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Equality Democracy Truth Courage MID JULY 2020

THE PEOPLE’S PAPER www.thewordmedia.org

MAXWELL ODDS ON NO-SHOW

7-4 on no-show Memory lapse Evens Falls off a boat 10-1 Car crash in Paris 20-1 Eaten by corgis 30-1 Chokes on pizza 40-1 Surfeit of Lampreys 400-1

» » »

US had no right to murder Iranian military leader says UN Page 4

Pensioners cheated out of free TV licences Page 6

Hungry kids ignored in Covid spending Page 27

News, Fake News

and Trump adverts

For President Donald Trump falsely portray law-abiding Black Lives Matter protesters who acted to prevent violence as dangerous thugs plotting to “unleash a wave of violent crime in our cities.” Page 16

Kashmir violence on the streets and in the home!

The threat of violence against women is escalating

amid

coronavirus

lockdowns around the globe. But one region that has lived through a military clampdown for nearly a year – Indian-administered Kashmir – could have foretold the surge. Being shut in by government order is nothing new in Kashmir, nor is the resulting spike in gender-based violence, women’s advocates say. The region has seen decades of conflict, militarisation, protests, and violent crackdowns. Page 19

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Mid July 2020

A NEW PARTY

While the Labour Party teeters towards total irrelevance, the pressure is growing for a new party to be created. The common-sense socialist programme promoted by Jeremy Corbyn inspired hundreds of thousands of people to join the party and stimulated millions to take an interest in politics.

of them will be prepared to do that. I suspect they will all continue ploughing a pointless parliamentary furrow making no impact and being increasingly marginalised. I do however think it is worth continuing to urge them to make the split, because that would help to create an impetus for change.

I am being approached by ever increasing numbers to launch a new political party or join forces with George Galloway in the Workers Party. A survey of everyone who has signed up to the resistance movement that we are trying to build showed 90% favoured the creation of a new political party.

The major political parties have brought our democracy into disrepute. That is why they are held in such contempt by millions and why turnout at elections, particularly in working class communities, has plummeted.

With the upper echelons of the Labour Party betraying its founding principles and racing back to a neoliberal consensus, the demands for a new party may be unstoppable. But founding a new party is one thing, delivering electoral success is another. This is something we will need to seriously ponder over the summer. However, whether a new party is created or not, I think we need to seriously consider how we can establish a rainbow coalition of progressive forces in Britain. We know that most people in the country support socialist policies on public services, jobs and the economy, but none of the current major parties are offering that. There would therefore need to be an electoral arrangement to ensure candidates, including some Labour candidates, are given the best chance of being elected. I would prefer to see leading left-wing Labour MPs leaving the party to help create a new political movement, but I doubt any

Inequality and poverty are off the scale, yet we have the tools to make the economy work for the many not the few. But MPs, either through ignorance or deliberate deception, continue to cling to the notion that taxes pay for public spending, but that is not true. As a currency issuing country, money is no object. Our political class disingenuously fret about the fiscal deficit. But the deficits that really matter are the deficits in well paid jobs, public services, social security, infrastructure, housing and in measures to protect the climate. Politicians should be focussed on utilising idle capacity in the economy rather than the availability of public money for government programmes. The economy is not the same as a household budget because households use the currency, whereas governments issue it. We need to press politicians to push the reset button on economic thinking. I will return to this topic in greater detail in my next column in The Word.

POLITICS AND EVENTS

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MAXINE PEAKE WE LOVE YOU!!!

Corbyn stalwart and actress is one of the few people who dares to challange the party’s official right wing claptrap

ur Great Leader does not fancy ‘taking a knee’. Starmer sacks anyone who accuses the Israeli police of literally ‘taking a knee’, taking a knee to a neck. Cummings has a plan to make us green by investing in technology that would suck out

S’TAT U PRIME MINISTER? The more Johnson asserts that Churchill was not racist the more facts emerge demonstrating not only his deep racism but also revealing the millions that died and suffered because of it. We must add class to race in the case of Churchill and so many like him.

that on the 24th. May, Queen Victoria’s birthday, we celebrated Empire Day. Today we continue to award Empire medals to people. The joke was that if you knew someone with an OBE you called it Other Buggers’ Efforts and if you got the inferior MBE you referred to it as My Own Bloody Effort.

The word ‘civilisation’ or ‘civilised’ was widely used as though it was in defence of civilisation that we subdued, exploited and killed so many people, including our own working class. Remember

It is not a totally verified remark but so many of us want to believe that the following exchange took place. “Mr. Gandhi, what do you think of western civilisation?” “I

think it would be a good idea.”

People like Churchill and Johnson shared a view that, mostly, the world was divided into superiors and inferiors. Where do you think they placed themselves? Like Hitler and Himmler and company Churchill believed in a ‘superior’ Aryan race. Some people choose to mistake families of languages for people of different races. There is no such thing as a Semitic race but try telling that to Zionists such as Starmer or, for that matter,

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POLITICS AND EVENTS

Mid July 2020

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BRING BACK NIXON – The continuing adventures of Kid Piffle and his gang

all the hot air in the atmosphere. Doesn’t he realise the effect that would have upon the Cabinet? Just think of the noise made when you let air out of a balloon. And talking of farts how is President Trump getting on these days? His grand strategy seems to be to kill off his supporters by giving them the virus. The cleverness of his plan is so clever that mere mortals have failed to ‘get’ it. Did you graduate SUMMA CUM LAUDE from Trump University? No? Then you do not possess his cleverness.

Johnson. It is as though we are condemned always to see each other through a racial prism. I include class in that because if, for example, you ‘failed’ the 11-Plus then clearly you are an inferior racial specimen.

And talking of farts how is President Trump these days?

Weep! The pubs are open tomorrow. 6AM apparently. A swift half through the mask? Bring your own straw. ‘What’s yours?’ ‘I’ll have a mild over bitter.’ ‘Are you making fun of our government and opposition?’ YES! Maxine Peake we love you.

C h u r c h i l l thought in terms of hierarchies. He, like Johnson, became Top Man. His record of capturing history to serve his own purpose, to boost his own reputation, is far beyond what Johnson will manage.

He was writing about the difference between Attlee and Churchill when chairing a cabinet meeting, quoting a member of the wartime coalition cabinet. ‘When Attlee takes the chair, Cabinet meetings are business-like and efficient, we keep to the agenda, make decisions and get away in reasonable time. When Churchill presides, nothing is decided; we listen enthralled and go home, many hours later, feeling that we have been present at an historic occasion.’

But let me quote Giles Radice in Odd Couples (2015).

‘Is anyone planning a statue for Johnson?

That is now the cry of Republicans across the USA. Have you seen the opera Nixon in China? It is based upon Nixon’s visit in 1972 when he tried to achieve a degree of détente that was spectacularly ambitious. It seemed to work. It was often said that only Nixon could have done it because he was so well-known to be anticommunist. We remember him for Watergate. I particularly loved his phrase, “There will be no whitewash at the Whitehouse.” Nixon was a lawyer but I am afraid that when it came to preparing his own defence he let himself down badly. The big comparison back then was between Nixon and Kennedy. ‘Would you buy a used car from this man?’ He was seen to be shady while we were invited to admire Kennedy. Kennedy gave us the Bay of Pigs and Vietnam while Nixon shook hands with Mao. Perhaps back then we simply had a better class of villain. These days it seems that any idiot can pass the political villainy test. Denis Brogan described the US political parties as “Two bottles with different labels, both empty.” Today he might have to change his description. Political wine tasters would definitely spit out the contents of the Democratic bottle but, as for the Republican bottles of today, their

noses would warn them not to bring their lips anywhere near. Had Clinton become President we knew what to expect. A lot of blood would have been spilled. With Trump it is the unexpected that we have learned to expect. But it comes with disdain for international agreements, for human rights of any kind and for anyone standing up to him. It also comes with blood. As with Kid Piffle do not expect attention to detail, best not to protest against injustice. And when it comes to racism they both have problems with the word ‘systemic’. Once you begin to use that word you have to acknowledge that not only is there such a thing as society but that this means that the relationships between groups of people are organised systematically. There is no guarantee that this will be done equally and every likelihood that it will not. Remember that the Blessed Margaret told Woman’s Own

that there was no such thing as society, only individuals, at most families. The Trumpo Kid has repeatedly told us about the superiority of his genes. Throw in Social Darwinism (a Churchill belief) and it is so easy, so natural, to justify inequality. ‘My genes are better than your genes’. What is the easiest way to spot these genes that such people go on about? Skin colour. The father-in-law of Dominic Cummings is most definitely a gene believer. Our leaders want us, need us, to believe that the ordering of society is natural; that any unfairness is accidental and can be fixed without major surgery. Make big changes, especially changes that redistribute wealth and power, and our leaders become both dismissive and defensive. Bring back the old political villains. We knew where we stood with the likes of Nixon. He was a baddy but when it was in his interest he could do something good.

THE WORD NEWSPAPER NEEDS YOUR HELP THE We are a non-profit making cooperative but still have our outgoing costs such as design, website hosting and software. Please help us maintain this left wing tabloid by going to our website at www.thewordmedia.org and subscribing. By joining together let us all fight back against the rich and powerful.

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POLITICS AND EVENTS

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US killing of Ir commander Sole

‘UNLAWFUL’ — UN INVE

Washington hasn’t provided sufficient evidence of an immediate threat from Quds Force commander, Agnes Callamard writes in report for Human Rights Council

United Nations expert on Monday accused the United States of violating international law with its killing earlier this year of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. The US killed Soleimani, who oversaw the Revolutionary Guard’s expeditionary Quds Force, and others in a January 3 drone strike near Baghdad International Airport. It came after months of rising tensions between the two countries. The US believed Soleimani was

planning an attack on Western forces in the Middle East and also said he was behind attacks on US targets by Iranian proxies.

Iran retaliated to Soleimani’s killing with a ballistic missile strike targeting American troops in Iraq. Agnes Callamard, UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, called the operation “unlawful” and said Washington had failed to provide sufficient evidence of an immediate threat

of an attack that would justify the operation, the Reuters news agency reported Monday. Callamard, an independent investigator, made the claims in a report calling for accountability for killings using armed drones and for tighter regulation on weapons. “Major General Soleimani was in charge of Iran military strategy, and actions, in Syria and Iraq. But absent an actual imminent threat to life, the course of action taken by the

US was unlawful,” she wrote in findings to be presented Thursday to the UN Human Rights Council. Washington is not a member of the Human Rights Council, having withdrawn in 2018 in

protest of its alleged political bias and disproportionate focus on Israel, which includes a permanent agenda item for cases against the Jewish state. Callamard wrote that Soleimani’s killing was the first

BOOTS & JOHN LEWIS TO CUT 5,300 JOBS AND SHUT SHOPS Two of the UK’s biggest High Street retailers, John Lewis and Boots, have announced 5,300 job cuts. Boots has said 4,000 jobs will go, and 48 Boots Opticians stores will close. while John Lewis is shutting down eight stores, putting 1,300 jobs at risk. The moves come amid warnings that new economic support from Chancellor Rishi Sunak will not be enough to stop millions of workers losing their jobs. Mr Sunak admitted that he would not be able to protect “every single job” as the UK enters a “severe recession”.

