BULLET POINTS

When providing non lethal assistance to the Syrian resistance the Foreign Secretary insisted, very appropriately, that they must follow human rights norms. Not something we have ever insisted upon when selling Saudi Arabia extremely lethal armaments to the theocratic regime there. They can subjugate women and chop of hands and feet to their hearts content.


        *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *

“Things come apart so easily when they have been held together with lies.”[1]

Chris Grayling is lying again in an attempt to hide the brutality at the heart of the government welfare reforms.
‘When asked in a parliamentary question on 10 July by the former Labour Treasury minister Stephen Timms why the DWP had sought to remove the video, Grayling replied: "The department did not direct that the Ministry of Justice video about employment and support allowance appeals be removed from the website YouTube.’[2]
‘ "We sought to correct factual inaccuracies within the video which we brought to the attention of MoJ officials who agreed to revise the content of the video."After seeing the inter-departmental correspondence Timms told the Guardian the emails appeared to show Grayling's answer was wrong, adding that the government was "ignoring the needs of disabled people".’[3]
I have concluded, drawing on my forensic clinical skills that Grayling represents a liar of the sociopathic rather than compulsive variety, i.e.:-
A sociopath is typically defined as someone who lies incessantly to get their way and does so with little concern for others. A sociopath is often goal-oriented (i.e., lying is focused - it is done to get one's way). Sociopaths have little regard or respect for the rights and feelings of others. Sociopaths are often charming and charismatic, though obviously not in the case of Mr Grayling, but they use their social skills in manipulative and self-centred ways.

Meanwhile on this mornings Today Programme on Radio 4 there was an item  respecting the increase in suicides amongst the jobless since the start of the recession.

    *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *
John Major is currently basking in a good deal of glory, having created the National Lottery he is seen as the force behind British Olympic success, lottery funding having been key to supporting our successful Olympians. (The poor of course are disproportionately represented amongst the ticket buying public, thus it was they who provided the bulk of finding whilst being completely unrepresented amongst the crowds at the various venues, - and one wonders how many tickets‘Kate and Wills ’purchased)?
One other piece of legislation he pushed through, despite a lack of public support and in the dying days of his administration[4] was the privatisation of the railways, a particular fetish of his as he daydreamed about re-creating the four large train companies, LNER, LMS, GW and SR. The ensuing privatisation has been a complete and unmitigated disaster, the rail network now receives a greater amount of public subsidy than when nationalised, rail fares have become the most expensive in Europe by a country mile and trains are grotesquely overcrowded, only the fat overpaid senior management teams, lawyers and consultants have benefited. Take a bow John Major.

    *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *
After all the horseshit talked by the government over sport in schools enterprising journalists have uncovered the reality, the government is changing the rules to allow schools to sell of their playing fields more easily, moreover Gove overuled his own panel of experts 5 times to force closure.

    *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *     
Talking of horseshit I see that Julian Assange, facing extradition to Sweden to face charges of sexual assualt and rape, has been promised asylum in Ecuador. The fact that he is a self aggrandising fraud can be identified by the confederacy of dunces who have flocked to his cause.

    *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *
There is a spectre haunting David Cameron, it is the spectre of the one term premiership, his fate to be a latter day Ted Heath.


[2] Guardian 13.08.12
[3] Ibid.
[4] Labour could have scuppered the privatisation by stating that on being elected it would re-nationalise without compensation, Tony Blair, frightened of damaging his new pro-capitalist credentials vetoed this move.
Having visited this page I would be grateful for your feedback, either tick one of the boxes below or make a comment via the comments button.

Popular posts from this blog

NESRINE MALIK AND THE UNSUNG VIRTUES OF HYPOCRISY

Image
As I write this a 27 year old woman, Mariam Ibrahim, has just had a baby in a Sudanese prison, ‘the condition of the mother and baby is not known as Ibrahim's lawyer and her husband, a US citizen, had been denied access to her. Omdurman women's prison has a basic clinic, where the child is thought to have been born. Ibrahim has been shackled since being imprisoned.’ [1]   Mariam also has an 18 month old child who is also being held in prison with her. The ‘crime’ for which she is imprisoned is apostasy, for which she has received the death sentence. She has also been sentenced to 100 lashes, for the additional crime of having sex with her Christian husband. Although she has been a lifelong Christian her father was a Muslim, Sudanese sharia law forbids women to marry outside the Muslim faith, men needless to say can do as they please in these matters. Mariam Ibrahim and her husband.  Nineteen countries punish their citizens for apostasy, and in 12 of those countries...
Read more

INTERVIEW WITH TOM VAGUE

Image
Tom Vague At the top end of All Saints Road there is a refuge, an enclave in which a local Bohemian culture retains a foothold, this is the Book & kitchen , a café/bookshop with adjoining terrace. Here the bustle of the nearby market gives way to conversation, conversation in the presence of images of the recent, and not so recent, past. The past of an area that has contributed so much to the life and culture of the city. I was there to meet local historian Mr Tom Vague a man intimately familiar with so much of this history. What Tom doesn’t know about the recent history of the area probably is not worth knowing. With Tom’s energy and effort Colville Community Forum, supported by City Living Local Life, recently held a gathering at The Book and Kitchen to celebrate this rich history. February 16 6-9 Pm, with Film Screening and Readings Exhibition February 16-26 2016. Featuring 30 Classic Westway Photographs and Posters. This represents one of a number of initiatives of t...
Read more

VOLINE AND TROTSKY

Волин и Троцкого A Footnote in Russian History In April 1917 the Russian anarchist revolutionary Voline* and Leon Trotsky were both stranded in New York as the Russian revolution broke out in Petrograd , inevitably coming into contact with one another. Voline stated that he felt that the Bolsheviks, given their ruthlessness and single minded determination, would ultimately come to power. They would then begin eliminating their opponents, amongst whom of course were the anarchists; this persecution would end with the Bolsheviks shooting the anarchists “like partridges.” Trotsky was dismissive, they might have their differences but they were comrades in arms, they had different interpretations of the revolutionary process but shared the same goals. It was nonsense to speak of Bolsheviks shooting revolutionary comrades, “we are socialists, comrade Voline! So we are not your enemies….” [1] In December of 1919, whilst gravely wounded Voline was captured by the Bolshe...
Read more