WORD
Issue #33, May 12th 2020.
£1
Equality Democracy Truth Courage
Find out who Keir is popular with Hope and good news What is democracy
THE PEOPLE’S PAPER
PAGE 27 PAGE 23 PAGE 14
THE
thewordmedia.org
Tesco takes from the taxpayers Tesco has defended paying out £900 million in dividends to investors despite securing a £585 million tax break from the Government. Politicians and analysts have scrutinised the supermarket giant’s “aggressive” move to hand cash to shareholders, despite swathes of major firms suspending payouts in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. Chief executive Dave Lewis defended the decision, saying that the cash payout is “reflective of last year’s performance and the strength of the business” and ordinary people with shares stand to benefit. “We looked at whether the business needs more liquidity even in the most stressed scenario and it was decided we do not,” he said. “We have a strong balance sheet and we do not need surplus cash.”
WHO IS NEEDED NOW?
WE NEED, CLEANERS, NURSES AND SHELF FILLER’S NOT THE TAKERS
2
THE
WORD
May 2020
POLITICS AND EVENTS
www.thewordmedia.org
ABOUT THE WORD
The Word newspaper is a cooperative non profit making media outlet. We produced our first printed edition in 2016. We believe in an ideal of democracy that is opposed to the careerist manipulative backbiting set up we have at the moment. Democracy needs an unbiased and truthful media to allow it to work. At the moment we have not got this. In fact 90% of the printed media in this country is owned by just 5 multi billionaires. We hope to go a small way to redress this balance. You can see what we have produced over the years by looking at our website thewordmedia.org You can download free of charge most of our back issues from here as PDF versions. If you would like to join us, have an interesting article you wish to be included or want a story researched that no one else will touch then you can email us at support@thewordmedia.org contributors@thewordmedia.org We are not a factionalist group so all are welcome to take part as long as they do so in a polite and truthful manner.
NHS front-line staff need to be monitored for increased suicide risk as their mental health suffers from having to cope with the flood of Corvid-19 patients. The claim was made by shadow mental health minister Rosena Allin-Khan in a letter to Health secretary Matt Hancock. [47 words Guardian Sat] Members of the shadow cabinet have been told by the party’s new leader, Sir Keir Starmer, that they do not have to speak out at meetings. This overturns the previous leader, Jeremy Corbyn, who invited colleagues with conflicting views to speak up and present their cases for all to consider. [46 Guardian Sat] Business woman Gina Miller, who beat the Government at the Supreme Court, is backing calls for 200-year-old laws banning death bed wills to be droped. To be legal wills have to be in writing and signed by two independent witnesses. These restrictions are said to be impossible to meet with the Corvid-19 restrictions in place. [55 Guardian Sat] The poor living in the North and Midlands stand the greatest chance of dying from Corvid-19. Official government figures show that virus death rates are more than double in these poor areas. The most dangerous place is Middlesbrough, [correct sp] Teeside, while Ealing, West London, (formerly Middlesex), is ranked the least dangerous. [54 Mirror Sat] The failure to stem care home deaths could be a human rights abuse, legal experts say. Amnesty International and Liberty have called for a judge to lead an inquiry on the government’s failure to protect the UK’s half million elderly care home residents after fears could have led to 17,500 preventable deaths. [52 Mirror Sat] Two unnamed teens have been arrested on suspicion of murdering NHS worker David Gomoh in Newham, East London. Mr Gomoh, 24, was stabbed to death in the East London borough last
month, shortly after leaving his home. One suspect, a 19-year-old from Stratford, Newham, was detained on Friday (May 1). The second, a 16-year-old, was arrested from an address in Telford, Shropshire, on Saturday. Two unnamed teens have been arrested on suspicion of murdering NHS worker David Gomoh in Newham, East London. Mr Gomoh, 24, was stabbed to death in the Olympic Park borough last month, shortly after leaving his home. One suspect, a 19-year-old from Stratford, Newham, was detained on Friday (May 1). The second, a 16-year-old, was arrested at an address in Telford, Shropshire, on Saturday. [64 Mirror] Unionised security staff at the University of London have won a seven year battle to be brought back into in-house contracts offering better leave, pay rises and pensions. These members of the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain have been campaigning since 2013 to end outsourcing. [46 Mstar] Tory claims to have met their promised 100,000 Covid-19 tests by Thursday’s deadline are under attack. Health minister, Matt Hancock boasted they had achieved 122,347 tests but only 73,000 people were actually tested and the figure also included thousands of self-test kits which were simply posted to homes. Previously it was revealed Mr Hancock’s department double counted the supply of surgical gloves. One pair was counted as two separate hands. [72Mstar/Mail Sat] A £500 bonus is to be paid to 65,000 care workers by the Welsh government in recognition of their dedication during the pandemic.[23 Mstar Sat] Surrey Tory councillors have been thanked by the local MP Michael Gove for their successful efforts in organising a Facebook campaign to complain about a new gypsy campsite. Within a week 40 complaints were made. Acting on the complaints the police closed the camp, evicting the occupants. [47 Mstar Sat]
Cut price airline, Ryanair, has announced plans to axe 3,000 pilots and cabin crew and impose 20 per cent cuts in pay for remaining staff. Boss Michael O’Leary annual take is more than £3 million. Unite the union has pledged to fight the job threat. [45 Mstar Sat] Debenhams shopworkers facing losing their jobs have been told they won’t be getting any redundancy money from the bosses. The failing retail chain, which has gone in to administration for the second time in 12 months, has announced 400 job losses. Staff have been told to apply to the government for minimum statutory redundancy pay. [55 Mstar Sat] Tory paper, The Daily Telegraph, claims the government plans to reopen Primary schools on June 1. Other newspapers claim that as businesses are gradually allowed to restart commuters will be expected to wear face masks when using any public transport. [40] DIY chain, B&Q, has announced it will be opening all its 288 stores after a successful limited trial run last week. The stores will all have strict social distancing measures in force to protect customers and staff. [36 DailyStar Sat] Battered wives and children will be given housing priority after a rise in cases since the Covid-19 lockdown. This promise was made by Community Secretary Robert Jenrick when announcing £76 million for refuges, counsellers and charities helping domestic abuse victims. [40 Sky] Rolls-Royce, which makes aircraft jet engines, expects to confirm up to 8,000 redundancies by the end of May. The job losses are expected to hit its two sites in Derby. [30 BBC]
www.thewordmedia.org
POLITICS AND EVENTS
May 2020
THE
WORD
Letter to Angela Rayner (the deputy leader of the Labour party)
Dear Angela, I once saw you generate tears of hope in the eyes of experienced primary heads when you talked of bringing humanity back into the classroom. But now I find you as deputy to someone who supports a regime in Israel that employs snipers, holding British manufactured rifles, to shoot at the knees of indigenous primary aged children as they walk towards the houses and the land from which their grandparents were expelled at gunpoint by Europeans and Americans with not the slightest legal or historical justification for doing so. That is inhumanity. Please allow me to make some points. 1. SEMITIC Keir Starmer has chosen to make things worse by his deliberate (or is it due to ignorance?) misuse of the word Semitic. In the late eighteenth century the term was coined and used in the Gottingen School of History to classify a family of languages. During the mid to late nineteenth century in Germany, however, Wilhelm Marr began (he was not the first) to popularise the idea that German Jews were members of a race and because in the synagogue they used Biblical Hebrew (one of very many Semitic languages) he used the word Semitic to identify them. In 1879 he formed the Anti Semitic League. In fact German Jews spoke Yiddish. If speaking a little of an ancient language in a place of worship identifies you as a member of a race we might equally argue that all Catholics are Romans. It is a nonsense but, in this case for Jews, a lethal nonsense. They were killed because of this misuse of the word. Neither using a language that is one of many such languages nor following a religion shared by many can identify someone as a member of a race. Who was it who most energetically promoted the notion that to be a Jew is to be a member of a single, coherent, narrowly-defined race? Hitler. Please do not see this as some kind of obscure academic point.
Millions have died because racism has been visited upon people who are not members of a Jewish race but followers of the Jewish religion. There is no Jewish race. I assume that Starmer has been to Israel. Clearly he did not visit the Diaspora Museum in Tel Aviv. When I went, over the entrance was a prominent display of people from different races. All of these people, the museum pointed out, are Jews. Because there is no such thing as a Jewish race why encourage people to be racist towards Jews by using nonsensical terms such as Anti-Semitic? Why endorse what Hitler believed about Jews? Or has the Labour Party, under its current leadership, turned from scholarship to favour a very wrong and very lethal deliberately anti Jewish misuse of the word Semitic? Palestinians are Semitic. They use a Semitic language. To call Modern Hebrew a Semitic language is rather stretching a point. It was invented by Ben-Yehuda who died the year my parents were married (1922). Every day it acquires more Arabic slang so one day it may be considered almost a Semitic language. There are, in fact, a large number of Semitic languages and, as the Pope had to point out to Netanyahu, Jesus did not speak Hebrew. He spoke Aramaic, another Semitic language. It is still in use. My point is that there is enough confusion around the use of the word Semitic so why on earth would any member of the Labour Party wish to simplify matters by choosing to follow Hitler’s preferred but nonsensical racial definition? I am fully aware that the misuse of the word ‘Semitic’, as in ‘Anti-Semitic’ when applied to Jews, has long been embedded in the discourse but can I at least ask you to remember that while Palestinians and very many millions of others are entitled to and do see and describe themselves as users of at least one of many Semitic languages this is the case for very few Jews?
3
4
THE
WORD
May 2020
POLITICS AND EVENTS
A GLANCE AT WORLD EVENTS PUERTO RICO (CNN)
An undersea earthquake registering 5.5 on the Richter scale caused damage and interrupted the electricity supply in Puerto Rico.
www.thewordmedia.org
LIECHTENSTEIN
(The Independent)
A foreign family complaining about £100m “management fees” charged to a trust by its Liechtenstein trustees were told by the Liechtenstein court that beneficiaries of a trust have no legal grounds to appear in a Liechtenstein court. The case is causing concern to super rich tax dodgers.
ITALY (Science magazine)
International scientists have found a record density of 1.9 million microplastic particles per square meter in the Mediterranean near Italy, warning that pollution could be even higher in other parts of the sea. “This is the highest reported value for any seafloor setting, globally,
MALTA (Times of Malta)
CARIBBEAN (Jamaica Observer)
Hurricane forecast for this summer 140% higher than average, in part because of unusually warm sea temperatures.
TAHITI (Associated Press)
The International Olympics Committee has confirmed that the surfing competition for the 2024 Paris Olympics will be staged in Tahiti rather than on the French Atlantic coast. Tahiti was supported by the athletes and passed the IOC’s sustainability tests.
BRAZIL (The Rio Times)
May 2nd 2020 the recently resigned Minister of Justice spent eight hours in a police station to give a statement on oath about attempts by President Bolsinaro to interfere with the command of the Federal Police. He took with him a history of 15 months of WhatsApp conversations!
A Malta Judge, formerly a member of the European Court of Human Rights, has found the Government of Malta guilty of human rights abuses. A boatload of people on a Libyan boat that broke down near Malta were pushed back to Libya, where the people were put back in migrant camps. Libya is “a lawless country where they are likely to suffer inhuman and degrading treatment”
ARGENTINA (Huffington
Post)
In early March 2020 the President of Argentina intended to put forward legislation to make abortion legal. There is now a majority for abortion in the Congress. When passed, Argentina will be the first country in South America to legalise abortion. Alas, everything has been disrupted by Covid- 19.
www.thewordmedia.org
Czech Republic (BBC)
Prague’s Mayor Zdenek Hrib renamed a square outside the Russian Embassy after Boris Nemtsov, an opponent of Mr Putin who was murdered in 2015. He and two other Czech Mayors are in hiding under police protection after credible threats that their lives are in danger.
POLITICS AND EVENTS
May 2020
THE
WORD
HUNGARY (Thomson Reuters Foundation News)
The President now has sweeping powers to rule by decree. Legislation coming forward will change the law so one cannot change one’s birth gender retrospectively. This has huge negative implications for the transgender community. They will be open to harassment for wearing clothing of the “other” sex.
KYRGISTAN
Azimzhan Askarov, journalist and human rights activist, was investigating an apparent murder by a policeman. Askarov was then charged with the murder, and has been in prison for the last 9 years. His final appeal is later this month. If not successful, he will die in prison. He is the only journalist prisoner of conscience in Kyrgistan. He is aged 68.
KASHMIR (Al Jazeera )
Jammu and Kashmir has been on lockdown since 5 August when the Government of India revoked Kasmir’s partial autonomy. Pakistan has protested how its inhabitants have been treated.
NORH KOREA
(New York Post)
It is reported that Kim Jong Un spent four years at an international school in Bern, Switzerland, under a false name. He stayed with his aunt, who posed as his mother. He was obsessed by basketball. He was reasonably popular at school.
TIBET
Monk Gendun Sherab was arrested by Chinese authorities in 2017 after sharing a message from the Dalai Lama on his WeChat. During his three months in prison, Gendun was reportedly brutally beaten which led to a severe and life-threatening injury. Forbidden to access health facilities he died of his injuries on 18 April 2020
BURUNDI ( Taarifa.rw)
Troops from Burundi who crossed into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) chasing after Red Tabara rebels were given forty-eight hours to leave by the President of DRC. The Kivu region of DRC is fought over by armies and militias, with tens of thousands of deaths already caused and no end in sight.
KENYA (Daily Nation)
Heavy flooding in the Kiisei province has led to landslides. Bridges and roads have been destroyed, and hundreds are homeless.
