THE WORD EDITION 34 by The word

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WORD Issue #34, May 21th 2020.

£1

Equality Democracy Truth Courage

Women who make a difference

In previous editions the title was ‘Women who made a difference’ not make a difference, because, as yet, Alicia has not won her battle to prevent further oil drilling in the Yasuni National Park, one of the most bio-diverse regions in the world. Like the Amazon women warriors of mythology Alicia has proved a stronger fighter against powerful oil companies than the men in her Huaroni #2 tribe who live in the Ecuadorian Amazon. ‘The Times they are a’changing’. El Salvador banned all metal mining and Alicia’s campaign to save Yasuni from further oil drilling nearly succeeded in August 2013... PAGE 20

THE PEOPLE’S PAPER

thewordmedia.org Corbyn arrested by Dixon of Dock Green – really

OUR CHILDREN BOJO’S GUINEA PIGS POSH PEOPLE’S SCHOOLS STAY SHUT TILL AUTUMN

Piers Corbyn was arrested by PC Dixon. The more radical brother of the former Labour party leader, Jeremy, was handcuffed then held in a cell for seven hours. His crime, he was told, was not giving his name to the officer and refusing to leave when requePAGE 02 sted...

Protestors gather in Baghdad in anti-government demonstrations

At the meeting they agreed on justice and compensation for the relatives of more than 550 people killed since the start of popular demonstrations PAGE 04 last October...

The stench of corruption could hardly be stronger

How the Tories are merging political activity with the arms of government for political advantage. It’s exhausting following this government. There appear to be fewer and fewer boundaries that it won’t PAGE 12 breach...

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May 21. 2020

POLITICS AND EVENTS

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LET US BE LIBERAL ANOTHER PIERS COPS IT IN THE THICK

PEOPLE DEFIEDING C SOCIAL DISTANLOSE C R TO GATHE AT SPEAKERS’ CORNER

Fred Ridley once said that it best mate Pinochet? No, neiwas very easy to be right wing ther would I but I am afraid because all you needed was to that we have to. Chile was the combine prejudice and igno- country chosen by the Chicago rance (my paraphrase). On the Boys, as economists trained by other hand it was, he said, very the likes of Milton Friedman difficult to be left wing because were known, and the US State you had to read lots of books Department to carry out an with big words in them (not a experiment in Neo-Liberal ecoparaphrase). nomics. Murder, torture and These big words become imprisonment for the supportlabels. I remember somehow ers of socialism were the confinding myself a member of sequence. Who did Thatcher so the Liverpool Executive Com- strongly support when he was mittee of the National Union of arrested in the UK? Pinochet! Teachers. Many were members Who let him go? Jack Straw! of the Labour Party. But which In 2010, as Gordon Brown Labour Party? They all seemed points out in his memoir, 15 to wear different labels. It felt million people voted against necessary to work out which austerity while only 10 million way people leaned. They might voted for it. Nevertheless, we secretly be Socialist Workgot it, courtesy of Cleggy ers Party or Commu(Last of the Libernist Party or Vanal Party Wine). guard. The easy George Osborne ones to idenand Compastify were the sionate ConIrish Catholic servative Many were members C a m e r o n Labour Parof the Labour Party. and company ty members. But which Labour They were the were all clear ones that came upon one thing. Party? from Liverpool. It was that when And as for that capitalism cocks up word ‘Liberal’. Such a the people shall pay. That shock to discover that Neo-Lib- word LIBERAL that gave us eral had nothing to do with Joe free schooling from 1870; that Grimond’s Liberal Party. And gave us National Insurance and then we have to remember that the Old Age Pension from 1911; although Gladstonian Liberal- and that gave us the Beveridge ism was supposed to mean low Report of 1942 well, under taxation and free trade in fact Thatcher that word gave us whenever Gladstone spotted a sky rocketing unemployment social injustice and he was in figures and the destruction of power he made sure that the communities. Under Osborne government did something it closed libraries and subjected about it. The Labour Party gets the Welfare State to death by a the credit for the Welfare State thousand cuts. but it was Gladstonian Liberals And now the virus. What’s such as Lloyd George and Beve- the recipe today Boris? Yet ridge and Maynard Keynes who more austerity. How can we be should take much of the credit. sure of that? The prime minisWould you apply the word ter has said it won’t happen. ‘liberal’ to Thatcher and her Cliff Jones

Different labels

Corbyn arrested OF DOCK GREEN Piers Corbyn was arrested by PC Dixon. The more radical brother of the former Labour party leader, Jeremy, was handcuffed then held in a cell for seven hours. His crime, he was told, was not giving his name to the officer and refusing to leave when requested. In an interview with The Word, Piers told us that this would not deter him from going on more demonstrations against social distancing and the infringe ment of civil liberties. Q) Why did you demonstrate on Sunday?

Boys in Blue take a dim view of Jeremy’s more radical relative for taking his fight against the Corvid virus lockdown on to the streets A) To defend civil liberties and end the lock down. Q) How did you come to get arrested? A) I was making a speech and they didn’t like me making a speech. They interrupted me after seven minutes and asked me for my name and identification. I told them I would give them that

Dozens of police officers, including some on horseback, patrolled the protest, issuing 10 on-the-spot fines and making 19 arrests

when I had finished and I carried on. This drew a laugh from the crowd. There was about 300 people there, 50 of which could hear this clearly. Just before I finished the policeman slapped a handcuff on me. Q) What were you actually charged with? A) Section 7 and 8 of the corona virus act, which are failing to provide a name and address and failing to leave an area when asked. I was told that I would be interviewed about this but they

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POLITICS AND EVENTS

May 21. 2020

K OF LOCKDOWN PROTEST Being in a relationship

THE

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INTERNATIONAL ROUNDUP

with an algorithm is special, you might think

VIETNAM

d by Dixon N – REALLY »

Corbyn arrested The brother of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was one of 19 protesters arrested during a protest against the virus lockdown.

did not interview me. Q) Will you be demonstrating again A) Yes, we will be in Clapham common on Saturday.

Being in a relationship with an racism. He compounded that sin algorithm is special, you might by failing to be relaxed about the think. You tell yourself that you filthy rich. Instead of behaving have been chosen because of as politicians behave he actualyour personal qualities: might it ly believed that politics should be your devastating good looks; be inclusive. He really had to go. possibly your irresistible charm; The urge to be shut of him was so or your unfailing sense of hu- strong that paid Labour officials mour? actually worked to lose the genSadly, it is not one of them. eral election. And, furthermore, you are not In comes Sir Keir Hardly-Haralone. All that time you imagined die Starmer QC. Sir Keir has done that you were not a number, that well. Like so many others he you were a free sentient has climbed the rungs of being, free to express society almost to the the values that top while making you had develsure to keep conoped for years: tact with those values that below him you believed still starting So that this Bunch of to climb. Blair others would non-Blairites might called this ‘aspirecognise as be ever so slightly most definiteration’. silenced ly on the side of What could humanity. Well, all possibly spoil his that time you were, day, weaken his grip for the algorithm, no more upon the final few rungs? than a number. Why, its those pesky Corbyn Corbyn arrives. Wow, now supporting socialists. He disyou can, once again, utter the covers that some of them have words of Keir Hardie, Nye Bevan, even had the nerve to establish Tom Paine and swim in the So- a newspaper in which they supcialist Sea, swim to become port the rights of indigenous clean and fresh. You find people, in which they dare to others of like-mind and with criticise capitalism and so block those others you are going to his route to the top. make society more fair; make Might it be, could it possibly society more, dare you say it, be that one of his minions has equal; make society more hu- had a word with an algorithm mane. working for Mark Zuckerberg, But you failed to notice has tipped the wink so that this a group wearing the same awkward squad, this bunch of clothes as you, displaying the non-Blairites, might be ever so same badges as you, singing slightly silenced? in tune with you; you failed Let them fill up their Timeto see that this group had long lines with as much socialist rubago sworn allegiance to a smil- bish as they like. No-one shall ing inanity called Blair. see it. Out goes Corbyn. He comAll together, “THE PEOPLE’S mitted the sin of being anti FLAG IS PALEST PINK. ITS NOT racist and so was accused of AS RED AS YOU MIGHT THINK.”

Awkward squad

All that time you thought you were not number but a free sentient being

The Vietnam Defence Ministry reports concerns about Chinese purchases of land in Vietnam. Chinese individuals channel a small amount of capital into joint ventures, letting their Vietnamese partners be the majority owner with a higher share of capital. Most of these Vietnamese contributed their capital in the form of land ownership. The Chinese later raised their capital and gained control of the businesses, thus effectively ‘owning’ the land plots of their Vietnamese partners. Source: tuoitrenews.vn

CHAD The Chief Prosecutor of Chad announced, “Following the fighting around Lake Chad, 58 members of Boko Haram had been taken prisoner and sent to Ndjamena for the purposes of the investigation. “On Thursday morning, their jailers told us that 44 prisoners had been found dead in their cell.” An autopsy conducted on four of the dead fighters revealed traces of a lethal substance that is known to cause heart attacks and severe asphyxiation.

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

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May 21. 2020

POLITICS AND EVENTS

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Hope and COMPENSATION FOR THE RELATIVES OF DEAD DEM Good News China: Once a major polluter without a conscience. Change started in 2011 when Beijing residents found readings of pollution from a rooftop monitor on the US Embassy where far higher than those posted by the Chinese government. Social media outbursts of anger showed the leaders the public’s concerns over pollution. Efforts have been made to reduce emissions without undue affect on the economy. However there has, in Beijing been a reduction of 60 per cent of particle pollution in a decade! This has been achieved by a national framework of air quality monitors whose readings have been made public. Factories have been made to reduce harmful pollutants, coal usage has been capped and China has made the biggest investment in wind and solar power in the world. They have now turned developing electric cars and buses. Bad news is China’s financing of coal power plants abroad. Which incidentally the UK are also doing under the distribution of foreign aid through the Department of International Development which allocates a large share to businesses involved in fossil fuels!) Ecuador: Instead of relying on dirty fuels like wood, charcoal and dung as much of the global south do, Ecuador, decades ago provided subsidies to make cooking gas affordable. Now more than 90 per cent of the population use it. While it has a carbon footprint it is vastly healthier for those using it. Ecuador is now moving to the use of electro-magnetic induction stoves, powered by its abundant hydroelectricity.

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Protestors gather in anti-government de New Prime Minister, Iraq’s one time spy chief, faces angry demands for an end to the old political system the public claims is still in charge New Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, met with his cabinet for the first time on Saturday. At the meeting they agreed on justice and compensation for the relatives of more than 550 people killed since the start of popular demonstrations last October. The gathering in Tahrir Square came on Sunday, as a new round of anti-government demonstrations, called on the new premier, to demand better living conditions and an overhaul of the country’s political system. The Prime Minister was Iraq’s spy chief when the protests first broke out, which saw the bloodiest in Iraq’s recent history. His pledges came as calls spread on social media for renewed demonstrations on Sunday, which soon spread to other areas, including Iraq’s southern city of Al-Nasriya.

Who is Mustafa Al-Kadhimi? Iraq’s new Prime Minister took New Iraqi Cabinet courtesy of kurdistan24.net office after country’s parliament approved a new government on Wednesday following nearly six Saddam Hussein. light of the intensification of the months of political wrangling. After the United States inva- battles against the Islamic State Born Mustafa Abdellatif sion of Iraq in 2003, Al-Kadhimi of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL also Mashatat in 1967 in the capreturned to Iraq and co- known as ISIS) ital Baghdad, he left founded the Iraqi Media During his tenure, he forged Iraq in 1985 for Iran, Network, running links with dozens of countries before moving to in parallel with his and agencies operating within the Germany and work as execu- US-led international coalition then the United tive director of against ISIL. Oil price implosion Kingdom, where the Iraq Memory Links across a wide he became a Fo u n d a t i o n , political spectrum raises concerns citizen. an organisaDuring a rare visit to the about austerity He holds a tion founded for Saudi capital, Riyadh, in 2017, measures are on degree in law but the purpose of accompanied by former Iraqi the cards he is better known documenting the Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi, for his work as a jourcrimes under Hussein’s Al-Kadhimi was seen in a long emnalist, where he chose the Baath regime. brace with his friend Saudi Crown title of Al-Kadhimi. In June 2016, Al-Kadhimi took Prince Mohammed bin Salman He was known to oppose the over the role of director of the Iraqi (MBS). rule of the late Iraqi dictatator National Intelligence Service, in Al-Kadhimi is widely viewed

Pensions will be paid

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May 21. 2020

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MONSTRATORS WILL NOT BE ENOUGH News from Across the Pond Iraq: October protests courtesy of nbcews.com

n Baghdad in emonstrations Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi courtesy of jagranjosh.com by associates and politicians as having a pragmatic mentality in addition to cultivating relations with all the main players across the Iraqi political spectrum: a good relationship with the US, and another that has recently reached out to the Iranians. Iran and its allied Iraqi Fatah bloc had previously vetoed Al-Kadhimi’s appointment, however last month, Kataeb Hezbollah, an armed group close to Iran and linked to the Popular

Mobilization Units, issued a statement accusing Al-Kadhimi of having blood on his hands for the deaths of its leader Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis and Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. They accused him of collaborating with the US. With the oil price crash and the coronavirus pandemic, compromises have now been made between the Fatah bloc and AlKadhimi who said he would uphold the muhasasa or political apportionment system. Protestor’s demands Al-Jazeera reports that protestor’s demands will go well beyond the appointment of a new Prime Minister. They still demand a complete overhaul of the political system and they say that the political parties that are responsible for the failures of the past government still control Parliament. Sinan Antoon, an Iraqi novelist, believes that the protests will continue, mainly because Al-Kadhimi is the “product of

