THE WORD EDITION 44

THE

WORD

Issue #44, Late September Edition

£1

Equality Democracy Truth Courage

Manchester Arena Bombing The public inquiry into the Manchester Arena Bombing, of 22nd May 2017, started this week. The investigatory hearings, being carried out somewhat awkwardly over broadband because of Coronavirus, are being chaired by retired High Court Judge, Sir John Saunders. The atrocity, a suicide bombing carried out by a radicalised local man called Salman Abedi, killed 22 people, many of them children, in addition to his own, at the end of a concert performed at the Arena by US popstar, Ariana Grande.More than 260 other people were injured...

PAGE 25

THE PEOPLE’S PAPER

‘THIS SHOULD PAY FOR THE NANNY‘

FROM RUSSIA

WITH CA$H

thewordmedia.org Rebel women MPs sacked

Three women Labour MPs were sacked as junior ministers after they defied Keir Starmer’s order not to vote at all about a highly controversial Government bill which has been condemned by former leader Jeremy Corbyn. The three and PAGE 2 15 backbenchers...

Licence to kill

Undercover informants working for the police and MI5 are going to be explicitly permitted for the first time under British law to commit crimes. This comes after it was revealed this year that police forces across the UK spent £13.6million PAGE 5 on informants...

Wife of Russian oligarch pays £1.7m for tennis with Tories

DOSH vedanya!

A proper pay rise for NHS workers

PAGE 2

Under the Tories, they have had pay freezes and below inflation pay rises, so in other words they have actually have seen their money go down. The NHS has been constantly under-funded by the Tories, chunks of it have been taken over by private companies such as Virgin PAGE 10 that the NHS...

THE

WORD

2

Early September Edition

POLITICS AND EVENTS

www.thewordmedia.co.uk

BORIS COMPLAINS HE CANNOT AFFORD A NANNY

LABOUR MPS Jeremy Corbyn

£3000 A WEEK PM PAY NOT ENOUGH FOR BORIS

Beth Winter

TORIES REFUSE TO RETURN RUSSIAN

£1.7MILLION DONATIONS L

ubov Chernukhin is said to have given them the money for tennis matches with Boris Johnson and a night out with Theresa May and several cabinet ministers among other donations.

But leaked ‘suspicious activity reports’ from banks show her husband, Vladimir, was sent $8million (£6.1m) from a British Virgin Islands company linked to billionaire and politician Suleyman Kerimov, according to a BBC TV Panorama programme.

Both Russians were sanctioned by the US government for playing “a key role in advancing Russia’s malign activities”.

Mr Chernukhin had been a deputy finance minister under

»

Russian influence in the UK is ‘the new normal’

The Tory Party have refused Labour Party calls to return the £1.7million given to them by the wife of Russian oligarch with close ties to Vladimir Putin President Putin, until he was sacked in 2004.

but offers the chance to dine with a member of the Cabinet.

He and wife then moved to London and became British citizens, which entitled them to donate to political parties.

In 2019, Mrs Chernukhin had a ‘girly night out’ with Theresa May and other top politicians at the Goring Hotel, in Belgravia, London, after donating £135,000.

In July, the Intelligence and Security Committee’s longawaited ‘Russia Report’ said Russian influence in the UK is ‘the new normal’ adding that there are a lot of Russians with very close links to Putin who are accepted in the UK business and social scene because of their wealth.

Lubov Chernukhin, a former banker herself, regularly attends Conservative fund-raising events where a table can cost £15,000

In 2018, the party accepted her bid of £30,000 in return for a private dinner with then-defence secretary Gavin Williamson in the Churchill War Rooms.

She successfully bid £160,000 at a previous fundraiser to play tennis with Boris Johnson, and bid £20,000 to dine with Scottish Conservative leader.

And this February she was the winner of another tennis match

with Mr Johnson - this time paying around £50,000. The extent of her donations make her the most generous female donor in British political history.

According to Panorama, the $8m payment was made by a firm called Definition Services, which was controlled by Mr Kerimov’s children - though documents confirmed the funding came from their father.

Lawyers for Mr Kerimov denied all allegations made by the BBC. Further claims that Mr Kerimov owned a gold mine proved to be untrue - it’s his son’s gold mine.

And as we are talking about the filthy rich, while you are struggling to survive at home with the kids on Universal credit and shopping at foodbanks, Boris Johnson complains he can’t afford a nanny on his Prime Minister’s pay of nearly £3,000 a WEEK!

By Word reporter

Nadia Whittome

Olivia Blake

thewordmedia.org

POLITICS AND EVENTS

Late September Edition

THE

WORD

3

S ORDERED NOT TO OPPOSE GREEN LIGHT FOR WAR CRIMES

STARMER SACKS THREE REBELS FOR OPPOSING TORTURE BILL

T

hree women Labour MPs were sacked as junior ministers after they defied Keir Starmer’s order not to vote at all about a highly controversial Government bill which has been condemned by former leader Jeremy Corbyn.

The three and 15 backbenchers voted against the innocent sounding Overseas Operations bill, which the Government claims will shield British soldiers from vexatious prosecutions and which opponents say will give the green light to soldiers to commit murder and torture without fear of prosecution.

»

Labour MPs were ordered to

Jeremy Corbyn said: “I have grave concerns that the bill defies and undermines international law.”

At long last some tiny signs of life among left Labour Party MPs, including three junior, now ex, ministers abstain on the vote for the bill’s second reading.

Beth Winter, Nadia Whittome and Olivia Blake were warned that if they voted against the Bill they would be deemed to have resigned their roles.

They were led by Jeremy Corby, who was also supported

by John McDonnell, Diane Abbott and Rebecca Long Bailey.

All are on the party’s left and have been vocal in their opposition to the bill.

Beth Winter served as a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster right winger Rachel Reeves. Nadia Whittome held the same role in the Health team.

Olivia Blake was a PPS across the Shadow Scotland and Digital

Culture Media and Sport team.

The Bill was condemned by Jeremy Corbyn, and 19 other Labour MPs considered to be on the party left, broke Starmer’s orders not to vote at all.

decriminalise torture by introducing a ‘triple lock’ that will make it virtually impossible to prosecute torturers after five years.”

18

Starmer, one time head of the Crown Prosecution Service and D i r e c t o r of Public Prosecutions, and who claims to be dedicated to upholding human rights instructed all Labour MPs to abstain in the vote on government’s highly controversial bill which has been the subject of a national petition by the human rights group Reprieve which claims the bill would “effectively

Jeremy Corbyn said: “I have grave concerns that, as it stands, the bill defies and undermines international law.”

LABOUR MPS SUPPORT JEREMY CORBYN REBELLION

In the debate Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace, angrily accused Labour of having taken Britain into “illegal wars” when the party was last in power.

He made this accusation as shadow defence secretary John Healey argued that the bill risked breaching the Geneva

conventions outlawing torture and war crimes.

The bill was passed with a majority of 77 with the Scottish Nationalists and LibDems joining Labour’s 18 rebels. In many was this is a repeat of 2015 when interim leader Harriet Harman infamously ordered Labour MPs not to oppose a Tory welfare bill which limited child tax credits.

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.

WORD

ON THIS DAY

4

THE

WORD

Late September Edition

POLITICS AND EVENTS

thewordmedia.org

INFORMANTS

LICE 21st. September.

Events 1792 – French Revolution: The National Convention declares France a republic and abolishes the absolute monarchy.

songwriter (b. 1888)

Deaths.

19 BC – Virgil, Roman poet (b.

70 BC) 1832 – Walter Scott, Scottish novelist, playwright, and poet (b. 1771)

24th.September.

Events 1957 – President Dwight D. Eisenhower sends 101st Airborne Division troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce desegregation.

1996 – Representatives of 71 nations sign the NuclearTest-Ban Treaty at the United Nations.

Holidays and Observances.

International Day of Peace 22nd. September.

Events 1955 – In the United Kingdom, the television channel ITV goes live for the first time.

Deaths.

1989 Irving Berlin, Russianborn American composer and

23rd. September.

Deaths 1939 – Sigmund Freud, Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist (b. 1856)

25th.September.

Events 1513 – Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa reaches what would be become known as the Pacific Ocean.

1926 – The international Convention to Suppress the Slave Trade and Slavery is first signed.

Deaths 2011 – Wangari Maathai, Kenyan environmentalist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (b.

1940) 2016 Arnold Palmer, American golfer (b. 1929) In a career spanning more than six decades, he won 62 PGA Tour titles. He is fifth on the Tour’s all-time victory list, trailing only Tiger Woods, Sam Snead, Jack Nicklaus, and Ben Hogan 26th. September.

Events 1580 – Sir Francis Drake finishes his circumnavigation of the Earth.

1905 – Albert Einstein publishes his first paper on the special theory of relativity.

1973 – Concorde makes its first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic in record-breaking time.

Deaths 1915 - James Keir Hardie (b.15 August 1856) was a Scottish socialist politician, and trade unionist. Founder of the Labour Party, the first Leader of the Labour Party and the first ever Labour Member of Parliament.

27th. September.

Events 1825 – The world’s first public railway to use steam locomotives, the Stockton and Darlington Railway, is ceremonially opened.

Deaths 1979 – Gracie Fields, English actress and singer (b. 1898).

Rochdale girl who for a time was the world’s highest earning female entertainer.

U

ndercover informants working for the police and MI5 are going to be explicitly permitted for the first time under British law to commit crimes.

This comes after it was revealed this year that police forces across the UK spent £13.6million on informants between 2014 and 2019.

Critics are urging MPs to amend the proposed law to rule out murder and serious violence.

The unprecedented legislation to authorise and oversee crimes comes after years of unclear rules over when these agents can break the law and after the on-going inquiry into the Manchester terror deaths has revealed questionable secret service activity.

thewordmedia.org

POLITICS AND EVENTS

Late September Edition

THE

WORD

S GIVEN A FREE-HAND TO COMMIT CRIME EVEN MURDER £13.6m

POLICE SPENT ON INFORMANTS OVER FIVE YEARS

ENCE TO KILL The WORD predicts that before long a major terrorist atrocity will be carried out by “tin-foil-hat wearing anti-lockdown protesters.” This will enable the state to go into overdrive limiting our liberties. You have been warned!

The proposed law will not specify exactly which crimes can be committed.

The decision to create a law that sanctions crime comes after a legal battle to force MI5 and the government to reveal secret rules governing when an informant can break the law.

Coming at the same time as this Government is putting the armed military onto our streets it shows we are already living in a remake of 1933, the Hitler years.

Under the legislation going before Parliament on Thursday, MI5, the police, the National Crime Agency and other agencies that use informants or undercover agents will be able

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.

WORD

to explicitly authorise them to commit a specific crime as part of an operation.