5
6
THE
WORD
May 2020
POLITICS AND EVENTS
BEST OF THE WEB
www.thewordmedia.org
HEALTH PASSPORT ROLL OUT IS GETTING NEARER Tech firms are in talks with ministers about creating health passports to help Britons return safely to work using coronavirus testing and facial recognition. Facial biometrics could be used to help provide a digital certificate – sometimes known as an immunity passport – proving which workers have had Covid-19, as a possible way of easing the impact on the economy and businesses from ongoing physical distancing even after current lockdown measures are eased. The UK-based firm Onfido, which specialises in verifying people’s identities using facial biometrics, has delivered detailed plans to the government and is involved in a number of conversations about what could be rolled out across the country, it is understood. Its proposals, which have reached pilot stages in other countries, could be executed within months, it says. The firm could use antibody tests – proving whether someone has had the virus – or antigen tests, which show current infections. Digital identity experts say they are in the “discovery stage” of what could be tailored for the UK government, but developing a type of health certificate through app technology is gaining traction. (The Guardian)
INDIA STARMER WASHES HIS HANDS After a meeting with the executive team of the Labour Friends of India (LFIN) Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party said “We must not allow issues of the sub-continent to divide communities here. Any constitutional issues in India are a matter for the Indian parliament, and Kashmir is a bilateral issue for India and Pakistan to resolve peacefully.” Labour Party mps, councillors and members have already issued a condemnation of Starmer’s bowing down before the Indian lobby, linked with the militant Hindutva Bahartiya Janata Party (BJP) and RSS. (Unity news)
www.thewordmedia.org
COVID CASES DEATHS TOP 250,000 The total number of Covid-19 fatalities has surpassed 250,000, marking yet another dark milestone for the pandemic’s global death toll as cases around the world continue to surge past 3.5 million. The fatality count hit 250,687 on Monday, increasing by some 3,200 deaths in the last 24 hours, while nearly 67,000 new infections were counted in the same
LABOUR PARTY OLDKNOW TO REPLACE FORMBY? Labour leader Keir Starmer raised Jennie Formby’s departure on the day of his election – and still hopes to have former staffer Emilie Oldknow as her replacement, according to Labour insiders. Formby announced her resigna-
MORTALITY RATES WORST AMONG THE POOR Breaking News: Another official notice - the poorest communities, particularly in the North like Liverpool hit by Austerity have been recorded to have the highest mortality rate of deaths caused by the Coronavirus throughout the whole of Europe and probably the globe. The reason being - Austerity has
GREECE HOPES FOR TOURISM Greece’s prime minister has said the country’s vital tourist season could conditionally kick off in July as coronavirus lockdown restrictions begin to ease for the first time in six weeks. “Best-case scenario is Greece is open for business July 1, and we’re
POLITICS AND EVENTS
period, bringing the global total to 3,573,864, according to data gathered by Johns Hopkins University. The United States – still the top Covid-19 hot spot – and Europe drove the surge in new cases and deaths. The US accounted for fewer than 1,000 of the new fatalities, adding 760 between Sunday and Monday evening, the data showed, while the bulk of the rest occurred in Europe, where outbreaks have infected in excess of 100,000 people in at least seven nations – some, like Italy and Spain, crossing 200,000 cases. In total, the US has counted 68,442 deaths. RT
tion today, but most commentators have written off Oldknow’s prospects because of her prominence in the leaked internal party report that alleges that a group of right-wing then-HQ staff undermined Labour’s election campaigns, diverted campaign funds, obstructed disciplinary processes and made a string of abusive comments toward fellow staff who supported or cooperated with then-leader Jeremy Corbyn. The SKWAWKBOX
had such a damaging impact towards the most poorest and vulnerable in communities, hitting their welfare and well-being, which has caused the conditions for severe physical, emotional and psychological health concerns - contributing towards a poorer and weaker immune system. Nothing wrong with the NHS medical care - just the most self-serving, callous and most incompetent government in British history ever.
(Jeremy Corbyn vs the right wing media)
working towards that,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told CNN. Mr Mitsotakis said Greece would accept visitors only under “very specific protocols”, possibly with pre-travel testing agreed at the EU level, and “provided that the global epidemic is on a downward path”. Greece has officially announced more than 2,600 infections and 146 deaths, but the country of 11 million has so far carried out only around 81,000 tests.RTE
May 2020
THE
WORD
When politicians miss-speak or lie we must call them to task Danny Dorling
T
he world was already slowing down long before lockdown We need to quickly accept that this is an era of slowdown, not fast-paced change. I am far from being the first person to notice that many things are slowing down. The intriguing question is why are we so resistant to the idea of slowdown? Why is it that we much prefer the alternative stories of growth and acceleration? Why, when political leaders such as Justin Trudeau make soundbite claims which are so obviously wrong, do we simply applaud their apparent wisdom without questioning the validity of their claim? Here is the soundbite from his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Jan 23 2018: “Think about it: the pace of change has never been this fast, yet it will never be this slow again.” It was a silly thing to say in 2018, and it is even more evidently preposterous now. When I first heard those words, I was four years through writing a book called Slowdown and they stopped me in my tracks. I had been collecting data; huge amounts of data; the data we amass about ourselves, our lives and I had been using it to measure the pace of change – in just about everything. Had I Had I been looking at the wrong data? Trudeau did not give any examples, so I searched out other people who claimed we were still living in a time of acceleration. I found a book about ‘Social Acceleration’ which claimed that we were living in an ever more quickly accelerating world but was remarkably bereft of actual examples. One example given was that the apparent speed of talking in speeches given in the Norwegian parliament has increased by half compared with 1945. In the pages of my book Slowdown, as I talk about finding huge amounts of evi-
dence to the contrary, I sometimes wonder how long it took to find that solitary example of speeding up. But what is slowing down you might ask? The answer is almost everything about our lives. We are usually still going forwards; but we are no longer accelerating in the way we once used to; and the slowing down seems set to continue for some time to come. If you are interested in innovation you may have to go back over a century to find the most world changing discoveries, in new uses for electricity, the invention of the tractor or theories about the existence of germs which change what it means to be human. If you are interested in invention then the 1930s and the discoveries made during the Second World War might have been the point of greatest acceleration – not the creation of the Internet, but the earlier computers. If it is productivity, or the growth of GDP, that interests you most, then the 1950s will be your best decade. If numbers of human beings on the planet interests you, then these rose the fastest in the 1960s and the fastest they ever will. We will almost certainly never touch 2% annual population growth ever again worldwide – we have not done so for more than fifty years now. Instead we have been slowing down. In so many ways we began to change more slowly in the 1970s than the 1960s; more slowly in the 1980s than the 1970s, and slowing on and on. Today we are so used to stability that we are spooked witless by a pandemic that is likely to be smaller than that which occurred in 1968. What 1968 pandemic you might ask? And that is my point. So much was changing so quickly back then that the influenza that spread across the world that year (and returned again in again in 1969, 1970 and 1972) is now all but forgotten. Back then a million are
thought to have died, including one hundred thousand in the US. Why does slowdown matter? One reason is that when we have emerged from pandemics in the past, life has always very quickly returned to normal. In Slowdown I chart how the 1918 pandemic resulted in a 14% fall in global productivity, but that was quickly reversed to a rise of more than 16% in the following year because we were then in a time of acceleration. Even the most deadly and widespread of pandemics could hardly dent the trend going forward. In contrast, today, almost everything was slowing down as 2020 began. The only things I found to be accelerating were the numbers of air flights (a tiny few of us were taking more each year); our overall carbon pollution (from everything other than flights); global temperatures; and finally an acceleration in the number of young people going to university worldwide. For a few months at least all of these four exceptions will themselves dramatically slow. We are on the downward slope of a trend. In the last few hours of March 2020 it was announced that the shareholders of British banks would not be claiming billions of pounds of dividends following a ‘sternly worded letter from the Bank of England’. When you are slowing down, wealth can literally disappear (as the world’s billionaires have just discovered). Early this year the the Bank of England published an obscure working paper written by Paul Schmelzing and entitled ‘Eight centuries of global real interest rates, R-G, and the “suprasecular” decline, 1311–2018.’ It describes a much longer and far bigger slowdown than the one I have written about. Soon you will become tired of hearing about slowdown, because it is the new normal. How long before we hear: “The pace of change is slowing, and it will never be this fast again”?
7
8
THE
WORD
May 2020
POLITICS AND EVENTS
www.thewordmedia.org
If you have a relationship problem then dear, sweet old Margaret will put you right. AGONY AUNT QUESTIONS My boyfriend has left me to go and stay with friends in the country. He says he has been ill and is self-isolating but I am worried he is two timing me. I met him and had an affair with him when he was married so I know just how good he is at lying. I am also a few months pregnant and really worry that he will not help care for our child. He already has 17 children by 9 different partners. What do I do? Yours Carrie from London Well Carrie he certainly has lived a life hasn’t he. But the important thing to remember is people can change and that’s what you must focus on, changing him. Remind him of why you are so different from all other previous partners, always have immaculate hair and makeup, take an interest in his work, even if it’s on Skype talking
is SO important. Alternatively adopt a Dog to keep you company and sting the bastard for child maintenance. The worst he can do is take out a court injunction so the press aren’t allowed to acknowledge you or your child actually exist. A few years ago we joined a self-help club for people who wanted to find love for each other. We joined because we really liked the man that was running it. Sadly, this man left after being bullied by some other members. They kept taking away his sweets until he had none left. The new man in charge of the club wants to change the rules so I’s no longer a club for finding love but a club for finding money. We have already been told to leave but what advice would you give our friends? Chris from Derby and Jackie from Kent.
So, Chris and Jackie! Nobody wants to outstay their welcome do they, was it something you said? Have you tried talking with those people who have taken offense. Most organisations have some form of conflict resolution process where affected people have a chance to have their say and, often a third party will ensure a fair hearing. If this Organisation you are in affords certain members preferential treatment to an inner clique over other members, it just sounds more like the kind of place that suits the career-minded over those seeking a shared benefit. I would suggest you set up another club with the same aims and only accept members with self effacing, benevolent motives. Also consider a dirty protest, smearing 'Smash the State' in excrement on the Head Office wall. I am in a really badly paid job that is also very dangerous. I have asked my boss for a pay rise
but he told me “now is not the time.” I feel this is wrong because my boss and his friends all gave themselves pay rises. Should I go on strike? If I do it will hurt a lot of people but if I don’t then I will not be able to afford to live? Neville Horace Stevens Mr N.H.Stevens, this old chestnut comes up time after time. Have you heard the phrase 'Divide and Conquer'? Well unfortunately that’s happened to you and your colleagues, with your rights being eroded by successive governments. As you are dedicated, caring and brave workers your employers can constantly cut costs, including your wages in order to ultimately privatise and generate profits for Captains of industry like Richard Branson. Now striking in a busy period might go down well countries such as France and Spain, it’s just not British, we are far too polite to partake in sedition and unpatriotic mass meetings.
And that’s without the Covid-19 lockdown. Just be grateful you are drawing a wage and hope your bosses remember all this when things get back to normal. I saw a crime being committed so I reported it. Now a lot of bad people want to kill me. Can someone please help me? Yours Julian Well it sounds like you are dealing with an International Organised Crime Syndicate there. Obviously the first port of call in these circumstances would be the Police, they protect scores of guilty Gangsters and Murders, even providing new identities etc. Of course in some countries the Police and even Governments are corrupt and in cahoots with the Crime Syndicates. Let’s hope you are not living in a country like that, because frankly speaking you would be buggered.
www.thewordmedia.org
POLITICS AND EVENTS
Business Quiz Questions
We are trying to construct a more inclusive society. We are going to make a country in which no one is left out.
B. BENJAMIN FRANKLYN.
1840. The Penny Black postage stamp becomes valid for use in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
C. EDMUND BURKE.
cially opened to the public at the Universal Exposition in Paris 1940. John Steinbeck is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Grapes of Wrath
D. CONFUCIUS.
5. 6.
The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.
2 CAMERON Austerity is needed
3 Thatcher Let me bring harmony
1949. EDSAC electronic digital stored-pro-
E. TONY BENN
The use of force is but temporary. It may subdue for the moment; but it does not remove the necessity of subduing again; and a nation is not governed, which is permanently to be conquered.’
BLAIR There are weapons of mass destruction in IRAQ
Answers:
‘A Conservative Government is an organized hypocrisy.’
1. Polly Peck
3. 4.
2. Karren Brady
1536. King Henry VIII orders English-language Bibles be placed in every church. In 1539 the Great Bible would be provided for this purpose.
A. ABRAHAM LINCOLN
“This idea that politics is all about charisma and spin is rubbish. It is trust that matters”
3. 17.5%
1. 2.
1
ON THIS DAY May 6th.
Match the Quotes Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.
4. Sarah Willingham
quarters in which city?
5. Microsoft
NASDAQ Stock 9. The Market is an American
6. L'Oreal
is an Asian 12. Samsung company with head-
7. Arcadia Group
largest chain of Indian restaurants in the UK?
made him rich?
8. Amazon.com
Which 'dragon' made 4. her name by turning Bombay Bicycle Club into the
9. Quotations (National Association of
The standard rate of 3. VAT increased to 20% in 2011, what was it previously?
Securities Dealers Automated Quotations)
2.
Following its recent the world's larg6. Name est cosmetics company? 10. takeover, what name is DIY chain Homebase to be Which business group rebranded? 7. owns the clothing retailers Burton, Dorothy Perkins, What was founded Evans, and Topshop? 11. by American Harland Jeff Bezos had s report- Sanders during the Great 8. ed wealth of over sixty Depression? billion dollars in 2016, what
TOP 5 POLITICAL LIES
10. Bunnings
Who was made the Small Business Ambassador to the UK Government under Prime Minister David Cameron?
came second?
WORD
11. KFC
the flight of its CEO, Asil Nadir to Cyprus?
stock exchange; what does the 'Q' stand for in the acronym NASDAQ?
12. Seoul (South Korea)
Which small British comApple was named the 1. 5. pany collapsed in 1990 most valuable global with massive debts leading to brand in 2015, which brand
THE
May 2020
operation 1954. Roger Bannister be-
F. NELSON MANDELA
the mile in under four minutes
7. 8.
'The more bombers, the less room for doves of peace.'
1994. Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and French President François Mit-
G. NIKITA KRUSCHEV
In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of.
4 £350 million for the NHS The leave campaign
of the Channel Tunnel.
H. BENJAMIN DISRAELI.
change in the bank's 300-year history.
J. FRANKLYN D. ROOSEVELT.
to the devolved Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly are held.
2.E
3.H
4.J
10.
The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend.
I. ARISTOTLE.
1.B
If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner..
ANSWERS:
9.
1997. The Bank of England is given independence from polit-
2001. During a trip to Syria, Pope John Paul II becomes the
5 Corbyn is an anti Semite Mossad
9
5.I
6.C
7.G
8.D
9.F
10.A
10
THE
WORD
May 2020
POLITICS AND EVENTS
www.thewordmedia.org
Themed crossword, 70s music! Across 1. Sounds like ending sadness is outlawed for these Staffordshire rockers (6,5,4) 9. Rent in pair is a gratifier (7) 10. Disturbed brunette loses edge for old TOTP DJ Paul (7) 11. Notice German wine had no kick as necessary (2,3) 12. Romanians create a most serene republic (3,6) 13. Their noble war was mixed with upper class for this discredited political movement (3,6) 15. Bolsover animal is a best blend (5) 16. Banish reportedly like Atlantis (5) 18. Stride on board cool shuttle (9) 20. Exhalation step is a first time musical exercise (5-4) 23. Floor managed sacred book (5) 24. Doblon die contains heart of glass blowers (7) 25. Keith Emerson’s first band includes a heathen i ceased to talk to! (3,4) 26. Oxidises puniest ordered in quick and efficient manner (15) Down 1. Damned founder’s happy talking pragmatic skipper (7,8) 2. Diamonds reveal skaters putting on a performance (3,4) 3. Arranging seacoast with one business partner (9) 4. Take middle of road from secondary routes to get mr tambourine men (5)
F. Quiz 1.Shinji Kagawa signed for Manchester United from which Bundesliga Club in 2012 ?. 2. Name the Goalkeeper who failed a drug test in 2002 and played in England for Aston Villa: Man. Utd .and Chelsea ?. 3. Dubbed the”most hated Man in Football “. Which controversial midfielder played for Crystal Palace: Wolves: Rangers : and Milwall ? 4.Which Centre Back whowon the Scottish league Title 5 times with Rangers, also played for Newcastle and Crystal Palace ?. 5. Who played for Chelsea for four Seasons and was capped 98 times for Germany ?. 6. How did Jurgen Klinsmann famously celebrate scoring for Tottenham.?. 7. Which German Player scored the
Last goal at the “Old “ Wembley in October 2000?. 8. Who was ever present in goal for Arsenal’s unbeaten”Invincibles “ team of the 2003-2004 Season.?. 9. Which German player famously broke his neck in the 1956 F.A.Cup Final ?...and played on ! 10. Signed by Arsenal in 2012, which Striker played well over a hundred times for Germany ?. 11. Match of the Day is now broadcast from a studio in Salford... True/False ? 12. In1974 the BBC’sFarming Departmentproduced a weekend of programmes about chickens that was called “hatch of the day “?. 13. When Match of the Daybegan in 1964 ,the total audience was estimated to be 20,000 viewers?. 14. Presenter Ray Stubbs was a
Professional player with Sheffield Wednesday ?. 15. What fee did Newcastle United pay Blackburn Rovers for Alan Shearer ?. 16. Danny Wilson managed which team into the top division for the first time in their 110 year history ? 17. In1996-1997 season whichDivision Two Team reached the F. A.Cup Semi Finals .?. 18. Stan Ternent managed which team to the Second successive promotion as they reached Division One .?. 19. Manchester United clinched their thirteenth League title when they beat which team 3-0 at Old Trafford on April 22nd 2013 .?. 20. Which Team were beaten 6-0 at home by Liverpool and 7-3 away at Arsenal in the 2012 -13 Season ?. Answers
5. Reformed Aruba near conurbation (5,4) 6. When reversed you hear a sign for this beleagured and bullied country (5) 7. Morning heather found in superpower group (7) 8. PR guys behind motor city crooners (7,8) 14. Filthiest old boy’s oddly clean bedsit (9) 15. The very best honey makers on benders? (4,5) 17. Closely knit bunch batting, mature but losing wicket (2-5) 19. A couple of drugs makes this woman of courage (7) 21. End of end to old washing detergent that ebbed and flowed (5) 22. End it tomorrow inside repeatedly (5)
1). Borussia Dortmund. 2). Mark Bosnitch . 3). Kevin Muscat. 4). Craig Moore . 5). Michael Ballack . 6). A dive to the ground . 7). Dietmar Harmann (England 0
Germany1). 8). Jena Lehman . 9). Bert Trautmann . 10). Lucas Podolski . 11). True. 12). False . 13). True.
