UK : Is Britains rail infrastructure totally ancient and knackered? Been wondering about this for a while - that prang in the North prompted me to post this...
I don't drive so tend to use trains a fair bit for getting around to more distant places.
Since privatisation the train companies have spent loads on new branding and painting trains etc but stations don't really look like they have changed much since 20 years ago or so...
sometimes the cables for the electric trains round here malfunction and the newspapers said it was all the original 1940s kit (mind you the same is true for the leccy in the villages as well) - and there has been little investment since privatisation...
After NYE I was walking back to a friends house and we went past the main railway line - I saw this signal that looked like it would be more suited for the "Harry Potter Train" (I don't know the correct name for it but its one of those you see in old movies with an arm that goes up and down)
Its 2007 FFS - is all this stuff actually still in use?
UK : LDN(SW) : Buddhist monk braves warzones but gets CS gassed in Londonistan… As a (former) Londoner I'm not even surprised by this... :hopeless:
Monk is attacked by young hooligan
Feb 23 2007
By ROBERT DEX
PEACE-LOVING Buddhist monk Kelsang Pawo has spent years in war zones and trouble spots without coming to harm.
But he got a nasty surprise when he rattled his collection tin in South London.
The 61-year-old has walked through much of Africa, Asia and Europe collecting money to build a school library for needy children in Ethiopia.
Last week it was the turn of South London and Kelsang collected money in Streatham and Brixton without any problems.
But he was raising money in Wandsworth last Friday afternoon when he was the victim of an unprovoked attack.
Kelsang, who was born Barry Grivalle in Bethnal Green, said: "This young boy, I would say about 12, came up to me.
"He was asking me why I look the way I do and what I was doing so we had a chat.
"He was very nice and polite and said he had something for me.
"I thought he was maybe going to give me a few pennies for my collection."
Instead, the young thug pulled out an aerosol from inside his coat and sprayed Kelsang in the face before fleeing down Putney High Street.
Kelsang said: "I wasn't hurt but I was shocked. I had only been in London a matter of days.
"I have walked through Asia and in Africa where I have been in places like Ethiopia and Eritrea but this is the first time I have been attacked.
"I don't want to go looking for retribution or anything of that nature.We just want him to think about what he did."
Kelsang, whose name means spiritual warrior, was ordained as a monk by the Dalai Lama in 1989.
All the money he raises goes to the Gesar Foundation charity which helps children in the UK and Ethiopia.
Visit www.gesarfoundation.org for more information.
god save the queen right before you call for the ambulances and men in white coats
Ireland is playing England in the rugby, the game will be played in Croke park Dublin, now there a bit of an issue about the God save the queen anthem being played.................
All-Ireland winner {G A A} demands Croke Park medals back ahead of historic match
it seems the arrival of the England rugby team in Dublin this weekend has sparked a heated debate over the playing of God Save The Queen at GAA headquarters.
Saturday's Six Nations international between Ireland and England at CrokePark will carry added significance for many beyond the usual fierce sporting rivalry.
Following the match with France, the clash will be the first time a UK 'home' nation has played rugby at Croke Park.
The presence of England will also ensure that God Save The Queen will be played at the venue prior to kick-off for the very first time.
The issue is already the source of highly charged debate. One former Kerry player has demanded a collection of all-Ireland medals belonging to him and his late father be removed from the GAA museum in protest.
JJ Barrett, who won the title with his county in 1962, believes the English should forego the playing of God Save The Queen as a reciprocal gesture in response to Ireland's alternative anthem, Ireland's Call.
which is..........
Come the day and come the hour
Come the power and the glory
We have come to answer
Our Country's call
From the four proud provinces of Ireland
Ireland, Ireland,
Together standing tall
Shoulder to shoulder
We'll answer Ireland's call
From the mighty Glens of Antrim
From the rugged hills of Galway
From the walls of Limerick
And Dublin Bay
From the four proud provinces of Ireland
Hearts of steel
And heads unbowing
Vowing never to be broken
We will fight, until
We can fight no more
For the four proud provinces of Ireland...................................
The ground itself has direct links to the violent history between the two nations. Hill 16, the stadium's terrace, was originally constructed from the rubble of Dublin city centre following the 1916 Easter Rising.