The law will require MI5 officers and others to show that the crime is "necessary and proportionate".

Security officials will not say which crimes they will consider authorising because that could lead to terrorists and other serious criminals working out who is working undercover.

But the legislation stresses agencies must not breach the Human Rights Act, which requires the government to protect life.

While the security service's watchdog, a senior judge, will report on how the power is used, there will be no role for the Crown Prosecution Service in reviewing the crimes.

Agencies authorised to commit crimes include all intelligence bodies, police, National Crime agency,

Immigration and Border officers, HM Revenue and Customs, Serious Fraud Office, UK military, Ministry of Justice (investigations in prisons), Competition and Markets Authority, Environment Agency, Financial Conduct Authority, Food Standards Agency, Gambling Commission and Medicines and Healthcare Regulation Authority.

5

6

THE

WORD

Late September Edition

POLITICS AND EVENTS

thewordmedia.org

Forgotten Bands: Spooky Tooth

The End

By 1974 the band was over, though it reformed periodical with substantially ly different people

A musical example THE SHIP OF THESE M

ike and Mike and Gary Wright formed a band with Luther Grosvenor on guitar; Greg Ridley was there too. They called themselves Spooky Tooth and formed from the ashes of other bands, as you do, writes Seymour Griffiths.

Quickly they went through

musicians, and the list of who has been in the band is impressive; what is more striking is that the pre-band lineup, calling themselves the VIPs, included Keith Emerson, later to play in the Nice, and then with Greg Lake and Carl Palmer in ELP. The VIPs became The Art, which folded. Mike Harrison and Mike Kellie, Luther and

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.

WORD

Greg Ridley were introduced to American Gary Wright and Spooky Tooth’s debut album ‘It’s All About’ produced by the legendary Jimmy Miller, a terrific musician in his own right, came out in June 1968.

By 1974 the band was over, though it reformed periodically with substantially different people; a bit like Trigger’s Broom, which has had seventeen new heads and fourteen new handles, or the Ship of Theseus.

Is it really Spooky Tooth?

For me, and for Gary Wright, Spooky Tooth made two albums, the second called Spooky Two.

It was a band I would love to have played in. It had two keyboardists, a blazing guitarist, and a rock solid bass player and drummer; the music seemed to

have been written because the guys liked it.

Another album featured them as backing musicians to

thewordmedia.org

POLITICS AND EVENTS

Late September Edition

THE

WORD

7

Hope and Good News

of EUS

someone else, but the label put it out as their third album; Gary quit. Bass players came and went, then the rest of them.

YouTube footage shows them doing cover versions of other people’s songs, and ‘owning’ them! Both keyboardists sing and Grosvenor on guitar stands quietly until it is time for him to let rip, which he does nicely; perhaps I wouldn’t have got in the band after all.

»

Initially bass players came and went, then the rest of them

Maybe I could have waited until it reformed in 1972, 1998, 2004, 2008, or 2020.

The discography shows a welter of releases, under various combinations of the band name and the most important player’s name (I’m kidding of course) but these don’t interest me; there was something of magick in that first glorious incarnation, and you would do very well to look them up. Try ‘Better By You Better Than Me,’ on the Island sampler ‘Nice Enough to Eat,’ and see what else gets offered to you. SG *Ship of Theseus; Oh Google it!

Devon England After appearing seven years ago in the River Otter, Devon, beavers has been given the legal right to remain.

A study revealed they had made a positive contribution to the local environment.

eightfold by 2030, powered by a clean energy surge in Asia. GWEC said the resilience of renewables during the coronavirus crisis was making offshore wind more attractive to countries that have previously lagged behind in the sector.

said.

Although hunted to extinction in the UK some 400 years ago the animals are reappearing in some areas thanks to reintroduction programmes. The origin of the River Otter population, however, remains a mystery.

“Offshore wind is truly going global, as governments around the world recognise the role that the technology can play in kickstarting postCovid economic recovery through large-scale investment, creating jobs and bringing economic development to coastal communities,” said Ben Backwell, CEO at GWEC.

Wales Wales’ future generations commissioner, Sophie Howe, this week proposed giving the country’s creatives a guaranteed income to help them through the pandemic.

This the first time an extinct native mammal has been given the go-ahead to be reintroduced.

“Our rivers and wetlands really need beavers,” said Mark Elliott of the Devon Wildlife Trust.

“This is brilliant news.”

Global Wind Council (GWEC) GWEC offered good news for the job market predicting that offshore wind energy could create 900,000 jobs globally over the next decade.

2019 was the best year on record for offshore wind and predicted capacity would grow

Germany Many artists have been struggling to sell their work during the lockdown. In a bid to boost struggling creatives, the German government has announced it will increase this year’s budget for art acquisitions from €500,000 (£451,000) to €3m (£2.71m). An independent commission will purchase art for the federal collection from artists, galleries and fairs across Germany, the culture ministry

In a statement, the culture minister Monika Grütters said the increased budget would provide a “quick and effective impetus to revive art production in a difficult climate”.

Howe said such a “safety net” could tie payments to a commitment to provide work for the public good.

“Think of that as ‘something for something’,” she told the BBC. “If you are getting money from the state to help sustain your income, what are you going to give back to the public good?”

She added: “I know there are thousands of creative professionals out there who would be so keen to do that, and hundreds of public services who could benefit.”

8

THE

WORD

Late September Edition

POLITICS AND EVENTS

thewordmedia.org

STARMER HAS TO OPPOSE, BUT HAS CHOSEN THE WRONG BATTLE

WE NEED CLEAR WATER MENT

BETWEEN LABOUR AND THE GOVERN T o have allowed banks to fail in 2008/9, to have created new banks in their places, and filled them much more cheaply with, let’s say, £70,000 per person per account up to a maximum of £200k would have sent the wealthy screaming for the blood of casino bankers.

Iceland put theirs in jail and supported the ordinary people; the UK sanctioned the poor.

Quite rightly, Sunak is able to look after the UK economy but needs a quick return to prevent things getting out of hand.

Starmer sees no rush, and before long will invite the Chancellor to leather the tax payer more generally, to spread the load more equally. Not to hurt the rich too much, as if they ever get hurt.

Rishi Sunak is no Socialist and never will be. Remember that.

Whether he has any sympathy

for the poor or vulnerable is impossible to gauge, but it is unlikely that he has ever

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.

WORD

experienced poverty and hardship. The same may be true of Starmer.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has to be able to say when asked where he or she will get the money from, “Mr Marr, I am the Money!” and to be allowed to get it back quickly by whatever means possible and practicable without erroneous advice from someone who

doesn’t understand how it all works and although capable of snatching the leadership of his Party by what looks increasingly like the skulduggery of his allies, is never going to get elected into any position of Power while he stands to the political Right of the wealthiest MP in the house who has craftily outflanked him.

Labour has to create clear water between itself and the champions of capitalism if it is ever going to have anything to say to the working class. It cannot merely present itself as a different kind of Tory Party.

Why would anybody vote for the Echo when they could have the Shout?

thewordmedia.org

POLITICS AND EVENTS

Late September Edition

THE

WORD

9

STARMER OPPOSES INCREASING TAXES FOR THE RICH T

of these signify a healthy and growing economy.

he reason big companies and wealthy people in the UK should pay higher taxes is not because we need their money to fund services and jobs.

Some money is saved, thus becoming temporarily inactive and available later as deferred spending. It would be nice if every person could save for a holiday, for Christmas and birthday presents, for a deposit on a house or car, or to buy other large items.

The Chancellor of the UK Exchequer with its sovereign currency and strong Central Bank, can create what is called ‘fiat money’ (let there be money.)

If this money is inserted at a point of need, whether giving it to a poor family or using it to build a high speed rail link, it reverberates around the economy doing good, before returning to the treasury as tax and cancelling the initial spend – almost!

When money created off the back of the labours of the working class trickles upwards into the pockets of the already wealthy, there is usually no hurry for non-Socialists from Osborne to Rishi Sunak and all the way through to Starmer to divest them of their ill-gotten gains.

The difference is called “the deficit” and accumulated deficit is called “debt.”

Read the promise on any UK banknote. Money from central government is, and says it is, an IOU. When money returns

to source the deficit is (almost) closed; what remains active in the economy does so as personal

liquidity, contingency funds for businesses, and investment by for example pension funds. All

These people are rich ‘because they’ve worked harder than you’, so the story goes, and taken risks.

If that were ever true then

surely the coal miner and the trawlermen, not to mention NHS staff working with Covidinfected patients, bus drivers, food delivery workers, cabbies, and shop-workers, would live in big houses at the top of the hill and pay a hedge manager to trim their gardens and herbaceous borders.

What Rishi Sunak seems to get, and Starmer really doesn’t, is that cash injections pitched “low” are expected to return quickly so that they can be written off and the process repeated.

To allow New money to fall into deep pockets risks minimal outcomes such as those which followed Gordon Brown’s Quantitative Easing over a decade ago, rescuing only banks, bankers, and the stashes of a small minority of wealthy people; moreover, such megamoney can be hoarded with all the dangers that come with it.

THE

WORD

10

Late September Edition

POLITICS AND EVENTS

thewordmedia.org

GIMMICKY APPLAUSE DOES NOT PAY THE BILLS!

15% INCREASE IN PAY FOR NHS STAFF

TIME FOR A PROPER PAY RISE FOR NHS WORKERS

U

nder the Tories, they have had pay freezes and below inflation pay rises, so in other words they have actually have seen their money go down.

The NHS has been constantly under-funded by the Tories, chunks of it have been taken over by private companies such as Virgin that the NHS or the public have to pay to use. There have been huge financial cuts in social care, meaning there are not enough beds in care homes

»

On Saturday the 12th of September there were demonstrations across the UK to demand better pay for NHS staff

to send vulnerable but healthy patients. This has caused what has become known as ‘bed blocking’ in hospitals which means it is very difficult to admit new seriously ill patients.

People’s lives are being put at risk.

For many years NHS workers have been poorly treated, they have been short staffed, long

Boris Johnson and other members of his party happily clapped for the NHS to pretend they cared, but behind closed doors they had no intention of giving them a deserved proper pay rise

hours and low pay.

And of course we mustn’t forget Under the Tories, that the bursaries they have had pay staff were given freezes and below to aid training inflation pay rises so were stopped they have seen their by the Tories.

buying power go down!

Since the appearance of the Covid-19 virus, staff have been put in situations where they have to work in hazardous, sometimes dangerous, situations without the proper equipment to keep them safe.

This equipment was planned to be routinely updated and available at all hospitals.

The Conservative Party decided not to do this. When the need arose, staff were left defenceless.

Boris Johnson and members of his party publicly clapped for the NHS workers to pretend they cared, but behind closed doors they had no intention of giving these ‘heroes’ a deserved pay rise.