14). False . 15). £15 million. 16). Barnsley. 17). Chesterfield. 18). Bury. 19). Aston Villa. 20). Newcastle United.
www.thewordmedia.org
POLITICS AND EVENTS
May 2020
THE
WORD
Forgotten band Jon Hiseman's Colosseum F riday the 7th October 1971 saw dawn break with a crash. The sun looked tired out already; Freshers’ Week had been too much for it. Most people looked completely wrecked, or at least less energetic than they'd been ten hours earlier when we'd all decided not to go to bed. Quite a lot of beer and more than a few people had been drunk the previous evening. I'd announced that if you don't go to sleep you cannot wake up with a hangover, so the army of the undead fed themselves coffee: black, white, one lump or several, all night. At 8.30 am I trotted down for breakfast. My school friend Mick, and a London girl we all liked, had said they would be too shattered to attend the Gig with me in Central Hall, a futuristic carbuncle seemingly floating upon the University Lake. I ate lunch and then tea in one or other of
the colleges. There was no cooking; all my pals were still deep in smoke or oblivion. Eventually I went to see Jon Hiseman's Colosseum. This was to be one of their last gigs before splitting, and it was clear there were tensions within the band. Hiseman played on a towering double drum kit. In front of him was 37 year old Dick Heckstall-Smith who played a variety of saxophones, sometimes two saxes at the same time, but wasn’t happy with the sound of any of them. He wore a grandad hat showing his short grey haircut, contrasting with the shoulder length locks of all the younger blokes. On bass was Mark Clarke, at 21 not even 18 months older than me. A Scouse like Hiseman, he went on to play with him in Tempest, one of my favourite bands ever and whose album I was to buy shortly. Lead guitarist was 'Clem' Clempson, who
didn't take a solo all night, but had instead a style of guitar I'd never seen before. He picked his way through a succession of chords and part chords, and held the music together. I described it later as ‘structural’ lead guitar. The tension on stage was broken by the entry of the most terrifying stage performer I've ever seen. Roaring something about "Bloody Skies..." (I can't track down the song.) He scared me silly; I didn't want him to catch my eye as his fell gaze roamed round the audience. Chris Farlowe (Handbags and Gladrags, Out of Time ) was almost 31 years of age but looked to me like the dread giant from Jack and The Beanstalk. Striding around the stage, he paused and ruffled Mark Clarke's hair. Even in those carefree times he gave me the creeps. His face seemed to be the shape of a shield; his hair was cut clumsily;
he wore some sort of jerkin also cut quite awkwardly in the shape of a shield; I sensed oddness. The band was great, but finally two really tall geezers in tall hats with stripy flared trousers, platform shoes, and really smart jackets, pulled the stage curtains closed. I'm not kidding, these guys were about nine or ten feet tall, impossibly thin (think Jacob Rees-Mogg and Jackanory Rory Stewart - the former at the time being an anonymous toddler and the latter not yet a stirring in his dad's underpants) and both totally imaginary. My brain chemicals had kicked in as I had predicted! I went back to my cell; my room-mate Alan asked me, "Good gig?" "Yeah," I replied, and fell asleep in my clothes, dreaming uncomfortably that Chris Farlowe was trying to ruffle my hair.
Joke page A mother goes to the doctors complaining that her daughter is turning into a monkey. Her arms and legs are all over the place and she has developed a long hairy tail. The mother admits that her daughter always had a little bit of a tail but recently it had become much more pronounced The doctor examines the child and says there is good news and bad news. Never mind all that stuff, just tell me how it is, asks the mother. Well, says the doctor, your 'daughter' is in fact a boy. The reason you've been confused about it is that his face is somehow on the back of his head.
“I do all the exercises every morning in front of the television - up, down, up, down, up, down. Then the other eyelid.” What’s the difference between a pregnant woman and a lightbulb? You can unscrew a lightbulb.
What did the hurricane say to the coconut tree? Hold on to your nuts, this ain’t no ordinary blowjob.
Did you hear about the constipated accountant? He couldn't budget, so he had to work it out with a paper and pencil. What do a nearsighted gynecologist and a puppy have in common? A wet nose. An old woman walked into a dentist's office, took off all her clothes, and spread her legs. The dentist said, "I think you have the wrong room." "You put in my husband's teeth last week," she replied. "Now you have to remove them."
11
A penguin takes his car to the shop and the mechanic says it'll take about an hour for him to check it. While he waits, the penguin goes to an ice cream shop and orders a big sundae to pass the time. The penguin isn't the neatest eater, and he ends up covered in melted ice cream. When he returns to the shop, the mechanic takes one look at him and says, "Looks like you blew a seal." "No," the penguin insists, "it's just ice cream."
A man and a woman started to have sex in the middle of a dark forest. After about 15 minutes, the man
12
THE
WORD
May 2020.
POLITICS AND EVENTS
www.thewordmedia.org
Patient. I has an upbeat attitude to a downbeat situation. The Patients Eye is written by Patient. I, an NHS patient living with inoperable, incurable, and aggressive cancer, for which he has received hormone therapy, radiotherapy, and some strong and expensive drugs which have massive effects on him and his life.
T
his issue of The Patient’s Eye considers a Netflix movie Contagion (2011) based on Robin Cook’s novel about the real-life Ebola outbreak of 1987, but adapts it heavily to make it about a SARS Pandemic affecting the USA, China (Chy-nah) and the UK. Ringing any bells yet? The movie isn’t at all like the book, but seems closer to the current Covid19 crisis, making it uncomfortable watching. Nobody in the movie has a clue how to deal with it but eventually answers are found: testing, for the disease/ for the antibodies; the development of a vaccine; a lockdown of the population with the exception of key workers; the availability of personal protective clothing for those in contact with patients or the general public; huge new popup hospitals. It’s not rocket science – hell, it’s not even rocket salad. It is unthinkable that this film has existed for nine years without those in government having asked themselves if it might be at all prophetic. A simulation in the
UK, Exercise Cygnus, concluded that Britain could not cope with a pandemic like the one we’re experiencing now. Between Octo-
ber 2016 and December 2019 no preparation was made for a pandemic of any kind. So here we are locked away
with our loved ones while the virus tears its way through humanity. Meanwhile skies seem bluer; air travel has decreased.
Roads aren’t at all busy. There is less crime. Shoplifting and looting are non-existent, though in the movie they increase, mainly after some nincompoop in a mask tells a queue of shoppers, “There’s only fifty doses of snake oil left so lots of y’all won’t be getting any.” At this point the entire street goes
“Between October 2016 and December 2019 no preparation was made for a pandemic of any kind.”
berserk, the mob breaks windows, storms the pharmacist, all for the snake oil in question, which is a homeopathic tincture of forsythia. And it isn’t the panacea after all; duh. Streets in the movie are full of uncollected garbage, whereas in
www.thewordmedia.org
POLITICS AND EVENTS
May 2020.
THE
WORD
13
Mara’s View
my town, only the garden refuse isn’t getting collected, so I sneak a couple of bags of it into the non-recyclable waste under the snotty tissues, the contents of the hoover, and onion skins. We’ve been shut away in our house and garden, weeding the lawn, cutting back the useless for-
sythia, and doing a lot of general maintenance, and physical exercises off YouTube, for about eight weeks. My new priority is getting home delivery slots for food shopping. If we weren’t so concerned about our children and their partners, now in lock down them-
selves, we’d be happier than ever, although our telephones have been very busy this last couple of weeks, as though everyone else has now finally accepted that the only way to beat the virus is to sit it out until Astra Zeneca produce sufficient vaccine for everybody in the UK.
NHS. “STAY AT HOME PROTECT THE NHS - SAVE LIVES”. This is the mantra we've heard for weeks now, and yet our government have left us all at unnecessary additional risk. Their job is also to ensure sufficient equipment, staff and beds to protect and treat us for such a crisis. Instead, the government asks the public to protect the staff as they do their job. They have failed to provide the necessary PPE, and successive governments have dismantled our beloved NHS. Since 1948 the National Health Service has been under attack, es-
pecially over the last forty years. Outsourcing and private elements have dramatically increased. Admin costs went from 4% to over 15%. Countless hospitals have closed, services reduced/cut, and staff have left in droves due to increasing difficult working conditions. In 2012, the government passed a bill that removed their responsibility to legally provide us with Universal health care. The NHS was in effect abolished. The re-structuring continues, rapidly moving towards the U.S.
health insurance model. NHS England now run the show, not government. The CEO is Simon Stevens. He worked with New Labour, then at United Health, the vast private insurance corporation as Head of Global expansion. We've been betrayed by our elected leaders, and must insist on total Nationalisation. Anything less will leave it vulnerable to be included in so-called free trade deals, and will leave us with an NHS that does not do what it's designed to do, or capable of.
Online bullying is only a problem if you’re out here seeking validation. In a state of grave insecurity, and you communicate not to pass a message, but expecting compassionate patting on the head from Internet nobodies. The fact you don’t receive validation but insults from randoms – is too much for your feeble soul. You went out there feigning respectability but begging attention and validation. An open hand. An undeveloped foetus. And they laughed at you. They called you names. It’s called honest customer feedback. Bit harsh, but that’s life. If you are secure in yourself, online bullying is a joke. It can’t hurt you. Words from strangers. Sounds that hit your ear then dissipate. Shapes on a screen. The real problem becomes censoring something extremely precious —online freedom of speech – to coddle something completely irrelevant: people’s “feelings”. Online freedom of speech has been an unexpected gift of technology. Something that closes the gap between what used to be two isolated universes: the rich and the poor. Knowledge. And the possibility to communicate your predicament with a view to organise… against its perpetrators. This is something that humanity never had. It never existed. Books used to be carved in stone, the prerogative of the rich. Even the printing press didn’t take it much further. Books informed a little, not a lot. The decision “what to print” was in the hands of the rich, still. Esoteric knowledge an unspeakable luxury. Most people couldn’t even read. And this was the default for
all of history. Until the late 80s. And really, late 90s. The internet exploded. World knowledge at the tip of your fingers. It could have been our complete liberation. But it wasn’t. Because morons who care more about their vexed insecurities were complicit in internet censorship. People —mostly women, mostly middle class – organised to put a veneer of respectability and censorious bullshit over the raw, infinite internet. “Family friendly”. “Conspiracy theories”. “Fake news”. Such concepts are bourgeois sanctioned government repression. Or better, the ultra rich using insecure people’s weakness to censor the bold. Using “respectable” middle class pudor to gag and isolate the only resistance to whatever is wrong. And boy, is there a lot wrong. Everyone who complains about fake news, conspiracy theory and online bullying is a spineless foetus who wandered into adults’ business seeking to take command. Of things they don’t understand. There’s no forgiveness for these people. They are unwittingly taking back FREEDOM. They might not know what they’re doing. But their work may well be definitive. When the government is done reshaping your whole existential panorama in its propagandist image… erasing all dissidence as “conspiracy theory” & “fake news”… there will be nothing left. But dystopia. That’s the world these pussies are marching us into. You want to live in that world? I lived in it once. It was so bad, that I made my life’s mission to move here. From the frying pan into the fire.
14
THE
WORD
May 2020.
O
f the fifty biggest contributors to Zionism, wealthy JK ROWLING is the highest-placed Briton at number 4. A woman who lives in a world of fantasy and horror, her love for Israel is matched by her dislike of Socialism. We don’t mind rich people; one of my best friends is well wadded. At 7, broadcast journalist RACHEL RILEY is actually female and Jewish. This newspaper is in no way anti-Semitic, so she’s getting a free pass from us. If she’d been a black, female, Socialist MP like Diane Abbott, the rules would have been different, perhaps. Rocking in at 13, unlucky for some, Rabbi JONATHAN SACKS is the former Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom, and therefore also Jewish, and about whom we want to say as little as possible, as to comment would probably be dangerous. At 14 we give you your own , your very own SIR Keir Starmer, also known to nobody in particular as Starmzy. His first action as Leader of his Party was to apologise for Corbyn. Apart from this, he’s evidently not a bad person, but he really isn’t a Leader, we feel; more of a follower. Just behind Keir, perhaps in more ways than one, is JOSEPH COHEN, the Founder of the Israel Advocacy Movement at number 15. His videos are watched by US Presidents and Israeli Prime Ministers. It is not known who owns whom, but Cohen is a handsome male model you can find caring for orphaned dolphins. Last and definitely least at number 19 is researcher DAVID COLLIER. David's research and finds uncovering anti-Semitism today are truly unmatched across the digital sphere. Well Dave, you won’t find any in this article. At number 20 in the list are MOSSAD, the Israeli Intelligence agency...perhaps. The “Mossad” Twitter account uses dark sarcasm and wit to call out alleged anti-Semites online. With the world not knowing who runs the account, “The Mossad” has become a ready resource for lippy remarks and ‘smart’ responses. Nowhere in the list is ‘Uncle’ Tom Watson. When he became Deputy Leader of the Labour Party in 2015 he clearly misunderstood the meaning of the term Deputy. Who knows what he thought the role meant. In case you are surprised at his omission please try to remember that Watson is much more of a recipient than a contributor where Zionism is concerned.
POLITICS AND EVENTS
www.thewordmedia.org
SIX BRITISH LIONS OF ZION
www.thewordmedia.org
POLITICS AND EVENTS
May 2020.
THE
WORD
15
ACCORDING TO ISRAELI WEBSITE CALLED (social lite creative)
In celebration of Israel's Independence Day, Social Lite Creative has compiled the Top 50 Zionist Influencers of 2020 based on over 600 nominations from communities around the world. This was chosen based on the number of followers as well as the impact these individuals have on their respective communities.
