THE
WORD
Issue #58, Late March Edition 2021
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Equality Democracy Truth Courage
THE PEOPLE’S PAPER
Bristol Riots Against The Police Bill PAGE 23
thewordmedia.org
BROTHERS IN
77% OF BRITONS WANT TO SCRAP ALL OUR ATOM BOMBS
NUKES
Bonkers Boris ‘Churchill’ says he’s going to boost Britain’s nuclear arsenal stupid Starmer is in favour of keeping all our nukes
ARMS
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Late March 2021
POLITICS AND EVENTS
FROM ENDING OF SLAVERY TO PASSING THE DRIVING TEST
THIS WEEK IN HISTORY 22nd March 1888 – The English Football League is established. 23rd March 1881 – In Nice, France, 70 people die when a gas lamp sets fire to the opera house. 1956 – The first Islamic Republic in the world is in Pakistan and is celebrated as
Republic day by the population. 1972 – Daredevil Evil Knievel clears 35 cars but in doing so breaks 93 bones in his body 1984 – British Ice Skaters Torvill and Dean win the world Ice Dancing Championship in Ottawa, Canada. 24th March 1906 – Britain rule 1/5 of the
25th March 1807, the slave trade act The Abolition of the Slave Trade Act was passed on 25 March 1807, declaring that from May 1, 1807 ‘all manner of dealing and reading in the purchase, sale, barter, or transfer of slaves or of persons intending to be sold, transferred, used, or dealt with as slaves, practiced or carried in, at, or from any part of the coast or countries of Africa shall be abolished, prohibited and declared to be unlawful’. The main provisions of the Act were that: Any ships found to be involved in the slave trade were liable to be seized and condemned. The master and owner were liable to be fined £100 per slave and the ships and goods forfeited to the Crown. Bounty or head money was paid to the captors of illegal vessels. The bounty was £30 for every man and woman and £10 for children under 14 delivered to the appropriate authorities. • Africans ‘freed’ from the illegal slavers were not free to do as they wished. Instead, men were enlisted into the Army, Navy or Royal Marines - to ‘be considered, treated, and dealt with in all respects as if he had voluntarily so enlisted or entered himself’. Women, children and those not suitable for ‘enlistment’ were bound as apprentices to land owners, the military and local government, as labourers and domestics. Policing the Act Under an 1817 treaty with Spain to abolish the slave trade, naval ships and other officials of both nations could seize any Spanish or British ships believed to be involved in the illegal trade in slaves, the masters and owners of which were then tried at mixed commission courts. There were later treaties with Portugal and the Netherlands. These treaties did not always abolish the trade in slaves. For example, the treaty with Portugal allowed the trade to continue from ports south of the Equator and the ship had to be issued with a passport to trade. Also, it did not prevent other countries, especially America and France, from trading and it was not uncommon for Dutch and Spanish ships to trade under the French flag.
world according to the ‘Census of the British Empire’ 1921 – The first international women’s sports event is held in Monte Carlo 2003 – The Arab League vote 21-1 for a resolution to demand the US and British soldiers leave Iraq unconditionally and immediately 25th March 1811 – ‘The Necessity of Atheism’ causes the expulsion of Percy Bysshe Shelley from the University of Oxford for publishing the pamphlet 1969 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono hold their first ‘bed in for Peace’ which lasted until the 31st of March
1996 – Mad Cow Disease causes the banning of exports of British Beef and it’s by- products 26th March 1910 – Criminals, Anarchists, Paupers and the Sick and forbidden immigration by America 1934 – The Introduction of the Driving Test in Britain 1979 – The Camp David Peace Treaty Signed. After 30 years of warfare by Egypt’s Anwar Sadat and Israel’s Menachem, the first peace treaty between an Arab nation and the Jewish state. This was the result of the Camp David Peace Accords that had been agreed the previous year in September 1978. The Israeli government had agreed to
Canada’s Tories snub green campaign plea Members of Canada’s Conservative Party have rejected a policy shift to recognize that the climate crisis is real. New leader, Erin O’Toole, urged the party to support an ambitious climate agenda, in order to avoid another defeat at the hands of the Liberals. He did not want Conservative candidates to be branded as “climate change deniers”, he said. Delegates rejected his proposed policy shift by 54% to 46% even though a federal election is expected to be held next year. Climate change was a polarizing issue in the last election. O’Toole’s motion included willingness to act against climate risks and to make highly polluting businesses take more responsibility to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. President Justin Trudeau had stressed that the environment was his priority – yet Canada has failed to meet any of its climate pledges against a background of complaints that the green targets threaten the oil industry. Canada is the world’s fourth-largest oil producer and one of the highest emitters of greenhouse gases on a per capita basis.
withdraw troops from the Sinai Peninsula in return for Egypt’s recognition of the state of Israel. The Palestinians were also meant to get some self determination. This didn’t happen. The Israeli’s kept breaking the agreement and using more and more Palestinian land for building houses on for the Jewish Israeli people. (Settlers) and this is still happening today. Palestinians are virtually prisoners in their own country, their Homes are being regularly bulldozed by the Israeli soldiers for no apparent reason, often giving the families only 30 minutes to get out...sometimes in the middle of the night. 27th March 1948 – Billy Holiday plays to sold out Carnegie Hall, just 11 days after being released from prison. 1963 – The Beeching Report, ‘The reshaping of British Railways’ is published, where Dr Richard Beeching says he wants massive cuts to UK railway network. 28th March 1964 – The first airing of Pirate Radio Station Radio Caroline 1991 – A verdict of Accidental death is returned into the deaths of 95 football fans who died a Hillsborough on the 15th of April 1989 2009 – Thousands march through London on the day of the G20 summit, demanding action on poverty, jobs and climate change.
POLITICS AND EVENTS
Late March 2021
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BONKERS BORIS TALKS OF TAKING ON RUSSIA AND CHINA
USELESS NUKES
B
ritain along, with just about every other country, was in the process of reducing its arsenal of nuclear weapons until Boris thought it would make him look more like Churchill if he decided to increase our stockpile of useless weapons by a further 80 nukes.
The defence review published this week included a 40 per cent increase in the stockpile. The UK currently has around 200 warheads, but had previously announced a cap of 180 by the mid-2020s. It will now increase this cap to 260 warheads. Shamefully the government also announced it will stop publishing the number of warheads and missiles in operation, making scrutiny – including the out of control costs of Britain’s nuclear weapons – even more difficult. We don’t want any more nuclear weapons. In fact, we don’t want any. And polling published earlier this year showed that 77 per cent of the public agree and want a total ban.
The real threats are painfully obvious, climate change and the pandemic. We should not be spending billions of pounds on weapons when investment is urgently needed in our NHS, education and green jobs.
defence secretary John Healey proudly announced to the surprise of the party’s ignored membership. Labour dropped its policy of unilaterally getting rid of the UK’s nuclear weapons after Neil Kinnock lost the 1987 general election.
Increasing Britain’s nuclear arsenal contravenes our legal obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The Treaty requires countries that have nuclear weapons to disarm, and those that don’t have them not to get them.
Many on the party’s left remain vehemently opposed that decision then and still does.
This could so easily become the first step in a new nuclear arms race. Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) General Secretary Kate Hudson said: ‘This is no time to start a new nuclear arms race. As the world wrestles with the pandemic and climate chaos, it beggars belief that our government is opting to increase Britain’s nuclear arsenal. Last month, Presidents Biden and Putin agreed to further reduce their nuclear arsenals by renewing the New
START Treaty. With the government strapped for cash, we don’t need grandiose, money-wasting spending on weapons of mass destruction. We need essential investment in health, jobs and dealing with the climate catastrophe.
This is the time to get out of nuclear weapons not escalate the problem.’ Labour’s support for keeping the UK’s nuclear weapons is “non-negotiable,” shadow
Jeremy Corbyn - a longtime opponent of the UK’s Trident submarine-based missile system and a vice-president of CND - said in 2015 that he would never use it if he became prime minister. Yet maintaining nuclear weapons remained a pledge in the his 2019 election manifesto. A crude comparison of nuclear countries stockpiles show: see graphic from STOCKHOLM INTERNATIONAL PEACE RESEARCH INSTITUTE
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Late March 2021
POLITICS AND EVENTS
QUICKER THAN IT TOOK TO READ MY CANDIDATE APPLICATION I W
HARTLEPOOL LABOUR’S SHAMELESS CORRUPTION
W
hen young I was a member of Labour, having left in 2003 under Blair, and I remember the feeling of isolation from a core group of decision makers even then. I returned to the party under Corbyn, with much difficulty. The local CLP Secretary was blocking my re-joining on the grounds that I had been expelled from the party – seven years after I had left. This, apparently was in error. It was difficult to know at that stage what they held against me. There was that I had been a member of another party, the Greens and the National Health Action Party most recently, though the local CLP had welcomed back members who had defected to UKIP. Other than that the only other thing was my disability and being a wheelchair user.
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Once re-joined I did not receive anything from my local branch, though I did at first hear from my Constituency party. When I had previously been a member my local Branch was growing and active under my time as Branch Chair. That doesn’t mean it is still; I wouldn’t know. During the leadership election which brought us Sir Kier Starmer the same CLP Secretary decided to block me from his Facebook account; he insists he doesn’t use his account for anything but personal reasons, however, the account was used to make announcements which I never received. I also didn’t receive any e-mails from the CLP for some time, for reasons unknown. My repeated complaints the Hartlepool Politics Facebook Group led to him unblocking me
Ex-Labour MP, Peter Mandelson, thought that mushy peas were an avocado dip because he had never been anywhere working class
to reply to them. He did add he would immediately block me again but never did. The first I knew of the resignation of Mike Hill MP was the news on Wednesday 17 March that he had quit the day before. I also discovered that applications to stand as MP had to be in by 5pm that day. Post can only appear on the official Hartlepool Labour Party forum after first being cleared by the CLP Secretary. I sent him a message, using Facebook, and
simultaneously sent a post for th forum page, so that he would see the post and know of the message. I was surprised when he responded, saying that he had no part in the selection of candidates which was at odds with earlier claims that he was the person to contact. He said the Regional Labour Party had sent out the notice to members. As I had not received it he offered to forward it. I applied, more hoping to see
how the system worked and being able to offer a local and left candidate. I received notice I had been unsuccessful almost by return, seemingly without the time it took to complete the form applying being read. I have been involved in politics, in local campaigning, and charity work, for three decades, virtually since I broke my back and neck in the Army. I have a degree in law, and to my mind qualified to at least apply for the position in question.
POLITICS AND EVENTS
WAS OFFICIALLY
Late March 2021
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INFORMED I HAD BEEN REJECTED HMS Trincomalee, the 170 year-old frigate and symbol of Hartlepool’s regeneration
It was perhaps predictable, but still a shock to discover that the decision had already been made, and that the CLP Secretary had been core to that. Still
further surprise came when one of his e-mails was leaked in which he said that the selection had been made in the absence of any local candidate.
One of the most deprived towns in Britain Hartlepool was founded in the 7th century, around the monastery of Hartlepool Abbey. The village grew in the Middle Ages and its harbour served as the official port of the County Palatine of Durham. After a railway link from the north was established from the South Durham coal fields, an additional link from the south, in 1835, together with a new port, resulted in further expansion, with the new town of West Hartlepool. Legend has it that during the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century, a shipwrecked monkey was hanged by the people of Hartlepool, believing him to be a French spy! To this day, people from Hartlepool are affectionately known as ‘monkey hangers’.
