http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/30/un-security-council-rejects-palestinian-statehood-bid UN security council rejects Palestinian statehood bid The UNSC votes against a Palestinian resolution calling for an end to Israeli occupation and for independent Palestine The Americans can, as always, be relied upon to support the Israeli's no matter what the issue may be, for Israel can do no wrong. The Australians, contrary to all public option, press and media coverage, support the Americans and vote against the Palestinian peoples desire for statehood. The United Kingdom, again contrary to large sections of British public opinion, join Rwanda, Nigeria, Lithuania, and South Korea in sitting on the fence and doing nothing. These countries perched on the railings, have abdicated their responsibilities towards Palestine and the possibility of achieving any form of settlement in the region, but have secured for themselves the continuing favour of ...
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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/millions-of-britons-struggling-to-feed-themselves-and-facing-malnourishment-9946627.html Millions of Britons struggling to feed themselves and facing malnourishment Foodbanks relying on donations of food. On December 20th, I blogged on the bigoted generalisations, unfortunately, all too common in today's greedy, selfish and prejudiced society, in respect of attitudes towards the poor, foodbanks, child poverty and the general demonisation of large sections of our society, by those all too ready to accept and believe the propaganda trotted out from the pages of the Daily Mail, Telegraph and other such rags, and the completely biased reporting of Wilcox and others on the BBC with Brazier and Boulton on the British version of Fox News. The “success” of divisive social policies maintained by successive governments, have now become the “flagship” of this current ConDem coalition and have been...
http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/tomorrow/the-incredible-new-abu-dhabi-airport-terminal/ss-BBh4A4T?ocid=U142DHP The incredible new Abu Dhabi Airport terminal. The "Mushroom" Abu Dhabi, was/is the one stop between London Heathrow and Muscat Seeb airport in the Sultanate of Oman. My fist view of Abu Dhabi International terminal after getting off the BA 777 for an hours pause in my journey, was the mushroom shaped structure starting on the floor below and reaching high up above the mezzanine where the tunnels lead to incoming and departing aircraft, to form the terminal ceiling above. (pictures 5 and 9 on the link). Standing right beside the structure, reachi ng to where the “mushroom” begins to curve over to form the ceiling, was the largest broadest real Christmas Tree that I had ever seen, decorated from bottom to top with every type of tree decoration you could imagine and hundreds (if not more) Christmas tree lights. A truly remarkable sight. It see...
Christmas 2014. To readers of this "New Agenda" Blog (according to Google statistics) all around the world, all Facebook "Friends", "Followers" on the Twitter account, readers of "New Agenda on Sunday" and any others who may venture onto any of the pages, I wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a Peaceful, prosperous New Year. Merry Christmas Thank you for taking the time to read my observations and remarks on events and for your support and comments over the past 12 months. May we all look forward to what promises to be a momentous 2015.
http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/11683374.People_turn_to_foodbanks_to_feed_their_families_over_Christmas/ People turn to foodbanks to feed their families over Christmas Foodbank volunteers "Hundreds of people (in Dorset,) will be turning to foodbanks to feed their families this Christmas. Instead of turkey with all the trimmings, hard-pressed families will be serving up tinned and dried foods this festive season." Dorset Echo: 23rd December 2014. Just one small part of scandal which has grown vastly over the past 5 years. In this country today, there are over 1 million people who are reliant on Food banks or other food charities, to feed their families this Christmas. The figure has grown significantly since last Christmas and shows no sign of reducing anytime soon. It is a scandal and a disgrace, which should shame us all for allowing such a situation to come about. The Foodbank charities and the volunteers working in them are doing a magnificent ...
http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/magazine/it%E2%80%99s-not-the-us-embargo-that-keeps-cuba-poor-it%E2%80%99s-the-brothers-castro/ar-BBgUYpV?ocid=U142DHP It’s not the US embargo that keeps Cuba poor, it’s the brothers Castro Celebrations in Havana for US and Cuba plans to restore ties. The headline from this MSN, introduces an article which, ostensibly, is to report on the American initiative to "normalise" the relationship between Havana and Washington.The article of course does nothing of the sort, and soon sinks to the depth of yet another criticism to add to the list of criticisms leveled at Cuba and Fidel Castro in particular, over the last 56 years.The piece of journalistic nonsense, goes the way of all the rest and seeks to explain away the Cuban revolution as just another failed exercise in the "Marxist" experiment of economy management and ignores, as is often the case with American versions of history, the "Why" and the "How...
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/two-nations-13m-brits-will-spend-12bn-on-panic-saturday-but-13m-others-across-the-country-will-spend-this-christmas-in-poverty-9937088.html 13m will spend £1.2bn on 'Panic Saturday', but 13m others across the country will spend this Christmas in poverty In the first quarter of the 21st Century, it is a scandal and a disgrace that 13 million people are, no matter what measurement you choose to employ in establishing that figure, living in poverty in this country today. Over 1 million families reliant on Food-banks and other charities, 1 million in child poverty, hundreds of thousands of people homeless, or in inadequate accommodation, many people actually in work who earn less than the minimum wage or are on zero hour contracts, having to claim benefits, which are being further reduced by government cuts, are indicative of a fractured nation....
http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/11668325.Waste_partnership_is_standing_firm_on_rubbish_bags_despite_vermin_fears/ Waste partnership is standing firm on rubbish bags despite vermin fears East Street, Weymouth I drove past this stack of rubbish yesterday 15th December 2014,(and it was not the only one which I passed while in Weymouth). It seems that the waste has been put into the "wrong sacks". The thought occurred to me that rather than buy "black plastic" sacks to cram the rubbish into, why do the people putting the bags out, not put it into "blue plastic" sacks? That is of course, provided that the DWP have actually delivered a supply of blue plastic sacks to be used for the purpose. However, so far the performance of DWP in the catalouge of errors, screw ups and general poor management and administration of the "new system" is less than adequate. Moreover, they seem to be demanding more money from the Council to cover ...
