IN RESPONSE TO THE OIL SPILL IN THE GULF OF MEXICO
-FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-
www.thezeitgeistmovement.com
>>>
(Venus, Florida- May 12rd, 2010) On the Gulf Coast of the United States the shock is now setting in for millions of American citizens as we now realize the true extent of the damage caused by our desire for obsolete and dangerous fossil fuels, and our perpetuation of an outdated monetary world society, where the bottom line has always been profit at all costs, be it human or environmental. It is time for a viable solution to deal with a system hardwired for self destruction.
It is with that very unfortunate introduction that we, The Zeitgeist Movement, now must enter the international conversation to express the need for true change. That word is not some jingoist slogan devised by a focus group, but the evident desire of the public for a meaningful transition out of the destructive legacy, the burden of our past mistakes as a maturing civilization. We only have one Earth; there is no reset button here.
We must break out of our established ideologies that have prevented progress. Ending the political duality, economic stratification and false divisions is key to overcoming our apparent historical bondage that says the future we were promised must remain an elusive dream. We must now rethink our society and outgrow those parts of it that serve to paralyze us.
As of Friday, April 30th it was reported by CBS News (US) that the spill had spread to cover 2,100 square miles and was still spilling at a rate up to 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons) a day. As of today, there has been no progress in stopping this catastrophe. This did not have to happen. It happened because we continue to use an obsolete technology for the sake of maintaining a profitable establishment. An establishment that perpetuates vast inequality in its wages to its employees versus its core owners, destroys fragile and vital eco-systems, and pollutes our air.
It is time for real change, not empty promises. No amount of socialism or free market ideology will save us from ourselves, there needs to be a fundamental re-write of what we think we know, to achieve a sustainable human enterprise.
Our generation has stood and watched as our planet has been raped and pillaged, yet we do nothing. Our generation has stood and watched as our government bailed out the very people who created this economic crisis, yet we do nothing. Our generation has stood and watched as our rights have been stripped away from us, and yet we do nothing. Our generation has stood and watched as we have been handed the problems of the countless generations before it, and we are preparing to do the same to the next generation, and we do nothing.
Let us be the first generation to hand solutions to our children and our children’s children. But we can’t do it alone. Let us break down the barriers we have created amongst ourselves. We need all of you, every last one, to say enough is enough in one voice. Not as Americans or Russians, Christians or Muslims, but as fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters. Let us destroy the lines between us and work to create a world where our children are truly safe and free. Let us create a world where we can tell our children that they can be and do whatever their heart desires, and know deep inside us we are telling them the truth. Let our generation be the one.
We have the tools, we have the knowledge, we have the technology. It is time we make the transition to a world, an economy, and a future we all deserve regardless of geographic location or economic disposition. As long as we rely on legacy systems defined in a 19th century mentality all we will do is spin our wheels while a parade of economic and ecologic disasters visits us again and again. It is time to pull the plug on this charade because as you will find out, there is a better way.
We, the Zeitgeist Movement representatives, reach out to you so that we can all work together to do what must be done. Every man, woman and child has a voice, but together we can create one voice so deafening that no one will have a choice but to listen. But it requires you. It requires you put away preconceived notions you have been told about “the way things are” as if it is the only way, because it's not! Our way of thinking will no longer sustain us. We can either remain in the house of cards we have built and watch it collapse all around us, or we can, through the best our society has to offer, begin to construct a stable mature and thriving society so that the Gulf Coast Oil Spill, the Exxon Valdez and many others are nothing more then an embarrassing footnote in history.
Showing posts with label Society. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Society. Show all posts
RussiaToday
04 November 2009
November 4th marks a one-year anniversary of Obama being elected as America's President. RT's Anastasia Churkina wraps up what the U.S. president and his people have been up to this year.
04 November 2009
November 4th marks a one-year anniversary of Obama being elected as America's President. RT's Anastasia Churkina wraps up what the U.S. president and his people have been up to this year.
Monday 29 April - Thursday 2 May 2002
Adam Curtis' acclaimed series examines the rise of the all-consuming self against the backdrop of the Freud dynasty.
To many in both politics and business, the triumph of the self is the ultimate expression of democracy, where power has finally moved to the people. Certainly the people may feel they are in charge, but are they really? The Century of the Self tells the untold and sometimes controversial story of the growth of the mass-consumer society in Britain and the United States. How was the all-consuming self created, by whom, and in whose interests?
The Freud dynasty is at the heart of this compelling social history. Sigmund Freud, founder of psychoanalysis; Edward Bernays, who invented public relations; Anna Freud, Sigmund's devoted daughter; and present-day PR guru and Sigmund's great grandson, Matthew Freud.
Sigmund Freud's work into the bubbling and murky world of the subconscious changed the world. By introducing a technique to probe the unconscious mind, Freud provided useful tools for understanding the secret desires of the masses. Unwittingly, his work served as the precursor to a world full of political spin doctors, marketing moguls, and society's belief that the pursuit of satisfaction and happiness is man's ultimate goal.
Episode One: Happiness Machines
The story of the relationship between Sigmund Freud and his American nephew, Edward Bernays. Bernays invented the public relations profession in the 1920s and was the first person to take Freud's ideas to manipulate the masses. He showed American corporations how they could make people want things they didn't need by systematically linking mass-produced goods to their unconscious desires.
Bernays was one of the main architects of the modern techniques of mass-consumer persuasion, using every trick in the book, from celebrity endorsement and outrageous PR stunts, to eroticising the motorcar.
His most notorious coup was breaking the taboo on women smoking by persuading them that cigarettes were a symbol of independence and freedom. But Bernays was convinced that this was more than just a way of selling consumer goods. It was a new political idea of how to control the masses. By satisfying the inner irrational desires that his uncle had identified, people could be made happy and thus docile.
It was the start of the all-consuming self which has come to dominate today's world.
----------------------------------
Episode Two: The Engineering of Consent
The programme explores how those in power in post-war America used Freud's ideas about the unconscious mind to try and control the masses.
Politicians and planners came to believe Freud's underlying premise - that deep within all human beings were dangerous and irrational desires and fears. They were convinced that it was the unleashing of these instincts that had led to the barbarism of Nazi Germany. To stop it ever happening again they set out to find ways to control this hidden enemy within the human mind.
Sigmund Freud's daughter, Anna, and his nephew, Edward Bernays, provided the centrepiece philosophy. The US government, big business, and the CIA used their ideas to develop techniques to manage and control the minds of the American people. But this was not a cynical exercise in manipulation. Those in power believed that the only way to make democracy work and create a stable society was to repress the savage barbarism that lurked just under the surface of normal American life.