I have since discovered that I was not the only local hopeful. A member who runs her own business had publicly made it clear she had applied. Paul Williams was named as the candidate, someone unknown to me. His support for Rachel Riley, who has repeatedly attacked the party, as his favourite Tory ‘MILF’ is too bizarre to take seriously. His part in introducing a private health insurance scheme in Uganda, with premiums so great some of the country’s poor were excluded, is of greater concern.
For him to call Saudi Arabia, an autocratic monarchy now accused of murdering a journalist, and and bombs the people of Yemen, is to his mind a, “Modern progressive state,” is of very real concern. To say this about Saudi Arabia is to be totally unaware of the meaning of progressive or the actions of that state. But the main concern must be the deliberate deviation from democratic process, and the clear and outright lie that is claiming the lack of local candidates.
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In 1914 the German Navy fired 1,150 shells at Hartlepool killing 117 people
I still hope for a Labour victory as the alternatives are worse, but we should have had a part in due process, even if only being part of the decision as to who represents the Party. To be, excluded is disconcerting. By Robert Price
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Late March 2021
POLITICS AND EVENTS
TOO MANY MAKING A BUNDLE
THE GREAT CHARITY SWINDLE
C
harity begins at home, or so they say. What many don’t realize though is that charity itself is a huge, money making empire within which there is invariably one person or group becoming very rich at the top. Indeed, the charity shop we all see on the high street is but a front designed to increase the profit of those that run the charities. What though is charity? To give to those that have need? Well, if that’s true then the charity bosses are clearly not exercising charity in the way we might expect of them. A charity shop by definition is exempt from certain running costs, and with stock donated freely there is little outlay for the charity owners apart from paying their managers, the volunteers themselves working free of charge. Most of what is given free of charge and in good faith by the public though actually ends up in the back lanes, purposefully destroyed with Stanley knife and hammer by the shop staff in order that nobody can make use of it if they were to find it and
have need. If you don’t believe this, then take a walk down any back lane behind these shops at around 6pm at the weekend and see for yourself. We are talking Children’s toys and useable electrical items and household goods, thrown out because it costs too much to safety check them before they can be sold. Can’t these shops just show heart and donate the toys that are left discarded in the
bins to local hospitals and clinics though? Why can they not be ‘chari-
OUT OF
POVERTY
table’ themselves? The answer is obvious - There is NO profit in this!
tion, NSPCC, they’re all at it. But let’s look larger to Live Aid shall we?
Did you know that very little of every pound g i v e n to most charities ends up going to the cause they represent, the majority going on administration and to the charities owners themselves. Granted there may be a few charities that give a little more to their causes, but these are few and far between. Cancer Research, British Heart Founda-
Did you know that most of the money raised for the people of Africa never got to where it was meant to go? Indeed, most of it ended up in the hands of Mengistu Haile Mariam and his corrupt Derg communist government, and also quite possibly into the hands of criminal gangs plying their trade throughout the countries underbelly.
CHARITY PAY SCANDAL Charity bosses’ five-figure rises revealed including a £300,000-a-year executive’s £134,000 boost in a year. Simon Cooke, chief executive of the Marie Stopes family planning charity, earned £434,000 last year. Accounts show that in the year to December 2018, the RSPCA’s highest earner took home up to £229,999 The wildlife charity WWF UK handed an unnamed employee £60,000 more than its chief executive last year, while increasing its spending on advertising from £700,000 to £13million. The salary of Lynda Thomas, chief executive of Macmillan Cancer Support, was increased from £170,000 - £180,000 in 2017 to £180,000£190.000. Save the Children International, had 346 employees earning more than £58,000. But, if you think that’s bad then look at what one time Labour party Minister, David Miliband is being paid. This is a man who pretends to be a Socialist. The salary of David Miliband, chief executive of the International Rescue Committee, has risen to almost $1 million a year. The former UK Foreign Secretary, whose charity has at times worked closely with bodies run by the Qatari royal family, saw his pay package surge by $240,047) to $911,796.
Needless to say, the Children of Ethiopia are still starving today! Welcome to the Great Charity Swindle... ht t p s : / / w w w. b b c .c o.u k / news/uk-43145826 By Adrian Angel
POLITICS AND EVENTS
Late March 2021
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I WANT TO LIVE IN A SOCIETY WHERE GENDER ISSUES ARE IRRELEVANT
FEMINISM et al
T
he year was 1974, the year that the 1970 Equal Pay Act was due to come into force. I was asked to write about it for a nationwide curriculum project. My previous publications had been as a student journalist and writer of national exams. Wow, I thought, this is good stuff, important. What difference has that Act made?
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I am 78 and, for far too long, I have lived in an unequal society
In the late 80s, when every A-Level Politics syllabus. Worse, secondary school in Liverpool he produced a list of political had a woman responsible for thinkers that included only one gender equality I was asked woman. There had to be a to help them write a campaign to stop him. GCSE in Women’s Successful, thank CAN MEN Studies. I simply goodness. REALLY BE provided a frameMEN ONLY AT work and what they I ask myself THE EXPENSE produced was, I what might have OF WOMEN? thought, astoundingbeen the effect had ly good. It was rejectyoung boys and girls ed. Why? Because Govtaken that proposed ernment did not consider it GCSE in Women’s Studto be a subject worthy of study. ies. I would love to have teamtaught that in a mixed team. Only a few years ago Nick Gibb, the Schools Minister, tried How do I make sense of what to remove Feminism from the I read today about curfews for
Letter to Assange Dear Julian, this letter is to remind you of our support as you fight to avoid extradition to the USA where stumbling Joe Biden wants you back to slap you down good and proper for telling some ’Mercan Secrets we all thought we knew anyway. You were able to provide the proof and the truth. Both of these things
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are likely to get you into deep trouble over there, even if you didn’t do the deed itself over there. Such is ’Mercan Law. I don’t think that by doing this that I’m rubbishing claims on a completely different set of charges laid against you in Sweden, but now seem to have been dropped. It is not for anyone to
I don’t want to send you, or anyone, to face what they mistakenly call ‘justice’ over in America
men and such like? Frankly, I am not sure, partly because of the huge social disturbance it would cause if so many bus drivers, for example, had to stop working at 6 PM. But, whatever short term drastic action is taken, we simply must begin to think about our social values. Gender is not the only issue. Inequality comes in a variety of forms.
I have, in the past, been somewhat nervous about using the term ‘intersectionality’ because its original use emphasised race, I think. But now I believe that its use can be broader. We can pass all the Acts of Parlia-
cast doubt on claims made by The people who make most women against men, even if the noise about protecting Whiscombined Law Enforcement tle-blowers appear not to supagencies of the World do it every port them when the spotlight is day and everywhere. All I’m upon them. God help ’Mersaying is that other casca. Even without es and other issues YOU WERE Trump, the State can and should be of the Union ABLE TO considered once the seems at its PROVIDE THE lowest crediOverarching, OverPROOF AND whelming Might of bility. ’Merca (OO MOM) has THE TRUTH been resisted and reI fused. What concerns me don’t is the treatment you’ve had want to for years after basically blowing send you, or a whistle on illegal practices by anyone, governments. And that’s unacto face ceptable to us all, isn’t it? w h a t
ment that we like but they only skim the surface. ‘Women’s Lib’ has to be ‘Society Lib’. Can men really be men only at the expense of women? What kind of man would want that? I am 78 and, for far too long, I have lived in an unequal society. Today the focus is upon women. But only when all are respected shall women be respected. Do I make sense? I really want to live in a society in which gender issues are irrelevant. Perhaps, then, race issues shall also be irrelevant. And class issues. By Cliff they mistakenly call ‘Justice’ over there until they can apply its precepts to themselves and each other, particularly any ‘each other’ who may be Black, Asian, Hispanic, or Female. A bit like over here really. By Seymour Griffiths
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POLITICS AND EVENTS
WE ARE PAYING THE PRICE OF OSBORNE’S ECONOMIC LIES
NHS – and the long-term plan T
he idea was that slow and careful manipulation could deliver an economic recovery. Did the government have a similar long-term plan for the NHS? And was that plan gradual privatisation as revealed by Jeremy Corbyn in the general election November 2019 ? A decade of austerity re-
duced funding to the NHS from an average of 3.7% per annum to just 1.5%, and over 17,000 beds
The public urgently needs to heed warnings from health service campaigns Campaigners across the country, including here on the Isle of Wight have worked relentlessly for many years to fight against the sell off and privatisation of our NHS, which has been carried out by stealth in what has been described as ‘salami slices’ for decades. Sadly, the public response has been alarmingly poor, and one of the regular comments I often heard when out on the streets, screening films, and doing all manner of things to raise public awareness would be “Thank you so much for what you are doing” ... but then they would walk on by and most likely forget all about it.” Because of the nature of healthcare and not everyone needing it at the same time, there will never be a ‘Poll Tax moment’ and it is usually only those who have a personal experience of the effects of cuts, and of the reduction in services who might begin to realise the truth, and even then not always. Others are being ‘persuaded’ that ‘private is best’, which is the classic way off getting rid off public services.” It has been an insidious process aided and abetted by Conservative, Labour and the Coalition governments since the Thatcher years, and this has accelerated over the last 10 years. In my mind now there seems little we can do to stop the imminent destruction of our precious NHS save for a massive public ‘uprising’ which would have to be NOW otherwise it will be too late. Unfortunately this horrendous, lying, cheating and corrupt excuse for a government have been ‘gifted’ Covid, and are continuing the destruction at pace under its cover.
were cut from the service leaving just 127,225 which was, “…the smallest number of beds available in acute hospitals, maternity centres and units specialising in the care of patients with mental health problems and learning disabilities since records began in 1987/88.” (Guardian 25.11.19) Added to this, in December 2019 the public services union, Unison reported, “Latest figures show that there are now 106,000 vacancies across the NHS in England, including over 44,000 vacancies in nursing. This marks an increase from one year ago. UNISON health officer Guy Collis said: “A decade of Tory underfunding has
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A decade of austerity reduced funding to the NHS from an average of 3.7% per annum to just 1.5%
left our NHS struggling to cope and this is having a damaging impact on its devoted workforce.”
list in England, 224,000 of them have been waiting more than a year for their treatment, up from just 1,500 at the end of 2019.
The NHS was already overwhelmed before the pandemAdd in a potential strike ic hit. While we all stayed due to the derisory home, a tsunami of 1% pay offer and DID THE cases piled up which GOVERNMENT you have an NHS will undoubtedly for failure. HAVE A SIMILAR primed push these scare The pandemic will LONG-TERM resources beyond carry the blame, PLAN FOR their limit. The NHS but we can see that Confederation report the groundwork had THE NHS? a ‘hidden’ waiting list already been laid. Was of nearly 6 million peothat always the plan? ple, once GP referrals return to normal levels. Of the 4.52 million By Della Reynolds / Esher, people currently on the waiting Surrey phsothetruestory.com
POLITICS AND EVENTS
Late March 2021
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IT HAS BEEN A LONG, LONG COVID YEAR
PATIENT’S EYE
T
hree hundred and sixty five days ago I received a nervous phone call from our son 200 or more miles away. I had noticed a married couple missing from the weekly mindfulness and meditation session a few days earlier, citing Covid19. I had thought they were perhaps over-reacting unless one of them actually had the condition. My son put me right.
