leading-to-suicides-in-the-uk/

http://blacktrianglecampaign.org/2013/01/23/alarm-at-rise-in-uk-suicide-rate/

http://www.ukdpc.net/site/news-archive/172-mp-provides-prime-minister-with-proof-of-the-fatal-impact-of-welfare-cuts-posted-211212

http://atosvictimsgroup.co.uk/tag/suicide/

http://politicsuk.eu/benefits-cuts-suicides-and-deaths/

http://www.update.org.uk/news-detail.php?page=193

http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/08/24/65000-hate-crimes-against-disabled-people-and-rising-this-has-to-stop/

 

Never buying Apple Again

That’s right, I am never buying any Apple products again.

Apart from constant media exposure of unethical manufacturing processes using companies such as Foxconn that I have become aware of over the last couple of years, as do many massive multinational gadget pushers, designing products that must eventually be thrown away rather than being capable of repair, i.e. non user serviceable battery etc, I have bought two expensive devices over the past few years, an iPad and an iPod Classic.

The iPod Classic failed within two years of purchase.

The iPad 1 became obsolete within 2 years of purchase and is no longer supported by Apple.

I don’t know about anyone else but I really don’t spend hundred of pounds buying things like this just to throw them out within a couple of years. I know there are a lot of brainwashed wasteful fetishists out there who must always have the latest toys when they come out, and worse (like the idiot that paid millions to have a diamond encrusted gold iPhone created) but I personally prefer stuff to last as long as it reasonably should. For example my Wife has had the same little creative mp3 player for nearly 5 years and its still going strong and hopefully will be for years to come. My old creative one which was even older is too though in someone else’s hands. But longevity in manufacturing just isn’t the way of the world any more is it?

As the most wasteful and ecologically obnoxious and ignorant creature on the planet many of us are constantly happy to be throwing stuff away to landfill in the quest for shiny new baubles. Of course manufacturers like Apple are more than happy to oblige and take advantage by constantly and needlessly updating product lines in order to resell them to those gullible enough to buy over and over again, and probably more than happy to build planned obsolescence into their products to give us all that little kick now and then as to when to go and replace. Just look at the iPod line, the iPod nano has had numerous facelifts, but it is still just a music player, but they change it every year to encourage you to buy again and again and again. Christ we even have computer printers now, mostly HP ones that I have used that just pack in working altogether and give you a little message saying ‘time for a service’ when there is actually nothing wrong with the device other than its programmed to make you spend money when it is not necessary. How many I wonder when that happens just pop out and buy another printer? Then there is Microsoft; they have re-engineered Microsoft Office probably more than half a dozen times over the last two decades, but does it actually do anything different now than it did back in 1997? The truth is it doesn’t really. People still just type letters, do spreadsheets, databases, the look has changed but underneath its still the same old banger.

Then of course there is the pathetic game that companies like Apple and Samsung engage in of running round the planet suing one another back and forward in every legal jurisdiction going behaving like spoilt little children, yet still buying goods from one another.

So no more Apple for me, and Samsung, Sony (of whom there are rumours that they are going to try and put the used games market out of business with their next Playstation rip off machine) etc can all just eff off too.

Technology is wonderful, but the world is rapidly becoming a stagnant place where companies, artists, musicians, writers and everyone else in between constantly just recycles the same old tired rubbish over and over and over again ad infinitum. Meanwhile the Human Race is going nowhere fast.

Anyhow……