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POLITICS AND EVENTS

Mid July 2020

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THE WORD: FACEBOOK IS FINISHED

ranian eimani

We have also a new improved news website: thewordmedia.org Here are the email addresses you need to contact us: Contributors/donations/ subscriptions welcome.

ESTIGATOR known case of a nation claiming self-defense to justify an attack against a state actor in the territory of a third country, Iraq.

cooperation organization, to help arrest them on “murder and terrorism charges.”

Interpol quickly rejected the “The world is at a critical request, issuing a statement time, and possible saying its guidelines tipping point, when for notices forbids it comes to the use it from “any of drones. … The intervention Security Council or activities is missing in of a political” action; the nature. Interpol people Iran accuses i nt e r n at i o n a l “would not c o m m u n i t y, c o n s i d e r of involvement willingly or not, requests of this in the strike stands largely nature,” it said. silent,” she told Reuters. The charges underscore the heightened Iran last week issued an arrest tensions between Iran and warrant for US President Donald the United States since Trump Trump and 35 others whom unilaterally withdrew the US Iran accuses of involvement in from Tehran’s nuclear deal with the strike. It filed a request with world powers in 2018 and hit Interpol, the worldwide police Iran with renewed sanctions.

The Word newspaper have launched our own social media site: cazki.com A better and safer version of facebook without all the annoying adverts, bans, shadow bans, people telling you what to do and trolls. We are still in the alpha testing stage but you are all welcome to come on board with us. Simply type cazki.com into the top search bar and hit return to get

to the site. From there it is similar to the dreaded facebook to create a new account accept that we need nowhere as much information from you. You will be sent a confir-

mation email and off you go. Please help us by testing it out, finding the bugs and telling us how we could improve it.

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POLITICS AND EVENTS

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BBC ONE OF THE WO

OUTLETS IN THE RUPERT MURDOCH

he controversial change was originally due to be made on 1 June, and the BBC said the delay had cost £35m a month but was delayed and kept under review for twomonth because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The cost of continuing to provide free licences to all over75s could have reached £1bn a year over time with an ageing population, according to the corporation. wrong decision” The BBC said the new scheme is “the fairest decision”, but the Prime Minister said it was “the

Age UK said the start of meanstesting will feel like a “kick in the

teeth” to pensioners end on pensioners. It called on the Government to “sit down with the BBC urgently” to work out a deal.

THE COST OF CONTINUING TO PROVIDING FREE LICENCES TO OVER-75 COULD £1BN A YEAR WITH AN AGEING POPULATION, CLAIMS THE BBC

THE DEVIL OF THE SUN H

e is a billionaire ten times over at £10.4 billion. Though an Australian by birth he took out American citizenship. According to Forbes' real time

list of world's billionaires, Murdoch is the 34th richest person in the US and the 96th richest person in the world, with a net worth of US$13.1 billion as of February 2017

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POLITICS AND EVENTS

ORST NEWS

COUNTRY

Mid July 2020

WORD

My definition of POLITICS has long been THE INCLUSIVE DISCUSSION OF AND CONSENSUAL ARRIVAL AT PUBLIC VALUES. CLIFF JONES

know There are a few bone to be picked out of that definition, I know, but the main point is that it is about values. Many experiences helped me formulate that definition. Most people believe that politics is what politicians do. Thinking like this leads to the association of politics with the urge and the struggle to obtain and to keep power. If Trump is defeated in November and, as some are forecasting, he declares the result to be fake, that will make it very clear that power is his only motivator. As I am referring to Trump perhaps it should be FAKE. Ivor Crewe and the late Anthony King often pointed out the tendency of Central Government to hoard power. Local Government by contrast has lost it. In the process, the numbers of people participating in decisionmaking have shrunk. Tony Blair did government without politics. Even inside a meeting of the Cabinet there was little informed discussion. Contrast the decisions to invade Afghanistan and Iraq with the decision of the Wilson government not to join the USA in Vietnam. In the case of Wilson there was proper well-informed discussion. In the case of Blair it was just the opposite. Power and politics are not the same thing. Politics is A GOOD THING. Too often the practice of politicians is

A BAD THING. Gove is a disciple of Blair and, so Cameron's spin doctor tells us in his book about the referendum, had a picture of Lenin on his office wall. The phrase 'Unity of Purpose' is associated with Lenin. In other words, once the decision has been taken the commands for action must be obeyed. It sounds more relaxed but Blair's 'sofa government' meant something very similar. I am sure that a spell check would reveal that in Blair's book the two most prominent words are 'leader' and 'leadership'. These days education is infested with those words. Closely associated with Gove is Cummings. Closely associated with Cummings is Johnson. I am, fearfully, remembering the phrase GET BREXIT DONE. Sound bites and slogans do not encourage discussion. It is, however, just about as far as today's politicians will go to include the public in decisionmaking. Blair would offer a shiny new policy bearing a label such as MODERNISATION and we would be required to implement it. The New Labour phrase was 'This is a Government Given.' No discussion. Hit that target! Or else! With Corbyn out of power, obtaining and keeping it, has shoved to one side the wish to discuss values. Gove, Cummings and Johnson, The Three Brexiteers, have a motto: Omnes pro uno, nullus pro omnibus. It has to be in Latin for the sake of our great leader.

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Mid July 2020

f all the depressing sights witnessed during this insane process of Covid home imprisonment, stupid social distancing and mask madness, the regimentation of children into predesignated playground /classroom 'chalked-off zones' is the one I find the most blood chilling. There are a number of factors about this Covid-19 event that stand-out. Firstly, that it is an entirely fake event. Secondly, that it is utterly manipulative . And thirdly, that it reflects an essentially anti-life agenda using fear as its predominant tool of repression. That may seem like a pretty brutal assessment of CV-19, but one cannot go on to speak about the way children have become a sacrificial element in this nightmarish agenda without first revealing the sheer manipulative audacity of the entire Covid master plan. While the situation is slowly changing, the underlying psychology of 'obedience to the rules' is not. This obedience has been taken to a new low as many schools and kindergartens have tried to apply the social distancing regulation to young school children. This has taken the form of chalking out two metre spaced circles or squares on the classroom and playground floor and ordering children to stay in them. Young children have been told to sit or stand alone in what amount to individually tailored exclusion zones and psychological prisons. Children, medical advisers say, who are not even at any risk from catching CV-19. Nevertheless, there they are, sitting with sad faces as the politically correct mask clad teacher gives them their daily school instructions. The misery on the faces of these children deeply expresses the sense of horror surrounding the entire operation. A child instantly recognises a lie and exhibits the appropriate reaction. Under what kind of extreme conditions might such a regulation be considered supportive of the health and welfare of children? I can think of no situation, however potentially serious, in which innocent young boys and girls should be treated with such sickening disdain and lack of

humanity. To do it even when there is no valid case for taking such a step, is truly shocking to behold and should be categorized as a criminal action. At the beginning and end of the school day, parents must 'deliver' their child through the school gate or door – keeping distance – with the teacher not being allowed to touch the child. Such are the instructions coming down from some perverted 'leaders' at the World Health Organisation - and then blindly followed by government officials, teachers and parents. It is 'sanitary preparation' for life in the sterile 'smart cities' that are just around the corner, if the same people retain control over the daily workings of this world. The second Covid nightmare scenario to have been imposed on school children, and parents, is 'e-education'. Sticking children behind computers for hours on end is never recommended, for obvious health reasons. But that is what is called-for in 'eeducation', in which parents are also forced to be complicit by being instructed to take over the role of teacher 'in the home'. The tools of this trade comprise pre-designated 'e' tech software programmes that are essentially agents of stereotype mind control. To grow up healthy, a child needs the pleasurable interaction with other children not sitting alone behind a flickering screen having their heads loaded with state education programming. What a shockingly heartless way to conduct the learning process!

POLITICS AND EVENTS

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CHILDREN IN SADISTIC COVID CAPTIVITY

Technology gives the illusion of providing a means to an end, and is often associated with acquiring 'freedom'. More accurately, the acquisition of more and more technology is a road to slavery. The technology traps its users into dependency on a virtual reality world, while the real world is ignored or categorized as boring. A sure receipt for impaired mental stability. What actually is going on here? It all starts with the education system itself. The verb 'to educate' comes from the Latin 'educare' meaning 'to lead out from'. Now 'to lead out from' is very different than 'to push into', which is the format imposed by formal education having the ambition to brainwash the pupil into accepting 'verbatim' a whole lot of facts about that which is deemed necessary

in order to eventually get a job and make money. Contrast this with the idea of 'leading out from'. Something which exists in all children is creative potential - in bucket loads. Drawing this creativity out – and thereby opening up the genius which lies at the heart of all innocent hearts and minds – is the true role of the teacher.

One way closes down the life force and the other opens it up. But if you do decide to go with 'e-ducare' you are not going to find it in the formal school programmes that have been

designed and set under government supervision with the purpose of ensuring the next generation conform to exactly the same patters of thinking, behaving and conforming as the current and previous ones. Or, to put it more bluntly, to ensure that people remain slaves to 'the system' whose controller's ambition is to keep

THE

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POLITICS AND EVENTS

Mid July 2020

WORD

What actually is going on here? I

t all starts with the education system itself. The verb 'to educate' comes from the Latin 'e-ducare' meaning 'to lead out from'. Now 'to lead out from' is very different than 'to push into', which is the format imposed by formal education having the ambition to brainwash the pupil into accepting 'verbatim' a whole lot of facts about that which is deemed necessary in order to eventually get a job and make money.

Contrast this with the idea of 'leading out from'. Something which exists in all children is creative potential - in bucket loads. Drawing this creativity out – and thereby opening up the genius which lies at the heart of all innocent hearts and minds – is the true role of the teacher. One way closes down the life force and the other opens it up. But if you do decide to go with 'educare' you are not going to find it in the formal school programmes that have been designed and set under government supervision with the purpose of ensuring the next generation conform to exactly the same patters of thinking, behaving and conforming as the current and previous ones.

as many as possible in a state of hypnosis, unable to use their abilities for anything other than furthering the various facets of a dying status quo. There are some exceptions to this standard dumbing down orthodoxy. For example, Rudolph Steiner's anthroposophic teaching method for primary and secondary school ages, and Maria Montessori’s creative behavioural encouragement in young children. There are other experimental schools in existence, as well as the possibilities of teaching from home, but that still has to conform to the state programme. The sight of depressed children being manipulated to sit quietly in their chalked out separate boxes for fear of infringing 'the law' would never be possible if

our education system as a whole didn't already start from this same position of fundamental suppression of the life force. A suppression resulting from its abject failure to follow the guidelines implicit in the origins of its name. Children are the bright lights of pure spirit. Behind their deep and beautiful eyes lies a whole new future for the human race. A true teacher recognises the presence of a stream of vivid imagination and helps it emerge; nurturing its formation into evolving channels of creative/artistic expression. This is a vocation of the highest merit. Like handling an infinitely precious gem stone. And because of what this gem might reveal, one must be humble enough to realise one is ultimately, during the ongoing development of this

relationship, likely to land-up as the pupil. In building the New Society that must emerge out of the debris of this calamitous civilisation, the way we treat children will emerge as a critical factor in setting the standard for all that follows. There is a child at the centre of every one of us; if one is in doubt about the way to treat it, one is in doubt about one's purpose for living.