The packaging on medications increases the cost to the NHS, and generates even more profits for the pharmaceutical industry. I have just spent the last hour, filling my pill dispensing wallet. This is a task which I carry out every two weeks, usually on alternate Sunday mornings. The reason for using a pill dispenser is that I have a significant number of various pills, which are usually taken in different combinations each day. Consequently, the possibility of taking the wrong dosage or the wrong pills, is avoided. It never ceases to amaze me, that at the end of this exercise, I always have at least half a carrier bag full of discarded pill boxes, instruction leaflets and numerous empty sheets of seven empty slots of tinfoil or thin plastic or a combination of both, where the pill for that particular medication was housed. In many cases the tin foil or plastic, requires a great amount of finger and thumb pressure to eject the incumbent pill. This ...
Royal mail can look for other "victims". A tool used for "Blackmail" The Royal Mail put a card through my letter box yesterday, (Saturday 13th December 2014)advising, "Unfortunately we can't deliver your item because there is a fee to pay". Upon closer examination, it seems that "The sender didn't pay the full postage", and Royal Mail are demanding a payment from me of £1.11 This "Fee" includes a £1 handling charge! The item in question, I know to be a Christmas card which probably exceeds the arbitrary size restrictions (measured by a rather crude template device) impose d by Royal Mail a couple of years back as a means for extorting even more money from the long suffering public. The "excess charge" of 11p is really neither here nor there, but to add a handling charge of £1 is really adding insult to injury. I have no objection to excess charges where the sender has either forgotte...
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/dec/13/david-miliband-british-politics-hints-return David Miliband hints at another stint in British politics Miliband major. Miliband minor. Blair lurking in the background? Why not go the whole hog and parachute the hypocrite Blair straight into some safe(?) Labour seat, instead of settling for this toadying facsimile of a Blairite lackey? Westminster if full of self serving career politicians and another one (or perhaps two) would not make one iota of difference. However, the prospect of Miliband major replacing Miliband minor and ultimately being reprised with Blair as a new "dynamic duo", is a thought too awful to contemplate.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ed-miliband-vows-towield-the-axe-on-public-services-9916560.html Ed Miliband vows to wield the axe on public services to balance books Ed Miliband will cut the budgets of most Whitehall departments A statement of intent, indicating how far away from its traditional supporters and its traditional principles the Labour party has drifted. Miliband seeks to grab power in the "centre ground" as did Blair, and to hell with the ordinary people who historically have relied on the Labour Party and the trade Union movement to provide some alternative and redress from the excesses of Conservative policies and the exploitation by businesses and business interests in this country. The "Centre ground" is populated by Tories, Liberal Democrats, business interests and others, seeking only to perpetuate their own existence by persuading everyone that they are the only ones offering a solution to a problem ...
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/dec/08/tories-avert-rift-church-food-bank-report?commentpage=5 Tories seek to avert rift with Church of England over food bank report A foodbank in the United Kingdom in the year 2014. A church funded all-party report is published today,(8th December 2014), on the increased use of food banks in this country and warning that Britain is stalked by low pay, growing inequality, a harsh benefits section scheme and social breakdown. It is perhaps fitting that the report is published just two weeks before Christmas, highlighting the growing phenomena of food bank usage in the United Kingdom. The Tories have of course attempted to distance themselves from any blame associated with this scandal, with one minister claiming that the increased use of food banks is due to the greater publicity about their existence. The Department of Work and Pensions, remain adamant that the administration of the benefit system has littl...
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/dec/07/champagne-house-of-lords-reform-taxpayer Champagne wars in the Lords as peers say no to a cheaper vintage Since 2010, the Lords has bought in 17,000 bottles of champagne This story adds to the list of things wrong with the people who populate the corridors of the Palace of Westminster. Commons and Lords, filled with people who care only for themselves and retaining their position of privilege in society. Expenses, extortionate salary increases, perks of subsidised food and alcohol and all the other trimmings of Parliamentary life are indicative of a system which is corrupt and which encourages greed and selfishness amongst those who are part of and profit from it. The phrase "Parliamentary privilege" takes on a whole new meaning when abuses and self indulgences such as this are exposed. There is a compelling argument from dissolving the whole rotten structure and starting again from scratch.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tony-blair-wants-chuka-umunna-to-be-the-next-labour-leader-9908489.html Tony Blair wants Chuka Umunna to be the next Labour leader Chuka Umunna Tony Blair The "Blairite" right emerge from the woodwork to promote another career politician/lawyer to take up where Blair left off. The destruction of the Labour party was essentially complete when Blair, Mandelson,Campbell and the others crawled off into their burrows to plot and scheme while reading their bank statements. Chuka Umunna fits very nicely into the mould and could complete the task commenced by the triumvirate and firmly fix the Labour party in that pro business, pro establishment, laying only slightly to the left of the Tory extremists who have ruled this country for the last 5 years. Working people, the sick, pensioners and benefit claimants and vast sections of British society will of course, remain ignored, unrepresented and disillus...