----------------------------------
Episode Three: There is a Policeman Inside All Our Head: He Must Be Destroyed
In the 1960s, a radical group of psychotherapists challenged the influence of Freudian ideas in America. They were inspired by the ideas of Wilhelm Reich, a pupil of Freud's, who had turned against him and was hated by the Freud family. He believed that the inner self did not need to be repressed and controlled. It should be encouraged to express itself.
Out of this came a political movement that sought to create new beings free of the psychological conformity that had been implanted in people's minds by business and politics.
This programme shows how this rapidly developed in America through self-help movements like Werber Erhard's Erhard Seminar Training - into the irresistible rise of the expressive self: the Me Generation.
But the American corporations soon realised that this new self was not a threat but their greatest opportunity. It was in their interest to encourage people to feel they were unique individuals and then sell them ways to express that individuality. To do this they turned to techniques developed by Freudian psychoanalysts to read the inner desires of the new self.
----------------------------------
Episode Four: Eight People Sipping Wine in Kettering
This episode explains how politicians on the left, in both Britain and America, turned to the techniques developed by business to read and fulfil the inner desires of the self.
Both New Labour, under Tony Blair, and the Democrats, led by Bill Clinton, used the focus group, which had been invented by psychoanalysts, in order to regain power. They set out to mould their policies to people's inner desires and feelings, just as capitalism had learnt to do with products.
Out of this grew a new culture of public relations and marketing in politics, business and journalism. One of its stars in Britain was Matthew Freud who followed in the footsteps of his relation, Edward Bernays, the inventor of public relations in the 1920s.
The politicians believed they were creating a new and better form of democracy, one that truly responded to the inner feelings of individual. But what they didn't realise was that the aim of those who had originally created these techniques had not been to liberate the people but to develop a new way of controlling them.
Adam Curtis' acclaimed series examines the rise of the all-consuming self against the backdrop of the Freud dynasty.
To many in both politics and business, the triumph of the self is the ultimate expression of democracy, where power has finally moved to the people. Certainly the people may feel they are in charge, but are they really? The Century of the Self tells the untold and sometimes controversial story of the growth of the mass-consumer society in Britain and the United States. How was the all-consuming self created, by whom, and in whose interests?
The Freud dynasty is at the heart of this compelling social history. Sigmund Freud, founder of psychoanalysis; Edward Bernays, who invented public relations; Anna Freud, Sigmund's devoted daughter; and present-day PR guru and Sigmund's great grandson, Matthew Freud.
Sigmund Freud's work into the bubbling and murky world of the subconscious changed the world. By introducing a technique to probe the unconscious mind, Freud provided useful tools for understanding the secret desires of the masses. Unwittingly, his work served as the precursor to a world full of political spin doctors, marketing moguls, and society's belief that the pursuit of satisfaction and happiness is man's ultimate goal.
Episode One: Happiness Machines
The story of the relationship between Sigmund Freud and his American nephew, Edward Bernays. Bernays invented the public relations profession in the 1920s and was the first person to take Freud's ideas to manipulate the masses. He showed American corporations how they could make people want things they didn't need by systematically linking mass-produced goods to their unconscious desires.
Bernays was one of the main architects of the modern techniques of mass-consumer persuasion, using every trick in the book, from celebrity endorsement and outrageous PR stunts, to eroticising the motorcar.
His most notorious coup was breaking the taboo on women smoking by persuading them that cigarettes were a symbol of independence and freedom. But Bernays was convinced that this was more than just a way of selling consumer goods. It was a new political idea of how to control the masses. By satisfying the inner irrational desires that his uncle had identified, people could be made happy and thus docile.
It was the start of the all-consuming self which has come to dominate today's world.
----------------------------------
Episode Two: The Engineering of Consent
The programme explores how those in power in post-war America used Freud's ideas about the unconscious mind to try and control the masses.
Politicians and planners came to believe Freud's underlying premise - that deep within all human beings were dangerous and irrational desires and fears. They were convinced that it was the unleashing of these instincts that had led to the barbarism of Nazi Germany. To stop it ever happening again they set out to find ways to control this hidden enemy within the human mind.
Sigmund Freud's daughter, Anna, and his nephew, Edward Bernays, provided the centrepiece philosophy. The US government, big business, and the CIA used their ideas to develop techniques to manage and control the minds of the American people. But this was not a cynical exercise in manipulation. Those in power believed that the only way to make democracy work and create a stable society was to repress the savage barbarism that lurked just under the surface of normal American life.
----------------------------------
Episode Three: There is a Policeman Inside All Our Head: He Must Be Destroyed
In the 1960s, a radical group of psychotherapists challenged the influence of Freudian ideas in America. They were inspired by the ideas of Wilhelm Reich, a pupil of Freud's, who had turned against him and was hated by the Freud family. He believed that the inner self did not need to be repressed and controlled. It should be encouraged to express itself.
Out of this came a political movement that sought to create new beings free of the psychological conformity that had been implanted in people's minds by business and politics.
This programme shows how this rapidly developed in America through self-help movements like Werber Erhard's Erhard Seminar Training - into the irresistible rise of the expressive self: the Me Generation.
But the American corporations soon realised that this new self was not a threat but their greatest opportunity. It was in their interest to encourage people to feel they were unique individuals and then sell them ways to express that individuality. To do this they turned to techniques developed by Freudian psychoanalysts to read the inner desires of the new self.
----------------------------------
Episode Four: Eight People Sipping Wine in Kettering
This episode explains how politicians on the left, in both Britain and America, turned to the techniques developed by business to read and fulfil the inner desires of the self.
Both New Labour, under Tony Blair, and the Democrats, led by Bill Clinton, used the focus group, which had been invented by psychoanalysts, in order to regain power. They set out to mould their policies to people's inner desires and feelings, just as capitalism had learnt to do with products.
Out of this grew a new culture of public relations and marketing in politics, business and journalism. One of its stars in Britain was Matthew Freud who followed in the footsteps of his relation, Edward Bernays, the inventor of public relations in the 1920s.
The politicians believed they were creating a new and better form of democracy, one that truly responded to the inner feelings of individual. But what they didn't realise was that the aim of those who had originally created these techniques had not been to liberate the people but to develop a new way of controlling them.
France Telecom: Communications Giant Hit By 24th Suicide In 18 Months | Business | Sky News
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Quoted from http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Business/France-Telecom-Communications-Giant-Hit-By-24th-Suicide-In-18-Months/Article/200909415394713:
France Telecom: Communications Giant Hit By 24th Suicide In 18 Months | Business | Sky News
Worker Is 24th To Die In Firm's 'Suicide Spiral'
A 24th France Telecom employee has killed himself in what the company says is a "suicide spiral".
The 51-year-old father-of-two hurled himself to his death from a bridge onto a busy road in the Haute-Savoie region of the country.
In a letter to his wife, he blamed the unbearable "atmosphere" at his workplace.
France Telecom has been dogged by an series of suicides in the last 18 months.