By Mel

thewordmedia.org

POLITICS AND EVENTS

Late September Edition

THE

WORD

11

CANCER KILLS YOU OR IT DOES NOT, THAT’S IT

PATIENT.I TELLS US ABOUT A PLANTBASED DIET

M

y wife was equally devastated; cancer is as bad for the partner/carer as it is for the patient, take that from me.

I began a blog which turned into this regular column almost as soon as I was diagnosed with incurable, inoperable cancer of the most aggressive kind

She wanted to give up work and nurse me; I knew what that meant – kindness, care, and a long slow goodbye. I decided to be proactive and refuse to die.

and to work with other cancer patients by delivering a selfhelp programme called HOPE, from Macmillan Cancer Care and Coventry University. Later on I joined the Labour Party.

It isn’t about having a positive mental attitude; cancer kills you or it doesn’t. Sometimes it’s a bit like a lottery, but I was advised to “do as I was told, and keep an active interest in something.”

I chose to write, to get involved in exercise projects,

»

Gradually I began to look at my lifestyle and realised that my particular cancer thrived on hormones and animal proteins.

I now eat a totally plantbased diet; this might not suit everybody, and is most

It isn’t about having a positive mental attitude; cancer kills you or it doesn’t

likely not essential for people with other kinds of cancer, but I have read research that suggests hormone-related cancers grow more slowly when the patient exercises and eats a diet that has cut out certain meats and dairy products.

I began my coronavirus lock-down at a time when the government wanted the virus to work its way through the population, killing and bestowing immunity unequally, removing our weakest and most vulnerable. By then my wife had given up work through

her own illness, and she and I became each other’s carers.

haven’t been able to visit, and which might not exist after our lockdown eventually finishes.

I begin by making ‘Heavenly Gravy,’ which is a basic stock used by our local Indian-British makers of fine curries, Mr Anand and his family who have an amazing shop and eatery in Harehills, Leeds.

The cooking of our main meal in an evening is my job; she does breakfasts.

We lunch flexibly, Next time I write usually getting this column I our own. I’ve shall explain specialised my philosophy a self-help in the art of of food, which scheme helping the ‘faker e v o l v e s other away,’ in other around a plantpatients words I make based diet and our favourite health-giving meals as we would herbs and spices. experience them at the restaurants and cafés we Patient.I

HOPE

Dot Parry says …

We need a campaign to allow carers in to hospitals as part of the team supporting patients with complex needs.

How could I get this off the ground?

I’m a carer for my husband as he recovers from a long critical care stay last year. Sadly some of the care he received in hospital was sub-standard. I had to work hard to get him the basics -hand washing, insulin being given etc. We brought him home three days in to lockdown as

the situation in the hospital was deteriorating further. The day before he came home we were told I would not be able to visit any more. Even though his needs were still complex we felt he had a better chance away from the virus and the poor organisation in the hospital.

We have done well to care for him at home and he is thriving. Twice he has almost needed to be readmitted with complications, but with the support of our wonderful GPs

and the district nurses, we managed to help him at home.

We are genuinely afraid for his life if he had to go in to hospital. if I was not able to visit and make sure he was safe, he could be neglected again. He has worked so hard on his mobility but his progress could be thwarted if he was left without physio etc.

Drug errors and poor hygiene have cost him so much already.

I’m more afraid of neglect than I am of the virus -and I am very afraid of the virus.

Perhaps carers could have some way of reassuring hospitals that we are: sufficiently skilled; Covid-

secure; aware that we’re going to be part of the solution not the problem.

12

THE

WORD

Late September Edition

POLITICS AND EVENTS

thewordmedia.org

COMPROMISE

CAMERON, THE FOOD BANK HERO.

A wonderful word. As a politician you have to be quick to use it before your opponent. Johnson wants the world to think that while he is seeking to compromise the EU is proving to be intransigent. Then our stupid media repeats the word and so the fresh narrative is implanted in our minds.

Except that the food bank where he says he worked cannot recall seeing him there. An unobtrusive hero!

Now he is ‘compromising’ with Tory rebels and it looks as though instead of breaking international law in one fell swoop he is agreeing only to break it bit by bit.

Surely they must realise that in Johnson, together with the other two members of the Triumvirate, they are dealing with a runaway steam roller. Confrontation is the word, not compromise. If Covid 19 disappeared tomorrow Brexit would still do massive harm to us. Does anyone believe that Bullingdon Man is interested in the painstaking business of agreeing an exit deal? And if there is one does anyone believe that he would keep his word?

This is all about power not politics. Words such as ‘democracy’ are much in use but they are meaningless. Quite simply, the Triumvirate must be stopped.

Watching Everton, motto Nil Satis Nisi Optimum, against West Brom whose unfortunate goal keeper is dressed in pink for goodness sake. So lots of Blues in the pub. My godfather played for Everton. He replaced Joe Mercer. Everton just won 5-2.

In 2010, as Gordon Brown pointed out in his book, 15 million voted against austerity and only 10 million voted for it. Thanks to Cleggy and Osborne, the worst Chancellor of the Exchequer since Churchill, and, of course, the food bank hero, we got a huge multiplication in the number of food banks.

Who remembers North Sea Oil? It paid for Thatcher’s attack upon something she said did not exist, society. Today we have no Golden Goose. So who will pay for our current mess?

The 1%? Nah! As ever it shall be ‘The poor man at the gate.’

SECOND WAVE? DOES THIS MEAN SECOND CLAP?

This is, of course, nothing compared with the news that Dominic Raab left his bum on a plane. Did I get that right? I try but I cannot keep up with the news.

Look up post16educator.org.uk Please let us reduce the number of times that we measure each other. Instead we should be prepared to lose and learn from a few arguments.

I have this fantasy that while government is not only in Lockdown but also Quarantine the rest of us can get on with life.

I should say that everyone is properly socially distanced here. Mandy did not stay long, just long enough to say ‘hello’ to young Bill (72).

Meanwhile, Mariam has sent me a new mask, a Lebanese mask! All the way from Beirut. Like Everton I shall be top of the Political Premier League wearing that.

At last I overcame both BT and Microsofthead to successfully send my old but re-edited piece on how to critically engage with discursive texts. Should be published in Post 16 Educator in October. Anything I can do to encourage people to ‘critically engage.

Corbyn tried to improve the wages of nurses. The Tories not only clapped but cheered when they defeated him. May they all get the clap.

I mentioned FE, Further Education. So often it takes care of what primary and secondary education has insufficiently addressed. Does government care?

So much could be done but what was the last government that got bothered? Callaghan’s? Pre Thatcher…..

thewordmedia.org

POLITICS AND EVENTS

Late September Edition

THE

WORD

13

‘WEAPONS GRADE’ POISON THAT USUALLY FAILS TO KILL Alexi Navalny - another recovered victim released from hospital but still with health problems

Everything you were dying TO KNOW ABOUT NOVICHOK D

o they have an expertise and a fiendish morality that stops the Western powers from making and using it?

NOVICHOK... or Newcomer? Novichok means newcomer in Russian where it was first made around 1975, but is the Novichok that the West blames Russia for using against its citizens made only by the Russians?

This is what the NATO countries – most of Europe, Australia, Canada, America, want us to believe.

But Novichok can be made by any chemist who wants to put their life at risk making it, and most biological weapons research laboratories have made it.

Even Britain’s one time chemical and biological military laboratory, Porton Down, now renamed a much friendly science park, near where the Skripals’ lived, had Novichok, otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to claim to test for it.

Novichok chemistry set It is simply too dangerous to make for a chemical graduate, but not difficult to make. It

Survivors Sergei Skripal, and his daughter Yulia requires expensive precautions such as fume cupboards and breathing apparatus.

Novichok can evaporate.

Spill a drop and you would

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.

WORD

not have time to phone for an ambulance.

Other two Wiltshire victims Dawn Sturgess died while boyfriend Charlie Rowley surived

Novichok itself isn’t a single compound but a family of compounds. They are simple chemicals that can be made by combining fluorine, phosphate and a basic organic compound such as ethane or benzene.

People die of increased muscle activity which leads to suffocation. Spray a fly and it quickly starts to thrash around before eventually dying.

Novichoks act much the same, but we are the flies.

Novichoks act like a human insecticide, blocking the chemicals that stop too many messages from being delivered from nerve to muscle.

Skripals The timeline of the so-called Russian poisonings points to the fact that Novichok was more

likely used by Western powers against Russian citizens.

Novichoks are fastacting – within minutes.

The people who were allegedly “poisoned” simply wouldn’t have had time to go to a restaurant or climb onboard a plane. Come on NATO, CIA, MI5, who are you kidding?

Novichoks act like human insecticide

14

THE

WORD

Late September Edition

POLITICS AND EVENTS

thewordmedia.org

BIZARRE NEWS

Star A Twin

Our Sun may have a twin, according to astrophysicists at Harvard University. Avi Loeb and collaborator Amir Siraj have suggested that a second star must have helped the sun collect passing debris because the Sun’s gravity alone wouldn’t have been powerful enough to pull so many objects into its orbit. They believe the twin broke away and has ended up in a completely different area of space.

The Old Woman Who Swallowed A Fly Had It Easy

A man in France got more than he bargained for when he tried to kill a fly. The octogenarian, who lived in the village of Parcoul-Chenaud, was about to eat dinner when he used an electric racket to swat the fly.

However, there was a leaking gas canister in his Dordogne home and the spark caused an explosion which destroyed the kitchen and partly damaged the roof of the house.

Mystic Horse

A horse has turned matchmaker, guiding a lonely woman to happiness. Caroline Mckain, 56, had been single for

four years and had nearly given up hope of finding a man. Then an animal whisperer told her that her horse Fred had said Caroline would find love with a man from Devon with a scar on his leg. Soon after, she met a man from Devon through a dating site and after meeting him discovered he had a scar on his leg.

Flattened Globe Trotters

Two Flat-Earthers in Italy have been quarantined after trying to find the end of the world.

The man and woman set sail in search of Lampedusa, an island between Sicily and North Africa, to prove there is an end to the world. A doctor at the Ministry of Health said: “The funny thing is that they orient themselves with the compass, an instrument that works on the basis of terrestrial magnetism, a principle that they, as Flat-Earthers, should reject.”

S***faced

A beer made with whale testicle and a wine fermented in a prison toilet are among the delights on show at the Disgusting Food Museum in Malmo, Sweden. The niche institution also boasts an ancient

Korean beverage fermented from children’s faeces and rice, together with a Scottish brew served from the mouth of a dead squirrel. “So much of what we drink is an acquired taste,” said museum director Andreas Ahrens.

