Saturday 18 February 2012

THE CROOKS AND LIARS AT IT AGAIN.


         You are probably used to it, the public outcry against a particular piece of intended legislation and the powers that be, say the will hold a consultation on the matter. So you feel confident because there are so many against it, but somehow at the end of the consultation the opposition is thrown out, very strange. Your puzzled, well the following extract from Ben Goldacre helps to explain how the system works. They call it democracy, I call it smoke and mirrors, a con trick, but what do you expect from crooks and liars? So you'll know what to expect from Camerons consultation on his Health and Welfare Reform Bill.












         David Cameron is holding an emergency summit about the troubled NHS bill on Monday. There has been a lot of chatter on twitter about who is, and is not, invited. It's notable, for example, that the elected head of the Royal College of GPs has not been invited: the NHS bill is all about putting power in the hands of GPs, but they have such serious concerns about the bill that they've called, with regret, for it to be dismissed. Continue READING:


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Thursday 16 February 2012

PAN-EUROPEAN CLASS WAR.




       Since the Sunday night's demonstrations of anger in Greece there has been calls for solidarity from cities across Europe. Perhaps the people of Europe are beginning to realise that what is happening in Greece is their struggle, the Greek people are not responsible for this corporate plunder of the public purse and what is happening in Greece will in all possibility be happen in countries across Europe, it will all be a matter of degree, how much the corporate fascists think they can get away with.




     Let’s organize gatherings from 13-2/2012, by 20.00 MEZ, at central railway station forecourts and show our solidarity with the social rebellion —today, not tomorrow.

   The nationalist and racist resentments against Greece are unbearable. Politics, mass media and large misinformed parts of the German population fail and lie deliberately in their ‘analysis’ of the current state of the capitalist system. The effects of the Troika’s strangleholds are being trivialized, thus devaluing the justified protest.

   In Athens and in many other cities, the resistance has now reached a new peak. We cannot leave the victims of the very capitalist system alone, nor allow that people are ripped off their human dignity. We must not fall into the trap of those in Power who want us to turn against each other in order to succeed in their plans.

We are left only with solidarity; otherwise the case of Greece will become a paradigm for us all.

Denmark

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SAVE OUR NHS, NO PRIVATISATION.


Rally to Save Our NHS

7 March, 18.00-19.30. Central Hall,
Westminster and streamed LIVE online



      Those who work in the NHS and those who use it are telling the government they must think again about their controversial Health and Social Care Bill.
        The Bill is still in the House of Lords and this is our best chance to change the proposals before it returns to the Commons, where the government can rely on party whips to get it passed.
        We still have time to stand up and defend the NHS – and show peers, MPs and ministers just how unpopular these proposals are.
       The All Together for the NHS campaign are organising an evening rally in Westminster, opposite Parliament, to show the breadth of opposition to the Bill.
        Please show your support by coming to the rally in person if you can, or pledging to attend our ‘virtual rally’ live online.
       We’ll be asking those who can’t get to London to tune in for a webcast of the live event, and to make as much noise online as they can. Tweet about it, blog and comment about it, or share it on social networks. We can get the internet buzzing in a way the government can’t ignore.
Sign up now to come to London, or to take part online



Organised by the All together for the NHS campaign –
health professionals, patients and the public standing up for our NHS.

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PICKET ATOS GLASGOW.


Picket Atos
Friday 17th February 2012
4pm-5pm
Atos Medical Assessment Centre,
Corunna House,
29 Cadogan Street,
Glasgow G2 7AB.

Against the latest Atos and DWP con:

Atos and the DWP are conning people into signing on for Job Seekers Allowance when they get turned down for sickness benefit. This means they are forced into applying for jobs that loads of other people are applying for and as most people win their appeal against getting turned down for sickness benefit with the help of an advice centre it also means a lot of sick and disabled people are being harassed into applying for jobs that they are too ill to carry out. If claimants just ask for a reappraisal their money is reduced until they win their appeal, but they are not forced to job search or restart their claim for sickness benefit from scratch and they will get their sickness benefit back-dated.

We also want to let claimants know that it is fairly easy to appeal against being placed in the Work Related Activity Group on Employment Support Allowance (the new name for sickness benefit). In this situation you get sickness benefit, but they try to harass sick and disabled claimants off ESA by forcing them to attend regular interviews over a number of months.

