"Floating the Boat": Arafel GoFundMe Campaign.. #JudicialReview

"I have thirty years of experience of the medical authorities and the welfare state here in the U.K that has informed many of my posts on my blog "Arafel" (arafel.co.uk), and I am currently using (or have been and intend to do so again), four separate advocacy services myself. In the November of last year (2016), I lost an Upper Tribunal Appeal for my Personal Independence Payment by six points to eight, this despite the fact that Mitie on behalf of Southampton City Council (and following occupational therapy assessments by council employed medical/welfare professionals), have spent £1000s on re-appointing my kitchen and bathroom. I have the photographs of both the work completed and the stripped flat sans any carpet, proper curtains, soft furnishing or decor at the developers as I write (I have not been able to complete the decorating), I will publish them here (one of the author..the other pictures appear on the GoFundMe site, link given below -edited 16/01/18-);

the pictures will also inform my submission to my M.P.  The next step may then be Judicial Review, however I will not be able to undertake this process without funding for also, following my loss of PIP, I was then "assessed" for Employment Support Allowance but received zero points out of fifteen!
 I inherited some money from my mother (Eileen Young -RIP-),  a few years ago but this has been "absorbed" (I had already been without my PIP for nearly a year when I lost my Upper Tribunal Appeal),  during this period. In fact I have had to re-sell two items I did manage to buy with my inheritance taking a nearly 2/3 loss on both. 
 I rely on an electric bike for my mobility esp. as I live literally on the Southampton/Eastleigh boundary a long way from many vital services, the bike needs a thorough service and a new battery but these are £500 each following industry safety upgrades to the fittings (having been £400-450 already). 
 The computer I use at home runs straight from the Ethernet "hard-line" and I must secure my service provision if I am to continue my blog, "Arafel" has been going nearly six years now as a "free blog" but even the domain name is threatened if I can't renew it. My computer was purchased from Jamie's a local charity that reconditions and repairs computers, unfortunately the CD drive is malfunctioning and I cannot upload any disc programmes (this is why I have had to send my photographs to a developers), the P.C will need to go back to Jamie’s for (at least), a service and I will need to employ a more "computer savvy" professional to help me finish integrating my social media and blog (I have been running it solo so far), this obviously threatens my blog as I cannot afford to do either of these at present either. 
 I am currently in fuel poverty which is of-course both affecting my health and my ability to write (my readers may well have noticed the comparative paucity of my posts to the blog this year -although I try to keep the content standard high-), and have an approx. £800 rent debt with Southampton Council (and rising), I do not want to be evicted (which would be even colder).
 I am a member of Cannabis Law Reform Campaign U.K, having already been a "senior" member of the Legalise Cannabis Campaign in the 1980s when I wrote a consultative piece for parliament (I was also at one time President of The Essex University Friends of Amsterdam Society), and am campaigning at the moment for recognition for parasthesiacs like me with serious spinal chord injury problems who wish to use a safe and proven form of long-term medication such as cannabis (also a subject I will cover more thoroughly on my blog if I get the opportunity to do so).
 I hold a distributorship for a (very reputable and well-known), multi-level marketing company that offers me the opportunity for self-employment (something that the state under the auspices of The Universal Credit system are prepared to help me with) , however I will require "start-up" capital to make this possible (and again will require some "computer help" when floating the venture).
 I ruptured my brachial artery as a fifteen year old provoking a Near Death Experience ("NDE" I have posted on the subject on my blog but will  go into more depth given the opportunity), and requiring the micro-surgical intervention (a new technique at the time), of a very competent consultant surgeon to save both my life and my arm, eighteen months later I nearly broke my back in a very serious motorbike accident that left my right foot pointing backwards and resting on my left shoulder (I have only just started to receive proper orthotics advice but have missed two appointments whilst also trying to deal with my benefits and secure the help of the local Community Mental Health Team for my other problems more related to my first experience -I was a minor on both occasions-)!
 I have campaigned (one way or the other), for the recognition of so-called "hidden" conditions like mine all my adult life.
 I proselytise for a class-action to be undertaken by the victims of dental clinical fluoride treatment (I was pre-pubescent when I received mine), especially as I believe this was a massive contributory factor in both my accidents.
 Living under such conditions takes its toll and one develops secondary and tertiary problems as a result (I haven't -for instance-, left this country for thirty years and cannot currently afford a passport). It is for this and other reasons (all of which I hope to be able to at least "touch-on" on my blog), that I am requesting funding. If successful with my campaign I intend to donate 10% to the advocacy (and other local charitable), services* I use and I will photographically both document any financial exchanges of and any issues resolved by the money from the campaign.

regards Gerard Hales

*here are the four advocacy services I use
http://sarc.org.uk/aboutus.html,
http://frontlinedebtadvice.org.uk/,
http://spectrumcil.co.uk/,
http://www.seap.org.uk/"
Go to: https://www.gofundme.com/floating-the-boat-arafel-gofundme
and a run through of this year's best (and worst), "Moments" on Arafel:
https://twitter.com/i/moments/946808074936967179
https://twitter.com/i/moments/876873047508123648
https://twitter.com/i/moments/877626054579499008
https://twitter.com/i/moments/879617300126732288
https://twitter.com/i/moments/879622730953392128
https://twitter.com/i/moments/889745996347052033
https://twitter.com/i/moments/922709645877235712
https://twitter.com/i/moments/926378311365820416
https://twitter.com/i/moments/930097464530690052
https://twitter.com/i/moments/937997845344473088

If free independent journalism is the "alternative" Zeitgeist ("listing where it wills"), I hope the "cognoscente" will feel able to support my work, it is my independent choice to try and enlarge on the comparative success (over the last nearly six years), of a free blog I've been running from my own resources..The "Yemen Bomb Sign" picture whilst not being an "exclusive" has not (as far as I have seen), featured in any other media be it mainstream or alternative and it was sent to me (unsolicited), via-twitter by a lawyer in Sanaa (I hope -esp. during this season-, that he and his family are o.k, at one time we were receiving nightly posts concerning the bombing of the city). I hope to be able to reveal painful truths on "Arafel" but my voice will be silenced if I don't receive some funding soon.

"Arafel" Highlights: The Best of the Rest Six Years of "Arafel": https://twitter.com/i/moments/946813868088725505

"The Saint" #RogerMooreRIP

"What's one of these?" .."It's one of those that died in a nasty accident!"