Man Chills

An Austrian man has spent two hours, 30 minutes and 57 seconds inside a custommade glass box filled up to his shoulders with ice cubes – clad only in swimming trunks. “I’m fighting the pain by visualising and drawing on positive emotions so I can dampen this wave of pain,” Josef Koeberl told reporters. He beat his own record set in 2019 by 30 minutes.

Beat Me Until It Withers

A couple have been barred from a gastro pub for having a bondage session on the terrace in full view of other diners. On Sunday evening at The Mill, in Ulverston, Cumbria, the dominatrix tied her “slave” to a roof beam with a dog lead and began spanking him with a paddle. Eyewitnesses say the slapping sound of the spanking could be heard above the soundtrack of Lovely Day by

Bill Withers.

No Aliens

Scientists in Australia have discovered no signs of alien life after searching more than 10 million solar systems. The research team used a gigantic telescope in the Western Australian outback to perform the vast search, which they dubbed “looking for ET”. “We found no technosignatures - no sign of intelligent life,” one of the scientists said.

Syphon The Python

A teenage boy has been hospitalised after being bitten on the penis by a snake as he sat on the toilet. “I looked down and saw there was a snake hanging in the toilet,” said Siraphop Masukarat, 18, who lives near Bangkok, Thailand. Back in January, a Thai woman was also hospitalised after a snake bit her thigh while she answered the call of nature.

crop of cannabis. “I’ve caught this little pot-head taking leaves off of my plant and eating them until he passes out,” said Colin Sullivan from New Brunswick in Canada, where growing small amounts of cannabis is legal.

Sullivan cared for the stoned rodent and weaned him off the substance before releasing him back into the wild.

Extinction Rebellion Campaigns Nuke

A former Extinction Rebellion spokesperson has left the group to campaign for nuclear power.

Writing for the Daily Mail, Zion Lights said that although the green movement is “steeped in an anti-nuclear mindset,” any “rational, evidence-based approach shows that a strategy including nuclear energy is the only realistic solution to driving down emissions at the scale and speed required”.

Jerry Bogart’s Joint

A mouse has passed out after chewing on a Canadian man’s

ROYAL BEES QUACK TO AVOID DUST UPS We all know honey bees buzz. The queens also make quack noises and even toot.

Beekeepers have long known about these strange sounds, but not why bees made them.

Now researcher shows the sounds may stop queens from fighting to the death.

Martin Bencsik of Nottingham University is an expert in vibrations. He studies bees, that communicate through vibrations. Our ear drums register vibrations or acoustic waves, moving through the air as sound. Bees don’t have ears or ear drums to hear sounds, but their bodies can still feel the difference in quacking and tooting vibrations.

Bencsik led a team at Nottingham Trent University in England that explored the

different bee sounds. The researchers placed vibration detectors in 25 honeybee hives.

A honeybee colony has just one queen and thousands of worker bees. The queen is the mother of all the bees in that hive.

Workers take care of her eggs.

Most of those eggs will hatch into more workers. But a select few will become new queens.

New queens make quacking vibrations when they are ready to hatch. That had been known from earlier studies. Then they start chewing their way out of the waxy cells in which they have been growing Once a new queen emerges, she stops quacking and starts tooting.

Bencsik and his team believe tooting is a queen’s way of informing worker bees that

honeycomb with her six legs, presses her thorax against it and vibrates it with her body,” explains Bencsik. The workers feel the tooting vibration and move to keep the other queens captive. They do this by repairing the wax caps on the queens’ cells in the honeycomb.

she’s hatched. They also believe she’s signalling to the workers not to let the other quacking queens out of their cells. That’s important because when more than one queen hatches at the same time, they will try to sting

each other to death.

The thorax is the part of an insect’s body between its neck and abdomen. “When she’s ready to deliver the [tooting] signal, the queen hangs onto a

Bencsik and his team didn’t see this happening because they were tracking the bees from outside the hive. Other studies in which researchers peered into hives made of glass show that this is how worker bees keep queens in their waxy prisons.

A hatched queen might wander around the hive tooting for several days. All the while, the other captive queens keep up their quacking and attempts to escape.

thewordmedia.org

POLITICS AND EVENTS

Late September Edition

THE

WORD

Mad Madge Talks Across Oceans Of Time Hello readers, ‘Life’s What You Make It’ so the saying goes and the same applies to death. Now I could spend eternity sat on my backside, watching young Michael Portfolio on BBC2, prattling about trains and his fucking ‘Bradshaws Guide’ of tedious railway journeys. Or I could paint sickeningly trite landscapes watching The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross.

Even worse being forced to endure The One Show on continuous loop. But no readers The Pit of Despond is not for me, I prefer to be proactive and engage in tormenting other souls with some of Hell’s many Demons.

Cthulu is my favourite, who would have thought seafood could be so dark and sinister.

I am also in league with the editors of The Word to torment the many tortured souls who write in expecting empathy and advice. I’m in my demonic element. Here’s this week’s mail bag....

Dearest Margaret As someone in the same position as yourself I would like to ask you, what your

take is on current business competition rules regarding copyright? It seems that wherever I look people are stealing my trademark style. Years ago this was considered a strange garb but now it seems compulsory.

Your colleague, D Turpin, from London and York.

MAGGIE: Dick, Dick, Dicky, Dick, Dick! You know how it works here in the Hereafter, it’s very much like being in the European Union, there are rules and breaching them is illegal and carries with it severe penalties. You know yourself that your earthly sins are revisited upon you in Hell, galloping up the A1 to York only to be hung time after time. But things are so much different in the UK these days, all the Tory Party ‘Wrong Uns’ don’t need to stick to the rules as long as their sins are ‘In A Limited And Specific Way’. Just look at Domenic Cummings, Damien Green, Charlie Elphicke and Mark Francois. In short, In your day the villains wore masks, these days they insist

everyone else wears them, whilst breaking International Law, illegally proroguing Parliament and committing anything from breaking Lockdown rules through to full blown sex crimes.

Dear Maggie Could you please simplify where I am allowed to visit as the current rules seem difficult to understand? Is it correct that I can’t go to a restaurant, school, workplace, bus, wedding, funeral, pub or play football but I can’t go to my Grannies, my neighbours, to watch football, go to a theatre or a rave?

Yours FKD, Corona MAGGIE: Here in Hell we have a phrase “Aaaargh F***ING Hell, It Burns, It Burns!” and in nearly every case it’s because we are all sinners who disregarded all the so-called rules, laws, commandments and Papal decrees. If the rules were simple there wouldn’t be any room for Tories to flout them.

For any would-be Fascist dictatorship, the first step is to establish blame on your

opponents, and increasingly the general population, whilst breaching established Laws itself. Just copy Heinrich Himmler or Steve Bannon. Keep an eye on the UK, they will fine you £100 for breaching Lockdown and use the cash to defend their breach of International Law by reneging on the EU Withdrawal Agreement and Good Friday Agreement.

And working people actually voted for this....

To Thatcher I have spent years in prison for telling the truth yet Johnson is in charge because he keeps lying. Is this fair?

J Assange, Belmarsh Julian, as an Antipodean you are nothing more than a descendant of Convicts. You Aussies are always going on about ‘Whinging Poms’, well listen to yourself complaining.

You see that you and your little Facebook pals, breaking ‘news’ and spreading it on the interweb, just isn’t playing the game. You see the ‘Free Press’ needs to be owned

by Billionaires in order to support the governments

they fund and protect them from troublemakers and democratic scrutiny. Suck it up and hope they can’t find anything to charge you with.

And it’s “MRS Thatcher” to you Hippy!

Madame Mrs Dames The Thatcher, I have been elected 348 times in very democratic elections. I would just like to thank you for showing me how it is done.”

Alexander from Belarus Alex, you are welcome.

But the real test of a true tyrant is how you manage your opposition. Now I know you have been busy, arresting, disappearing and reporting the problematic ones. The best thing to do is have the right kind of opposition in place, one ideologically similar so that if you were to lose the 349th election, your regime continues. It worked with Tiny Bliar for me and it works with Steer-Klear Starmer for Boris. You would do a lot worse than follow contemporary Great British Tory tyranny....

15

16

THE

WORD

Late September Edition

POLITICS AND EVENTS

thewordmedia.org

BRITAIN’S NHS IS STILL BETTER THAN ANYTHING ON OFFER IN AMERICA

CORONA DEATHS FORCE THE US TO HEALTHCARE MESS

LOOK AT THEIR T

he Conservative government’s constant U-turns – initially promoting “herd immunity,” then a strict lockdown, then a gradual easing of restrictions only now introducing even harsher measures - has displeased both lockdown sceptics and proponents of more restrictive policies alike.

However, a consensus also exists that the UK healthcare system, centred on the NHS, despite criticisms from the right alleging inefficiency and from the left about its covert privatisation, remains a national treasure.

Across the pond, a consensus around health policy also exists - that the US healthcare system is a complete mess.

nearly 20 percent of US GDP, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Due to the absence of a government-run universal insurance program, 55 percent of Americans’ health insurance is provided by their employers, although 17.9 percent are covered by Medicaid, granted by the state to low-income or disadvantaged residents.

Almost 10 percent of Americans lack health insurance of any kind, meaning that visits to the hospital or emergency room can completely wipe out their AMERICANS savings.

10%

OF

HAVE NO HEALTH INSURANCE

Republicans and Democrats alike have run on health reform since before 2010 in nearly every election cycle, and the American public continue voting them out after they dislike the plans on offer.

This dissatisfaction doesn’t come cheap: In 2017, $3.5 trillion (£2.8 trillion) was spent on health care in the US - that’s more than $10,000 (£7,900) a person, and represents

»

England’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic has been regarded by commentators across the olitical spectrum as an omnishambles.

It is therefore r e l a t i v e l y common to see college-aged and even middle-aged people requesting donations on GoFundMe and similar websites to pay to get injuries resolved or to pay surgery bills.

All Americans, even those paying for health insurance, are typically required to pay “co-pays” ranging between $25 (£20) and $75 (£59) to see a doctor, therapist, or other medical professional.

Rather than pay $1,000 or

Christian has also long opposed universal health insurance, as it could mean the government underwriting abortions

more to go to an emergency room, many Americans choose to go to McDonald’s-like walkin treatment centres known as Urgent Cares.

These are similar to urgent treatment centres in the UK, except run by private, forprofit corporations.

Visits to attend to an earache, sore throat, allergy, or infection can cost between $100 and $200. These services may not be covered by health insurance. Nearly a quarter of Americans thus choose to avoid paying to resolve serious illnesses.

In the 2016 election, Donald Trump ran on a policy platform of replacing ObamaCare with “something better,” however, his planned bill ended up being so unpopular among

voters that his own party voted it down.

