Category: Issues

The Last Rotten Borough – Part Two

Despite all of the various occupy protests of late.

I’m still waiting for someone to mount a serious campaign to curb the power(s) of those who run the City of London Corporation.

Here is a quote which says a lot about just why I hate the City of
London Corporation.

‘ Today, voting rights for the City of London’s municipal
authority are granted to its 32,000 businesses in addition to
residents which now number fewer than 12,000. ’

If you really want to see how this works out in practice,
then take a look at the City of London website.

What also gets me is the way in which people may obtain the
Freedom of the City.

Just how one may mount a serious campaign to challenge the
power(s) of the City of London Corporation is still open to
debate,
but challenged it must be.

A True Cockney

I was born ‘in the City of London in the City of London’,
or to be more exact
St Bartholomew’s (known as Barts) Hospital.

This means that I am a true Cockney as I was born within the sound
of Bow Bells.

Though it’s a long time since Barts has had a maternity unit,
and so there must be fewer & fewer cockneys.

My birth certificate reads:  ‘ Born in the City of London in the City of London’.

Thus I am a part of the last forgotten indigenous minority.

If I were able to afford to move back to the City of London,
then I would effectively be disenfranchised by the city vote.

That is why challenging the power(s) of the City of London
Corporation is very much one of my major concerns.

One World or Just One Long List.

I’ve noted on a lot of websites that people have a habit of
producing long lists of places they have travelled too.

We can all do the same I guess,
but I came up with the following list while thinking of
something else than just lists:-

The number of Embassies or National tourist offices I’ve
demonstrated outside of over the years.

This list includes such places as :-

Austria.
Australia.
China.
Czechoslovakia.
Denmark.
France.
Germany.
India.
Korea  ( South ).
Norway.
Portugal.
Russia.
South Africa.
Soviet Union.
Spain.
Turkey.
&
the USA.

I mention them all to illustrate my one world view of politics.

Whether it be Nukiller Power,
Militarism,
or
any form of exploitation:
the issues are always the same.

It matters not in which countries these problems occur.

All that matters is that they happen,
and that some of us are willing to do something about it.

Work Time – Study Time.

University education is not an automatic right,
but something which is a privilege.

In many parts of the world even the most rudimentary form of
education is something which a lot of people still strive for.

Those of us who are in our 60s & over can remember a time
when university was only available for those who came from a
wealthy background,
while the majority of the population started work at 15 or
earlier. Continue reading Work Time – Study Time.

Ever Heard About Young & Rubicam ?

It’s an adverting agency which has done work for the military.

Way back in September 1981 I co-wrote a
Greenpeace ( London ) factsheet upon the advertising agencies
which were then being used by the British military.

‘SOME BACKGROUND TO THE LAUNCHING OF A CAMPAIGN
AGAINST ADVERTISING AGENCIES
PROMOTING THE MILITARY AND THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY.’

Thing change and so have some of the contracts.

Here is an example of just how things have changed:

British Army seeks digital agency

Now here is where Young & Rubicam yet again come in to the
picture.

I’m thinking that it’s now about time that some more attention
was paid to what some of these adverting agencies,
are doing for the military in both Britain and the USA.

That might involve me in a little more research in to just what
they are all up to these days.

Just watch this space . . . . .

The Season of Gloom and Despondency.

I think that in most ways I’m a happy bunny,
but……….

If there is one thing which really leaves me feeling very
depressed, then it is everything which surrounds the xmas
period.

This is in part because of the way in which the jesus myth is
propagandised,
and in part because of the way in which the unbridled feast of
consumerism is celebrated.

What makes this even worse is to see those who can least
afford it go on an xmas spending spree, and then find that they
land up with enormous personal debts.

What people need to remember is that there is a major
difference between I need and I want.

If I want to give my friends presents,
then I’ll do it when I want to do so though out the year.
and not just because we have reached some speculative
anniversary date.

It’s all about wanting to do something,
rather that feeling a social pressure to do so.

The other thing which gets me is the way in which a lot of
public transport services close down for anything up to 56
hours.

Like great !

– Here we are forced to take some time off work,
and we can not get away from our homes.

– So much for the excuse that we are all having time off work
in order to see ones family and friends.

If only …….. !

The only good thing about the whole situation is that it gives
me some time to catch up with my various projects,
and do some spring cleaning at home.

Oh happy days!

We talk about living within a 24/7 society,
but this only extends to 365 days minus one week in the year.

I look forward to the time when the whole xmas holiday
season is something which is confined to the history books.

Roll on !

Pugalism.

Pugalism is a brutal activity.

Pugalism is a health and safety Issue.

We have known for decades that boxing can result in brain
damage.

You wouldn’t go on to a building site without a hard hat,
just in case you might be hit on the head.