THE FOLLOWING ARE THOSE IN THE LIST WITH AN INFLUENCE ON THE UK 20. THE MOSSAD INTELLIGENCE AGENCY...OR SO WE THINK
19. DAVID COLLIER RESEARCHER
The “Mossad” Twitter account has been unabashedly using satire to call out anti-Semites online. With the world not knowing who runs the account, “The Mossad” has become a go-to for witty political remarks and uncensored responses.
David’s actual social following is misleading as he is one of the most influential leaders in the digital sphere today. David’s research and finds uncovering antisemitism today is truly unmatched and has empowered thousands of other activists with the facts to understand the current situation.
14. KEIR STARMER LEADER OF THE UK LABOUR PARTY The newly elected UK Labour Party leader has made a splash with his election when one of his first actions was to apologize for the outrageous antisemitism of the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn. Additionally, Starmer has extended family living in Israel, and his wife’s family is Jewish. Starmer stated, “support Zionism without qualification.” While it remains to be see what UK Labour will do to amend the wrongdoings of Corbyn’s antisemitism, Keir Starmer is most certainly a good start.
15. JOSEPH COHEN FOUNDER, ISRAEL ADVOCACY MOVEMENT
Joseph has countered anti-Israel bias and antisemitism for over a decade in the UK. He founded the Israel Advocacy Movement to combat anti-Israel activity and antisemitism with digital media and video. His videos are watched by millions and shared by US Presidents and Israeli Prime Ministers. In his spare time, when he isn’t a handsome male model, you will usually find him caring for orphaned dolphins.
7. RACHEL RILEY JOURNALIST
Rachel Riley is an accomplished British broadcast journalist who publicly spoke out against the UK Labour Party’s shameful antisemitism under Jeremy Corbyn in 2018. Instead of being listened to as a British Jew herself, she was the recipient of horrific anti-Semitic abuse on social media. Instead of backing down, Riley doubled down and became an advocate against antisemitism and online harassment of Jews.
4. JK ROWLING BESTSELLING AUTHOR
13. JONATHAN SACKS RABBI, MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT UK
Rabbi Sacks is the former Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom and a major figure in making the case for Israel and Zionism today. Through regular content both in his publications as well as through digital content, he inspires new generations of Jewish leaders in the English speaking world in particular. He is also a key voice in the UK for the Jewish community.
Throughout the battle against antisemitism in the UK Labour Party, JK Rowling was an outspoken critic of the blatant and disturbing bigotry demonstrated against Jews from Jeremy Corbyn and his followers. Rowling, a Labour Party supporter herself, faced immense criticism, but never backed down in standing with the Jewish community, especially on social media.
16
THE
WORD
May 2020.
POLITICS AND EVENTS
MINISTER RESIGNS Trade minister Conor Burns dramatically quit today after a sleaze report found he abused his status as an MP in a dispute between his father and a company. A close ally of Boris Johnson has resigned as a trade minister after being found to have used his position to try to intimidate a member of the public. Conor Burns, the minister of state for trade policy, was found by the standards committee to have made veiled threats while attempting to intervene in his father’s dispute over a loan. A Downing Street spokesman said Burns had resigned following a report from the parliamentary commissioner for standards. The commissioner received a complaint from a member of the public connected to a firm with which Burns’s father was in dispute over repayment of a loan. In a damning response to Ms Stone’s investigation, the Commons Committee on Standards said the MP had “used his parliamentary position in an attempt to intimidate a member of the public into doing as Mr Burns wished, in a dispute relating to purely private family interests which had no connection with Mr Burns’ parliamentary duties”. Burns was told by Kathryn Stone, the commissioner for standards, that his actions “gives fuel to the belief that members are able and willing to use the privileges accorded them by their membership of the house to benefit their own
PALESTINE WATCH
F personal interests”. A report released by the standards committee on Monday also found that he had misused parliamentary-headed notepaper and suspended him from the house for seven days. Such a suspension is highly unusual and reflects the seriousness of the case, a parliamentary source said. The report also accused Burns of behaving “disrespectfully” during the investigation. In evidence to the committee, Burns said: ‘I absolutely should not have written to the complainant in the terms I did or used house stationery to do so.’ Mr Burns, a former confidante of Mrs Thatcher, is a close ally of Prime Minister Boris Johnson. On foot of the report and details of the suspension, Mr Burns tweeted today that he was resigning from government with ‘deep regret’, but that ‘the PM would continue to have my wholehearted support’.
www.thewordmedia.org
or anti-racist Jews and indeed all anti-racist humanitarians the core moral messages from the Jewish Holocaust (5-6 million dead, 1 in 6 dying from deprivation) and from the more general WW2 European Holocaust (30 million Slav, Jewish and Gypsy dead) are “zero tolerance for racism”, “bear witness”, “zero tolerance for lying” and “never again to anyone”, anyone including the Indigenous Palestinian victims of the racist Zionist Palestinian Genocide 2 million dead since 1936, 0.1 million from violence, 1.9 million from war-, expulsion- and occupation-derived deprivation; 7 million refugees; 4.1 million Occupied Palestinians deprived of ALL the human rights listed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ; 6 million Palestinians forbidden to even live in the homeland continuously inhabited by their forbears to the very dawn of agrarian civilization; 0.9 million Palestinian children confined without charge or trial to what the Catholic Church and many others have described as Israel's Gaza Concentration Camp for the asserted "crime" of being Indigenous Palestinians living in a tiny, remorselessly Zionist-bombed patch of Palestine. UK Labour leader Ed Miliband's parents are anti-racist Jews who believe in justice for the 12 million Indigenous Palestinians of whom only the adults of the 1.7 million Palestinian Israelis (i.e. about 7%) can vote for the government ruling all of Palestine plus an ethnically cleansed slab of Syria. Ed Milliband as an elected politician in an ostensible democracy either believes in one man one vote NOW for everyone (including Pales-
tinians) or he doesn't - if he doesn't he should be kicked out at the first opportunity by the Labor Party and the voters of Doncaster North. Ed Miliband merely trots out the mantra "I support a two-state solution because I long for the peace that both Palestinians and Israelis need so badly" - yet if he had offered the same opinion about Apartheid Israel-supported Apartheid South Africa "I support a two-state solution involving 90% of the country for the Whites and 10% for the majority Non-Europeans in uneconomic Bantustans" his political career would have been finished. Disraeli (a convert to "God is an Englishman" Anglicanism) was a mass murderer complicit in the Irish Famine (1 million starved to death, 1-2 million forced into exile), the butchery of 10 million Indians in the decade after the 1857 Indian Rebellion, and genocidal atrocities in all parts of the British Empire, not least in India where 500 million Indians died avoidably from British imposed deprivation under Queen Victoria alone (1837-1901) (read my books "Body Count. Global avoidable mortality since 1950" and "Jane Austen and the Black Hole of British History" now available for free perusal on the Web ). From an extremely charitable anti-racist Jewish perspective Ed Miliband is at the very least "confused" and should seek moral guidance from a large body of outstanding anti-racist Jews from Arendt to Zinn (Google "Jews Against Racist Zionism"). As a refugee from both the anti-racist and anti-Zionist Orthodox Jewish tradition and from the anti-racist, anti-Zionist secular Jewish tradition,
Filmakers death An Egyptian filmmaker detained without trial for over two years for making a music video that mocked President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi died on Saturday at a maximum-security prison complex, two rights lawyers said. Attorney Ahmed el-Khwaga said his 22-year-old client Shady Habash died in Cairo’s Tora Prison complex. He said the cause of death was not immediately clear. There was no immediate comment from the Interior Ministry, which oversees Egypt’s prison system. Police forces arrested the young filmmaker in March 2018 after he directed a music video by Ramy Essam, an Egyptian musician exiled in Sweden. The video featured a song that mocked the general-turned president, comparing him to a fruit date and
condemning alleged government corruption. Khaled Ali, a rights lawyer, said Habash should have been released two months ago after serving the maximum jail time during pending investigations. Galal el-Behairy, who wrote the song performed in the video, was also arrested in 2018 after the video provoked the ire of the government when it went viral on social media with millions of views on YouTube. El-Behairy was sentenced by an Egyptian military court to three years in prison after his conviction on charges of “insulting security forces” and “disseminating false news.” Following his death, Habash’s friends published a letter he wrote from prison in October in which he spoke of his despair.
“Prison doesn’t kill, loneliness does,” he wrote, describing what he called his struggle to “stop yourself from going mad or dying slowly because you’ve been thrown in a room two years ago and forgotten.” “His psychological state was very bad,” el-Khwaga said of Habash when he saw for the last time two months ago.
Habash’s death again trained a spotlight on the dangers of Egyptian prisons as el-Sissi escalates a crackdown on dissent. Many inmates are serving time for crimes they insist they did not commit, or have not been charged at all. According to rights groups, thousands are held in Egypt’s jails awaiting trial. The death also comes amid the coronavirus pandemic. Over-
Ed Miliband should also seek moral guidance from a large body of outstanding anti-racist non-Jews including the likes of Nobel Laureates Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Jimmy Carter, Máiread Maguire and José Saramago who have unequivocally condemned the ongoing Palestinian Genocide by Apartheid Israel (Google "Non-Jews Against Racist Zionism"). This site is a compendium of the authoritative views of outstanding anti-racist humanitarians bearing witness to the ongoing Palestinian Holocaust that is a Palestine Genocide as defined by Article 2 of the UN Genocide Convention.Indeed this website provides an alphabetical listing of the documented views of numerous people and organizations referring to the Palestinian Genocide or to related terms such as Palestinian holocaust, Palestinian ethnic cleaning, Palestinian liquidation. The situation in Palestine has been recently described as a Palestinian Holocaust by Palestinian scholar Dr Elias Akleh, exiled from his homeland and now living in the US (see:The Failure Of Human Rights Watch In Venezuela And Haiti By Joe Emersberger ). It has been frequently described by others as a Palestinian Genocide, a term that is amply justified in relation to the definitions of the UN Genocide Convention as outlined below. Article 2 of the UN Genocide Convention (see:The UN Genocide Convention ) states: “In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such: a) Killing members of the group; b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to crowded prison cells could be breeding grounds for the spread of the virus, which causes the illness COVID-19. Egypt has around 6,200 confirmed cases and over 400 deaths. Earlier this year, a US citizen who had gone on a hunger strike as part of a six-year battle against what he insisted was wrongful imprisonment, died in prison of heart failure. Egyptian authorities said at the time they would investigate the death of Mustafa Kassem, 54, an Egyptian-born auto parts dealer from Long Island, New York. Kassem was in Cairo to visit family in August 2013 when his lawyers say he was mistakenly swept up in a dragnet during the violent dispersal of an Islamist sit-in that killed hundreds of people. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison in a 2018 mass trial of over 700 defendants widely condemned by human rights groups.
www.thewordmedia.org
POLITICS AND EVENTS
May 2020.
THE
WORD
17
RESISTING TRUMP’S ‘DEAL OF THE CENTURY
members of the group; c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group”. Using the latest available UN Agency data we can systematically analyze these UN Genocide Convention points thus. “Intent to destroy in whole or in part" - sustained (and frequently asserted) intent over about 150 years of the Zionist colonial project; 0.75 million Palestinian refugees in 1948; currently 7 million Palestinian refugees, and 4.2 million Palestinian refugees registered with the UN in the Middle East; over 40 years of illegal Israeli Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza; 0.1 million 1948-2011 violent Palestinian deaths, post-1967 excess deaths 0.3 million; post-1967 under-5 infant deaths 0.2 million; 3,600 under-5 year old Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) infants die avoidably EACH YEAR in the OPT "Prison" due to Apartheid Israeli war crimes. a) Killing - about 5,100,000 Palestinians killed since 1948; post1967 excess deaths 0.3 million; post-1967 under-5 infant deaths 0.2 million; 3,600 under-5 year old Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) infants die avoidably EACH YEAR in the OPT "Prison" due to Israeli ignoring of the Geneva Convention; 254 OPT Palestinians killed by the Israeli military in the LAST 2 MONTHS OF 2008 ALONE, 301 killed thus last year (latest UNRWA data; see above). b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm - see (a) and the shocking UNICEF reports of the appalling
conditions psychologically scarring OPT children:| At a glance: State of Palestine | UNICEF . (c) Conditions to cause destruction in whole or in part - see (a) and (b); Professor Noam Chomsky describes the OPT as a highly abusive "Prison"; others use the valid term "Concentration Camp" and make parallels with the Warsaw Ghetto; one has to turn to US-guarded Vietnamese hamlets and the Nazi era atrocities to see routine, horrendously violent and deadly military policing of civilian concentration camps. (d) Measures intended to prevent births - see (a), (b), and (c) above; dozens of pregnant women dying at road blocks; other killing of pregnant Palestinian women; huge infant mortality in the OPT with the Occupier in gross violation of the Geneva Convention. (e) Forcible transferring of children – irreversible transferring by killing of children - 0.2 million post-invasion infant deaths; 27 OPT children violently killed in the LAST WEEK ALONE; mass imprisonment of 2 million OPT children; hundreds of Palestinian children in abusive Israeli high-security prisons in Israel; forcible separation of families by racist Israeli Apartheid Laws, marriage laws and immigration laws. For all anti-racist humanitarians - and anti-racist Jews in particular the core moral messages from the WW2 Jewish Holocaust (5-6 million dead, 1 in 6 dying from deprivation) and from the more general WW2 European Holocaust (30 million Slav, Jewish and Gypsy dead) are “zero tolerance for racism”, “never again to anyone”, “bear witness” and “zero tolerance for lying”.
Claims for social security As almost half a million people rushed to apply for Universal Credit over the last nine days, the Department for Work and Pensions has redeployed thousands of staff to help go through the claims. As almost half a million people rushed to apply for Universal Credit over the last nine days, the Department for Work and Pensions has redeployed thousands of staff to help go through the claims. Tonight, officials have claimed the system is “standing up to the challenge” and that they’re taking “urgent action to boost capacity”. But will people making claims have to wait weeks for the cash they desperately need? The Commons work and pensions committee heard. The work and pensions secretary,Thérèse Coffey,told the committee that extra money had been directed to an online verification programme, while staff would also be making outbound calls to verify people’s claims.