"The Black Hole that Ate Hedge End"

"Will it?
What is there?
Can you find it, reaching behind the pasta in your good shoes, a disastrous conclusion?
The void doesn't answer it just expands,
Tarmacked fields witness under floodlights the play of ancients,
Shadows bleeding into darkness as consumed,
Flesh retreats the shrinking violets of bone and sinew,
Do we grasp the past whilst dancing like celebrants at some mad Sabbat, often colliding all un-heeding?
"We must be off our trolleys".
It's Christmas all year but Christmas is never here!
Is it sentient perhaps or just conceit that consciousness should waste its gaze on us?
Still there is warmth sun-dogging around the "halo",
A smile of ; "That's not mine it's yours"
As we struggle, near bereft of hope, not to be the whores we feel."

("Wolf's Head": The Poetry of #Arafel: https://twitter.com/i/moments/926378311365820416 )

Also; "Super-massive black hole 'double burps' light - then has a nap" go to: https://news.sky.com/story/supermassive-black-hole-double-burps-light-then-has-a-nap-11204208?dcmp=snt-sf-twitter&__twitter_impression=true

"Mare's Kiss"

"A bearing few can match turns, wheels,
Rushes up to hang on blue-silver skies,
A call to Davy Jones and away,
Is this how you have seen?

A flash in midday light trapped in city canyons,
Piratical glare,
Immaculate wings inches from the table tops;
'"I am here! I am here!"
Gusts upon the face bestowing Mare's kiss."

Edward Heath; "Will the Past be Buried?" #OperationConifer #OperationYewTree

Quote; "Police said none of the allegations, claiming Sir Edward assaulted victims as young as 10, took place while he was Prime Minister.
“No inference of guilt should be drawn by the decision to interview under caution,” a spokesperson added.
“The account from Sir Edward Heath would have been as important as other evidence gathered as part of the wider investigation.”
They include the alleged rape of an 11-year-old boy, indecent assault of a 10-year-old boy and the indecent assault of a 15-year-old boy during three “paid sexual encounters”, and are said to have occurred between 1961 and 1992 in London, Kent, Sussex, the Channel Islands and Wiltshire.
Chief Constable Mike Veale said there were “compelling and obvious reasons to investigate” the allegations."..
.. "It received 42 disclosures relating to 40 people over 14 different police force areas in the UK.
Of those, 19 were found not to meet the threshold for interview, three complaints were withdrawn, 10 were reported by a third party and another three allegations were made anonymously.
The report revealed that there was “reason to suspect” two people may have intentionally misled the police by claiming that they were abused by Sir Edward.
“In the case of one of these disclosures, a live criminal investigation remains ongoing,” it states.
Another person was formally cautioned for wasting police after admitting that they had misled the investigation falsely claiming to be three different people in three separate claims.
Wiltshire Police said its conduct was scrutinised by an independent panel and a “value for money” review by Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary, which found no wrongdoing.
Operation Hydrant carried out two reviews on Operation Conifer, which concluded that the probe was proportionate and being carried out in line with national guidance.
The report marks the official end of the probe, which was launched in 2015 after Sir Edward was named as a suspect in an investigation into historical child sex abuse.
Its findings will be passed to the wide-ranging Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, which is being chaired by Professor Alexis Jay." Go to: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/sir-edward-heath-report-child-sex-abuse-allegations-investigation-inquiry-grounds-interview-caution-a7984256.html For full article and video.
 
Quote; "The independent inquiry into Child Sex Abuse (IICSA) was forced to issue an apology following the loss of vital evidence in the case that was deleted from their servers.

The data, which would have held testimonies and strong evidence for the inquiry, was said to have been lost due to a 'technical malfunction'.
Despite the technical glitch, the agency said there was no security breach in their systems and ensured that privacy of the victims is not at risk.
Freethought project reports London, UK — The Independent Inquiry Into Child Sex Abuse (IICSA) apologized this week after vital testimony from victims of child sexual abuse was “instantly and permanently deleted” from their servers."...
...."“Due to a change in our website address to http://www.iicsa.org.uk on 14 September, any information submitted to the Inquiry between 14 September and 2 October through the online form on the "Share Your Experience" page of our website, was instantly and permanently deleted before it reached our engagement team. We are very sorry for any inconvenience or distress this will cause and would like to reassure you that no information was put at risk of disclosure or unauthorised access*." Go to: http://www.neon-nettle.com/features/974-uk-government-deletes-entire-database-of-elite-pedophile-ring-evidence- For full article. 

 

*Italics mine. Isn't this the one scenario in these cases that one would be expected to most assiduously avoid?!

 

Barbara Castle drew up dossier on VIP paedophiles: File seized by Special Branch 'heavy mob'

 

Quote; "Lady Castle put together 30 pages of information about alleged attempts by the Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE) to infiltrate government while seeking funding and trying to persuade MPs to legalise sex with children.

As well as key members of both the Commons and Lords, she found that about 30 prominent businessmen, public school teachers, scoutmasters and police officers had links to PIE.

Yesterday Mr Hale, 61, said: ‘Barbara was horrified at the rapid extent of PIE’s involvement with key people and her file included details of about 16 household-name MPs.’

He said Lady Castle – who at the time was Euro MP Barbara Castle – passed him the dossier and asked if he would write a story based on it." Go to: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2693635/Now-revealed-Barbara-Castle-drew-dossier-VIP-paedophiles-File-seized-Special-Branch-heavy-mob.html For full article.

 

Also see; http://www.arafel.co.uk/2017/01/heath-investigation-continues-epstein.html, http://www.arafel.co.uk/2016/11/those-nice-people-at-boiling-frogs-add.html, http://www.arafel.co.uk/2016/11/yew-haw-poison-in-flesh-childabuse.html, http://www.arafel.co.uk/2016/11/absolute-power.html & http://www.arafel.co.uk/2016/10/the-horrible-cant-possibly-be-true.html

"Generation Zapped"; New Documentary about #WiFi Dangers in Schools..also; Sleep Disturbances, #BT Hotspots and #Hacking #WhyFry