Yet why do we still allow people to be hit around the head in
the name of sport?

For years people have been campaigning to end this so called
sport.

Is it not about time that boxing became declassified as an
official activity at all future Olympic events?

An Inequitable Taxation.

Be it the window or Poll tax,
the question as to what is an equitable or a reasonable
taxation has always excited a lot of protest.

That is why the question of tax exceptions is one which should
concern us all.

We all think that we are over taxed,
but just how many of us think about how just the payment or
none payment of taxation may be.

At present within Britain all religious comminutes are except
from paying any council ( local authority ) tax.

While most of the churches or religious bodies are registered
as Charities,
and thus gain many tax advantages.

Yet Pacifist bodies, ecology action groups have to pay their
taxes in full.

Why should this be so?

Because under the present law Churches are deemed as being
charitable bodies,
while Pacifist and Eco action organisations are considered to
be ‘political’.

If a group of atheists were to establish a community or body to
combat the extremes of any religion, then they would not be
able to be registered as a charity,
or get all of the tax benefits which go with this.

That would be deemed to be a political activity.

Yet Religious bodies who campaign against good atheist values
do get these various tax benefits.

Now just tell me that this is not political?

This makes no sense at all,
as all religions involve themselves in politics,
even if they hide it with the expression:
‘ Spreading the word of god ‘.

Just to take two examples:
– They campaign against the rights of women to make their own
decisions upon contraception and abortion.
&
– Interfere upon just what may or may not be taught within our
schools.

Just look at the website for the
Charity Commission for England and Wales
and you will see just how many religious bodies are registered
as charities.

This includes such controversial bodies as the
Universal Church Kingdom of God.
A church whose activities has aroused a lot of concerns over
the last few years.

On the other hand we have the case of many pacifists who are
taken to court for refusing to pay any war taxes.

This is despite the fact that Pacifists have a legal right to
exercise a conscientious objection to conscription.

Clearly there is an urgent need to change this system,
and give one the right to exercise a conscientious objection to
all war taxes.

Though the long term aim should really be to abolish all
military organisations.

Equally importantly: –
The whole question as to the charitable status of all religious
bodies should be examined,

They should be made to take pay their share of the tax burden,
as it is inequitable that we should all be forced to subsidise
them this way.

A Word to Librarians Upon Stock Revision – Jobs.

Walk into any public library of late and you might of noticed
just which books are coming off the shelves the fastest rate.

These are:
-career guides,
– books upon how to write a good curriculum vitae,
&
– Upon just how one would work for oneself.

These are the new best sellers.

What I am also noticing is that there are a lot more people
asking about vacancies within libraries, or for newspapers
and periodicals in which jobs are advertised.

All this is just a reflection of just how high the level of
unemployment has become.

Many of the new unemployed are not inarticulate,
but highly skilled, and highly educated individuals.

Yet almost all of the help which is available to the
unemployed still makes the presumption that they all have low
skill level, or that all they need is a little retraining in order
to find some employment.

Continue reading A Word to Librarians Upon Stock Revision – Jobs.

New Year – New Fashions

When I used to work in C & W May ( theatrical Costumiers ),
there was a guy who worked in the place who would explain
that the look of the costumes which people wear is not always
just a question of what is in fashion at the time.

As he put the point, it was never a question of:
‘Right lads! It’s 1930! All change in to these new costumes!’

Just look at come of the photos of Laurence Housman which
were taken during that decade, and you will see him wearing a
wing collar: Something that was very fashionable within an
earlier era.

As with clothing – The same with politics.

Some of us are still banging on about issues which were highly
fashionable to campaign upon a few decades back.

Though unlike clothing fashions – some political fashions do
not date in terms of what is are immediate problems which need
to be addressed.

I was reminded of all this the other day as I noted a job being
advertised for a new Director of Corporate Services at the
UK.
Civil Nuclear Police Authority.

i.e. The Nukiller Police.

Continue reading New Year – New Fashions

Another Forgotten Piece of ‘our glorious History’.

People celebrate the abolition of slavery within Europe and
North America,
but forget that ‘bonded labour’ ( another form of slavery ),
is still in place within many parts of the world.

Britain gave up the slave trade over 150 years ago,
but it was still involved in supporting slavery for a long time
after that.

I was reminded of this fact while reading the obituary of
Colonel David Smiley,
which was published in The Times on January 14th.

During a long military career Smiley worked with the Sultan
of Omans Armed Forces during the late 1950s.

It might also be noted that British SAS forces were active in
Oman against various insurgencies during the 1960s.

Now here is the interesting point:
Slavery was only officially abolished in Oman during the
early 1970s.

There was not a word about slavery in Oman which appeared
within the Times Smiley obituary.

It would of been a very different kind of obituary if this fact
had been noted.