Julian Rose is an early pioneer of UK organic farming, writer, international activist, entrepreneur and teacher. His latest book ‘Overcoming the Robotic Mind – Why Humanity Must Come Through’ is particularly prescient reading for this time: see www.julianrose.info

Or, to put it more bluntly, to ensure that people remain slaves to 'the system' whose controller's ambition is to keep as many as possible in a state of hypnosis, unable to use their abilities for anything other than furthering the various facets of a dying status quo. There are some exceptions to this standard dumbing down orthodoxy. For example, Rudolph Steiner's anthroposophic teaching method for primary and secondary school ages, and Maria Montessori’s creative behavioural encouragement in young children. There are other experimental schools in existence, as well as the

possibilities of teaching from home, but that still has to conform to the state programme. The sight of depressed children being manipulated to sit quietly in their chalked out separate boxes for fear of infringing 'the law' would never be possible if our education system as a whole didn't already start from this same position of fundamental suppression of the life force. A suppression resulting from its abject failure to follow the guidelines implicit in the origins of its name. Children are the bright lights of pure spirit. Behind their deep and beautiful eyes lies a whole new future for the human race. A true teacher recognises the presence of a stream of vivid imagination and helps it emerge; nurturing its formation into evolving channels of creative/artistic expression. This is a vocation of the highest merit. Like handling an infinitely precious gem stone. And because of what this gem might reveal, one must be humble enough to realise one is ultimately, during the ongoing development of this relationship, likely to land-up as the pupil. In building the New Society that must emerge out of the debris of this calamitous civilisation, the way we treat children will emerge as a critical factor in setting the standard for all that follows. There is a child at the centre of every one of us; if one is in doubt about the way to treat it, one is in doubt about one's purpose for living. Julian Rose is an early pioneer of UK organic farming, writer, international activist, entrepreneur and teacher. His latest book ‘Overcoming the Robotic Mind – Why Humanity Must Come Through’ is particularly prescient reading for this time: see www.julianrose.info

THE

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Mid July 2020

POLITICS AND EVENTS

keep reading the word ‘Zoonotic’ being bandied about in the press in the last few days. Could this be a form of preparation for what’s coming? I have been wondering how the next phase of the global UN Agenda 2030 could be played out. After all, the end game plan is to re-wild the countryside and herd us all into their SMART-controlled cities and habitation zones. I found what could be the answer on the United Nation’s Environment Programme’s website yesterday. Here is UNEP’s Factsheet for Zoonotic Diseases.

Meal deal giveaway does nothing for hungry kid Chancellor Rishi Sunak has offered to cut the price of eating out to help restart the lockdown-hit economy but he has ignored our hungry children. The Rishi Sunak meal deal means people can get up to £10 off per head if they eat out from Monday to Wednesday throughout August. The Treasury said the 50 per cent discount can be used any number of times. It’s only available at participating restaurants, cafes, and pubs. Mr Sunak said: “Each week in August, businesses can then claim the money back, with the funds in their bank account within five working days.”

Last month the government were forced to make a U-turn after Manchester United football star Marcus Rashford, wrote an emotional open letter about his childhood experience having to rely on free school meals. His letter pushed the issue on to the national agenda. Labour held an opposition day debate on the issue in Parliament. This forced Boris Johnson’s to create a £120 million Covid summer food fund. There has now been calls for the government to carry on providing free meals for eligible children throughout the summer holidays so youngsters do not go hungry.

“COVID-19 is a zoonotic disease, meaning that it jumps between animals and people, and is therefore closely connected to lands they inhabit. Human and economic activity is eroding wild spaces, forests and other important ecosystems, bringing us closer to “reservoir hosts”-animals and plants that can harbour diseases.” “COVID-19 underscores the relationship between human health and nature and reveals a fundamental problem, humans have unlimited needs, but the planet has limited capacity to satisfy them. Often, land degradation is caused by unsustainable human consumption and needs. Scientists and specialists working at UNEP have been pulling together the latest scientific facts about the Coronavirus – what we do know about the virus…and what we don’t know. While the origin of the outbreak and its transmission pathways are yet to be discovered, here are six

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important points worth knowing: 1. The interaction of humans or livestock with wildlife exposes them to the risk of spill-over of potential pathogens. For many zoonosis, livestock serve as an epidemiological bridge between wildlife and human infections. 2. The drivers of zoonotic disease emergence are changes in the environment - usually the result of human activities, ranging from land use change to changing climate; changes in animals or human hosts; and changes in pathogens, which always evolve to exploit new hosts. 3. For example, bat associated viruses emerged due to the loss of bat habitat from deforestation and agricultural expansion. Bats play important roles in ecosystems by being night pollinators and eating insects.

AN AN MAY F OUR D

4. Ecosystem integrity underlines human health and development. Human induced environmental changes modify wildlife population structure and reduce biodiversity, resulting in new environmental conditions that favour particular hosts, vectors and or pathogens. 5. Ecosystem integrity can help regulate disease by supporting a diversity of species so that it’s more difficult for one pathogen to spill over, amplify or dominate. 6. It is impossible to predict where the next outbreak will come from or when it will be. Growing evidence suggests that outbreaks or epidemic diseases may become more frequent as climate continues to change. Not so long ago, there was

something called science. It included the discovery of truth about nature, the universe, the elements etc. It was practised by honest and accountable practitioners called scientists and engineers, but generally they had no primal urge to

COFFEY SHOWS ‘ACTIVE CONTEMPT’ WITH DIS W

ork and pensions secretary Dr Therese Coffey has shown “active contempt for disability rights” by refusing to sign up to her own flagship disability employment scheme, information released by the government has confirmed.

The Disability News Service (DNS) has been trying since March to confirm that Coffey is continuing to snub the Disability Confident scheme, despite encouraging employers across the country to sign up to it. Now a freedom of information (FoI) response from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has confirmed that Coffey is refusing to join

Disability Confident.

DNS asked the department in the FoI request whether Coffey (pictured) and 11 other current and former ministers were members of the scheme. In its FoI response on Friday (3 July), DWP said it did not need to provide the information because it was easily available online. It pointed to its own website, and a list of Disability Confident members, which had been updated the same day. That list showed that all four of the MPs who serve as ministers alongside Coffey – Justin Tomlinson, Mims Davies, Will Quince and Guy Opperman – have signed up, although Quince had only done so since DNS first raised concerns in March about

current and former ministers turning their back on the scheme. But Coffey, who has been work and pensions secretary since last September and has been an MP since 2010, is not on the list, even though – like all MPs – she employs staff to assist with her parliamentary duties. A DWP spokesperson this week refused to comment when asked why Dr Coffey had not signed up to Disability Confident, and whether it showed that she did not value the scheme, and that she did not view the employment of disabled people as important. David Gillon, a prominent disabled critic of Disability Confident since its launch in July 2013, said her continued refusal to sign up was “remarkable”.

He said: “Disability Confident is DWP’s flagship policy when it comes to closing the disability employment gap, but that itself is a policy which has been conspicuously sliding in importance for DWP ministers over the past several years as they have failed to make any realistic progress. “Coffey may have told PoliticsHome that Disability Confident encourages employers to ‘take action’, but it has apparently failed to encourage her.

“And let’s remember, the actions Disability Confident encourages employers to take are in many ways less than the provisions they are legally obliged to make under the Equality Act. “If Coffey herself can’t be bothered to take that action, even knowing of press interest, then what does that say

about the priority given to disability rights within her office? And within DWP as a whole?

“It’s difficult not to construe it as an active contempt for disability rights flowing down from the top.” Sir Iain Duncan Smith, IDS, who launched the scheme when he was work and pensions secretary in 2013, is also among those refusing to join Disability Confident.

THE

www.thewordmedia.org

POLITICS AND EVENTS

Mid July 2020

WORD

NIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE FORCE US TO ABANDON DANGEROUS COUNTRYSIDE use their ‘knowledge’ to dominate others by use of hidden agendas. Things are different now! The pseudo-science being peddled today has been skewed - it is now a system of theories and assumptions being touted as scientific truth to dominate and control people,

society and the whole planet. Pseudo-science is the domain of technocrats. Real science is an inconvenience to their social engineering goals of leading the world towards being ruled by an Orwellian technocracy –

a future where SMART 5G Artificial Intelligence cities and habitation zones exist to ‘protect’ the human race from what’s out there! There is absolutely no evidence at all, as stated by the UN, that COVID19 was caused by animals.

SABILITY CONFIDENT SNUB He had failed to comment by noon on Thursday.

Gillon said: “It’s IDS, we know he never considered us anything more than a convenient prop to hang the ‘scrounger’ tag on in the Tory press to justify slashing disability benefits – even those that actually made money for the government such as Access to Work.. “Meeting his moral obligations was never a priority.” Former minister for disabled people Esther McVey, who claimed to have created the scheme, has finally joined the scheme, months after DNS revealed that she had also neglected to signup.

In November, Coffey wrote in PoliticsHome how the scheme “encourages employers to think differently about disability and to take action to improve how they attract, recruit, retain and develop disabled employees”.

Disability Confident has been heavily-criticised since its introduction in 2013. Figures secured last year by DNS through a freedom of information request showed that the 13,600 employers that had signed up to the scheme by 13 September 2019 had pledged to provide just 8,763 paid jobs for disabled people between them, an average of just 0.64 jobs per employer. Members of the scheme include many

large employers such as local authorities, government departments, manufacturers, national charities, banks and retailers, including the big four supermarkets, more than 100 NHS trusts, and high street banks. Three years ago, DWP declared itself a gold-standard employer of disabled people under the scheme – securing the status of Disability Confident Leader – just days before being found guilty of “grave and systematic violations” of the UN disability convention. In March, a BBC Panorama investigation revealed that the DWP lost more disability discrimination cases at employment tribunal than any other employer in Britain in the three years after 2016.

We are all now living with misinformation, disinformation and deliberate fake news by those holding positions of trust. As the human race starts to wake up to the common-sense truth about what’s really happening, the secretive, unelected and unaccountable cabal, that makes up corporate and central banking ‘deep state’, are speeding up their final global push to entrap and imprison humanity into a future of all-out tyranny. The ‘totalitarian tiptoe’, to use David Icke’s brilliant phrase, has almost come to an end. Jane Goodall, the primatologist honoured by the UN as a ‘Messenger of Peace’, stated a direct and chilling remark in a very recent interview with the World Economic Forum (the Davos billionaires’ club). She

said bluntly, “if we don't do things differently, we're finished.” She essentially believes that the world should preferably eat no meat at all as, due to zoonotic disease, it is “dangerous” to do so. So, from all of this, it is my strong belief that a Zoonotic Disease introduced into livestock will be the driver of the next ‘wave’ of the virus and will require a phased and deliberate ‘legal’ evacuation of the countryside; the destruction of traditional farming and farming communities; not to mention a vegan diet of factory-farmed fruit and vegetables for all. I believe we’ve all been given a chance to get this realistic scenario out to people – let’s seize upon it! Sandi Adams

THE

WORD

Mid July 2020

POLITICS AND EVENTS

www.thewordmedia.org

THE PATIENTS EYY

A Phone, a Lock-do D and a Bo ay 118, the end of Week 17

that some things I do, not merely

that had begun to malfunction on a

writes

because I’m being bloody minded, but

regular basis.

