Syrian Massacre of the Innocents – Please Watch If You Can

When I was about 10 or 11, my mother insisted I should watch footage of the Nazi concentration camps, filmed after liberation, when it appeared on television. She didn’t force me to watch, but said that everyone should if they could.

Horrifying as that footage was, of emaciated figures, some dead, some alive, and some that couldn’t be said to be either with any certainty, I think my mum was right. We should all know what the statistics bandied around after such atrocities actually mean, and we should all be horrified, and condemn the perpetrators.

The idea is to try and stop such things happening again, but of course they will, and of course they have, time and again. We should still try though, so please, if you can, watch this video.

Related articles

• Syria after the massacre (nation.com.pk)
• 30 Syrian Children Massacred (realmanure.wordpress.com)

Iain Drunken Smith Strikes Again

Does IDS get drunk before coming up with his laughable (though less than amusing) schemes? Probably not, but he does seem intent on showing why he was such a failure as Tory leader, with his unerring knack of attracting ridicule. His latest wheeze is to deny benefits to anyone that the Jobcentre staff suspect of being addicted to drink or drugs unless the claimant agrees to accept “help”. When I read that, it set off several alarm bells, including:

• On what basis will Jobcentre staff decide who is an addict?
• What “help” is available?
• Where will addicts turn to get their fix if money is withheld from them?

Jobcentre staff, whether face to face as now, or over the internet as planned, cannot demand that the claimant’s doctor, who is trained to make diagnoses, supply the confidential data regarding the claimant’s health, so such a decision would be made by somebody unqualified. I once knew somebody who had Parkinson’s Disease. Everyone assumed she was just a drunk, and that when they saw her shaking when she was wending her difficult way home, she was merely suffering from Delirium Tremors. Her doctor knew better, because that was his job. Given that Smith plans to make a speech about this subject at an event in parliament organised by Alcoholics Anonymous, it is likely that that organisation will feature prominently in his plans. Unfortunately, the AA’s record in “curing” alcoholism is patchy at best, with some studies suggesting that they make matters worse. There is also the matter of religion. One of AA’s 12 steps to recovery, non-negotiable, is the acknowledgement of a “higher power”, whether a named God, or a fuzzy, new-age one. It’s not hard to see why avowed Christian IDS favours them. It is hard to see how they can be involved in a compulsory, and therefore verifiable, process and keep the word anonymous in their name. And, of course, addiction, when denied satisfaction, can breed desperation, especially when that denial is from somebody other than the addict. More desperation (something this government evidently likes to encourage) will inevitably mean more crime. I expect there are plenty of venture capitalists queuing up to take advantage of the extra misery the Tories and their friends keep inflicting on people who can’t fight back.

Related articles

• Iain Duncan Smith’s plan for ‘suspected’ alcoholics won’t work | John Sutherland (guardian.co.uk)
• Deep concerns over government plans to cut benefits for alcoholics and drug addicts who refuse treatment (independent.co.uk)
• Jobseekers who reject help for alcohol and drug addiction face benefits cut (guardian.co.uk)
• The Work Programme flounders (newstatesman.com
• Iain Duncan Smith – Is He Pissed? (johnnyvoid.wordpress.com)

Iain Duncan Smith – The Quiet Bigot

When Iain Duncan Smith announced plans to close Remploy factories and put 1,518 disabled people out of work, that was bad enough.

When it became clear that the decision was at least partly based on malicious gossip, that the Remploy employees just sat around all day drinking coffee, that was worse. Any fool, even a politician, could see what a stupid thing that was to say, even if it had been true, which it wasn’t. A decent human being would, at the very least, apologise.

Liam Byrne, Yesterday the shadow work and pensions secretary, Liam Byrne, called on Smith to do just that, but there was not a hint of remorse.

The government’s attack on the most vulnerable in society continues apace and Iain Duncan Smith, for the time being, is its mascot.