"“A wifi classroom is like the inside of a microwave oven set at very low power. Children are exposed to that wifi radiation six hours every school day, five days a week, and for several months during the year.” – Magda Havas, Associate Professor of Environmental and Resource Studies, Trent University, Canada GENERATION ZAPPED investigates the potential dangers of prolonged exposure to Radio Frequencies (RF) from wireless technology; it’s effects on our health and well-being, as well as the health and development of our children. From its links to breast and brain cancer, to its associations with increased infertility and genetic mutations related to autism and ADHD, to newly developed illnesses, such as Electrical Hyper-Sensitivity (EHS)." https://es-ireland.com/2017/09/13/new-film-generation-zapped-the-health-effects-of-wireless-radiation-on-our-health-well-being/ "BT is exposing customers to unnecessary electromagnetic radiation through its network of private home Wi-Fi routers. All BT Home Hubs are now enabled with a default feature called ‘BT Fon’. ‘Fon’ uses a portion of the broadband customer’s private wireless connection and offers it to the public for use as a local ‘hotspot’. In short, unless the customer actively opts out of ‘Fon’, their router is functioning as a local mast. ‘Fon’ transmits for a distance of approximately 250 metres* and exposes the user to higher levels of radiation exposure. Whereas domestic Wi-Fi routers can be turned off at night or when not in use to reduce exposure, these Fon hubs are active 24/7. Many international bodies are now warning of the risks to health from the ubiquitous use of Wi-Fi and some European countries have taken a precautionary stance by removing it from schools and public spaces. References 1,2,3,4,5,6,7. Some people are particularly sensitive to this form of radiation and suffer immediate acute symptoms such as headache, sleep disturbance, fatigue, heart palpitations/arrhythmia, etc. For others, the effect is chronic and may result in long term cell and tissue damage leading to cancer. Last year, the updated Bioinitiative Report reviewed a further 1800 studies and noted that the most serious health end points from electromagnetic exposure included leukaemia, brain tumours, leakage of the blood-brain barrier and increased risk of the neurodegenerative diseases, Alzheimer’s and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The Childhood Cancer Conference in 2012 reported that exposure to electromagnetic fields may also impede recovery and stated that it appeared to decrease the survival time of children in remission from leukaemia." https://www.canceractive.com/cancer-active-page-link.aspx?n=3460 Other Indicators.. "Consumers need to be more aware of the potential dangers of connecting to a public Wi-Fi network, a new security report has warned. Wi-Fi networks in cafés and coffee shops are “high-risk”, according to the study, partly because of their popularity and convenience. Cyber criminals are targeting people who connect to public Wi-Fi networks, and can access their private data without them realising. “Wherever there is an unsecured public Wi-Fi network, there is the threat of attack,” reads a new report from iPass. “However, coffee shops are seen as the most dangerous public Wi-Fi venue of all.” Research involving 500 CIO and IT decision makers from the UK, US, Germany and France found that coffee shops are the most popular places to connect to a public Wi-Fi network, followed by airports and hotels. “Our research shows that man-in-the-middle attacks are considered to be the greatest mobile security concern of using public Wi-Fi hotpots (69 percent),” the report explains." http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/wifi-hotpots-coffee-shop-dangerous-security-risk-report-a7750091.html New study links phone use and mental health issues in teens Quote; "July 3, 2017, 8:15 AM| A new study in the journal Child Development shows nighttime usage of a cell phone can increase anxiety and depression in teenagers and reduce self-esteem. This is the first study that shows a direct link between screen time and mental health. Psychologist and CBS News contributor Lisa Damour joins "CBS This Morning" to discuss tips for parents who want to decrease their teens' cell phone usage and how screen time affects important sleep habits." https://www.cbsnews.com/videos/new-study-links-phone-use-and-mental-health-issues-in-teens/ For updates and the "Arafel" biomagnetics and #EMR archive please see Twitter Moment: https://twitter.com/i/moments/930097464530690052

BBC Didn't Deign to Broadcast most Scathing Interview (so "we" are): #DPAC #UNCRPD #UN #UniversalCredit #Austerity #IllegalState #CentreforSocialJustice

Quote; "A BBC interview, of which only 20 seconds out of more than 10 minutes were broadcast, has come to light. And it has exposed the UN’s most scathing attack on the Conservative government to date.

Published by the UN, it reveals the organisation thinks that austerity is “life threatening” to many disabled people in the UK. And it sees the government’s actions potentially leading to “killings and euthanasia”, because it has helped create a society where a whole group of people are viewed as “parasites”. But it’s an interview the BBC completely dumbed down for its viewers.

A ‘human catastrophe’

 

In August, the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) met in Geneva, Switzerland. It was assessing if the UK government meets its obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled People.

And it was publicly unequivocal in its opinion on how disabled people are treated by the Conservative government. Its Chair, Theresia Degener, said in a statement seen by The Canary:

Disabled people: ‘parasites’ who could be ‘killed’

 

In the BBC interview, one of the UN’s most scathing comments was about public attitudes towards disabled people. Degener said that the government and the media “have some responsibility” for society seeing disabled people as “parasites, living on social benefits… and [living on] the taxes of other people”. And she said these “very, very dangerous” attitudes could  “lead to violence… and if not, to killings and euthanasia”. And she urged the government to “stop” this:" Go to: https://www.thecanary.co/uk/2017/09/15/bbc-didnt-broadcast-uns-scathing-interview-ever-uk-government-full-audio/ For full article and audio of this interview.

 

4 out of 5 Default Under Universal Credit: Flassbeck Economics

 

Quote; "Since the conservatives came to power in 2010, one million jobs in the public sector have been lost (see here). The champions of austerity have more than doubled national debt. It is now the sixth-highest of any advanced economy. Today, 4.2 million disabled people live in poverty in the UK. As a UN committee wrote, government policies in the UK “have caused grave and systematic violations in the rights of disabled people” (see below). The number of homeless people in the UK has doubled since 2010 (see here, here and here for a report of the Department of Communities and Local Government). When the Tories returned to power in 2010, there were some 66 food banks in the UK. Today, there are more than 2.000 and they cannot keep up. The Universal Credit Scheme (“social welfare”) that the Tories have introduced leads to an avalanche of evictions (see here; today, 4 out of 5 people who have been transferred to this new scheme face eviction because they are unable to pay rent (see here and here))*. But no problem, the Tories are cooking up a scheme which may ultimately prevent up to four million people from voting in the next general election (see here). Last Saturday, Boris Johnson repeated his scandalous Brexit lie about the £350 million a week that the UK would invest in the NHS if the country would be out of the EU (see here for an excellent article on Theresa May, her government and all the Brexit lies). For the rest, it is all about the immigrants – May’s personal pathological obsession." Go to: http://www.flassbeck-economics.com/the-tories-are-using-the-brexit-to-turn-the-uk-into-a-right-wing-dictatorship/ For full article.

 

*Italics mine 

 

Millions of the UK’s poorest families driven into deeper poverty

 

Quote; "Commissioned by the LGA, “The Cumulative Impact of Welfare Reform: A national picture,” shows the impact of welfare reform across the whole of the UK. It assesses the devastating impact of welfare cuts, growing inflation and ever-steeper rent rises in the private sector.
The study examined over 40 local authorities, representing 9.1 million households, receiving either a Department for Work and Pensions benefit, Housing Benefit, or Tax Credits. The data was examined via a modelling tool, the Benefits and Budgeting Calculator, used to measure the impact of reforms that have taken place and those yet to come.