He told me that this was perhaps the greatest health emergency for a century, and that other countries were dealing with it while our Prime Minister wasn’t. Indeed the PM had said that the virus might be widespread across Europe but
it wasn’t forced to become so in the UK.
his sister and brother-in-law’s Our daughter, working in house, where he would be one of those school Keir Starmvery welcome. The family er insisted had to be open, Jenny Harries, Deputy Chief set up various Zoom, and which have been Medical Officer for England WhatsApp, and MesI RECEIVED declared not to be was saying at the time that she senger groups so responsible for the A NERVOUS thought the wearing of masks that we could keep spreading of the PHONE CALL was a waste of time. I could tell in touch. We’ve virus, is at present FROM OUR SON trying to get over her who and what in my opin- had a phone call 200 MILES ion the greatest wastes of time from the lad almost the Coronavirus and space are. It isn’t masks. every day since last which she’d had all AWAY March, even when he over Christmas. Boris, Our son instructed me and had first Covid, the Long daft barmy Boris, seems his mum to lock down, to stay Covid and developed a heart not to have a clue. His poster perat home, informing me that murmur that he’d not had be- son, Baroness Dido Harding has our other son was leaving our fore. had in excess of £20billion for house that evening to live at Test (Track?) and Trace, only for the most recent Government reI could tell Jenny Harries who and what sponse to an airport check to be “If you came in from Brazil last in my opinion are the greatest wastes week and you’re not feeling well, of time and space and it isn’t masks can you get in touch please?”
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In between 365 days ago and now, Dido helped organise the Cheltenham Gold Cup Super-Spreading Event so the same skill set she used then could presumably be used backwards to disorganise our National response to Covid. Previously ever-smiling, head on one side like the dear departed Queen ‘Mum,’ this week she was seen sitting or standing (you can’t tell which) bolt upright and shouting angrily into the camera in answer to a question she didn’t particularly like. Or perhaps she wants a bit more of our money. By Patient.I
Ongoing agenda continues to ignore public campaigns There is a hospital here in Bedford. The next nearest hospitals are: Luton and Dunstable (22 miles away), Lister (25m), and Milton Keynes (16m). These hospitals take more than half an hour to reach in ideal traffic. There have been repeated attempts to close A and E, paediatric, and maternity services here.
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Hand off Bedford Hospital
Podiatry services have also been severely affected, and as a nurse, this impacts the care I can give my patients
campaign is likely to be brushed aside.
group alongside the public successfully fought off plans for closure. Overnight paediatric services were closed, but were brought back after public pressure. The stroke unit was closed in 2017, meaning the nearest is in Luton. Time is life where a stroke is concerned. In 2019 we had a merger between our hospital, Milton Keynes and the L&D. Money since then has been funnelled towards the others, meaning it will be likely that our hospital will become downgraded, providing little in the way of major services. So, our twice won
to remain, but with reduced hours, and it is still subject to review.
In 2017 mental health crisis beds were closed in In 2019 the NHS local hydroour area, and the building therapy pool was closed, with is now a GP practice/ur- no public consultation. It was gent care centre. Patients initially closed “temporarily” have been left without psychi- “for repair.” That building was atrists, and talking therapies subsequently repurposed, leavaccess is now closed as the ing many without therapy, waiting list is too long. despite CCG promises Children’s mental of a replacement. health services BEDFORD IS are also severely Hands off A MARKET TOWN affected. Bedford HospiWITH 173,237 tal questioned CI TIZENS AND A In 2017 our why our disCOUNTYWIDE local walk-in trict nurse POPULATION centre was also teams suddenly threatened with had names like OF 669,338 closure. The plan “Caritas” and “Uniwas to replace it with ty” when previously an “urgent treatment they were identified by centre“ in a less than ideal lo- the region they covered. They cation. We successfully cam- were told these names were paigned for the walk-in centre suggested in focus groups, but
actually resemble those used by American insurance companies. During the pandemic, access to many services has become more difficult. GP services no longer visit patients, and some practices started this before Covid, leaving housebound patients in difficulty. Podiatry services have also been severely affected, and as a nurse, this impacts the care I can give my patients. Recently we have been sent “training slides” telling us to ask our patients questions about their eligibility, before giving any treatment. This is not the NHS I know, neither does it seem compatible with the Equality Act or the NHS Constitution. By Jaimie Steel / Bedford
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POLITICS AND EVENTS
BEST OF THE WEB say she should resign after a parliamentary committee said she had misled it.
The Alex Salmond inquiry has reportedly concluded it is “hard to believe” Ms Sturgeon did not know of concerns about the former first minister’s behaviour before November 2017, as she claimed.
Icelandic volcano erupts and lights up the night sky near Reykjavik A volcano that spewed glowing red lava near Iceland’s capital Reykjavik after awakening for the first time in 900 years appears to be subsiding, experts have said.
moving with thousands and thousands of mice just running around” farmer Ron Mckay told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Dramatic images filmed by a coast guard helicopter showed streams of lava bubbling and flowing out of a fissure in southwestern Iceland just 40 kilometres from the capital Reykjavik.
Sturgeon faces more pressure to resign Scotland’s First Minster Nicola Sturgeon is coming under pressure from prounion political parties, who
Officials said the eruption was small and did not represent a danger. Plague of mice hits parts of rural Australia ‘Rural communities in New South Wales, Australia, are suffering their worst plague of mice in decades after a bumper grain harvest, local people said. Vieo showed thousands of the rodents swarming around a farm in the town of Gilgandra. “At night... the ground is just
Three patients in the local hospital have been bitten by mice, the broadcaster said.
Its the latest development in a bitter row between Ms Sturgeon and Mr Salmond over her handling of sexual h a ra s s m e nt c l a i m s b r o u g h t a g a i n s t him by civil servants. M r Salmond was acquitted on all charges by a jury last year, after which he claimed he had been the victim of collusion among the top levels of the SNP, which could have seen him sent to prison.
Australia fires spewed as much smoke into stratosphere as a volcano – study The bushfires that ravaged Australia between 2019 and 2020 were so huge that they spewed as much smoke into the stratosphere as a large volcanic eruption, with serious consequences for the environment, according to a study published in the journal Science. The stratosphere is the layer above the troposphere wich is where we live. “For us it was a huge surprise” to see such a significant effect, said study co-author Ilan Koren, a professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. “I never saw such an injection (of smoke) to the stratosphere,” he said.
US House passes immigration bills including pathway for ‘Dreamers’ The US House of Representatives has passed two immigration bills that would provide legal status for millions of undocumented immigrants, but the measures have an uncertain future in the evenly divided Senate. Rather than trying to ram through comprehensive immigration reform similar to the massive effort that failed in 2013, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi opted for a different strategy. She aims to coax a pair of more modest measures through Congress and towards President Joe Biden’s desk. The White House endorsed the two bills, including one that offers a citizenship pathway for undocumented young people, known as “Dreamers,” who were brought to the US as children.
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WE CAN’T SPELL BUT WE DARE YOU TO LISTEN TO THESE GEMS
ON THE JUKEBOX TONITE!
Probably for later on when the bar is full, Head Hands and Feet, Pixies, Unit Four Plus Two, Bob and Marcia – be still my beating heart
T
he Jukebox has every song you ever wanted to hear on it, singles, out takes, album tracks, live versions, songs they sang walking home after a few bevvies, appearances on ToTP Listen and weep – then listen all over again.
By Jack in the Jukebox
The Mothers of Invention Freak Out – didn’t they always? Waterloo Sunset by the Kinks – to go from You Really Got Me to this in such a short period of time shows a fantastic rate of songwriting sophistication
Tears For Fears singing I believe – I believe this was written for Robert Wyatt
Blowin’ Free by Wishbone Ash – playing, singing, and just being In Harmony
The Pointer Sisters – Rev. Alvin Pointer’s daughters were an Automatic choice
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FORGOTTEN BANDS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A BAND AND A GROUP
TEARS FOR FEARS
T
he difference between a band and a group is blurred. Generally a group sings songs while a band plays instruments behind them. The other question is how many musicians constitute a band, or group. Two people are generally called a Duo, three a Trio. Bands seem to have more people in them, except the ‘One-Man-Band’ you might find busking in your local precinct outside, well, boarded up shops probably. In reality he or she is a solo performer, a kind of novelty act. Tear for Fears are generally considered to be a duo, though from their inception there were four of them. The two you see striding all over your screen on YouTube are/were Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal, once session bass player and guitarist for a band named Neon, whom they liked so much that they
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The band name and a lot of the subject matter owe much to psychologist Arthur Janov
nabbed their drummer, Manny Elias.
ey or found it was his. Opinion differs.
A producer named By 1991 the band FROM Ian Stanley gave had split and yet 1981 TO them the use of his Orzabal carried on 1991, THEY multitrack tape reas Tears For Fears HAD HIT corder, and became with a number of AFTER HIT their keyboard playother musicians. er. From 1981 to 1991, Curt Smith went off they had hit after hit. and wrote a lot of maYou will remember Sowing terial he wasn’t happy with, the Seeds of Love, Mad World, until he met new songwriting Everybody Wants to Rule The partner Charlton Pettus. After World, and possibly Woman In Orzabal and Smith decided to Chains. start working together again in 2000, the songwriting team inThe band name, and quite cluded Charlton Pettus too! a lot of the subject matter owe much to American psycholoIn 2004, the new band regist Arthur Janov, but when leased an album called Everythey met him, they were disap- body Loves a Happy Ending. pointed when he wanted them Rumour has it that Orzabal and to write a musical about him. whoever are currently in his I think they’d already pretty gang are still going strong. much done that. There was Live Aid and Sport Aid and a managBy Seymour Griffiths er who either lost all the mon-
Sing it like Tears For Fears Eighties band Tears for Fears had great songs and the massive voice of Roland Orzabal soaring above the music. He dominates each of their 20 songs and according to the write-up he’s not only the main singer but for a period of time the only singer. What do you do if you’re the main singer in a band and the rest don’t quite come up to your high standard? Well my pedal board contains not one, but two of these handy little devices. Firstly you plug in an instrument which keeps returning to the root note of each chord (like bass guitar rather than a lead guitar playing a blistering solo!) The signal comes straight out once the pedal has ‘had a look at it,’ and can then go on to other pedals or to the main amp or mixing desk. In my case it goes in and out of the other little device too. Next, your microphone goes into the main input and all you do is tell it what kind of harmony you want it to sing, in your voice! Do you want it a third, a fifth or an octave above, below, or both? If you’ve got two of them, you can get six voices, all sounding just like you singing as a choir, or you can set the pedals to merely ‘thicken’ your voice so you get a bit closer to that Orzabal feeling. There are Wet and Dry outputs so the original voice and the harmonies can go off different places. From my experience, once you hear your own voice coming through a vocal processor, you begin to sing ‘like’ the sound you are hearing, and then the effect is enhanced. The TC Helicon Harmony G-XT is perhaps my favourite pedal when I’m in the mood. I wonder what might happen if I put guitar through it – could I play harmonies like Wishbone Ash?