When it comes to Trump’s “Deal of the Century,” all of my family in the besieged Gaza Strip feel disappointed, but not surprised. Being survivors of Israeli apartheid and blockades has taught them to focus on one thing: Palestinian liberation. Palestinians learned early on how colonial powers do not support our liberation. They only want to weaken us, destroy our agency to struggle and our hopes for freedom and equality. Trump and his allies seek to weaponize our extreme vulnerability to try to keep us from demanding a just resolution. Meanwhile, they watch Palestinian Sumud and resistance grow in the face of the Israeli Apartheid practices, of which the BDS movement is one of the greatest examples. The day the plan was announced I called my parents who said, “as long as you and your siblings are alive, the dream of Palestine continues.” My father added, “we are ready for a one state and that what we were advocating for ages; this is the Zionist’s biggest fear”. My mother, Halima, continued by saying, “they think that the Palestinians will forget but they never will.” This language of ongoing struggle for liberation has been very present in the everyday life of Palestine for the last century, and especially in Gaza, despite all the misery and the never-ending attacks. One sign of this has been Palestinians refusal to submit to peace plans that normalize Palestinian ethnic cleansing. Anything that minimizes the Palestinian struggle and includes anything less than the complete array of human rights should be rejected by any moral state. The Oslo Accords were the greatest betrayal along these lines. Capitalists were made neo-colonial promises, and we continue to see the results on the ground with a neoliberal authority that is fully corrupted without any agency but built to administer security to protect settler colonial practices. The same plans continue to be introduced today but without Palestinians even being at the table; plans that will only delegitimize Palestinian aspirations and the basic collective calls for self-determination and the right to return. Yet, despite the vulnerability of Palestinians in colonized Palestine and the diaspora, we continue to speak up and challenge Israeli Apartheid in all spaces, connecting the Palestinian struggle to every anti-capitalist, anti-colonial, anti-imperialist struggle worldwide. My parents, grandparents, and every Palestinian’s answer to the Trump deal is nothing less
than intensifying the resistance for our legitmate rights and right to return, and exposing the international community’s complicity in Israeli Apartheid. In those moments, I feel the memories of my grandparents. Their spirits are looking at me and telling me, ‘resist Majed, resist, there is only one way.’ My parents and my grandparents have always had the same response to whatever brutality they were living under; they called for more grassroots resistance until Palestine is completely decolonized. My grandmother, Tamam, died 13 years ago when the Israeli army invaded near my uncle’s home where she lived. She hurried down the stairs and dug a hole behind his home to hide one thing – the official papers proving our family owned our lands and property in a village named Beit Jirja before the 1948 Nakba. Those are the official papers which we – refugees in Gaza and in the diaspora – consider as the real deal of the century. This would be a deal that gives the right of return to the millions of refugees worldwide who have dreamt and resisted for decades to achieve this recognition which is granted by international law. My grandmother Tamam had a heart attack the same day she hid those papers. I believe it was her panic and fear of a massive bombardment from the Israeli military that killed her. My grandmother was 85 years old when she died. At that time she was much older than the country of Israel, as were many of the survivors of the Zionist ethnic cleansing of our people that took place during Nakba and after. My grandmother Tamam, or in Arabic “Sitti Tamam”, taught me one thing, “never trust the Zionists.” She always referred to them the proper way, and she meant it clearly. “They will always betray us and want our lands,” she would say, and therefore our only option was to resist the colonial Zionist power as much as we could. Sitti Tamam always referred to Jaffa, Haifa, Nazareth, Safad, Akku, and Alkarmel mountain as places in Palestine. She was not educated in school but she knew Palestine well. She understood the Zionist colonial policy, and she knew well that she was a refugee who had to resist the colonizers. She knew her identity well, and celebrated it everyday with her embroidered dresses. Sitti Tamam did not appropriate anyone’s identity with dresses or food. She was afraid to use a dress even from the next village because she was proud of her village heritage, and she used to respect other villages dresses
and food even though they were very close. Until she died Sitti Tamam was a good, kind, and caring human being who loved the diversity of our Palestinian heritage from river to the sea. Sitti Tamam never accepted the two-state solution, she always said those who would surrender 22% of our Palestinian lands are traitors. She was always saying that Jewish Israelis were cowards for accepting to be led by Zionists. Sitti always spoke of the neighboring village to our village where there was a Jewish farmer who was a friend to everyone in our village and there was no trouble, but the Zionists brought the troubles to historical Palestine. I think that Sitti Tamam would have been a great believer in one-state solution, she always said Zionists are the trouble-makers. I have no doubt Sitti Tamam would have created a better deal than Donald Trump. Sitti Tamam grew up resisting British and Zionist colonizers. She broke every Zionist curfew in our camp, and even made headlines for challenging soldiers. She attended every solidarity protest with Palestinian prisoners, she called them her sons and daughters. She committed her life to our community as a compassionate and passionate woman who was clear about her demands. She always said, “I do not know Lenin or Karl Marx but I know injustice and oppression must end.” She advocated for her six sons and two daughters to resist Zionist colonialism and participate in political protests until all of them were imprisoned for their political struggle against Zionism and settler colonialism. The last one of her children to be jailed was my father, Ismael, who was imprisoned for being a political leader in the PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) for 18 years. She was a proud Palestinian grandmother. She did not learn politics from Princeton or Georgetown but she knew the truth, and advocated for only the truth. I believe her truth should be the official “Deal of the Century.” The spirit of my grandmother has been planted like seeds in dozens of children who will never forget the Palestine we learned in the stories of our grandparents and other elders. They taught us the truth that many Westerners and Israelis refuse to hear. Can we soon begin to work towards absolute equality in Palestine/ Israel? Aren’t we courageous and revolutionary enough to be radical dreamers? I believe we can do it. It will be the leaders turn to accept the grassroots deal, the deal of the people.
18
THE
WORD
May 2020.
IT IS 75 YEARS SINCE THE END OF WW2 IN EUROPE THE LIES OF THE USA It is 75 years since the end of WW2 in Europe. Maybe it’s now time to evaluate what really happened? Did the Americans, as we are told in just about every film ever made really save the world? Here are a few facts and figures. The U.S. government did not lift a finger to stop the Hitler-backed fascists during the Spanish Civil War. Much of the oil used in the Nazi war effort was purchased from U.S. corporations. According to Mumia Abu Jamal and Stephen Vittoria in Book Two of their three-part series, Murder Incorporated: Empire, Genocide and Manifest Destiny, Standard Oil, Ford Motors, ITT and General Motors all provided materials to assist the German war effort. “For the Nazis, the main bearers of the Communist ideology were Jews. The millions of Jews living in the invaded territory were seen as the very embodiment of the proverbial Jewish Bolshevism dominating the Soviet state… Thus, the extermination of Soviet Jewry was perceived not merely as the annihilation of a racial enemy. From September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944, nearly 2 ½ years, the city of Leningrad was besieged by the Nazis and placed under a cruel embargo, in what many historians classify as a brutal act of genocide. Of a population of 2.5 million people, only 800,000 survived. Finally, the most intense battle of the entire war – and all human history – came in the third quarter of 1942 and lasted more than 5 months as the Nazis pushed towards the oil-rich region of Baku. To get there, they’d have to get through the city of Stalingrad. In the Battle of Stalingrad, the German war machine more than met its match. From August-January, the Nazis lost nearly 500,000 troops, which is more than either the British or the Americans lost in the entire war. After their humiliating defeat at Stalingrad, the Wehrmacht was in full retreat. The Red Army pursued the fleeing fascists and one by one fought to liberate the ghastly Nazi concentration camps. As they did, they notified the world of the horrors they uncovered.
POLITICS AND EVENTS
www.thewordmedia.org
Something’s up with the North Star. P
eople have watched the North Star for centuries. The bright star, also known as Polaris, is almost directly above Earth's North Pole and serves as a landmark in the sky for travelers without a compass. It's also Earth's closest cepheid, a type of star that pulses regularly in diameter and brightness. And Polaris is part of a binary system; it's got a dimmer sister, known as Polaris B, that we can watch circling it from Earth. "However, as we learn more, it is becoming clear that we understand less" about Polaris, wrote the authors of a new paper on the famous star. The problem with Polaris is that no one can agree on how big or distant it is. Astrophysicists have a few ways to calculate the mass, age and distance of a star like Polaris. One method is a stellar evolution model, said new study co-author Hilding R. Neilson, an astrophysicist at the University of Toronto. Researchers can study the brightness, color and rate of pulsation of the star and use that data to figure out how big and bright it is and what stage of life it's in. Once those details are worked out, Neilson told Live Science, it's not hard to figure out how far away the star is; it's fairly simple math
once you know how bright the star really is and how dim it looks from Earth. These models are especially precise for cepheids, because their rate of pulsing is directly related to their luminosity, or brightness. That makes it easy to calculate the distance to any of these stars. Astronomers are so sure they understand that relationship that cepheids have become critical tools for measuring distances all across the universe. But there are other ways to study Polaris, and those methods don't agree with the stellar evolution models. "Polaris is what we call an astrometric binary," Neilson said, "which means you can actually see its companion going around it, sort of like a circle being drawn around Polaris. And that takes about 26 years." Researchers haven't yet made detailed observations of a full circuit by Polaris B. But they've seen enough of the companion star in recent years to have a pretty detailed picture of what the orbit looks like. With that information, you can apply Newton's laws of gravity to measure the masses of the two stars, Neilson said. That information, combined with new Hubble Space Telescope "parallax" measurements — another
way to calculate the distance to the star — lead to very precise numbers on Polaris's mass and distance. Those measurements say it's about 3.45 times the mass of the sun, give or take 0.75 solar masses. That's way less than the mass you get from stellar evolution models, which suggest a value of about seven times the mass of the sun. This star system is weird in other ways. Calculations of the age of Polaris B suggest that the star is much older than its bigger sibling, which is unusual for a binary system. Typically, the two stars are about the same age. Neilson, together with Haley Blinn, an undergraduate student and researcher at the University of Toronto, generated a huge set of models of Polaris to see whether those models could reconcile all the data known about the system. They couldn't. One possibility is that at least one of the measurements here is just wrong, the researchers wrote. Polaris is an especially difficult star to study, Neilson said. Located above Earth's North Pole, it's outside the field of view of most telescopes. And the telescopes that have the necessary equipment for precisely measuring the star's properties are
usually designed to study much fainter, more distant stars. Polaris is too bright for those instruments; in fact, it's blinding for them. But the data researchers do have seem trustworthy, and there's no obvious reason to doubt that information, Neilson said. Those findings led Neilson and Blinn to another, stranger explanation: Perhaps the main star of the Polaris system was once two stars and they slammed together several million years ago. Such a binary collision, Neilson said, can rejuvenate stars, pulling in extra material and making the stars look like they just "went through the fountain of youth." Stars that result from binary collisions don't neatly fit stellar evolution models, and such an event could explain the discrepancy found with Polaris. "This would be an unlikely scenario, but not impossible," the researchers wrote. So far, none of the solutions is wholly satisfying. "It is challenging to draw significant conclusions beyond the fact that Polaris continues to be an enduring mystery, and the more we measure the less we seem to understand," Neilson and Blinn wrote.
www.thewordmedia.org
POLITICS AND EVENTS
May 2020.
THE
WORD
19
HOLOMODOR THE HOLOCAUST THE WEST TRIED TO IGNORE
Stalin’s Omelette By Brian Bamford
P
OLISH DIRECTOR Agnieszka Holland’s important new film tells the story of Gareth Jones’ courageous reporting of Stalin’s murderous 1932-33 “Holomodor”. This Soviet “holocaust” was alternately ignored and denied by the world’s press and remains so today. Jones’ reports and reputation were traduced by his press colleagues, orchestrated by Walter Duranty, the celebrated, Pullitzer Prize-winning, resident Moscow correspondent of the New York Times who shockingly trivialised the deaths of four million Ukrainians with the observation, 'You can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs.' Mr Jones goes Free-range Whilst the salaried correspondents of the international press were content to remain in Moscow, wined, dined and accommodated in relative luxury as favoured mouthpieces of Soviet propaganda, Gareth Jones investigated independently as an irregular 'stringer'. After interviewing, on his own initiative, numerous Rus-
sian representatives in Moscow, in March 1933 Jones obtained official permission to travel by rail to visit and report on a 'model' Soviet tractor factory in Kharkiv. Gareth duly boarded the train in Moscow but got off well before reaching Kharkiv so that he could conduct his own 'unofficial' investigations into conditions on the ground in rural Ukraine. Already aware of widespread rumours of Stalin’s ruthless treatment of rural Ukraine, Jones, a fluent Russian speaker, trudged forty miles on foot, passing through fourteen villages and everywhere encountering starving people. Peasants expressed their fierce resentment against Bolshevik battalions corralling them into collectivized farms and then stealing away their pitiful produce with no regard for their former ways of farming, culture, co-operation and exchange. Despite this mechanistic regimentation of rural labour resulting in a catastrophic diminution of production Stalin demanded and appropriated ever increasing amounts of grain, meat and vegetables. Inconvenient Truths
Jones left Russia at the end desired narrative. Like the original of March and immediately filed reporting of the Holodomor, the newspaper reports and delivered film shows signs of clumsy politipublic lectures on the starvation cal manipulation. Absolute integconditions he’d witnessed and rity and telling inconvenient truths just as promptly he came under were the essence of Gareth Jones’ attack from Stalin’s apoloreporting yet Agnieszka gists, led by Walter DuHolland has taken several ranty. The first of more absurd liberties with the than twenty of Jones’ truth to sex up her picpublished reports apture. To be specific: peared in the Manchester a) There is no evidence Guardian on 30 March that Jones, inadvertently, 1933 headlined 'FAMINE or otherwise, indulged in OF MARCH, IN RUSSIA'. The very JONES OBTAINED or even witnessed any inOFFICIAL next day the New York cidents of cannibalism in Times printed Duranty’s PERMISSION TO the Ukraine. dismissive, 'RUSSIANS TRAVEL BY RAIL TO b) Jones explicitly HUNGRY, BUT NOT VISIT AND REPORT states that he saw no ON A ‘MODEL’ dead bodies lying around STARVING'. Referring to SOVIET TRACTOR unburied. Jones by name, Duranty FACTORY IN described Gareth’s acc) Whilst living in KHARKIV count as 'a big scare story'. Paris it’s quite possible Holland’s film does an excel- that Duranty previously indulged lent job of raising the profile of in the sort of sex parties depicted, the myriad key issues around the there’s no evidence, and it’s most Holodomor and its reporting. The unlikely, that he did so in Moscow production values are high and vis- in the 1930’s and placing Jones at ually the picture looks well along- such an event is absurd. side other 'art-house' productions d) Jones never met George Orbut characterisation has been sac- well, nor is there any evidence that rificed to inaccurately accentuate a his reporting inspired Animal Farm.
1933
e) The key character 'Paul Klebb' who, in the film, posthumously inspires and informs Jones’ Ukraine journey never existed but was doubtless inserted as a spurious, politically motivated reference to a similarly named individual who was likely murdered on Putin’s orders. Good Effort but no Cigar Despite the film’s shortcomings it should be seen and reflected upon. It’s not unvarnished truth, if that were ever possible, but it’s accessible, reasonably entertaining and essential viewing for anyone with a serious interest in history or politics though it’s far from the last word. Many lies and inaccuracies about the Holomodor remain to be challenged and as this film exemplifies, new untruths are still being manufactured so in “HOLOMODOR - Part Two” (to be published shortly on this website) I’ll identify false claims made by (amongst others) authors, Anne Applebaum, Sally J Taylor, James William Cowl and the Communist Party of Great Britain and examine Stalin’s role in the 1935 murder of Gareth Jones.