Former spy chief is accused of having blood on his hands and collaborating with USA

the very same system” that the protestors have rallied against. “While releasing the detainees is good, these gestures and any other cosmetic changes are not going to fool the protesters nor quell the protests. The protests are against decades of corruption and criminality and against a political class beholden to foreign influence, and Al-Kadhimi is an insider.” Al-Kadhimi promised that all pensions would be paid out in the coming days, rescinding a decision taken by the previous government just before it stepped down, that also saw all state spending, including civil servants’ salaries and pension payments. During the coronavirus pandemic and the implosion of oil prices, concerns have been raised that Iraq will have little option but to impose austerity measures on the country, which will give rise to renewed demonstrations. What remains to be seen, is whether the protests will once again reach the same numbers as last year. Stories courtesy of Al-Jazeera & Middle East Eye

Since the start of the coronavirus crisis, the Federal Reserve has won admiration from many quarters for the pace and magnitude of its interventions to stabilize financial markets. Certainly, the Fed has taken crucial steps to resuscitate the liquidity facilities created back in 2008 — as well as developing some new ones. On April 28 it even expanded the Municipal Liquidity Facility, agreeing to purchase large volumes of short-term debt issued by small counties and cities in the United States. Equally striking has been the Fed’s decision to purchase corporate junk bonds. But little attention has been paid to one very peculiar aspect of the Fed’s actions — namely its relative lack of intervention in the private-label mortgage-backed bonds that come without (either implicit or explicit) US government guarantees. After much begging by commercial property lobby groups, the Fed has only agreed to purchase the top-rated such bonds issued prior to the crisis. Privately issued residential mortgage-backed securities have been left out of the Fed purchase programs designed to inject liquidity in capital markets. Moreover, unlike in the wake of the 2008 housing crash, no direct help has been announced in the form of purchasing bonds issued by cash-strapped mortgage providers and servicers. The Fed has done the bare minimum with

regard to real estate — despite clear signals of a serious downturn in property, which will devastate homeowners, small and medium businesses. Not only the Fed but the Trump administration appears unwilling to act with direct and sufficient stabilizing force to halt the storm that’s brewing. The explanation probably lies with political developments in the aftermath of the Great Recession of 2007–9, which first erupted in the real estate market. Bankers were bailed out, but homeowners were left to sink. The rescue of bankers was followed by over a decade of anemic growth, creating political circumstances which now greatly limit the authorities’ discretion with regard to real estate. More precisely, the Fed knows that, if it bails out the real estate sector, it will stoke mass ire and further jeopardize its “independence” at a time of rising scrutiny and calls for democratic accountability from the Left. Yet an even more immediate threat for the Fed comes in the form of the rancid reactionary populism of Donald Trump — ever ready to deflect popular anger by shifting the blame for economic problems on to the central bank. The result is that the Fed seeks to be acting in lockstep with Congress and the president to avoid the blame for yet another bailout of the real estate sector. The longer it waits, however, the worse the downturn will be and the greater the eventual popular uproar.

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May 21. 2020

POLITICS AND EVENTS

EVENTS THAT ARE KEEPING THE REST OF THE WORLD BUZZING ON THE INTERNET

DIG THROUGH YOUR DUSTY MEMOR

BEST OF THE WEB Groups of up to six people who do not share a household in Northern Ireland will be allowed to meet outdoors, the executive has said. Ministers have agreed to ease more lockdown restrictions as part of the first step of their recovery plan, so long as social distancing is followed. Plans to move MPs and peers out of Parliament should be reviewed, an independent body in charge of managing restoration and renewal plans has said. Politicians were scheduled to leave the Palace of Westminster for up to five years while work was completed. The move was expected to take place around 2025 and the work was estimated to cost £3.5bn. The body says it should be re-evaluated in light of the new pressures on public finances due to the pandemic. A young woman shot dead near a supermarket was not the intended target, officers have said. Aya Hachem was found with fatal injuries in King Street in Blackburn, close to Lidl, on Sunday. The 19-year-old law student, described as “truly remarkable”, was going to the shop at about 15:00 BST when she was shot from a passing car, police said. Three men, aged 33 to 36, from Blackburn have been arrested on suspicion of murder and are in custody. Surprise inspections, GPS tracking and video analysis are methods that could be used to ensure clubs adhere to new safety guidance as they prepare for the resumption of the Premier League. Teams agreed to start noncontact training in small groups from Tuesday. “Gradually, we aim to ramp that up so we can have an inspector at every training ground,” said Richard Garlick, the league’s director of football.

BOOK QUIZZE Trivia, Author Famous First L Book Quiz

People could have to learn to live with the novel coronavirus for “several years”, England’s deputy chief medical officer has said. Speaking at the government’s daily briefing, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam said the UK will only be “out of this” once there is a vaccine that is “really capable of suppressing disease levels”. Piers Morgan, the controversial host of Good Morning Britain, has criticised Donald Trump for “playing petty politics” and failing the American people during the coronavirus pandemic. London’s Tube drivers are being sent home for raising coronavirus safety issues, Aslef said today. Management have also threatened to stop their pay, said the train drivers’ union, which vowed to fight “industrially and legally, on the picket lines and in the courts” if necessary. Transport for London (TfL) planned to increase services from 50 to 75 per cent of normal timetables today to cope with an expected increase in passenger numbers following the government’s “back to work” call. The UK will “soon” be in a position to lower the level of lockdown restrictions - as long as the rate of infection falls, cabinet minister said. Business Secretary Alok Sharma told the public that the country is moving toward level three on the five-tier Covid alert system - which would see some of the strictest measures reduced.

1. What’s the name of the dog in Enid Blyton’s Secret Seven books? 2. Which book did Herman Melville begin writing in November 1888, but was still left unfinished at his death in 1891? 3. What is the last name of the 20-year-old protagonist of the book Emma by Jane Austen? 4. As of 2016, who is the youngest ever winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature? 5. Named after a Victorian book illustrator, which literary award is won annually for ‘distinguished illustration in a book for children’? 6. Which novel features the anti-heroine Becky Sharp? 7. What’s the name of Captain Hook’s ship in the 1911 novel Peter Pan? 8. Hotel is a 1965 novel by which author? 9. Name the first novel written by Charles Dickens? 10. What is the last name of William in the Richmal Crompton book Just William? 11. Whose best-known creation is Chief Inspector Wexford? 12. What’s the last name of Dorothy in the L. Frank Baum novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz?

Book Quiz

The campaigning mother of murdered Helen McCourt fears she may lose her home due to legal costs in her High Court bid for justice. Mum Marie has applied for a judicial review of the decision to release killer Ian Simms, 63, from his life sentence. But she has been told that a defeat could make her liable for costs in excess of £75,000. 1. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin 2. The Count of Monte Cristo 3. Richard Parker 4. The Costa Book Awards 5. Last of the Mohicans 6. Seventeenth (published in two volumes, in 1605 and 1615) 7. The Pickwick Papers 8. Uncle Tom’s Cabin 9. Ayn Rand 10. Catch-22 11. Howard Marks 12. Christian

Answers:

Manna Aero should have been dropping off its first takeaway orders around a Dublin university campus by drone in March but then the coronavirus pandemic shut the country and its pilot programme down. Within a week, the drone company was testing out an entirely different concept - delivering medication and critical supplies to isolated elderly people whom the Irish government, like many others, had told to stay home to avoid infection. Russia is working on getting reciprocal medical aid from the United States after the country reported its lowest overnight rise in coronavirus cases since the start of May. But Russia, whose tally of 290,678 cases is the second highest after the United States, said the situation remained difficult after officials reported 8,926 new infections.

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Answers:

THE

1. Scamper 2. Billy Bud 3. (Emma) Woodhouse 4. Rudyard Kipling 5. Kate Greenaway Medal 6. Vanity Fair 7. Jolly Roger 8. Arthur Hailey 9. The Pickwick Papers (The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club) 10. Brown 11. Ruth Rendell 12. Gale (and out of interest the ‘L’ in L. Frank Baum stands for Lyman)

1. Which 1994 book, written by Louis de Bernieres, is set on the Greek island of Cephalonia during the Second World War? 2. In which book was the first mate of the Pharaon arrested on the day of his wedding to Mercedes? 3. In the Life of Pi by Yann Martel, what name is given to the Bengal tiger? 4. What new name were the Whitbread Book Awards given in 2006? 5. Give the title of the book by James Fenimore Cooper that describes Uncas, the son of Chingachgook? 6. Don Quixote was published in which century? 7. Which book was Charles Dickens’s first and personal favourite novel? 8. Life Among the Lowly is an alternative name for which novel? 9. Who is best known for her two best-selling novels, Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead? 10. Which novel follows the life of Captain John Yossarian during World War II? 11. Mr. Nice is the autobiography of which former criminal? 12. What is the first name of Mr. Grey in the 2011 erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey?

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May 21. 2020

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RIES TO TAKE ON OUR CHALLENGING LINES FOR A GOOD READ 1. Call me Ishmael. 2. There was no possibility of taking a walk that day. 3. In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. 4. Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show. 5. It was a pleasure to burn. 6. I was born in the Year 1632, in the City of York... 7. It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. 8. It was love at first sight. The first time Yossarian saw the chaplain he fell madly in love with him. 9. They’re out there. Black boys in white suits up before me to commit sex acts in the hall and get it mopped up before I can catch them. 10. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

1. Moby Dick (Herman Melville) 2. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte) 3. The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald) 4. David Copperfield (Charles Dickens) 5. Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury) 6. Robinson Crusoe (Daniel Defoe) 7. 1984 (George Orwell) 8. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller) 9. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Ken Kesey) 10. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)

Answers: Famous Authors Quiz ame the authors of the N following famous books: 1. The Da Vinci Code 2. To Kill a Mockinbird 3. Bridget Jones’s Diary 4. A Town Like Alice 5. The Godfather 6. The Old Devils 7. Wolf Hall 8. Wind in the Willows 9. Little Women 10. Fifty Shades of Grey 11. Game of Thrones 12. The Hunger Games 13. Far from the Madding Crowd 14. Confessions of a Shopaholic 15. The Old Man And The Sea 16. The Secret Garden 17. Mort 18. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 19. Les Miserables 20. Jaws 21. Slaughterhouse Five 22. Kane and Abel 23. The Firty-Nine Steps 24. Gone with the Wind 25. Secret diary of a call girl 26. Where Eagles Dare 27. Midnight’s Children 28. Sybil 29. Vanity Fair 30. The Prince and the Pauper

1. Dan Brown 2. Harper Lee 3. Helen Fielding 4. Nevil Shute 5. Mario Puzo 6. Kingsley Amis 7. Hilary Mantel (Man Booker Prizer with Wolf Hall in 2009) 8. Kenneth Grahame 9. Louisa May Alcott 10. E L James (real name Erika Mitchel) 11. George R R Martin 12. Suzanne Collins 13. Thomas Hardy 14. Sophie Kinsella 15. Ernest Hemingway 16. Frances Hodgson Burnett 17. Terry Pratchett 18. Stieg Larsson 19. Victor Hugo 20. Peter Benchley 21. Kurt Vonnegut 22. Jeffrey Archer 23. John Buchan 24. Margaret Mitchell 25. Belle de Jour 26. Alistair MacLean 27. Salman Rushdie (Midnight’s Children was a Man Booker Prize Winner in 1981) 28. Benjamin Disraeli 29. W illiam Makepeace Thackeray 30. Mark Twain

Answers:

ES rs, and Lines

Famous First Lines Quiz

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Agony aunt

Dear Aunt Maggie, My neighbour, who I thought was also my friend, keeps trying to be silly. I am staying in to be safe from the virus but he cannot make up his mind whether it is in out or shake it all about. He then keeps trying to come into my house. I am very worried as to whether he is actually sane. I don’t want to get the virus so shall I tell him I don’t like him anymore? The other day he asked me to be a Lert and I don’t even know what a lert is… Nicola from Scotland So, Nicola this is a very common issue and I’ve had similar letters (shout out to Mark in Cardiff and Arlene in Belfast) voicing similar concerns. This neighbour sounds very erratic and dangerous, as my husband, the Sainted Dennis used to say, a ‘Random King Cnut’! You could try reasoning with him, not through the letterbox, but maybe by Skype or Zoom, either way maintain social distancing. You must make the point that although you are on the same street, your house is devolved and you make up your own rules. If he persists, tell him to get lost with one of your hilarious regional catchphrases such as ‘Fandabidozy’ or ‘Away and Shite ya Bampot’. That should do it. Dear Aunt Maggie, A few years ago I stepped down as head of the Mickey Mouse club. It is now being run by a man who is very bad indeed. In fact he is the greatest, most perfect bad the world has ever seen. Should I try and get my position back? Barack from Disney l As I understand it, it takes millions and millions of dollars to run for Head of the MMC, are you sure you could afford it? Another thing to consider is backing your wife to become Chief Minnie Mouse instead. I understand Hilary came close, despite being awful and her pervo husband Bill letching at all the female teenagers. I mean who

Worried if my neighbour is sane as he asked me to be a Lert. What is a Lert?

would vote for someone like that! Hello, please can you help me. I am a fairly young, upwardly mobile lawyer. Last week I was named on a list of the 50 most influential people in my field. The trouble is that I only came in at number 14. Is there anything I can do to get to number one? A knight of the realm from London Well as a Knight of The Realm you must have really excelled in your field with some high profile cases, leading you to be recognised by the British Establishment. As we are all aware your clients are innocent until proven guilty, and through your deception and devious manipulation you managed to get some right rotters off scot free. Just what the institution of Parliament needs. Being number 14 is a great start and I feel you are on the right career path to climb the greasy pole. Maybe start by squashing any dissenters and anti-establishment figures in your organisation adopting a mudslinging and ‘no smoke without fire’ attitude and good old ‘Chutzpah’! Some time ago I started a business that made software for computers. It did not go very well at first but then I thought of a good idea. I wrote a program called a virus that made computers very ill and unable to work properly. Once that had happened I sold anti-virus software to cure it. It may have been unethical but, hey, nobody died. Do you think it’s time to repeat this idea in the real world? Bill in Seattle Dearest Bill, I think you may have missed the boat, but none the less what you must learn is how to avoid the blame. Computer viruses can’t be traced and if you have the antivirus software ready you can be the hero not the villain. And here is the main point, apportion blame for the outbreak to a competitor, preferably a foreigner or mobile phone company. Get your politician friends to keep up the pretence that the dirty foreigners started it all. Then turn up heroically with the licensed cure and make a ‘killing’. It’s Capitalism at its purest. Marvelous, how are your shares doing these days?