We will be giving advice leaflets to sick and disabled claimants outside Atos, but please share this information with anyone you know on sickness benefit:

Good morning, I'm your new assessor.


What to do if you 'fail' a Work Capability Assessment -
http://thecrutchcollective.blogspot.com/2012/02/what-to-do-if-you-fail-your-work.html

How to prepare for an ESA Tribunal Hearing -

We will also continue to inform the public of how Atos are helping the government make the sick and disabled pay for the public debt caused by the greed of bankers and the inevitable booms and busts of capitalist economics:



Facebook Event Page:
http://www.facebook.com/events/190066311101505/?context=create#!/events/190066311101505/

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Wednesday 15 February 2012

PROTECTORS OF LAW AND ORDER????


         What is obviously a peaceful march taking place in Thessalonika, is attacked from the rear by police who are out to intimidate and provoke. Police brutality is nothing new at large demonstrations, no matter the country, but in Greece at the moment they seem to have a completely free hand to dish out whatever brutal treatment they wish. It is in situations like this that it becomes blatantly obvious that the powers of "law and order" don't really give a shit about "law and order", it is all about control.




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GLOBAL SOLIDARITY IS ESSENTIAL.

        We should never forget that our struggle is global, it has to be, those who are exploiting the ordinary people are organised on a global scale. It is no longer the boss who lives up the hill, it is the boss who works in marble halls somewhere thousands of miles from your workplace. Only when we link up and organise on a global scale can we hope to win a decent life for all our people.

SOLIDARITY.


        The human resources manager at Nestlé's Kabirwala dairy factory has been ordered to appear before the Punjab High Court for repeatedly showing contempt for court orders to reinstate the unfairly terminated President of the Nestlé Kabirwala Workers Action Committee, Ashfaq Butt. The HR manager's contempt citation is one in a long series of violations committed by Nestlé over the course of more than 2 years as part of management's brutal response to the contract workers' struggle for their rights.

       Nestlé has not only repeatedly violated court orders, Pakistan law and international standards and Conventions in its ruthless drive against the contract workers and the union which is supporting them. The company has falsely implicated Butt in four fabricated police cases, and he is only free on bail. Nestlé continues to pressure workers into withdrawing their legal claims for reinstatement, has created over 100 permanent positions for workers who do not support the Kabirwala workers' struggle for their rights, and is promoting a rival group of contract workers with an eye to provoking clashes in order to fabricate still more criminal cases.

Click here to send a message to Nestlé, telling them to Stop Nespressure and respect trade union rights in Pakistan!

Read the full story here.

Join the Stop Nespressure! campaign on Facebook

Ron Oswald
General Secretary, IUF

International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations (IUF)

8, rampe du Pont-Rouge
1213 Petit Lancy, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 793 22 33
Fax: +41 22 793 22 38
website: www.iuf.org

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Tuesday 14 February 2012

IT'S TRUE, ANARCHY IS FOR LOVERS.




            There is so much going on in this world of corporate fascism, the struggle seems endless. As always, anarchists are at the forefront of any struggle for the freedom of the individual, the well being of humanity and freedom from the exploitation of people by wealth and power. Sometimes we are so involved in struggle and strife that we can lose sight of why we are fighting. It is not because of our love of fighting, it is not because the only way we can exist is by struggle. It is the opposite, it is because of our love, our love of freedom, not just for ourselves but for all, it is because of our love of the individual and their right to a decent life, it is because of our love of the coming generations. In spite of the bad publicity given to anarchists by the mainstream media, love is the foundation of anarchism. So on this day, February 14 we would like to take our rightful place among the lovers of this world and declare, anarchy is for lovers.


BIG BROTHER, -- HE NEVER GOES AWAY!!



        Under our present system you can rest assured that big brother is alive and well. Not only that but he is always trying to take his control a little bit further, little by little, but it is relentless. All the extra control mechanisms come under various guises, “war-on-terrorism” seen some of the most direct attacks on our civil liberties, but “national security” usually tops the lot. Who decides the “national security”, a rich cabal with vested interests, interests that we will never be told of, but will shape the decisions that they make. This from Liberty.
For Their Eyes Only – a new campaign
Today Liberty launches a new campaign against Government proposals to extend the use of secret evidence and closed courts.