It finds that reductions in household income will hit poorest families hardest, with more than 84 percent of lone parents or couples with children set to lose up to £50 a week or more in income.
The government’s overall agenda, dressed up as welfare “reform,” is underpinned by slashing welfare spending and encouraging people to move from benefits into work. By 2015, after five years of austerity, the Conservative/Liberal Democrats coalition had slashed nearly £17 billion from the social security budget. Theresa May’s current Tory government is committed to a further £12 billion in welfare cuts by 2018. This equates to a £1,500 cut for 8 million households in the two years to 2018." Go to: http://truepublica.org.uk/united-kingdom/millions-uks-poorest-families-driven-deeper-poverty/ For full and extensive article.

Mother kills herself after son’s disability benefits slashed

Quote; "A mother committed suicide after asking mental health workers “What have I got to do? Top myself to get help for my son?”.
73-year-old Valerie Grant walked in front of a train on 23rd April after a string of benefits and support were taken from her severely autistic son James, 37.

Shocking removal of support

 

In the months leading to Mrs Grant’s suicide, Mr Grant was devastated by the removal of his disability benefits.
He had his support system completely stripped away from him by the Department for Work and Pensions. The inquest heard:

• He lost his work placement as a bin man
• He was told he would lose his disability allowance
• He discovered he did not qualify for PIP (personal independence payments)
• He was informed that he no longer qualified for day care
• He was turned down for accommodation

 

Suicidal 

Mrs Grant had a history of depression. On the 10th January, she scored 96% for the severity of her mental health state after telling her GP she was suffering suicidal thoughts.
Following this, she was given a routine appointment which she did not attend."..

"An inquest in Cannock concluded ‘she had taken her own life whilst suffering from depression.’
Coroner Andrew Haigh accepted that lack of support was the main issue. He said:

There were a number of agencies involved, but nobody took a lead. I do have concerns about the lack of support, but I don’t think there’s any one agency that I can write to to try to remedy this,

Mr Haigh has previously raised concerns about the possible link between benefits and suicides, calling it a “worthwhile issue to explore”.
In an emotional outburst at the hearing, Mrs Grant’s stepson, Stuart Grant, shouted:

It is just being swept under the carpet. One agency blames another agency and they can get away with it.

Tragically common 

 

Sadly, Mrs Grant’s decision to end her life shortly after such dismal decisions by the DWP is not an isolated incident." Go to: http://evolvepolitics.com/mother-killed-get-help-son-disability-benefits-slashed/ For full article.

Disability assessors 'lack right skills'

Quote; "A report from a UN committee has criticised the UK government for its treatment of disabled people, saying it needs to do much more to protect the rights of the disabled.
The UK is required to regularly report to the UN on how it is honouring the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities*.
Anastasia Tempest, who lives in York, has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair.
She told 5 live’s Tony Livesey: "Social care managers are not equipped, and lack skill, in knowing how to assess people with disabilities."
She said she was asked "quite ridiculous" questions in her assessment, including "who does your eyeshadow?" and "do you put your own earrings in?"
A government spokesman said: “We’re disappointed that this report does not accurately reflect the evidence we gave to the UN, and fails to recognise all the progress we’ve made to empower disabled people."
He said the UK spent a record £50bn a year to support disabled people and those with health conditions - the second highest amount in the G7.
The UK was committed to furthering rights for all disabled people, he said, adding that almost 600,000 had moved into work over four years." Go to: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-41117812/disability-assessors-lack-right-skills

*Bold italics mine...How many Brits know that this is the case? Is the process open to public submissions?

 

