Thursday, 28 June 2012
This piece ('What is progressive about David Cameron?') is from early 2010, but the money quote is especially relevant in a week in the UK in which Tony Blair is hawking himself around, talking up his desire to perhaps become Prime Minister again one day.
The question is how did such claims even become vaguely intelligible? How did 'progress' as a discourse become a byword for reaction? The obvious answer is that New Labour made this possible. On every theme I've mentioned above, every objectionable facet of Tory policy, there is a New Labour counterpart - not exact, and not necessarily as extreme, but very real nonetheless.
At the start of July, the refugee health care programme in Canada will change; cuts to services will affect children and adults - more here.
On Tuesday during a speech in suburban Vancouver, Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney (Con, Calgary Southeast) was heckled by protestors who cried Shame at him (there are certainly Canadian doctors against him, incidentally).
Kenney labelled these hecklers "extremists".
So, anyone who disagrees with the minister is now extremist?
On Tuesday during a speech in suburban Vancouver, Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney (Con, Calgary Southeast) was heckled by protestors who cried Shame at him (there are certainly Canadian doctors against him, incidentally).
Kenney labelled these hecklers "extremists".
So, anyone who disagrees with the minister is now extremist?
Sunday, 24 June 2012
couple of quotes to excerpt from the Friday 22nd June 2012 edn of the London Mirror (the only mainstream British newspaper to correctly urge a vote for the Labour party at the last UK general election, as opposed to those who wrongly urged votes for the Tories or the Tory-lite liberals) (source: my copy)
Energy prices differ between regions by up to £92 a year - and some of the highest costs are in unemployment blackspots.
Bills which average £1,373 in Merseyside and North Wales, areas of high unemployment, are £79 less in the South East, says a survey by energyhelpline.com, which has condemned the "cruel irony of the postcode lottery".
and in recent days in the UK the NatWest bank has had some sort of electronic/technical cock-up which means lots of payments due in to people's accounts (wages, for instance) didn't go through for a few days, obviously fucking shit up grievously for many, many NatWest customers.
i thought the following vox-pop - in a week in which the UK government (many of whose senior members are millionaires in their own right) has unveiled plans to withdraw housing benefit for those aged under 25 (!) - says it all.
Bob Spearman, from Petworth, West Sussex, said his tax credit payment had not been paid into his NatWest account.
He said: "We, like many other low-income families, live from week to week and the Child Tax credit weekly payment is a lifeline on which we rely."
Energy prices differ between regions by up to £92 a year - and some of the highest costs are in unemployment blackspots.
Bills which average £1,373 in Merseyside and North Wales, areas of high unemployment, are £79 less in the South East, says a survey by energyhelpline.com, which has condemned the "cruel irony of the postcode lottery".
and in recent days in the UK the NatWest bank has had some sort of electronic/technical cock-up which means lots of payments due in to people's accounts (wages, for instance) didn't go through for a few days, obviously fucking shit up grievously for many, many NatWest customers.
i thought the following vox-pop - in a week in which the UK government (many of whose senior members are millionaires in their own right) has unveiled plans to withdraw housing benefit for those aged under 25 (!) - says it all.
Bob Spearman, from Petworth, West Sussex, said his tax credit payment had not been paid into his NatWest account.
He said: "We, like many other low-income families, live from week to week and the Child Tax credit weekly payment is a lifeline on which we rely."
Friday, 22 June 2012
THIS.
I will never tire of seeing Andrew Lansley, a *politician*, claim that doctors are self interested, over paid and don't contribute enough.
— M D (@MediocreDave) June 21, 2012
Monday, 18 June 2012
Sunday, 17 June 2012
Friday, 15 June 2012
Quote here from Jonathon Porritt (part of a longer essay discussing the environmental movement, but seems to hold very true for any opponent of this appalling UK coalition govt)
Two years into this Government, it's now clear that if the environment was any further down its list of priorities, it would have fallen off the bottom. Any thought on the part of our NGOs that "working the corridors of power" is still the best way of defending the environment is folly. Regrettable though it may be, it's hard to imagine that this Government is going to be influenced by anything other than unremitting, full-on confrontation.
Two years into this Government, it's now clear that if the environment was any further down its list of priorities, it would have fallen off the bottom. Any thought on the part of our NGOs that "working the corridors of power" is still the best way of defending the environment is folly. Regrettable though it may be, it's hard to imagine that this Government is going to be influenced by anything other than unremitting, full-on confrontation.