Some things are best kept secret, like a secret valentine. Other things demand nothing less than openness and scrutiny – like justice and fair trials.

The Government’s Justice and Security Green paper undermines these centuries-old principles by allowing the deeply flawed and unfair Closed Material Procedure system to spread way beyond the boundaries of national security into any area of civil law concerning material which might ‘damage the public interest’.

This could include civil actions against the police for assault or false imprisonment; personal injury claims brought by ex-servicemen against the Ministry of Defence; class actions against Government or big business and even inquests.

Liberty believes that these proposals are designed to put the Government above the law and keep the rest of us in the dark – shutting out bereaved families, the public and the press.

Find out more by visiting www.ForTheirEyesOnly.co.uk

THE AMERICAN RECOVERY, POVERTY AND TENT CITIES.


         As the populations of countries across the developed world face a brutal attack on their living standards from the financial Mafia, we keep getting told it is the “economy” and all this suffering is necessary to get the economy going again. We are also told that the American “economy” is recovering, so everything should be OK. Well we can accept that most of the “good news” is bullshit propaganda approaching the Presidential elections, Obama needs some help.
      Let's take the poverty in America, it is estimated that there are more than 47 million Americans living below the poverty level, on top of that there are approximately 5,000 people living in tent cities, with an estimated 55 such tent cities dotted around America. The largest of these ironically, is not that far from Disneyworld in Florida, where approximately 300 people live in tents on a 13 acre site. Most of these sites don't have electricity and the sanitation leaves much to be desired. On top of that most can't even feed themselves, they rely on charity. The BBC covers some aspects of this situation in its Panorama program.

       The following extract is another take on the American “recovery” and it is well worth reading the full article.
The other day I was struck by this wierd feeling of deja vu. Where had I seen this kind of listlessness before? Where had I observed this sort of laggard, slumping despair? Then I remembered. It was back in Russia during the Yeltsin years. It was the exact same atmosphere: Things were shitty and getting worse. Life was shabby and dilapidated. Their rulers were corrupt and didn’t give a damn. Cosmically rich oligarchs were cannibalizing the country, and the system was so badly broken there wasn’t a damn thing anyone could do about it. Drink up. Continue reading;

  This austerity is necessary for the recovery.


         Like I keep on spouting, we have to stop looking to our “own” bunch of political crooks and liars to sort it out for us, and realise that this is an international war. This is the world wide corporate fascists plundering the ordinary people of the world, your “own” little bunch of crooks and liars are not on your side. If they even hint at improving the social fabric of society, the big financial boys will have you down graded, grab their capital and leave, or they might just do as they have done in Greece and Italy, suspend your so called “democratically elected” government and put one of their henchmen in to take charge, to get you back on the right track of austerity and handing them the public purse.


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Monday 13 February 2012

THE SHATTERED ILLUSION OF DEMOCRACY.




       As the Greek people pause for a breath, the corporate fascists are not content with sacrificing the Greek people on the alter of financial greed, having demolished the illusion of democracy in that country they are now set on ensuring that there will be no democracy for the Greek people for the foreseeable future. The IMF (International Mankind Fuckers) having got the agreement it wanted from their henchman in charge of the Greek parliament, they now want it signed in blood, so as to prevent any change to the agreement after the April elections. What that means is that the Greek political parties can't go to the electorate with a manifesto of any form of change, they must promise to carry on with the IMF manifesto of looting the public purse to the benefit of the corporate fascists. This makes the elections a bigger farce than usual, they will not be able to offer the promise of anything different than the IMF have decreed. What are the elections for? Merely to bring in some new administrators of the IMF policies. Who controls Greece, if not the people, then it is the despots of the corporate fascists sitting in their marble halls thousands of miles from Athens. We in other countries should not feel complacent, the same corporate fascists control the developed world, how hard they will hit you will depend on how much the need to, to protect their wealth and power.


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A TAX ON CREATIVITY.