This time around, Trump has no health care policies on the cards, although Joe Biden plans to extend ObamaCare to allow Americans to buy US government insurance but still not make it universal.

The promise of providing universal, free health insurance is one of the key reasons Senator Bernie Sanders gained support among young Americans. It is also behind the growth of groups such as the Democratic Socialists of America and the Justice Democrats, social-democratic organisations seeking to push the Democrats to the left.

However, universal health insurance has been blocked since the era of Harry Truman

by the mighty insurance lobby, an industry that donates millions to politicians of both parties.

The extremely powerful Christian Right voting bloc has also long opposed the idea of universal health insurance, as it could mean the government underwriting the cost of abortions.

Recently, the absence of a universal healthcare system has been highlighted by activists and even America’s Establishment dailies such as The New York Times as a key reason the country has had so many coronavirus-related deaths and cases.

Change may be on the horizon, but the only certainty is that America’s broken health care system is going to be a point of discussion beyond November’s presidential election.

$1000 TO VISIT AN EMERGENCY ROOM

thewordmedia.org

POLITICS AND EVENTS

Late September Edition

THE

WORD

17

CHEESE PIZZA, ICE CREAM BELIEVED TO BE CODES FOR CHILD ABUSE

FAKE news, lies, conspiracy theories and Trump

I

f you’ve recently seen Facebook posts spreading rumours about sex crimes among leading political and entertainment figures, or photos of anti-lockdown demonstrators wielding signs bearing the slogan “wwg1wga,” you have stumbled upon a pro-Trump conspiracy movement that has, since its origins four years ago, rapidly spanned the globe and has been tied to murders, extremeright political figures, and evangelical groups.

In late 2016, WikiLeaks dumped an archive of Hillary Clinton advisor John Podesta's emails, exposing real corruption in the Democratic Party, such as the fact that Citigroup selected Barack Obama's 2008 cabinet, in addition to descriptions of leftwing primary challenger Senator Bernie Sanders as a "doofus" (stupid person) and access to questions ahead of a CNN debate.

The emails also contained references to mundane activities typical of a personal address, such as scheduled pizza parties between Podesta and his friends.

Dodgy news websites and Twitter accounts linked to the message board 4chan spread theories, without evidence, that seemingly mundane references

to "cheese pizza," "ice cream," and other foods represented code language referring to sexual acts against children.

The rumours were fanned on a Steve Bannon-owned Breitbart radio show and beyond in oblique references by Trump advisors Erik Prince, notorious as the head of a mercenary group that committed military atrocities in Iraq, and anti-Islam hardline ex-National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.

InfoWars, the Christianoriented conspiracy hub operated by Alex Jones, not only promoted the theory but amplified the idea that top Democrats and so-called "globalists" were not only paedophiles but satanic demons intent on sacrificing children.

The show later reneged on this theory, known as "PizzaGate," after a convinced vigilante shot up Comet Ping Pong, the DC pizza parlour

said to be the site of the elite Democratic paedophile ring.

Democrat-related conspiracy theories continued to rage across the right-wing internet even after Trump entered office, even as many conservatives determined that the US intelligence services, such as the CIA, FBI, and NSA, opposed Trump and had concocted the Russia collusion conspiracy theory and had led to the appointment of Robert Mueller in an attempt to destabilize his presidency.

Alongside the intelligence agencies, referred to by many Americans as the "deep state," far-right conspiracy theorists also included ordinary government bureaucrats and civil service employees such as postal workers as part of a nefarious cabal seeping to unseat Trump.

In late 2017, though, an anonymous 4chan user known as “Q” - a reference to the Q-level top security clearance, began gaining traction claiming

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.

WORD

a narrative quite different than that of most right-wing conspiracy mongers.

Instead of being a mortal foe, the US military and even Mueller himself actually represented secret allies of Trump, and under the cover of the Russia investigation laboured to expose and arrest the supposed globalist and Democratic paedophile network, that by now had been extended to include celebrities and European leaders including Angela Merkel, said by Q to be the granddaughter of Hitler.

Upon the publication of Mueller’s report showing no collusion between Trump and Russia, Q claimed this vindicated its narrative. However, most if not all the predictions of Q have turned out to be incorrect, such as the rumour that Hillary Clinton and other Democratic leaders would be arrested at the 2018 State of the Union speech

by Trump.

These repeated mistakes haven’t turned off millions of Americans, and even people from the UK and Germany, who strongly believe in the theory and have nestled among antilockdown activists and rightwing militia groups, and also among international Facebook groups.

A major recent concern of Qanon supporters, continuing their obsession with child sex-trafficking, has been attempting to expose examples of Democrats and “leftists” introducing paedophilia into mainstream culture, citing the movie Cuties as a supposed example.

They have also used the hashtag #savethechildren to advance fake narratives and have promoted the unfounded theory that anti-fascist protestors (“antifa”) have been behind the California wildfires.

Trump has refused to denounce Q, tweeting videos and slogans referring to Qanon themes and even at times seeming to endorse Q supporters, even after murders have been committed in the name of the theory, including the killing of a major mafia boss.

People who study conspiracy movements, such as Robbie Martin of Media Roots Radio, in addition to the Democratic blog Media Matters, have alleged that the Trump campaign or those related to it have been behind Qanon and Pizzagate since day one, and anticipate that the movement is going to take on a greater role in Trump’s campaign as the election season reaches its final months.

18

THE

WORD

Late September Edition

POLITICS AND EVENTS

thewordmedia.org

thewordmedia.org

POLITICS AND EVENTS

Late September Edition

THE

WORD

19

GRAND ETHIOPIAN RENAISSANCE DAM , EGYPT’S DENIAL

ETHIOPIAS FUTURE T

he Nile is the longest river in the world. It has two main sources. The white Nile flows from Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and others and the Blue Nile which has its source in the Ethiopian Highlands and is known as Abay river.

It carries 86% of the water that reaches Egypt through Sudan. The Nile is the only river and source of water in Egypt. In 1959 Egypt built the Aswan High Dam on its border with Sudan. It also constructed multiple channels leading into the desert to nourish parched lands for agricultural purposes.

The GERD (Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam) dam being constructed in Ethiopia is a hydroelectric dam which will be used to generate electricity and not for agriculture or irrigation therefore not affecting the flow downstream. When operational its 16 turbines will generate 6.45

gigawatts, the largest in Africa and the 7th largest in the world.

It will electrify all of Ethiopia and supply surrounding states with regular electricity.

Presently 60% of Ethiopia have no access to electricity.

Meles Zenawi insisted that the country should finance it instead of relying on outside sources. They raised 4.8 billion dollars.

The Project began in 2011 but due to delays will not be completed until 2023/4.

Egypt 2,500 kilometres downstream opposes the dam on the grounds it would reduce the amount of water available to it.

The dam was financed by Ethiopian citizens through government bonds and private donations after World Bank and IMF loan channels were blocked by Egyptian objections and diplomatic pressure. The then Ethiopian Prime minister

Yet the Ethiopian government has repeatedly reassured them that there would be no interruption of water once the dam has been filled, even sharing the construction blueprint with them to reassure and ease tensions.

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.

WORD

Egypt has demanded a halt to construction and an increase of their share from 66% to 90% as a precondition to negotiations.

It has also sought to create instability within Ethiopia by funding and supporting rebel groups, insurgents and disgruntled tribes people and has even openly discussed military action in Parliament.

Sudan has accused Egypt of inflaming the situation.

future agreements. Addis Ababa rejects this as these were colonial agreements they were not party to. Ethiopia seeks a new and more equitable agreement.

Ethiopia is supported by the riparian and sub Saharan African states.

In November 2019 the United States mediated in negotiations between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt but lent so heavily in favour of Egypt that Ethiopia cancelled the next round.

Egypt has a much more developed economy any country along North east and East Africa. Its political and diplomatic leverage is dominant and its military perhaps the most powerful in Africa. It is using this dominance that try and bully Ethiopia.

The U.S is now threatening Ethiopia with economic sanctions.

Cairo refers to the two agreements it signed with Britain in 1929 and 1959 giving it rights over the Nile as a basis for

Social media and Internet is alive with support for the dam.

Trending hashtag # ITS MY DAM# and # DAM IT#.

This project and foreign opposition to it has galvanised Ethiopian unity like never before, daring Egyptians and their supporters to do their worst.

20

THE

WORD

Late September Edition

POLITICS AND EVENTS

Vegan recipes

thewordmedia.org

Cooking with Chris Williamson

COLCANNON

PREPARATION Put the potatoes into a saucepan and cover with boiling water.

Cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until they’re tender.

While the potatoes are cooking put some water into another saucepan and bring to the boil.

Add the cabbage, cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.

Put the leaks into a saucepan with the soya milk or soya cream and simmer gently for about 5 to 6 minutes until tender.

Put the margarine into a small bowl and places on top of the pan containing the leaks to melt it.

Drain the potatoes, then mash together with the leaks and soya milk or soya cream. Drain, then add the cabbage, mix together and season well with salt and pepper.

Transfer the mixture to Warmed plates. Make a well in the centre and pour the melted margarine into it.

C

olcannon is a great traditional Irish dish, which is incredibly easy to make, nutritious and, as an added bonus, the ingredients are very cheap.

INGREDIENTS 750g peeled and chopped potatoes 1 savoy cabbage shredded 2 leeks washed and finally sliced 125ml Soya milk or soya cream Salt Freshly ground black pepper 50g Soya margarine

Enjoy, or as my Irish speaking relatives would say – “Bain taitneamh as do bhéile.”

Resistance Movement and Socialist Labour Party in talks Chris Williamson and Dave Roberts of the Resistance Movement, met with the former leader of the National Union of Mineworkers and now leader of Socialist Labour Party Arthur Scargill in Derby this month to explore how they can collaborate.

The Resistance Movement is being established following last year’s general election defeat and what the founders describe as the dismantling

of the Corbyn project inside the Labour Party. The SLP started in 1996 after Labour dropped commitment to working towards replacing capitalism Mr Williamson said the meeting had been “very valuable.” Arthur and Ken Capstick said they were appalled

by Labour’s virulent witchhunt and that the SLP has seen increase in membership enquiries from people who have left Labour because

they are so disillusioned by the new leadership.

He added: “We had a wideranging discussion, including solutions to the ongoing economic, environmental and social challenges facing the country and the crucial importance of working class solidarity. “British democracy isn’t functioning. The major political parties are essentially two sides of the same coin and parliament is overrun with establishment lackeys.

“It’s critically important therefore to build a political

alternative, including extraparliamentary activities, because millions of voters have given up on existing mainstream party politics.

“With 15.5 million people not bothering to vote at the election, it’s obvious that dissatisfaction with the political and economic status quo is growing.

