Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

My local vicar is a delightful guy who leads by example and does a lot of good work for the local community. He tries to guide and help rather than instruct. I think religion should be used as a way of educating people on how to become decent human beings and to show that there are certain guidelines on how to behave in a civilised society. Sermon over !!

quite so doodle, but is that so far different from church leaders taking a moral stance on serious issues?

a difficult line to draw between that and taking political sides, which they have no right to do

I agree cynic, they shouldn't take political sides - just the same as our monarchy.

Why not?

They are as entitled to their opinions like everyone else.

the monarchy is brilliant at keeping an apolitical line

max - there is a massive difference between holding and even broadcasting a view as a private individual and propounding it as a church leader ..... for obvious reasons, church leaders cannot easily express a personal view without great care in so doing

The monarchy are brilliant at keeping the dirt well hidden.

They are no more apolitical than you or i.

shows what you don't know!

Does it?

Does what?

Anyway I think the Church are right in pointing out the fact that poor people are being abandoned by the state.

Im sure they would have done the same if labour were making a bollocks up like the Tories.

Certainly an under class developed under this coalition and in my book thats not ethicaly or moraly right.

The church have done the right and decent thing.

The signatories to the open letter condemning what Cameron calls his “Moral mission” of Welfare reforms, have a perfect right to do so.

As “elected” church leaders they represent the views of a large group of similar thinking individuals, who think differently to the present government leadership.
They have an influence on the present and changing morality of the UK society they live in

Like any other group, whether they are the Unions, Professional bodies, Bankers, Bookies. CPI, Business representatives, etc..

It is their responsibility to speak out against what they see as punitive moral changes and to do so as effectively as the can do.

Perhaps, if the Churches had spoken out against Hitler or Mussolini in his early days then Europe may not have gone through the savagery it did.

I would wager if the 27 signatories had spoken out in favour of Cameron and his motley crew, they would have been invited to No 10, at the front door and Cameron would have been beamingly welcoming them on the doorsteps.

I admire the Orthodox Church in Kiev opening its door to act as a hospital for injured protesters.

I think in general the churches; similar organisation and religion in general have done more good than harm and act a civilizing influence on societies.

The only problem I have is when they support their arguments with a God.

=========

personally, i don't think the bishops worded their "protest" right at all, though the sentiment behind it has validity
of course, and as has been written before, it would be good to see the church taking a lead by putting its hand in its own bulging pockets .... it would strengthen its moral stance immeasurably, rather than looking like just a political attack

Of course the church supports the poor. They are the main segment of their congregations and believers. When people get better educated they have no use for such superstition. The church won't put its hand in its pocket as it has a vested interest in keeping people in reduced circumstances. That can be seen all over the world.

Rebecca,

I can see that she may be on "offer to the public", but cannot see how she is a "public officer"!

Perhaps, I am missing something.

But like GF I think she will be found guilty on a number of charges.

Whether she will walk down the steps, or not, I am not sure.


Will she be calling Cameron as character witness?

Some character!!!!

Delights – and disgraces – of the Atos day of protest 20/Feb/2014

I was.

I attended one of the 144 locations used by Atos to carry out the discredited work capability assessments – in Newtown, Powys – where I was just another face in the crowd that had gathered to remind the public of the atrocity being carried out with their tax money.

The Newtown campaign was undoubtedly small in comparison to others around the country, with a maximum of 15 protesters at its height, but the public response was excellent. The assessment centre is next to a major traffic junction, meaning there were plenty of opportunities to talk to motorists while they waited for the lights to change.

The overwhelming majority of them were enthusiastically supportive.

Also supportive were the local police. We were lucky enough to have two beat officers – I think their names were Graham and Geraldine – checking in on us at regular intervals to ensure that we were not harassed or abused.

I understand that this was not the case nationally – in London, according to the Atos National Demo Facebook page, “150 Police including riot Police were … waiting for 80 disabled demonstrators”.

Elsewhere, people took creative action to raise awareness. Beastrabban’s blog tells of a rosette laid for the victims of Atos and the government’s benefit ‘reforms’ in Derby. He writes: “In the centre of the rosette is a form of the dedication to the dead read out annually for the victims of the First and Second World Wars at the Cenotaph, adapted for these new victims of government indifference and cruelty:

“‘Atos shall not weary them, nor IDS condemn. At the going down of the sun, we shall remember them.’

“Each of the ribbons surrounding this dedication has the name of one Atos’ victims.”