The deaths include a woman who jumped from her office window in the summer, while another man survived stabbing himself in the stomach during a work meeting.
Unions say a drive to restructure the company in the face of the global recession is behind the deaths.
The company laid off 22,000 workers between 2006 and 2008 while staff say changing working practices and poor management have placed intolerable pressure on workers.
Labour minister Xavier Darcos this month ordered an official to monitor France Telecom's health and safety meetings.
The company has also been told to delay any relocation plans until October 31.
France Telecom employs around 100,000 people in France and insists the number of suicides is in line with the national average.
It said some of the deaths were down to copycat behaviour.
But one union official said workers had been treated like "sausage meat".
Australian Town Bans Sale Of Bottled Water For Environmental Reasons | World News | Sky News
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Quoted from http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Australian-Town-Bans-Sale-Of-Bottled-Water/Article/200909415393386:
Australian Town Bans Sale Of Bottled Water For Environmental Reasons | World News | Sky News
Green Oz Town Gives Bottled Water The Boot
9:43am UK, Monday September 28, 2009
Ian Woods, Sky News correspondent, in Australia
A small town in Australia has become the first in the world to ban the sale of bottled water.
Residents said the cost of making, transporting and disposing of the plastic bottles is damaging the environment.
People in Bundanoon in New South Wales voted in favour of the ban three months ago and since then, chilled filtered water dispensers have been installed throughout the town.
Over the weekend, all bottles of still water were removed from shops and replaced with reusable containers which cost around £2 each. Customers can then refill them, either in the store, or at a drinking fountain in the street.
Some residents welcomed the action simply on cost grounds.
One man told me it was how it used to be - when everyone drank water for free.
Another complained that bottled water was more expensive than beer.
Tapping into public opinion
But the main reason for implementing the ban was environmental.
The people of Bundanoon, 90 miles from Sydney, decided that the impact of manufacturing the bottles, transporting the water round the country and then disposing of the empties could not be justified.
Matters came to a head when a bottling company decided to extract water from the Bundanoon area.
Faced with the prospect of their water being driven to Sydney, put into bottles, and then driven back to the town, residents decided to act.
The campaign was led by Huw Kingston, who emigrated to Australia from Wales, and says 70% of bottles end up in landfill sites rather than being recycled.
He says the people who backed his idea are "not a bunch of greenies", and he denies that the action has deprived people of a choice.
"If there is the odd person who really, genuinely, loves the taste of bottled water - and I can't think why they would - then maybe we have taken away that choice," he said.
"But what we've provided here is more publicly available water than every before.
"I'm not sure how anyone can prefer bottled water to our beautiful filtered water."
There is still some comfort for those who prefer designer water to what comes out of the tap.
Shops are still selling bottles of sparkling and flavoured waters.
Some shopkeepers were initially sceptical about the plan, fearing they would lose money.
To compensate for the lost business, they're selling refillable plastic bottles with the slogan "Bundy On Tap", and because the ban has put Bundanoon on the map, they're proving popular with visitors as well as locals.
Shop owner Lorraine McKintosh said the shops had never promised they would not sell bottled water ever again, but she thought it was best to go along with what their customers had decided.
The idea has gone down well at Bundanoon School.
Principal Robyn Versluis said: "It's the perfect example of thinking globally but acting locally".
Pupil Ella Grier declared: "It's a really big step for a small town. We're really brave to do it."
The shape of things to come....
Humanity take a back seat as the age of unreason and ignorance now walks amongst us. Law enforcement of peaceful protests are now being met by force, intimidation and ignorance of our human rights.
We are being treated like children, speak only when your told to and with no voice man/woman can not express his/her concerns in this video Luke Rudkowski from Wearechange.org reminds the Pittsburgh police on their duty to the constitution and their sworn oath to protect the very peoples rights they now remove.
With the US Police using the military approved LRAD sound cannons and tear gas on peaceful protesters is going to far, not to mention the Troy like maneuver?
now whats that all about...
Hopefully you judge in the right way!
Humanity take a back seat as the age of unreason and ignorance now walks amongst us. Law enforcement of peaceful protests are now being met by force, intimidation and ignorance of our human rights.
We are being treated like children, speak only when your told to and with no voice man/woman can not express his/her concerns in this video Luke Rudkowski from Wearechange.org reminds the Pittsburgh police on their duty to the constitution and their sworn oath to protect the very peoples rights they now remove.
With the US Police using the military approved LRAD sound cannons and tear gas on peaceful protesters is going to far, not to mention the Troy like maneuver?
now whats that all about...
Hopefully you judge in the right way!
Change? NO WE CAN'T
Business as usual Mr President....
Eight years after the Patriot Act became law in the United States, President Obama has told lawmakers that he wants to reauthorize three parts of the act that were set to expire later this year. Many people have said that the Patriot Act is an invasion of privacy and opens the door for abuses of power, so why would Obama extend one of former President Bush's policies?
Business as usual Mr President....
Eight years after the Patriot Act became law in the United States, President Obama has told lawmakers that he wants to reauthorize three parts of the act that were set to expire later this year. Many people have said that the Patriot Act is an invasion of privacy and opens the door for abuses of power, so why would Obama extend one of former President Bush's policies?
Quoted from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/recession/6201505/Brixton-to-launch-its-own-currency.html:
Brixton will become the first urban area in Britain to launch its own currency in an effort to help local shopkeepers during the recession.
The area of South London town is today unveiling the Brixton Pound, which will come in B£1, B£5, B£10 and B£20 denominations.
The currency can be used to pay for goods in the area, but cannot be used outside Brixton or be paid into a bank.
"The goal is to create a liquid economy throughout Brixton," said Tim Nichols, the project manager of the Brixton Pound. "We have about 55 businesses on board, who can either give it out as change or pay it as part of their employees wages.
"The idea is for people to pay local suppliers for goods and services - this includes people like plumbers. At any point they can take it back to an issuing point and replace it for sterling."
Brixton will become the fourth town to have its own currency after the Totnes Pound in Devon, the Lewes Pound in Sussex and the Stroud Pound in Gloucestershire.
John Kazantzis, a councillor at Lambeth Council, said: "Brixton has a vibrant and diverse business community and I'm delighted that we are the first area in London to benefit from this scheme."
Quoted from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/recession/6196531/UK-unemployment-jumps-to-highest-since-1995-as-recession-pain-bites.html:
The number of Britons joining the dole queue climbed by 210,000 to 2.47 million in the three months to the end of July, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed today. That's the highest level since 1995.
Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England, said on Tuesday that while there are signs the economy is beginning to grow again, it's not likely to feel any different for most people. It was a view echoed today by the fashion retailer Next, which said that it sees little reason for "the consumer outlook to significantly change through the rest of the year."