Patient. I, I’m not feeling

because I need to beat the thing that is

Lock-down,

the slightest urge to run hog-wild

trying to eat me from the inside out.

down the street just because others are.

My wife’s phone required charging many times per day so was unusable

I live in hope that it will give up and

for this.

leaves me alone for a good while longer.

I’ve got myself back on the ‘priority’ list

for supermarket deliveries, at the cost

I chose a Samsung A51 and searched for

Vegan eating helps me, I believe.

of accepting a box of weekly groceries from Rishi Sunak.

We’d been doing our weekly shopping

someone who would sell me one.

(but had been assured I hadn’t) only to

the point at which I

Samsung couldn’t (!) but Tesco phone

be told I couldn’t have that password

repeated all my secrets.

shop said that they could.

because it was my current one.

online, and having a dedicated app on

In went the card

The quality of potatoes has seriously

my phone seemed to stop the infernal

I ordered a nice white one and got to

I call this the password game.

details, and I was told

deteriorated; they’re rotten and horribly

‘silly password game’ that websites

the checkout. I was told I’d entered the

On entering all sorts of personal data,

yet again,

smelly, but free of charge. Thank you.

increasingly play with us.

wrong password so I was forced to ask

including my credit card details, the

“Oops.”

for a reset.

website merely said to me “Oops.” Their

These

groceries

come

from

Our phones are about four years old

link was broken; they didn’t have any

wholesaler who in a pre-Covid world

and the phone makers and writers of

After the usual 15 minutes I eventually

would have supplied caterers, but most

software have decided we need new

got the email that enabled me to choose

are inedible to me, for as a result of my

ones.

a new password.

illness and treatment, I eat a strictly vegan diet. Please don’t ask; just accept

So I began a search using my phone

I chose the one I thought I already had

“THE QUAL OF POTATO HAS SERIOU DETERIORAT THEY’RE ROT AND HORRI SMELLY, BUT FREE

“Oops?”

A51s; I needed to go back to the start. Eventually and reluctantly I bought I chose an A41, slightly smaller, slightly

from Amazon. We played the password

cheaper, but still quite a nice model. We

game but I got my phone and have

went through the stages until we got to

been so pleased with it that I tried a

THE

www.thewordmedia.org

POLITICS AND EVENTS

hen Keir Starmer

forced Rebecca LongBailey out of his

shadow cabinet for retweeting an article that contained criticism of Israeli

state

brutality

(not

criticism of Jews in in any way) it was quite obviously a politically motivated sacking. Not only is it actually antisemitic to conflate criticism of Israel with attacking Jews (because Jews in

a massive Tory corruption scandal

general aren't responsible for the

into

behaviour of the Israeli state), it was

antisemitism, and yet Starmer is just

also well known that Starmer had

letting him off the hook!

story

about

Labour

deliberately included Rachel Reeves in his shadow cabinet, just weeks

And the despicable right-wing

after she produced a sickening

Labour rent-a-gob Wes Streeting

hagiography of the vile Tory

retweeted an absurd antisemitic

antisemite

who

conspiracy theory accusing two Jews

notoriously described Adolf Hitler as

Nancy

Astor,

of controlling the Labour Party under

a welcome solution to "the world

Jeremy Corbyn's tenure as leader. He

problem of Jews".

also gets a total free pass from Starmer.

Starmer simply refuses to talk about

own, ox of Goodies

WORD

From Another Angry Voice

ITY OES USLY TED; TTEN BLY

Mid July 2020

fortnight later to buy one for my wife. That was my big mistake.

We then had a series of daft rounds of the game where I was constantly being offered Tik-tok (Eh?)

Another round of the password

I paid for the phone and nothing else.

game and we negotiated a phone,

Soon two phones arrived. Close

a new password (same as the old

inspection of ‘my’ account (once we’d

password) and then got into a

re-played the password game and got

haggle. Did I want free delivery with

another new password) showed they’d

Amazon Prime?

billed me twice; on separate cards!

“No,” I replied. It kept asking. Evidently

And do I want Amazon Prime? Or Tik-

I could have Amazon Prime just for this

tok?

delivery, and then cancel it before August 5th; it wouldn’t cost me a bean.

To be continued …

I CHOSE THE PASSWORD I THOUGHT I ALREADY HAD (BUT HAD BEEN ASSURED I HADN’T) ONLY TO BE TOLD I COULDN’T HAVE IT BECAUSE IT WAS MY CURRENT ONE.

this brazen idealisation of a Nazi-

All three of these right-wing and

sympathising antisemite, whenever

'centrist' shadow cabinet figures have

he's confronted by it.

engaged

absolutely

brazen

antisemitism, but Starmer repeatedly In recent days two more of Starmer's

turns a blind eye to it, because they're

cabinet members have engaged in

his allies, and he only ever intends to

rank antisemitism.

use antisemitism as an excuse to purge

genuine

socialists

from

Steve Reed posted on Twitter, an

positions of influence within the

antisemitic trope, accusing Richard

Labour Party.

Desmond of being a "puppetmaster" over the incredible property scandal

If anyone on the Labour left criticises

cooked up between him and Tory MP

anything Israel does, the witch-

Robert Jenrick.

hunters will go into attack mode, and

Incredibly Reed has managed to turn

Starmer will purge them. When figures from the political right do extraordinary stuff like whitewash the legacy of one of Britain's most notorious

antisemitic

Nazi-

sympathisers, or spread Jewish "puppetmaster" conspiracies, they get a total free pass!

arrested for erecting a huge penis-

shaped statue on his lawn. After

People’s Hospital in Zhejiang, he

local authorities told Jamie Gange

was told his bladder was torn in

his plans for a new workshop

three places. One of the holes had

were not up to standard, he

ruptured toward his abdominal

carved a 7ft log of pine wood into

cavity and forced part of his

a phallus and placed it in his front

intestines to spill into the bladder.

THE

WORD

Mid July 2020

What Was I Supposed To Do With It? A man who had to have a 15-inch long eel removed from his innards said he had inserted it into his anus

try

cure

his

constipation. It turned out that the unorthodox method wasn’t a winner: the live eel tore a hole through the man’s bowels, leaving him close to death. Doctors at Dongguan Huangjiang Hospital in Guangdong in China were able to save the man’s life but the eel did not live to tell the tale. New Yorker in Penis Statue Protest A New York man embroiled in a local planning dispute has been

POLITICS AND EVENTS

AKE EWS

ROUND UP

BIZARRE TRUTHS, ACCORDING TO THE INTERNET:

binge, the 40-year-old man in

to my surprise, found caterpillars

Social distancing rules halt

Heinz launches

China

without

inside! They’re really nice and

sex festival

ice cream range

answering the call of nature. After

we’ve ended up keeping one as a

presenting

pet and naming him.”

Europe’s biggest sex festival has

Heinz has conjured ice cream

been forced to cancel after social

flavours based on their sauce

distancing

rules

unfeasible.

fell

asleep

himself

Zhuji

The Rats Are Coming

made

products. The options in the

hundreds

Heinz Creamz range include:

Cannibal rats are on the march

swingers prepared for the party,

Heinz Ketchup Creamz, Heinz

across Britain as the closure of

the team behind the Aurora

Salad Creamz and Heinz Mayo

restaurants forces them to resort

Lifestyle gathering said they were

Creamz. If you are interested in

to raiding human houses to try

not ready to offer a “poor replica”

trying them out, you will have to

Leech Enters Man's Penis and

and find food during lockdown.

of the event. They said they hope

buy DIY kits to make them. The

Drinks Blood

Some of the hungry rodents are

to return with a “bigger and

kits

even eating their own young.

fresher” event next year.

company’s

garden. He says: “I just want to live in peace and finish my

www.thewordmedia.org

workshop.” Scientists Bottle

An elderly man in Cambodia also

Rentokil has reported an 80% rise

Smells of Books

had a bad old time of it when a

in demand for its anti-rat services.

available Heinz

on To

the Home

website. Police in New York had to chase a peacock

leech entered his body through

are

Another cigar-shaped UFO

Digital

his penis and drank a pint of blood

Mother of 44 kids stopped

Archaeology is capturing smells

from his internal organs. It is

from having more

from antique books dating back as

believed that the leech slithered

peacock that had escaped from

A man has filmed a cigar-shaped

far as the 13th century. Odours

inside the patient when he went

The world’s most fertile woman,

the Prospect Park Zoo and gone

UFO flying across the sky over the

emerging from the various tomes

for a naked dip in a pond. The

who is raising 44 children alone,

on the run in Brooklyn. The NYPD

city of Detroit in Michigan. In the

have been described as “moist

removal process was complicated

has been medically stopped from

said it received a 911 call on

footage shot by local resident

white bread” and “white socks”. A

by the fact that the leech had

having more. Mariam Nabatanzi,

Monday morning that reported a

Proimos Paul the object appears

researcher said reading is a multi-

swollen in size.

from Uganda, gave birth to her

peacock

near

elongated and moving at speed,

first set of twins when she was

Flatbush Avenue and Empire

like ones seen across the US in

The

Institute

sensory process: “The feel of the

spotted Police in New York had to chase a

running

loose

pages, the smell of the book, the

DJ adopts caterpillar he found

just 13. She now has has three sets

Boulevard. The chase ended

recent months. “I've seen the

sound of the pages turning, all of

in brocolli

of quadruplets, four sets of

when the bird took flight and

same thing over my hometown

triplets and six sets of twins.

vaulted a fence back into the zoo.

last summer,” said one viewer. “It

those things factor into the experience.”

man

who

found

seven

caterpillars in his Tesco broccoli Bursting For Number 1

has decided to keep one of them as a pet. Kiss FM radio presenter

A man’s bladder burst when he

Sam Darlaston wrote on Twitter:

resisted the temptation to urinate

“Hey @Tesco I was about to cook

for 18 hours after drinking ten

my favourite vegetable of all time

bottles of beer. Following the

(broccoli) and after unwrapping it,

stayed stationary and it moved back and forth, back and forth.”