"Case managers like me are well-trained to deal with any claimants threatening suicide" Quote; ""It is not uncommon for charities and support workers to inform case managers – the ones whose job it is to assess people for universal credit and other benefits – of the law, rather than the other way round. Full-time case managers on average handle in the region of 300 claims each. We recently started a new way of working whereby tasks are prioritised in a “trigger” approach, meaning we often only have time to look at the highest risk cases. Payments and “payment blockers” are the first priority but many case managers struggle to make it past these on a daily basis. Claimants are told that they must fill out an online “universal credit journal” about their job searches and keep it up to date in order to release the benefit – their “work coach” is the person who’s supposed to keep in touch with them about those notes. But in reality, claimants are putting important journal messages about jobs and interviews online all the time, and the case managers and work coaches can’t reply. Each employee has dozens of other unseen journal messages they simply don’t have enough time to address." Go to: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/universal-credit-dwp-worker-case-manager-benefits-system-government-food-banks-a7998196.html for full article.  Arafel:  I know from personal experience that if the claimant wants to appeal an Employment and Support Allowance decision they may not claim Universal Credit during the process of appeal (and this is true during the initial "mandatory" reconsideration period also), such appellants may only apply for Job Seekers Allowance. What genuine appellant will subject themselves to the JSA regime? Most find the notion frightening and will avoid the strictures of JSA if at all possible. I wanted my ESA claim reconsidered but have been forced by this policy to try to claim the disability component of Universal Credit. I was without benefits of any kind for approx. four weeks following my unsuccessful ESA claim, the Govt. are now billing me for this pleasure and (like 4-5 U.C claimants), I now have a rent debt and am receiving less (following deductions), than I would be on JSA! We are a constitutional monarchy that relies on the judiciary to direct parliament concerning its legislation, who I ask you sanctioned this particular mugging of the vulnerable? It is legal nonsense.    The bias inherent in the assessment process for ESA and UC claimants detailed in the story below is precisely what I experienced, in-fact my ESA appeal was to be based primarily on the breathtaking lack of inquiry made as to the state of my mental and emotional health. I had just lost an upper tribunal appeal for Personal Independence Payment that supported a decision not to award me the benefit based on a score of six points (where PIP starts at eight points), the ESA assessor some months later scored me zero points out of fifteen ("Theresa I can walk!"). How the Tories Use the Language of Social Justice to Sell Us Social Injustice Quote; "Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith excels at this kind of redefinition, setting up a think-tank, the "Centre for Social Justice", to lend intellectual heft to his politics. The CSJ is a remarkable exercise in finding evidence to fit conclusions, with its "Breakdown Britain" report recommending marriage as a solution to all social ills, and sending its researchers to the US to formulate the basis for Conservative "workfare" policy. Both Duncan Smith, in his endless references to drug addicts and the permanently jobless, and his pet think-tank, promote the idea of a parasitical "underclass" that need shaking out of dependency, and use that analysis to gut social provision across the board. It didn't matter that the analysis was discredited by countless social scientists and historians: it gave IDS the chance to redefine "social justice" as a matter of personal moral probity, so cuts were a painful but necessary medicine, rather than a matter of entrenched wealth gaps, inequality of opportunity or exploitative employment – matters unexamined by the "independent" CSJ."  Go to: https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/9bjg9p/conservatives-use-the-language-of-social-justice-to-pursue-socially-unjust-policies for full article. The job coach has decided this person can work 1 hour per week and for no more than 12 (twelve) minutes each day Quote; "The  ‘job coach’ – a title given to a jobcentre worker  – has decided that this person can and indeed must contract to look for work in order to receive "Universal Credit" (not "ESA" ed.  Arafel), which is paid at the same amount as job seekers allowance (JSA) of £73.10 per week. The job coach has decided this person can work 1 hour per week and for no more than 12 (twelve) minutes each day and with a 45 minute travel time to and from each 12 minute maximum spell of work each day. This scrounger is FIT FOR WORK according to the DWP! As you can see at the top of the page it lists what practical conditions this person has in terms of employment. The person: Cannot stand for more than 5 minutes Cannot sit for more than 5 minutes Cannot work further than 100 metres Cannot operate machinery as medication makes here drowsy Cannot operate machinery as medication causes concentration problems Cannot travel more than 45 minutes each way to work (the usual stipulation is 90 minutes each way!) Yet this woman is FIT FOR WORK according to the DWP and can work for up to TWELVE MINUTES PER DAY. This genuine letter describes what the DWP and the Tory government mean when they say you are FIT FOR WORK. In DWP and Tory-speak FIT FOR work is the lowest common denominator and if you are fit to work for this 1 hour per week though it could easily be 1 minute per week you are deemed as fit for work. The fact that no employer would ever employ anyone for 12 minutes each day has no bearing whatsoever on being deemed ‘fit for work’ and having to show that you have sought work for this time as a legally binding commitment in order to receive the same £73.10 per week that a fully-abled body and mind person receives. (Please excuse terminology) IF and at the absolute discretion of the job coach you have not done enough to search for work then they have the absolute power to sanction the person which means no benefit paid at all and for up to three years!" Go to: https://speyejoe2.wordpress.com/2017/08/25/fit-for-work-oh-do-feck-off/ for full article. "Parity of Esteem" #MentalHealth Quote; "The Tories are currently claiming that they have given ‘parity of esteem’ to mental health. Yet just last week the SKWAWKBOX shared the account of someone with severe mental health issues who just weeks ago was denied support based on a series of questions, by a private company on behalf of the DWP (Dept for Work & Pensions), that concerned only physical health. The film below is four years old. It was made by Tyneside Mind – and it won the 2013 Royal Television Society Award Winner for ‘Best Factual Non Broadcast’. Yet only a little over 21,000 people have seen it. That needs to become every single person in this country. In August, the mainstream media and the Establishment – including right-wing Labour MPs – rounded on the excellent Labour MP Laura Pidcock for saying that she regards Tory MPs as ‘the enemy’ because of the harm they do to people. The vast majority of people, watching this film, will find it impossible to disagree with her. Four years ago, this video typified the experience of many people – with mental and physical health problems – in the devastating impact of government determination to remove support from those who need it. The situation has only grown worse since." Go to: https://skwawkbox.org/2017/10/24/every-person-in-uk-needs-to-see-this-short-film-wca-consciouscruelty/ Velvet Glove? It's the "soft" British Fascist version of the NAZI slave state except our huge subterranean concentration camps contain thousands upon thousands performing only one task once a week (for a life-sapping bowl of gruel and water); ...."Use your 'ead Tommy!!" "Alright Ganger!" BANG! Aside; "Tommy hasn't got any arms but he's productive!" World is ignoring human rights of poor despite disproportionate abuses – UN expert Quote; "GENEVA (16 October 2017) – The world’s poor are at disproportionate risk of torture, arrest, early death and domestic violence, but their civil and political rights are being airbrushed out of the picture, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty Philip Alston has warned in a hard-hitting statement to mark International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on 17 October. Even human rights groups are failing to draw the link between civil and political rights violations and poverty. Alston, who will report on the issue to the General Assembly later this month, said it was shocking that on the 25th anniversary of the international day, so much remained to be done: “If you are a victim of torture, the chances are significant that you are also poor. The same applies if you are a woman or a child who is a victim of domestic abuse. As a poor individual, you are more likely to be arrested and prosecuted for crimes and, if you are, you are less likely to be able to afford a lawyer. The poor experience additional barriers when they want to vote and often have virtually no influence on political decision-making. In short, people in lower socio-economic classes are much more likely to get killed, tortured or experience an invasion of their privacy, and are far less likely to realize their right to vote, or otherwise participate in the political process. Development and human rights organizations, as well as Governments, mostly ignore violations of the civil and political rights of the poor, with terrible results. Key international agencies, such as the World Bank and the OECD, ignore human rights altogether and have paid no attention to the specific civil and political rights of those living in poverty. Even those working in international human rights, including many UN Special Rapporteurs, experts, groups and committees, often focus on civil and political rights violations without dealing with the fact that these are interlinked with poverty. The same applies to international human rights NGOs. Analytical work like the 2006 report by the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) on the root causes of torture is the proverbial exception that proves the rule. Airbrushing the civil and political rights of the poor out of the picture has taken several forms. Firstly, human rights organizations have assumed that poverty can be explained exclusively by various forms of discrimination. But the use of a surrogate lens is clearly inadequate for capturing the very specific consequences of the varied forms of discrimination, oppression, stigma and violence experienced by many of the poor on a daily basis. Secondly, virtually all Governments, UN human rights bodies, and human rights organizations have ignored the fact that key provisions in all major human rights treaties prohibit discrimination of any kind on grounds of social origin, property, birth or other status. The result is that discrimination based on socio-economic class is hardly ever part of any analysis. I call for a new approach by the human rights community, the development community and Governments that gives due attention to how often and how exactly the civil and political rights of the poor are violated*." Go to: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22237&LangID=E For full article. *Italics mine.   Arafel: Recommended Emendations to Universal Credit 1. An immediate rise in all benefit levels and the minimum wage. 2. No ESA claimant changing to the new system is to lose their entitlement to Universal Credit Disability Component payments until they have been assessed and a mandatory appeal entered into (if requested), and dismissed (this could be done by the simple expedient of treating the U.C disability component assessment as the re-application for ESA it would otherwise have been). 3. There will be no advance payments made as loans, all advance payments made to successful applicants for any component of Universal Credit should be treated as a component of the benefit. 4. No one in receipt of Housing Benefit is to have that stopped at any time. 5. Housing Benefit payments and the Housing Benefit component of U.C should be paid directly to the landlords. 6. New Universal Credit claimants should enter into an introductory period lasting not less than six months when their capabilities can be properly assessed and orientation "workshops" attended (a number of creative ideas could be tried regarding targeted "field trips" -et.al-, for certain demographics within the system etc.). Please see Twitter "Moment" for updates to these stories and previous posts concerning electric bicycles and mobility, go to: https://twitter.com/i/moments/922709645877235712

Tactical Nukes, "Rods of God" and Space Rocket X: The U.S Continues to Militarise Space #SpaceWeapons #NKorea #Proliferation

Quote; "Since 1967, there has been an agreement among 107 countries that prohibits the use of biological, nuclear and chemical weapons from outer space.