Monday, 11 June 2012
Just came across this cool graphic on the 21st century African land rush twitter.com/lesley_warner/…
— Lesley Anne Warner (@lesley_warner) June 7, 2012
Saturday, 9 June 2012
This is all wrong.
British citizens with foreign-born partners are to be given the choice of indefinite "exile"...or face the breakup of their families if they want to remain in the UK, under radical immigration changes to be announced next week, MPs have been told.
The home secretary, Theresa May, is expected to confirm that she will introduce a new minimum income requirement for a British "sponsor" without children of up to £25,700 a year, and a stringent English speaking test for foreign-born husbands, wives or partners of UK citizens applying to come to live in Britain on a family visa.
Immigration welfare campaigners say that the move will exclude two-thirds of British people – those who have a minimum gross income of under £25,700 a year – from living in the UK as a couple if they marry a non-EU national. They estimate that between 45% and 60% of the 53,000 family visas currently issued each year could fall foul of the new rules.
[...]
The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) has sent MPs a dossier of 13 detailed cases of families who would face serious consequences under the proposals, "to provide a snapshot of the reality of the lives of ordinary British citizens and settled people who want their husbands, wives, civil partners and in some cases children to join them in the UK"...The JCWI says that the dossier shows how the ordinary circumstances of life, such as pregnancy, accidents at work, disability, low pay, poor currency exchange rates and nationality laws in foreign countries could penalise people if the proposals make it into Britain's immigration rules.
The dossier also highlights how an extension of the probationary period for those granted family visas could trap more women in violent marriages and suffering domestic abuse in silence because of the fear of being deported if they complain.
"When, if ever, is it acceptable for British citizens to be placed in a position where they are effectively indefinitely exiled from their own country on account of choosing to have a relationship with a non-European Economic Area national?" asks the JCWI pamphlet, United by Love/Divided by Law?
more here.
British citizens with foreign-born partners are to be given the choice of indefinite "exile"...or face the breakup of their families if they want to remain in the UK, under radical immigration changes to be announced next week, MPs have been told.
The home secretary, Theresa May, is expected to confirm that she will introduce a new minimum income requirement for a British "sponsor" without children of up to £25,700 a year, and a stringent English speaking test for foreign-born husbands, wives or partners of UK citizens applying to come to live in Britain on a family visa.
Immigration welfare campaigners say that the move will exclude two-thirds of British people – those who have a minimum gross income of under £25,700 a year – from living in the UK as a couple if they marry a non-EU national. They estimate that between 45% and 60% of the 53,000 family visas currently issued each year could fall foul of the new rules.
[...]
The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) has sent MPs a dossier of 13 detailed cases of families who would face serious consequences under the proposals, "to provide a snapshot of the reality of the lives of ordinary British citizens and settled people who want their husbands, wives, civil partners and in some cases children to join them in the UK"...The JCWI says that the dossier shows how the ordinary circumstances of life, such as pregnancy, accidents at work, disability, low pay, poor currency exchange rates and nationality laws in foreign countries could penalise people if the proposals make it into Britain's immigration rules.
The dossier also highlights how an extension of the probationary period for those granted family visas could trap more women in violent marriages and suffering domestic abuse in silence because of the fear of being deported if they complain.
"When, if ever, is it acceptable for British citizens to be placed in a position where they are effectively indefinitely exiled from their own country on account of choosing to have a relationship with a non-European Economic Area national?" asks the JCWI pamphlet, United by Love/Divided by Law?
more here.
Friday, 8 June 2012
Kingston, May 2010.
Jamaican strongman Christopher “Dudus” Coke will face a prison sentence of up to twenty-three years in federal court...at least seventy-three civilians died in the process of getting Coke out of Jamaica and into U.S. custody. At the time, the Jamaican security forces claimed that most of the dead were gunmen who died defending Coke inside the barricaded neighborhood of Tivoli Gardens. But for these seventy-three supposed gunmen, the security forces only recovered six guns. Three of the dead were women. One was a U.S. citizen. Most appear to have been unarmed civilians, rounded up and massacred after the neighborhood was already under control.
Coke has admitted to serious crimes. He barricaded his neighborhood to avoid arrest, and deserves much of the blame for the Tivoli killings. But did seventy-three civilians have to die for the arrest of one drug trafficker, no matter how powerful?
The U.S. government knows, but it isn’t saying.
rest here.