The Hogan Stand is named after Tipperary footballer Michael Hogan, one of 14 civilians killed in 1920 by British Auxiliaries inside the ground in an event now referred to as 'Bloody Sunday'.
God Save The Queen has been played at previous Ireland-England games at Lansdowne Road, now closed for significant redevelopment.
The GAA has been at pains to point out it has "no issues whatsoever" with the playing of the anthem. When contacted by the Belfast Telegraph, an Ulster GAA Council spokesman said the matter was an "issue for Croke Park".
Former Irish rugby international turned peacemaker, Trevor Ringland, believes respect for the formalities prior to the game will send out a significant message.
He said: "Aside from the fact that it is procedure before rugby matches, if we're looking at what people voted for in 1998, this is all about a maturing of the relationship between the peoples of these islands.
"It is a step towards reconciliation and will be an important gesture."
Mr Ringland believes the controversy is clouding the occasion but did not hold back when referring to the small matter of the game itself.
UTV sports pundit and Belfast Telegraph columnist, Adrian Logan, who is familiar with Croke Park, said he expected the Irish to treat their visitors with the typical hospitality shown to guests.
"If you invite a guest into a room, you show them courtesy and respect. I hope this will prevail on Saturday.
Shoud the anthem be played
UK : East : High school kid speared in neck by giant lolly stick! ouch! that has to be one of the freakiest accidents I have heard of...
glad everyone did the right thing and he is OK...
http://www.eadt.co.uk/content/eadt/news/story.aspx?brand=EADOnline&category=News&tBrand=EADOnline&tCategory=news&itemid=IPED21%20Feb%202007%2023%3A12%3A06%3A287
FROM an early age, most children are given the message that sweets are bad for their teeth and their health.
But no one could ever have imagined the sticky situation one youngster found himself in because of a sugar-coated lolly.
And the upper school pupil might just have been put off from eating naughty treats once and for all after a freak accident led to a very lucky escape and a trip to hospital.
The 16-year-old was relaxing with friends at the Mildenhall College of Technology when a giant splintered lolly stick flew towards him, embedding itself in his neck.
Rather than trying to free the offending item, the savvy youngster immediately informed his teachers of the incident and was taken to West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds where, after a four-hour wait in accident and emergency, the stick was finally removed.
Last night, a spokesman for the East of England Ambulance Service said the youngster had been “very lucky” that the stick - which had flown across the room with such force it pierced his neck and nearly came out the other side - had missed his windpipe or any other vital arteries.
The extraordinary event has left staff so shocked that letters have now been sent home to parents warning them of the dangers of the novelty lollies, which are believed to be around two feet long.
Headteacher Terry Lewis said the youngster, who had to have stitches to mend the wound caused by the wooden stick, was back at school and fully recovered from the shock of the accident.
“One of the sixth form boys had come into college after half term and had a novelty lolly on a stick,” said Mr Lewis. “He was waving it, when all of a sudden the stick broke and the sweet flew out of his hand, hitting another boy - who was sitting a couple of meters away - in the neck.
“The pupil was very lucky, because the lolly could have stuck anywhere and it could have been a lot more serious.
“We had already banned all sweets from being sold at school for health reasons. Obviously pupils bring things in that we are not in control of, but we do not want to see any more lollies in school.”
Ambulance service spokesman Matthew Ware said a first responder arrived at the school within six minutes of getting the emergency call, at just after 10.30am on Monday, followed closely by a land ambulance.
“Paramedics cut the lolly off the stick, leaving the actual stick in the youngster's neck, and rushed him to hospital,” he said.
“The boy was very lucky, as the incident could have been a lot worse.”
Another petition: ID cards, Drugs, IR35, tax and transport! Yes that's probably too much to really go in one petition, but I managed to squeeze it into the limit. It's a very personal set of issues, and it's aimed at the next PM since we all know Bliar is a dead duck and only listens to his inner circle. But I believe the ID card lunacy, the failed War On Some Drugs, and over-taxation of small firms like mine, all drag every one of us down.
I would like to see the UK turned back into a free, liberal and prosperous country. I believe these are the four most serious and expensive issues facing the country at the moment. Am I just a nostalgic old hippy or do I have a chance of getting this noticed ? If you have time, please have a look at my justifications at Roll Back Blair's Government and maybe follow the link at the bottom to the petition itself ?