If you want to see the rosette, visit the blog; there is a link to the image.

In Leicester, Jayne Linney was up at 5am, taking her medication, in order to be coherent for a local radio interview at 8am, with time to recover before attending her local demo with around 50 other people.

This featured a programme lasting more than two hours, with speakers, poets and singers – captured by local homeless project Down Not Out and featured in the local press. Further information is on her blog.

But not all experiences were positive. Look at this:

140219atos-wsm-19-feb
This sign was found outside the Atos office in Weston-Super-Mare. I believe the person in the photograph was among those who found it, not those who made it – so please don’t direct any harsh comments at her.

This sign is what greeted demonstrators in Weston-Super-Mare when they arrived at the Atos office there. Clearly this office contains some very hard-line supporters of government policy, whose attitude demonstrates the blinkered, small-minded, fantasy-world attitude that allows policies like the Atos assessment regime to exist in a supposedly advanced country like ours.

For information: Not everybody attending the Atos day of action was on incapacity or disability benefits. Many were people of excellent health who came along because they are thinking people who have realised how hugely damaging the Atos assessments are, or who have friends and relatives who have been victimised by the system, and wanted to voice their opposition.

A similarly large proportion of those taking part – both able-bodied and with illnesses or disabilities – had jobs. They took time off to join the demonstrations because they believe it is wrong to victimise those who are least able to fight back; that it is wrong to bully them into an early grave.

I cannot speak for any of the other events but at Newtown, three-fifths of those present were able-bodied, including myself.

Long-term readers of this blog will be well aware that Mrs Mike has been at the receiving end of Atos – and DWP – mistreatment for years. That is why I am vocal in my opposition to Atos and the government policies that support its assessment regime.

Was the day of action a success? Yes and no.

Undoubtedly the impact on the general public has been huge. Many, many people have been made aware that people are being pushed to their deaths by government policy, and many more will become aware of it over the next few days, as media reports go out in the local press (for example, I’m expecting a report in a Powys paper today).

But there won’t be a change of policy. We have a government that does not care about public attitudes at any time except during election campaigns. At elections, we know that both Coalition parties are happy to lie through their teeth to you, in order to win your votes.

The task now is to remind people on the street of this fact - as often as is necessary to cement in the knowledge that a vote for the Conservatives or the Liberal Democrats is a betrayal of the most vulnerable people in the UK today.

After all, what kind of psychopath wants their vote to condemn an innocent person to destitution – and possibly even death?

Follow me on Twitter: @MidWalesMike

Was the day of action a success? Yes and no.

Undoubtedly the impact on the general public has been huge. Many, many people have been made aware that people are being pushed to their deaths by government policy, and many more will become aware of it over the next few days, as media reports go out in the local press (for example, I’m expecting a report in a Powys paper today).

But there won’t be a change of policy. We have a government that does not care about public attitudes at any time except during election campaigns. At elections, we know that both Coalition parties are happy to lie through their teeth to you, in order to win your votes.

The task now is to remind people on the street of this fact - as often as is necessary to cement in the knowledge that a vote for the Conservatives or the Liberal Democrats is a betrayal of the most vulnerable people in the UK today.

The task now is to remind people on the street of this fact - as often as is necessary to cement in the knowledge that a vote for the Conservatives or the Liberal Democrats is a betrayal of the most vulnerable people in the UK today. After all, what kind of psychopath wants their vote to condemn an innocent person to destitution – and possibly even death?

what sort of buffoon writes this polemic drivel, and worse, what on earth is sticky doing promoting it further here?

The problem with bigots is....

The problem with lung disease is, you kind of have to breathe. At least a bit regularly.

And the problem with heart failure is hearts can't really fail. They're just not optional.

The problem with bowel disease is you have to eat. Quite a lot. I've tried stopping, it doesn't really work. And food is incredibly yummy. And it nurtures our souls more than our taste buds let on.

With kidney failure, hours dedicated to satisfying the great dialysis beast allows you to process liquids, which is fairly non-negotiable by anyone's standards.

And the problem with cancer is it doesn't give the tiniest shit which one of us it invades or where.

But the trouble with bigots is, they ignore all of that. They can only see one problem.

"Why is that bloke down the street getting something I'm not? And why should I pay for it??"

Another buffoon posting his opinions on Twitter - MidWalesMike. Who gives a toss what he thinks.

Over 2 million followers for a start.