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SHORT SERIES OF ARTICLES TO HELP UNDERSTAND ZIONISM
I have no skin in the game
A
s an agnostic (meaning; I don’t know), I would ask the reader to bear in mind that whether God or gods exist, to use an American expression, ‘I have no skin in the game’. To understand Zionism and the Middle Eastern geopolitical situation needs to
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dictate a potted history. Judaism, alleged to be the oldest monotheistic religion for approximately 4,000 years, is followed chronologically by ‘the Christian’ 2,000 years and the Muslim faith 1,300. Judaeo Christian, Genesis 12 v2-3 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name
Judaism is the oldest monotheistic religion at approximately 4,000 years followed by Christians 2000 years and Islam 1300
great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse, and all peoples on Earth will be blessed through you.” These scriptures are from ‘The Torah’, known to Christians as The Old Testament. The first five books of the Torah, known as the Pentateuch, concern man’s origins, and the Egyptian Exodus. Leviticus deals with the Priesthood and Laws. Numbers takes its name from the two census counts and a journey of wandering. Deuteronomy, Moses and the Law. Important to Zi-
onism, why? Because the Christian faith also accepts the legitimacy of the books as part of their faith. As we shall see, the three convictions and the antagonism connect through Zionism
TO UNDERSTAND THE MIDDLE EASTERN GEOPOLITICAL SITUATION NEEDS A POTTED HISTORY
To The Zionist, this is the origin of the twelve tribes of Israel. The Promise of God to Abraham (Meaning; Father of Nations) begins with his son Jacob, who wrestled with an angel
and begat a name change to Israel. (‘God Contended’, ‘Wrestles with God’, ‘Triumphant with God’) Genesis v32;28. The Christian Bible, called the Old T estament, often contained an index called Proper Names. A name translation is often used as part of the text’s meaning and in Judaism, especially by modern Evangelical scholars. Next Issue: Zionism By Paul John Ross
Retired To The Sun Part 1 About 30 years ago, my wife and I decided that when we retired, we would retire to the sun.
acres in central Portugal, near the Spanish border. The property was cheap, but rich in potential.
Plan A was a horse-drawn caravan toddling around the North side of the Mediterranean. Even then, my wife had a horse. Horses would be part of our retirement. I would have a computer (no lap tops in those days) upon which I would write. Even 30 years ago there were properties where we could stay over the winter, as caretakers.
We have knocked through to an adjoining shed to create a dining room cum bedroom.
Lots of good ideas came and went. We are now on Plan G. We live on seven and a half
The large shed behind the house we have made into two stables and a feed store. We also knocked into it to create an en
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We are on good pensions, so we do not have to grow our own food.
suite to the main bedroom. And we built a hay store. The land grew weeds. We have got rid of the thistles and dogwood and lavender and some unnamed spiky plant that the horses hate, and grow oats for them.
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Living on a farm there are constant excitements YEARS AGO and chores: the horses THERE WERE escaping from their field PROPERTIES at 3am cleaning drainage WHERE WE ditches: cutting brambles COULD STAY OVER THE and burning them.
food. The less we buy the more left for others.
The farm already had olives, grapes, oranges, clementines, perWINTER simmons, apples, nesWe are on good pensions, so pira (ingredient for amoretto), we do not have to grow our own pears, figs, and pomegranate.
We have a large area for potatoes. We grow strawberries, onions, garlic, broad beans, lettuces, peas, and cabbages. In March and April, we will plant other food crops. By Charles James
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OUR HUMAN RIGHTS ARE UNDER THREAT FROM THE TORIES
WHITE ROSE
S
o, it is our Human Right to an opinion and the ability to express it, to protest against the things that we do not agree with and to voice our opinion against the government when we feel that we are being unjustly governed. This right is expressly afforded to us in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights via Articles 19 and 20, subsection 1, which gives us a right to protest in peaceful assembly. But now the Conservative government is seeking to take this right away from us by way of the draconian 307 page ‘Police, Crime and Sentencing Bill’ which has already raised serious concerns amongst Human Rights groups and various campaigners on the grounds
protests under her Police, Crime and Sentencing Bill, which may well be law by the time that you read this article.
that it will ban protest. A more serious concern though is now surfacing, and one rearing its ugly head from the most unsavoury annals of mankind’s history. Did you know that the Nazis actually banned protests as well? 1942, Munich, Germany. It was the students of the time from Munich University that objected to the oppressive actions of their own government who went on to create an organization known as ‘White Rose’ to inform others and warn them about what was really happening under the Nazi re-
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A more serious concern is now surfacing
gime. White Rose was formed by Hans and Sophie Scholl, a Brother and Sister who are now regarded as national heroes in Germany because of what they did, and how they gave their all to raise awareness of what the Nazis were really doing. You can read about them online at https://www.whiterosestance.com/ Unsurprisingly the Nazis moved very fast to arrest White
MUSTN’T GRUMBLE Okay 2020 seemed bad but was it the worst year in history?
climate change all into one year? The year 536: a year that probably wasn’t in your history books.
We have been mired in a global pandemic, quickened climate change, ravaging explosions and people have fought for food.
It all began with an Icelandic volcanic eruption of massive proportions, so massive, in fact, that there are no direct records of its explosion, only trace amounts of its ash stored in arctic glaciers and early-civilization silver.
But the year 536 was so much worse than 2020 and that earned the title of the worst year in history. what if we combined disease, famine, natural disasters, and
The volcano erupted in Iceland and coated the planet in
a cloud of ash. Since we don’t have any records of people surviving close enough to the volcano to give an account of the blast, let’s review a volcanic eruption we do know about. All that is known about the Icelandic volcano of 536 is that it was even bigger and even more catastrophic than the more recent Krakatoa in 1883. A mysterious and deadly fog then enveloped Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. This resulted in the lowest
Infamously, the Nazis also banned the Trades Unions as well, setting up an organization known as DAF in their place to control workTHE Rose’s creators, inrights, their pay, NAZIS ALSO er’s terrogate them, and and a whole host of BANNED then duly sentence other things so as TRADES them to the guilloto solidify their contine as a message to trol of the German UNIONS others about what people and ensure AS WELL dissent against the obedience to the state government would bring and the Fuhrer. if any were thinking of similar protests such as the Scholl’s. And So, is history about to repeat remember now, Home Secretary itself again on our own shores? and Minister for Smugness, Pri- Is it all happening again despite ti Patel, has already expressed the ‘Never Again’ cries? a desire to bring back the death Sadly, it would appear so… penalty in addition to banning By Adrian Angel temperatures in these regions in 2600 years! This literally started the Dark Ages. True darkness covered the world, causing crops to fail, snow to fall in summer, drought, and even an early outbreak of the Bubonic plague.
The Plague of Justinian would eventually wipe out upwards of 60% of the Mediterranean’s population and several states fell to civil unrest and disease. The Mongols are thought to have been driven west by these events and some scholars go as far as THE YEAR to say the establishment DISCOVERED of Islam was a result of TO BE MUCH the power vacuums creWORSE ated in 536.
536
Scandinavians deposited hoards of gold in tribTHAN 2020 ute, hoping to appease the gods and stave off the darkness. It all makes staying at home This real-life event is thought to and avoiding your in-laws have inspired the entire idea of sound wonderful in context. Ragnarok in Norse mythology.
POLITICS AND EVENTS
FROM BEYOND THE WALL OF LOST SPIRITS, LOOSED TEMPORARILY FROM THE HORRORS OF ETERNAL TORMENT, AUNTIE MAGGIE ANSWERS YOUR LETTERS.
Late March 2021
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Mad Madge Talks Across Oceans Of Time
BOJO’S DIARY Dear Maggie That poor Meghan and Harry and those lovely cuddly members of her most gracious Majesty’s family must be so unhappy with their lives. How can we help them? Yours truly, a nurse on a covid ward Well Mrs Nurse, it may not be apparent immediately to someone like yourself, admittedly selfless and caring, but nonetheless poor and downtrodden. You are a subject of the Queen and your role is to pay income tax in order to fund this wonderful establishment. They don’t want your sympathy or pity, just your pitiful cash. I’m sure the Royals are coping just fine. After all most of them aren’t paedophiles, cokeheads, racists or dangerous drivers. Dear darkest Margaret Who am I, what am I, what am I for? Yours, Keith Starmer Starkers you grovelling, concrete quiffed lickspittle!
A daily insight into the mind of the former Daily Telegraph comedy act.... Saturday 13th Mar – Left Carrie in charge. Worked on my Biography for The Telegraph, must have it ready for serialisation the minute I resign as PM. School fees don’t pay themselves and several of my 7 or 8 children, by 3 or 4 women, may or may not be at expensive schools. I imagine. Sunday 14th Mar – Huzzah Mother’s Day. I remembered Interflora for my dear old Mater. Unfortunately little Thingemebob forgot to buy flowers and a card for Carrie, he just sat there filling nappies and dribbling. Somehow Carrie seemed to be blaming me for this situation and she spent the morning drinking Gin and sobbing, while the Mother in Law sorted out Whatsisnames poopoos. Monday 15th Mar – Spent the morning at a Bus factory today. I got to do the press announcements in a high viz jacket and hard hat. Bloody marvellous, I looked like a proper worker and I was really down with the kids. Said lots about civil liberties and freedom of speech. Tuesday 16th Mar – Hurrah we got the Police Crime Bill through Parliament today, ensuring my civil liberties and freedom of speech by making protests illegal. Also statues of racists and the financial elite have more rights than the stroppy Trots who want them removed. Marvellous Wednesday 17th Mar – I spent absolutely zero time worrying about Sir Keith Strimmers questions at P.M.Q. he even voted against the Crime Bill, which of course I bollocked him for in full view of the Commons. Decided to celebrate St Patricks Day by toasting Churchill and the Glorious Black & Tans with Scotch Whisky. Someone told me the brown fellow was no longer Taoiseach, hadn’t noticed, since Brexit I’ve forgotten all about Ireland..... Thursday 18th Mar – Had to give another bloody Covid briefing. “Hands, Space, Pants on the Head”!!! Announced I am having the jab, even though I’ve already had Covid, and the supplies are running low.
Stop all this teenage existential angst, it’s beneath you, As a Peer of the realm and a Q.C. you have spent your whole working life forensically screwing over your opponents, guilty or innocent, in court. Now you’ve climbed the slippery pole to Labour leader, you might want to occasionally oppose Boris instead of purging anyone remotely Socialist. I would have thought you would be chasing leftist votes being 13% behind in the polls. Those ‘centreground’ voters all think even Boris is way better than you, you Sadact. Dear agony aunt Don’t’ tell me what’s it all about, Cause I’ve been there and I’m glad I’m out. Out of those chains, those chains that bind you, I will never fall in love again. Yours, Meghan Now then Meghan, don’t take any late night car journey and steer clear of copious quantities of Lampreys or barrels of Malmsey wine.
Think of the future, make sure the next generation are well-balanced and robust, especially against racism, after all they are going to be half Ginger and nobody likes those. Dear, Dark one I try and sound like a good guy but there are lots of pictures on the internet of me smiling with various paedophiles. What do I do? Piers Morgan Like you need advice from me! I’m the spirit of Margaret Thatcher, the wrong side of the river Styx, eternally damned to the pits of hell, and even I think you are a despicable worm. You are utterly shameless in your desire for attention aren’t you, you even exposed your young daughter to the press this week, on her way to school. Why didn’t you quietly drive her instead of walking her through the doorstepping scum ‘journalists’ who are paid by the same sewer rats as you. Even better send her to a proper boarding school...
