In support of Lib Dem MP David Ward's right to express a considered opinion.

Having lived next to Belsen Concentration camp for 8 years,  the description of the Holocaust as 'the largest mass murder' in history is an accurate one, and we must never forget that fact. but like Mr Ward, I also find it distressing that the same people who survived that horrific era so quickly have become the oppressors of the Palestinian people, and refuse to adhere to continued appeals by the United Nations and flout international law. No mistake, the Israelis deserve their homeland(using the 1967 borders), but so do the Palestinians. 

Lib Dems condemn MP's criticism of Israel ahead of Holocaust Memorial Day

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21194991

Mr Ward won a majority of just 365 votes at the 2010 general election
The Liberal Democrats have "condemned" their MP David Ward for his "use of language" in a statement about Israel's treatment of Palestinians, issued ahead of Holocaust Memorial Day.

He accused "the Jews" in Israel of "inflicting atrocities on Palestinians... on a daily basis".

Mr Ward has been summoned to a meeting with party whips next week.

But the MP told the BBC he had chosen his words carefully and did not regret the timing of the statement.

The MP said it was "regrettable" he had been reprimanded by Liberal Democrat officials.

'Sickening'
This Sunday - Holocaust Memorial Day - marks the 68th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp, where more than one million people - mostly Jews - died.

Mr Ward, who has represented Bradford East since 2010, described Auschwitz as "the Nazi concentration and extermination camp which is the site of the largest mass murder in history".

It indicated that the MP supported efforts "to combat prejudice and racism today" by the Holocaust Educational Trust and had honoured "those who were persecuted and killed during the Holocaust" by signing a "Book of Commitment".

But it also included a statement from Mr Ward: "Having visited Auschwitz twice - once with my family and once with local schools - I am saddened that the Jews, who suffered unbelievable levels of persecution during the Holocaust, could within a few years of liberation from the death camps be inflicting atrocities on Palestinians in the new State of Israel and continue to do so on a daily basis in the West Bank and Gaza."

Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said she was "deeply saddened" that the MP had "deliberately abused the memory of the Holocaust".

She added: "These comments are sickening and unacceptable and have no place in British politics."

'Positive response'
A Lib Dem spokesman said: "This is a matter we take extremely seriously. The Liberal Democrats deeply regret and condemn the statement issued by David Ward and his use of language which is unacceptable."

Jon Benjamin, chief executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said: "We are outraged and shocked at these offensive comments about Jewish victims of the Holocaust and the suggestion that Jews should have learned a lesson from the experience.

"For an MP to have made such comments on the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day is even more distasteful, and we welcome the fact that the Liberal Democrats have sought to disassociate the party from David Ward's comments."

But Mr Ward told the BBC: "I've spoken to the chief whip, and he's got his views. I don't feel bad about it in any way. They consider my comments regrettable; I consider their reprimand regrettable."

The Lib Dem MP said any further disciplinary would be "a sad reflection on the values we all hold so dearly, particularly on free speech".

He also said his comments had received an "overwhelmingly positive" response from the public, with 80 unsolicited supportive emails, and just two from etractors.

While it was essential to remember the Holocaust as "one of the most horrific examples of man's inhumanity to man", he said, "should we not also remember when there are examples of atrocities being committed in the present?"

Duty

This government's treatment of the disabled is truly despicable. There are people being told to only take a bath once a week, to cut down on the number of visits by carers
We have a duty as a society to take care of the disabled.  It is 2013 not 1900.

Tax Starbucks and Amazom

http://twitpic.com/btcqnq

Tax vs benefits.