Thanks loads!
Nick
UK : "ID cards culture" being introduced by "stealth?" Anyone else reckon that Government and wider society (by supporting controls on youth culture) is using age restrictions to introduce a culture of carrying some form of photo ID cards, particularly officially approved or checked ones?
Loads of places round here seem to demand ID and are getting harsher on it - its not like what it was in the 90s when you could blag it quite easily or make up fake ID, the rules are actually being enforced.... and some security firms are carding everyone now even if they definitely look old enough claiming that this is "preventing discrimination"...
Worst of all it works and is very effective - people aren't going to risk spending loads on travel and tickets to be split apart from their friends and refused entry, so many simply give in to the systems demands...
I'm also lucky enough to be quite young looking despite my real age (most people on first sight think I am aged 18-23) - it was more a compliment but these age controls are becoming a hassle -
its actually putting me off attending a lot of legal events here which I would love to go to as I don't actually currently have any photo ID (my passport is expired and I don't have a photo driving license as I don't drive!)
Not sure what to do; as I don't want to just give in like this but I fear I am gonna be forced to get some form of ID card just to socialise which is a bit of a pisstake IMO...
Noam Chomsky on Iraq, War Profiteers & The Media Watch: http://play.rbn.com/?url=demnow/demnow/demand/2003/dec/256/dnB20031226a.rm&proto=rtsp&start=02:05.6
Quote:
In a recent speech at Columbia University, Noam Chomsky strongly criticizes the Bush Administration's war against Iraq. He speaks against the power investors have over world affairs, the media's capitulation to them and much more.
http://www.democracynow.org/
Smoking Police It's been said that there is £30m budgeted for councils to train and recruit staff to police the smoking ban in the UK that is coming in to practice on the 1st July.
These people will be entering bars undercover and are authorised to secretly film people and dish out on the spot fines.
I'm not a smoker so I'm not affected by this ban but I do think it is a bit of a piss take of civil liberties. I also think that these "smoke police" are a massive waste of money and are yet another installment to our big brother society that we are simply supposed to accept.
What do you think?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6346435.stm
What a sad job anyway. Entering pubs undercover and pretending to be a patron so that you can rat on people who have a crafty fag.12
take some time to sign the petition against tracking you BB is watching!!! The idea of tracking every vehicle at all times is sinister and wrong. Road pricing is already here with the high level of taxation on fuel. The more you travel - the more tax you pay.
It will be an unfair tax on those who live apart from families and poorer people who will not be able to afford the high monthly costs.
Please Mr Blair - forget about road pricing and concentrate on improving our roads to reduce congestion.
click the link and sign up
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/traveltax/
BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING
Most spiking cases ‘just drunk’
Quote:
Most spiking cases 'just drunk'
Most patients who believe they have had their drinks spiked test negative for drugs, research at Wrexham Maelor Hospital has found.
The study aimed to assess the scale of drink-spiking in the area and identify problems at specific clubs and pubs. But the year-long investigation of hospital patients found less than one in five showed any trace of drugs.
The research concluded the patients' symptoms were more likely to be the result of excess alcohol.
So-called "date rape" drugs include ketamine, Rohypnol and GHB.
During the 12-month study there were 75 alleged cases of drink-spiking. Patient samples were analysed for alcohol and drug levels, and information was recorded about where the alleged spiking had happened. The alleged incidents took place in 23 different locations, although two locations accounted for 31% of the cases. Only 14% of the patients had informed the police.
The research, which was published in the Emergency Medicine Journal, found 65% were twice the legal drink-driving limit, and 24% were three times the drink-drive limit.
Dr Peter Saul, a GP in Wrexham, said the report's findings "should not belittle the danger" people faced either from drink-spiking or drinking too much alcohol. He told BBC Radio Wales: "There had always been a suspicion that people would say that their drinks had been spiked when perhaps they had misjudged how much alcohol they were taking.
"If you go home and your parents are there, and you are vomiting on the path, and you come in in a terrible state, you get sympathy if you say 'oh, my drink was spiked.'
"You don't get sympathy if you say 'we spent too long in the bar'."
Dr Saul said the report did not make it clear if people's drinks had been spiked by alcohol, as opposed to drugs.