POLITICS AND EVENTS

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EXTRORDINARY EVENTS IN A WORLD W

May 18 to M May 18th Events 1804 – Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed Emperor of the French by the French Senate. 1951 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 93 relating to Palestine is adopted. 1969 – Apollo program: Apollo 10 is launched . 1994 – Israeli troops finish retreating from the Gaza Strip after occupying it, giving the area to the Palestine to govern. Deaths 1911 – Gustav Mahler, Austrian composer and conductor (b. 1860). Holidays & Observances International Museum Day May 19th Events. 1649 – An Act of Parliament declares England a Commonwealth is passed by the Long Parliament. England would be a republic for the next eleven years. 1919 – Mustafa Kemal Atatürk lands at Samsun on the Anatolian Black Sea coast, initiating what is later termed the Turkish War of Independence. Deaths. 1898 – William Ewart Gladstone, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1809) 1935 – T. E. Lawrence, British colonel and archaeologist (b. 1888) Known as Lawrence of Arabia. 1984 – John Betjeman, English poet and academic (b. 1906) Holidays & Observances. Malcolm X Day (United States of America ) May 20th Events 1498 – Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama discovers the sea route to India when he arrives at Kozhikode (previously known as Calicut), India 1570 – Cartographer Abraham Ortelius issues Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, the first modern atlas. 1891 – History of cinema: The first public display of Thomas Edison’s prototype kinetoscope. 1948 – Chiang Kai-shek is elected as the first President of the Republic of China. 1983 – First publications of the discovery of the HIV virus that causes AIDS in the journal Science by Luc Montagnier. Deaths. 1506 – Christopher Columbus, Italian explorer, discovers the Americas (b. 1451) 1975 – Barbara Hepworth, English sculptor and lithographer (b. 1903) 2012 – Robin Gibb, Manx-English singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1949) Holidays & Observances. Day of Remembrance (Cambodia) (Khymer Rouge) Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Cuba from the United States in 1902. May 21st Events 1881 – The American Red Cross is established by Clara Barton in Washington, D.C .

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WITHOUT A KILLER VIRUS

May 31 1 894 – The Manchester Ship Canal in the UK is officially opened by Queen Victoria, who later knights its designer Sir Edward Leader Williams. 1904 – The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is founded in Paris.. 1927 – Charles Lindbergh touches down at Le Bourget Field in Paris, completing the world’s first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean. 1932 – Bad weather forces Amelia Earhart to land in a pasture in Derry, Northern Ireland, and she thereby becomes the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. 1998 – President Suharto of Indonesia resigns following the killing of students from Trisakti University earlier that week by security forces and growing mass protests in Jakarta against his ongoing corrupt rule. 2006 – The Republic of Montenegro holds a referendum proposing independence from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro; 55% of Montenegrins vote for independence. Deaths. 2000 – John Gielgud, English actor (b. 1904) Holidays & Observances. World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development (International) May 22 nd Events 1958 – The 1958 riots in Ceylon become a watershed in the race relationship of various ethnic communities of Sri Lanka. The total deaths is estimated at 300, mostly Tamils. 1960 – The Great Chilean earthquake, measuring 9.5 on the moment magnitude scale, hits southern Chile. It is the most powerful earthquake ever recorded. 1973 – U.S. President Richard Nixon confesses his role in Watergate cover-up. 1987 – First ever Rugby World Cup kicks off with New Zealand playing Italy at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand . 2015 – The Republic of Ireland becomes the first nation in the world to legalize gay marriage in a public referendum. Deaths 1885 – Victor Hugo, French novelist, poet, and playwright (b. 1802). 1972 – Margaret Rutherford, English actress (b. 1892)

POLITICS AND EVENTS

May 21. 2020

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THE IMMIGRATION BILL Very odd timing for the Immigration Bill to pass through Parliament today 18th of May. At the time of writing this there is no news regarding its fate. But here is what it has in store: “The government announced proposals for the new system, suggesting points will be awarded for being able to speak English to a certain standard, having a job offer from an approved employer, and meeting a salary threshold of £25,600. “ Ms Patel said the changes in the bill “will play a vital role in our recovery plans for the future”. “It will end free movement and pave the way for a firmer, fairer and simpler system and will attract people we need to drive our country through the recovery stage of coronavirus, laying the foundation of a high wage, high skill productive economy,” she said.” “Laying the foundation for a high wage, high skilled economy”. No joke, Priti? Have you been on the same planet as us for the past few months? The economy at the minute is desperate for so called low skilled workers. On the high wage issue: days ago leaks published in the Telegraph talk about government’s plan to rain heartless brutal pay freezes on those most avidly fighting for us on the frontline of this pandemic. Shall we talk about “high skilled”? Last month, British farmers had to literally fly in Romanian fruit pickers to rescue this year’s crops and feed people... they didn’t need to fly in “high skilled” bankers. If there is one thing this pandemic has made glaringly obvious is how much the whole economy and

Those even more desperate workers, of course, prepared to accept even lower wages than Romanian workers do in the West

even our lives rely on the hard and unrewarded labour of these so called “unskilled” workers. Often immigrants, always invisible. They are the silent suffering engine that power British life. Yet this bill is ending Freedom of Movement and making it very hard for so called low skilled workers to come over unless they fulfil the 70 points required in the bill, of which earning over £25,600 is key. I’d like to see how you pick your own fruit and what happens to prices in supermarkets if you start paying pickers that wage. This raises a lot of interesting points about the future of British economy: maybe I am just being short-sighted and Priti just wants to raise everyone’ levels and eradicate the monstrous exploitation innate to Western economy? But until phobic attitudes in the country they do that, and solve the in- that see Eastern Europeans as justices of this global economy, the source of the problem. there is no way that British peoPeople hypocritically bangple will be able to afford food ing pots and pans every night at produced in an agriculture that 8pm in gratitude to low skilled pays its workers a decent wage. front line workers… yet this Perhaps she should work on government is thinking, you that. Perhaps they have differ- know what? What we really ent designs us peasants aren’t need right now is less of these meant to know. poor “low skilled workers”, like Because let’s be honagricultural workers, est, this cycle of drivers, shop workabuse is repeaters, carers; we ed worldwide. need more of Romania is those nice mostly known middle class as a supplier service workof cheap desers who can THOUSAND perate labour sit around POUNDS IS who will do the watching Netback breaking flix through a THE KEY work British people pandemic while won’t do while paybeing furloughed at ing for bed and board out 80% of that minimum of their already below market £25,000 salary—i.e., getting wages. While back home, the more to stay home than frontRomanian government has had line workers get risking their to sign a deal to ship in 500,000 lives. workers from Pakistan to supHard to tell if this is incomplant the labour force we lost petence or something worse goto the West. Those even more ing on. Definitely suggest to Priti desperate workers, of course, Patel she wears a clown hat from prepared to accept even lower now on. Her actions/statements wages than Romanian workers might make more sense then. do in the West. Pandemic Britain, want sinIt’s a sick global economy gle use, disposable slaves? Get predicated on trampling on yourself some Romanians while workers’ dignity and this bill is you can. This bill threatens to doing nothing but paying lip close any remaining post Brexit service to the increasingly xeno- loopholes.

People hypocritically banging pots and pans every night

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May 21. 2020

POLITICS AND EVENTS

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Find these British Politicians. S

May Peel Thatcher Wilberforce Wilson

Gladstone Heath Keir Hardy Lloyd George Major

Churchill Clark Disraeli Eden Gaitskill

Ashdown Attlee Beveridge Benn Blair

Integrated care systems are a danger to health Ashdown Attlee

Integrated Care Systems (ICS) sounds like something helpful doesn’t it? What you may not realise is that this a dangerous system, based on the American equivalent Health Maintenance Organisations (HMOs), and means the involvement of health insurance companies, and will result in the rationing of your care. Using the coronavirus crisis as a convenient excuse/cover, it has just been announced that four

Churchill Clark

ICS’s will be introduced across the country. They’ll be in Hertfordshire and West Essex, Humber, Coast and Vale, and South West London (including North Surrey). This is a blatant opportunistic move by NHS England (and NHS Improvement) to further speed up the increasing involvement of the private sector in our nation’s health care. The system in the U.S. means that the more treatment they

The system in the U.S. means that the more treatment they deny patients, the more profits the health insurance companies make

Gladstone Heath

deny patients, the more profits the health insurance companies make. This also highlights why they’re so keen to gain access to our health data, to then find excuses not to treat us. Those very companies, like United Health (and their subsidiary Optum) are already here, have been active for many years, and are overseeing the complete re-structuring of our system to suit their needs. This is a big reason why our NHS was so ill prepared to cope with the current crisis. ICS’s must be opposed, even thought we’re currently limited in our actions, and we must insist on total nationalisation. We can’t afford not to

May Peel

Patriots W

e must insist on tota nationalisati l We can’t affoon. rd not to

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POLITICS AND EVENTS

May 21. 2020

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SECOND BIGGEST ENERGY GIANT UNVEILS REDUNDANCIES

Fear for jobs and rough sleepers after Covid

A third man has been charged with murdering an NHS worker. Vagnei Coluli, 22, was arrested in Cambridge and charged on Saturday over the death of David Gomoh, 24, in Newham, east London on 26 April. Gomoh was allegedly chased before being stabbed eight times outside his Newham home. Muhammad Jalloh, 18, of Stratford, Newham, and a 16-yearold boy, of Telford, Shropshire, were charged on May 6 with his murder. All three have been remanded in custody. [Guardian Sat) GPs have told the government that it needs a clearer strategy on testing to prevent a coronavirus second wave of infection. The Royal College of GPs has said it is not confident in the government’s current testing strategy and accused ministers of an “arbitrary focus on numbers” and targets. It also complained it was taking too long to receive virus test results. [Guardian Sat] Rough sleepers should not be allowed to drift back on to the streets as the coronavirus lockdown eases, urges the Conservative chair of the all-party parliamentary group for ending homelessness. The majority of England’s rough sleepers have been moved off the streets and into hotels to offer them protection during the crisis. The government has been urged to now offer all homeless a permanent place to live. [Guardian Sat] As many socialists abandon Starmer’s Labour Party the Communist Party GB reports a 13

Another diet of austerity to make good the billions lost by the virus lockdown would be ‘the most terrible mistake’ warns the Archbishop of Canterbury

per cent increase in membership charges bring in up to £3 million since the Covid-19 crisis began. for some and at least £1 million [MStar Fri] a year for most. All the hospitals Green activists in the Extreme claimed the money was ploughed Rebellion movement have back into the hospital or parking started spray painting cycle lanes maintenance. [Mirror Sun] on the country’s roads to demand Jacob Rees-Mogg’s plans for roads remain pedestrian and cy- Parliament to end virtual meetings cle friendly once the coronavirus for traditional physical meetings lockdown is ended. The group are being opposed by trade unions argues that the country must not representing Houses of Parliament return to old ways of heavily pol- staff and the Speaker Sir Lindsay luted, busy and toxic streets. Hoyle as too dangerous. [MStar Sat] Hoyle told members The Archbishop he would close the of Canterbury has Commons if more warned that cuts than 50 MPs were to public spendin the chamber. ing after coronaGreen activists spray [Guardian Tues] virus would be B u d g e t on cycle ways to catastrophic. The airline EasyJet keep dirty air at Most Reverend revealed on bay and roads Justin Welby said Tuesday that the clear “going for austerity personal information again would be the most of 9 million customers, terrible mistake”. Estimates including 2,208 credit card suggest the crisis could cost up to details, were stolen in a cyber-at£298bn in this financial year. [BBC tack on the airline. Customers Sun] whose credit card details were One in three NHS hospitals in taken have been contacted. The reEngland have increased parking maining victims will be contacted charges in the last 12 months. Of by the company over the following 209 trusts 33 per cent raised charg- week. British Airways was fined es. Only 7 per cent reduced parking £183 million last year after hackers fees. Stockport NHS Foundation stole details of 500,000 customTrust put up prices by 40 per cent ers, and hotel group Marriott was over the summer while Trafford fined £99.2 million for a breach General Hospital allows free that exposed 339 million customparking for up to three hours. The ers worldwide. [Guardian Tues]

No place for pollution

Prince Charles calls on jobless to replace army of barred EU farm workers

Ovo Energy, Britain’s second biggest energy supplier, is to cut 2,600 jobs and close offices four months after it bought SSE’s retail division for £500 million. The GMB union said it was promised there would be no job losses but about 80 per cent of the cuts will come from the SSE business. Announcing the cuts on Tuesday, Ovo said more people were using its online services, reducing the need for some functions and roles. The company expects about 1,000 jobs will be lost in Scotland and approximately 1,400 in Wales and England. The company will close offices in Glasgow and Reading. Jobs are also expected to go at offices in Perth, Cumbernauld

and Cardiff. [Guardian Tues] Prince Charles has urged the jobless to become fruit pickers and fill the 80,000 farm jobs vacancies normally taken by seasonal workers from the European Union. The Pick for Britain campaign has struggled to recruit workers and to keep those who have signed up as many have been put up by the prospect of staying on site, working in all weathers and all for low wages. The Prince of Wales described the work of picking fruit and vegetables as “unglamorous and, at times, challenging”, but said it was “hugely important” to avoid food going to waste in the fields. [Mirror Tues] Eddie Wylie, the chief of British Transport Police in Scotland, made two 480 mile trips from his flat in Glasgow to his family home in Holmfirth in Yorkshire. BTP confirmed Wylie did make both trips but added this didn’t breach any lockdown rules, and that the journeys were justified for work reasons. Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard has raised concerns over the trips – saying it looks like one rule for him, one rule for the rest of us. Eddie Wylie has serious questions to answer