20
THE
WORD
O
May 2020.
nce again I must confess my ignorance of women who make a difference. Sybil Theodora Phoenix nee Marshall was one, until I found her mentioned in a book by Robert Winder, # who traces the trials and tribulations immigrants have faced over centuries in Britain, as well as their contributions to the country. She was born in British Guiana, now (Guyana) on June 21st 1927. Having lost her mother when only 9, lived with her grandfather until he passed away when Sybil was 12. Her aunt and uncle looked after her and on leaving school she acted as secretary to a local minister and helped in the church youth club. She met and married Joe Phoenix and they moved to England and married in 1956. Here she experienced racism from the beginning, but it has been said of her: “Sybil has a tremendous capacity for loving in the face of hatred, rejection and discrimination” Her background pushed her in the early 1960’s into providing foster care for unwanted children in Lewisham, and in 1977 she founded a youth centre for teenagers, named Moonshot. It became a community centre for black people with dances, football team, drop-in support for young mothers and socials for the elderly. Despite this being burnt down by members of the National Front she rebuilt it. She said “My name is Phoenix and I will build a new centre from the ashes of this club, so help me God.” In 1973 she was awarded a MBE for her work as it reopened as the Pagnell Street Centre with the Prince of Wales present. She then worked with the Borough of Lewisham on a supported housing project for single homeless mothers. The project became known as the Marsha Phoenix Memorial Trust in memory of her daughter
POLITICS AND EVENTS
who died in a car accident. Other work involved her in Black History Month and as a local Methodist preacher she was active in forming links with other faiths. She set up anti-racism training for clergy and as Director of the Methodist Leadership Awareness Workshop she took the message to many other countries. Her work was recognised by Guyana in 1987 with the Medal of Service and she was appointed by Princess Margaret as Minister without Portfolio for the country. Here she worked on as ViceChair of Lewisham Council for Community Relations, receiving the award of Honorary Fellowship of the University of London in recognition. Other honours included, Freeman of the Borough of Lewisham and Freedom of the City of London, also Civic Mayoress of Lewisham. She was elevated to OBE in June 2008. This was the second honour she received from the Queen for community work. She had been the first black woman to receive an MBE, but initially refused it because it would not benefit her community. The powers-that-be were taken aback expecting her to be more grateful. She stated she would accept it if the council gave her a property where she could house, feed and educate homeless young girls from Lewisham. In conclusion I include this tribute to this indomitable character who as I write is still going strong. As an individual she has been a driving force through her leadership and she has been a true inspiration. To those she works for and with, Sybil has created a winning culture, at the heart of which is love, old-fashioned values, pragmatism and, beyond all else, the belief that everyone deserves a second chance. (The Academy for Sustainable Communities).
Dame Sybil Phoenix
www.thewordmedia.org
www.thewordmedia.org
POLITICS AND EVENTS
May 2020.
THE
WORD
21
The pandemic and our freedoms
T
hose who plan the major moves on the chess-board of covert human control know that by leading with the word ‘pandemic’ they have an instantly effective weapon at their disposal to psychologically weaken the resistance of individuals vulnerable to irrational and impressionistic mind sets.
on the timing and methods to be deployed. In the case of Covid-19, its appearance on the scene – or at least the spreading of the story about something nasty going under this name – is timed to divert attention from the speeding-up of the installation of what are deemed to be important spokes in the creation of a totalitarian New World Order. For example, the roll-out of 5G microwave modulated WiFi; a digitalised smart grid and ‘internet of things’; a robotic transport system; facial recognition population surveillance programmes; new strains of genetically modified organisms and vaccines, and so forth. However, the predominant game plan is to ‘re-set’ global finance so as to appear to be supporting the euphemistically named Green New Deal with its holy grail ‘Zero Carbon’.
So, in a world heavily conditioned by the proclamations of the mass media, the fear weapon has a huge psychological power. As we have all witnessed over the past months, the Coronavirus story has been unleashed with barely contained lascivious delight by news media under orders from the purveyors of malevolent missions against mankind. Pumped-up to maximum volume and dispersed globally, the deliberately designed fear message has the instant effect of making the majority of people feel powerless. The Big problem is at large – and we the people feel small. This is the beginning of an entrapment which colours every aspect of daily life. Most of humanity has undergone a process of education which depends for its effectiveness on the perceived power of some ‘authority’ to exert an unquestioned controlling influence over the general direction of the life. A source of influence that depends for its continuing effectiveness on never being subjected to rational scrutiny, or genuine examination of any kind. Such is the beguiling power of full-on indoctrination. The Corona Contagion is chock full of idiosyncrasies; in fact there are so many nonsensical factors
associated with media attempts to report on what’s going on, that one can only feel dazed and confused should one try and follow the script in real time. However, what has become all too clear is the fact that large numbers of people are being herded – and are not resisting. The scare tactics being employed are more dangerous than the virus that is the excuse for deploying them. Under this induced state of psychosis all manner of tricks can be perpetrated on mankind – and that is precisely what we are witnessing at this time. Save Us From Freedom! Once again, the fear card plays a key role. This time, in keeping a constant level of anxiety and hysteria on the boil, while working to ensure that those able to recog-
nise the true nature of the scam are coerced into not stepping out of line, thereby risking their job, security or status within the rigidly enforced master/slave relationship of the status quo. The whole sick edifice maintains its momentum based upon pure top-down deception and exploitation. Yet those at the receiving end largely choose to remain oblivious of the fact that they are being used and abused for the benefit of a fascist ideal. By not rebelling in the face of such treatment – but instead by complying with it – a mute populace establishes the basis of its own debasement and slavery. These methods have been practised over and over again in the history of the world, and each time hind-sight reveals the moti-
vation to have been an obsession with power and control, and the perpetrators to be a small number of psychopathic despots. Whether taking the form of military might, religious dogma or modern day corporate and banking control freaks, provided the drama has been well stage-managed and the ‘might has produced fright’, the hegemons get their way. How well is the roll-out being stage-managed on this occasion – and what is the plan? Owing to the trans-planetary link-ups that take place today, the ‘master plan’ is no longer a regional or national affair, but a global one. The main players have hatched the plot long before any of us get to know about it and gatherings like the Davos Economic Summit and Bildergerger meetings are used to gain consensus
Instead, it can be put under the spotlight and be seen for what it is, a planned manipulation of the people and resources of this planet, whose main goading-tool consists of the well rehearsed art of spreading fear and panic. And this, in turn, to undermine the rational and common sense based gift which we have all been blessed with from birth, and which – when in good order – can clearly see through the facade and hold the line of reason and truth. Julian Rose is an early pioneer of organic farming, writer, broadcaster, international activist and holistic actor/thinker. “weapon has a huge psychological power.” “These methods have been practised over and over again in the history of the world,”
British ‘X-Files’ of UFO sightings is going public From the early 1950s until 2009, a department in the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) documented and investigated reports of UFOs. Now, more than a decade after the program ended, many of those formerly classified files about UFO sightings will be made available to the public for the first time. Previously, some MoD files about UFOs had been published online at the U.K. National Archives website, The Telegraph reported. However, all of the agency’s UFO reports will be
released this year on “a dedicated gov.uk web page,” a spokesperson for the British Royal Air Force (RAF) told The Telegraph. The decision came after PA Media, a British news agency, filed a request for the UFO files under the Freedom of Information Act, according to The Telegraph. MoD officials decided “it would be better to publish these records, rather than continue sending documents to the National Archives,” the RAF spokesperson said. The U.K.’s fascination with UFOs spiked around 1950,
prompting the MoD to form the Flying Saucer Working Party to address the phenomenon, according to the U.K. National Archives. UFOs in the early 1950s even captured the attention of Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who sent a memo to his air minister in 1952 asking, “What does all this stuff about flying saucers amount to? What can it mean? What is the truth?” The flying saucer group concluded that UFOs were hoaxes, delusions or ordinary objects that were misidentified, recommending “that no further inves-
tigation of reported mysterious aerial phenomena be undertaken.” Nevertheless, other MoD divisions continued the work of official UFO investigation in the U.K., ushering such efforts into the 21st century, The National Archives reported. The last UFO report to be published online by the MoD dates to 2009, covering sightings that took place from January through the end of November of that year. These included “a silver disc-shaped light” (reported in January 2009), “up to 20 orange and red glowing lights” (report-
ed in June), “a large bright silver/ white ball/sphere” (reported in July) and “three blazing gold orbs in a diagonal line in the sky” (reported in September). After MoD enacted a policy change on Dec. 1, 2009, the agency no longer recorded or investigated UFO sightings, according to the report. But what they did find — including many recent UFO reports that were previously available only as hard copies — will be published online within the next few months, said Nick Pope, a former UFO investigator for the MoD.
22
THE
WORD
May 2020.
ABOVE TITLE SMALL NEWS UP TO
Hope and Good News New Zealand: Today the country reported no new cases of covid 19 with their new Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, again showing she has steel as well as compassioon as she did over the bombing of the mosque last year. The world has seen her show what real leadership is, despite being the world’s youngest female in that role. She put this down to their lockdown period but said she would revisit the numbers later this week when the more relaxed rules had had time to bed in. “We need to not get ahead of ourselves, stick to our bubble, and finish what we started” Sweden: A Sami indigenous group has won a land-rights victory against the government. The court have returned exclusive control over fishing and hunting to the villagers of Girjas, whose Sami population have used the land since 500BC. It might lead to more such rulings across northern Sweden. Democratic Republic of Congo: The last Ebola patient has left hospital. Though the World Health Organisation has given it 42 days before officially declaring an end to this second dealiest outbreak of the epidemic, which took 2,264 lives in 2019 alone. Portugal: Due to prudent government suspension of fossil fuel subsidies the country has edged its way to more than covering energy demands using 100% renewable sources! Canada: Success for campaigning group ‘Sum of Us’ as their petition caused the government to slash a $15billion subsidy to fossil fuel companies to $3billion with revenue being now ploughed into worker’s rights and renewable energy.
POLITICS AND EVENTS
www.thewordmedia.org
WELL KNOWN FOR HIS SOCIALISM WHAT ELSE I
Former Labour MP tell our readers about wha influenced him in polit He saw being an elected MP as an incredible privilege and did not feel worthy to follow in the footsteps of the great Socialists. But then it dawned on him that so many of the so-called great historic characters had been oppressors and that the whole operation is not fit for purpose.
What are your first thoughts on entering parliament? Initially I was intimidated by the place. Obviously, a lot of the heritage, the great figures from history that have been there, people like Tony Benn and Aneurin Bevan and so on, and I felt as though I wasn’t really worthy of being an elected member of parliament representing my home city. It was an incredible privilege though, to be elected as a member of parliament, but I soon began to realise that a lot of those anxieties that I held were misplaced, and the thing that really inspired me were the words of Aneurin Bevan himself, who spoke about his arrival in Westminster and he made the point that it can have the effect of cowing somebody from a humble background. I was a working class kid you know and I had had the privilege of being elected to parliament, but the point that Nia made, was that all these great figures from history, all this heritage that adorn the walls of the palace of Westminster is absolutely nothing to do with our heritage, these were the characters who kept our ancestors under the heel. And that real-
ly was a light bulb moment really for me. And from that moment forward, I felt more at ease, more comfortable. I’ve got to say that the way the whole operation is set up there is not fit for purpose. And one of the things I’ve suggested is that we need to move out of Westminster to a more appropriate location probably in the North of England. The Oath. Have did you get around that as a republican? Yeah that was a tricky one. The first time I went, I simply crossed my fingers and asked my dad for forgiveness. My dad sadly passed away some years ago, because he was an ardent republican himself, and I took the oath on that basis. The second time however, I made it clear and made a statement prior to actually swearing the oath, I made it clear that I was doing this really, under sufferance, and made a statement to say that “I only take this oath, because like my father before me, I believe that the head of state should be elected, and I’m only therefore taking this oath, in order to represent my constituency. Which MPs showed you any
friendship or solidarity, in your time in Parliament? People like Jeremey Corbyn was very friendly to me, and John McDonell and Barry Gardiner actually. He was the first person to put an arm around me and made me feel welcome. But my second period in Parliament, was however a bit different, because obviously I’d been there before, and I’d taken a position of strongly supporting the socialist agenda that Jeremy Corbyn was putting forward and that alienated me from a lot of people who previously considered me to be a friend, and I remember speaking at a rally in support of Jeremy, and I’d written an article for the Morning Star, and suggested that the malcontents and the saboteurs who had signed a vote of no confidence against Jeremy were behaving as if they were Lynton
»
It was an incredible privilege though, to be elected as a member Chris Williamson
Crosby’s sleepers who had been put into the Party ten, twenty or thirty years ago, to be activated at this very moment, when the Tories were in disarray, and Labour had a socialist as a leader of the Party and there was an opportunity potentially to introduce a modest socialist programme, to activate these sleepers, in order to cause the maximum amount of chaos and frankly, had they been Lynton Crosby’s sleepers, they couldn’t have done a better job for him. What was your worst moment in Parliament? I guess, thinking back, I didn’t really see like that at the time, but I think it was, on reflection, agreeing to vote for the military intervention in Libya. I was pressed by Ed Milliband at the time saying, look, you know this is important, you know we need this, we could keep unity, it wont actually result in military action at the end of the day. And I have to say, I naively believed some of the propaganda, that was, on reflection, the worst moment and something I bitterly regret. And it was a great breath of fresh air, to have someone like Jeremy, who has a very
Racial questions from the pandemic
Recently comments were made on French television about trialling a vaccine, usually used against tuberculosis, to treat corona virus They might have been glossed over but for them being vigorously condemned by a number of African and French footballers.
Professor Jean-Paul Mira, head of the intensive care unit at a Paris hospital said: ‘... shouldn’t we do this study in Africa where there are no masks, no treatment, no resuscitation?’ Adding ‘The same as for some AIDS studies where prostitutes try things because we knew they’re unprotected’.
Professor Camille Locht, research director at Inserm, replied saying his organisation were thinking along the same lines with the BCG vaccine (Bacillus Calmette– Guérin) Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast International) said on twitter: “Africa is not a testing lab.” He also pleaded
with African leaders to offer greater protection from such threats. “Let us save ourselves from this crazy virus that is plummeting the world economy and ravaging populations health worldwide,” he added. “Do not take African people as human guinea pigs! It is absolutely disgusting.” #1
Yussouf Malumbu (Rep. Of Congo): “Africa is not a trash can or a laboratory.” A number of other footballers
www.thewordmedia.org
POLITICS AND EVENTS
May 2020.
THE
WORD
23
IS IMPORTANT IN THIS VEGAN’S LIFE Report from Venezuala
s at tics!
Happy Times history that have been there, people like Tony Benn and Aneurin Bevan
Operación Gedeon. sold in shops but given free. I found it on google and Speculation is ripe and difficult didn’t know about it till 30 min to control. The petrol situation I ago! don’t understand, but there is Guaido denies it. But ap- enough for movement of goods parently yesterday a group of and people. Lately corrupted anti Maduro Venezuelan mili- police in charge at the pumps tary men from Colombia tried are charging in dollars for every to enter the country via the liter, to those trying to avoid Coast. They came from Colom- queues bia, country that denied any Covid 19 involvement. A gun battle took The statistics speak by place and some were killed and themselves, only ten deaths till other captured. now, and only around 360 have An American mercenary contracted it. went public to say that it was This has been possible bepart of 17 similar groups already cause very strict limitation of in Venezuela and their interstate movement, aim is to turn the arm closing airports, forces against the quarantine and government. compulsory use No one on of masks. Also my household tracking every GROUPS AND THEIR or in the neighone suspected AIM IS TO TURN bourhood or with the virus, THE ARM FORCES in the media known here as AGAINST THE is talking about “pesquisaje”. GOVERNMENT it. It’s only the Education internet and I susUniversity, secpect Main Stream media ondary education continabroad! ues via de internet. This is a fact Food and petrol as I have witnessed myself by There is no shortage of food helping my nephews with their and people are not dying of work. I had to refresh my physhunger. But it’s true that the iology and pathology and even prices have increased three fold maths ( irrational numbers!) since I arrived. The government MILTON PENA distributes a bag of food every Milton is a retired orthopaemonth that helps a lot. dic surgeon and worked in the Mangos are begging to ripe NHS for many years after fleeand are plentiful. They grow ing from political persecution every where and generally not in Chile
17
»
anti-imperialist, internationalist world view, as leader of the Party to offer a different way forward. Who was your political hero and why? There’s a few really, it’s hard to narrow it down to one, but I suppose, as a younger person, I had three really. The holy trinity. In Parliament, it was Tony Benn, for obvious reasons; in local government, it was a guy called David Bookbinder, who was a leader of Derbyshire County Council and in the Trade Union movement, it was Arthur Skagill. I guess you could do worse than holding those three up as the most influential figures in my life. I mean, there are many, many others like Malcolm X and Nelson Mandela, and people like that. What other jobs have you done? When I left school at 15, back in 1972, I initially went to work in a factory as a mechanical engineer apprentice, but factory life didn’t really suit me, so I then went into the building trade, much against my dad’s better judgement. He was working in the building trade himself, as a plasterer, and he was
keen for me to do something else, he made the point that it was very hard and that I should get myself a different career. However, I didn’t listen to him. I then set up a market stall in Derby selling whole foods, although Derby wasn’t quite ready for the whole food vegan revolution in 1978, but that did at least enable me to get out of the building trade. I then ended up getting a job in social services fitting aids and adaptations [inaudible], then a trainee Social Worker, from there a Welfare Rights Officer, Councillor and MP. Favourite television programmes? I watch Netflix more than I should do. I like some of the dramas on BBC and some of the quiz programmes are quite good. And just for a nightcap, we often watch a bit of Bullseye, a bit of Bully!