“There is clearly potential for an insurgent movement, with a political programme that addresses public need rather than corporate greed, to mobilise the millions who are currently effectively disenfranchised.

thewordmedia.org

POLITICS AND EVENTS

Late September Edition

THE

WORD

21

WOMEN WHO MADE A DIFFERENCE

BERTA CÁCERES

B

erta was born March 4th.

1973 in La Esperanza, Honduras, She grew up during a time of civil unrest and violence, forming her views from her inspirational mother, Austra Bertha Flores Lopez. Austra was an activist helping refugees from El Salvador also serving two terms as mayor of Esperanza, congesswoman and Department Governor.

Berta studied education at University. Her desire to improve the lot of indigens was helped by friend, Fr. Ishmael Moreno, director of Radio Progreso & ERIC (Equipo de Reflexión, Investigación y Comunicación ) a Jesuit centre, with its stated aim to improve human rights of the rural poor in Honduras and Central America.

As a student in 1993 to she co-founded COPINH (Council of Popular and Indigenous Organisations of Honduras)

leading campaigns on illegal logging, US military bases, and plantation owners. She also supported feminism and LGBT rights.

Her biggest battle was to come in 2006 when indigenous Lenco people Blanco asked her to investigate a project to build 4 large dams on the Gualcarque River. It was a joint venture between a Chinese Company, Sinohydro, the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) and DESA (Desarrollos Energeticos, S.A.) Developers had not followed international law by not consulting local people. Berta organised the Lenca in a protest campaign and took their cause to the Inter American Commission on Human Rights. The locals were concerned that access to water, food and medicines would threaten their traditional way of life.

The continued protests caused Sinohydro and the IFC to pull out of the project. However DESA pushed ahead supported by many powerful business interests. The Honduras military and hired ‘hitmen’ killed and injured a number of protesters.

Berta and others were threatened with arrest. The protesters were labelled violent anarchists bent on terrorising the population....... usurpation, coercion.... and attempting to undermine the democratic order.”

Supporting Bertha, Amnesty International stated that if the protesters were arrested they would consider them prisoners of conscience. This did not stop her being shot dead on the night of 2 March 2016. Her friend, Mexican environmental activist Gustavo Castro Soto, was also wounded.

Despite an investigation that has led to detention of eight hitmen, the question of who may

have ordered the murder remains unanswered. “Two years on from Berta Cáceres’ tragic death, the failure to resolve this case and bring all those responsible to justice sends a chilling message that human rights defenders can be killed with impunity if they dare question those with power in Honduras,” said Erika Guevara Rosas, from Amnesty International.

Berta had long been a target for the Honduras state since supporting President Mel Zelaya, who oversaw modest social reforms, including pledging to finally resolve longstanding land conflicts between peasant farmers and agribusinesses.

Although he had a lot of popular support he failed in a bid to serve an extra term.

There followed a coup d’etat and Zelaya was exiled to Costa Rica.

International condemnation was widespread; the United Nations, Organisation of American States

(OAS) and the EU condemned his removal as a military coup.

Berta was reported as saying she was the top of a list of 18 human rights fighters on the army’s assassination list! She said ‘I want to live, there are many things I still want to do in this world but I have never once considered giving up fighting for our territory, for a life with dignity, because our fight is legitimate...... When they want to kill me, they will do it.’

The plan was to assassinate Berta, so as to destroy her organisation of communities that mobilise against racism, colonialism, patriarchy and capitalism.

The powerful people behind her assassination have yet to be brought to justice but her powerful message resonates from beyond the grave. Quote: ‘They are afraid of us because we are not afraid of them’.

Badgers and Capitalism The imminent resumption of the government directed badger cull in certain English counties has been met with hostility and revulsion.

Both are relatively inexpensive solutions to the problem.

That wild animals impact on domestic livestock is generally accepted, it is how this impact is managed that is open to debate.

However, shooting is chosen as the preferred method, but as to why, it is not entirely clear. The cheapest option it isn’t and there is evidence to suggest it causes more widespread movements of possibly infected badgers.

Various remedies exist to rid badgers of BovineTB, from dietary supplements containing selenium (a trace chemical that can combat bTB) to give a natural resilience, to vaccination not only of badgers but cattle as well.

The possible answer may lie in the capitalist mindset which pervades our government and ruling classes. Capitalism exists solely to make a profit. To make money. And with money comes power. Power to make

more money. More profit. It is the sole reason for its existence and everything is secondary to that purpose and anything that gets in the way must be removed. Preferably, eradicated completely.

Capitalism has exploited the globe for its natural resources and the indigenous people, animals and environment that stood in the way has either been destroyed, enslaved or exterminated and the badger is no exception.

BovineTB has a detrimental

effect on the profits of the dairy industry which is worth £3.8 billion annually in the UK, the largest part of British agriculture.

Badgers are seen as a threat to this profitable industry and so the capitalist mindset kicks in, destroy the problem. Eradicate it.

The badgers have to go, we need to make that profit and shooting is the way. Dead bodies don’t lie.

Murder, genocide, land and resource theft, slavery, oppression, environmental and climate degradation, hunger and cruelty are all the bedfellows of capitalism and even our humble badger, deep in its sett in Dorset is not untouched by this man made global evil.

The Revolting Peasants

THE

WORD

22

Late September Edition

POLITICS AND EVENTS

thewordmedia.org

Autumn Equinox

SEASONS OF MISTS AND MELLOW FRUITFULNESS

T

his year’s Autumn equinox falls on Tuesday 22nd September and heralds the start of the season that has inspired poets and artists over the centuries. It has been celebrated around the world since ancient times.

It is an important time of year and one we would literally do well from switching onto.

Seasonal awareness would seem to have positive effects on mental wellbeing.

Luckily for us this need not involve huge effort on our part.

It really is a case of the simplest things meaning the most.

is the time to take stock and prepare for winter.

If you are a gardener time to leave the dead heading and collect seed for next year. In the house make sure that the soup pan and casserole dishes are easy to reach and for ourselves, make sure we have warm slippers, boots and woollies, along with hot chocolate mugs at the ready.

Think welly clad children kicking up leaves and you are already on track.

Just as the equinox itself marks the time of equal day and night it is the perfect time for us to find some balance in our modern lives.

It is truly a wonderful season so open those windows, breathe in its freshness and enjoy.

Julie Speed

As well as celebration of the continuing harvest, Autumn

Why the ballot box is no longer fit for purpose Instead we have ’constructive opposition’. And what form does this ‘constructive opposition’ take? A secret letter to Johnson promising his and his shadow cabinet’s support.

‘Silky smooth’, ‘forensic’, ‘at last an effective opposition’ some of the words and phrases assigned to Starmer’s outings at PMQ’s by the liberal media outlets such as The Guardian and The Independent. A view parroted across the country by some on the left and pseudo left.

In reality, this supposed accomplished performance epitomises the nature of twoparty British politics. It is a return to the almost identical ideological status quo, preCorbyn where both parties vied with each other as to who would be tougher on such issues as benefit claimants and migrants.

Corbyn as Leader of the Opposition, changed this decades long narrative by his

refusal to accept austerity and coupled with his lifelong commitment to human rights and an ethical foreign policy the face of British politics changed.

For four years. And now, enter stage right…. Starmer. Starmer is an Establishment man, the sleeper in Labour who was planted to take over on Corbyn’s eventual demise. Unlike Corbyn, who attacked the whole idea of neo-liberal austerity, Starmer

attacks the man, Boris Johnson, the Westminster Village idiot.

Not for Starmer to criticise the corruption, cronyism and privatising ideology of one of the most right wing Conservative governments ever.

Not for him to highlight the dismal failures of Johnson’s woeful cabinet and not for him to stand up for the rejection of government dictats by teachers, parents and workers.

social change from the left.

Don’t look to Starmer to support workers when the furlough scheme ends or those who will be made redundant. Expect instead pious handwringing, bemoaning their plight but no suggested policies to alleviate the suffering in case it annoys the establishment who demand a ‘return to normality’ so unrestricted profits can, once more, be the name of the game.

What is needed now, as Corbyn advocated, is a movement for change from below, initiated by grassroots activists. An upsurge of protest, of resistance, of community organising. Of local groups working for the alleviation of local poverty and homelessness, joining with anti NHS privatisation groups, BLM/ BAME/LGBT activists, anti fascists, environmental groups, animal rights and hunt saboteurs, for mutual support and encouragement using social media primarily, to create a climate of protest and resistance.

Another true left wing leader of Labour is no longer possible and future rule changes will make this certain so the ballot box is now dead as a weapon of

The future is in the hands of us, ‘the ordinary’ people who will prove to be anything but ‘ordinary’.

Paul Simpson and Julie Speed

thewordmedia.org

LETTER

“I had three people instrumental in Keir Starmer’s campaign tell me they majorly regret it and his performance now,” said Dawn Foster.

“I have had four females crying to me in person or by phone/messenger complaining about Starmer’s hypocrisy, racism and bullying.

I’ve had quite a few who voted for him telling me they feel “completely betrayed, the lying, hypocritical a***hole” etc, and many more who are tearing their hair out and are completely demoralised.

Add to this the frankly shocking results from that (Labour List) members survey where the majority of those

responding gave the “very unhappy” response to how they thought Starmer was doing.

Given Labour cannot even say Trump is racist, that we have lost lots of BAME members and members in general, that Labour sides with landlords claiming interest from tenants, have p***ed off the Kashmiri population and BLM Movement, that Labour doesn’t want to raise taxes on the richest, is contradicting our own Environmental Shadow Minister re Enviro targets, the Labour for a Green New Deal call Labour’s stance now “a betrayal”…given Starmer is in his ‘honeymoon’ period, has most media and commentariat praising him, no backstabbing

POLITICS AND EVENTS

from Labour MPs and with him facing THE worst PM and Government in history who have been responsible in no small part for tens of thousands of completely unnecessary deaths, then all in all I think we can say this has been an incredibly demoralising, upsetting and completely unacceptable start by Starmer.

The Party is becoming completely unrecognisable and he’s only been in charge since April. Sort it Starmer, and sort it now. Before it’s too late.

Corbyn never had ANY of the advantages Starmer did. None.

He faced and defeated coups.

If Labour were performing this shockingly badly, with these consistent polling figures, he would have already faced

Late September Edition

THE

WORD

23

another coup…

issues will force them to.

I am staying a member.

Because I don’t do bullying, I want to be here to get justice re Labour leaks etc. I want to be here to help salvage what is left of the Party as Starmer et al inevitably have to ACTUALLY DO WHAT THEY PROMISED, and revert back to The Left over the next few months as UK and global politics/economic/social

Obviously absurd it will take that for them to see sense, but the Labour right never, ever, ever, ever, ever learn… until now. Because they’ll have to.”