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BIZARRE NEWS “SPACE HURRICANE” SPOTTED ABOVE NORTH POLE The existence of hurricanes in space was confirmed this week when a new study revealed satellite images depicting a 600-milewide storm swirling above the North Pole! Co-written by scientists from China’s Shandong University and the University of Reading, the study details a retrospective analysis of satellite observations from August 2014, which show a mass of plasma—or “space hurricane”—raining electrons hundreds of miles above the North Pole. The storm lasted for about eight hours before dying out, only going unseen from Earth because of its location over the pole. According to Professor Mike Lockwood, “to prove this with such a striking observation is incredible.” HACKING INTO HISTORY WITH VIRTUAL REALITY
Centuries of secrets are set to be revealed using a virtual reality technique developed by scientists and scholars hoping to sneak a peek into history through stories written in encrypted letters. Before sealed envelopes and Direct Messages, letter-writers kept their secrets guarded using a security system called “letterlocking,” which consisted of folding, cutting, and tucking the paper into a sort of puzzle in hopes of deterring prying eyes. A group of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shared their discovery of digitally scanning these letters using an X-ray to hack their way into history while keeping the delicate artifacts intact.The team has already successfully “opened” four letters written between 1680 and 1706 found in the Brienne Collection, a wooden trunk containing 3,148 historical items—including 577 locked let-
ters. Even the most mundane exchanges will help historians construct accurate narratives about European politics, culture, religion, migration patterns, and more. INDONESIAN BABBLER BIRD ENDS RETURNS AFTER 170-YEARS Borneo, Indonesia, locals Muhammad Suranto and Muhammad Rizky Fauzan solved one of the country’s greatest ornithological enigmas with the first sighting of a black-browed babbler in 170 years.After being recruited to give birdwatching group BW Galeatus insight into their province’s avian populations, Suranto and Fauzan sent group member Joko Said Trisiyanto an image of a bird they weren’t familiar with but sometimes saw in a South Kalimantan forest. The bird in question matched
the description of the blackbrowed babbler, which was listed as extinct in Trisiyanto’s birdwatching guidebook. Trisiyanto passed the image along to ornithologist Panji Gusti Akbar for confirmation, beginning a chain of forwarding to other experts, all of whom were in shock to see Asia’s longest-lost species captured through the lens. A truly rare bird, the blackbrowed babbler was first described around 1850, after ornithologists collected the species’ only known specimen. After clearing up a mislabeling situation in which the species was noted to have come from Java rather than Borneo, scientists still could not find another bird of its type. CUTTLEFISH CRUSH SELF-CONTROL TEST Cuttlefish facing the “marshmallow test”—a psychological
Mystic Mandy Horoscopes Aries, Your intuition and imagination are operating at their peak today, Aries. Don’t be surprised if you get the urge to write, paint or commit adultery. Even if you don’t have all the necessary equipment, get started anyway. Lucky condiment Worcestershire Sauce. Avoid Solicitors Taurus, You’ve been so preoccupied with your existential questions lately that you’ve missed the point about playing the hand that life has dealt you. Now you’re more in tune and also the ‘Spacecakes’ have worn off. Avoid the middle aisle in Aldi. Lucky number πr^2 Gemini, You may feel a little unsure of what you believe in now, Gemini. Your mind is filled with questions and contradictions. Try to realize that the journey to finding your
true purpose could take ages. Distract yourself with drink, drugs, sex or less harmful addictive behaviour. Lucky cleaning product Cillit Bang. Avoid Clowns. Cancer, You may be obsessed with finding your true purpose in life, Cancer. Although you may not like to admit it, this could occupy your thoughts a lot. Try not to be so stressed about it and keep claiming Universal Credit anyway. Lucky seafood – Rollmop Herring. Avoid sharp edges. Leo, You may feel rather introspective today, Leo, and decidedly out of step with everyone else’s frenzied pace. You’re a thoughtful person with deep spiritual beliefs, gullible and naiive. Frankly get out more you wet rag. Lucky car Citroen Saxo. Avoid Gustav Klimt.
Virgo, There are many social demands on you now, Virgo, in addition to the usual demands of home and work. This is when you need to be selfish and guard your time. Bingewatch Netflix and gorge yourself on Walnut Whips. Lucky medication Statins. Avoid pregnancy.
liness. Today you may be dismayed by how rundown your home has become, frankly you should be ashamed of yourself you skanky devil. Lucky muscle group Gluteus. Avoid Germs.
Libra, The restlessness you feel may be in response to all the pressures on you now. Social demands, work requirements, and the needs of family may be pulling you to the breaking point. On the bright side you fall asleep drinking Gin most evenings. Lucky tip ‘Steptoes Nag’ 3:30 Kempton. Avoid unnecessary formality.
Sagittarius, You aren’t sick, just exhausted from the effort you’ve been putting in at work lately. This is a sign of stress and an indicator that you need a real day off from chores. Try emotional blackmail with a close friend or loved one. Get a takeaway, forget it. Lucky beverage Umbongo. Avoid murderers.
Scorpio, You take great pleasure in a neat, organized house, Scorpio. In your mind, cleanliness really is next to god-
Capricorn, You’ve been neglecting your home recently and now is a good time to make up for it. Clear out the clutter
test to determine self-control? It turns out, pretty well! Researchers at the University of Cambridge presented the cephalopods with a challenge of delayed gratification, in this case, giving them a choice to skip a meal in exchange for the potential of a much more delicious one later on. The decision was a no-brainer for the cuttles, making them the first invertebrates ever to demonstrate self-control. Animals that typically exhibit this trait are social creatures that tend to live long lives, like great apes and parrots, making cuttlefish an unlikely member of the self-control squad since they are known for being short-lived loners. According to the study, the self-control exhibited by cuttlefish may be directly related to how they camouflage themselves from predators—by hiding for days at a time, only showing themselves when they need to eat.
and get organized. If you’re ambitious, you might even want to try a little Amphetamine to pep you up a bit. Lucky meat substitute Quorn. Avoid Trains. Aquarius, You’re feeling extremely romantic and passionate today, Aquarius. If you’ve experienced a rift with your spouse or loved one, this would be the day to make amends. If not there is always Pornhub. Lucky gloves Marigold. Avoid Deep Heat ointment. Pisces, You may seem a little preoccupied or distant to those around you, but this is because you actually need all of your energy to adjust. Don’t worry too much about trying to please others now you lazy, workshy bastard. Lucky religion Zoroastrianism. Avoid Estate Agents.
POLITICS AND EVENTS
SATIRE
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HOPE AND GOOD NEWS
S
cotland: The Chancellor is investing more than 57 million for jobs and green energy in Scotland. 27 million of it is expected to go to Aberdeen Transition Zone which wants NE Scotland to be a globally competitive hub for cleaner energy such as offshore wind and hydrogen. It is hoped that jobs will be supported as the oil and gas industry decarbonises and diversifies. Piers Morgan: Whilst acknowledging Piers is an excellent interviewer his exit from ‘Good Morning Britain’ is welcome news. His arrogance was his downfall. Alex Beresford, the weatherman, he walked out on said “I didn’t want him to quit, but I did want him to listen.” USA:
Pastor Steven Tendo a 35-year-old pastor and asylum-seeker has been released from detention. He fled from torture and other severe human rights violations in Uganda and requested asylum in the USA, b e -
fore being held by US authorities in immigration detention since December 2018. He was at risk of being returned to danger in Uganda in September 2020, but emergency global campaign efforts on his behalf prevented his deportation. While in detention, his health deteriorated from inadequate medical care for diabetes amidst a COVID-19 outbreak in the detention facility. He is now free on parole while he awaits the adjudication of his asylum claim.
Poland: Three human rights defenders have been acquitted. Elżbieta, Anna and Joanna were tried for 双ffending religious beliefs under article 196 of the Criminal Code in relation to the use of posters depicting the Virgin Mary with a rainbow halo symbolic of the LGBTI flag around her head and shoulders. They were facing up to two years in prison. P o p e Francis: In his recent to Iraq (his first to any country since t h e o u t break of
the pandemic) he held a historic face-to-face meeting with powerful Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. He visited all four provinces including Nineveh to the north, where he met with Christian victims of the Islamic State group’s terror and heard their testimonies of survival. His whirlwind tour sought to bring hope to the country’s marginalised Christian minority with a message of coexistence, forgiveness and peace. Iran’s foreign ministry Monday called Pope Francis’ trip to neighbouring
POLITICS AND EVENTS
Late March 2021
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England’s ‘Black Queens’ I
n place of my regular article ‘Women who made a Difference’ I decided to link the controversy over the Harry, Megan and the monarchy by addressing one part of the issues thrown up. As it was International Women’s Day last week I want to address the unconscious and conscious bias in the UK towards the issue of race. I have mentioned previously that some people I spoke to, who felt they had no prejudice, still had to be gently educated into why the Black Lives Matter movement was pertinent to us in the UK. The furore from lovers of the monarchy to the Oprah Winfrey interview, coupled with those who are racially prejudiced, showed we in the UK cannot think we are more enlightened than the US. I have used information from an article from Erin Lawless on the only two queens of England of colour. Despite her publishing her post in January 2013 she still receives almost daily racist messages for sim-
ply putting out what she says is ‘an interesting little topic’. See https://tinyurl.com/y857umcw for the full post. Two queens are ‘considered by some historians to have had Black or Moorish ancestry’. The first was Philippa of Hainault (1314-1369), who was the Queen Consort of Edward III. She was the daughter of the Count of Hainault in what is now Belgium, a region that had once been ruled by the Moors. Edward’s father sent someone to check out his son’s bride to be. A description of her included that ‘she is brown of skin all over, much like her father...’ Interestingly the few pictures of her do not match the description above. She turned out to be an able regent when her husband was away. She known for her kindness, pleading for the lives of many facing death sentences and also a patron of the arts. The eldest of her 13 children was Edward, known as the Black Prince. Erin speculates that was a childhood nickname ‘Le Noir’ based on his complexion and
hair which he had not inherited from his father.
Most of you may have heard of Charlotte of Mecklenburg (1744-1818) the consort of George III. It is argued that Charlotte, though German, was directly descended from a black branch of the Portuguese royal family. She gave birth to 13 children but ‘Her strong-willed spirit was perhaps unknown to the public as she often kept her opinions hidden as that was customary at the time. However, she internally dealt with feelings of disapproval towards the royal court and often felt alone.’ See informative article by Natasha Ishak https://tinyurl.com/y5wpqc5s It is interesting that she was vilified by much of the press for her appearance but perhaps more because she refused to just be an adornment to the King and ensured her children, particularly her daughters had a wide education. She also sponsored Mozart and Bach, bravely stood up for the abolition of slavery, and founded Kew Gardens. She found the constant
state of pregnancy to be a burden but she was able to share her concerns with close friends saying ‘I don’t think a prisoner could wish more ardently for his liberty than I wish to be rid of my burden and see the end of my campaign’. Perhaps ethnicity is less relevant than the the restrictions of royal life on strong minded women such as Phillippa, Charlotte, Princess Diana and Megan Markle. No one rich and privileged, or poor and disadvantaged should be judged on the colour of their skin. Having said that the most worrying aspect is that Megan Markle sought help over her mental health and failed to get any. Instead of taking sides when we, the public do not, and will not, know all the facts but we should show empathy for the Royal Family and the estranged couple. Harry and Megan should be left to take their own path in life without the insults being hurled at them by some of the public and the tabloids. However ‘straight jacket’ which
restricts the freedom of expression within the Royalty is an ongoing concern. There are no winners in this debate but for me the biggest losers should be the intrusive, judgemental tabloid press.
