KUWG on Twitter

Showing posts with label censorship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label censorship. Show all posts

Tuesday, 28 November 2017

A royal wedding announcement is a great time to bury bad news about benefit cuts

There is this from the Independent:

Government confirms freeze on working age benefits minutes after Prince Harry wedding news revealed

Freeze continues amid the longest fall in living standards for 60 years
"According to Clarence House, the wedding will take place in Spring 2018" — by which time many more parts of the UK will be experiencing the 'shock and awe' of 'Universal Credit full roll-out'. That in itself will be an opportunity to 'bury bad news'.

Meanwhile, there is this excellent Zoe Williams article from The Guardian:

Such is the poverty of Tory ideas that they deny poverty even exists

.... good intentions would manifest in curiosity about the lived experience of one’s policies, which would in turn entail figuring out what those policies amounted to in the aggregate. Failure to ask such questions is not born out of ignorance: it is critical to the Conservative narrative to deny, forcefully and sometimes gleefully, that anyone in the country is struggling.
The contrast between the royal wedding announcement and UK poverty reminds me of lines in a Harvey Andrews & Graham Cooper song, 'Targets' that was written to commemorate Margaret Thatcher's election as Tory Party leader in 1975:
We would have married long ago 
And we're still hoping one day 
Two up two down and a little lawn 
And time to rest on Sunday. 
I wish the ones who left us here 
Could live like us and borrow 
I'd place a pound for what it's worth 
That they'd be gone tomorrow
We'd like a yacht, some rooms to spare 
And horses in the stable 
We might as well believe that we 
Could buy meat for the table. 

Call us equal, call us proud, call yourself a liar 
No matter what the people do, they set the target higher
 
The Zoe Williams article even mentions nurses using food banks. So much for 'the pursuit of inequality'. Where has it got us?

Blog post by Dude Swheatie of Kwug 

Notes

  1. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/benefit-freeze-working-people-typical-family-300-real-terms-cut-inflation-a8079196.html
  2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpsSb8AHIQ4
  3. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/nov/27/poverty-tory-ideas-budget

Saturday, 16 September 2017

Threat levels, who declares them and the nature of the threat


By Dude Swheatie of Kwug, now resident in Hereford

Today, in trumpeting the biases of the mainstream UK press, the BBC (British Broadcasting Company) summarises today's Daily Mail 'Web giants with blood on their hands' front page:

Daily Mail, 16 September 2017: "PM to confront web giants with blood on their hands"
Prime Minister Theresa May will order internet bosses to crack down on extremism in the wake of the Parsons Green attack, says the Daily Mail. It reports Google, Facebook and Microsoft could be in the firing line after instructions to make the bomb were "still available online". The paper adds Mrs May will warn technology companies they need to do more to stop extremists at a summit with the French president next week.  (1)
For the 'threat terror level' declared by UK Government to be 'critical' is nothing new. Why though do the BBC etc not broadcast the lowering of the 'threat terror level' that occurs? And what impact does that have on the mainstream public psyche?

Over three months ago, the BBC website reported on "What is the 'critical' terror threat level and what [it means]":(2)
The UK terror threat level has been raised to "critical", following the Manchester Arena bombing which killed 22 people.

This is the highest terror threat level possible and means an attack is "expected imminently".(2)

The announcement of 'critical terror threat' level leads to knee jerk reactions

It was against that sort of backdrop that on Wednesday 14 June the news came out on televised and Internet news channels, of a blaze that consumed a North Kensington tower block in a matter of hours, before 'Grenfell Tower' became a 'household name' — ie, a label that required no introduction.(3) It was also against that backdrop that the 40 year old woman who accompanied me to my Housing Benefits registration interview in Hereford declared instantly that it was obviously the work of 'Islamic terrorists'.

I had heard however in the early hours of that day in 'live' reporting from the Grenfell Tower site that a Grenfell survivor had reported their neighbours issuing the warning, "My fridge has just exploded! Get out now!" or words to that effect. Indeed, I recalled having heard that a Southwark tower blaze a few years ago had been the result of a faulty Beko fridge component (4) and so I was more skeptical about my companion's 'knee jerk' response that was obviously linked to the post-Manchester bombing raising of terror threat level to 'critical'.

After an enquiry into the cause of Grenfell Fire too, it was confirmed that white goods were yet again to blame.(5) Of course, there is also the fact that the Grenfell Action Group had been campaigning on the matter of fire safety in the Grenfell Tower area since at least 2012.(6) This was despite a five-year London Fire Brigade campaign regarding the safety of white goods.(7) LFB reports:
"Nearly one fire a day in London involves white goods. Most fires caused by these appliances are not down to the owner but by faults beyond the control of the householder." (8)
The solution to this problem, the LFB concludes, involves total recall of dodgy white goods.