Breathalysing
He said: "It could explain the figures of people with very high alcohol levels." He added: "The message has to be to be careful, not just about having your drink spiked but the total amount of alcohol you have when you are going out for the night."
Professor Jonathan Shepherd is a Cardiff-based surgeon who has pioneered a method for hospital casualty units to compile statistics on the drink-related assaults. He told the same programme: "It really puts to bed a myth that's very widely held that drinks are spiked when in reality they are not."
Prof Shepherd's research has included breathalysing up to 900 late-night drinkers in Cardiff city centre.
He said: "There is certainly a sizeable minority who are drinking huge amounts of alcohol. "For all of us, it's a cautionary tale - we ought to be deciding beforehand how much are going to drink on a night out."
'Precautions'
However, Prof Shepherd acknowledged that drink-spiking was a still a risk, which he said was easier to prevent by drinking from a bottle rather than a large glass.
Dr Hywel Hughes, who led the study at the Wrexham Maelor Hospital, said the survey's results should not obscure the risks of drink spiking, as one-in-five people tested showed signs of "drugs of abuse". He said: "The bigger picture is probably the alcohol but spiking does go on, so people do need to take precautions against that."
I have believed for a while a lot of the claims of drinks being spiked are down to excessive alcohol. I know it does happen but i do find a lot of girls use this an excuse for being pissed as a fart really.
Music executives criticise DRM systems
bbc.co.uk wrote:
Almost two-thirds of music industry executives think removing digital locks from downloadable music would make more people buy the tracks, finds a survey.
The full report is here
Would you buy your music if it had no DRM when in mp3 format?
I dont download or buy tracks as mp3s anyway so it wouldnt affect me - only mp3s I have in my life are the radio streams and sets by myself and others recorded in that format:groucho:
whats yr views Unemployed people who cannot speak English will have to show they are learning the language or face losing benefits, the government has announced.
About 40,000 jobless people say their poor English is a barrier to finding employment - and £4.5m is spent on translators in job centres.
Ministers say this money would be better spent on teaching them English.
Welfare minister Jim Murphy said the measures, to come into effect in April, would benefit Britain and individuals.
Mr Murphy told a Work Foundation seminar that it is "unacceptable" that ethnic minorities in Britain earn on average a third less than their white counterparts.
Redress the balance
On current rates, ethnic minority employment rates will not reach the national average until workers currently joining the labour market reach retirement age.
"This is a social injustice in our society which is not only bad for individuals, families and their communities, but is a barrier against social cohesion and is bad for Britain," Mr Murphy said. "On top of that, as ethnic minorities grow to constitute a much greater proportion in the working age population in the decade to come, it is absolutely critical that everyone is able to access the labour market and can prosper within it."
Some 15% of members of ethnic minorities cite language difficulties as a barrier to work, the welfare minister said.
"That's potentially 40,000 people being denied the opportunity to work because they do not have the language skills to get a job."
He wants more focus put on English language tuition.
He said: "We must utilise the resources we have to redress the balance: to put the emphasis not just on translating language to claim a benefit, but to teaching language to get a job."
New guidelines
From April, new guidelines will require job centres in England to focus on encouraging the take-up of English courses.
And a new programme, backed by £14m of state money, is offering 15,000 places on courses in basic skills and employability training - including language skills - with the Learning and Skills Council.
But an educational think tank which recently produced a critical report into how the government provides English classes to immigrants, attacked the proposals as risky.
The National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (Niace) said the English tuition system was struggling to meet demand from migrants who wanted to learn the language.
Alastair Thomson of Niace agreed that investing in tuition was better than translation - but said there were too few classes and teachers. He criticised separate government proposals to charge for some English classes from September.
"It would be premature if changes were to be introduced before there are enough properly-qualified teachers to meet the demand and bizarre if we start teaching people while they are unemployed but then do not have affordable courses for them to progress onto once they find work.
"We urge the government to ensure that all the implications of these reforms have been considered before moving too quickly."
Benefit dependency
Liberal Democrat work and pensions spokesman David Laws said it was "ironic" that the government was seeking to introduce the changes while it was "cutting back" classes "for those without English as a first language". "What is happening here seems to be the perfect example of unjoined-up government," he added.
Meanwhile, a study by the think-tank Civitas suggests a third of households in the UK rely on benefits for their main income, according to the Daily Telegraph.