The recession has forced companies across the economy to axe staff and ditch investment plans. The retail, construction and financial services industries have been among those hardest hit. However, the cuts have spread to even the more resilient industries such as defence, with BAE, which helps build the Eurofighter, announcing plans yesterday to close a factory in Cheshire.
"Unemployment still looks likely to go reach 3 million in 2010, and could go higher," said Howard Archer, an economist at Global Insight. "Even if the economy does return to growth in the third quarter, activity is still unlikely to be strong enough for some considerable time to come to prevent further net job losses."
Despite evidence that the economy has technically emerged from recession, most experts expect a recovery to be sluggish as Britons grapple with their debts and trim spending in the face of rising unemployment.
It's a picture mirrored in the US, where Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, cautioned that a recovery will be long and hard.
Separate figures showed that the number of people claiming unemployment benefit rose by 24,400 in August, similar to what economists had forecast. Sterling was little changed against the dollar at $1.6477 after the figures were released while the FTSE 100 stayed 1pc stronger at 5096.28.
UK unemployment jumps to highest since 1995 as recession pain bites | Telegraph
Russia Today
09 September 2009
In an interview with Russia Today Max Keiser talks about the US national debt and the extraordinary privilege of the dollar as the worlds reserve currency could be coming to an end with Russia and China in preparation to divorce themselves form the US debt-a-holic.
Max then suggest the federal reserves hokes of selling bonds to foreign countries only to buy them back with the non backed toxic paper money fresh of the counterfeit press will have catastrophic consequences for the United States as the world currency will be evaluated and backed once again with gold.
He also points out the US GDP growth is a flawed economic boost that its backed with military intervention and cheep consumerism thats consuming only with foreign slave based products. Also with the unemployment numbers growing and wage structure shrinking Max predicts that the American people will go into civil unrest.
All very intersting.
09 September 2009
In an interview with Russia Today Max Keiser talks about the US national debt and the extraordinary privilege of the dollar as the worlds reserve currency could be coming to an end with Russia and China in preparation to divorce themselves form the US debt-a-holic.
Max then suggest the federal reserves hokes of selling bonds to foreign countries only to buy them back with the non backed toxic paper money fresh of the counterfeit press will have catastrophic consequences for the United States as the world currency will be evaluated and backed once again with gold.
He also points out the US GDP growth is a flawed economic boost that its backed with military intervention and cheep consumerism thats consuming only with foreign slave based products. Also with the unemployment numbers growing and wage structure shrinking Max predicts that the American people will go into civil unrest.
All very intersting.
The Film Determined to find the law that requires American citizens to pay income tax, producer Aaron Russo ("The Rose," "Trading Places") set out on a journey to find the evidence. This film which is neither left, nor right-wing is a startling examination of government. It exposes the systematic erosion of civil liberties in America since 1913 when the Federal Reserve system was fraudulently created. Through interviews with U.S. Congressmen, a former IRS Commissioner, former IRS and FBI agents and tax attorneys and authors, Russo connects the dots between money creation, federal income tax, and the national identity card which becomes law in May 2008. This ID card will use Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips which are essentially homing devices used to track people. This film shows in great detail and undeniable facts that America is moving headlong into a fascist police state. Wake up!
Guardian
Friday 4 September 2009 10.36 BST
The Citizens Advice Bureau is handling 9,300 new debt cases each day
Record numbers of cash-strapped consumers are contacting Citizens Advice for help with recession-related problems such as debt and redundancy, new figures reveal today.
The charity is now handling around 9,300 new debt cases and talking to 8,000 people with benefit problems every working day as the economic downturn continues to take its toll.
Debt problems shot up by 27% and queries about welfare benefits soared by 22% in the three months to the end of June, compared with the same period the previous year.
The charity's offices in England and Wales received a total of just under 1.7 million enquiries during the second quarter, 17% more than a year earlier.
Within the total, Citizens Advice said enquiries about job seekers' allowance had doubled, while redundancy-related problems were up by three-quarters due to rising unemployment. It has also seen a 44% rise in the number of people with mortgage arrears and a 53% jump in the number of people struggling to pay their fuel bills.
The figures were released today to mark the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the group. Citizens Advice said it spent its first decade helping people with war-related problems, such as tracing missing relatives and getting fair shares of rationing.
Since the turn of the millennium demand for specialist money advice had mushroomed, it claimed, as the credit boom led to rising numbers of people having increasingly complex debt problems.
The group's 27,000 staff - mainly volunteers - now handle around six million problems a year, and half of the population has used the service at some point in their lives.
David Harker, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: "From rationing to recession, the CAB has been there for people in times of crisis throughout the past 70 years. Dipping into the decades of our history shows that some of the problems people have may have changed but the need for our service certainly has not. As we celebrate our 70th birthday our new figures show that what started out as an emergency service in wartime is needed now more than ever as the recession continues to take its toll on people's lives."
article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/sep/04/debt-advice-welfare-recession
Fluff........
The Citizens Advice Bureau figures do point to a growing concern on credit defaults and with the job market stagnated and unemployment ranging from scholars, higher earners and experienced trade operatives things are starting to get difficult.
Along with the Government DEBT more pressure of a pending hefty insolvency rate could kick start the depression and inevitably social problems.. all pretty sad and could of been avoided!!
Friday 4 September 2009 10.36 BST
The Citizens Advice Bureau is handling 9,300 new debt cases each day
Record numbers of cash-strapped consumers are contacting Citizens Advice for help with recession-related problems such as debt and redundancy, new figures reveal today.The charity is now handling around 9,300 new debt cases and talking to 8,000 people with benefit problems every working day as the economic downturn continues to take its toll.
Debt problems shot up by 27% and queries about welfare benefits soared by 22% in the three months to the end of June, compared with the same period the previous year.
The charity's offices in England and Wales received a total of just under 1.7 million enquiries during the second quarter, 17% more than a year earlier.
Within the total, Citizens Advice said enquiries about job seekers' allowance had doubled, while redundancy-related problems were up by three-quarters due to rising unemployment. It has also seen a 44% rise in the number of people with mortgage arrears and a 53% jump in the number of people struggling to pay their fuel bills.
The figures were released today to mark the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the group. Citizens Advice said it spent its first decade helping people with war-related problems, such as tracing missing relatives and getting fair shares of rationing.
Since the turn of the millennium demand for specialist money advice had mushroomed, it claimed, as the credit boom led to rising numbers of people having increasingly complex debt problems.
The group's 27,000 staff - mainly volunteers - now handle around six million problems a year, and half of the population has used the service at some point in their lives.
David Harker, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: "From rationing to recession, the CAB has been there for people in times of crisis throughout the past 70 years. Dipping into the decades of our history shows that some of the problems people have may have changed but the need for our service certainly has not. As we celebrate our 70th birthday our new figures show that what started out as an emergency service in wartime is needed now more than ever as the recession continues to take its toll on people's lives."
article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/sep/04/debt-advice-welfare-recession
Fluff........