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May 21. 2020

The patients eye

Well they must be – even a Gov- Protection Equipment for the ernment as incompetent as this Health Service, the purchase of one couldn’t get things so bad- tests that other countries offered ly wrong. Patient.I thinks about us, and contact tracing would how this lot seem to have done have saved a lot of the mystery everything backwards. about the virus’s spread. The Patient’s Eye has been Before any of this, large gathlooking at healthcare, particular erings that were allowed to take my own, over a period of seven place, the Cheltenham Gold Cup years, from a ‘Late Cancer Diagno- (whether or not the Queen or sis’ to the cancellation of sched- Prince Charles approved) would uled CT scans because of the have happened in an empty raceinability of the Great British course. Supporters of football Public to social distance teams from countries that effectively. People canhad suspended their own not be trusted to take it national leagues would seriously because every not have been able to talking head popping up watch matches in the UK, at a podium on BBC TV and walk about unimpeded seems not to have been before or after the game. YEARS OF HEALTH taking us seriously; the The incompetence of CARE WATCHING Scientists, the Health FROM CANCER TO the people making or not Secretary or the PM. The CANCELLED SCANS making decisions at the one member of COBRA very top of government who seems clear about what he goes beyond incompetence; we is doing is eugenicist blogger De- know they’re not fit for purpose, moniac Cummings – and he wants but we assumed their purpose to reduce the cost of UK pensions was to protect us. one way or another. Ditching the It is very possible that my Triple Lock is the thin end of the health is not a priority to anyone wedge. but me and my family and my onA reasonable way to begin cology specialists. Other countries to protect the UK from the have dealt with the pandemic in a coronavirus pandemic would variety of ways; only the UK has have been to shutdown all not dealt with it at all; Herd Immunon-essential incoming flights nity is still the plan. (especially to Private Airfields Prime Minister Johnson is like Farnborough) and the out of his depth, as he was when quarantining of travellers entering Mayor of London; his Chief and or returning to the UK in places like Special Advisor Cummings is defiTravelodges, whose businesses nitely not. You have to ask whethare bound to be suffering. er this whole charade is exactly Next up would have been to that, a bogus plan not to deal with identify the weakest members of the issues until on the nicest Bank society and start to shield them, Holiday weekend I can rememusing lockdown. The furlough, ber, possibly due to shifting rainfinancial support for laid off work- soaked Bank Holiday Monday to ers from the Government, and a another day of the week. The UK ban on non-essential travel, with public would come out to play, everyone wearing masks out of emboldened by leaked reports doors as a matter of course would that ‘Boris’ was going to open the have been better done early. Only schools and make us all return to then might a complete shutdown work, and he would let us play of industry, commerce, and retail out again. have become necessary. People had street parties, went The acquisition of Personal to local parks, not because it was a National Anniversary, but we were fed up of hiding indoors. Now the ‘Great Release’ isn’t happening, a second spike of coronavirus cases will follow shortly, conveniently proving our stupidity rather than Cummings’s deliberate intentions.

POLITICS AND EVENTS

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DOWNING STREET IS MORE LIKE DODG

THE STENCH OF COULD HARDLY

Prime Minister Johnson is out of his depth, as he was when Mayor of London

The Tories under Jack the Lad Johnson are casting aside the old rules separating party political activity and Government spending. Police are investigating alleged misuse of money and election contraventions and still no sign of the promised report on Russia interference How the Tories are merging political activity with the arms of government for political advantage. It’s exhausting following this government. There appear to be fewer and fewer boundaries that it won’t breach. Aren’t there supposed to be moral rules for those in authority – or maybe there only used to be. Take Professor Neil Ferguson. He is a British epidemiologist and professor of mathematical biology, who specialises in the patterns and spread of infectious disease in humans and animals. He has a string of accolades and titles and advised the government on the Covid crisis. He quit as a senior adviser

on coronavirus after an “error of judgement.” Was he quitting because his model was wrong? No, he had his girlfriend round and – shock-horror – broke social distancing rules. The media also homed in on the fact that his “girlfriend” was , (cough) married. Three months ago Boris Johnson ignored his advisers – and the more important matter was his undeclared free holiday in the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. Leaving aside the fact that

the PM told his wife, while she was having cancer treatment, that he was off with someone else who was now pregnant, more importantly, a few weeks later Britain suffered the Worst Covid performance in Europe. The PM is also tainted with election issues, misuse of money issues involving the police, National Crime Agency and Electoral Commission and a still undisclosed Russia Report ... the team around him think that there are

Adverts used without disclaimers Example of how they are merging political activity with the arms of Government Ian Lewis, Opposition MP

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POLITICS AND EVENTS

May 21. 2020

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GE CITY AS BOJO TEARS UP THE RULES The future of our NHS IS WHAT WE MAKE IT

F CORRUPTION Y BE STRONGER

The government’s response in over this period. We must not tackling the coronavirus pan- swallow the narrative that private demic may well be extremely companies are somehow helping poor, and confusing for the public us through this. to follow, but one thing is consistNaomi Klein, the Canadian ent, its intention to continue to author wrote the book The privatise health care in the UK. It is Shock Doctrine. It discusses the using the virus as an oppor“exploitation of national tunity to speed up crises to establish and force through controversial and these destructive questionable ‘reforms’. policies.” In a Before any recent newsone had heard paper article, Hospital closures of Covid19, NHS when discussand down-grade England was ing the current programmes have already bringpredicament, ing in volunteers, NHS England’s not stopped de-skilling the work CEO Sir Simon -force, continuing its Stevens said... “it’s also hospital closure and downdriving a lot of changes that grade programmes (they haven’t may turn out to be very desirable stopped), and bringing in more changes, so there will be a silver charities and private companies lining.” He, and his private health (some of which are now oversee- connections (or co-collaborators) ing the testing procedures). must now all be exposed, and The government has also paid banished. a vast amount of public money to To help protect our NHS, private hospitals for use of their we must now all insist it be beds, in effect bailing them out nationalised.

NHS sell-off carries on

no boundaries either. millions of pounds of taxMillions of pounds payers’ money is goof taxpayers money ing to newspaper is going to newsgroups owned by paper groups billionaires of owned by bilquestionable tax lionaires of Government accused standing to supquestionable port the governof using taxpayers tax standing to ment in return. money to woo support the govByline Times voters in swing ernment in return. quite rightly seats No single politipoints out that in swing seats.” Many adverts went cal party – in a true dea real democracy, “no out without disclaimers and mocracy – would ever be alsingle political party – in were recorded by Facebook as lowed to dish out money to news government or otherwise – being non-political, allegedorganisations that are supposed would ever be allowed to ly breaking the election to scrutinise its activities on be- dish out money to news rules. half of the public.” organisations that are “It is an example of Not satisfied with an appar- supposed to scrutinise how the government is ent immoral entry into Downing its activities on behalf of merging political activity Street – this habit of rule-break- the public.” with the arms of governing now goes as far as pumping It’s not as if Boris ment in its own political MILLIONS FOR millions of taxpayer cash into Johnson’s Government FRIENDLY PAPERS interest,” said opposithe friendly ‘mainstream media’ hasn’t been blowing tion MP Ian Lewis. SUCH AS SUN propaganda . public cash before. Prior AND DAILY MAIL Then we have this There exists a secret subsidy to the December 2019 Tory government’s cento members of the News Media general election the Government tralised COVID-19 tracking App, Association (NMA), the umbrel- was openly – “accused of going wile the rest of the world uses the la body for the corporations that on a spending spree using tax- highly scrutinised Apple/Google own the press. The fact is that payers’ money to woo voters in system. Our App has so far failed.

Spending spree

Government accused of going on a spending spree with tax payers’ money to woo voters in swing seats

10s

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May 21. 2020

POLITICS AND EVENTS

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Tory Governments Covid IT’S HAPPENED MANY TIMES BEFORE Slogan mark 2 : Rebutted Dr.Galsworthy was live on May 10th at 3:25 p.m. explaining the government's new Covid-slogan and the psychology behind it.. (Mike is a British scientist. He is known for bringing science to a wider audience via blogs. They show integrity, analytical skill, and the ability to communicate complex issues.) The government's new messaging is rolling out today - May 10th looks like a complete mess as a lot of people have pointed out. However this comes from a team not usually known for putting out bad messaging ....so what's going on here ? What I want to do is take you through the actual psychology behind what the new messaging is and why it may actually be achieving its ‘ alterior’ objectives as set out by a government , which actually wants to start moving us out of lock-down but not itself take responsibility for the actions of the public. The old message “Stay home, Protect the NHS, Save lives “ has been replaced by a new message which is “Stay alert, Control the virus, Save lives” Well the first thing that you should notice is actually the new colour-set : Now colour-sets are something that everyone who works in marketing knows about. The change that has happened is this ; the previous one was on a yellow background to grab your attention with red fletching ..ok the yellow is the same .. but in the new one those fletchings have been changed to green , we've had a shift from red to green : “from stop to go “ and that is very very important in terms of what the government wants to achieve . Let's move on to the first Slogan in this sort of triptych : “Stay alert” - “Protect the NHS save lives” has been changed to green “Stay alert “ at home .. what has that got to do with that ‘stay safe’?. People have been asking - who is this invisible man coming for me ? The government has put out an explanation : It is staying home where you can work from home , and when you go outside maintain a 2m distance. So what has that got to do with the previous phrase that said “stay safe” ? Well look ; The government doesn’t want you to stay safe ; they don't want you as previously you did: being comfortably in lockdown trying to protect yourself and trying to stay safe. They instead use the word “alert” because it gives you

a bit of energy, makes you sit up to look around a lot. They want to energize the situation -that's why the phrase “ stay alert” . And they explained it away with staying alert to the circumstances around you whatever they are . But let's move onto the next slogan within the set of three : “control with a virus” ... now this again by itself is odd : “to control ?” - to control the remote control joystick? the operative word here is control, to reassure you that there is ‘control’ .. ‘We have the virus under control’ (!) ...the government is in control. But it's an instruction ! : Control the virus !...because the ownership of the control is yours , the greater public. Should things go wrong it's because you didn't control the virus as you should have ! The word control there is to reassure you.. but there is also the ownership now . Then let’s see : until the final part III : “Save lives” Why ?.. Research has been showing the most people would rather save lives in this crisis then save the economy... that's where the priority is ..so don't you dare say anything that you're deviating from the end goal mission :saving lives .. that's why they keep that the same. But the overall set is a move from red to green and it's from ‘ stay home’ to ‘stay alert’ and its energizing whilst all kept within the abstract .Soif things do go wrong in there can be more of a shift in the blame onto the public and how the public responded rather than the government : they want you to think ‘the government has not given any single irresponsible instructions to the public’ but increasingly the government would be able to blame the public for doing conga in the street or for having the street party's ...all for not listening to the wisdom of Boris . They can say to you later’ ok maybe our messaging wasn't perfect in explaining what it was meant to be. So it is all about plausible deniability ,that you've got messaging which isn't charging you to get out , get active , stop being locked down.

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How quic THE LESS

My father still remembers the H3N2 influenza pandemic of 1968 when over a million people died throughout the world. He remembers being too ill to get out of bed to tend to me, then an infant; but within a decade of that event it had been largely forgotten by most people. His father was a teenager during the 1918 H1N1 Influenza pandemic and thus at risk; but it had so little effect on my grandfather’s life that he never talked of it. Will Covid-19 be different? The number of people who are dying today is small compared to the 1968 pandemic, which was itself much smaller than in 1918. However, thanks to improved public services and living standards a far higher proportion of the population are now elderly. We also tend to face much lower general risks. And so a pandemic today can become all consuming. It also more clearly reveals our deficiencies than pandemics did in the past. In January 2020 the UK had five times fewer ventilators per person at risk than did Germany. The UK had been spending roughly a billion Euros chief advisor to the Prime Minster, less a week on its health services Dominic Cummings as stating “… compared with Germany. if that means some pensioners die, It was also possible that the UK too bad.” had far fewer very frail people at On Thursday March 12th as the risk, because so many more have Financial Times has explained, died in recent years from austerity. the Prime Minster told the ‘… When this is all over we in the UK British public to prepare to “lose should compare ourselves to loved ones before their time” Germany and ask why [but] said he would not we could not plan as follow the example they did? of Ireland and Italy So what did and close schools we do? and ban sporting After weeks to limit ‘If that means some events of inaction, on the spread of pensioners die, too We d n e s d a y the disease.’ On bad’ reported and March 11 ‘… March 21st a some of the journalist in the never denied experts on the Daily Mail, upon government’s Scientific seeing all the evidence Advisory Group for laid out before, said: ‘I see Emergencies began to realise that very little evidence of a pandemic’. the coronavirus was spreading He also wrote that ‘every through the UK too fast for the human being in the United NHS to cope’. Kingdom suffers from a fatal Others did not realize it was so condition – being alive.’ serious at that time and it took a That journalist helped few more days to convince them. illustrate why much of the UK For example, on March 22nd the Times Newspaper reported the

This is not the first time a pandemic has struck in many people’s life times, so how did the Government miss so many opportunities to keep this latest killer under tight control instead of overseeing the UK take top position in the death league?

PM chief advisor

Health spending UK spent one billion Euros less on health than Germany and had fewer ventilators

government and its advisers and people of his political persuasion do not understand collective risk and what matters most in life. This we must not forget. Such people will be around saying much the same things next time; but if we remember we can be better prepared for their views. That same week a fund manager wrote ‘…Coronavirus has a mortality rate of less than five per cent, so it isn’t going to be the end of the world.’ True, but who would imagine a few million less than 300 million dead as ‘not the end of the world’? A few days earlier, a market analysis had complained that panic had been caused by politicians because ‘…news which is likely to foment volatility is better delivered after market hours.’ Yes, someone did really say that! And then he went on to suggest: ‘There is indeed a virus among us, one far more damaging than that which goes by the name COVID-19.’ By this he meant people with different

Mortality rate of those dying with Covid-19 per 100,000 people as of March 28th 2020 The second graph shows the proportion of grandparents who tend to spend at least several days a week caring for their grandchildren in different countries in Europe. Often this was because they lived in the same household. If Covid-19 got a hold in a country where grandparents often lived with grandchildren, then because the grandchildren were sent home from school infection rates could initially increase. By April 8th the highest numbers of deaths in Europe had been reported in Spain and Italy; with twice as many dying in Italy than France; and almost fifty times fewer dying in Denmark than France.