"What has been happening in the last few years is unemployment has fallen but the number of people receiving incapacity benefits has been going up a little bit," the report's author David Green told the BBC. "But there's also been a huge increase in people receiving what's now called working tax credit. So you've got a mixture of pure benefit dependency and what you might call in-work benefit dependency."
i think its a grerat idea, also i think it should be at work............. i work in a very dangerous indrustry {rope access} we have had so many issue with foreginers , who cant speak English, but have had to do health and safety features, which we had also do , and there was reading and writing envovled. so how the fuck did they pass? then they would just walk into a danger area , with no entry signs all over it, you would shout at them and they would just look blankly at you, as maybe a brick or peice of metal was crashing down towards them,
Stop the war coalition ALL LONDON RALLY: Troops Out Of Iraq, Thursday 15 February 7.00pm
Speakers: Tony Benn, George Galloway MP, John Mcdonnell MP, Lindsey German (StWC), Sophie Bolt (CND). Friends Meeting House, Euston Road, WC1. FULL DETAILS: www.stopwar.org.uk
IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
1) IRAQ: CAN IT GET ANY WORSE?
2) COACHES FROM 100 TOWNS AND CITIES
3) FINANCIAL APPEAL FROM TONY BENN
4) ALL-SCOTLAND DEMONSTRATION: 24 FEBRUARY
5) PEACE CAMP IN DOWNING STREET
6) BRIAN HAW MEETS TONY BLAIR
7) WAR – WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR?
8) THE DEBATE PARLIAMENT REFUSES TO HAVE
9) THE US MASSACRE THAT NEVER WAS
10) MUSIC, ART AND WAR
1) IRAQ: CAN IT GET ANY WORSE?
Month by month in Iraq, the scale of death and destruction reaches new levels of horror, with the slaughter of thousands of Iraqi civilians and US and British casualties now higher than at almost any time since the 2003 invasion.
George Bush's response is to escalate the war with his troop "surge", which Tony Blair says "makes sense." Virtually everyone else thinks it is madness. In Britain, the Liberal Democrats have become the first of the three major parties to call for the complete withdrawal of British troops by the end of 2007. In America, much of the establishment which supported Bush's war crimes in the past can now see the game is up. Calls for the troops to come home are heard across the political spectrum and Barack Obama, the latest media sensation in the US, has put ending the Iraq war at the centre of his bid to become US president in 2008.
Even Russia's President Putin – no slouch himself when it comes to war crimes in Chechnya – says that the biggest threat to world peace is a "wolf-like" American foreign policy, that "eats and listens to no one".
Bush's only answer to this tidal wave of condemnation is more war in Iraq, the intensification of the nuclear arms race and the threat of an attack on Iran (see John Pilger: http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2007-02/03pilger.cfm. A massive expansion of the US military budget will mean that in 2007 the cost of the Iraq war alone will be 800 dollars for every American man, woman and child, paid for by draconian cuts in welfare services for the poor and elderly.
Can it get any worse in Iraq? The answer is, yes, it can, if we let it. The response to the escalation of the Bush-Blair wars must be to do all we can to make our elected representatives act in accordance with the wishes of their electorates. The US anti-war movement has responded magnificently to the challenge. Its demonstrations across America on 27 January brought hundreds of thousands onto the streets for the largest protest since the war began. Campaigns are now running in localities across America to make the US Congress stop Bush in his tracks by withholding the funding he needs to escalate the war.
We in Britain on Saturday 24 February will have our opportunity to give voice to the view of most people in this country that the war must end and all British troops must be removed from Iraq. Everyone who has opposed Tony Blair's warmongering and the spineless connivance of parliament which has allowed him to get away with it, should do all they can to help make as big as possible the TROOPS OUT OF IRAQ - NO TRIDENT demonstration in London on 24 February. Please publicise the demonstration as widely as you can and encourage your friends, family, work colleagues, fellow students etc to join us.
If you require leaflets, posters, stickers, postcards, badges etc to help publicise the demonstration, please contact the Stop the War national office on 020 7278 6694 or by email at office@stopwar,org,uk.