THE

www.thewordmedia.org

POLITICS AND EVENTS

WORD

Mid July 2020

Auntie Maggie Answers From Hell Edition 39

lot of readers have been

What better way than to show my

relentless

against

just a shame he never got punished

Dear Maggie

enquiring as to how

legendary empathy as an Agony Aunt.

immigration and Brexit. You see

when he was alive, but as you know

As an old friend of my dear departed

such an arch Tory as

It’s just a shame all the readers have to

modern slavery is referred to as

we couldn’t afford the fallout could

Dad, please can you help me? I have

myself has become a

be such Lettie Trots, but I mustn’t

'Seasonal Workers' these days and

we Sir Keir.

just been arrested and put in prison.

denizen in this Trotskyist rag. Well I

grumble. So on to my blazing sack of

you could have paid them barely

will explain. Once I shuffled off the

whining queries......

enough to live on. But they have all

Dear Margaret

that I am due to be suicided next

gone. Perhaps you could diversify

As a renowned historian I have fact

week. This is, apparently, a family

perch my eternal soul was fast-tracked

campaigning

I have been told by the people here

through Purgatory, which isn’t as bad

Hello, Dear ole Maggs, girlie after

from shitty beer to pedalling shitty,

checked and found that slavery was

trait as my Dad was also suicided. I

as it sounds. Initially I was locked in a

my own heart.

microwaved, Iceland ready meals as

a good thing and not at all a kind of

have asked my old friend Andrew

classroom of chavvy children with

My problem is I am a small business

'Traditional Pub Grub'. The punters

genocide. How can I convince those

for help but all he does is sweat and

rickets and I had to act as milk

man. I own a few pubs that have lots

have forgotten what real pubs used

silly little prols of this? God Save the

eat pizza. I have a horrible feeling

monitor. Next I was assigned to an

of watered down beer. I have been

to be like.

Queen.

that suicide is really just a

Islington allotment with a bearded,

really hard hit by the virus. Now we

David Starkey.

euphemism for having to spend the

vegetarian, croc wearing, socialist who

have reopened how can I cut down

Dear Margaret

forced me to nurture his marrows

my costs? The alcohol is already so

I keep getting haunted by the ghost

‘Starkers’ my old friend! Yes I saw the

while he described his favourite 1000

weak that your average gnat has to

of Jimmy Saville. As you are close to

politically correct brigade went ape

man hole covers. Then I was sent to

have two pints before dropping. I

him at the moment can you fix it to

on your comments about 'Hordes of

Yes it’s such a tiresome bore being

Buenos Aires and put to work in a Fray

pay my staff such low wages they

stop?

blacks'. You simply can’t get away

arrested, especially for helping other

Bentos meat processing plant with

can’t afford two pints of beer. I have

Keir from London

with that sort of thing in this day and

rich people have a good time. Boys

dear old General Galtieri. Then Lucifer,

recently heard there is something

age, even on a niche YouTube

will be Boys’ won’t they. Your

Lord of Light called on me and

called the slave trade, could this

I’m afraid I can’t help you there as

channel. If you stick to your usual

imminent

explained that Pestilence was due to

help?

I’m on secondment in the earthly

misogyny

rightwing

billionaire escape trick to avoid you

ride forth to Wuhan and I was to

Tim Martin

realm at present. But rest assured Sir

chunterings for a couple of months,

spilling the beans. Israel is lovely this

Jimmy will be receiving regular

until the fuss dies down, I’m sure

time of year and there are lots of new

return to the realm of the living to

rest of my life in Israel.

and

Ghis – New York

'demise'

just

torment the readers of the Word

Dearest Tim, I’m afraid you shot

beastings and plenty of hot poker

BBC4 will commission a series

timeshare developments to invest

during the subsequent lock-down.

yourself in the foot with your

action as punishment for his sins. It’s

about Cecil Rhodes or something!

your dad’s pension money in

THE

WORD

Mid July 2020

POLITICS AND EVENTS

www.thewordmedia.org

Trump Campaign Ads Mislead Viewers About Black Protesters Who Stopped Violence

resident Donald Trump

group of mainly black protesters

Biden, who had already stated, “I

pavement and being tackled appears

images that appear on-screen show

has falsely portrayed law-

dragged him to a line of police

don’t support defunding the police,”

as a caller to the police emergency

two New York police officers running

abiding Black Lives Matter

officers and insisted that he be

would enable their reign of terror.

line hears the automated instruction,

through a crowd of protesters. That

"To report a murder..."

footage appears to have been

protesters who acted to prevent

arrested.

violence as dangerous thugs

Allahverdi, who said later that the

recorded in New York where, on May

plotting to “unleash a wave of

Ten days later, however, the Trump

demonstration that afternoon had

violent crime in our cities.”

campaign released an ad that used

“started as one of the most peaceful

images from the news footage — of

protests I’ve ever seen,” told me in a

Dave Weigel of The Washington Post

outfit seen in the ad, were caught on

The Trump campaign ads mislead

the man hammering the pavement

direct message that the Trump

was the first to report the misleading

camera

viewers by distorting the meaning of

and part of the scuffle after he was

campaign had not asked him for

use of Allahverdi’s footage in the

behaving aggressively and using

video recorded during a protest in

tackled — to offer voters a glimpse of

permission to use his footage.

most recent ad, which suggests,

excessive force to arrest dozens of

Washington, DC on 31st May by

the “chaos in the streets” former Vice

absurdly,

for

protesters for civil disobedience as

Safvan Allahverdi, a reporter for

President

would

Apparently emboldened by getting

emergency response to incidents of

they demanded justice for George

Turkey’s state-owned Anadolu news

supposedly permit by failing “to

away with this gross distortion of the

murder or rape would be five days “in

Floyd.

agency.

stand up to the radical leftists

truth once, the Trump campaign

Joe Biden’s America.”

fighting to defund and abolish the

misused the same video a second

police.”

time in another ad released last week.

As Allahverdi explained in a Twitter

Joe

Biden

BIDEN KNEELING

day showed black protesters taking it

28, the police, including those wearing the distinctive NYPD bike

that

wait

times

from

multiple

angles

The Trump campaign’s choice of The new ad, which places the

footage that appears to have been

incident in Washington alongside

shot that day is baffling because it

In the second ad, which offers a

video of arson in Minneapolis, and

shows officers charging into the

vision of a future world in which the

images of looting and vandalism, also

crowd of demonstrators, offering an

caption for his 92-second clip, the incident he caught on camera that

WAIT TIMES

upon themselves to head off trouble,

The ad, which superimposed video

police have been abolished — and

distorts the meaning of another clip

image of the overly aggressive

by tackling and disarming a white

of Biden kneeling at a church on to

calling 911 only gets you the

recorded during the recent protests.

policing that had led to calls to

man clad in black who was using a

the

Allahverdi’s

recording: “Due to defunding of the

hammer to break up pieces of the

footage, is based on a pair of lies: that

police department, we’re sorry, but

In a section of the ad where the 911

vision of an America on the brink of

sidewalk into potential projectiles.

the protesters who tackled the man

no one is here to take your call” — the

caller hears, “If you’re calling to

descending into anarchy without the

After they subdued the man, the

were bent on violence and that

footage of the man breaking up the

report a rape, please press 1,” the

police.

snippets

from

reduce police funding rather than a

THE

www.thewordmedia.org

POLITICS AND EVENTS

Mid July 2020

WORD

Forgotten Bands

The Shadows

“They represented le Royaume-Uni in the 1975 Eurovision Song contest, losing to somebody for whom it was possibly their career high spot.”

wo guitar players or

settling on his sound very early in

to earth to become Hank and play

songs and Norrie Paramor heard me

one? That’s what I

his career, and stuck with it. It was

soupy, sugary toons, instead of the

singing them.

asked in Issue 38,

old Jet who got the bums rush,

blues, that Hank himself became

writes

though the account shows that he

‘old hat’ so to speak. Peter Green

To describe the music of the

and drummer Tony Meehan left to

and others became Eric, and Gary

Shadows is easier if I give readers a

make a duo where Tony tippy

Moore became Peter Green, or at

set of titles, and let you look for

Eurovision Song contest, losing to

My theory was that one guitarist

tapped around and Jet played

least played Green’s actual guitar. I

them on YouTube. Immediately

somebody for whom the show was

usually pushes the other one out,

wonderful twangy tunes low down

promise to remember Peter Green

you will do one or both of two

possibly their career high spot. The

but this was never true with the

in the register.

and Gary Moore another time.

things: you’ll say “This is so cool,

band Teach-In’s song Ding-a-Dong

what year was it?” and “I know this

hit number 1 in Switzerland and

Bruce Welch each knew his

Hank and Brucie found someone

The Shadows were the backing

one, I do. Was that the Shadows?”

Norway. It consisted of nonsense

position in the band. Brucie

less of a show-off (‘Licorice’

band for perennial, evergreen, ever-

strummed along, giving the band

Locking) to play bass, and a

sweet,

Cliff

Foot tapper; Apache; Wonderful

Welch sang for the Shadows

musical rhythm. Hank played

drummer (Brian Bennett) whom

Richard, (played by Harry Webb)

Land; Kon-Tiki; The Rise and Fall of

(Where was Cliff?) and their song

single notes as though, unlike

they hoped might not go the way

singer of a string of hits as long as

Flingel Bunt. I’m not just getting

Let Me Be The One, was Number

Guitar George, he didn’t know any

most drummers do; drummers

that of the Shadows, who featured

this off Wikipedia, though I guess

Two, in more ways than one.

usually get a better offer,

in what was easily his best film

there will be dozens more in the

except those who “Hank actually own the band Marvellous – Jon Hiseman, Keef Hartley, Buddy and Bruce Welch each knew Rich, Dave Clark. his position It was only when in the band.” Eric Clapton stopped

Summer Holiday, released in

discography section. Most material

Where are the Shadows now?

February 1962.

wasn’t self-penned, but in my

There have been 17 members

opinion the best of it is.

altogether so tracking and tracing

Seymour

Griffiths, who forgets nothing.

Shadows. Hank Marvellous and

of the chords. He widdled his vibrola stepped

back

and forth with Bruce and the bass player, Jet Harris. The tunes

were legend, Hank

being god and descended

wrinkly-necked

lyrics and a sad, catchy tune. Bruce

My impeccable memory has me

them would take another article;

singing the songs as early as 1959,

Once self-started bands like The

Chief Rabbi Hank Marvish allegedly

which is I believe my first

Beatles came along, the Shadows

owns the Labour Party without in

experience of so-called ‘Mandela

began to turn into shadows of their

fact being in it. Jet Harris and Tony

Syndrome.’

former selves. They represented le

Meehan are deceased but Bruce

Royaume-Uni

Welch is still alive, supposedly.

The

only

other

explanation is that I wrote all those

the

1975

THE

WORD

Mid July 2020

POLITICS AND EVENTS

www.thewordmedia.org

THE

www.thewordmedia.org

POLITICS AND EVENTS

women

escalating

amid

coronavirus

lockdowns

WORD

KASHMIR Cases of domestic

he threat of violence against

Mid July 2020

around the globe. But one region that has lived through a military clampdown for nearly a year – Indian-administered Kashmir – could have foretold the surge.

violence and general violence against women surged tenfold to more than 3,000 a year

Being shut in by government order is nothing new in Kashmir, nor is the resulting spike in gender-based violence, women’s advocates say. The region has seen decades of conflict, militarisation, protests, and violent crackdowns. Kashmir has essentially been on

and Kashmir’s statehood – axing a

weekly dialysis treatments she has

Kashmir valley, and male officers aren’t

and chairperson of the Srinagar-based

lockdown since August 2019, when

government body that spoke up for

depended on for four years. She remains

trained to handle domestic violence.