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POLITICS AND EVENTS

May 21. 2020

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BUT WE ARE PAYING FOR ALL THE MISTAKES WITH OUR LIVES

ckly might we forget SONS OF COVID-19? Grandparents caring for grandchildren for several days a week (% in 2016) There are a lot of lessons to learn, but chief among them is not forgetting what this felt like at the time. We were, after all, expecting a pandemic – we had been for years. So why were we so badly prepared? And what did we think was so important that we could not act more sensibly, more quickly and with better hindsight. We cannot justify making so many mistakes again.

political views to himself! learn. One lesson has been that It is very possible that too the number of people who died in many people who held extremely each European country depended individualistic attitudes, and (to an extent) on the prior living valued older lives very lowly in arrangements in that country – the UK and USA held positions most importantly the extent to of influence in 2020. Time will which old and young tended to tell, but if this is one lesson that live together. This varies markedly we learn it is a lesson we need to across Europe. remember well. In March, for those tested On April 4th, as the as having the disease, the situation began to mortality rate report settle, an esteemed across Europe varied Professor of from nine per Statistics cent per infected suggested that: person in Italy ‘if COVID and six per cent in ‘SO IT’S NOT deaths can Spain, to as low as THE END OF THE be kept in the 0.4% in Germany; WORLD’ AT order of say and 0.3% in 300M DEAD 20,000 by stringent Norway. These are suppression measures, all now much lower as as is now being suggested, the numbers of people tested there may end up being a minimal rise and as people showing fewer impact on overall mortality for symptoms are tested. 2020 (although background So why do I worry about us mortality could increase due to forgetting the lessons? It is because pressures on the health services and we did so before, and because we the side-effects of isolation).’ forget that we forget. It is worth comparing that I’ll end with two graphs. The number to the 55 times higher first I drew on March 28th 2020. estimate of the 1,110,332 dead if It showed what appeared to be we had followed the “do nothing” exponential rises in mortality scenario that had been published in Europe, because at that time just a few weeks earlier. mortality was rising exponentially We should try very hard to in Europe. Although note that the remember how we were flying mortality rates were very low. We blind when all this began. should remember that we were So what are we beginning to once this frightened.

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May 21. 2020

POLITICS AND EVENTS

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PARENTS AND UNIONS COMING TOGETHER IN OPPOSING G

Johnson and THE GREAT school ‘fudge’

Boris Johnson and his Tory administration are attempting the great school ‘fudge’ with his announcement on Sunday 10th May that we are entering a new phase of the Covid-19 crisis, which would allow some Primary age pupils to safely return to full-time education on June 1st. All the teaching, support staff and some head teachers’ unions think differently, arguing issues such as social distancing and enough testing and tracing mechanisms are not securely in place ready for a restart of school on 1st June. Provisional surveys from my union the National Education Union, which incorporates many teaching assistants has illustrated a majority of members have severe doubts about returning to school so soon and want the government to adhere to the union 5 tests for a restart. All unions involved in teaching want a return to normal schooling, but only when all can be taught in safe conditions and have confidence in the procedures and measures in place across the educational sector. Various parent groups have also started to voice concerns, with many clearly saying they will not send their children to

spread the disease, especially in enclosed spaces, with children prone to touch various objects within a classroom various times. Current plans to return children to school could risk spreading the coronavirus, the Department for Education’s top scientific adviser has admitted. Addressing the parliamentary science and technology committee this afternoon, Osama Rahman said there is a “low degree of confidence” that children transIt will need Labour mit Covid-19 Party members, less than adults. Trade unions, Asked if this community means “we are activists potentially putting together hundreds of potential vectors that can then go and transmit [the virus]”, Mr Rahman said: “Possibly. Depending on school sizes.” More details about Mr Rahman’s comments to the parliamentary science and technology committee available at - https://www.tes. com/news/coronavirus-dfe-adviser-school-return-plan-couldrisk-virus-spread. You could not my campaign which managed to make this up, so Boris Johnson win and send a message to those thinks it’s fine to risk our chilin power, community based cam- dren’s’ and staff’s and wider compaigns with union support is an munity health so he can get peoeffective strategy to use. Even the ple back to work? Governments own scientific adSo why do we think Boris Johnvisors are now unsure about the son and this Tory regime want to wisdom of opening up schools send Reception, Year 1 & 6 pupils soon because children could back into classrooms which could become transmission or breeding grounds for Covid-19? Most people will not be surprised to hear its part of winding down the Furlough scheme, which was at least

Parents are setting up Facebook groups to spread the message of ‘No return until it’s safe’ for their children. Even the Government’s own scientific advisiors admit they do not know if a return to school so soon could send the number of virus victims rocketing up again

Be better

school at the moment for 1st June. Facebook groups have recently been set up by concerned parents, which are arguing, ‘no

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

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return until it’s safe’; this combination of union solidarity and parental opposition has rocked the government plans to ‘fudge’ this issue, hoping parents are increasingly desperate to get their children back to school. It is this combination which proved vital to many successful Anti-Acade-

So why do we think Boris Johnson and this Tory regime want to send Reception, Year 1 & 6 pupils back into classrooms?

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GOVERNMENT DECISION

a partial attempt to mitigate some of the economic fall-out from the Covid -19 health crisis. As part of winding up the furlough scheme, Johnson wants schools to operate like child-minding service because most workers can’t afford to stay off work any longer. This latest battleground against this Tory regime and it’s twisted ideology of austerity and cutting of vital public services so painfully under-funded, yet so desperately needed during this current crisis, is the start hopefully of a fightback which sees key workers as essential to our future. Already there are reports the Tories plan a new round of austerity cuts, tax rises for workers and pay freezes for the public sector, but this crisis has revealed people have seen who are vital in our society. This does not mean the Tories are beaten, it will need Labour Party members, Trade unions,

Even the Government’s own scientific advisors are now unsure

community activists and all those who have clapped for the NHS every Thursday to come together in a movement to smash such plans. If anything this crisis has shown we can’t carry as business as usual, but that will need organizing, I think, ‘The Word’ newspaper and website is part of that struggle and movement to make sure we think of a different society where all workers have permanent work, paid a living wage, with a secure home and safe schools for our children. Red Pen (A Secondary teacher in North Manchester and hopeful Socialist)

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May 21. 2020

AN INTERVIEW WITH AUDREY WHITE FROM RIVERSIDE CLP

How I fought antisemitic attacks from Labour right and the Jewish Chronicle Stop the war. I’m Audrey White, I’m a member of Riverside CLP. I joined the Labour Party, like many of us did, when Jeremy Corbyn became the leader of the Party and changed the whole of politics in this country. What happened very quickly afterwards, was that we could see that there was a growing resentment against the whole shift in politics and the political viewpoint against austerity, and the members of the Labour Party that existed at the time, resented very much, the shift in politics, and couldn’t see how necessary it was to fight austerity, and to fight the rush to war that had been the mainstay of the Labour Party up until that time. I had been a founding member of the Stop the War movement, working with Tony Benn, George Galloway, Lindsay German, John Reece, and all of those people in the movement, including Jeremy Corbyn, to a lesser extent, but I’ve marched with him, at the front, carrying the Stop the War banner, and I was on the national committee, so my politics were different. A lot of our politics were different from those who were already in the Labour Party at that time, and I would not have wanted to be a member of the Party before Jeremy Corbyn. So, we were really disappointed that they couldn’t just address the arguments. And because of their failure to address the arguments and discuss political changes, that were desperately needed, it resorted in me being targeted. I was targeted in different ways; from anonymous people; anonymously authored documents and so on. It culminated in attacks against me this time last year in the Jewish Chronicle, where four articles were written about me. Those articles were ludicrous, but they were designed to discredit me and also Riverside CLP. They stated, as a fact, that our MP, Louise Ellman, had

been bullied and constantly interrupted by rowdy members of the constituency. And that just wasn’t true! It was then used to discredit Jeremy Corbyn himself. We were very respectful towards our MP, but we really did have different political views to her. We were opposed to her politics, even on local issues, like not supporting the Women’s hospital. We actually drew back from confronting Louise Ellman, because of the atmosphere that had been created, so we found it exceedingly difficult to challenge her politically, and we didn’t challenge her in any other way. The Jewish Chronicle made us out to be aggressive and disrespectful We were turned into people who were made out to be aggressive and disrespectful. And that wasn’t actually true. But these articles were trying to say that we were against Louise Ellman because of her religion. That wasn’t true at all. There was no basis to even make an accusation as wild as that. So, I fought it. I fought it very hard. In nine months, I took up a case with the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), not having an awful lot of confidence in it, to be honest with you, because its not a very powerful body, and its financed by the big newspapers that are owned by millionaires, if not billionaires. It was hard work and incredibly stressful, and the result, was that IPSO forced the Jewish Chronicle to print the longest adjudication any newspaper has ever had to

I was targeted in different ways; from anonymous people; anonymously authored documents…

publish because of the amount of lies they told. Delighted – Louise Ellman MP was not bullied as they claimed I was absolutely delighted that they found in my favour and delighted that they were so scathing of the Jewish Chronicle, but also that they were scathing of their conduct during the investigation. They refused to answer any questions, and even when they had concrete evidence that what they’d said was a lie, they still didn’t offer to amend or correct their articles in the newspaper. There were so many things that were wrong. Louise Ellman was not bullied as they claimed. It was really worth fighting for though, and I think it was a great victory. Now people know it’s worth fighting back against these people. Because when you fight back, you get a chance to win. And it’s great when you win, because I vindicated my CLP and I vindicated those on the left, who are not anti-Semites. We are fighting for a fairer world; we’re fighting against austerity. Now we’re living under the results of these attacks, where we’ve got Boris Johnson in power instead of Jeremy Corbyn who would’ve had a different priority altogether.

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May 21. 2020

Ingredients 1 large onion Mushrooms Spinach Brocolli Cream (or cream alternative to make vegan) Vegetable stock Green pesto Salt Pepper Prep time: 5 minutes, cook time 15 mins Method: 1. Dice the onion and fry it, fry alone for a few minutes to soften the onions 2. Add the chopped mushrooms and fry together for a few minutes

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Veggie Green Pesto Ragatoni: 3. Dice brocolli into very small pieces, add to the pan and continue to fry. 4. When everything is softening, add a generous amount of spinach (that will quickly wilt). 5. Boil the kettle and add to the pan of rigatone pasta, add the vegetable stock cube to this water and boil for 7-10mins (don't let the pasta get soft). 6. Whilst the pasta is boiling, add a generous tablespoon of green Pesto, mix thoroughly with ingredi-

ents in the frying pan and then add the cream. Stir well together. 7. Add a tablespoon of the pasta water/stock to the frying pan and drain the pasta. Add the pasta to the frying pan and mix altogether. 8. Enjoy! This dish is cheap, versatile, vegetarian and is a quick meal to make. You can substitute the vegetables, can add chicken and or bacon and if you like pasta toppings, a sprinkle of crushed walnuts or cheese.

Banana pancakes (requires blender)

blender and whisk into a nice smooth consistency 2. Add some oil to a frying pan and put onto a medium light, oil needs to be quite hot before the mixture goes into the pan

Ingredients 2 bananas 2 eggs 1 cup of oats (optional) Vanilla essence (optional) Prep time 5 mins, cook time 5 mins Method: 1. Add all the ingredients into a

Ingredients 2 chicken breasts 1 tub of natural yoghurt Red onion 4 Peppers Mushrooms 400g Cous cous Curry powder Chilli powder Tumeric Cumin Fresh coriander Bamboo sticks Prep time: Chicken 6 hours marinade, cous cous 5 mins, peppers half an hour Method: 1. Chop the chicken breasts into 1cm cubes and place in a bowl, add fresh chopped coriander, cumin, turmeric, chilli powder and natural yoghurt. Mix altogether and leave to marinade for atleast 6 hours.

Curried chicken Kebabs with Stuffed Peppers and Cous cous: 2. When your chicken has marinade for long enough, warm the oven, 200 degrees or gas mark equivalent and roast the a pepper (per person) in oil. Remove the pepper after 10 mins 3. Put the chicken cubes onto a bamboo sticks with red onion and roast in oven with the peppers (different trays) for atleast 30 mins. 4. Fry red onion, mushrooms and diced peppers together, whilst this is frying, boil the kettle add a pint of vegetables stock to the cous cous. Add a little more if it dries to quickly and

leave to steep. 5. When the onions, mushrooms and peppers have sautéed, add half the cous cous and continue to cook, add salt and pepper for a flavour and any of the other herbs/spices to taste if you'd like. 6. When thoroughly mixed, add mixture into the peppers and put back in the oven for 5-10 mins. 7. With remaining cous cous, make a bed on the plate to lay the kebab sticks 8. Check a chicken square to ensure cooked right through. 9. Add stuffed peppers. (Serve with a salad if being extra healthy or hungry)

3. Add enough mixture to make the size of small saucer, repeat until all mixture is used, the mixture usually makes between 6-8. 4. You can dress the pancakes with whatever you fancy, the pancakes above have mauka honey Drizzle, linseed and millseed sprinkle, strawberry yoghurt, with strawberries, blueberries and raspberries.

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Vegan recipes

ast week I discovered a fantastic new recipe for a vegan sponge cake! It’s very easy to make and absolutely delicious. The previous recipes that we’ve tried have never quite lived up to expectations, the main problem being that they have always been slightly soggy.

The recipe replaces eggs with soya yoghurt which means you’ll need to put in just little more effort to get plenty of air into the mixture to create a really light sponge. Eggs act a raising agent and have binding properties too, which why you need to use a little more energy to compensate, but it’s worth it.