Favourite food? I’m a vegan obviously, so I guess it would probably be nut roast. What sport are you in to? Football, cricket are my favourite sports. I used to be a season ticket holder at Derby County. I’m a Derby County BC fan. I was watching Derby County before Brian Clough arrived. Any hobbies Chris? Dedicated to public service comrade! But when we do get time, we like walking in Derbyshire. Dislikes? Tories! If you have one wish, what would it be? Socialism in our time. Favourite country visited? This is a difficult one. I suppose it’s a toss up between the US and Italy actually. I’m not that well-travelled I’ve got to say, but we did have a trip to New York, and we thoroughly enjoyed that. But I’d say the trip to Italy probably scraps it. If you could meet any character from history, who would it be? Malcolm X.
have condemned the idea of using Africans a to test for a vaccine. They include international players such as Mohamed Sissoko and Aurelien Chedjou from Cameroon, plus French players Demba Ba and Samuel Eto’o. The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has also condemned the French medics’ remarks saying they were ‘racist, appalling and a
relic of colonial mentality’. This attitude that black lives have less value still permeates throughout Europe, N. America, Middle East and China. However former colonial powers though like Britain and France should value those of African and Caribbean descent for their contributions in two world wars and their input into those countries’ economy and culture. One asks
what would be the strength of their national soccer teams be without contributions of black players (over 50% of French national team currently) There is a difference insofar as France has indoctrinated former colonies that they are French first and Senegalese, Cameroonian or Ivorian second. To illustrate this indoctrination I found a quote in a book recently referencing a French
I made it clear that I was doing this really, under sufferance Chris Williamson
Foreign Minister’s response to nuclear tests then being carried out in Tahiti. In replying to a sceptical audience asking why, if the tests were considered safe, they were not being tested in France itself. The minister is reported to have sighed: “But Tahiti”, he said magnificently,“is France”. #2 More research will be needed as to the reasons why the ethnic minority community has been hit
disproportionately by the virus. Early figures show that in the UK and US it is about double in proportion to numbers in each group. For more on this read the article by Afua Hirsch. #3 However the phrase ‘we are all in it together’ needs changing to some are more in it more than others. We live in an unequal world and the fight, after this one against the pandemic, is to reduce inequality.
24
THE
WORD
May 2020.
POLITICS AND EVENTS
www.thewordmedia.org
FAKE NE
BOJO’S DIMINUTIVE LIMBO DANCING CABINET IS ONE TALL ST During the daily ‘Coronavirus: Downing Street briefings’ on the BBC it has been noted that all the main Cabinet Ministers are all shorter than Boris Johnson’s (Bojo) ft 8in. This is in marked contrast to Dr Chris Witty who is believed to be 6ft 4in. The shortest is Priti Patel at a diminutive 4ft 11in. In fact the whole Cabinet is thought to have been selected on their success at Limbo dancing as much as their right wing politics, or indeed their inability to count.
About $13bn (£10.3bn) was wiped off Tesla’s shares after chief executive Elon Musk tweeted that the electric car company’s “stock price is too high”. In a series of other tweets, Mr Musk, 48, also said he was “selling almost all physical possessions” and “will own no house”. He added his girlfriend was “mad at me”.The subsequent 9% drop in Tesla share prices erased about $3bn (£2.4bn) from Mr Musk’s own stake. Nevertheless, they remain almost 50% up from the start of April.The Wall Street Journal said Mr Musk responded to an email asking whether he was joking, or whether his tweet was vetted, by saying: “No.” It’s All In The Beak. In recent days the Leader of the Free World has bemused anyone with an ounce of wit by suggesting Disinfectant injections might cure Covid19. Not to far evolved from the Medieval belief that plague and disease was spread by Miasma or bad smells to account for the rapid and pervasive spread. Doctors believed miasma, noxious “bad air,” was the culprit. To protect against this poisonous air, plague doctors filled the beaks of their costumes with theriac. This concoction of more than 55 herbs included cinnamon, myrrh, viper flesh powder, and honey. Some French plague doctors even set the herbs on fire, producing a protective smoke within the beak. They hoped this smoke would repel ill-humors transmitted in the air. An early textual description from the Encyclopedia of Infection Diseases: Modern Methodologies explains: The nose [is] half a foot long, shaped like a beak, filled with perfume with only two holes, one on each side near the nostrils, but that can suffice to breathe and carry along with the air one breathes the impression of the [herbs] enclosed further along in the beak. The costume did little to quell the plague.
Facts seem to be surplus to requirements nowadays. How do you verify whether something is true or not, when the internet is crammed full of hearsay and speculation. Detailed below are some ‘Facts’ that may or may not be, well, all is not what it seems......
As for the level of protection it provided so-called “beak doctors”? That remains up for debate. But it did create a highly recognizable costume that has become an iconic part of European culture still seen regularly in Italian commedia dell’arte theater productions
www.thewordmedia.org
EWS
POLITICS AND EVENTS
May 2020.
THE
WORD
25
TORY AND IS AS UNBELIEVABLE AS THIS TORY GOVERNMENT they eat each week! Because of the shutdown of restaurants, Belgium is currently holding a surplus of over 750,000 tons of potatoes! Instead of eating a small side of fries each week, an association of these potato producers is encouraging Belgians to double their intake to help make a dent in the surplus. A Tupac Shakur has been labeled as one of the “bad apples” in this global pandemic. During a news conference on Monday, Kentucky Governor, Andy Beshear, labeled Tupac as one of the prank claimers using a fake name to file for unemployment. But, little did he know, this claim was not made for the 90s rap legend. It was filed by a true Lexington resident also named Tupac Shakur. Beshear has since extended his apologies to the [very much alive] restaurant employee.
deadly to the animals themselves. This approach made the effort two-pronged. It would infect German citizens and also kill cattle, depriving their soldiers of food. While gastrointestinal anthrax infection is the least common, its effects are just as deadly. Instead of causing boils and abscesses on the skin and throat, this type of infection results in bleeding throughout the digestive system. Even with treatment, mortality rates as high as 60% are projected. Meteorologist Sir Oliver Graham Sutton traveled to the island with a team of 50 men and 80 sheep to complete to develop and test the plan. Though Operation Vegetarian parameters called for the dissemination of anthrax into the beef supply through linseed cakes, the scientists simply released a cloud of anthrax upon the tethered sheep. Within days the animals had all died. Though they carefully decontaminated their equipment and incinerated the sheep’s’ corpses, the team quickly realized their plan was too deadly. Once the anthrax was unleashed, there was little they could do to stop it. Cities that suffered such a biological weapons attack would be rendered uninhabitable for decades. Though they managed to ANTHRAX ISLAND: spare mainland Europe from such Just half a mile off the coast of a disaster, it was too late for GuiScotland, lies an island that was nard Island. The small landmass once so contaminated with bio- had to be quarantined. Access to weapons that no one was the island became strictly allowed to step foot on prohibited, and it was it for fear of unleasheven removed from ing an outbreak of some map for fear anthrax upon the that terrorist world. Gruinard o rg a n i z at i o n s Island, as it is would travel to officially known, the island to proHERBS TO KEEP measures just 1.2 cure samples of miles long. Once the deadly bacBAD SMELLS covered with trees, teria. The island AT BAY it was described as remained off-limits the perfect hideout for and mostly forgotten thieves and rebels in the until mysterious packages 16th century. As many as six peo- containing infected soil from the ple were recorded living on the island showed up at government island, but since modern records offices. The packages were labestarting in the 1920s, no one has led “Operation Dark Harvest” and lived there. It was in 1942, while demanded the government do the second World War raged, that something to clean up the island. military forces traveled to Guinard In 1986, over 300 tons of formaldein hopes of creating a germ bomb hyde were dumped on the island to release on the Germans. Desig- to try and kill the anthrax spores, nated Operation Vegetarian, they hoped to disseminate deadly anthrax bacteria into the Nazi’s beef supply, crippling their enemies. The strain they chose—Vollum 14578—becomes more virulent the more hosts are exposed, leading to a snowball effect of infection. Just like other forms of anthrax, it was communicable by eating the flesh of infected animals as well as being
55
»
Spud mountain
and at Carnival in Venice. What are the odds that President Trump, a known germ-o-phobe will be sporting a beak when mixing worth the Proletariat. Belgium’s Potato Association is now encouraging consumers to double the amount of potatoes
Belgium Customers urged to eat twice the number of potatoes
and a flock of sheep was placed on the island to monitor for infection. After four years, the island was declared safe, and the quarantine lifted. The family who had been forced to give the land up to the government in the 1940s was also allowed to repurchase it for £500. Despite its return to “safe” status, many remain fearful of Anthrax Island, fearing the biological weapons could have mutated, or remain hidden in microscopic slumber.
Saved from the grave1: Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s poems. His own variation on this theme: he buried many unpublished poems in his wife’s grave when she died in 1862, vowing they should remain there for eternity. He changed his mind some years later, dug them up and published them. Saved from the grave2: George Orwell’s A Clergyman’s Daughter. DJ Taylor in his biography of Orwell said he “described it as ‘bollix’, and would never allow it to be reprinted in his lifetime”. But it was reprinted after his death in 1950, otherwise we might have forgotten “the wages of sin is kippers”. Saved from the grave3: Philip Larkin’s poems and letters. An ambiguous case. Larkin asked Monica Jones, one of his mistresses, to destroy his diaries; when he died in 1985 she asked Betty Mackereth, another of his mistresses, to do it. She spent a whole afternoon feeding them into a shredder. But he also told Andrew Motion, his biographer, that before he died, “I’ll have a bonfire of all the things I don’t want anyone to see.” But he never did, and unpublished poems and letters have been coming out ever since.
Saved from the grave4: Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange. Another partial case: Kubrick withdrew it from UK release in 1973. The Scala cinema in London closed after putting on an unauthorised screening in 1992, and losing the subsequent legal action. The ban was lifted only after he died in 1999.
26
THE
WORD
May 2020.
POLITICS AND EVENTS
www.thewordmedia.org
CLIFF JONES COLUMN OUR DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM IS A WORN
Proudhon was neither the first different periods acquire difnor the last to use the phrase ferent labels. Once a label is ‘property is theft’. His expla- firmly stuck on we no longer nation of the phrase can be have to think. confusing so perhaps it is best In our last general electo think of someone like Bill tion some nasty labels were Gates. How did he acquire the totally unjustifiably stuck on capacity to roam the world Corbyn. He did far too little to deciding upon which worthy tear them off. Strangely, his opcause to bestow his largess? ponent had labels such as ‘liar’, He paid the workers too lit- ‘buffoon’ and ‘not to be trusttle and charged the customers ed’ stuck all over him without too much. He is now admired any adverse effect. Why? Possias a benefactor. Slavery too bly it was because, during that is theft. Stick that in a history election, thinking was somebook and we can disregard it. It thing we chose not to do. was yesterday. Or was it? It takes only half a grey In Greece you might wear cell to see that capitalism is out your ears straining to hear not only destroying society praise of the EU. The Europe- but also wearing out the paan Union might not have tience of the Earth to put behaved so badly up with us. But why towards Greece, switch on a grey mostly indicell when it rectly via the might disturb Troika, had the prejudicnot Cameron es that have Corbyn did too positioned comforted little to remove the himself with you for so the extreme long? nasty labels stuck right wing nasSocialism on him ties in the Eurocomes with far pean Parliament. too many labels. Well, it is just a thought They overlap a lot. Atbut it is clear to me that his tending the local Exec ComEuropean policy was only mittee of my union I could ever about ensuring that he easily have spent half my time retained power within his own simply working out who wore party. He had no European ide- what label. Some wore several. alism. Back to basics. Now there So, is power also theft? Re- is a phrase of blessed memory. member those school history When you acquired your proplessons when you first heard erty who lost out? When you the phrase ‘benevolent des- became powerful did somepot’? To be a despot labelled one suffer? If you can identify you as a baddy. To be benev- losers and sufferers does that olent transformed you into a make you a thief? In what cirgoody. And so history wobbles cumstances can you justify along as different people and thievery?
Property is theft
“Oh” you say “how about the NHS? That is the finest achievement of democratic Socialism. The envy of the world.” In 1945 hundreds of thousands of British service personnel, trained, experienced and armed were returning from WW2. They had seen life and death away from the constraints of Britain’s media propaganda. They had seen the poverty and cruelty of the 1930s. The elite had seen what could happen. Russia was a wake-up call from them. They picked up some crumbs from their table and threw them down. The National health service was born. Even then the British medical association fought against it with every ounce of their being. There really are more of us than them but only in the sense that very few people, relatively speaking, will complain. Even fewer are willing to do anything about it. Of those that do most are literally bored to death by the machinations of the political party machine. Anyone who has ever attended a Labour party meeting will know what I mean. We have all met those characters who stand up and ask questions that turn into speeches. Those who tell you a million times in a million ways why something is impossible. Sometimes, however, our anger over injustice gets the better of us and we come close. This is one of those times. What will you get if Labour ever do get in? A Prime Minister who has done nothing else all his life but be a professional politician. Someone tied to and trapped in the system of self-interest. The best we have ever had as leader. A man promoted to well above his aptitude. All of those things. The crux of the matter is “can he change things for us, or will the harsh edges capitalism be smoothed?” The answer to that should, by now be obvious. We will get a loosening of the reigns only. This will be accompanied by the implied threat of a return to Tory rule if we do not behave. The cycles of want and poverty will continue. False hope will be given to each new generation as the lies of the previous regime fade into shadows. Small successes will go down in the cannons of Labour literature as huge triumphs. Fringe left wing parties will talk incessantly about “mass” this that and the other while, from time to time, dragging out the defeated ghosts of Rosa Luxemberg and Leon Trotsky.
»
NO CHANG Over and over again our elected leaders fail to live up to their promises to make society fairer. We need to change the rules to make them keep their words and carry out what they have promised us for our votes And, if the incessant pain is not ameliorated in any way, then bloody revolution will be turned into a bloody horror where petty Napoleons and Stalins. See their main chance within grasp. Generations will be lost as dictators tell us it is all for our own good. Why is it always this way? The many have no choice but to divide and rule.