The Citizens Advice Bureau figures do point to a growing concern on credit defaults and with the job market stagnated and unemployment ranging from scholars, higher earners and experienced trade operatives things are starting to get difficult.
Along with the Government DEBT more pressure of a pending hefty insolvency rate could kick start the depression and inevitably social problems.. all pretty sad and could of been avoided!!
The Mail
2nd September 2009
Families could face fines of more than £500 for breaking wheelie bin rules.
Draconian new town hall tactics mean every adult in a household is hit with a £110 fine, rather than just one.
A family including an adult couple, two children over 18 and a grandparent could, in theory, be hit with five fines totalling £550.
The penalties are imposed for 'offences' such as putting a bin out too early or taking it in too late, leaving out extra sacks of rubbish and over-filling the bin.
Prime targets for mass fines are multi-occupancy properties, particularly student homes, where there is no clear head of the household.
In one house, four adults had to pay £440 for failing to take their bin off the pavement on time.
That is more than five times the £80 spot fine that would usually be given by police to someone caught shoplifting.
Other key points:
The scale of penalties for 'environmental crime' compares with average court fines of £285 for sex offenders, £237 for violent thugs and £286 for fraudsters, although these are often imposed alongside other punishments.
The Daily Mail's Not in My Front Yard campaign has highlighted the unpopularity of wheelie bins. The multiple fine system is spreading among councils who find it easier to target everyone in a house rather than identify a responsible individual.
Tory local government spokesman Caroline Spelman said: 'This is an unacceptable and draconian abuse of state powers by town hall bullies. Spurred on by Government guidance, clipboard-wielding bin inspectors are hitting hardworking families with arbitrary and unfair fines.
Full article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1210570/Families-charged-500-leaving-wheelie-bins-wrong-day.html#comments#ixzz0PwMmnNTO
Fluff.........
Their seem no end to the wheelie bin saga, councils are always looking for new revenues on refuge collections, weighing chips,fortnightly collections and non collection on open lids or removal of extra bags!!
The local council tax on top of your national taxes goes to far any way but fining for not putting out and taking in your bin on the right day is pretty dumb. my collection is 06:00am so I know where they can swing.. If we all go to court if fined we can overload the courts with petty crap, it would put a strain on them and it would soon be dropped...
Don't you love local councils their more corrupt than the government..
2nd September 2009
Families could face fines of more than £500 for breaking wheelie bin rules. Draconian new town hall tactics mean every adult in a household is hit with a £110 fine, rather than just one.
A family including an adult couple, two children over 18 and a grandparent could, in theory, be hit with five fines totalling £550.
The penalties are imposed for 'offences' such as putting a bin out too early or taking it in too late, leaving out extra sacks of rubbish and over-filling the bin.
Prime targets for mass fines are multi-occupancy properties, particularly student homes, where there is no clear head of the household.
In one house, four adults had to pay £440 for failing to take their bin off the pavement on time.
That is more than five times the £80 spot fine that would usually be given by police to someone caught shoplifting.
Other key points:
The scale of penalties for 'environmental crime' compares with average court fines of £285 for sex offenders, £237 for violent thugs and £286 for fraudsters, although these are often imposed alongside other punishments.
The Daily Mail's Not in My Front Yard campaign has highlighted the unpopularity of wheelie bins. The multiple fine system is spreading among councils who find it easier to target everyone in a house rather than identify a responsible individual.
Tory local government spokesman Caroline Spelman said: 'This is an unacceptable and draconian abuse of state powers by town hall bullies. Spurred on by Government guidance, clipboard-wielding bin inspectors are hitting hardworking families with arbitrary and unfair fines.
Full article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1210570/Families-charged-500-leaving-wheelie-bins-wrong-day.html#comments#ixzz0PwMmnNTO
Fluff.........
Their seem no end to the wheelie bin saga, councils are always looking for new revenues on refuge collections, weighing chips,fortnightly collections and non collection on open lids or removal of extra bags!!
The local council tax on top of your national taxes goes to far any way but fining for not putting out and taking in your bin on the right day is pretty dumb. my collection is 06:00am so I know where they can swing.. If we all go to court if fined we can overload the courts with petty crap, it would put a strain on them and it would soon be dropped...
Don't you love local councils their more corrupt than the government..
Telegraph
01 Sep 2009, 10:00PM BST
in Brief:
Police who refuse to visit every victim of crime have been accused of "arrogance" by one of the country's most senior officers.
Bernard Hogan-Howe, the outgoing head of Merseyside Police, said it was “intolerable” if officers do not appear to care or listen to what victims need.
In a public attack on the tactic of “screening out” certain crimes, the chief constable said it is the duty of officers to do the “right thing” by those who pay their wages.
Instead of selecting which offences are worthy of attendance, Mr Hogan-Howe said every victim should be offered a visit, no matter how minor the crime.
He is the latest to demand a back-to-basics treatment for those preyed on by criminals and it comes a month after MPs on the Commons justice committee warned victims are being failed by a justice system that is weighted in favour of offenders.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Mr Hogan-Howe said: “It’s wrong for the police service to be arrogant and say we don’t attend a certain kind of incident. You have to go with the victim’s requests.
“Probably only a third of what we deal with is crime. There are many victims of other things but they are still a victim in one way or another and they deserve as much attention.
“I think what’s intolerable is if we don’t appear to care to listen, to do our best to help them through a difficult time and to take reasonable steps to catch the offender and stop it happening again.
“We should do the right thing for the reasonable taxpayer.”
Other key points:
Paul Holmes, a Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said his comments are "indicative of how detached much of the public, including many victims, feel from their local police force".
“Years of centralised control and Whitehall bureaucracy under Labour has created a system of targets and numbers that has distorted police priorities.”
Almost 60 per cent of people polled in the British Crime Survey agreed that the police and the local authorities were dealing with the crime and anti-social behaviour issues that mattered to their community.
“The criminal justice system as a whole seems to be considerably out of sync with public expectations.”
David Hanson, the policing minister, said: "We are committed to putting the public at the heart of policing with local crime information, less bureaucracy, more visible policing and better information.
Full article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/6122366/Police-arrogant-over-crime-victims-warns-chief-constable.html
Fluff.........
I commend Mr Hogan-Howe for recognising the demand a back-to-basics policing but the hard facts of the task are the local beat Bobbie has long gone and so has his common sense approach to society.
We have moved on to a law enforcement agenda that yes we may have some great officers ( in the decline ) but it still remains that the terrorism act and anti terrorism laws are oppressing liberties.