Help Foundation, said that “COVID-19

India scrapped the region’s semi-

survivors of gender-based violence.

in her home with her husband.

state of Jammu and Kashmir under

Rafiqa, 39, says the military clampdown

Attorney Vasundhara Masoodi Pathak,

most male police officers decline to take

Nighat, who runs a resource centre for

direct control of the central government.

and the coronavirus have pushed her to

who headed the Jammu and Kashmir

such reports, telling victims instead that

domestic violence survivors, said she

a crisis point with her husband.

women’s commission when it was

the assaults are a family matter, said

never feared venturing out to help

disbanded last year, said she is now

Shah Faisal, state director of the Human

during the military lockdown last year,

flooded with calls from women in need.

Rights Law Network, a collective of

but she has restricted herself to her

Indian lawyers and activists who

home during the pandemic.

autonomous status, bringing the former

The

authorities

Unless a woman has severe injuries,

blocked

communications and security forces

She spoke to The New Humanitarian on

patrolled the streets, shut down public

condition that she and her husband’s

transport and closed markets.

names were changed to protect her

Overnight curfews

safety. in

early

2020,

provide legal support to vulnerable populations.

Though some restrictions continued to ease

has impacted women badly.”

He said she rarely received urgent calls

“One cannot meet the need in person and can’t know their needs virtually,” she

India-wide

Rafiqa said her husband, Mushtaq,

directly from women while the

“Since most of the state machinery is

said. “Even if women complain, we

coronavirus lockdowns beginning in

started hitting her a year after they were

commission was operating.

engaged to fight COVID-19, there is no

cannot help or reach them because there

March extended clampdown conditions

married, in 2006.

quick respite for the victims,” Faisal said.

is no shelter in the entire Kashmir valley where women can take refuge.”

– and kept survivors of domestic violence shut in with their abusers. Protect women

Shops have largely stayed closed and

“With [the] women’s commission no

“He would often beat me with a leather

security forces still patrol the streets; an

more, women have no access to the

belt. Even an argument would lead to

overnight curfew is still in effect as

justice system and are more vulnerable

serious beating and abuse.”

COVID-19 cases rise.

than ever.”

Emergency ward With few resources for survivors,

Cases of domestic violence and general

The violence grew more intense after

Military crackdowns on suspected

Women who have been attacked also

women like Sameena, a 29-year-old

violence against women surged tenfold

Mushtaq lost his job.. Rafiqa said he

insurgents, as well as escalating border

lack access to medical facilities, because

Kashmir resident, are trying to break the

to more than 3,000 a year during a

started demanding that she turn over

tensions with China in neighbouring

many out-patient departments in public

cycle of violence on their own.

clampdown in 2016 and 2017, according

her salary.

Ladakh – formerly a part of Jammu and

and private hospitals have closed.

to official statistics from the Jammu and Kashmir State Commission for Women.

Kashmir state – have kept the region on “I handed over my salary to him. Then

edge.

he ordered me to get money from my This

now-defunct

government

institution was set up to protect women

“In this lockdown, the tormenting

a cricket bat and beat me.”

husbands and in-laws have got an

Phone blackout

prosecutions.

“Women have no access to the justice

days after their wedding in September.

system and are more vulnerable than

father,” she said. “I refused. He picked up

and children’s rights and ensure quick

She said her husband started beating her

ever.”

The abuse continued through the start of the coronavirus pandemic, when she

opportunity to harass women,” Pathak

The government’s social welfare

suffered a miscarriage after her husband

said.

department reported 16 rape cases and

raped her.

64 molestations in Jammu and Kashmir Today, Kashmir’s women face both the

Kashmir’s transport shutdown and

“Working women who, before the

during the first month of coronavirus

She spent two days in an emergency

military lockdown and the pandemic,

mobile phone blackout that lasted until

lockdown, would somehow vent their

lockdowns, 20 March to 29 April. But

ward before a doctor discharged her

but there’s little help available for

early 2020, stopped Rafiqa from telling

pain and grievance either with peers,

Pathak said that government data is

early, fearing COVID-19 infections.

survivors of gender-based violence.

her parents. She finally turned to a local

family, or friends, now find it very hard

almost certainly an undercount, as there

religious leader for help.

to speak out as they are under

has been confusion about how to report

With nowhere else to turn, she went

continuous and unwanted surveillance.”

gender-based violence during the full

home to her parents – even though they

military lockdown that followed the

pushed for the arranged marriage in the

region’s August shutdown.

first place.

There are no domestic violence shelters in Kashmir. Mobile phone signals are still

He persuaded her husband to stop

frequently imposed, and movement

hitting her, but he retaliated by pushing

Nowhere to turn

restrictions hamper charities from doing

their children to distance themselves

Since the women’s commission was

their work.

from her, Rafiqa said.

shut down, victims of domestic violence

The same department reported zero

“My parents will tell me to compromise,

no longer have a dedicated avenue for

allegations over the six months before

but I have made up my mind” to divorce,

women’s

The children are no longer allowed to

reporting abuse. There is only one

the pandemic.

Sameena said. “If he can kill our child, he

commission last year along with Jammu

sleep near her, or help with the twice-

women’s police station in the entire

Nighat Shafi Pandit, a women’s advocate

can kill me as well.”

India

disbanded

the

THE

WORD

Mid July 2020

Letter 1

POLITICS AND EVENTS

www.thewordmedia.org

But it doesn't have to be this way. We and they both forget that they work for us. That the power to change everything for the better lies in our hands. We forget that division is used to create the poverty and inequality

hen they say there's a

Britain doubled the number of

needed to maintain this wholly

recession; when they

Billionaires in the first five years of

unsatisfactory situation which has

say they need to freeze

austerity.

been designed to profit the few at the

pay; when they say they need to

expense of the many, including all of

make cuts and use austerity;

Our Government and all those who

life on earth as well as the Earth.

remember that these are political

want to continue with 'business as

choices, and remember that as they

usual', at all costs, have got each

The solution is for us to unite and

normalised foodbanks, homeless-

others backs are being bailed out and

act for the good of all, not just

ness and poverty for millions of

subsidised by billions of our taxes, by

ourselves and not just the few.

families, children and key workers,

our human rights-violating, ecocidal,

including our nurses.

self-serving government.

The Coronavirus Pandemic has proved that where the will exists to

As they accustomed us to tens of

Our loss, in terms of jobs and

, together we can change everything

thousands of extra deaths, benefit

income and even lives, is their gain,

for the better. So let's do it.

deaths and deaths on the streets

as far as the monied elite and the

every single year for the past decade

'establishment' are concerned.

Letter 2

e have witnessed the

disastrous

mismana-

neighbouring

countries

taking

homes. PPE destined for care homes

suffered 18 Covid-related deaths. This

appropriate measures. His plan was

was diverted to hospitals, leaving

home (not run by nurses) perhaps

herd immunity, a cruel and brutal

carers unprotected.

lacked insight into outbreaks. The

practice.

virus spread. Save Our NHS in Kent hosted a zoom

The Tories also disregarded the

meeting on 2nd July. Speakers

Next came lockdown easing, greeted

disdain Tory mindsets hold for our

importance of testing for Covid-19. On

included a nursing home manager

with exuberance by some, but with

poor, elderly and vulnerable.

test and trace, the responsibility wasn’t

who refused to accept untested

horror by health professionals knowing

handed to public health teams but to

patients into her care.

the daily death rate runs between 100-

gement of Covid. This

crisis highlights the phenomenal

Mary-Ellen / West London campaigner

TOGET WE CA CHANG EVERYT

Johnson was slow to lockdown despite

profiteers with no experience of community health projects.

200 with ‘R’ hovering at 1. The hospital threatened to report her

An abject dereliction of responsibility.

to the Care Quality Commission for

We’ve

adult abuse!

Hancock’s statistical manipulations &

They rushed to discharge patients to care homes to free up NHS capacity. Unknown

infected

numbers

seen

Johnson’s

idiocy,

Cummings' disregard for his own rules. She stood her ground, protecting her

Where is the strong, vocal opposition?

staff and residents. Her nursing home

Where?

lost no residents to Covid-19. However,

patients were discharged to care

a neighbouring residential home

Candy Gregory / Save Our NHS Kent

THE

www.thewordmedia.org

POLITICS AND EVENTS

Mid July 2020

WORD

THER N GE THING Letter 3

orking as a GP in SE

announcement

London for over two

neighbouring Lewisham Hospital,

downgrade

decades, I've experienced

spurring me to join the campaign.

the effects of the stealth ideological assault on the NHS.

How on earth did it make any sense to further reduce medical services?

De-funding, marketisation

outsourcing has

and

squandered

has

become

clear

that

billions, made my job harder and for

fundamental information is being

my patients more frustrating with

kept out of the public domain.

delays, fragmentation and in some cases preventable harm.

The parliamentary system is

People should be in no doubt that a

The NHS must be re-nationalised

have an impact on high profile

broken. We have endured four

tax-funded,

and excluded from a US-UK trade

companies as Virgin and Boots.

The local Queen

decades of neoliberal policies

system

deal

Education and support of NHS staff

Mary's Hospital in

supported,

fundamental importance to rich

enacted

but

not

Sidcup, had lost its

explained by all three main political

A&E, maternity and

parties.

more. It rapidly became

publicly

the

delivered

NHS

which

would

lock-in

privatisation.

and poor alike.

destructive changes, non-violent

The coronavirus pandemic has

A critical mass of determined and

direct

organised people must resist this.

campaigning and political pressure

clear

Waiting for politicians to come to

been so catastrophically managed

that bed capacity

the rescue is wishful thinking.

by our government, which remains

The Great NHS Heist documentary

could not meet

Mainstream

ideologically

patient

demand.

Then in 2012, came the

media

simply

perpetuate public ignorance.

in effective resistance to imposed

determined

action,

social

media

all need to be mobilised to pull us back from the brink.

film is a call to action in this fight.

continue its deadly objective of a

Bold and effective tactics have to be

Bob Gill / GP and producer of The

fully Americanised health system.

deployed to raise awareness and

Great NHS Heist documentary

THE

WORD

Best Of T Mid July 2020

POLITICS AND EVENTS

www.thewordmedia.org

MET POLICE CHIEF SAYS SORRY TO BLACK SPRINT CHAMP

confidence in the police and the way the police are policed”.

“There are concerns about the how the Metropolitan Police chief Dame Cressida

police behaved so it’s right and proper

Dick said that officers issued an apology

that those concerns are looked into,” he

to the champion sprinter Bianca

said.

Williams after she and her partner Ricardo dos Santos a Portuguese 400m

Eastern Oklahoma land

runner were stopped by police while

belongs to native Indians

driving in London and placed in handcuffs.

The Supreme Court has ruled by 5 votes

Commonwealth Games gold medallist

to 4 that Congress never diminished or

Williams, 26, claimed officers racially

disestablished the land as a reservation.

profiled her during the traffic stop on

In a stunning blow to Oklahoma’s state

Saturday in Maida Vale, west London,

government, the US Supreme Court

which saw the pair being separated from

ruled onThursday that much of eastern

their three-month-old son.

Oklahoma is located on an Indian

Footage of the stop and search has been

reservation.

shared widely on social media. The Met had said officers were

TV licence blame game

patrolling the area in which Ms Williams was stopped because of an increase in

BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg grilled culture

youth violence.

minister Oliver Dowden over the

But Ms Williams believes she and her

broadcaster’s decision to scrap the free

partner were targeted because they are

TV licence for the over-75s as she shifted

black and were driving a Mercedes.

the blame on to the Government.