Adam Samuels, (taken from Dorset Eye)

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.

WORD

ROLL CALL TO TORY FATAL INCOMPETENCE

W

hile we are in the grip of a pandemic, made worse by Tory inaction and self-servitude, did everyone just, ‘forget’ about what the Tories are actually capable of? Are the names of those who have lost their lives as a direct result

of Tory policy, somehow negated and nullified?

Not to us they aren’t…

Remember, the Tories are veritable masters at deception and second to none in using a crisis to mask their nastiness

and true nature. And we cannot allow them to get away with that.’

Vote of No Confidence in the UK Conservatives’ roll call of our

Covid-19 dead https://m.facebook. com/168123753223533/photos/a.

339839219385318/14963827237 30956/?type=3&source=48

THE WORD

24

THE

WORD

Late September Edition

Questions 1 What are the four terrestrial planets 2 What is the chief component of sand 3 How many teeth does a human adult have 4 Which two bands have headlined at Glastonbury the most?

5 What was the first song Oasis sang at their first appearance at Glastonbury in 1994?

6 What year did Jeremy Corbyn appear on the pyramid stage at Glastonbury where he said “Another World is Possible 7 Who is the only music artist to win the Nobel prize for

literature?

8 Which singer is the only one to do 2 theme tunes for James Bond movies?

9 What was Stormzys song “Blinded by Your Grace” in recognition of?

10 What was the name of Dorothy’s dog in Wizard of Oz? 11 Which Japanese breed of dog is known for its bravery and fighting 12 What was the name of the cat at the centre of a search in Men in Black?

13 1990s TV show: The _ Files 14 Letter which the British pound sign is derived from 15 Metro rail system in German countries: _-Bahn 16 Which bird is nicknamed

POLITICS AND EVENTS

The Laughing Jackass?

17 True or false: You can sneeze in your sleep 18 Which European country has 158 verses to its national anthem?

19 Which Football Team Has Won the European Cup the Most Times 20 How Many Players Are There in A Baseball Team 21 In Which Asian City Were The 1964 Summer Olympics Held 22 1 The National Health Service came into being on July 5th,1948. Which city was home to the first NHS hospital?

23 In which country was the renowned cricketer Brian Lara born?

thewordmedia.org

24 Which metal has the chemical symbol Pb? 25 According to the idiom, what do ‘birds of a feather’ do?

Answers 1 Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars 2 Quartz 3 32 4 Cold Play and The Cure have both headlined at Glastonbury 4 times making them both the most headlined bands at the festival.

5 Shakermaker 6 2017 7 Bob Dylan 8 Shirley Bassey 9 The Grenfell tower victims 10 Toto

11 Japanese Akita 12 Orion 13 X 14 L 15 U 16 Kookaburra 17 False 18 Greece 19 Real Madrid (6 times) 20 9 players 21 Tokyo 22 1 Park Hospital in Trafford, Manchester, was the place chosen to launch the new National Health Service and so is regarded as the first NHS hospital 23 Trinidad 24 Lead 25 Flock Together

thewordmedia.org

POLITICS AND EVENTS

THE

WORD

Late September Edition

25

INQUIRY FINDS ALARMING FLAWS IN POLICE RESPONSE

MANCHESTER ARENA BOMBING

T

he public inquiry into the Manchester Arena Bombing, of 22nd May 2017, started this week.

The investigatory hearings, being carried out somewhat awkwardly over broadband because of Coronavirus, are being chaired by retired High Court Judge, Sir John Saunders.

The atrocity, a suicide bombing carried out by a radicalised local man called Salman Abedi, killed 22 people, many of them children, in addition to his own, at the end of a concert performed at the Arena by US popstar, Ariana Grande.

More than 260 other people were injured.

»

By the second day of the inquiry there have been several shocking findings.

Almost two-and-a-half hours Disaster in Sheffield in 1989. between the explosion and The second big failing the Major Incident Plan being however is, if anything, even activated has a distressing more startling. The Greater The first was the overtone of, “after the Manchester Police, it has been all-too-familiar horse has bolted.” revealed, were never officially revelation that It also has given advance notice that the British during their d i s t u r b i n g l y concert was even happening.

Transport emergency loud echoes of Police... appear response the the discovery Some officers appear to have never to have police failed by the become aware of it through to activate the Hillsborough common gossip, but there were even been made Major Incident Independent no special police arrangements aware of the Plan – called Panel in 2012 made in advance to oversee contingency Operation Plato that the Major what, at the very least, was likely plan – until 1am on 23rd Incident Plan to be an event requiring some May. was never activated measure of high security. by the South Yorkshire The Greater Manchester Police, during their botched The GMP had even carried Police (GMP) first received word response to the Hillsborough out a simulated attack on the of the explosion at 10:39pm, about eight minutes after Abedi triggered his nail-bomb and THE WORD NEWSPAPER NEEDS YOUR HELP

The Greater Manchester Police, it has been revealed, were never officially informed in advance that the Ariana Grande concert was even happening.

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.

WORD

»

Police... failed to activate the Major Incident Plan... until around 1am... despite... first receiving word of the explosion at 10:39pm

Arena as a training exercise the previous year, and had drawn up a full, enhanced contingency plan to be used in the event of a real attack.

Worryingly again, British Transport Police, who were present in the bombing response, as the Arena was located directly above Manchester Victoria Railway Station, were never made aware of the plan.

The inquiry continues.

By Martin Odoni

THE

WORD

26

Late September Edition

POLITICS AND EVENTS

thewordmedia.org

A DAY AT TH Image4

Image2

Image5

Image7

Image6

A

mere 20 minute boat ride from Harwich to Hamford Water gets you amongst the basking seals, a mix of grey and common seals. Image1 shows a grey.

The seal that thinks he’s an otter, Image2, he has obviously found it too hot on the beach.

Image3 is a grey seal moulting into his adult fur. Another colour variation can be seen in Image4. The seal looks rusty and, apparently, that is exactly right. It seems that in Hamford Water, there is a high

concentration of iron which the seals ingest with their food.

The iron is then incorporated into their fur which then goes rusty.

Image5 is an excellent example of great camouflage. Honest, there is a seal there!

Image6 is a herring gull. There are not many seabirds of any sort around at the moment, maybe they’re all scavenging inland?

Of the few that are around, Image7 shows a little egret and Image8 shows a cormorant, apparently trying to tie a knot in his neck!

Image1

thewordmedia.org

POLITICS AND EVENTS

Late September Edition

THE

WORD

27

HE SEASIDE Image3

Image8

THE

WORD

28

Late September Edition

POLITICS AND EVENTS

thewordmedia.org

LIVERPOOL EVADE A QUANDARY Thiago Alcantara is reported to be eager to join Liverpool, probably for a fee of around £25 million

C

urrent scuttlebut at Anfield is that the club’s Dutch midfielder, Georginio ‘Gini’ Wijnaldum, who has been linked with a move to Barcelona, has made clear in talks with manager, Jürgen Klopp, that he does not wish to go to the Nou Camp, and would prefer to remain where he is.

The thinking was reportedly that 29-year-old Wijnaldum’s move would clear the path for the signing of Spanish midfield star, Thiago Alcantara, from Bayern Munich.

Liverpool’s main obstacle to making that purchase is that the first team squad already contains the maximum allocation of

»

Wijnaldum has made clear in talks with Jürgen Klopp that he does not wish to go

seventeen Non-Home-Grown players (NHG players are senior footballers who did not spend at least three years registered at English football clubs prior to their 21st birthdays). Wijnaldum, being an NHG player, would have opened a slot in the squad by departing.

Wijnaldum had turned down a contract extension offer in the autumn of 2019. Wijnaldum wanted more years on the deal than Liverpool were prepared to offer, on reflection of his age.

With last year’s talks breaking down, Liverpool appeared prepare to sell Wijnaldum while he still had a year left on his present deal, rather than

As a new Premier League season gets under way in England, the reigning champions, Liverpool, appear to have avoided a (relative) dilemma.

be forced to let him leave for nothing next summer.

But Wijnaldum is now interested in signing a shortterm contract extension after all, probably keeping him at Anfield until the summer of 2023.

As for Alcantara, who is also 29 years old and therefore no spring chicken either, he is reported to be eager to join Liverpool, and might still be brought in, probably for a fee of around £25 million. However, at least one NHG player already on the squad would have, at the very least, to go out on loan to make room for him.

By Martin Odoni

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.

WORD

thewordmedia.org

POLITICS AND EVENTS

Late September Edition

THE

WORD

29

PIERRE GASLY WINS AT MONZA IN AN ACTION-PACKED

LEWIS HAMILTON

finished in seventh LTY

AFTER A STOP-AND-GO PENA W

ith another round over, here are the talking points of an incident-filled weekend.

Gasly’s Victory

Victory in Monza tops off a good season for the Alpha Tauri man. Second in Brazil last year had been Gasly’s best result, but in Italy, the Frenchman capitalised on other drivers’ misfortune, and held off Carlos Sainz late on to hand Alpha Tauri a first season win. Gasly had half a season with Christian Horner’s team, but poor results saw the 24-year-old demoted to Alpha Tauri. The setback did not affect his confidence, and with Alex Albon’s poor results in Red Bull’s second seat, the return of Gasly seems a formality.

Gasly caused an upset with his maiden Formula One win. Sainz finished second for McLaren, with Stroll completing the podium with Racing Point.

An incident-packed race was temporarily halted by red flags.

modes boosting performance. gap on Mercedes, they will have The FIA banned these engine to think again. modes, only allowing teams to reduce them for durability’s Ferrari’s Woes Monza continued the sake.

Valtteri Bottas lamentable pattern struggled with the of Ferrari’s season; change, dropping to Lance yet again, both cars seventh after a poor Stroll continues failed to complete start. Teammate to impress the race. Sebastian Lewis Hamilton, Vettel retired with however, took for Racing a brake problem, the change in his point. while Charles stride, creating a Leclerc crashed into a five-second gap to barrier after losing control Sainz initially. Only a stopand-go penalty, imposed for of the SF1000. With McLaren, Hamilton entering the pit lane Racing Point and Renault while it was closed, deprived gaining points, Ferrari has now Mercedes Engine Modes the Briton of another win. If rival fallen further behind in the race Before the weekend, talk had teams thought changes to the for third in the Constructors’ been about Mercedes engine engine modes would close the Championship. Woes are set to continue for the Italian side, with team principal Mattia Binotto More than the victory, the return of claiming the prancing horse will Gasly to Red Bull seems a formality. struggle going into 2021.

»

Special Mention

Lance Stroll continues to impress for Racing point, the Canadian in Monza equalling his best finish - third in Baku, 2017. Doubts over Stroll’s ability - many pundits and fans claimed the 21-year-old only had a seat because his dad was the owner of Racing Point – have been disproven by results; Stroll can handle t h e pressure of F1.