These Air Force 'rods from god' could hit with the force of a nuclear weapon

The Air Force now draws new attention with their latest weapon development: super-strong tungsten rods that can be fired from space to any city on Earth.
These can hit their targets with a force comparable to that of intercontinental missiles, reports the military news site „We Are The Mighty“." Go to: http://www.disclose.tv/news/the_us_air_force_has_a_new_weapon_as_strong_as_a_nuclear_bomb__but_without_fallout/140227 For full article and videos.

Quote; "During the Vietnam War, the US used what it called "Lazy Dog" bombs. These were simply solid steel pieces, less than 2 inches long, fitted with fins. There was no explosive — they were simply dropped by the hundreds from planes flying above Vietnam.
Lazy Dog projectiles (aka "kinetic bombardment") could reach speeds of up to 500 mph as they fell to the ground and could penetrate 9 inches of concrete after being dropped from as little as 3,000 feet.
The idea is like shooting bullets at a target, except instead of losing velocity as it travels, the projectile is gaining velocity and energy that will be expended on impact. They were shotgunning a large swath of jungle, raining bullet-size death at high speeds.
That's how Project Thor came to be.

Instead of hundreds of small projectiles from a few thousand feet, Thor used a large projectile from a few thousand miles above the Earth. The "rods from god" idea was a bundle of telephone-pole-size (20 feet long, 1 foot in diameter) tungsten rods, dropped from orbit, reaching a speed of up to 10 times the speed of sound.
The rod itself would penetrate hundreds of feet into the Earth, destroying any potential hardened bunkers or secret underground sites. More than that, when the rod hits, the explosion would be on par with the magnitude of a ground-penetrating nuclear weapon — but with no fallout.
It would take 15 minutes to destroy a target with such a weapon.
One Quora user who works in the defense aerospace industry quoted a cost of no less than $10,000 a pound to fire anything into space. With 20 cubic feet of dense tungsten weighing in at just over 24,000 pounds, the math is easy. Just one of the rods would be prohibitively expensive. The cost of $230 million a rod was unimaginable during the Cold War.
These days, not so much. The Bush administration even considered revisiting the idea to hit underground nuclear sites in rogue nations in the years following 9/11. Interestingly enough, the cost of a single Minuteman III ICBM was $7 million in 1962, when it was first introduced ($57 million adjusted for inflation).
The trouble with a nuclear payload is that it isn't designed to penetrate deep into the surface. And the fallout from a nuclear device can be devastating to surrounding, potentially friendly areas.
A core takeaway from the concept of weapons like Project Thor's is that hypersonic weapons pack a significant punch and may be the future of global warfare*." Go to: http://uk.businessinsider.com/air-force-rods-from-god-kinetic-weapon-hit-with-nuclear-weapon-force-2017-9?r=US&IR=T
For full article.

Nb. All the videos of the "Nuke Strike" on Yemen are now..."no videos found" on Blogger embed...url paste will not reveal either, go to:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=84&v=4VZmxDCbRVM and/or see the Arafel archive..(Edit; this was true for me at least at time of writing, however a "Lion's Ground" video did embed today and quite frankly it is one of the best I've seen on this subject, text and video now appears on; "NEW Footage of #Yemen Bunker Buster and Nafeez Ahmed on War Crimes #SaudiArabia #Israel #UN #MiddleEastEye" Go to:
http://www.arafel.co.uk/2017/07/new-raw-footage-of-yemen-bunker-buster.html edited 14/09/2017)

Why a "Neutron" Bomb?:

 I don't think it was the Indians though..!

*Arafel: Uninformed and/or disingenuous from Business Insider here (the usual circumlocution from the "money men" -however if BI say it's going down you can bet there will have to be a very good reason why it doesn't-), bunker busting nukes have in-fact proliferated, I see this initiative as a response to precisely those problems, there are after all supposed to be prohibitions against the use of nuclear weapons no matter what the size (although if the videos of the strike on Yemen are valid a "small one" is hardly something one would set off in the garden), Was this what President Trump was referring to recently when he said;  "fire and fury like the world has never seen"? For surely any president would prefer to make an appropriate response without having to resort to nuclear weapons? It seems strange that no-one has yet publicly examined the nature and strength of North Korea's defences, you can build some awful big, deep bunkers with all that focused people power, it's not even a question of tech just muscle (especially given the longevity of the N.Korean regime).

Quote;  "A military space plane spread its wings and a rocket stretched its legs during SpaceX’s Sept. 7 launch of a classified mission from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
The 230-foot Falcon 9 rocket rumbled from historic pad 39A at 10 a.m., as weather cooperated a day before Brevard County planned mandatory barrier island evacuations ahead of Hurricane Irma’s projected arrival.

On top of the rocket was the Air Force’s X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, an unmanned mini-shuttle resembling one of NASA’s retired orbiters, but about a quarter the size at 29 feet long and windowless. The program was riding for the first time on a SpaceX rocket, after four turns on United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V.

The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV-5) is being staged in preparation for its upcoming launch on September 7, 2017.

To preserve the mission’s secrecy, SpaceX cut off its broadcast a few minutes into the flight, after nine Merlin main engines cut off and the first-stage booster fell away.
About two hours later, Gen. John Raymond, the head of Air Force Space Command, confirmed on Twitter that the launch was a success.
Boeing, which built and operates two reusable X-37B orbiters housed in former shuttle hangars at KSC, did the same.
After separating, the roughly 16-story Falcon booster pirouetted in space and flew back toward a pad on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
The rocket stage touched down on four landing legs, announcing its return with sonic booms that reported across the region." Go to: http://www.wearethemighty.com/news/this-secret-air-force-spaceplane-just-got-shot-into-orbit-again For full article.

 Use of tactical nuclear weapons discussed with South Korea

Quote; "WASHINGTON – Defense Secretary Jim Mattis confirmed Monday that the U.S. and South Korea have discussed employing tactical nuclear weapons as an option to defend against North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

The acknowledgment from Mattis comes as the U.S. and international community grapple with increasingly aggressive nuclear weapons testing by North Korea.

In the last few weeks, North Korea has tested an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the U.S. mainland and tested a hydrogen bomb, according to U.S. Strategic Command’s assessment of the program.