Dame Cressida said: “My senior officer

BBC’s political editor Laura Kuenssberg

did say ‘I’m sorry’, and I say that too, and

hit out at the Culture Secretary Oliver

if there are lessons to be learnt from it

Dowden as she said it was the

we will learn them.

Conservative Government’s decision to

In a statement the Met said the decision

put the cost of the licence fee on the

to refer to the IOPC had been taken “due

organisation. Her grilling comes just

to the complaint being recorded and the

hours after the BBC announced it is

significant public interest”.

scrapping free TV licences for the over

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan told the

75s which Boris Johnson has said is the

BBC he was “pleased” that the Met had

“wrong decision”. The free TV licence for

referred the case as “it’s really important

over-75s will be means-tested from

that

Saturday August 1.

Londoners

have

trust

and

THE

WORD

The Web www.thewordmedia.org

POLITICS AND EVENTS

Diet can delay death, finding

Mid July 2020

Online violence law

protect every single job’ from the economic fallout of the coronavirus

An intriguing new study by researchers in

outbreak.

Romania

Europe suggests that coronavirus disease

The Treasury tried to boost the economy

harassment as a form of domestic

2019 (COVID-19) mortality rates are likely

with a £30 billion mini-budget, including

violence, under a new legal amendment.

to be lower in countries where diets are

bonuses for employers to take back

The new law, which came into effect on

rich in fermented vegetables.

furloughed workers, a 50% ‘eat out to

Thursday, amends the country’s 2003

Earlier this year, Jean Bousquet (Charité,

help’ restaurant discount for all Brits, a £2

legislation on domestic violence.

Universitätsmedizin

and

billion ‘kickstart scheme’ aiming to create

“This is a very important step in aligning

colleagues investigated whether diet may

hundreds of thousands of jobs for young

our legislation to that of other EU member

contribute to the significant variation in

people,

for

states,” said Monica Statescu, a Romania

COVID-19 death rates that have been

apprenticeship and training schemes, and

lawyer who specialises in cybersecurity

observed between countries. The study

a stamp duty holiday for homes valued up

and intellectual property.

found that in some countries with low

to £500,000.

“It was very much a required change in this

mortality rates, the consumption of

Despite this, economic experts and

current climate of online activity, where

traditional fermented foods was high.

unions have warned the country faces

people spend more time on social media.”

being swept by mass unemployment,

Domestic violence will now include a

especially if a second wave of coronavirus

provision specifically for “cybernetic

infections cause businesses to shut their

violence” which intends to “shame,

doors once again.

humble, scare, threat, or silence the

Berlin)

Victoria residents not amused Residents angry at Victoria health department, Australia,

extra

£111

million

for failing to

now

recognises

cyber

victim”. This will include online threats or 'So sorry' phone call to Saudis

deliver supplies, providing out-of-date food and sending pork to Muslim families.

messages, or where a partner sends intimate

graphic

content

without

Residents in nine housing towers now in

The government was accused of “calling

consent.

hard lockdown in Melbourne say they

Saudi

The law will also criminalise illegal access

have been forced to establish their own

individuals were included on the Foreign

to communications and private data via

support network rather than rely on the

Secretary’s

computers, smartphones, or devices that

government for essential supplies or

sanctions list on Monday.

information.

Defence minister Ben

“Last night by 2am some houses still

Wallace is understood

didn’t have food delivered,” said Ahmed

Dini, a resident of the North Melbourne

telephoned his Saudi

towers and a social worker.

counterpart

Wednesday

Mass unemployment threatens

apologise” new

have

reiterate

after

“Magnitsky

discreetly

the

UK’s

support for the regime Chancellor Rishi Sunak has warned that the Government is ‘not going to be able to

and its work.

some

Act”

can connect to the internet.

THE

WORD

Mid July 2020

POLITICS AND EVENTS

www.thewordmedia.org

Wildlife D Image 5

T Image 4

he weather seems to have

and Pikrellcam

made the birds subdues so

(https://billw2.github.io/pikrellcam/p

it's been quiet in the garden

ikrellcam.html).

this week. Image 1 shows such a camera. The

A lot of the images I use in this

camera

assembled

into

article I haven't actually taken myself,

aluminium extrusion which holds

rather they were taken by automatic

the camera and it's power supply.

cameras, based on designs fom the My Naturewatch project

Image 2 shows the camera in use. I mentioned last week that we

(https://mynaturewatch.net/make/)

Image 7

were occasionally visited by a

THE

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POLITICS AND EVENTS

Mid July 2020

WORD

Diary Image 1 Image 4 jackdaw with a broken (or in some other

way

misshapen)

for some wildlife shots.

beak,

Image 3 shows a close up of the

I was hoping for seals, or dolphins.

bird's beak. Image 5 shows what I found, a pair Image4 shows a pair of thrushes on

of juvenile gulls, going for a paddle.

the feeders, although one seems to Image 6 depicts a sparrow, a

have been distracted.

youngster by the look of him, playing Now that lockdown restrictions

in the feeder basket and Image 7

have been eased I was able to pop

shows a thrush making himself at

down to our local beach (1.4 miles)

home in the feeder.

Image 2

Image 6

Image 3

THE

WORD

Mid July 2020

POLITICS AND EVENTS

www.thewordmedia.co.uk

Why the Soviets were KINGS OF THE GAME

hen I was young it was always something of a mystery why the then Soviet Union dominated chess. It was like the sun and rain, just a fact of life. Later, a young British grandmaster told me ruefully that a visit to Russia he had made was the worst experience of his life. In Britain he was a top dog in the chess world but in the Soviet Union every opponent had been so good he’d had to fight for his life in every game, and he still bore the mental scars. Then I read a short column by The Guardian newspaper chess columnist Leonard Barden and it all became crystal clear. The pool of chess players in the Soviet Union was much bigger than in any other country, therefore there were more expert

players at every level. And the reason there were so many more players was because after 1917 the government had invested in developing the game as a popular past time as part of a multi-pronged drive to raise the cultural level of the people.

Free chess education provided by state-subsidised chess stars

education provided by statesubsidised chess stars who did not have to watch the pennies and duck and dive to make a living as many professionals still do today.

Their thinking was that it was no good using precious foreign currency to buy essential equipment if the workers could not understand and operate the M i k h a i l machines. Hence Botvinick, world the creation champion in of the Young 1948, was the P i o n e e r embodiment SOVIET Palaces of of that culture. Culture, a An engineer GOVERNMENT fancy title for by profession INVESTED IN fancy youth he was THE GAME clubs for sports single-minded, and recreations. disciplined and assured of his place Importantly, among the in society. The title of his activities on offer was free chess autobiography says it all: Achieving the Aim.

1917

As every Russian schoolboy knows chess internet sites cannot replace the Young Pioneer Palaces but they are providing a valuable service in the nick of time.

Today, the Soviet Union no longer exists and the old Eastern bloc is no more, but the legacy of those decades lives on in Russia,

Softly, softly catch the Hippo This is a game played in November 2001 at a tournament in Germany between Magnus Carlsen, who was 11 and a player from the Czech Republic, Martin Vaculik, who was 17. Carlsen, graded more than 100 Elo points below his opponent at the time, moved on to become a Grandmaster and then World Champion but his opponent was no slouch and became an International Chess Federation (FIDE) Master. That is, he would be playing top board at most clubs. In this game Vaculik plays an irregular system called the Hippopotomas that invites white to gain a big space advantage and then poses the question how to use it. White plays quietly and carefully, entombs the black squared bishop, creates an outpost on f5 and finally puts his knight there after liquidating the only piece that could have captured it. There are no fireworks. An instructive positional game. 1. e4 e6 2. D4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. Nc3 Ne7 5. Be3 b6 6. Qd2 h6 7. O-O-O Bb7 8. h4 d6 9. Bd3 Nd7 10. Kb1 a6 11. Rhe1 b5 12. a3 Rc8 13. d5 e5 14. h5 g5 15. g4 c5 16. dxc6 Rxc6 17. Nh2 Nb6 18. Bxb6 Rxb6 19. Nf1 Bc6 20. Ne3 b4 21. axb4 Rxb4 22. Ncd5 Rb8 23. Nxe7 Kxe7 24. Nf5+ Kf8 25. Bc4 d5 26. Bxd5 Qb6 27. Qc3 1-0

Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan and paradoxically in the US and Israel, where many of their top players are Russian emigrants. There is also a new white knight on the horizon - the

internet. It has spawned top class chess sites that cater for all levels of player. Some sites are free, some charge for selected services but not others. By Harold Biffen

THE

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POLITICS AND EVENTS

Vegan recipes

Mid July 2020

WORD

Cooking with Chris Williamson

This is one of my favourite dishes. Itâ€™s very filling and another easy to make recipe. Serve it with garlic peas and carrots. You wonâ€™t be disappointed

INGREDIENTS

Potato Pie PREPARATION

Chop the onions,Peel and thinly slice the potatoes. Heat some of the olive oil in a deep-frying pan then add some of the potatoes and fry gently for 10 minutes until browned on both sides. Remove the potatoes from the pan and cook the remaining potatoes adding more oil if necessary, then remove from the pan when cooked.

Add the onions to the pan and fry for about 5 minutes until lightly brown.

Add the tomato puree, the stock and 4 tablespoons of breadcrumbs to make a thick but soft paste. Add more breadcrumbs is you want a ticker paste. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade. Brush an oven proof dish with olive oil then arrange a layer of potatoes in the bottom of the dish.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper then spread a layer of the onion and tomato mixture over with potatoes. Repeat these layers, seasoning the potatoes with salt and pepper each time. The final layer should be of onion and tomato. Sprinkle the top layer with one oz (200 ml) of warm water and oz (200 ml) of olive oil and cover with a layer of the remaining breadcrumbs bake in the oven for 20 minutes until golden syrup hot.

2 medium-sized onions 2 lbs (3.6 kg) of old potatoes 8 lbs (3.6 kg) of olive oil 3 lbs (3.6 kg) of tomato puree 7 fl oz (200 ml) of vegetable stock 6/8 tablespoons of wholemeal breadcrumbs salt and pepper

THE

WORD

Mid July 2020

Seas and Oceans 1 In Greek literature what are the 7 seas? 2 According to the National Ocean Service how many oceans are there? 3 What percentage of the earth is said to be water? 4 What is the largest ocean between the western and eastern hemispheres? 5 The North Sea is a sea is located between which 7 European Countries?

POLITICS AND EVENTS

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The Word

Answers 1 Aegean, Adriatic, Mediterranean, Black, Red, and Caspian seas, with the Persian Gulf classed as a sea. 2 One global ocean. Historically, there are four named ocean basins: the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and the Southern (Antarctic) as the fifth ocean basin being the newest recognised ocean basin 3 71% 4 Pacific Ocean 5 Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France

Andrea Faulkner 2 What type of fish are members of the class Asteroidea? 3 Dolphins travel in family groups called what? 4 What animal was the largest to ever live on the planet earth? 5 What kind of animal is called a razorshell?