The fact that you can be arrested for a crime you have yet to commit and be detained for 42 day without charge,
Anyone taking a photograph of a police officer could be deemed to have committed a criminal offence because of a new law - Section 76 of the Counter Terrorism Act and could face a fine or a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
Counter terrorism Act 2008: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2008/ukpga_20080028_en_1
In fact you are a terrorist until you prove other wise..../em> All very sad really
01 Sep 2009, 10:00PM BST
in Brief:
Police who refuse to visit every victim of crime have been accused of "arrogance" by one of the country's most senior officers.
Bernard Hogan-Howe, the outgoing head of Merseyside Police, said it was “intolerable” if officers do not appear to care or listen to what victims need. In a public attack on the tactic of “screening out” certain crimes, the chief constable said it is the duty of officers to do the “right thing” by those who pay their wages.
Instead of selecting which offences are worthy of attendance, Mr Hogan-Howe said every victim should be offered a visit, no matter how minor the crime.
He is the latest to demand a back-to-basics treatment for those preyed on by criminals and it comes a month after MPs on the Commons justice committee warned victims are being failed by a justice system that is weighted in favour of offenders.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Mr Hogan-Howe said: “It’s wrong for the police service to be arrogant and say we don’t attend a certain kind of incident. You have to go with the victim’s requests.
“Probably only a third of what we deal with is crime. There are many victims of other things but they are still a victim in one way or another and they deserve as much attention.
“I think what’s intolerable is if we don’t appear to care to listen, to do our best to help them through a difficult time and to take reasonable steps to catch the offender and stop it happening again.
“We should do the right thing for the reasonable taxpayer.”
Other key points:
Paul Holmes, a Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said his comments are "indicative of how detached much of the public, including many victims, feel from their local police force".
“Years of centralised control and Whitehall bureaucracy under Labour has created a system of targets and numbers that has distorted police priorities.”
Almost 60 per cent of people polled in the British Crime Survey agreed that the police and the local authorities were dealing with the crime and anti-social behaviour issues that mattered to their community.
“The criminal justice system as a whole seems to be considerably out of sync with public expectations.”
David Hanson, the policing minister, said: "We are committed to putting the public at the heart of policing with local crime information, less bureaucracy, more visible policing and better information.
Full article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/6122366/Police-arrogant-over-crime-victims-warns-chief-constable.html
Fluff.........
I commend Mr Hogan-Howe for recognising the demand a back-to-basics policing but the hard facts of the task are the local beat Bobbie has long gone and so has his common sense approach to society.
We have moved on to a law enforcement agenda that yes we may have some great officers ( in the decline ) but it still remains that the terrorism act and anti terrorism laws are oppressing liberties.
The fact that you can be arrested for a crime you have yet to commit and be detained for 42 day without charge,
Anyone taking a photograph of a police officer could be deemed to have committed a criminal offence because of a new law - Section 76 of the Counter Terrorism Act and could face a fine or a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
Counter terrorism Act 2008: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2008/ukpga_20080028_en_1
In fact you are a terrorist until you prove other wise..../em> All very sad really
FOXnews,
August 26, 2009
In Full:
NEW YORK — The United Nations is recommending that children as young as five receive mandatory sexual education that would teach even pre-kindergarteners about masturbation and topics like gender violence.
The U.N.'s Economic, Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) released a 98-page report in June offering a universal lesson plan for kids ranging in age from 5-18, an
"informed approach to effective sex, relationships" and HIV education that they say is essential for "all young people."
The U.N. insists the program is "age appropriate," but critics say it's exposing kids to sex far too early, and offers up abstract ideas — like "transphobia" — they might not even understand.
"At that age they should be learning about ... the proper name of certain parts of their bodies," said Michelle Turner, president of Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum, "certainly not about masturbation."
Turner was disturbed by UNESCO's plans to explain to children as young as nine about the safety of legal abortions, and to advocate and "promote the right to and access to safe abortion" for everyone over the age of 15.
"This is absurd," she told FOXNews.com.
The UNESCO report, called "International Guidelines for Sexuality Education," separates children into four age groups: 5-to-8-year-olds, 9-to-12-year-olds, 12-to-15-year-olds and 15-to-18-year-olds.
Under the U.N.'s voluntary sex-ed regime, kids just 5-8 years old will be told that "touching and rubbing one's genitals is called masturbation" and that private parts "can feel pleasurable when touched by oneself."
• the report: http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/082509_unesco.pdf
By the time they're 9 years old, they'll learn about "positive and negative effects of 'aphrodisiacs," and wrestle with the ideas of "homophobia, transphobia and abuse of power."
At 12, they'll learn the "reasons for" abortions — but they'll already have known about their safety for three years. When they're 15, they'll be exposed to direct "advocacy to promote the right to and access to safe abortion."
Child health experts say they are wary of teaching about the sticky topic of abortion, but stress that as long as messages stay age-appropriate, educating kids at a younger age helps better steer them into adulthood.
"The adults are more leery of [early sex-ed] than the kids are," said Dr. Jennifer Hartstein, a child psychiatrist in New York. "Our own fears sometimes prevent us from being as open and honest with our kids as possible."
Hartstein, however, who didn't see much harm in explaining basic concepts that kids of all ages will have questions about, was baffled by some of the ideas the U.N. hoped to introduce to kids as young as 5 years old, who will be taught about "gender roles, stereotypes and gender-based violence."
"I want to know how you teach that to a 5-year-old," Hartstein told FOXNews.com.
Despite those challenges, the U.N. insists that "in a world affected by HIV and AIDS ... there is an imperative to give children and young people the knowledge, skills and values to understand and make informed decisions."
UNESCO officials said the guidelines were "co-authored by two leading experts in the field of sexuality education" — Dr. Doug Kirby, an adolescent sexuality expert, and Nanette Ecker, the former director of international education and training at the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States.
Their report was based on a "rigorous review" of sex-ed literature, "drawing upon 87 studies from around the world," said Mark Richmond, director of UNESCO's Division for the Coordination of U.N. Priorities in Education, in an e-mailed statement.
Richmond defended teaching about masturbation as "age-appropriate" because even in early childhood, "children are known to be curious about their bodies." Their lessons, he added, would hopefully help kids "develop a more complex understanding of sexual behaviour" as they grow into adults.
But Michelle Turner, of Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum, said that such roles should be left up to parents, and worried that children were being exposed to too much information too soon.
"Why can't kids be kids anymore?" she said.
article source: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,543203,00.html?test=latestnews
Fluff.......
If this cant spark anyone to ask questions then I don't know what will, an educational system reform that is programed by lunatics can only lead to other queries to other areas.
August 26, 2009
In Full:
NEW YORK — The United Nations is recommending that children as young as five receive mandatory sexual education that would teach even pre-kindergarteners about masturbation and topics like gender violence.
The U.N.'s Economic, Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) released a 98-page report in June offering a universal lesson plan for kids ranging in age from 5-18, an
"informed approach to effective sex, relationships" and HIV education that they say is essential for "all young people."