Last Thursday, as Mattis was at STRATCOM assessing the U.S. nuclear posture, North Korea fired another intermediate range missile over Japan, sending millions of Japanese citizens into shelters."...

.."The U.S. has around 500 B-61 low-yield, or “tactical” nuclear gravity bombs ― some with yields as small as 0.3 kilotons in their arsenal, said James McKeon, a nuclear weapons analyst for the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation." Go to: http://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2017/09/18/mattis-use-of-tactical-nuclear-weapons-discussed-with-south-korea/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EBB%2009.19.2017&utm_term=Editorial%20-%20Early%20Bird%20Brief For full article.

"Grey Flag": #AlGoreisms and Such #Charlottseville #NWO #Trump

Posted by Gerard on August 16, 2017, 7:28 am

Quote; "What an unfortunate "coin-incident" ladies and gents..We agonise here over the complex algorithms which drive the "Deep State's" mechanisms of social control incl. esp. the possibility of the creation or "encouragement" of terrorist events around the world but the simple application of Divide and Rule seems to have escaped the chattering-classes' attention..Look at it this way...."Look at them kicking Saddam (ha, ha), they're not laughing now!"...To a Utilitarian; "oh they're kicking the statue of General Lee who is laughing now?!" I'm not..as with the ritual immolation of human effigies these things should be left to the past....some might compare it to Soviet Russia but there were how many statues of Stalin? We need to be able to see our pasts (whatever they are), and these places can become iconic symbols of healing and rapprochement..what is left otherwise is a cultural void that can provide succor to no-one...Brits should consider very carefully the history of the Union (because that is what this is about..controlling and dividing same), ..and the so-called radicals, who are (as usual), so concerned with justice and freedom, just what effect the Yankee victory had on the  Amerinds.....!" Post to The Lifeboat News message board. Nb. In the case of the icons of social engineering* when they become ubiquitous the balance must be re-addressed but this is an attempt (ostensibly although it is the intent of those participating -or "being manipulated"-, here that is of import), to bury the past....never a good idea. Neither does it appear that these same chattering classes have considered (or acknowledged), the aping of fundamentalist terror attacks that this tragic incident represents... Heather Heyer #RIP "..another has been sacrificed to the corn deities; her motives were clear and laudable in that she felt the Right Wing protest was something that given the current, "shoot first ask questions later" NRA lead policy (that tries to allow Americans to continue to live an undeclared civil war), which is wedded to the continuance of what is essentially a political motivated policy of exclusion, not just for Afro-Caribbeans but disaffected whites also, that criminalises dissent and makes addicts of conformists (Mr.Trump), she must make a stand against (for those concerned advocate -one way or another-, for the continuance of same)." Post to The Lifeboat News message board. *This was an easy cause to use to ignite a forest-fire of confrontation nevertheless the erection of mass-produced images is an attempt (at least), to indulge in social engineering by the disaffected southern whites, however balance does not admit to a Year Zero type approach in response, the U.S Government should be in control let it make sensible policies instead of stoking the fires of hate. History is written by the victors.. "The truth behind most of the Confederate monuments being torn down tells an even larger story than you'd realize" Go to: https://twitter.com/mic/status/898941499550736384 for video. Statues of medical racist who experimented on slaves should also be taken down Quote; "protesters gathered in New York City’s Central Park to call for the removal of a monument to James Marion Sims – the “father of gynaecology” – a doctor who bought, sold and experimented on slaves. There are two other Sims statues on state-owned property. One is in Columbia, South Carolina, and the other in Montgomery, Alabama. In an interview with MSNBC, Steve Benjamin, the mayor of Columbia, recently agreed that the local Sims statue should come down “at some point”. Now the New York Academy of Medicine has reissued a statement supporting the removal of Sims’ effigy from Central Park. Over the past five decades, a small army of academics – including social historians, feminists, African American scholars and bioethicists – have reached a consensus that Sims’ medical research on enslaved patients was dangerous, exploitative and deeply unethical – even by the standards of his times. And doctors at the Medical University of South Carolina, in Sims’ home state, have publicly acknowledged Sims’ overt medical racism. James Marion Sims. R. O'Brien/Wikimedia Commons The ongoing removal of statues that celebrate the Confederacy and other forms of white supremacy, is an opportunity to also correct the problem of Sims’ troubling presence on the symbolic landscape of America’s past.   Searching for victims It is common knowledge that Sims was a slave owner during the years he practised medicine in Montgomery, Alabama. It is also well known that he performed dangerous experiments on enslaved women, men and babies. These experiments were so dangerous that even his friends and fellow doctors told him that he was going too far." Go to: http://theconversation.com/statues-of-medical-racist-who-experimented-on-slaves-should-also-be-taken-down-82704?utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#link_time=1503679553 For full article... Arnie Wades in...   Quote; Are we really "all on the same side"? Posted by noamswampy in reply to "Are we really "all on the same side"?" 1) Where did all the guys with baseball bats come from? 2) Having been involved in organising demonstrations and marches under police control I can tell you that the chances of getting a march authorised when there is another march planned for the same time and place is zero. How then do these fascist vs anti-fascist (that is, fascist of the other tribe) get authorised by the police? If one march is not authorised then why is is not closed down at the early stages as normally happens? Post to; "The Lifeboat News" message board. Dear America: If You Want to Stop Racism, Tear Down the Drug War—Not Statues Quote;  “In America, the area of government that is most responsible for maintaining a racist system, allowing racist actors to oppress their targets with impunity, and perpetuating the suffering and plight of millions through the persecution of morally innocent individuals — is the war on drugs. Without a doubt, the war on drugs fuels the racist system by targeting minorities and the poor. It serves to increase interactions between police—who are often caught joining the force to act out their racist desires—and the citizens. The drug war, from the police departments to the court systems, unequivocally targets and punishes minorities harder for the same victimless crimes for which their white counterparts receive slaps on the wrist. READ MORE:  Here's Why Big Pharma Fights Legalization -- Opioid Use Plummets in States With Legal Weed - Study As TFTP reported last year, a scathing report in Harper’s Magazine, written by Dan Baum set the record straight and relieved all doubt over the intentions of the drug war. John Daniel Ehrlichman, counsel and domestic policy chief to President Richard Nixon, came clean on the real reason behind the war on drugs — to criminalize blacks and hippies. According to Baum, he tracked down Ehrlichman in 1994 at his engineering firm in Atlanta, Georgia. "You want to know what this was really all about?" Ehrlichman bluntly asked Baum of the war on drugs. “The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did""* Go to:  http://thefreethoughtproject.com/dear-america-want-stop-racism-tear-drug-war-not-statues/ For full article. *Italics mine.  