The solution to the problem of wide availability of information about how to make 'home made bombs', Theresa May and the Daily Mail declare, is to clamp down on 'web giants with blood on their hands' for helping to service Internet searches in responses to queries about how to do terrorism. In that 'solution', I am reminded of the collusion that such 'web giants' engaged in with the Chinese government in order to suppress freedom of information as they 'broke into the Chinese market' as a new territory.

I would argue that it is in their tax dodging practices and resultant denial of support to the UK economy for essential services to vulnerable people that the 'web giants have blood on their hands', and that in reality Theresa May and her crew have raised the threat level to economically vulnerable people from 'severe' under Labour to 'critical'. This fact can currently be gleaned from perusal of such sites as Disability News Service,(9) especially with regard to its coverage of UK Government reneging on its United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities duties.(10) There is also Kate Belgrave | Talking with people dealing with public sector cuts,(11) and Taxpayers Against Poverty.(12)

Prospective Kwug placard design: T May & Co, State Terrorists
May's government caused a "human catastrophe" by cutting disabled people's support, the Committee of the UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities has stated,(13) while the Chairperson of the UNCRPD has gone even further in unpublished interview comments.(14)

In conclusion, by colluding with the suppression of information about the State Terrorism that occurs under Theresa May's government, under a State of Theresa May & Co-mandated Internet, 'web giants' really would have 'blood on their hands' through the suppression of such information, just as the BBC's subservience to denial of the statutory abuses to benefit claimants lays the taint of 'blood on their hands' to that establishment.

What legitimate authority does a Government with blood on its hands have to dictate what information should and should not be available on the Internet? Who are they to do the prescribing of truth?

Link references

  1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs/the_papers
  2. http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/40027916/what-is-the-critical-terror-threat-level-and-what-does-it-mean 
  3. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-40274519
  4. http://www.health-safety.net/News/Warning-on-fridge-freezer-fire-risk-after-tower-block-blaze
  5. http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/news/LatestNewsReleases_Brigade-reissues-essential-safety-advice-on-white-goods-following-Grenfell-fire.asp#.Wb0TDcbjIkI
  6. https://grenfellactiongroup.wordpress.com/2013/01/28/fire-safety-scandal-at-lancaster-west/
  7. http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/820566/Grenfell-tower-fire-London-hotpoint-FF175BP-london-fire-brigade-campaign-five-years-safety 
  8. http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/total-recalls-white-goods-campaign.asp
  9. http://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/ 
  10. https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/?s=uncrpd 
  11. http://www.katebelgrave.com/  
  12. http://taxpayersagainstpoverty.org.uk/
  13. https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/prime-minister-lies-on-benefits-spending-in-response-to-un-human-catastrophe-claims/
  14. https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/portraying-disabled-people-as-parasites-could-lead-to-violence-and-killings-says-un-chair/ 

Saturday, 29 April 2017

Commenting on Kwug Blog contents

The Kwug Blog publisher feels obliged to publish the below as a Kwug Blog blog post in itself. That is because very few comments have turned up in response to Kwug Blog contents, despite a daily readership in the hundreds.

The non-appearance of readers' comments may seem suspicious to unfamiliar readers faced with hundreds or thousands of comments on, say, news items posted to the Guardian website or that of someone such as Kate Belgrave or Martin Francis. The only comments received on this blog that I have not uploaded have been inappropriate, such as an advert for a 'man and van' type business appearing in relation to a blog post about people being forced to move out of their existing accommodation.

It is also frustrating to the publisher. I have been advised that I need to get involved in Twitter to attract a much wider audience, as very few blog readers do leave comments directly and I need to increase the readership in order to increase the chances of receiving comments.

Yet I have such a slow reading pace resulting from very slow 'mental processing speed' that getting personally involved in such social media platforms as Twitter would require me to be active in social media to the exclusion of having a real life outside blogging, such as looking after my developing musicianship. (I also admit here to not looking into the e-mail account related to the blog, because of time and motion matters.)

Anyhow, the below has long been displayed on the right hand side bar of this blog for some years now, to little effect.

Commenting on Blog Contents

Comments are approved unless abusive, obscene, completely off the subject, disguised advertising or libellous. Publication of a comment does not imply that the blog administrator or KUWG agree with it.

Please note if I respond to comments it is in my Google log in — never 'Anonymous'

Commenters cause less confusion when they use their own names or pen names. A host of 'Anons' can give very mixed messages. Even if you use the technically easier 'Anonymous' button to make a comment you can still put your name at the end.

Sunday, 22 May 2016

DWP 'Peer review of serious customer complaint' — aka 'internal review into 49 claimant deaths'

The following is a transcript of very heavily redacted versions of the 49 peer reviews into claimant deaths conducted by the DWP — referred to at http://kilburnunemployed.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/benefits-work-publishing-newsletter-on-claimant-deaths-and-cover-up.html





To: [REDACTED]         From: [REDACTED]


cc: [REDACTED]         Tel: [REDACTED]


        Fax: [REDACTED]


        Date: [REDACTED]


Re: Peer review of serious customer complaint


[REDACTED]

The review was done by accessing computer records/recordings of telephone conversations and by checking processes.