 

Related articles

• “Ignorant and heartless”: Iain Duncan Smith blasted over Remploy attack (mirror.co.uk)
• Wales News: Leighton Andrews calls for Iain Duncan Smith sacking over “callous” Remploy comments (walesonline.co.uk)
• Tory sneers at disabled (express.co.uk)
• Letters: The human cost of disability cuts (guardian.co.uk)

Rebekah Brooks Charged with Perverting Justice

Rebekah Brooks has been charged, along with her husband, with  conspiracy to pervert the course of justice over the phone-hacking inquiry. Neither of them is happy,naturally, with Charles Brooks claiming that his wife is the victim of a  ”witch-hunt”

If that was a witch-hunt, I can’t wait for the trial!

Related articles

• Charging announcement against Rebekah Brooks and others (nextlevelofnews.com)
• Rebekah Brooks’ Bell Pottinger spokesman takes proactive comms stance (prweek.com)
• Rebekah Brooks charged with perverting the course of justice (itv.com)
• Rebekah Brooks charged with perverting course of justice (theweek.co.uk)

Sue Marsh given wrong drug and nurse refused to change it – agony instead of pain relief | A Latent Existence

The story of a horrible  experience unfolded on Twitter today. It was bad enough reading the tweets. How much more scary must it have been to endure the pain, with no help at hand? Please click on the link below:

Sue Marsh given wrong drug and nurse refused to change it – agony instead of pain relief | A Latent Existence.

BMA to ballot on Work Capability Assessments

Shamelessly stolen from Social Welfare Union on Twitter:

BREAKING !!! BMA to ballot on Work Capability Assessments !!! #WCA #Atos #DWP

103 HAMPSHIRE AND ISLE OF WIGHT: That conference, in respect of work capability assessments (WCA) as performed
by ATOS Healthcare, believes that the:
(i) inadequate computer based assessments that are used have little regard to the nature or complexity of the needs of long term sick and disabled persons
(ii) WCA should end with immediate effect and be replaced with a rigorous and safe system that does not cause
avoidable harm to some of the weakest and most vulnerable in society.

103a SCOTTISH CONFERENCE OF LMCs: That conference, in respect of work capability assessments (WCA) as performed
by ATOS Healthcare, believes that:
(i) the inadequate computer based assessments that are used have little regard to the nature or complexity of the needs of long term sick and disabled persons
(ii) the WCA should end with immediate effect and be replaced with a rigorous and safe system that does not
cause avoidable harm to some of the weakest and most vulnerable in society.

The GMC will be forced to institute a full investigation and under an obligation to take action to halt the assessments by revoking “Approved Medical Status” to testing centres. The motions were submitted by the Scottish LMC Conference and Hampshire and Isle of Wight LMC. Motions 103 & 103a can be viewed here:

http://www.bma.org.uk/images/lmcconfagenda2012_tcm41-212632.pdf

I wonder if the BBC will report this.

Update!  (again from Social Welfare Union)

The Social Welfare Union, together with our partners, are very pleased to announce that the United Kingdom Local Medical Committees Conference of the British Medical Association (BMA) has voted today to carry the following motion in relation to Atos Healthcare conducted Work Capability Assessments:

103 HAMPSHIRE AND ISLE OF WIGHT & 103a SCOTTISH CONFERENCE OF LMCs

That conference, in respect of work capability assessments (WCA) as performed by ATOS Healthcare, believes that the:

(i) inadequate computer based assessments that are used have little regard to the nature or complexity of the needs of long term sick and disabled persons

(ii) WCA should end with immediate effect and be replaced with a rigorous and safe system that does not cause avoidable harm to some of the weakest and most vulnerable in society.

The motion was carried UNANIMOUSLY.

Related articles

• Scottish Gp`s call for WCA Axe (ffeirio.wordpress.com)
• BMA to Ballot on Work Capability Assessments (socialwelfareunion.wordpress.com)

GOTCHA!

Reblogged from sturdyblog:

There's always a mixture of frustration and glee when mainstream media miss the blindingly obvious, leaving a lowly blogger like me to point it out. Most have focussed on Andy Coulson's lack of security clearance and BSkyB shares - granted, both important issues. "No killer blow" have declared BBC correspondents, Sky reporters, journalists, politicos and other assorted lotophagi reviewing the Coulson evidence.

Read more… 443 more words