The U.N. insists the program is "age appropriate," but critics say it's exposing kids to sex far too early, and offers up abstract ideas — like "transphobia" — they might not even understand.
"At that age they should be learning about ... the proper name of certain parts of their bodies," said Michelle Turner, president of Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum, "certainly not about masturbation."
Turner was disturbed by UNESCO's plans to explain to children as young as nine about the safety of legal abortions, and to advocate and "promote the right to and access to safe abortion" for everyone over the age of 15.
"This is absurd," she told FOXNews.com.
The UNESCO report, called "International Guidelines for Sexuality Education," separates children into four age groups: 5-to-8-year-olds, 9-to-12-year-olds, 12-to-15-year-olds and 15-to-18-year-olds.
Under the U.N.'s voluntary sex-ed regime, kids just 5-8 years old will be told that "touching and rubbing one's genitals is called masturbation" and that private parts "can feel pleasurable when touched by oneself."
• the report: http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/082509_unesco.pdf
By the time they're 9 years old, they'll learn about "positive and negative effects of 'aphrodisiacs," and wrestle with the ideas of "homophobia, transphobia and abuse of power."
At 12, they'll learn the "reasons for" abortions — but they'll already have known about their safety for three years. When they're 15, they'll be exposed to direct "advocacy to promote the right to and access to safe abortion."
Child health experts say they are wary of teaching about the sticky topic of abortion, but stress that as long as messages stay age-appropriate, educating kids at a younger age helps better steer them into adulthood.
"The adults are more leery of [early sex-ed] than the kids are," said Dr. Jennifer Hartstein, a child psychiatrist in New York. "Our own fears sometimes prevent us from being as open and honest with our kids as possible."
Hartstein, however, who didn't see much harm in explaining basic concepts that kids of all ages will have questions about, was baffled by some of the ideas the U.N. hoped to introduce to kids as young as 5 years old, who will be taught about "gender roles, stereotypes and gender-based violence."
"I want to know how you teach that to a 5-year-old," Hartstein told FOXNews.com.
Despite those challenges, the U.N. insists that "in a world affected by HIV and AIDS ... there is an imperative to give children and young people the knowledge, skills and values to understand and make informed decisions."
UNESCO officials said the guidelines were "co-authored by two leading experts in the field of sexuality education" — Dr. Doug Kirby, an adolescent sexuality expert, and Nanette Ecker, the former director of international education and training at the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States.
Their report was based on a "rigorous review" of sex-ed literature, "drawing upon 87 studies from around the world," said Mark Richmond, director of UNESCO's Division for the Coordination of U.N. Priorities in Education, in an e-mailed statement.
Richmond defended teaching about masturbation as "age-appropriate" because even in early childhood, "children are known to be curious about their bodies." Their lessons, he added, would hopefully help kids "develop a more complex understanding of sexual behaviour" as they grow into adults.
But Michelle Turner, of Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum, said that such roles should be left up to parents, and worried that children were being exposed to too much information too soon.
"Why can't kids be kids anymore?" she said.
article source: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,543203,00.html?test=latestnews
Fluff.......
If this cant spark anyone to ask questions then I don't know what will, an educational system reform that is programed by lunatics can only lead to other queries to other areas.
A living man can be enslaved and reduced to the historic condition of an object. But if he dies in refusing to be enslaved, he reaffirms the existence of another kind of human nature which refuses to be classified as an object. -Albert Camus
The Times
August 28, 2009
Gordon Brown is facing a Labour revolt over plans to cut the benefits of the poorest families by up to £15 a week, The Times can reveal.
Proposals to be implemented next April, a month before a general election, could mean some people losing a fifth of their income. The move, which has provoked anger among Labour backbenchers, was compared last night with the fiasco over the abolition of the 10p rate of income tax. At the moment 300,000 people on low incomes are allowed to keep up to £780 a year of their housing allowance if they find accommodation that costs less than the maximum benefit.
The Treasury says that the policy costs too much and that the ability to pocket any surplus should be scrapped from April 1. The change would take place three months after the rate of VAT is increased to 17.5 per cent.
Crisis, the housing charity, said that it could mean that people on £65-a-week jobseeker’s allowance losing 20 per cent of their income.
Frank Field, the former Labour welfare minister who led the revolt over the abolition of the 10p rate of income tax, said that he would try to stop the measure being pushed through Parliament.
Karen Buck, a Labour MP who campaigns on housing, said: “We should not under any circumstances be taking money from the poorest and making them choose between reasonable housing bills and meeting day-to-day expenses. I don’t know how many that applies to. Either way, either the savings aren’t there or poor people will suffer.”
The reform was introduced to give tenants greater control over their housing arrangements by paying the rent themselves, and the option to trade quality for extra cash.
The Government believes that abolishing the policy will save £160 million, but Labour MPs point out that the removal of competition means that landlords will raise rents to the allowance maximum. Landlords have been pressing for the change because they want rent to go directly to them.
Sarah Teather, the Liberal Democrat housing spokeswoman who discovered the change, said: “£15 a week may be small change to ministers, but for families struggling to make ends meet it is incredibly important. Gordon Brown has once again abandoned the people who need the most help.”
The change was announced in the small print of the Budget. The Government said that 600,000 people received the housing allowance, which replaced the old housing benefit in April 2007, and it has estimated that 300,000 claim a surplus.
Mr Field said that it was a retrograde step that destroyed the whole purpose of the allowance. “At one stroke, they get rid of a reform aimed at getting flexibility into a fairly inflexible market by giving people incentives to shop around. The timing for this could have been decided in Conservative headquarters.”
He plans to table amendments opposing the new policy.
Leslie Morphy, of Crisis, said: “This proposal is ill considered and potentially counterproductive. It beggars belief that the Government intends to introduce this when, by its own admission, it has no idea what the impact on claimants will be. We urge the Government to reconsider.”
A spokeswoman for the Department for Work and Pensions said: “Local housing allowance is aimed at providing the people who need it most with decent accommodation. This small change will not affect our customers’ ability to pay their rent and further support is available to those on a low income to help with other expenses.”
Fluff......
Corporatocracy at its finest! I'm no great fan of the wealth divide in this country and the welfare state is the prime example of policy failure, Gordon Browns plans to reduce income support is an out cry of epic proportions of the burden of expenditure it has created bailing out the wealthy.
A society labeled the underclass will always get a hard time as the rut they are in just gets hard to get out. The increase of unemployment and the modernised terms of labor is ever growing, the wage structure is shrinking whilst tax and costs of living is increasing.
The results are the welfare state is a trap and what they don't tell you is that it needs to exist in order for the Government's to tax you some more, no questions asked.
I shall be looking into the tax on income as in America their are already movements into its legality... here's their definitions for now
Income definition "income is the sum of all the wages, salaries, profits, interests payments, rents and other forms of earnings received... in a given period of time.