The problem of our political system There are more of us than them but few will complain and fewer do anything
This tactic, by necessity, is always going to be the same. The second age-old tactic used by elites to maintain their power is the lottery promise. You will be a professional footballer, a mighty gladiator, win a talent competition, be a film star, a pop star, the court jester. You will be promoted on the field of battle, marry a Prince...be a professional politician and enjoy the pats on the head with the wallet of your oppressor. In every generation enough are fooled by this. Just enough are allowed promotion in these ways from the working
www.thewordmedia.org
POLITICS AND EVENTS
May 2020.
OUT TRICK ON THE PEOPLE THAT NEEDS REPLACING
GE, NO DEMOCRACY class. Just enough to give hope to the many. It is this lottery mentality that enables the elites to allow others to make the supreme sacrifice. Wars are always filled with the corpses of those that did not win this particular lottery.
Can we change things? Yes, and very simply. Do not allow the ones who want it so much to get it. Easy. Every grouping has some people who automatically take control. The chair, secretary, councillors, positions of power. It is easy to understand who they are. Simply argue at a meeting for a position being for one term only and they will make their “indispensability” known. Go up the level in society and politics and the limpet like clinging becomes more evident. Labour politicians have been terrified by trigger ballots. The main focus of their wrath was, Chris Williamson. He had dared to go around the country preaching democracy. Many politicians, even most make a lot of money out of representing us. At the time of writing their yearly salary is nearly £80,000 a year plus some very generous expens-
es. If they lose their seat they get way there would be no need for a payment of over £20,000. They compromise or pragmatism. No are offered work by big business shelving something because their and paid enormous amounts for funding would be cut. People, making “motivational” speeches. knowing that they would always Very few are ever back in the real return to the real world , would world. Many are given a reward fight to make it better. Corporaof the house of Lords where tions could not buy off our leadthey get £300 a day plus ers. Private health firms expenses for simply signwould be able to kill our, ing on. No actual work is free at the point of use, required of them. health system. The only Here is how to change real problem we would the system: One term only have would be the unrepfor all elected officials. resentative media. This A DAY, WITH Some, mostly them, could soon be sorted EXPENSES argue that we would out with Government FOR SIMPLY lose their experience by funding for cooperatives. SIGNING IN doing it this way. This An end to being bought, shows they would not sold, bribed and blackbe prepared to stay and campaign mailed. No more answers starting for their ideals. We also should with “well look, or let me first say, choose our candidates as we do or the truth of it is.” All we would in Jury service. A random selec- be left with would be the truth. It tion with a compulsory civic duty would obviously need tweaking to serve. The elections are then and testing but at least we would held between these people. That be starting from the right place.
£300
THE
WORD
27
THE TRUTH IS FINALLY PUT OUT THERE
British ‘X-Files’ of UFO sightings is going public
From the early 1950s until 2009, a department in the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) documented and investigated reports of UFOs. Now, more than a decade after the program ended, many of those formerly classified files about UFO sightings will be made available to the public for the first time. Previously, some MoD files about UFOs had been published online at the U.K. National Archives website, The Telegraph reported. However, all of the agency’s UFO reports will be released this year on “a dedicated gov.uk web page,” a spokesperson for the British Royal Air Force (RAF) told The Telegraph. The decision came after PA Media, a British news agency, filed a request for the UFO files under the Freedom of Information Act, according to The Telegraph. MoD officials decided “it would be better to publish these records, rather than continue sending documents to the National Archives,” the RAF spokesperson said. The U.K.’s fascination with UFOs spiked around 1950, prompting the MoD to form the Flying Saucer Working Party to address the phenomenon, according to the U.K. National Archives. UFOs in the early 1950s even captured the attention of Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who sent a memo to his air minister in 1952 asking, “What does all this stuff about flying saucers amount to? What can it mean? What is the truth?” The flying saucer group concluded that UFOs were hoaxes, delusions or ordinary objects that were misidentified, recommending “that no further investigation of reported mysterious aerial phenomena be undertaken.” Nevertheless, other MoD divisions continued the work of official UFO investigation in the U.K., ushering such efforts into the 21st century, The National Archives reported. The last UFO report to be published online by the MoD dates to 2009, covering sightings that took place from January through the end of November of that year. These included “a silver disc-shaped light” (reported in January 2009), “up to 20 orange and red glowing lights” (reported in June), “a large bright silver/white ball/sphere” (reported in July) and “three blazing gold orbs in a diagonal line in the sky” (reported in September). After MoD enacted a policy change on Dec. 1, 2009, the agency no longer recorded or investigated UFO sightings, according to the report. But what they did find — including many recent UFO reports that were previously available only as hard copies — will be published online within the next few months, said Nick Pope, a former UFO investigator for the MoD.
28
THE
WORD
May 2020.
POLITICS AND EVENTS
www.thewordmedia.org
It is 75 years since the HAVE A LAUGH WITH A WEIRD AND W end of WW2 in Europe
SATIRE
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his pompous politicians are such a bunch of jokes that it is does everyone a power of good to see them in a lighter light and prick their self-righteous balloons.
-
It is 75 years since the end of WW2 in Europe. Maybe it’s now time to evaluate what really happened? Did the Americans, as we are told in just about every film ever made really save the world? Here are a few facts and figures. The U.S. government did not lift a finger to stop the Hitler-backed fascists during the Spanish Civil War. Much of the oil used in the Nazi war effort was purchased from U.S. corporations. According to Mumia Abu Jamal and Stephen Vittoria in Book Two of their three-part series, Murder Incorporated: Empire, Genocide and Manifest Destiny, Standard Oil, Ford Motors, ITT and General Motors all provided materials to assist the German war effort. “For the Nazis, the main bearers of the Communist ideology were Jews. The millions of Jews living in the invaded territory were seen as the very embodiment of the proverbial Jewish Bolshevism dominating the Soviet state… Thus, the extermination of Soviet Jewry was perceived not merely as the annihilation of a racial enemy.
From September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944, nearly 2 ½ years, the city of Leningrad was besieged by the Nazis and placed under a cruel embargo, in what many historians classify as a brutal act of genocide. Of a population of 2.5 million people, only 800,000 survived. Finally, the most intense battle of the entire war – and all human history – came in the third quarter of 1942 and lasted more than 5 months as the Nazis pushed towards the oil-rich region of Baku. To get there, they’d have to get through the city of Stalingrad. In the Battle of Stalingrad, the German war machine more than met its match. From August-January, the Nazis lost nearly 500,000 troops, which is more than either the British or the Americans lost in the entire war. After their humiliating defeat at Stalingrad, the Wehrmacht was in full retreat. The Red Army pursued the fleeing fascists and one by one fought to liberate the ghastly Nazi concentration camps. As they did, they notified the world of the horrors they uncovered.
www.thewordmedia.org
POLITICS AND EVENTS
May 2020.
THE
WORD
29
WACKY VIEW OF SOME OF OUR LEADING PUBLIC PERFORMERS Shh. I’ve got this. -Darwin
30
THE
WORD
May 2020.
POLITICS AND EVENTS
A POLL OF 3,410 NEWCASTLE UNITED SUPPORTERS’ TRUST MEMBERS FOUND 96.7% WERE IN FAVOUR OF THE SAUDI-LED TAKEOVER
Saudi Royals Eyeing UP A NEW CASTLE
Football has been put on hold right across the globe due to the coronavirus pandemic. Behind the scenes however, negotiations have been ongoing between Mike Ashley and the Saudi royal family, over the potential sale of Newcastle United. Newcastle haven’t won the English top-flight since the glory days of the 1920’s, so fans would be forgiven for dreaming of a twenty-first century renaissance, watching billionaire owners bring in world class talent from across the globe. The potential takeover seemed to edge even closer last month too, as Bander Bin Morgen’s name was added to a set of Companies House documents, in relation to a company that was set up to facilitate the sale. However, there has been considerable opposition to the sale for a variety of reasons.
Human Rights Record One organisation who believe the Saudi royal’s should not be allowed to buy the club are Amnesty International, who have pointed to the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians in Yemen, caused by the Saudi regime’s indiscriminate bombing of schools and hospitals. Others have pointed to the recent murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a former Saudi diplomat who publicly opposed the Prince’s reforms shortly before his death. Executions have continued to rise under the current regime too, a good number of which were politically motivated (Saudi Arabia remains the only country in the world who carry out beheading as a form of punishment). Sportswashing Claims The people who are suggesting that the sale of the club would be immoral, are also claiming that
the purchase is politically motivated. Iyed el-Baghdadi believes Saudi Arabia are “attempting to use the glamour and prestige of Premier League football as a PR tool.”, similar to the purchase of Anthony Joshua’s world title fight in December. Sportswashing is defined as a PR tool, because it attempts to change the public’s perception of a country through the use of sport. Conclusions Ultimately, the decision as to whether the sale will be allowed to go through or not, will depend on the result of the Premier League’s ‘owners’ and directors’ test’. Which assesses whether prospective owners are likely to ‘protect football’s reputation and image’ around the world. It is unlikely however, that this test will prevent the sale from going through. By Craig Watson.
The National Football Museum The National Football Museum is today launching a nationwide search to unearth the best football stories and memories from fans throughout the country. Designed to celebrate those individual stories that might otherwise be lost, the Game of Our Lives campaign offers fans and clubs at all levels the opportunity to get involved in a fan-led collection to feature in a future exhibition at the museum. It is the first time in the museum’s history that so many in the football community are being asked to directly contribute to the museum. Fans will be encouraged to
share their stories, including photos and video, on social me-
dia tagging @footballmuseum and using the hashtag
www.thewordmedia.org
EVERY TYPE OF GAME HAS
CORONAV IN SPORT
The Good and the B The generosity of British football players is left standing during the pandemic crisis compared to the substantial payments made by sportsmen and women in many other parts of the world The Coronavirus has had a devastating impact upon the world of sport. Rumour has it there are thousands of blokes up and down the country, aimlessly walking around the kitchen in their pants at 4pm, murmuring something about Super-Sunday with a dazed look on their face. With mass closures of workplaces throughout the country, the finger has recently been pointed at the world of sport, and in particular football, for not doing enough to support workers, and so it should be. Fo o t b a l l e r s ’ are among the highest earners in the whole of the UK, and the recent spat about a proposed 25% wage cut has been frankly embarrassing.
Mike Ashley is the one of the richest businessmen in the country. However, instead of using some of that fortune to help out his loyal staff members and offer some security, he first tried to keep them in work by claiming they were ‘essential workers’ and has since gone on to furlough thousands of staff. There is no doubting that some members of the sporting world have responded to this crisis in a shocking manor. However, some of them have acted wonderfully, and there is enough doom and gloom around lately, so let’s focus on some of the positive shall we? Just before we do, shout out to all those staff deemed es-
www.thewordmedia.org
POLITICS AND EVENTS
May 2020.
THE
WORD
31
S CAUGHT A NASTY COLD IN THE HEALTH SCARE CRACKDOWN
VIRUS T
d Bad
sential who are risking everything to keep this country running, you are all doing an amazing job! Acts of Sporting Kindness Sports stars don’t exactly have a great name when it comes to spending their money in a positive way, Mario Balotelli springs to mind. But we’re focusing on the positive, because some of them are doing incredible things. Here is my pick of the bunch. Zion Williams is a basketball player for the New Orleans Pelicans. He plays his home games at the Smoothie King Center in Louisiana, who’s staff have all been placed on furlough. In the second week of March, despite only joining the team in June, Williams pledged to pay every single staff member’s wages for the next 30 days, encouraging his fellow players to help in making similar donations. Absolutely incredible. Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs own two hotels together in Manchester. Not only have they agreed to keep all staff on at their full salaries during the hotels closure, they have also re-opened its doors to NHS workers for free. And, in another wonderful act of kindness, Ryan Giggs also
»
pledged not to sleep with any of bill which went for $695, clearthem, heroic. ly he doesn’t quite understand The Bangladeshi Cricket how this works, a cracking effort team have donated half of their though. monthly wages to the effort in The NFL’s Rob Gronkowstheir country, and the Pakistani ki signed a football which sold cricket team have also pledged for $41,000. Tony Hawk signed five million rupees. a skateboard which went for Messi and Ronaldo, ever in $3875, and Rory McIlroy signed competition, each donata Championship Player’s ed 1.1 million dollars, Flag which fetched with Messi sending over $2,000. his to Hospital Nathan AdriClinic in Barcean donated lona. Ronaldo his speedos teamed up for some reawith his agent son, even DAYS WAGES FOR Jorge Mendes more bizarreALL STAFF PAID BY in donating ly, somebody BASKETBALL equipment to paid $2,606 for STAR Portuguese hosthem! Let’s just pitals in Lisbon and not ask. Paula RadPorto. cliffe raised $180 from a pair of running shorts. Let’s Athletes for hope she washed them first. ArCovid-19 Relief Fund thur Masuaku managed to deAnother fantastic response to crease the value of a West Ham the virus has been the Covid-19 shirt, which went for $55, and relief fund, running as an auction Mike Tyson, Javier Hernandez, site, encouraging stars to sign Ian Poulter and Curtis Jones all memorabilia to be auctioned off, chipped in as well. with all proceeds going to the Now I am not saying sportsmost vulnerable. people have responded to the Mark Cuban, the owner of the pandemic fantastically, and with Dallas Mavericks signed a dollar the wages they get, they should be doing a hell of a lot more. But if we focus on the positive, and highlight those doing good things, then others will undoubtedly follow. By Craig Watson
30
Mixed response from sports stars
USA signed football sold for $41,000 - in the UK Paula Radcliffe’s shorts go for £180
32
May 2020.
WORLD CUP WOMEN PLEDGE EQUAL PAY FIGHT GOES ON POLITICS AND EVENTS
www.thewordmedia.org
53
MILLION P DAMAGEOUNDS, CLAIM R S PAY EJE BY COURCTED T
HOME OF THE BRAVE The lawsuit was filed by 28 women’s national team players last year against the US Soccer Federation (USSF). They had been seeking $66m (£52.8m) in damages under the Equal Pay Act. Now, the aftermath of that ruling, which came after more than a year of bitter rhetoric between the two sides, may pose an even more challenging situation for the team and the federation. The back-to-back World Cup-winning U.S. women said they would appeal the decision. Star players including Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan and Christen Press tweeted that they would continue the fight. The case is still scheduled to go to trial, albeit with a narrower focus that is far short of the sweeping pay-equity precedent the players reached for. And while the team’s on-thefield activities are suspended because of the pandemic, one day the players will face returning to the pitch to play for an employer it waged a tough and so-far unsuccessful legal battle against. The parties are stuck with each
The United States women’s football team’s bid for equal pay has been dismissed by a court, with the judge rejecting the players’ claims they were underpaid compared to the men
“The women on this team and previous (U.S. women’s soccer) teams are role models for so many women and men in this country, and are arguably. the most successful international team in our country’s history,” said Gabe Feldman, professor of sports law at Tulane University. “It’s hard (for U.S. Soccer) to be painted as the good party when you are battling this group of women in court.
Word about us
other; there is no other team for the women to play for. As the case continues, it also poses an uncomfortable social
problem for everyone involved. The players and their legal team successfully rallied the team’s fans—and also its sponsors—be-
hind their cause over the past year. Spectators chanted “Equal pay!” last year after they won their most recent World Cup.
The Word newspaper is a non profit making cooperative. We do have costs in producing this and never take any big donations on principle. We like to think that this will work by lots of people coming together to each do a little bit. Please go to our website thewordmedia.org and help by taking out a subscription or making a donation. If you would like to write for us, or have a story you want to tell, then contact us at info@thewordmedia.org