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THE FACTS SIMPLY DO NOT BEAR OUT ANY OF THE HYPE
Sexual politics of murder
A
debate that should have centred on the staggering numbers of people dying at the hands of the police has been efficiently railroaded into a resentment-filled virtue-signalling festival of misanthropic rubbish, helping to fuel an artificial divide between the sexes and ensuring that the Police are not held to account.
men in every one million.
What should have been a discussion about The Police Vs The People, has been spun into a debate about Women Vs Men.
That is also why they will never, ever stop the completely preventable violence against women in society, it far too valuable to them.
For example, around 104 women are murdered each year, but around 69 are also killed by the Police. What the hell? More than one female a week is dying at the hands of the police ... where is this in the debate? Nowhere. Let’s also consider the
I don’t see that as an epidemic, but of course, the government, the media, the fake left-wing commentators all do ... because they don’t want it to stop. Like racism between communities, it pays those who control the population to keep stirring up the resentment between men and women.
question of male violence. In 2018-19 670 people were killed, 92% due to men.
92% of 670 = 616. That’s 616/30 million men approximately. (Assuming one male
murderer for each female victim.) That’s a microscopic 0.0000205 per cent or 20.5
Almost all of this violence is preventable, it is nothing to do with the inherent violence of men, men are not inherently violent - it is being allowed to happen by a government that harnesses the events to fuel fear and resentment between the sexes.
POLITICS AND EVENTS
Late March 2021
THE
WORD Answers: 1. 1971 2. 1963 3. 1984 4. 1982 5. 1986 6. 1984 7. 1977 8. 2009 9. 1837 10. 1989 11. 1990 12. 1986 13. 1997 14. 1963 15. 1605 16. 1998 17. 1969 18. 1992 19. 1974 20. 1996 21. 1603 22. 1985 23. 1980 24. 1979 25. 1986 26. 2002 27. 2007 28. 2002
Name of the year
Questions: 1. Decimal currency was introduced? 2. Assassination of President Kennedy? 3. The birth of Prince Harry? 4. Falkland’s War? 5. Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ goal in the World Cup? 6. The Brighton hotel bombing during the Conservative Party Conference? 7. Death of Elvis Presley? 8. Death of Michael Jackson? 9. Start of the Victorian period?
10. Berlin Wall was demolished? 11. Nelson Mandela released from prison? 12. Halley’s comet visit and the space shuttle exploded killing crew of 7? 13. The funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales? 14. Martin Luther King Jr. made his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech? 15. Gunpowder Plot? 16. Google was founded? 17. The Woodstock Festival? 18. Sally Gunnell won Olympic
gold in the 400m hurdles? 19. Lord Lucan disappeared? 20. The Spice Girls had their first Christmas number one? 21. Death of Queen Elizabeth I? 22. EastEnders first broadcast? 23. J.R. was shot in Dallas? 24. Margaret Thatcher became prime minister? 25. Chernobyl disaster? 26. Introduction of the Euro? 27. Final Harry Potter book was released? 28. Both the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret died?
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THE
WORD
Late March 2021
POLITICS AND EVENTS
EXCELLENT VEGAN COOKING WITH CHRIS WILLIAMSON
VEGAN LEMON CAKE
Ingredients: l 1 00ml vegetable oil, plus extra for the tin l 275g self-raising flour l 200g golden caster sugar l 1 tsp baking powder l 1 lemon, zested, 1/2 juiced l For the icing l 150g icing sugar l ½ lemon, juiced
Method: STEP 1 Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Oil a 1lb loaf tin and line it with baking parchment. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and lemon zest in a bowl. Add the oil, lemon juice and 170ml cold water, then mix until smooth. STEP 2 Pour the mixture into the
tin. Bake for 30 mins or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 10 mins, then remove and transfer the cake to a wire rack to cool fully. STEP 3 For the icing, sieve the icing sugar into a bowl. Mix in just enough lemon juice to make an icing thick enough to pour over the loaf (if you make the icing too thin, it will just run off the cake).
POLITICS AND EVENTS
Late March 2021
THE
WORD
23
BRISTOL RIOTS AGAINST THE POLICE BILL
Bristol becomes the first city to protest against the Bill to ban peaceful protest. At last people wake up to the blatant disregard for civil liberties that the Tory Government and their bribed and bought off partners in the Labour party have for democracy. Although we would never condone violence we do feel that the right to protest must be fought for. This Bill strips away forms of peaceful protest that the Suffragette movement used so successfully more than 100 years ago. This week Bristol was in flames. Let this be a lesson in what happens with suppression. Let the likes of Patel, Johnson and Starmer realise that not all the people in this country will roll over and comply. According to MSM sources: ” Two police vehicles were set on fire, damage was caused to a police station, one officer suffered a broken arm and another suffered broken ribs, the force added.” Patel described the events as “unacceptable.” What we find unacceptable are the thousands needing foodbanks to survive, taking away our rights, and millionaire Ministers making money from selling off our NHS.
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THE
WORD
Late March 2021
POLITICS AND EVENTS
ECONOMIC N
WHY AUSTERITY IS AND ALWAYS WAS BASED ON A BLATANT LIE -
Economic Nutshells 2 Money Creation in Britain
Money is an invention of government, and can be created how and when it is wanted by government. Some countries choose to use thecurrencies created by another state, but a sovereign state, like Britain, with its own self created currency, can make it without any theoretical limit, can never run out, and can never go bankrupt due to creation of their own currency. Money created by government is base money, It can be created directly, but is often created indirectly through the creation of gilts are bonds; these allow a small amount of profit guaranteed for the investors who purchase them. The givernment has also granted permission to commercial banks to create money. This occurs whenever they loan money. This money is always created with some kind of charge or interest. The money created and given to you enters circulation. It is then slowly removed from circulation as you repay the bank,wth the bank taking some profit from the process. By Scribimus
Economic Nutshells 3 Income, and Taxes This is how we are told the economy works: 1, People work and make money 2, They pay some of that money in taxes to the state 3, The state government uses the money raised as revenue to pay for services for the people The problem with this simple model is that it fails at number 1. People do not make money through work. They may create wealth of come sort, but money itself is often taken out of, or paid into the economy by people as they work.
Economic Nutshells 1 What Money Is Barter has never been the basis for any economy, It relies on the coincidence of needs, that both people need what the other has available at exactly the same time. Instead people still traded, but they kept records of what was owed, and these records can be found as far back as 5,000 years ago. There were also complex tables to measure the worth of different comodities against one another. Around 2,800 years ago, money was invented. It is an invention of government, and it meant that instead of complex tables, everything could simply be given a price; a value in money. Money had the force of law behind it; the government which issued it saying that the passing of the cotrect amount of legal tender meant the debt was paid in any transaction. It was made of gold and silver because that rare metal was easily made into coins.used in the exchange.
The actual system is this: 1. The government decides how and when money is made 2. The government arranges for money to be made and it enters the economy 3. That money is traded and taken as income 4. People pay taxes though not to fund anything, because the government can create money when it wants, the taxes merely remove the money from the economy, and can be targeted for certain groups. So, imagine John gets money from rent for property, and from investments in the stock exchange. John earns £2 million a year, and pays the maximum amount of tax counting everything as if it was wages, taking home £1,071,140, paying 982,860. This of course is a maximum amount possible nobody pays this, he would be paying a lower rate for corporation tax to start with, most rich people pay as little as possible. Ronnie earns £8.25, minimum wage, forty hours a week backbreaking work, income of £330 per week, 17,600 per year. He takes home £15,610, paying £1,990 in tax and N.I. He hasn't even enough to live on paying rent etc.
The metal content of the coins doesn’t matter, and most money is electronic in modern times. It’s the force of law from government which gives money value.
The truth is that Ronnie takes nothing from the economy for the work he does, he gets further into debt. John doesn't make money, even living an extravagant life he spends no more than £200,000 a year back into the economy. He drains the economy of around £871,140 every year. John pretends Ronnie, who is working and creating wealth, should be grateful for they way in which John funds the services he uses.
By Scribimus
By Scribimus
POLITICS AND EVENTS
Late March 2021
THE
WORD
25
NUTSHELLS
- GOVERNMENTS ARE NOT PEOPLE WHEN IT COMES TO MONEY
Economic Nutshells 4 Austerity
Economic Nutshells 6 The Spoilt Rich
Imagine an economy with a million people. Their state has around 200 million dollars of their own circulating currency. Around 90% of the population earn about $100 dollars a week and live comfortably able to enjoy their life and work. There’s a ruling government class of 9% which earns about $1,000 dollars a week, living very comfortably and taking holidays. There is a rich 1% who earn $5000 a week and live in luxury. Everyone has a stake in society, they all have their own homes, and each person has a chest with an equal amount of silver in it as the family silver under their bed.
Susanna is born of privilege. She spends each long weekend travelling to Switzerland to the slopes to see her friends; excepting the four or five holidays she takes a year, She is incredibly well paidfor her job as a weekly columnist on the latest trends in society; she takes her work seriously and may spend days writing the article. Shirley was born to difficult sircumstances. When she was young her family used to like to go to Southend once a year for a couple of days holiday, but in recent decades this has become too expensive. Anyway, she has saved up for a holiday this year, sending years to do so from her income as a full time care worker. She has gone without to earnt he oney including going without heating in her home and food at times.
The rich tell the government they want to reduce an unmanageable national debt. The government decides to reduce the amount of money circulating by 10%. Four things can happen: 1, All the prices reduce by 10%, everyone’s wages likewise and the economy continues as it did before 2, The economy shrinks and you have recession, the wages reduce and people cannot afford to buy things, some people who make things become unemployed 3, The rich people open banks, which lend people money to make up the difference so the economy might continue, the working people pay interest on 10% of the money in circulation 4, People are forced to sell the family silver to maintain a quality of life Though we’ve had an increasing deficit and debt system,the money has been targeted to the hoarding rich, whilst the rest of the population has been suffering forms of austerity for forty years. Prostitution has boomed, people have starved, and the collective national family silver (the NHS, utilities, rail etc) has been sold cheaply to friends of the government. By Scribimus
Their is an economic shock, and it affects everyone. It also causes some airlines to go out of business. Shirley has lost her holiday, but she is used to not having one, and so just tries to get some of the money back since she needs it. Her friends who are also poor agree that is the thing to do.