Jamaican strongman Christopher “Dudus” Coke will face a prison sentence of up to twenty-three years in federal court...at least seventy-three civilians died in the process of getting Coke out of Jamaica and into U.S. custody. At the time, the Jamaican security forces claimed that most of the dead were gunmen who died defending Coke inside the barricaded neighborhood of Tivoli Gardens. But for these seventy-three supposed gunmen, the security forces only recovered six guns. Three of the dead were women. One was a U.S. citizen. Most appear to have been unarmed civilians, rounded up and massacred after the neighborhood was already under control.
Coke has admitted to serious crimes. He barricaded his neighborhood to avoid arrest, and deserves much of the blame for the Tivoli killings. But did seventy-three civilians have to die for the arrest of one drug trafficker, no matter how powerful?
The U.S. government knows, but it isn’t saying.
rest here.
Monday, 4 June 2012
MT @gregorydjohnsen: US "is now taking charge of restructuring (Yemeni) army." bit.ly/M5Y42D // Sweet—our record w/this is awesome.
— Gulliver (@InkSptsGulliver) June 4, 2012
Sunday, 3 June 2012
KUWAIT CITY, June 1: An unidentified Asian maid who tried in vain to end her life by jumping from the third floor of her sponsor’s apartment in Maidan Hawalli has been admitted to the intensive care unit of the Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital, reports Annahar daily.
She is suffering from fractures and bruises all over the body. Police are investigating the incident.
Maid commits suicide: The remains of an unidentified Asian who allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself with a rope inside her sponsor’s home in Qortuba, have been referred to Forensics, reports Al-Rai daily.
The death was reported to the police by the sponsor when he found the corpse hanging from a rope.
The sponsor has been detained for customary interrogation.
source
She is suffering from fractures and bruises all over the body. Police are investigating the incident.
Maid commits suicide: The remains of an unidentified Asian who allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself with a rope inside her sponsor’s home in Qortuba, have been referred to Forensics, reports Al-Rai daily.
The death was reported to the police by the sponsor when he found the corpse hanging from a rope.
The sponsor has been detained for customary interrogation.
source
The extraordinary financial power of an emerging class of super-rich has been revealed in a wealth survey highlighting Britain's poshest postcodes.
One London borough has seen such an influx of the fabulously rich that the average household income there has topped £100,000 for the first time.
As a result, Kensington and Chelsea has been named as the richest borough in the land by far.
The wealth league was compiled by Barclays, whose figures suggest the numbers earning more than £100,000 a year in the UK have rocketed in the past two years from 411,000 to over a million.
Despite Kensington and Chelsea's position at the top of the table, the area has wide extremes of affluence and poverty.
The multi-million pound mansions of Holland Park and fashionable Notting Hill stand in stark contrast to the deprivation of the North Kensington tower blocks.
Camberwell and Peckham is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like other such constituencies, it elects one Member of Parliament (MP), using the first-past-the-post voting system.
It is a safe seat for the Labour Party and the current MP is Harriet Harman, the former Acting Leader of the party and former Leader of the Opposition.
The constituency incorporates the areas of Camberwell, Peckham and Nunhead, in the London Borough of Southwark, together with parts of Walworth, East Dulwich, South Bermondsey and a small part of Rotherhithe. It has the distinction of having a higher proportion of poor people than any other constituency in the country in 2000.
One London borough has seen such an influx of the fabulously rich that the average household income there has topped £100,000 for the first time.
As a result, Kensington and Chelsea has been named as the richest borough in the land by far.
The wealth league was compiled by Barclays, whose figures suggest the numbers earning more than £100,000 a year in the UK have rocketed in the past two years from 411,000 to over a million.
Despite Kensington and Chelsea's position at the top of the table, the area has wide extremes of affluence and poverty.
The multi-million pound mansions of Holland Park and fashionable Notting Hill stand in stark contrast to the deprivation of the North Kensington tower blocks.
Camberwell and Peckham is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like other such constituencies, it elects one Member of Parliament (MP), using the first-past-the-post voting system.
It is a safe seat for the Labour Party and the current MP is Harriet Harman, the former Acting Leader of the party and former Leader of the Opposition.
The constituency incorporates the areas of Camberwell, Peckham and Nunhead, in the London Borough of Southwark, together with parts of Walworth, East Dulwich, South Bermondsey and a small part of Rotherhithe. It has the distinction of having a higher proportion of poor people than any other constituency in the country in 2000.
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