Benefit error including fraud is £1bn, which includes pensions, child benefit etc. This in comparison to figures ranging from a minimum of £23-70bn in tax avoidance, especially from large business. Why is this government obsessed with the smaller figure? Corruption reaches the very top, that's why.
Benefit fraud is just a distraction from real issue of tax dodgers http://on-msn.com/10Nv08g

18 December 2012 15:18 | By Richard Murphy

Benefit fraud is just a distraction from real issue of tax dodgers

Iain Duncan Smith is exaggerating one problem while the government try to hide another one.Share280Share1.9KIf I were the Chancellor, one of my very highest priorities would be to close the gap between what businesses owe in tax and what they actually pay.This government, however appears preoccupied by a different kind of fraud in the benefits system. Why?Well, Iain Duncan Smith, the work and pensions secretary, claims that £10 billion has been lost in fraud and error under the tax credit system introduced by Labour. That’s not £10 billion from the whole benefits system but just one part. As a result, IDS says, the tax credit system is "not fit for purpose".In fact the benefits system is quite inefficient - not because it wastes money but because it pays out far too little.It’s an interesting claim for a number of reasons.First of all, to come up with a big enough figure to make a headline, Iain Duncan Smith had to spread his calculations over a period of seven years from 2003 to 2010.And according to latest data on the error rate in the benefits system as a whole the cost of fraud is no more than 0.7% a year. In 2011/12 that meant £1.2 billion was paid because of fraudulent claims. And given that this fraud rate has been remarkably consistent over time, it also implies that in total fraud might have cost over all benefits, including the old age pension, just £7.6 billion during the Labour years to which Duncan Smith referred.Errors might add another £5.4bn meaning a total of £13billion incorrectly paid out from a total benefit spend of £1,089 billion.On this basis Mr Duncan Smith’s claims about one part of the system (tax credits account for about 15% of the total cost of the benefits) simply do not stack up.What is quite staggering is how little has been lost to fraud, not how much. Any system administered by humans or computers will make mistakes, and for an issue as challenging as benefits the error rate is tiny.In fact the benefits system is quite inefficient - not because it wastes money but because it pays out far too little to people who are entitled to claim but for one reason or another do not.Now, bearing that in mind, let’s have a look at the tax system.HM Revenue & Customs admit that tax fraud and error costs at least £23 billion a year. This figure is pure conjecture and there are many indications that it is a massive underestimate. My calculations suggest tax fraud in the UK is costing around £70 billion a year.Now we can disagree about whether the right number is £23 billion of £70 billion or somewhere in between, but however it is looked at, the impact of tax fraud is many, many times bigger than the £1.2 billion that benefit fraud will cost in total this year.And the government aren’t interested in looking at it ironically because they are fixated on cost savings at the Revenue, which has lost tens of thousands of staff in recent years. This is actually depriving the Treasury of much-needed cash and it is hurting honest businesses who are being forced to the wall by rivals happy to cheat.Iain Duncan Smith’s political attempts to malign the benefits system so that he can replace it with his universal credit are distracting from genuine issues that are undermining the economy and the national finances.The government are tackling the wrong issue and they are doing it on purpose.Richard Murphy is an accountant, economist and director of Tax Research LLP. You can find him on Twitter@RichardJMurphy.Share280Share1.9K< Back to #socialvoices

Rome burns.

People get the government they deserve, and there is now a sense of fear for normal working people, working or not. All bills continue to rise way above inflation, as do transport costs. Tax relief, benefits, spiral down in real terms.Cameron has been all over today's tv saying how great everything is, and he wants to stay in power until 2020. Nero fiddles as Rome burns.