Economic Nutshells 5 Culling the Poor Well, it might be happening anyway, but we will create a fictional State of Torytania. In this state they have grown weary of poor people getting injured doing heavy manual work, then expecting help with their disability. They have looked at society, and decided to get rid of those useless, and make society perfect. Those in need have been demonised for decades. The population drops 10% and those who were taking but not making are now gone. The morals matter not to Torytania people, they also have no feeling of guilt that many of the people who they have killed off were made disabled building the society they enjoy. The sales in the shops, and indeed the need to produce products, have reduced by 10% you got rid of those customers. People lose their jobs. On top of that , rich people, investors in the places, now find they have lost some income from profits, and that they're missing out on the rent for the slums they used to rent to the poor 10%. they make rents higher and life more difficult for the remaining workers. Some 8% of the new population is ill or unemployed, suffering from the increased stress and simply made redundant. The solution of course, with Oxygen Thieves, is again to do what Alf Garnet in the Sitcom, In Sickness and in Health, called some judicious culling. It will solve the problem surely? Time to demonise until their hated the people who had, until recently, been the bedrock workers of society. Anyone who lives in the less affluent parts of any town, those near the suffering poor who may be told to hate them, should realise they are most likely to be next in line to be those unwanted poor. The people to blame, are the rich, who don't claim benefits because they already drain all of the money from society without needing to work. By Scribimus
Susanna is outraged, she may not only miss this weekend, but next and perhaps the one afterwards. The rich are spoilt and always throw a tantrum till they get what they want. Someone should say no to them once in a while. By Scribimus
THE
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Late March 2021
POLITICS AND EVENTS
THE RUNT OF A WORLD’S WORST PACK OF POLITICIANS
G
avin Williamson- the man literally in charge of your children’s educational wellbeing. Oh dear! Have I upset you already? Have the blind led the blind quite like this since Mr Magoo took command of the Premier League’s Video Assistant Referees department? Come to think of it, with this government yes. Frequently. But let’s not digress into rants about Matt Hancock. Or Priti Patel. Or Kwasi Kwarteng. Or Elizabeth Truss, or Grant Shapps, or Brandon Lewis, or Therese Coffey, or Dominic Raab, or… Never mind. Just this once, let’s instead focus on our bashful Gav, wailing man-child par excrément. Last year, he completely screwed up possibly the easiest issue to be dealt with throughout the SARSCov2 pandemic, by initially refusing teacher-based assessment for exam result grades; the inevitable upshot of that was thousands of lost university places. The hopes and dreams of young adults up and down the land trashed to no tangible benefit, at a single glance. Thankfully, a U-turn prevailed, and the grades were corrected. But the bar was now set for this fumbling minister, and it was so low subterranean animals couldn’t use it for a limbo dance. And then - oooooh boy! - the laptop fiasco! The task was this simple, Mr Williamson. You buy laptops. You distribute them. Job done! Which bit of this did you have so much trouble understanding that it took you around 10 months to fulfil it? Come on now, chop-chop! Time is precious, sir! Spin on to now and we’re still looking at children taking their final exams. Mr Education secretary. Pardon my Texanisms, but have you lost your dang mind, sir? Last year, pupils sitting their exams had all-but-finished their studies. This year’s exam-takers have not. They have missed a massive portion of their education and one could argue that they need those teacher-assessed grades more than last year’s hopefuls. So naturally Williamson initially deprived this year’s exam-takers of the system, before ANOTHER U-turn.
Let’s take a look at the current Secretary of State for Education
He doesn’t stop there. With the release of additional funding, Mr Williamson declared on national TV that the extra £6000 per primary school is enough coverage to supply additional teachers! WOW! Gav, if you can find me a teacher who will work for £6k per year, I will employ one myself to come to my home to educate my kids. How out of touch with reality, or with the needs of a crumbling infrastructure, must a Minister be that he believes just £6000 can fund any post-pandemic plan? Is he counting in pre-decimal money? The unfair irony is that our children’s welfare is in the sole hands of one who refuses to grow up. The pressure placed on teachers is nearly as illtimed and as disrespectful as that imposed on front-line staff in hospitals. Does the Secretary believe teachers literally work “9-till-3”? Is he aware that most “downtime” is still work time? Evenings and holidays brimming over with tedious marking, preparation for further lessons, and learning new and ever-evolving teaching strategies and methods, all swallow up what “time off” teachers get.
ing others’ qualifications is, himself, obviously under-qualified. Sorry, Gav, we have no choice but to award you a Fail.
Ridge on Sunday show. “There’s no point adding time here, or moving time there, if you don’t get a groundswell of support.
Ministers need to be cautious about lengthening the school day or changing holidays as a means for pupils to catch up after Covid, the head of Ofsted has said, as Gavin Williamson called for a “transformative” reform to the schools system following the pandemic.
“If children simply don’t turn up for extra time, or summer schools for example, you could end up putting a lot of effort into something that doesn’t achieve the objective. So my concern is to go with the grain of what parents will embrace.”
Williamson confirmed that the government would examine ideas including a five-term school year, or longer school days, as schools in England fully reopen on Monday. The education secretary said efforts to help pupils catch up could be a catalyst for revolutionising schools, likening it to the 1944 Education Act, which created the postwar system of local education authorities and sought to remove many glaring inequalities.
This Minister makes decisions governing whether children pass or fail. Yet this man-child decid-
But Amanda Spielman, the head of Ofsted, the schools inspectorate for England, said that while it was vital that children “do get their full ration of schooling”, ministers should be cautious about rushing through any changes.
The bar was now set for this fumbling minister, and it was so low subterranean animals couldn’t use it for a limbo dance
“I think one of the really important things is to learn from the experiments that have happened in the past,” she told Sky’s Sophy
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IS HE COUNTING IN PREDECIMAL MONEY?
Spielman said that over the past couple of decades, a series of experiments had been carried out with five-term school years: “I don’t think many of those have persisted. I don’t know the reasons why, but I think it’s really important to learn, to make sure that people understand why they haven’t been a longstanding success in the past.” Speaking before Spielman on the same programme, Williamson said a review by Sir Kevan Collins, the government’s newly appointed education recovery commissioner, would leave “no stone unturned” in terms of possible changes. “It’s a whole range of different proposals that we’re looking at – whether it’s a five-term year, whether it’s lengthening the school day,” Williamson said. “But also measures such as enhancing the support we give to teachers, supporting them in their professional development.”
He continued: “I would see this as one of those moments, a bit like the 1944 education reform act, that came out of the second world war, about how we can be transformative in terms of changing and improving the opportunities for young people. But it’s got to be evidence-based. We’ve got to look at what’s going to have the biggest positive impact on children’s lives.” Children returning to secondary schools from Monday will be asked to wear masks in classrooms if distancing cannot be maintained, but the regulations have been criticised for being confusing. But Williamson said he was confident it would work well, pointing to mask use in the autumn term, before the third lockdown in England: “What we saw during that period was there were incredibly large numbers of pupils that followed the rules. It worked very, very well.” Spielman said she was also hopeful about both mask use, and the regime of coronavirus testing for secondary pupils. “Children are adaptable and flexible,” she said. “I think they can live with a little bit of inconvenience for a fews weeks. “I really hope that the whole paraphernalia of masks and testing is only necessary for a short time. I think we’ve got some reasons to be optimistic.” By Erin Wilson
POLITICS AND EVENTS
Late March 2021
THE
WORD
27
THE QUIRKY HISTORY OF PRE-MATCH FORMALITIES IN INTERNATIONAL SPORT
NATIONAL ANTHEMS AT SPORTING EVENTS
T
he first National Anthem is famously English; an Anthem in the traditional sense it prays for England's then-King, George III, to return to health, popularised during
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The first such patriotic tune to be played at sporting events was The Star Spangled Banner
the Jacobite Uprising of 1745. The first such patriotic tune to be played at sporting events was The Star Spangled Banner, which started being played around 1860 during the US Civil War. This song was written to celebrate the defiance of Fort Henry Baltmore when attacked by the British Navy in 1814. The Fort was well defended by heavy short range cannons and could not be approached on land. The longer range Royal Navy cannons meant the British fleet could sit a
safe distance off-shore and bombard the US defences.
the night progressed, the British began bombarding the flagpole to bring it down. Many The British Comcitizens of Baltimore MANY mander sent a mesdied to keep the CITIZENS OF sage to tell the fort flag flying and BALTIMORE that if he could it remained at not see the newdawn. Given the DIED TO KEEP ly-created Stars inability to force THE FLAG & Stripes of the victory the BritFLYING AND IT US flag flying ish retreated from REMAINED over the fortifibattle. AT DAWN cation at dawn, he would consider the The Haka was a relUS troops to have surrenativey new introduction to dered. As the flag remained and the New Zealand All-Black team
Strength is More than Physical
England's Rugby Team have had a less successful 6 Nations Tournament than they would have desired. One terrible refereeing decision in their early game against Wales, where the England team were told to converse & whilst they were engaged the game restartewithout them, doesn't explain or excuse a pretty dire pattern of games. Ex-England Captain,Martin Johnson, who led the team to World Cup victory in 2003
claimed the players are trying too hard, and this gives away penalties. This misses an important element in the game. Trying hard in Rugby Union is not just tackling the opponents ferociously. It's about mental strength, necessary discipline, whilst playing this very physical game. Unless players are able to show that mental strength and concentration, physical attributes will not make them successful. Nomatter how fast and strong a player is, if they lack mental strength and intellectual agility to understand
the game, they're more of a liability than an asset to any team.
France showed real strength against a Welsh side not short of desire. The French side is seen as building something special, though haven't we seen that before? Both the erratic Irish and the Welsh have talented youth, though the best of those teams are aging. With their worst 6 nations ever, Italy has obviously used this years tournament to work towards the future. Scotland have real talent on the rise
also, and may feel their low finishing position did not reflect the tournament. Can they make up against France in the postponed game? Those of us who remember players winning games with drop kicks, may bemoan the lack of this ability in modern teams. That said, this has been a year of the return of forward talent, and the welsh front three of Wyn
when their undefeated team toured Britain in 1905. After defeating Scotland, England & every other team they met, they arrived in Cardiff to play Wales. At the end of the Haka, the Welsh team & the large Welsh crowd began singing Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau (Land of Our Fathers, written in 1856) in response. This was the first time a National Anthem was sang at a sporting event. Wales went on to beat the All-Blacks for the first time. By Sue Port
Jones, Ken Owens and Tomas Francis have probably be undersung heroes of the team. Worst of the tournament, French Head Coach Fabien Galthie complaining about the sending off. Willemse was nothing short of reckless, and any attempt to pull a player using the eye-socket is hardly a new thing to be punished for.
THE
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28
Late March 2021
POLITICS AND EVENTS
THE DIFFERENT RULES OF EARLY FOOTBALL PRODUCED VERY DI
Goalkeepers, Different from the Rest
F
ootball;s origins are ancient and various, the game, roughly as we know it, didn’t really stabilise until John Charles Thring wrote his set of rules in 1849.