The report sets out the findings of the review, key events, the handling of the case and lessons that can be learned.


Summary of findings

[REDACTED]


Additional facts and evidence

[REDACTED]

I have proposed a number of recommendations based on the findings of the review. Recommendations are attached along with a more detailed timetable of events. Although the timetable is lengthy, its contents do outline the findings and recommendations of the review.



Recommendations

That the guidance for handling vulnerable customers is reviewed and that staff are reminded of the correct process [REDACTED]

That we empower staff to use some discretion in cases involving vulnerable people, instead of doing everything 'by the book'[REDACTED]

That staff on the ESA helpline are provided with refresher training to help them to better understand the claim process, [REDACTED]
Equally, benefit processors need to update system notes promptly so that operators have the most up to date information available.
That the process for sending documentation between Jobcentres and BDCs, particularly by fax, is reviewed. [REDACTED]

That the call back process is reviewed, particularly the need for customers to be with their representative at the call back when they were with them during the initial call.

[REDACTED]







Report on key events


This shows what happened at various stages of the customer's claim and is based on computer records/recordings of telephone conversations.
Date    
Event/activity            
Comments        



[REDACTED]

Monday, 4 May 2015

BBC rejects Green Party leader involvement





Petition update

Alex W just posted an update on the petition you signed, BBC: Invite the Green Party to the TV Q&A programmes on 30 April.(1)

Well, we tried...

May 03, 2015 — Unfortunately, despite nearly 7000 of us adding our voices to this petition, and the BBC being aware of it, the BBC didn't invite Natalie Bennett to last Thursday's Q&A. The Green... Read more
Read more




















Notes
(1) https://www.change.org/p/bbc-invite-the-green-party-to-the-tv-q-a-programmes-on-30-april
(2) Read more link https://www.change.org/p/bbc-invite-the-green-party-to-the-tv-q-a-programmes-on-30-april/u/10663637




Tuesday, 22 October 2013

Guest blog piece by 38 Degrees about the 'Gagging Law':

38 Degrees Logo

Dear,

Today the House of Lords start to debate the controversial gagging law. It’s a law that would mean ordinary people, campaigning groups and charities would be severely restricted in how they can campaign in the year before an election.

The bill was rushed through the House of Commons at breakneck speed, without any of the normal public consultation, and although there was a rebellion, it wasn’t enough to stop it. Everyone from the Royal British Legion to Oxfam has called for the government to stop and rethink the bill. [1][2]

With this in mind, dozens of charities and campaign organisations set up an independent commission to do the research that the government should have done in the first place. [3]

It’s called ‘The Commission on Civil Society and Democratic Engagement’ and it has been holding evidence sessions up and down the country listening to how the gagging law will affect a huge range of campaign organisations and charities. [4] Now they want to hear from you too.

Can you fill out a short survey telling the commissioners what you think about freedom of speech and campaigning, it won't take long:
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/civil-society-commission-poll


The range of people on the commission shows how widespread concerns about the gagging law are. They come from organisations across civil society, including Mumsnet, the Countryside Alliance and the NUS. And the chair is a retired bishop.

You don’t have to be an expert to answer any of the questions. You just need to tell the commission what you think. It’s really important that they hear from as many people as possible. Imagine how powerful it will be for them to say they've heard from thousands of members of the public. It will mean Lords will feel more pressure to listen to their recommendations.

Let’s make sure that the government and Lords hear what thousands upon thousands of us think before this bill is rushed through any further.

Can you fill out a short survey and make sure the commission hears evidence from individual people as well as organisations:
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/civil-society-commission-poll


Thank you for everything you do,

Robin, Blanche, Suzy, Ian and the 38 Degrees team.


NOTES:
[1] The Royal British Legion - http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/news-events/news/campaigning/lobbying-bill-why-asking-politicians-to-back-our-troops-could-be-stopped-under-this-sloppy-law
[2] Oxfam - http://www.oxfam.org.uk/get-involved/campaign-with-us/latest-campaign-news/2013/10/lobbying-bill-update
[3] http://civilsocietycommission.info
[4] http://civilsocietycommission.info/consultation/

Follow 38 Degrees on Facebook and Twitter.
Unsubscribe: If you no longer wish to be part of our movement and receive our emails you can unsubscribe here.
This email was sent to whea3@yahoo.co.uk.
38 DEGREES Registered Company No. 6642193

Thursday, 10 October 2013

38 Degrees | Blog | Gagging Law: next stop the House of Lords

October 10th, 2013 by David

Yesterday evening, MPs narrowly voted in favour of the gagging law. It now moves to the House of Lords, where it will start being debated in two weeks....