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COOKING WITH CHRIS WILLIAMSON

SIMPLY THE BEST VEGAN SPONGE CAKE RECIPE

Don’t beat the mixture after you’ve added in the flour though as the flour will knock all the air out of the mixture, so simply fold it in very slowly and gently by hand. After you’ve added the flour get the mixture into the oven as quickly as possible after you’ve added the flour and baking powder. This is because raising agents start to work as soon as they come into contact with liquid, so make sure you’ve got your tins prepared and the oven to the right temperature well in advance.

Vegan Recipes

By contrast, this recipe delivers a light and fluffy end product with which you can impress your friends and family.

May 21. 2020

As with the cake mixture, make sure you get lots of air into the buttercream. The advice is to beat, beat and beat again! A whisk attachment on a food mixer helps to achieve the best outcome. A creamy, light buttercream filling is the perfect complement to the sponge cake. Finally, the most import piece of advice is…enjoy!

• 300 g caster sugar

• 400 g self-raising flour

WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=LHM0CK7LEZ0&FEATURE=YOUTU.BE

• 200 g dairy-free yoghurt (I used Alpro soya yoghurt)

• 2 tsp baking powder

(ABOVE IS THE LINK TO VIDEO OF

INGREDIENTS For the sponge: • 200 g dairy-free margarine (Stork block margarine or Tomor are excellent)

For the filling: • 200 g dairy-free milk (which is equal to 200ml - I weigh mine in with the yoghurt but some prefer to measure in a jug!)

• 150 g dairy-free margarine • 200 g icing sugar • zest of half a lemon • strawberry or raspberry jam

3. Add the yoghurt, soya milk, and the vanilla extract, then add them to the mixer and beat. (If the mixture looks 'curdled' just add a few tablespoons of the flour to the mix and beat again).

move from the oven and turn out onto a cooling rack. 6. To make the buttercream, just beat the margarine, icing sugar and lemon zest in a food mixer for 3-4 minutes until very light and fluffy.

• 3 tsp vanilla extract INSTRUCTIONS 1. Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F / Gas Mark 4. Grease and line two 20cm or 22cm cake tins.

4. Add the flour and baking powder, (the remainder if you have added some already), and slowly fold it into the mixture, until fully combined.

2. In a food mixer, beat the margarine and sugar together for 3-4 minutes, (yes, really!), until pale and fluffy.

5. Divide the mixture between the two tins, and bake for 20-22 minutes until an inserted skewer or knife comes out clean. Then re-

7. When the cakes are completely cool, (a few hours at least), smother the top of one with plenty of jam, then smother the buttercream over the bottom of the other cake. Carefully sandwich them together, then sprinkle the top of the cake liberally with icing sugar.

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May 21. 2020

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WOMEN WHO MAKE A DIFFERENCE In previous editions the title was 'Women who made a difference' not make a difference, because, as yet, Alicia has not won her battle to prevent further oil drilling in the Yasuni National Park, one of the most bio-diverse regions in the world. Like the Amazon women warriors of mythology Alicia has proved a stronger fighter against powerful oil companies than the men in her Huaroni #2 tribe who live in the Ecuadorian Amazon. 'The Times they are a'changing'. El Salvador banned all metal mining and Alicia's campaign to save Yasuni from further oil drilling nearly succeeded in August 2013. The vote was lost by 108 to 133. Change does not come overnight as shown by the fight for equal rights in the US and William Wilberforce spent18 years getting his Anti Slavery Bill through Parliament. However fro what I have read this indomitable woman will be fighting on to protect. Not only has she battled the oil giants but against the domination of men in her society. Where does her strength and courage come from? Her Huaroni tribe were once regarded as the fiercest warriors amongst the indigens, even from the time of the Incas. Her grandfather was a feared Huaroni warrior. However the men sold their territory to foreign investors and are con-

sidered by other tribes defeated and lost. Alicia became politically active at 13 being inspired by her grandmother who felt women should not be excluded from the decisions affecting all the people. She saw how other women's groups in Ecuador were gaining skills and organising themselves.

Alicia took part in the first march by indigenous people to Quito in 1992 and inspired by that she helped organise a 250 km. March to the capital by women from several tribes to demand their lands be a petroleum-extraction free zone. She founded the Huaroni Artisanal Women's. Association to improve their economic capacity. Many of these women have to juggle their political activities with work, child care, travel, and often opposition from their husbands. As Vice-President of the Huaroni Nation she openly defied her President in the country's Constituent Assembly in Quito, broadcast on national television. Speaking in Huaroni and Spanish she denounced a proposed deal with oil companies that her President had agreed to allow drilling for oil in the headwaters of the Amazon. Although the vote was lost her speech captured the hearts of Assembly members and the nation. She continues the fight with another brave woman, Gloria Ushigua, President of the Sapara Women's Associ-

ation. In 2016 they jointly wrote to the Permanent Representative for China to the UN to protest the violation of indigenous rights by the Chinese state company Andes Petroleum by the agreements signed with the Ecuadorean government. See Gloria Ushigua Women's Voices for Climate Justice https://wecaninternational.wordpress.com/ta g/gloria-ushigua/ Quote from Alicia Cahuilla:“I fight for my community, so that in the future our children don't suffer and can live in peace breathing clean air. I fight so my children don't have to suffer, so that their land continues to be fertile and free of pollution, so that our rivers continue to be clean so they can drink clean water. I fight for all children who are yet to be born in this earth.” These women will fight on regardless of intimidation as Gloria Ushigua told a judge the only way she will stop speaking for her cause if she is killed! Let us hope groups and individuals who care for the planet continue to give them every support. See https://newint.org/features/2017/03/01/one-womanagainst-big-oil-and-patriarchy/ #1 Phonetically spelt Cawiya in New InternalistMarch 2017 #2 Spelt Waorani or Huaroni? Alicia Cahuilla doesn't try to hide her anger. The native Waorani tribal leader stands in front of an exposed, thickly black crude oil pit, as two gas flares burn violently overhead, the stinging stench of crude heavy in the air. CNN March 1, 2014.

A modern day Amazon – Alicia Cahuilla #1, indigenous activist in Ecuador

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May 21. 2020

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The Cold Within Why we need to come together If there was ever a time when we need to recognise our common humanity…it is now! With the spread of the Corona Virus it is likely that no country in the world is going to be left unaffected and for some this will be with devastating effects. The response to the crisis in local communities has been heartening and the dedication of health, care and key workers worthy of a respect that they have always deserved but rarely been given. It is a time to look after ourselves, as well as look out for other people. There are already reports emerging of the hate and hostility being experienced by in particular Asian and Chinese communities as the virus becomes weaponised as the latest expression of hate. When I started my work around raising awareness of hate crime in 2013, I read a poem at the launch event. I came back to that poem at our recent event marking National Bystander Awareness Day in Nottingham. Here’s why… We have all come across poems that have touched us so deeply that they change our perspectives about life and how we see and interact with the world around us. For me ‘The Cold Within’ is one of those. Written by James P. Kinney (born in 1923) demonstrates the value of all of us to work together.

The Cold Within Six humans trapped by happenstance In bleak and bitter cold. Each one possessed a stick of wood Or so the story’s told. Their dying fire in need of logs The first man held his back For of the faces round the fire He noticed one was black. The next man looking ‘cross the way Saw one not of his church And couldn’t bring himself to give The fire his stick of birch. The third one sat in tattered clothes. He gave his coat a hitch. Why should his log be put to use To warm the idle rich? His son, Timothy Kinney, tells the story behind the poem. ‘When I was a young boy we lived in Cheviot, Ohio, where there was still a law on the books there that a black person was not allowed on the streets of the city after dark. This was during of the civil rights movement, and my father and a group of men from his church felt that this was an outrage, so they approached the

City Council to have the law abolished. They were told that, since there were no black families in Cheviot, any black person on the streets after dark was obviously up to no good, so the law would remain. My father’s group found a family of black activists who were willing to move to Cheviot. They helped them move in and tried to make them feel at home. Then they approached the City Council again and said “Under the new circumstances, the law must be changed.” The City Council changed the law, but they were not very happy about it. My father was really unhappy with the community and the way they reacted to the change, so he pulled out and shared with the community a poem he had written during the early years of the civil right movement; it was “The Cold Within”, a parable about the things that separate us and how the coldness in men’s hearts is a kind of death.’ The piece captures the consequences when people express their prejudices…no one benefits

The rich man just sat back and thought Of the wealth he had in store And how to keep what he had earned From the lazy shiftless poor. The black man’s face bespoke revenge As the fire passed from his sight. For all he saw in his stick of wood Was a chance to spite the white. The last man of this forlorn group Did nought except for gain. Giving only to those who gave Was how he played the game. Their logs held tight in death’s still hands Was proof of human sin. They didn’t die from the cold without They died from the cold within.

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May 21. 2020

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The tiny island nation

population 360,000

COVID-19, IT’S ICELAND

The tiny island nation — population 360,000 — has long been known for its stunning landscapes, views of the Northern Lights, lava caves and other vistas featured in shows like Game of Thrones. Recently it has gained plaudits as a coronavirus case study, having kept its outbreak under control without imposing a messy or draconian lockdown. And it may very well show the way for countries trying to strike a balance between wooing visitors and avoiding a flare-up in cases. Reopening on May 18 for 50 lucky swimmers at a time - Blue Lagoon in Svartsendi, Iceland which is next to the Svartsengi Power Station, near Grindavik. Birdsong now fills the air around Iceland’s outdoor swimming pools, closed for weeks because of the new coronavirus to the dismay of locals, for whom the popular spots lie at the very heart of Icelandic life.

The British have their pubs, the French have their cafes, and the Finns have their saunas. Here, Icelanders flock to the pool to swim laps or just hang out in the hot tubs. From the start of the outbreak, Iceland stood out from much of Europe by having a proactive pandemic plan ready and sticking to it. The country began testing widely for Covid-19 in February, even before its first declared case. It even tested people who showed no symptoms, partnering with a Reykjavik-based company called DeCODE Genetics to do so. Iceland has tested more people per capita than anywhere else. By quarantining and tracing the contacts of positive cases, the country avoided the extremes of either an indiscriminate lockdown or simply letting the virus rip (in the hope of achieving group immunity). The result is a nation with just 1,802 cases and 10 deaths: its estimated mortality

The result is a nation with just 1,802 cases and 10 deaths;

rate of 0.6% is lower than that of France, Italy and Sweden. This isn’t to ignore the impact of demographics — Iceland’s median age is about 36, 10 years below Italy’s — or the ease of social distancing in a country whose population density is on par with Montana in the U.S. But effective government planning, trusted scientific advice and testing played a key role. All of these things are now being brought to bear on tourism. Rather than seek out special deals or exclusive “travel bubbles” with certain countries, Iceland’s plan is, from June 15, to offer all visitors the choice between two-week quarantine or a Covid-19 test (the cost of which may have to be repaid at a later date). The obvious incentive to take the test means all visitors are being trusted to be responsible globetrotters, not just those with a certain passport. Indeed, DeCODE Genetics’s research on the infection’s spread at the beginning of March found it was people arriving from Britain and Europe, rather than China, who were bringing the virus into Iceland. (At the time, Icelandic

At 10% of GDP,

the tourism sector is a big part of the Icelandic economy

warnings about its findings to countries like Austria went unheeded.) Rather than close borders or try to pick preferential partners, it’s better to track and trace the infection. That mindset makes it likely that visitors will have to download Iceland’s Rakning C-19 contact-tracing app for mobile phones. That seems fair enough, considering the country’s strong data-protection policies. In return for these pretty light strictures, visitors will get the run of a place without crowds or restrictive policies on movement and wearing face masks. It’s a good trade. Where Iceland may also become a role model is in actively funnelling financial support to the tourism industry, which became its key export after the crippling 2008 banking crisis. The government’s fiscal package, worth 8% of gross domestic product, in-

cludes subsidies to promote domestic tourism, a suspension of hotel taxes and a marketing campaign. At 10% of GDP, the tourism sector is a big part of the Icelandic economy — not far off Italy’s level — and wooing visitors at home and abroad is a necessary strategy. None of this looks like it’ll be enough to avoid a deep recession in Iceland this year, as global consumers cut back and travel less. It may not even be enough to avoid a new spike in infections if the worst-case scenario comes to pass. But as other countries struggle to emerge from lockdown, at the same time as trying to promote tourism, Iceland is worth paying attention to. If a small island can test, trace and isolate coronavirus cases, and kick-start tourism in the space of a few months, it can be done elsewhere too.

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May 21. 2020

WORD

Hope and Good News Sweden:

Canada: Success for campaigning group 'Sum of Us' as their petition caused the government to slash a $15billion subsidy to fossil fuel companies to $3billion with revenue being now ploughed into worker's rights and renewable energy.

A Sami indigenous group has won a land-rights victory against the government. The court have returned exclusive control over fishing and hunting to the villagers of Girjas, whose Sami population have used the land since 500BC. It might lead to more such rulings across northern Sweden.

Portugal: Due to prudent government suspension of fossil fuel subsidies the country has edged its way to more than covering energy demands using 100% renewable sources!

Democratic Republic of Congo: The last Ebola patient has left hospital. Though the World Health Organisation has given it 42 days before officially declaring an end to this second deadliest outbreak of the epidemic, which took 2,264 lives in 2019 alone.

New Zealand: Today the country reported no new cases of covid 19 with their new Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, again showing she has steel as well as compassioon as she did over the bombing of the mosque last year. The world has seen her show what real leadership is, despite being the world's youngest female in that role. She put this down to their lockdown period but said she would revisit the numbers later this week when the more relaxed rules had had time to bed in. â€œWe need to not get ahead of ourselves, stick to our bubble, and finish what we startedâ€?

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May 21. 2020

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ROUND UP

Detailed below re some 'Facts' that may or may not be, well, fact. But in this post truth era, you decide what to believe....