Under these rules, Arthur Wharton was an ideal goalkeeper for the time. Strong, aggressive, and above all fast, he matched the 10 second record for the 100 yards. Scotsman Ned Doig developed the position, being something akin to a rugby fly half in distributing the ball so as to enable attacks. Leigh ‘Dick’ Roose went one further, often dropping the ball as he crossed half way and being part of the attack. William
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22 years old Celtic & Scotland keeper John Thomson clashed with Ireland and Rangers forward Sam English. Thomson was dead, and English never truly recovered from the incident
Foulkes, 6’9” and reaching some 24 stones in weight, was considered to be unbargeable by opponent C.B.Fry in a time when the average height was about 5’5”. The game’s players were slow to change their aggressive attitude to goalkeepers in keeping with the changing rules. Tragedy struck in 1931, when 22 yr old Celtic & Scotland keeper John Thomson clashed with Ire-
Ebenezer Morley
Goalkeepers could use their hands and carry the ball anywhere in their own half of the field. In return opposing players could barge into them encouraging them to drop the ball
land and Rangers forward Sam English. Thomson was dead, and English never truly recovered from the incident. In 1936 Jimmy Thorpe of Sunderland, was repeatedly kicked in his head and chest by the opposing Chelsea players. So much so that he went from brave with Sunderland 2-0 up, to timid and slow by the end. As reporters sent REPORTERS SENT rheir copy COPY TO EDITORS to editors criticisCRITICISING HIS ing his COWARDICE, c o w THORPE WAS ardice, TA KE N TO HOSPITAL, ThorW H ER E HE DIED OF pe was INTENAL INJURIES taken to hospital, AGED JUST 19 where he died of intenal injuries aged just 19. The rules continued evolving to favour the goalkeeper. That also took time. For instance, Nat Lofthouse famously barged Man Utd goalie Harry Gregg into the net, with the ball,to score the second goal of the 1958 FA Cup Final. The outcry then added impetus to efforts to protect keepers from direct assault, until we reach modern times. Injuries still occur, but the keeper is no longer the punch bag they once were, and that is something good for the sport. By Sue Port
Thring
POLITICS AND EVENTS
IFFERENT ATTITUDES TO GOALKEEPERS
Football, like Race, was Once COLOURBLIND A
racial map of Then came the 1920s. Europe a Jack Leslie of Plymcentury outh called up to THE GOODALL ago, would show play against IreBROTHERS, OF Germans, Slavs, land in 1925, etc as the racial was dropped SCOTTISH division. Skin once England PARENTAGE AND colour had selectors reRAISED SCOTTISH, been used to alised he was COULD NOT PLAY divide in the black. FootFOR SCOTLAND USA during ball’s greatest slavery. It was ever striker, Bill not the same issue in ‘Dixie’ Dean was Europe where cultural curtailed in his England and linguistic divisions were career for being of dark commore significant. plexion despite scoring 18 goals in 16 internationals. In 1930 The first officially-recog- Johannesburg-born, white, nised international football South African international match was Scotland v England striker Gordon Hodgson played in 1872*. By 1880, the first black for England. player was in the Scotland international squad. Andrew WatSir Alf Ramsey, son, the Left Back for Queen’s England player and Park in Glasgow, gained his first manager who took international cap in 1881, and so the country to impressed that he was consid- World Cup victoered their best-ever Left Back ry in 1966, was by the 1922, 50th anniversary, also of Romani celebration. decent, but preferred not to Arthur Wharton, born in mention it. Paul Ghana, tried out for England. Reaney, EngHis not being called up may land and Leeds have been due to issues over United player of his place of birth. The Goodall the early 1970s, brothers, of Scottish parentage didn’t wish to be and raised Scottish, could not labelled black, deplay for Scotland. John, born spite his dark skin in London, Archie, in Belfast, colour. instead played for England and Ireland respectively. With the debut of Laurie Cunningham Raby Howells, Shef- for the England U21s field-born of Romani decent, in 1977, then Viv Anwas the first ethnically non-Brit- derson for the full side ish player to play for England in in 1979, we saw an 1895. end of a fifty year period where skin colour
mattered to some. Let us hope we never see such times return. * There had been four more games between England and Scotland played over the previous two years, but they are not officially recognised by FIFA as ‘real’ international matches due to all the players on both sides being selected by representatives of the English Football A s - sociation. By Sue Port
THE
WORD
Monday 15th March PREMIER LEAGUE Wolve. Wanderers
0-1
Liverpool
Tuesday 16 March UEFA CHAMPIONS’ LEAGUE th
Manchester City
2-0
Borussia Möenchenglad.
Manchester City win 4-0 on aggregate Real Madrid
3-1
Atalanta
1-34-1 on aggregate Real Madrid win Wednesday 17th March UEFA CHAMPIONS’ LEAGUE Second round Chelsea
2-0
Atletico Madrid
Chelsea win 3-0 on aggregate Bayern Munich
2-1
Lazio
1-3 6-2 on aggregate Bayern Munich win FA WOMEN’S SUPER LEAGUE Everton Women
0-3
Chelsea Women
Aston Villa Women
0-2
B&H Albion Women
Bristol City Women
0-3
Man. City Women
WHU Women
2-2
Birmingham City Women
Thursday 18th March UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE Round of 16 Arsenal
0-1
Olymipakos
Arsenal win 3-2 0-2on aggregate Dinamo Zagreb
3-0aet
AC Milan
Tottenham Hotspur
0-1
Manchester United
Manchester United win 2-1 on aggregate
Rangers
0-2
Slavia Prague
Slavia Prague win 3-1 on aggregate
Friday 19th March PREMIER LEAGUE Fulham
1-2
Leeds United
FA WOMEN’S SUPER LEAGUE Arsenal Women
2-0
Manc. United Women
3-0
Newcastle United
Saturday 20th March PREMIER LEAGUE B&H Albion
SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP Dundee United
1-0
Aberdeen
Hamilton Academical
1-1
St Mirren
Kilmarnock
4-1
Motherwell
Livingston
1-1
Hibernian
St Johnstone
1-0
Ross County
FA CUP Quarter-Finals Bournemouth
0-3
Southampton
Everton
0-2
Manchester City
3-3
Arsenal
Saturday 20th March PREMIER LEAGUE West Ham United Aston Villa
-
Tottenham Hotspur
SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP
Kinnaird
29
UK FOOTBALL RESULTS week st ending Sunday 21 March 2021
Dinamo Zagreb win 3-2 on aggregate
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Alf Ramsey, England player and manager who took the country to World Cup victory in 1966, was also of Romani decent, but preferred not to mention it
Late March 2021
Celtic
1-1
Rangers
THE
WORD
30
Late March 2021
POLITICS AND EVENTS
HAPPY 133RD BIRTHDAY TO THE WORLD’S FIRST SPORTS LEAGUE
Many happy returns, FOOTBALL LEAGUE! »
F
ootball is as old as kicking things about. Cavemen are believed to have played a game involving kicking a dismembered head around. Private schools in England, ever the place for writing rules, had a number of local variants. It was not until 1849 that the clergyman Charles Thring wrote the rules for the simplest game of what we might recognise as Association Football (sometimes called Soccer derived from Assoc). These rules would be broadly adopted by lawyer Ebenezer Morley upon formaion of the Football Association in 1862. A game for the privately-educated, teams comprising of such gentleman began a cup tournament, the FA Cup in 1871. An early star, player of the match in the second cup final was the notoriously violent Lord Kinnaird. An early joke has Kinnard’s
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In Manchester on the 17 April 1888 the Football League had been formed with the first matches to begin in the Autumn
in tournaments with matches won drawn and lost creating a table, but they usually involved three teams.
mother worrying he will come home with a broken leg, with the butler assuring her, “Don’t worry it wont be his own.” The first professional footballer Fergus Suter, in 1878, was
The notoriously violent Lord Kinnaird’s... mother worrying he will come home with a broken leg, with the butler assuring her, ‘Don’t worry it wont be his own’
the first of those classed as In Manchester on the ‘players’ rather than 17 April 1888 the Foot‘gentlemen’. But it ball League had PRESTON was late in his cabeen formed with NORTH END... reer, at the age of the first matches BECAME THE FIRST to begin in the 31 that he played one game in Autumn. It had DOUBLE WINNER what was rap12 teams, and THAT SEASON, idly becomng a Preston North WINNING THE sport for profesEnd dominated F.A.CUP TOO sional players in from the earliest the newly formed matches. A league Football League. system was a new idea. There had been Round-Rob-
Four times that number of teams, home and away games, and some form of points system were new to any sport. The eventual decision of two points for a win, one for a draw was made half way through the season. That decision was partly to make the rest of the season a competition, since by then Preston were so far ahead. Preston eventually won all but one game, which they drew, and were never going to be caught. They also became the first Double Winner that season, winning the F.A.Cup too. By Sue Port
POLITICS AND EVENTS
Late March 2021
THE
WORD
31
THE HARDEST SHOT IN FOOTBALL SUCCUMBS TO LONG TERM ILLNESS
PETER LORIMER DIES AGED 74
P
eter Lorimer, one of Leeds United’s all-star Scottish players of the 1970s, died this weekend aged 74. The Scottish International striker and midfielder made 705 appearances for the Whites over two spells and is the club’s record goal-scorer. Lorimer, wearing the number 7 shirt, was widely regarded as having one of the hardest shots in football which earned him the nickname Hot Shot.
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I’ve seen lesser players duck out of the way of Lorimer’s cannon balls
After making his Leeds United debut at just 15 years and 289 days in September 1962 - another club record - he would go on to score 238 goals for the club in two spells.
ball hit it at pace. I watched one free kick knock out Tony Hateley as he bravely tried to head out the ball. I’ve seen lesser players duck out of the way of Lorimer’s strikes. Hateley GOALS HE was out cold for ten SCORED Though he alminutes before reFOR LEEDS suming. ways started on the right hand side of the pitch, he was soon in the heart of Lorimer left Leeds for things and could attack up a while and even played the middle or on the left, for some time in Israel. In and his goals often won the order to do that in those match for his team. days he needed to undertake a ritual conversion to I saw most of those Judaism. goals, though people on the pitch often missed It was his last and least them as they flew through successful attempt to be the air. Whether from open considered an Orthodox play, free-kicks, or the pen- Winger. alty spot, Peter loved to see the netting billow as the By Stanley Acrimonious
238
DAMNING REPORT FINDS NEARLY 700 VICTIMS BETWEEN 1970 AND 2005
FA REPORT RELEASED into Historic Child Abuse
T
he Football Association has published the findings of its investigation into child abuse in football. The report itself states that the actual numbers involved are 240 suspects within the game, with 692 survivors. That the report chooses to look upon the responses of the FA relative to legisative changes in the time period studied, 1970-2005, does not give much confidence that the FA was going beyond the requirements of law. Indeed it seems where the law was in place as in when Lilleshall ap-
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There is simply an ongoing effort to obsfucate and protect; not protect the children, but protect the businesses involved
nalist & presenter at the similarly-compromised BBC, said that he didn’t recall he issue being raised.
plied to be classed as a sue stating, “We have, in children’s home, the coaching alone, over Throughout the report, as FA was typically 5,000 itinerant is all too often the case in the THE ACTUAL slow, 5 years, to coaches work- modern age, in which no senNUMBERS take any of the ing for us who ior members of a large organiINVOLVED ARE measures to have not been sation seems capable of taking 240 SUSPECTS provide trainscreened, and responsibility, there is simply ing in the area the screening an ongoing effort to obsfucate WITHIN THE of child abuse. process is like- and protect; not protect the GAME, WITH 692 ly to cost mon- children, but protect the busiSURVIVORS Certainly ey.” Disturbingly, nesses involved. cost of procedures Davies, an ex-jourlike screening coaches was as always an issue, David Davies, an ex-journalist & and in 2006 David Davies, working director of commupresenter at the similarlynications and public affairs at compromised BBC, said that he the FA, received a response from his assistant on the isdidn’t recall he issue being raised
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Though other newspapers focus on such comments as, “Dario Gradi explained that he did not consider a person putting their hands down another’s trousers to be an assault,” by Clive Sheldon QC, the concerns are more than one not-particularly-eloquent football manager. The concerns are more an apparent insitutional failing in the Football Association in regards to child protection, which has proven as systemic as in so many other public bodies in this nation. The report may be read in full at https://the-fa.com/7ZFDqu. By Sue Port