Dancing at The Old China

Xmas 2012

My kind of love

Take back our country

Today is a good day to be British.
The government, all parties need to build upon what has occurred over these last 2 weeks. There are now over 60 medal winners including the 29 gold medals. We have seen how real sportsmen and women should behave, what hard work can achieve.This in stark contrast to the often shameful behaviour of the ever disappointing millionaire footballers(of all home nations). It is time to stop supporting and putting those footballers on a pedestal. We now have a list of real role models for our youth. The government not only needs to continue sport's funding, at its present levels, but sport in primary and secondary schools needs to be ramped up.Sport must be an integral part of education, the results can only be positive,there is no downside. Throughout the UK we hear cries of lost youth and lost generations,sport can be a major tool for change. Young people who participate in sport are much less likely to stand on the streets getting into trouble. My children play football, and also go to Karate twice a week, where they learn discipline and hard work. The number of female medal winners must also be used for positive change, girls need role models too, not just anorexic,talentless slappers from reality tv. More female sport needs to be televised and promoted. The BBC in particular being public owned, but also the other stations need to move away from reality tv, it's time to say enough of this Shit, it is poisoning our society. It is not just the government's responsibility to change our society, parents, teachers, and the media must all see what is in front of their noses. Sport is a positive thing,let's use it to take back our streets, to take back our youth, and let's focus less on the not so beautiful game.

Come to my language school

Meanwhile in China.....

3 things

Time to outlaw this evil church?

So let's get this straight, a 9 year old rape victim's life is saved by giving her an abortion, and the Catholic church excommunicates the medical staff and the mother! Was the child's (the mother) life not sacred? I hope whoever made this outrageous decision is turned away from the gates of heaven and spends eternity burning painfully in the depths of hell. But as there is no such thing, I hope the church that allows this to happen is driven from our society and destroyed. Yes, I am talking about the Catholic church.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/brazil-rocked-by-abortion-for-9yearold-rape-victim-1640165.html

Simple economics you muppets!

Britain's shame! 3 border staff for EU nationals and 3 for all others were on duty at Heathrow last night! 3 hr queues ensued! 40 min and 1 hr waits respectively tonight. There are 3 fucking million people unemployed. How much tax have each of these passengers paid to this government  in Air Passenger Duty? For a long haul flight at least £250, what the hell is this huge amount of money being used for? As the cuts start to bite, the muppets who run this country are. scratching their heads wandering why nothing works anymore, why we are in a double dip recession, crime is beginning to skyrocket and why our streets smell of piss. It's not rocket science you fucking eggits,  but if you ask someone with a simple and basic knowledge of economics I am sure they will explain it slowly for you. Twats!
http://bbc.in/KiN65x

Free world....(written in 2000)

text scanned and retrieved from old print.

A FREE WORLD?!

One hundred years ago. in the greater part of this planet. travel was by and large unrestricted. Passports were still a thing of the future: of course there were exceptions, the so-called ‘First’ World Countries were already beginning to place entry requirements upon unwanted Aliens! It did not take the rest of the world that much longer to catch up,as we can see today. Only a short time ago 58 Chinese people were found dead insidc a container at the British port of Dover. apparently cooped up for so long that they suffocated during their journey from Holland' Each of these illegal’ aliens had apparently paid the equivalent of a year's salary. and of course their lives, to try and enter the garden of England.

Horrific stories like this one are becoming more and more common as we enter the 21st century. This phenomenon is unique to our time, but not as most westerners believe unique to the developed world. There are more refugees and displaced peoples at this time in humankinds' history than at any other time.

Everything about our lives and civilisation is undergoing colossal change, but none more so than the shifting of the Earth’s inhabitants from one area to another

Of course there are reasons why these changes are taking place, and we could spend an eternity trying to find out what these are exactly and spend infinite amounts of money in doing so. There are a few blatantly obvious reasons why large amounts of people leave their homeland and try to live their lives in strange, often hostile. even dangerous lands. War and destruction will always do the trick, as will droughts, floods and other natural disasters. but also of course sheer poverty forces people to risk everything.

Not all people uproot from their homes for necessity, there are of course those people who wish to chase the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, or follow the yellow brick road to the lands of plenty, there are even those from wealthy countries who wish to live their lives in an Alien country because quite simply they feel bored or restless in their own country.

Whatever peoples' reasons are for deciding to spend all or even a period of their lives in a foreign country, the fact is, is that this is a difficult and more often than not. highly restricted thing to do. For those people from developing countries, just a short visit to another country can be an impossible task.