UK Rivers

World Rivers

Lakes

Name the main rivers that run through the following cities 1 Oxford 2 Cardiff 3 Preston 4 Lincoln 5 Gloucester

Answers

1 Which is the largest river in the world? 2 The Ob river is located in which country? 3 The Amazon is located in which continent? 4 The Thames in London is how long approx? 5 Which river (2850 Km) known to history as one of the long-standing frontiers of the Roman Empire, flows through or acts as part of the border of ten European countries?

1 Which is the deepest lake in the UK? 2 What is the worlds largest lake by area? 3 Manitoulin Island is the largest freshwater lake island in the world. But what lake is it in? 4 How many lakes are there in Snowdonia National Park 5 What is a lake called in Wales

1 Mammal. 2 Starfish Fish and Aquatics 3 Pods 4The Blue Whale 1 Do reptiles, fish, or mammals 5 Mollusk. have the most teeth?

1 Thames 2 Taff 3 Ribble 4 Witham 5 Severn

Answers 1 Nile 2 Russia 3 South America 4 350 km 5 Danube

Answers 1 Loch Morar 2 Caspian 3 Huron 4 250 5 Llyn

THE

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POLITICS AND EVENTS

Mid July 2020

SUDOKU MATH PUZZLES

WORD

THE

WORD

Mid July 2020

POLITICS AND EVENTS

www.thewordmedia.org

JORGE MASVIDAL REPLACES GILBERT BURNS FOR UPCOMING UFC MAIN EVENT

UFC 251 BACK ON TRACK AS STREET JESUS SAVES THE DAY Petr Yan has flown up the UFC’s rankings after winning his first six fights in a row

ana White’s Fight

the pay packet he originally wanted

Island

by stepping in at short notice.

quite

possibly the most

the division to handle so far.

My prediction: Volkanovski by

outrageous sporting

The fight could go one of a hundred

concept to be conceived in the

ways, with both guys having

last 20 years.

incredible stand up games and one-

unanimous decision. Petr Yan vs Jose Aldo

punch knockout power. In what feels like something out of

After Henry Cejudo retired in the ring

Scott Wiper’s 2007 film The

Masvidal loves to entice his

following his win over Dominick Cruz

Condemned, the UFC chairman will

opponents in and counterpunch with

back in May, the bantamweight title is

host a number of incredible fights on

devastating consequences, while

up for grabs.

a remote island off Abu Dhabi, in

Usman prefers to be the aggressor,

order to get around travel restrictions

refusing to give opponents the time

The title will be claimed on fight

which have prevented fighters from

to counter as he moves in relentlessly.

island, and it’s a really interesting

coming to the US.

matchup. My prediction: Kamaru Usman by

Thanks to Dana White’s ludicrously

split decision.

Petr Yan has flown up the UFC’s

beautiful mind, Yas Island now has a

rankings after winning his first six

fully equipped arena, training facility

Alexander Volkanovski vs

fights in a row, dismantling the likes

and even an octagon on the beach! It

Max Holloway

on Jimmie Rivera, Urijah Faber and

truly is an incredible concept, but the

John Dodson along the way.

event boasts some incredible fights

Volkanovski is the man to beat in the

too, so let’s take a look at what’s on

featherweight division right now,

Yan’s classy boxing skills and

offer.

having won the title in convincing

excellent defensive wrestling have

fashion, against Holloway, back in

served him well so far, and it might

December.

well take him the distance.

In the first fight, Volkanovski

Jose Aldo might have something to

This will be a title fight in the

controlled the octagon from start to

say about it though.

welterweight division, with Masvidal

finish,

facing off against the ‘Nigerian

Holloway’s lead leg and forcing him to

The

Nightmare’ Kamaru Usman.

switch stance.

champion has had a tough time of

Main Event - Kamaru Usman vs Jorge Masvidal

consistently

battering former

featherweight

late, losing five of his last eight fights. Usman was initially set to fight Gilbert

If Holloway is going to stand a chance

That’s a little misleading though,

Burns at UFC 251, before Burns and

in the rematch, and get his title back,

since he actually out-struck Marlon

his head coach Greg Jones both

he needs to get in the champion’s face

Moraes in his previous loss, and his

tested positive for Covid-19.

and disrupt his rhythm, by changing

two losses prior to that came against

levels and landing big punches in the

separate featherweight champions in

first few rounds.

Max Holloway and Alexander

Masvidal had previously turned down the opportunity to fight Burns,

Volkanovski.My prediction: Petr Yan

citing a poor offer in financial terms

That said, Volkanovski’s incredible

from the UFC. However, you can bet

cardio and rapid hand movement

your bottom dollar that he’s secured

have proven too much for anyone in

by unanimous decision. Craig Watson

Usman was initially set to fight Gilbert Burns at UFC 251, before Burns and his head coach Greg Jones both tested positive for Covid-19.

Volkanovski is the man to beat in the featherweight division right now.

THE

www.thewordmedia.org

POLITICS AND EVENTS

Mid July 2020

WORD

VALTERRI BOTTAS CLAIMS VICTORY AS HAMILTON SLIPS TO FOURTH

“Mercedes’ team principal Toto Wolff will have been pleased with the display”

Formula 1 returns with an

action-packed Austrian Grand Prix

ormula 1 made its longawaited

return

Plenty to Celebrate

after

2 second gap to Verstappen, while Hamilton eased to third after starting

being brought to a halt

Valtteri Bottas was the main driver

due to Covid-19. The

celebrating. The Finn was dominant

Austrian Grand Prix was filled with

throughout the Grand Prix, taking pole

emotion and action which saw nine

position on Saturday and completing

drivers retire.

the job on Sunday. The future is

Ferrari and Red Bull have their work cut

uncertain at Mercedes for the 30-year-

out, however.

from fifth place. Weekend Losers

“Norris completed the fastest lap of the race to gain the seconds needed to leapfrog his compatriot”

With the first event completed, we

old, with his contract expiring at the end

review the main talking points from the

of the 2020 season, but he showed why

Both Red Bull cars retired with technical

weekend.

he should remain, displaying great

problems while the Italian team lacked

composure and calmness to defy Lewis

speed despite Charles LeClerc’s podium

offering Vettel a

Hamilton and win the first Grand Prix of

finish, which can be attributed to the

seat in the team, and with Red Bull’s

the campaign.

retirements, Hamilton’s penalty and the

preference in young drivers, it is tough to

three safety cars which allowed the

imagine where the 33-year-old could

Ferrari driver to close the gap at the front.

end up. With no offers on the table, this

With a good rookie season under his

could well be his last season.

belt, Norris will be looking to continue

A Strange Return The race in Austria was somewhat

needed to leapfrog his compatriot.

different to previous meetings, with no

Mercedes’ team principal Toto Wolff

fans in attendance to breathe in the

will have been pleased with the display

action and adrenaline.

and will now have a tough decision to

Sebastian Vettel however, endured a

make: keep the same driver line-up

very difficult weekend. The main Ferrari

The stands in Austria, usually so noisy

which has seen them win three

driver did not manage past the second

and dressed in orange in support of Red

successive constructors’ championships

qualifying round, getting the 11th best

Lando Norris is also worthy of a mention

Bull and Max Verstappen, were, this

or risk breaking the momentum by

time overall.

after his great performance for McLaren.

year, filled with silence, banners, and

bringing in a new driver? In the race, the German gained only one

The young British driver won the first

track next weekend. Will Red Bull and

Remaining with the German team, the

position. A bad car and little mistakes

podium of his career.

Ferrari close the gap to Mercedes? Can

Silver Arrows (who were in black this

equalled a terrible Grand Prix for the

race in support of the Black Lives

four-time World Champion, leaving his

Carrying on from a strong qualifying

And will Lando Norris continue to

Matter movement) yet again

Formula 1 future under serious scrutiny.

session, the Briton started from third

perform?

messages. This is the new reality and will continue across the season. The strangest part was watching the

“The strangest part was watching the drivers celebrating on the track and not on the podium”

this, McLaren may well struggle to keep their prized asset. The teams will remain in Austria for the Styrian Grand Prix at the same

proved they are the side to beat. If it was not for Lewis Hamilton’s 5-

his fine form and with performances like Special Mention

Sebastian Vettel come back stronger?

position and took advantage of the During

the

lockdown,

Ferrari

chaos around him to secure the last spot

Next weekend’s Grand Prix will offer the

in the podium.

answer to some of these questions, but

second penalty which he received

announced they would not be renewing

drivers celebrating on the

with 10 laps to go, following a collision

with the German and quickly moved to

track and not on the podium, with

with Alex Albon, Wolff’s team would

hire Spaniard Carlos Sainz from

After Hamilton’s 5-second penalty was

celebrations kept to a minimum to avoid

have earned a one-two. Bottas set the

McLaren as a replacement. With Wolff

confirmed, Norris completed the fastest

mass gatherings between teams.

tone from the word go, giving himself a

confirming Mercedes would not be

lap of the race to gain the seconds

for now, we’re just happy to see the cars back on the track. Paulo Pedro

JACK CHARLTON

R.I.P. Another of England’s famous 1966 World Cup winning football team has gone.

‘Big Jack’ had just the one

midfielder Billy Bremner, or double

professional club, Leeds United,

up with centre-forward Mick Jones.

with whom he won many honours.

He was deeply superstitious,

As a centre half he saved goals, and

turning down the role of Captain as

gave away penalties when a goal

he would have needed to lead the

looked inevitable only for the

team out; Jack preferred to leave

goalkeeper behind him to save the

the dressing room last.

He loved and was loved loyally. When asked whom he considered to be the best player in the world, he replied without hesitation, “Wor Bobby”

near-post corner kick where he

He loved and was loved loyally.

of the players, the fans,

would stand right in front of the

When asked whom he considered

the directors of a club, he could

keeper and nod the ball into the net,

to be the best player in the world,

walk away without rancour. It

sometimes more than once in a

he replied without hesitation, “Wor

would be a brave person who

game.

were

Bobby” - his brother, who won the

offended him; he claimed to have a

continually frustrated with him but

World Cup with him in 1966 but the

little black book containing the

instead of seeking to prevent the

rest of the time was a fierce rival

names of people to whom he owed

strategy through football, sought to

with Manchester United.

a little bit of retaliation.

have the move outlawed by the FA.

Jack, or Jackie, went on to football

Another of England’s famous

aged 85, from lymphoma, though

formidable; he had wonderful ball

1966 World Cup winning

sources had suggested that he was

control, bringing the ball out of

football team has gone. Jack

suffering from memory losses. He

defence, body swerving at speed up

and

will be remembered as a lifelong

the field before passing accurately

England defender died

Labour supporter, a terrific player

to a team-mate. He was inch perfect

and international manager, and a

with free kicks, and should Leeds

genuinely humorous guy.

be chasing a result, would move up

Charlton,

Leeds on

Friday 10th July

to play as a forward with tiny

kick. Another speciality was the

A speciality was the near-post corner kick where he would stand right in front of the keeper and nod the ball into the net, sometimes more than once in a game.

Opposing

teams

management, but would never

Nobody doubted it, but he was an

Jack was as good on the ground as

accept a contract; if he wasn’t doing

enormously likeable person on and

he was in the air, where he was

any job to the complete satisfaction

off the field.