Facts seem to be surplus to requirements nowadays. How do you verify whether something is true or not, when the internet is crammed full of hearsay and speculation. Detailed below are some 'Facts' that may or may not be, well, fact. But in this post truth era, you decide what to believe.... HEAVY METAL SNAILS. A team at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology has made a breakthrough in snail science—solving the mystery of a strange volcano-dwelling snail. They discovered a snail that can survive in near-impossible conditions, underwater volcanic vents with white-hot temperatures, high pressure, and low

A COMPILATION...

oxygen. This ability is due to its unique iron shell. This is the only living creature known to incorporate iron into its skeleton. The team believes studying this iron-clad snail could reveal the secrets of evolution and unlock “huge potential” for tech and medicine. MURDER HORNETS INVADE U.S. Hornets native to Asia, giant and deadly, these buzzy bastards can rip the heads off honeybees by the thousands. Now, they have been spotted in the U.S. for the first time. Vespa mandarinia were spotted in Washington state recently. The Hornets venom is uniquely dangerous to humans. Stings from these hornets are responsible for about 50 deaths in Japan each year. These killer insects made headlines in 2013 when a series of attacks in China injured hundreds of people and killed 28. Despite all of this the hornet

does have one redeeming quality—some Japanese mountain villages consider them a delicacy when deep-fried. BORED OFF HIS TATS

Instead of taking up a new hobby such as baking bread, Chris Woodhead of East London has tattooed himself every day that he has been quarantined. As of today, that’s 53 new tattoos for Chris. Luckily, Chris is a tattoo artist by trade and will likely not regret his decision. He is taking isolation as an opportunity to learn new tattooing techniques and study the body’s healing process. Apparently. MAYO AINT FRENCH SHOCKER Most people assume that mayonnaise comes from France. Especially the French. The clue, Menorcans claim, is in the name. The largest city on Menorca is called Mahon and, if you say it right, mayonnaise sounds just like Mahon-aise. Kind of. In the mid-1700s that mayonnaise emerged on Menorca. The French had laid siege to the island and the duke in charge of these forces enjoyed his food. It was his chef who brought mayonnaise to him.

Either he was forced to create it through experimentation because there was no decent cream on the island – or the locals showed him how to make it because they already knew (the tale differs slightly here depending on who tells it). U.S. PERVS BEHIND THE WHEEL A strip club in Portland, Oregon, has found a novel way to stay afloat during the coronavirus pandemic. The Lucky Devil Lounge transformed itself into Lucky Devil Eats, which has dancers deliver the food, and Food 2 Go-Go, a drive-up service where takeout orders come with an in-car experience that includes performances, music and lights under canopies. Tips are collected in a bucket at the drive-thru strip club. The operation

evolved to include takeout, with dancers entertaining customers as they drive - slowly through the lounge's disco-lit car park before getting their food to go. The owner said he wanted to replicate some of the club's indoor experience ‘without being too lewd'! SWEDES SHIT FESTIVAL Swedish city is spreading a tonne of chicken manure in a park to discourage people from gathering for a festival. Sweden has so far avoided lockdown for Covid-19. Authorities in Lund say 30,000 people have gathered in the Stadspark in recent years to celebrate the spring festival Valbo. The Mayor said manure would be spread on the ground to put a dampener on anyone thinking of turning up for Thursday's event.

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COVID SAFETY ADVICE

Treat your home, car and garden as safe places. Be on high alert about what you are doing with your hands when outside your safe zones. Never touch your face outside these zones.

Use any kind of glove for short periods of time. Remove your gloves and mask before entering your safe place. Wash your hands every time you take off gloves or masks or when you move from a danger zone to a safe zone. Your body can naturally cope with a tiny number of virus particles. But the greater the number of particles the greater the risk of illness. Your nose reduces the risk of a virus getting to your throat, a mask reduces the risk of virus getting to your nose and social distancing reduces the risk of it

getting to your mask. Together, they work well. Even simple cloth masks work by:

• ï Droplets from coughs and sneezes, even breathing

• ï Making it hard for you to touch your nose and mouth

That a virus can pass through an old scarf is irrelevant as the most likely way you will get sick is by touching your face A scarf folded three or four times could be 90 per cent effective.

• ï Reducing the exposure of your nose and mouth to viruses in the air • ï Reducing the chance others will be infected by you All masks stop virus-carrying microscopic water droplets found in coughs and sneezes. Stopping the droplets stops the virus. Dry virus quickly dies. The most likely way a virus will get in your nose or mouth is by: • ï Touching them with your hands

Countermeasures only work if you use them. Keep a cloth mask in your pocket or purse, then when you enter a danger zone you'll be more likely to use it. When you are back home or in your safe place, put your cloth mask in the dirty laundry. Buy or make a few masks so you always have a clean one to hand. Cloth masks can be fitted, or

Sometimes, cool air rises

Here's what that means for tropical climates You may have once learned that "warm air rises, and cool air sinks." But that doesn't always hold true. That's because the buoyancy of air — its ability to rise — is dictated both by its temperature and by how much water vapor it contains. Dry air mostly contains the elements nitrogen and oxygen, assembled into different molecules. Water vapor is less dense than these heavy molecules; in humid air, water vapor takes up space that would normally be occupied by nitrogen and oxygen. Known as the "vapor buoyancy effect," this phenomenon renders humid air lighter than dry air of the same temperature, pressure and volume. On a grand scale, the vapor

buoyancy effect helps direct the movement of air through the lowest region of the atmosphere, known as the troposphere, and particularly affects air over humid, tropical regions. Even in the tropics, some patches of air remain relatively dry compared to more humid air located to the East or West. Now, a new climate model suggests that this cycle of humid air rising and dry air sinking may somewhat buffer the effects of climate change in the tropics. "Without this effect, the climate warming [in tropical regions] would be even worse," said study author Da Yang, an assistant professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of California, Davis and a joint faculty

scientist with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. According to Yang's model, which was published May 6 in the journal Science Advances, the vapor buoyancy effect amplifies the amount of thermal energy (heat) released into space from tropical regions, on the order of about 1 to 3 watts per square meter. The model suggests that, as tropical climates warm, the effect could increase exponentially, meaning that the region would let off more and more heat, even as temperatures rise.

folded, or worn as a bandanna. Two layers are better than one, and three better still. Older cloth is likely to pass air better making it easier to breath. If air escapes around the mask arrange it so it escapes from under the chin. Treat the inside of your mask as clean, and the outside as contaminated. When you remove it, wash your hands. Clean the mask as soon as possible. Gloves become contaminated just as your hands do. Use gloves for a specific purpose, like when shopping. Put them on when leaving your car, feel free to open doors, touch things, move things, paying, typing your pin but never touch your face. Take them off on leaving the shop. If disposable, throw them away. At your car, open the door then clean your hands with a sanitizer or wipe. Do not worry about shopping bags and the packaging you bring into your home if they aredry. You can make them safer by letting them sit for an hour or more in bright sunlight or dry air, both kill viruses, but still wash your hands. Wash or sanitise your hands every time you enter your safe zone after working on things that have a chance of being contaminated. So load your washing, open your post etc then wash your hands.

Soap and water is better than wipes, but keep wipes in your car and at your home entrance to do a quick job on the way into your safe zone. If you accidentally shake someone’s hand, or touch something suspect, keep track of your hands. Keep them off of your face until you can wash or sanitise them. At home don't worry and don’t fret about washing and face touching, you're safe. Sunlight, heat, dryness, soap, alcohol, peroxide and bleach all kill viruses fast. A package left outside in the sun for a few minutes will be virus free. Left in a cool humid spot give it 30 minutes. Ignore scare stories about packaging remaining contaminated for hours. If you work in a grocery shop or warehouse you should wear a mask and spectacles instead of contact lenses. Wear something over your shirt or blouse that you can take off in the garage or changing area before entering your car or home. Whether you wear gloves or not wash your hands after removing the top layer of clothes. On finishing work wash your hands. Take off your outer layers and any gloves or mask before climbing into your car. Sanitise your hands inside the car. Do it all over again in your garage or change area before entering your house. Put clothes and mask in the laundry and take a shower.

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Papua’s resource exploitation is full of human rights abuses, military oppression, environmental devastation and enduring poverty - hidden from the news .

RETURNING FROM

HUNTING, MERAUKE

Twenty-two years of unpublicised resource exploitation in Papua

Papua’s long history of topdown resource exploitation is one of human rights abuses, military oppression, environmental devastation and enduring poverty for the majority of Papuans. We look at this history from the late 1980s, until today. The Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE) launched in August last 2013 is currently the most prominent ambitious natural resources development plan for Papua. Many cases have been reported over the last 30 years giving indication of the massive range of resource damage directed at Papua. The plan involves the conversion of a vast area of land, including forests, into plantations growing food, energy and other crops. Workers are expected to be brought to Merauke to meet the demand for labour. Serious concerns have been voiced by local community organisations and regional, national and international NGOs about the potential damage this mega-project will inflict on the local indigenous population and their customary lands, resources and cultures. There is concern, too, about the wider political, human rights, socio-cultural and environmental implications for Papua as a whole. MIFEE is following a well-established pattern of ambitious mega-projects in Indonesia which are primarily aimed at export markets, while ignoring the potential and needs of local people. An overview of government supported projects targeting Papua shows top-down decision-making, since the Suharto era, official announcements which package projects as being for the public benefit, the appropriation of land owned by indigenous peoples, and the import of non-Papuan labour. While the more preposterous investment plans have not gone ahead in Papua, the overall effect has been the steady destruction of Papua’s natural resources. The common thread has been a steady marginalisation of indigenous Papuans, with top-down projects accompanied by the use of violence

to enforce plans. The cumulative impact of these development schemes is a no less important matter. MIFEE is likely to inflict another severe blow to any hopes that Papua’s natural wealth will be managed sustainably by local people primarily for their own benefit. While special autonomy measures introduced to Papua in 2001 allow more room for participation by Papuan politicians, people on the ground still remain largely powerless to prevent the take-over of their land and resources From Scott Paper to BP Petroleum: In 1988, the campaign to stop a mega-development by Scott Paper, was gaining momentum. iAn area covering around 790,000 hectares in Merauke district was targeted for eucalyptus plantations to feed a chip and pulp operation based in Bade (now in Mappi district) on the Digul River. The land of around 15,000 indigenous hunter-gatherer people was included in Scott’s concession. The US-based company promised it would employ as many local people as possible, but also confirmed that non-Papuans would also be brought in with the help of Indonesia’s transmigration ministry. Eventually, under the threat of a consumer campaign against the company’s high profile products (tissues, toilet paper) the company did withdraw from the project, leaving its Indonesian joint venture partner (Astra) and government ministers angry, and creating a backlash against NGOs. Since Scott Paper, Papua has been beset by a host of natural resource exploitation projects – some developed, some not, some massive in scale, others not quite so grandiose; some officially sanctioned, others illegal. They range from the 8 million-hectare Mamberamo mega-development involving hydro-electric dams, infrastructure, heavy industry and agro-industry (which didn’t go

ahead) to crocodile skin smuggling operations involving corrupt military and government officials (which did). From BHP’s plans for a giant nickel mine on Gag Island (cancelled) to BP’s huge Tangguh gas extraction and LNG plant in Bintuni Bay (up and running). One constant presence, looming large in Papua’s recent history is the Freeport-Rio Tinto copper and gold mine in Papua’s central highlands. By the early years of this century it had become a measure of how not to do resource development projects in Papua.

Although Indonesia has strict laws aimed at keeping the fires in check, the laws exist on paper only. The companies get away with burning the forest because they work in partnership with the military – an institution that, ever since the genocide, has committed human rights violations with alarming regularity. These recurring atrocities keep the military Assault on Papua’s Forests : feared – and above the law. Since 1965, multinational companies Above all, perhaps, the ashave collaborated with the armed sault on Papua’s resources forces to seize land and exhas affected the region’s ploit a cheap labour force rich, biodiverse and too afraid to demand safe unique forests. And working conditions or a along with the forests, fair wage. (Land is also the livelihoods of the seized for other lucrative, peoples who depend often illegal uses, mainly upon those resources timber concessions and NUMBER OF mines, which are simihave been degraded or FOREST have disappeared altolarly destructive of the FIRES IN gether. environment.) Forests have been a Now, food and INDONESIA major target for invesenergy crops targeted LAST tors first through HPH under MIFEE represent SUMMER timber concessions and an additional threat to clearing for transmigration sites, forests and forest-dwellers. HTI, oil and more recently through HTI palm expansion projects all undertimber plantation concessions. mine the credibility of the commitUnder regional, then special auton- ment made by Indonesia’s presiomy rules, the decentralisation of dent Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono control led to a battle for control be- to slice 26% off Indonesia’s protween Papua’s administration and jected greenhouse gas emissions Jakarta. New timber mafias by 2020. emerged involving timber dealers The transmigration context :Inand local security forces and offi- donesia’s hugely damaging transcials. In the past decade oil palm migration programme to shift miland pulpwood and schemes have lions of villagers from Java, Bali and started tearing into Papua’s forests Madura to the less densely-popuin earnest, alongside or in combina- lated ‘outer islands’ was in full tion with logging. There has been swing when DTE was established tremendous concern over the ways in 1988. Papua, with its disputed climate change will affect human political status, armed resistance rights, but little attention to how movement, frequent and brutal human rights abuse affects our glo- military operations against local bal climate. ... Some 130,000 forest people fires in Indonesia darkened the to root out political dissent and skies over much of south-east Asia its long, porous border with Papua last summer ... They're still doing it New Guinea, was a major target for in West Papua. transmigration. Here, as in other