NATIONAL DEMONSTRATION
Organised by Stop the War, CND and BMI
TROOPS OUT OF IRAQ – NO TRIDENT
SATURDAY 24 FEBRUARY
ASSEMBLE HYDE PARK 12 NOON
MARCH TO TRAFALGAR SQUARE
See for full details: http://www.stopwar.org.uk/_Current/24Feb07Demo.htm
2) COACHES FROM 100 TOWNS AND CITIES
All the signs are that the national demonstration on Saturday 24 February will be very big, with coaches organised to bring protestors from over 100 towns and cities in England and Wales (Scotland has its own TROOPS OUT demonstration on the same day: see below). There are twelve coach locations in Wales alone, the highest number since 2003.
FOR FULL DETAILS OF COACHES AROUND THE COUNTRY, GO TO: http://www.stopwar.org.uk/_Current/24Feb07Demo.htm#COACHES
3) FINANCIAL APPEAL FROM TONY BENN
PRESIDENT OF STOP THE WAR COALITION:
The Stop the War Coalition is unable to sell honours or favours to help pay for our work and campaigning. We depend entirely on your donations. With Parliament seemingly incapable of even debating Iraq, with the vital Trident vote only weeks away and with the looming threat of the war spreading to Iran, it is important to get as many people as possible onto the streets on Saturday 24 February, at both the London and Glasgow national demonstrations. We are producing hundreds of thousands of leaflets, posters, postcards, stickers etc. Coaches are being booked and rallies held up and down the country. Press conferences are being organised. We have to fund the staging and efficient running of the demonstration. All of this and much more has to be funded. However large or small a donation you can make will be much appreciated and is very necessary.
Yours in peace, Tony Benn
THERE ARE THREE WAYS TO DONATE TO STOP THE WAR:
* Donate online by credit or debit card
* Donate by phone 020 7278 6694 to make a credit or debit card donation
* Donate by cheque made payable to 'Stop the War Coalition'. Send to Stop the War Coalition, 27 Britannia Street, London WC1X 9JP
4) ALL-SCOTLAND DEMONSTRATION: 24 FEBRUARY
After the highly successful Scottish Stop the War Conference on 10 February, attended by 500 delegates, Scotland's anti-war movement is anticipating a big turnout for the its BIN THE BOMB demonstration in Glasgow on 24 February. FOR DETAILS GO TO: http://www.scotland4peace.org/
5) PEACE CAMP IN DOWNING STREET
The myth of Basra as a beacon of hope for the rest of Iraq has been shattered beyond repair. Five British soldiers have been killed in the last four weeks. Many more have suffered serious injury. Daily attacks against the British army, whether they are in or out of barracks, have made life as dangerous for the occupying military as it is in Baghdad.
Military Families Against the War will hold a peace camp outside 10 Downing Street over the weekend of the 24 February demonstration, to demand that all British troops are withdrawn and that Blair meet with the military families who have suffered so tragically from his war policies. FULL DETAILS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE MILITARY FAMILIES WEBSITE: http://www.mfaw.org.uk/
6) BRIAN HAW MEETS TONY BLAIR
Congratulations to Brian Haw, who won the Channel 4 News Most Inspiring Political Figure Award with 54 percent of the vote (Tony Blair got just 8 percent). Brian has been protesting against the Bush-Blair wars day-in day-out for five years. He is still there, despite MPs passing a ludicrous law aimed specifically at getting him removed (See http://www.parliament-square.org.uk/ ).
Winning this award is a testament to Brian's tenacity and demonstrates the depth of anti-war feeling in Britain. Before the Channel 4 award was announced, Brian had a chance encounter with Tony Blair and their historic meeting was captured on video which you can watch here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ah_rxnrzMws
7) WAR – WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR?
Here's another way to support Stop the War's financial appeal. A version of the classic anti-war song WAR is about to be released by Tony Blair's "re-formed" university band Ugly Rumours. The producers of the record say: "We need your help to embarrass Tony Blair. If Blair is in the charts, the media will have to report the success of "his" anti-war hit. To have a top 20 hit in the UK you need only approximately 5000 sales. The track costs £1.50 and we will donate all profits to Stop the War Coalition."