Tax definition "Taxes consist of direct tax or indirect tax, and may be paid in money or as its labour equivalent (often but not always unpaid). A tax may be defined as a "pecuniary burden laid upon individuals or property to support the government
August 28, 2009
Gordon Brown is facing a Labour revolt over plans to cut the benefits of the poorest families by up to £15 a week, The Times can reveal.
Proposals to be implemented next April, a month before a general election, could mean some people losing a fifth of their income. The move, which has provoked anger among Labour backbenchers, was compared last night with the fiasco over the abolition of the 10p rate of income tax. At the moment 300,000 people on low incomes are allowed to keep up to £780 a year of their housing allowance if they find accommodation that costs less than the maximum benefit.
The Treasury says that the policy costs too much and that the ability to pocket any surplus should be scrapped from April 1. The change would take place three months after the rate of VAT is increased to 17.5 per cent.
Crisis, the housing charity, said that it could mean that people on £65-a-week jobseeker’s allowance losing 20 per cent of their income.
Frank Field, the former Labour welfare minister who led the revolt over the abolition of the 10p rate of income tax, said that he would try to stop the measure being pushed through Parliament.
Karen Buck, a Labour MP who campaigns on housing, said: “We should not under any circumstances be taking money from the poorest and making them choose between reasonable housing bills and meeting day-to-day expenses. I don’t know how many that applies to. Either way, either the savings aren’t there or poor people will suffer.”
The reform was introduced to give tenants greater control over their housing arrangements by paying the rent themselves, and the option to trade quality for extra cash.
The Government believes that abolishing the policy will save £160 million, but Labour MPs point out that the removal of competition means that landlords will raise rents to the allowance maximum. Landlords have been pressing for the change because they want rent to go directly to them.
Sarah Teather, the Liberal Democrat housing spokeswoman who discovered the change, said: “£15 a week may be small change to ministers, but for families struggling to make ends meet it is incredibly important. Gordon Brown has once again abandoned the people who need the most help.”
The change was announced in the small print of the Budget. The Government said that 600,000 people received the housing allowance, which replaced the old housing benefit in April 2007, and it has estimated that 300,000 claim a surplus.
Mr Field said that it was a retrograde step that destroyed the whole purpose of the allowance. “At one stroke, they get rid of a reform aimed at getting flexibility into a fairly inflexible market by giving people incentives to shop around. The timing for this could have been decided in Conservative headquarters.”
He plans to table amendments opposing the new policy.
Leslie Morphy, of Crisis, said: “This proposal is ill considered and potentially counterproductive. It beggars belief that the Government intends to introduce this when, by its own admission, it has no idea what the impact on claimants will be. We urge the Government to reconsider.”
A spokeswoman for the Department for Work and Pensions said: “Local housing allowance is aimed at providing the people who need it most with decent accommodation. This small change will not affect our customers’ ability to pay their rent and further support is available to those on a low income to help with other expenses.”
Fluff......
Corporatocracy at its finest! I'm no great fan of the wealth divide in this country and the welfare state is the prime example of policy failure, Gordon Browns plans to reduce income support is an out cry of epic proportions of the burden of expenditure it has created bailing out the wealthy.
A society labeled the underclass will always get a hard time as the rut they are in just gets hard to get out. The increase of unemployment and the modernised terms of labor is ever growing, the wage structure is shrinking whilst tax and costs of living is increasing.
The results are the welfare state is a trap and what they don't tell you is that it needs to exist in order for the Government's to tax you some more, no questions asked.
I shall be looking into the tax on income as in America their are already movements into its legality... here's their definitions for now
Income definition "income is the sum of all the wages, salaries, profits, interests payments, rents and other forms of earnings received... in a given period of time.
Tax definition "Taxes consist of direct tax or indirect tax, and may be paid in money or as its labour equivalent (often but not always unpaid). A tax may be defined as a "pecuniary burden laid upon individuals or property to support the government
One crime solved for every 1,000 CCTV cameras, senior officer claims
Just one crime is solved a year by every 1,000 CCTV cameras in Britain's largest force area, it was claimed today.
The Telegraph: 1:59PM BST 24 Aug 2009
There are more than a million CCTV cameras in London Photo: PA A senior Scotland Yard officer, Detective Chief Inspector Mick Neville, warned police must do more to head off a crisis in public confidence over the use of surveillance cameras.
DCI Neville said officers need to improve their results to make captured images count against criminals.
He said there are more than a million CCTV cameras in London and the Government has spent £500 million on the crime-fighting equipment.
But he admitted just 1,000 crimes were solved in 2008 using CCTV images as officers fail to make the most of potentially vital evidence.
Writing in an internal report, Mr Neville said people are filmed many times every day and have high expectations when they become victims of crime.
But he suggested the reality is often disappointing as in some cases officers fail to bring criminals to justice even after they are caught on camera and identified.
DCI Neville said CCTV played a role in capturing just eight out of 269 suspected robbers across London in one month.
Critics of Britain's so-called ''surveillance state'' will seize on DCI Neville's comments as further evidence CCTV is not working in the fight against crime.
The Government is considering whether every camera should be registered on centrally-held CCTV maps.
Earlier this year a Home Office report found camera schemes have a ''modest impact'' on reducing crime.
Researchers found cameras were most effective in preventing vehicle thefts and vandalism in car parks.
Some local authorities have been forced to make freedom of information requests to police forces to try and work out if CCTV cameras are effective.
The Metropolitan Police is piloting a scheme, known as Operation Javelin, to improve the use of images from existing cameras.
Staff in 11 boroughs have formed dedicated Visual Images Identification and Detection Offices (VIIDO).
They collect and label images before passing them to a central circulation unit that distributes them to officers, forces and the media.
Some 5,260 images have been viewed so far this year with identification made in more than 1,000 cases.
DCI Neville said the scheme should be expanded to force-wide as officers make the investigation of CCTV evidence as professional as fingerprints and DNA.
David Davis, the former shadow home secretary said it is ''entirely unsurprising'' that the report highlights some shortcomings of CCTV.
''It should provoke a major and long overdue rethink on where the Home Office crime prevention budget is being spent," he said.
''CCTV leads to massive expense and minimum effectiveness. It creates a huge intrusion on privacy, yet provides little or no improvement in security.
''The Metropolitan Police has been extraordinarily slow to act to deal with the ineffectiveness of CCTV, something true both in London and across the country.''
Detective Superintendent Michael McNally, who commissioned the report, said improvements in the use of CCTV can be made.
He told Sky News: ''There are some concerns, and that's why we have a number of projects that are on-going at the moment.
''CCTV, we recognise, is a really important part of investigation and prevention of crime, so how we retrieve that from the individual CCTV pods is really quite important.''
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: ''The Metropolitan Police is currently the only police service to employ this method of CCTV tracking.''