N e x t week, F1 will make its debut at the Mugello Circuit for the Tuscan Grand Prix, where Hamilton will look to return

to winning ways.

B y Paulo Pedro

30

THE

WORD

Late September Edition

POLITICS AND EVENTS

thewordmedia.org

THE END OF SOUTHEND?

A

re Southend United football club going to be another case of a small town side not surviving? The Shrimpers were relegated in a disastrous unfinished last season hardly winning a match. Previous manager, Sol Campbell resigned after being told

there was no money to buy new players. Supporters are now being told the following: SOUTHEND United manager Mark Molesley cannot add to his Shrimpers squad until the club’s transfer embargo is lifted. But, with 23 players now registered, Molesley cannot bring in any

new players until the restrictions are eased.

“At the moment the squad size is at its maximum for the embargo rules,” said Molesley.

So far this season the team have not managed to win a match. They are plagued by winding up orders from

the Inland Revenue and the long heralded new ground at Fossett’s farm seems as far away as ever. To add to their woes, Rochdale of all teams have bought their star striker.

SOUTHEND United accepted an improved offer from Rochdale for striker Stephen

Humphrys, The 22-yearold Humphrys joined the Shrimpers from Fulham in January 2019 and scored 10 goals in 34 appearances. Add to this the falling attendances and ramshackle nature of their, Roots Hall ground and it seems the perfect recipe for disaster

By Peter Loo

Seasiders Goodship sunk by a small sub from Leeds Southend United became the strongest side in the football league on the very first day of the new season as they straight away found themselves propping the whole league up. Striker, Brandon Goodship sank without trace as the Southend forward line, on this performance, would have found it hard going against Accrington Stanley’s under 12 non sighted girls para Olympics hopefuls. And this supine shambles was against league new comers Harrogate. In other words the sickly, sad, shrimpers lost to a small posh suburb of Leeds.

Yes, there are posh bits of Leeds…I was shocked as well to find that one out.

United manager Mark Molesley refused to blame controversial refereeing decisions for the Shrimpers’ defeat to Harrogate Town.

Molesley was cautioned by referee Anthony Coggins for his protests following Harrogate’s

third goal at Roots Hall. But the 39-year-old admitted Blues only had themselves to blame, despite not agreeing the officials’ decisions.

“The referee has apologised to me really,” said Molesley.

“The fourth one is about how you interpret the rules as the striker is in the box and he’s tackled our defender.”

So, there you have it. You lose 4 nothing at home and refuse to blame the ref. What

a magnanimous new manager Southend now has.

Molesley then went on to say, “It was almost an under 21 team we

had out there and we have plenty of work to do.”

Yes, you have plenty of work to do…for a start stop making daft quotes like… “tackled our

defender.” Tackling is allowed.

Secondly…playing like a team of 12 year old’s is not” an under 21 team.” Southend have a long way to go to get that good.

Just a small thank you must be given to Covid 19 for sparing us watching this disaster.

thewordmedia.org

T

POLITICS AND EVENTS

Late September Edition

THE

WORD

31

EVERTON MAKE BIG STATEMENT FOR NEW SEASON

hroughout Premier League history, Everton have lived in the shadow of neighbours and bitter rivals Liverpool, having endured an unprecedented trophy drought since 1995.

The FA Cup they won that year is their only major trophy since the EPL began, while Liverpool, in that same period, have won the League Cup four times, the Champions League twice, the FA Cup twice, and the UEFA Cup once.

how many ordinary, or even quite poor, sides Everton have fielded since 1992; three times, they finished 17th, (one place above the drop), and in 1998 only avoided relegation on goal difference.

European football, but he is very much a two-footed footballer, with dribbling and passing skills of a quality that has hardly been seen in Everton’s recent history.

But best of all, James is a very reliable finisher, even when only playing in a deeper role behind the strikers; he even won the Golden Boot at the 2014 World Cup with six goals from just five games. Despite his advancing age – he turned 29 in July – he remains a player of immense talent, and one feels that Everton may have secured the services of a potential world-beater.

Despite improvement since the early-2000s, Everton have largely been a mid-table team, with a long succession of overpaid, under-achieving players. The suspicion is that the obsession with seeing Liverpool miss out on titles has been too much of a The suspicion distraction for is that the the Toffees.

Every year for most of that time, the obsession with only, rather seeing Liverpool negative, Without a consolation miss out on titles has Liverpool title Everton fans failure to hide been too much of a could take was behind this distraction for that the most year, Everton the Toffees important prize have been forced give them a proper cutting edge of all, the Premier to address the in attack, and to provide much League title itself, inadequacies of their more ammunition for their consistently eluded the Reds. own playing squad, and they combative Brazilian forward, However, even that tiny crumb have pulled a purchase out of Richarlison. of redemption is now gone, the hat that might just turn as Liverpool finally became things around at Goodison Enter Colombian star, James Champions of England in June Park. What they need for the Rodríguez Rubio, a versatile this year. imminent new season is a attacker who has proven his seasoned, gifted playmaker to class at two World Cups, and In a way, this might do Everton some good, as the club has been forced to face the THE WORD NEWSPAPER NEEDS YOUR HELP reality that it cannot live off THE We are a non-profit making cooperative but still the failures of its Merseyside have our outgoing costs such as design, website neighbour. For a club that was hosting and software. Please help us maintain this undoubtedly one of the greats left wing tabloid by going to our website at www.thewordmedia.org of the English game during the and subscribing. By joining together let us all fight back against the riera of the old Football League, it ch and powerful. can be quite startling to realise

WORD

has extensive experience in the Champions League from his years playing for Real Madrid in Spain, and Bayern Munich in Germany. Carlo Ancelotti, Everton’s Italian coach, was the man who managed James at both Real and Bayern, and he was undoubtedly the decisive factor in James’ move to Goodison. That alone should be grounds for optimism among Everton supporters, as they know that their coach is a man who can get the best out of the player.

And that ‘best’ is very, very good indeed. James’ left foot is famously one of the best in

While they cannot depend on him to fix everything that is wrong at the club, and will need other players in their squad to pull their fingers out at last, they have a new recruit of great class brought into what looks an ideal set-up for himself. James might even be what other players need to inspire them to improve.

And Everton only paid £12 million for James too. Compare that to the preposterous £45 million they paid for Gylfi Sigurdsson back in 2017, and you realise that Everton’s recruiters may have finally developed an eye for a bargain.

More than that, perhaps they have at last stopped substituting extravagance with the transfer budget for informed investment.

By Martin Odoni

EXCITING THE TOP OF THE TABLE ALREADY LOOKS FAMILIAR

Christensen rugby-tackles Sadio James Rodriguez scores his first goal for Everton

THE PREMIER LEAGUE Leicester City celebrate

IS UNDER WAY!

D

efending champs looking the part, Leicester overachieving again Already, though, there are plenty of signs that the top four is going to take a predictable shape.

From last season, Premier League champions Liverpool have won both of their first two matches, as have Leicester City, who were in the top four for most of 2019-20 before a late-season slump saw them drop out of the Champions League spots. Liverpool needed a late penalty to edge out newlypromoted Football League champions Leeds United in an enthralling seven-goal thriller, before a very important and impressive 2-0 win at expected title challengers Chelsea, who saw defender Andreas Christensen correctly sent off for a professional foul (well, frankly a rugby tackle) on Sadio Mané.

With the Covid-affected 2019-20 season only ending a little over a month ago, it doubtless feels dizzying to most that the 2020-21 season is already under way. The Premier League in particular has seen plenty of dramatic and high-scoring matches already, even though its programme is only just entering its second full week

»

win over Burnley that was easier than the scoreline might imply.

The Premier League so far… has yet to see a drawn match

Beyond doubt, Leicester will again have a major say in the battle for European places on current evidence.

Manchester: The Good, The Bad, and the United The Manchester clubs had a delayed start to their schedules due to European football delaying the end of their 201920 campaigns. Their respective opening displays could not be harsher in their contrast.

Liverpool have pulled off a Manchester United got away to double-swoop in the transfer a horrendous start on Saturday market too, recruiting world 19th September with a ragged, class veteran midfielder, lethargic 3-1 home defeat Thiago Alcantara, from by Crystal Palace.

Bayern Munich for a Manchester City, on bargain £27m, and the other hand, Manchester Wolverhampton United got away demonstrated that Wanderers’ will once to a horrendous they raw but very again be one of start on promising young the main threats Saturday forward, Diogo Jota, in the title race for £41m. with an emphatic 3-1 win away at the highlyMeanwhile, Leicester talented Wolverhampton have looked especially dominant Wanderers. in their first two matches – a 3-0 win at West Bromwich Albion Strong starts from new and a very entertaining 4-2 home directions too

Crystal Palace go 2-0 up at Old Trafford In short, the three teams who dominated the early stages of last season have been quick out of the blocks once again. Also impressive has been the start from Everton, whose rebuilt midfield has looked mightily dominant in its opening two matches – a 1-0 win at Tottenham Hotspur, and then a 5-2 drubbing of the luckless West Bromwich.

Former La Liga superstar, James Rodriguez, as predicted, has given the Everton team, who looked so drab and lazy last season, a massive injection of control and creativity, while leaving their under-achieving other midfielders with no alternative but to start working a bit harder.

Also one hundred percent are Crystal Palace. Before their surprise win at Old Trafford, they

beat Southampton 1-0 at home on opening day. Wilfried Zaha has been the stand-out player for Palace so far, with three goals in his first two matches of the season.

Arsenal have also won their two openers. They were generally very good in beating Fulham 3-0 at Craven Cottage to start, but were much, much less convincing in labouring to a 2-1 win at the Emirates Stadium against West Ham United, who felt that they should have had a penalty, and that Arsenal’s second goal was offside.

Want goals? Go to Leeds!

Leeds United look like the ‘go-to’ ticket for anyone wanting guaranteed entertainment.

Having run Liverpool close on the opening day, they then reversed

their losing 4-3 scoreline at Anfield by beating fellow newlypromoted Fulham at Elland Road, also by 4 goals to 3.

Newcastle United are off to a mixed start, with a solid 2-0 win at West Ham United to open, followed by a hapless 3-0 home defeat by an admittedly excellent Brighton & Hove Albion, who had been a little unlucky to lose their first game, at home to Chelsea, 3-1.

Decisive football An interesting feature of the Premier League so far is that it has yet to see a drawn match at the time of writing (21st September).

Burnley, Manchester United, West Ham United, Sheffield United, Fulham, Southampton and West Bromwich Albion are all awaiting their first points of the season.

It is currently Leicester City who top the table on goal difference.

By Martin Odoni