* FOR FULL DETAILS OF HOW TO BUY TONY BLAIR'S WAR, SEE: http://www.uglyrumours.com
* OR ALTERNATIVELY, YOU CAN ORDER BY TEXTING THE WORD “PEACE1” TO 78789
8) THE DEBATE PARLIAMENT REFUSES TO HAVE
The refusal of MPs to end Tony Blair war policies – apart from the usual honourable exceptions, -- has been one of the British parliament's most shameful features over the past five years. On March 20, the fourth anniversary of the Iraq invasion, the anti-war movement will hold a People's Assembly at Westminster Central Hall -- opposite the House of Commons -- at which MPs who have consistently opposed Blair's warmongering and delegates from political parties, trade unions, faith and community groups etc will be represented in THE DEBATE PARLIAMENT REFUSES TO HAVE: Why Britain went to war and why the war must end now.
This will be the fourth People's Assembly organised by Stop the War, which reflects the "democratic deficit" we suffer in this country, due to the refusal of MPs to reflect the majority opinion in this country which opposes the disastrous war in Iraq. Full details of the Assembly will be available soon on the Stop the War website.
9) THE US MASSACRE THAT NEVER WAS
On 28 January, the world's media reported that the US military had killed over 200 members of an Iraqi militia from a group called "Soldiers of Heaven" and injured many more. Since then, but largely unreported by the same media, it has been revealed that what took place was not a military operation to prevent a large-scale attack on Najaf, as the Bush administration and it's puppet Iraqi government claimed, but a massacre by the US army that slaughtered hundreds of Muslim pilgrims on their way to Najaf for a religious ceremony.
Once again we see the mainstream media's inexhaustible capacity for publishing US government lies as unchallenged facts. And we can be sure that the Najaf massacre was not a unique event but was typical of the carnage which has characterised the Iraq war since its first days of "shock and awe". FOR A FULL REPORT OF WHAT REALLY HAPPENED AT NAJAF, GO TO: http://www.counterpunch.org/hallinan02092007.html
10) MUSIC, ART AND WAR
Mark Wallinger's powerful art installation at Tate Britain, inspired by peace campaigner Brian Haw's five year protest outside parliament (see above) has received widespread acclaim. Details of this exhibition and other anti-war artists now exhibiting in London's galleries can be found on Stop the War's ART AND WAR webpage: http://www.stopwar.org.uk/_Current/ArtandWar.htm
Musician Damon Albern has a new anti-war album – The Good, the Bad and the Queen – which is already one of the fastest selling cds of the year. It will be followed by a much anticipated anti-Bush album from the Canadian band Arcade Fire, which even before its official release has many critics naming it potential cd of the year.
There is a must-see video for Bruce Springsteen's live performance of "Bring 'Em Home", calling for troops out of Iraq, which can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3pD9xJWoIk The Stop the War MUSIC AND WAR webpage has more anti war performances, which range from Eminem to James Blunt: http://www.stopwar.org.uk/_Current/AntiWarMusic.htm
car tax If you drive a car, please read -
Sarah Kennedy was talking about this proposed car tax scheme on Radio 2. Apparently there is only one month left to register your objection to the 'Pay As You Go' road tax.
The petition is on the 10 Downing St website but they didn't tell anybody about it. Therefore at the time of Sarah's comments only 250,000 people had signed it and 750,000 signatures are required for the government to at least take any notice.
Once you've given your details (you don't have to give your full address, just house number and postcode will do), they will send you an email with a link in it. Once you click on that link, you'll have signed the petition.
The government's proposal to introduce road pricing will mean you having to purchase a tracking device for your car and paying a monthly bill to use it. The tracking device will cost about £200 and in a recent study by the BBC, the lowest monthly bill was £28 for a rural florist and £194 for a delivery driver. A non working mother who used the car to take the kids to school paid £86 in one month.
On top of this massive increase in tax, you will be tracked. Somebody will know where you are at all times. They will also know how fast you have been going, so even if you accidentally creep over a speed limit in time you can probably expect a Notice of Intended Prosecution with your monthly bill.
If you are concerned about this Orwellian plan and want to stop the constant bashing of the car driver, please sign the petition on No 10's new website (link below) and pass this on to as many people as possible. Sign up if you value your freedom and democratic rights -
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/traveltax
And don't forget to acknowledge the government's return email when you get it or your objection will not be registered
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.YesNoPrivacy policy
You can revoke your consent any time using the Revoke consent button.Revoke cookies