130k

border regions, the programme was aimed at strengthening territorial control and defence as well as accessing and developing the region’s rich natural wealth. There was a strong element of ‘teaching the Papuans how to farm’ on top of a deliberate attempt to boost population density in order to ‘speed up development’. Transmigration remains a particularly sensitive issue in Papua. Migrants have settled in Papua in increasing numbers, via official, government-sponsored transmigration as well as under their own steam. The overall effect has been a population shift in favour of people who are not indigenous Papuans. Recent research has indicated that indigenous Papuans were outnumbered by non-indigenous Papuans by 2010 and that the non-indigenous population is likely to grow faster than the indigenous.iv The MIFEE project will make this situation more pronounced. The estimated number of workers needed for the planned food and energy plantations range from the tens of thousands into the millions. Whatever the final number, it will put further pressure on resources and push indigenous Papuans further into a minority position. In the broader political context, these population concerns are linked to the question of Papua’s political status and how Papuan identity is defined. If, finally, there is a genuine act of self-determination in Papua, what would be the result now that more than half the inhabitants are originally non-indigenous Papuans? Who would have the authority to decide these questions? Free publication by GreenNet & Sarah Macbeth & Carolyn Marr, Down to Earth Tel/fax: +44 (0)16977 46266 Email: dte@gn.apc.org

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DEXYS MIDNIGHT RUNNERS

While clapping for the NHS the other Thursday evening, I heard a couple of air horns going at the end of the street. A child across the road was banging on a saucepan, so I decided to blow over an empty bottle of Corona lager. I found three such bottles, and next week had part-filled two of them with water, so that I could blow a tune. As I did so, a chant began, “Geno! Geno! Geno!” and I realised I had played the signature riff of Dexys Midnight Runners, named after the 1980s drug Dexedrine, and one of the following: the people who sold it; the people who took it and couldn’t keep still; the laxative side effect of the substance on a human bowel. Into YouTube I went, and rediscovered all the wonderful songs that Kevin Rowland had unleashed upon us during the height of Margaret Thatcher’s reign. I could list them all for you, but you should do that for yourself. The one I love the most is as odd one: Because of You which is credited to Kevin Rowland and merely ‘features’ Dexys Midnight Runners. By the time

he gave us this little ditty he was clearly much bigger than the band, though physically he’s not huge, and as he began to age, bore more than a passing resemblance to Alex Sobel MP from Leeds NW. I suppose that’s better than looking like Bastian Schweinsteiger in a suit, as does ‘Sir’ Keir Starmer, his current leader. The music of the band is usually credited to Rowland and Kevin Archer who played guitar. In addition was an immense horn section consisting on two saxophones (tenor and alto,) a trumpet, and a trombone played by Jim Paterson. At one point pianist Vincent Crane (Atomic Rooster) was a member. The various line-ups have contained drums, bass, two violins, keyboard; videos show different sizes of band, and many different members. Rowland and Paterson have been in every incarnation of Dexys. The list of who has been in and then out again looks like the hall of fame at Old Trafford. I can confirm that Bobby Charlton and Eric Cantona never played in this band. Also that Alan Shearer never got to be a Manchester United player – not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing. I love the almost opaque lyrics, such as those in There There My Dear. I must quote too something you’ll not find on the internet, but listen to it and weep:

Because of you These things I do Because of You B-bub-bow-b-because you…

This is pure Kevin Rowland; the nonsense syllables reminiscent of Doo-wop, that forerunner of Rock & Roll and Soul music. In the second verse of Geno, Kevin starts a line with Br-r-r-rp, for no other reason that it sounds cool, in the uncoolest of ways. Their signature number one, Come On Eileen, played at many a wedding disco despite being almost impossible to dance to

owing to its irregular time patterns, contains more nonsense, based on Too-Rye-Ay, a construction from Irish folk music. Then there were the clothes. You need to get hold of a video to see them all prancing around in oversized dungarees with too-short legs, and Rowland with jeans turned up because he has bought them six inches too long. Is it relevant to the music? Perhaps not but it helped to build them a following fan-base. I leave you with a couple more titles that evoke magic: The Teams that Meet in Caffs; Jackie Wilson Said (I’m in Heaven When You Smile.) Give them a listen.

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UFC 249 was held in Florida on Saturday 9th Feb, becoming the first major sporting company to stage an event since the lockdown began

SENSATIONAL RETURN FOR THE UFC AS GAETHJE STUNS FERGUSON Seconds later,

Introduction

The UFC made a sensational return on Saturday night, offering up a card stacked full of intriguing match ups and enormously talented fighters. The event wasn’t short of action or controversy either, with a questionable decision, a potentially early stoppage and one of the most action-packed main events in recent memory. Let’s take a look at the best fights below.

Henry Cejudo vs Dominic Cruz

Billed as the fight to determine the best bantamweight of all time, Henry Cejudo vs Dominic Cruz absolutely lived up to the billing. Cejudo controlled the majority of the fight, displaying his unrivalled take down defence whilst consistently attacking the front leg with brutal kicks. Toward the end of the second round however, an accidental clash of heads

as Cruz shot for the takedown, Cejudo dropped him with a perfectly timed knee to the side of the head.

opened up a nasty cut just above Cejud o’s hairline, forcing him to up the tempo. Seconds later, as Cruz shot for the takedown, Cejudo dropped him with a perfectly timed knee to the side of the head. Cejudo followed up with a superman punch and secured the victory with 11 unanswered punches on the ground. A lot of fans were not happy with the stoppage though, and neither was Joe Rogan in commentary “I’m not sure about that stoppage, he was just trying to get back up, it didn’t look like he was out”. To be fair, Cruz had just about got up to his knee when the referee stepped in, but the argument could be made that it was more bad timing than bad decision. Cejudo won’t care either way though, as he announced his retirement immediately after the fight, bowing out as the undisputed bantamweight champion. Francis Ngannou vs Jairzinho Rozenstruik Over in the heavyweight division, the freak of nature and number one contender that is Francis ‘The Predator’ Ngannou, faced off against Jairzinho Rozenstruik, a man who boasted a professional MMA record of 10-0 before the fight. Ngannou, doing what Ngannou does best, took just 20 seconds to completely demolish his opponent, landing a wild left hook flush to the chin, which ended with Rozenstruik slumped against the fence. Ngannou has now won his last four fights by KO in a combined total of two minutes

and fortytwo seconds! Just plain ridiculous. Commentator Jon Anik had this to say post fight “Francis Ngannou is a terrifying force, the likes of which this heavyweight division has never seen before.” Other Fights of Note Justin Gaethje vs Tony Ferguson The main event of the evening saw the human highlight reel Justin Gaethje, take on the heavily favoured number one contender Tony Ferguson. Ferguson came into the bout riding a 12-fight win streak, perhaps unsurprising given his extremely versatile fighting arsenal and mindboggling endurance. However, it was Justin Gaethje who stole the show, putting on the most impressive and emphatic display of his career so far. Gaethje consistently landed crunching left hooks and vicious jabs which reverberated around the empty arena in Jacksonville. Gaethje had learned from his previous defeats against Poirier and Alvarez too, taking ten percent off his punches, and avoiding the temptation to become reckless in looking for the finish. Although Ferguson lost, we have to give him some serious credit. Never have I ever seen one man take so much punishment, so many fight ending strikes, and keep moving forward. Joe Rogan summed it up perfectly, “Tony Ferguson is not a regular human. Most people would be unconscious at this point.”

A couple of others fights certainly deserve a mention. In the first bout of the evening, Niko Price attempted to avenge his 2017 loss to Vincente Luque. The fight was an outstanding curtain raiser, with both guys throwing caution to the wind as well as haymaker after haymaker. The bout was ultimately ended via doctor’s stoppage, as Price’s eye ballooned following a thunderous left hook in the third round. Elsewhere in the featherweight division, Calvin Kattar and Jeremy Stephens went to war. The fight was high tempo from start to finish, with both guys landing huge shots on more than one occasion. It was two devastating elbows from Kattar which ultimately ended the fight, with one in the clinch to drop Stephens, and a follow up on the ground to seal the victory.

All in all, the return of the UFC was everything we’d hoped it would be. And, with two more events scheduled for May already, it seems Dana White has delivered once again.

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Football Has Returned! The pick of the bunch is Borussia Dortmund vs Schalke on Saturday afternoon. If they’ve spent their lockdown in the way most people have, we might just end up watching a load of blokes with beer bellies struggling to get past the halfway line. it looks extremely unlikely that we’re going to see any Premier League action before July before July.

Bundesliga Weekend Review The Germans are at it again, being ridiculously efficient in the face of covid-19 by becoming the first major European football league to restart fixtures. Football fans around the world have celebrated the news, irrelevant of which club they support. That said, at this point, I imagine fans would be just as excited if it was Stocksbridge Park Steels restarting their season. Football is football, and we love it. The last game to be played in the Bundesliga was well over two months ago now, so it was interesting to see what kind of shape the players were in. However, whilst most of u s

spent our lockdowns drinking cider in the sun and doing incredibly little, Bundesliga players seemed to have kept in shape. BT Sport showcased every single game live, in what was an action packed, if slightly bizarre return for football. The pick of the bunch was Borussia Dortmund vs Schalke on Saturday afternoon, but there were a few cracking matches, we take a look at the best ones below.

mantling their opponents with impressive interplay and some classy finishes to boot. Erling Haaland carried on his frankly ridiculous scoring run, making it 10 goals in nine games for his new club. Dortmund’s 26-year-old winger Raphael Guerreiro also continued his impressive pre-covid form, scoring two fantastic goals, the second being a classy outside of the boot strike after a slick interchange with Haaland.

Dortmund vs Schalke Dortmund are pushing Bayern for the title in the Bundesliga, whilst David Wagner, the former Huddersfield Town coach, still harboured hopes of European football with Schalke. This one went to the form b o o k though, w i t h D o r t m u n d c o m pletely dis-

Werder Bremen vs Bayer Leverkusen Over in Bremen on Monday, visitors Bayer Leverkusen signalled their intent for a late top four push by demolishing struggling Werder Bremen 4-1. Before the season was put on hold, 20year-old Kai Havertz had scored five goals in eight games, he picked up exactly where he left of by finding the net twice with his head. Kerem Demirbay put the icing on the cake in the 78th minute, with a delightful dink over the onrushing keeper, after a sumptuous no look through ball from Karim Bellarabi. Eintracht Frankfurt vs Borussia Monchengladbach Borussia Monchengladbach travelled to Frankfurt on the Saturday hoping to take advantage of the home sides poor run of form, and they did so emphatically too, scoring two goals in the opening seven minutes from Alasanne

Plea and Marcus Thurman. The eventual 3-1 result means that Gladbach leapfrog RB Leipzig into third, who managed only a 1-1 draw with Freiburg. Other Matches Elsewhere in the league, leaders Bayern Munich comfortably beat Union Berlin 2-0 with goals from Pavard and Lewandowski. Fortuna Dusseldorf played out a scrappy 0-0 with Paderborn down at the bottom of the table and FC Koln could only manage a draw with Mainz. Wolfsburg and Hertha Berlin each picked up three points away from home. What About the Premier League? With the return of the German top division, it’s natural to consider when English football might make a return. However, it looks extremely unlikely that we’re

going to see any Premier League action before July. Ideas have been banded around, the most logical of which is to have players gather at a neutral location, most likely St George’s Park. Players would all be tested upon arrival with games being shown live each day. This idea doesn’t really work in princ i p l e though, since one person testing positive would derail the w h o l e thing. In addition, a number of footballers have been very vocal about their apprehension to return to football too soon, the most notable of which being Danny Rose and Wayne Rooney. So, English football isn’t returning anytime soon. However, we do at least have some competitive football to watch. Something tells me Bundesliga viewing figures are going to go through the roof.

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The virus hasn’t gone away. When the clubs resumed training on Tuesday, it emerged six unnamed persons have tested positive. Burnley stating assistant manager Ian Woan was one of those and he is isolating for seven days.

WINNING AT

By Neil Marks

ALL COSTS?

Throughout the Coronavirus crisis, the English Premier League has been reluctant to follow the lead of other leagues across Europe and abandon the 2019-29 season. Its members have met regularly since it was suspended in March and has maintained that the current season will be completed and money is the driving force behind it.

Raheem Sterling I’m not scared but reserved

Having sold lucrative television rights to the highest bidders, Sky TV in the beginning but joined by BT in 2013 and this season to Amazon, along with other companies across the world, its failure to complete the season would see the Premier League having to pay £750m back to the TV companies. That equates to just over eight per cent of a total revenue of £9.2 billionn and they are reluctant to give this up easily. At the latest video meeting on Monday (May 11), FA hairman Greg Clarke told the club delegates that the season will have to be decided on sporting merit, even if the League has to ultimately terminate the season. Following the announcement by Boris Johnson that there will be a steady relaxation in lockdown rules in the coming weeks, the League has instigated Project Restart, aimed at fixtures resuming by June 12 be-

hind closed doors. not just us footballers, To enable this, the but for the whole clubs would have to medical staff, the referresume full scale ees. training no later than “I feel like once May 18. people’s safety and the The initial plan was player’s safety is secured, for the remaining 92 then that’s the right time to games was for these to go back in. Until then, I’m, have been played at 10 how can I say, not scared neutral venues around but reserved.” the country, something All this will be music to the majority of the clubs the ears of Leeds United and are against as they are West Bromwich lbion who PREMIER unwilling to surrender would likely gain promoLEAGUE TV home advantage. tion, even if the Football REVENUE The 20 clubs would League season isn’t comPER ANNUM rather the games are pleted with the FA anting played on home terripromotion and relegation. tory, although this would be deBut what hasn’t been conpendant on health officials, licen- sidered in any of the plans to comsing authorities, including the plete the season is the players, Sports Grounds Safety Authority. staff and medical staff at each More than one high profile club’s welfare or how the League player has voiced concerns about would deal with a virus outbreak resuming the season, the latest at one of the clubs. being Manchester City and EngThe virus hasn’t gone away. land’s Raheem Sterling. Brighton and Hove Albion, a club Commenting on his You Tube where two players tested positive channel, Sterling said: “The mo- back in arch, announced a third ment we do go back, it needs to be unnamed player tested positive a moment where it’s not just for for Covid-19 on aturday and has footballing reasons, its safe for entered 14 day self-isolation.

£9.2bn

Celtic win Scottish Premier league The Scottish Premier league have decided their season is finished and declared league leaders, Celtic as champions. for the 9th season in a row they have dominated the Premiership, winning 26 games out of 30. scoring 89 goals, conceding just 19, and have established a commanding 13-point lead at the top of the table.