The restrictions imposed upon free movement throughout this world obviously differ, dependant upon the country one wishes to travel to. From simply a matter of nationality’ to the amount of wealth that a person possesses. ‘Take for example entry into France: A German national has no restrictions upon his entry into France except to possess a passport if he is coming from outside of Europe. If that same German enters France from within Europe he does'nt need a passport, money, visa, itinerary, a place to stay in France. or even a reason for entering France.

On the other hand if somebody from China (NB. China can be replaced here by every Asian country except Japan, as well as any African country, any South American country and any East European country. Germany can only be replaced in this example by another 1st ‘ world country) was to enter France (or any European country they would need a letter of invitation, an entry visa, sufficient funds, a return ticket to their home country, a thorough itinerary, possibly reference letters and

even an exit visa from their own country as well of course as a passport. The strange thing about this is that the German may be an illiterate, non French speaking bank robbing, murdering. fascist, loony, yet the Chinese person may be a highly educated, renowned, wealthy pacifist Francophile!

Here we are in the 2 l century, literally dying and killing each other for the right to travel freely throughout our world. Why is it that the U.N.charter does not have a clause for the right of people to travel freely without hindrance around the planet?

We are now told to care about our planet and the damage that we are doing to it.

We are told to care about the rainforest in South America. and the encroachment of the desert in North Africa. Why the hell should we? I mean it doesn’t affect me does it? It’s not my country, I can’t travel there, and they can’t travel here. So what. if one country’s people kill the people of another country. So what if a little girl dies of starvation in China, it’s not my problem. It’s not my world.

I live in one corner of it, one part. I am insulated against what other people are doing or suffering elsewhere. Of course if I am affected my government will try to interfere so that it doesn’t disturb MY family or me. They will make sure that we can still get the oil we need to power the electricity to power my computer, my t.v., my washing machine.... I mean why, why should I care, it’s not my planet, I can only call this small area immediately around me mine. Human decency you say, morality, ethics. Christianity, or whatever other religion you are, or maybe I should care for  man, my fellow creatures.

I do. and that is the problem, I want to feel that I am part of an international community, a community that cares for each other and that will try and make sure that nothing happens to its fellow community members.

WE are a world that is getting smaller, we are becoming more like a community but there are paradoxical events which belie the existence of an international community- Genocide, War Poverty, Starvation, all with a huge capital letter at the beginning,  jumping Out and trying to grab your attention and say;

 I AM FUCKING REAL. DO SOMETHiNG!

If we take care of business, as in the fundamental elements of what constitutes basic human necessities. i.e. the right to live, the right to live without violence, the right to the means of providing a home and food for myself and my family. The right to be with my family, my loved ones, and make sure that all people. all human-beings have these rights, then we may actually see the next century

New methods must be used to tackle different problems. China and the U.S must lead the world out of the quagmire it has found itself in. China must be welcomed into the international community with open arms and patience. Europe needs to lead the world morally, by example. Japan must lead the world together with the other G8 powers financially. India must he helped along the path to economic prosperity and itself urged to take a greater part in world affairs. Africa must be dragged into the 2lst century by the rest of the world, even if it is punching and kicking all the way. South Africa, Egypt, Morocco and Nigeria must be used to accomplish this the most daunting task facing this century.

When the major players in today’s world have reached a consensus on what we require for the lives of our children and our grandchildren and begin the process of putting words into effect. then we can call ourselves one planet. one people.

I do not advocate communism, I do not advocate free spinning capitalism, there is a third way, a way wherein man can have access to education and the means to improve himself and others. A way wherein people have the right to innovate and increase the comfort of everybody’s lives and benefit personally for doing so, or not to innovate and simply exist providing the labour for others and enjoying more simple personal dreams and hopes.

There will always be problems facing us, but we should try to lesson problems with a united front. not selfishly-harming others in doing so’

Once again-If, these conditions were to be realised then we could truly have a world without borders,not a Utopia,but at the very least...

A FREE WORLD?!

CHRIS MERCER-September2000

Ducks