The Story of Charlottesville was Written in Blood in the Ukraine Quote; "What I find interesting about the current discussion around what many are referring to as the emboldening of the radical white supremacist right is how easy it is to mobilize opposition against the crude and overt white supremacists we saw in Charlottesville. So easy, in fact, that it’s really a distraction from the more difficult and dangerous work that needs to be done to confront the real right-wing power brokers. The white supremacy that some of us see as more insidious is not reflected in the simple, stereotypical images of the angry, Nazi-saluting alt-righter or even Donald Trump. Instead, it is the normalized and thus invisible white supremacist ideology inculcated into cultural and educational institutions and the policies that stem from those ideas. That process doesn’t just produce the storm troopers of the armed and crazed radical right but also such covert true believers as Robert Ruben from Goldman Sachs, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Tony Blair and Nancy Pelosi – “decent” individuals who have never questioned for a moment the superiority of Western civilization, who believe completely in the White West’s right and responsibility to determine which nations should have sovereignty and who should be the leaders of “lesser” nations. And who believe that there is no alternative to the wonders of global capitalism even if it means that billions of human beings are consigned permanently to what Fanon called the “zone of non-being.” This is the white supremacy that I am concerned with. And while I recognize the danger of the violent right-wing movement, I am more concerned with the right-wing policies that are being enacted into law and policy by both Democrats and Republicans at every level of government. Go to: http://dissidentvoice.org/2017/08/the-story-of-charlottesville-was-written-in-blood-in-the-ukraine/ For full article.   Quote; "For many, the Confederate memorials continue to represent this repression. They are a celebration of southern identity as white. Since the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, the slogan “BLM”, as well as the names of victims of police shootings have appeared on memorials around the country. “Black Lives Matter” was sprayed on Charlottesville’s Lee statue in the days following the Charleston church shootings in 2015. Along with calls for the removal of Confederate flags from civic buildings there have been increasingly vocal, and successful, demands to reconsider the place of monuments in public spaces. Who was Robert E. Lee? The statue in Charlottesville is of Lee atop his horse, Traveller. The Confederate general and native of Virginia holds a hat in one hand and his horse’s reins in the other, his sword ready at his side. It was unveiled by Lee’s great-granddaughter at a ceremony in May 1924. As was the custom on these occasions it was accompanied by a parade and speeches. In the dedication address, Lee was celebrated as a hero, who embodied “the moral greatness of the Old South”, and as a proponent of reconciliation between the two sections. The war itself was remembered as a conflict between “interpretations of our Constitution” and between “ideals of democracy.” Here was the states’ rights argument. The south fought a noble war over its right to self-determination, rather than an effort to keep millions enslaved. Lee, claimed one of the speakers, “abhorred slavery”. In his position as commander of the Confederate Army of North Virginia, Lee represented military endeavour rather than a political struggle to uphold human bondage. This has made Lee a powerful symbol of the Confederacy. He allowed white southerners to ignore the central role of slavery in the war. They could forget that the southern states seceded in order to uphold slavery and that their defeat meant freedom to millions of enslaved people. There was no space for black memories of emancipation in the south’s public spaces. Confederates were white and their monuments were celebrations of whiteness. Lee is one of the most frequent figures to be memorialised in statues, aside from the common soldier. In 2016, the Southern Poverty Law Center catalogued all publicly supported spaces dedicated to the Confederacy, finding 203 examples named for Robert E. Lee. Streets, highways, counties, cities, parks, monuments and 52 public schools are named for the Confederate general. Up until 2015, Lee’s birthday was officially marked in five states. The same year as Lee’s statue appeared in Charlottesville, Virginia passed laws which strengthened definitions of who was “colored” and who was “white”, and which reinforced the law prohibiting interracial marriage. Then, two years later, the state passed a law to enforce racial segregation in places of public entertainment. The monument to Lee served the same purpose as the legislation – to remind African Americans of their perceived place and inferiority. White nationalists gathered to protect the statue in 2017 because they wanted to celebrate its message. Like the original creators and supporters of the Lee monument, they sought to celebrate a white supremacist vision not just of the past, but of the present." Go to: http://theconversation.com/charlottesville-virginia-the-history-of-the-statue-at-the-centre-of-violent-unrest-82476?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=twitterbutton For full article. Arafel: This statue however was unveiled by his great-granddaughter and therefore was a known "sensitive site". Also see; "The Night they Drove Old Dixie Down!" Go to: http://www.arafel.co.uk/2015/06/the-night-they-drove-old-dixie-down.html  & "American "Justice" re: #Ferguson." Go to: http://www.arafel.co.uk/2014/11/american-justice-re-ferguson.html Quote; ""Racism is evil and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans," Mr Trump said in a statement at the White House.".." Who was General Robert E Lee? "Robert Edward Lee was an American general who commanded the Confederate Army forces during the US Civil War between 1862 and 1865. Historical documents show that Lee was exceptionally cruel towards his subordinates, with one slave describing him as the meanest person he had ever met. The Robert E Lee statue in Charlottesville sparked violence in the town Robert Edward Lee was a Confederate general in the American Civil War In 1856 he penned a letter where he described slavery a “moral and political error”, while at the same time believing that slaves were better off in America than they were in their homeland.   “In this enlightened age, there are few I believe, but what will acknowledge, that slavery as an institution, is a moral & political evil in any country. It is useless to expatiate on its disadvantages,” he wrote. “I think it however a greater evil to the white than to the black race, & while my feelings are strongly enlisted in behalf of the latter, my sympathies are more strong for the former." Go to: http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/841050/Robert-E-Lee-statue-US-Charlottesville-who-is-confederate-civil-war-general Tear down statues? At this rate, we’ll have to rename New York Quote; "Columbus cost indigenous peoples dear. Thomas Jefferson owned slaves. As Oxford University was recently reminded, Cecil Rhodes was an imperialist. Prior to 1960 or so, every celebrated man in the Western world would probably qualify in today’s terms as a ‘misogynist’ (a strong word thrown around with well too much abandon).".. .."This campaign is potentially limitless, not to mention anti-historical. More, any drive for ideological purity is flat-out creepy. Can we have a little more ‘Let he who is without sin cast the first stone’? This rampage against any regard for ancestors who didn’t tick every modern political box has a totalitarian texture, and would leave Americans a sterile public environment with only statues of Eleanor Roosevelt and Harriet Tubman — until, that is, some eager beaver unearths, say, their insensitive remarks about cross-dressers." Go to: https://www.spectator.co.uk/2017/09/tear-down-statues-at-this-rate-well-have-to-rename-new-york/ For full article.

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