          The Mafia in George Square Glasgow seem to be determined to turn Glasgow into a cultural wilderness. Their latest venture to extract more money from its hard pressed citizens will most certainly put an end to a whole host of small events. The only way groups and individuals will be able to carry the cost of this new tax, will be to pass it onto the public. I'm not talking about the big multi-million celebrities affairs, they already rip us off. It is more the DIY events, the small gigs to raise funds, the small independent exhibition to introduce an artists work, the community event to help the community, free or chargeable, it will be hit by this added tax.

http://www.change.org/petitions/the-scottish-government-scrap-public-entertainment-licence-fees?utm_medium=facebook
 Why This Is Important.
        The implementation of hefty fees to obtain a Public Entertainment Licence for exhibitions and events—including those to be held free of charge—is practically extortion and will cripple grass-roots art and culture in Glasgow. Small, independent venues such as coffee shops who support artists and performers by hosting free events will not be able to sustain the fees announced.
       It is a tax on arts and entertainment. Glasgow City Council must urgently review this and scrap the proposed fees.
Council briefing note:
Proposed fees:
Press coverage:
The Bigger Picture
       This petition is a response to Glasgow City Council's announcement that from 1 April 2012, a licence will be required to hold free events such as exhibitions and performances. Previously a licence was only required for events charging admission. We, the undersigned, believe this change will be damaging to the foundations of Glasgow's art community and wish to have the changes repealed.
        Visual art thrives in Glasgow. The Arts and Humanities Research Council have recently awarded £122,500 to the Glasgow School of Art for the express purpose of studying the phenomenon known as the "Glasgow Miracle" - the overwhelming success of art in Glasgow. (BBC News 2012) For many artists, gallerists, and enthusiasts the explanation of this success is simple: art in Glasgow is driven by a core community of hard-working, early- to mid-career artists with a strong do-it-yourself ethos. Artists in Glasgow take empty warehouses, factories, shops, offices and transform them into vibrant, productive spaces. Locations such as IRONBBRATZ Studios, based in a former Merchant City office, demonstrate Glasgow's resourcefulness in utilising unconventional spaces to host events featuring both local and international talent. To require artist-led initiatives such as these to apply for licences to host free events would exhaust small budgets.
         The application fee for a Public Entertainment Licence is costly - based on the previous year's figures the licences range from £120 to £7500. It is also a lengthy process, requiring months of notice to the Council and 21 days of public notice via signage posted on location. Artist collective The Mutual, for example, do not have permanent premises and rather host exhibitions in a variety of venues, each of which would require licensing under the amended law. It would almost certainly bring a close to the "pop up" exhibition in Glasgow - the use of empty shops between leases as temporary exhibition spaces. The months of planning required to apply for a Public Entertainment Licence would undermine the spontaneity and flexibility required of such events and organizations.
      Glasgow's art community has produced a number of exceptional talents, and notably the last three Turner Prizes have been awarded to artists with connections to the city. Events such as the Glasgow International and Merchant City Festival coordinate programming throughout a variety of small venues to create weeks of attractions, generating both cultural interest and valuable tourism. Inspired by a long local history of exhibitions in temporary venues, the Glasgow International in particular has been so successful as to serve as a model for similar events in other cities and countries. This kind of success is built upon a strong foundation of artist-led initiatives and independent exhibitions which will be undoubtedly stifled under the new regulations.
      This legislation will impact sectors beyond the visual arts; community organizations, clubs and activity groups, students, charities and performers of all types will feel the restrictions imposed by this licensing change. It will also have a direct impact on local shops, landlords, restaurants, pubs and tourism. The arts in Glasgow generate a substantial economy for local business owners, without which many would suffer.
        Requiring all public events, regardless of size or entry charge, to register for licensing allows the city council to determine what events it deems suitable for public audiences. It jeopardizes not only visual arts in Glasgow but also freedoms of expression and assembly. The changes to public entertainment licensing cannot as they stand be allowed to come into effect. We demand these changes be reassessed with careful consideration of the cultural and financial impact they will have on Glasgow as a whole.
"BBC News." School of Art awarded grant to probe 'Glasgow Miracle'. January 18, 2012. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-16603378.

MORE RIPPING UP OF CONTRACTS.

          Like I keep saying, your problems are not national, they are international. Just as governments across the globe are ripping up contracts, pension agreements, benefit policies, health care, and education, just to mention a few, so the private sector is following suit. Here in the UK the Electricians have been in a long running battle with Balfour Beattie who have torn up the negotiated contract it had with electricians and handed them another, with a take it or leave the site, message. The new contract apart from hitting the electricians with a 30% wage cut also introduces cheap casual labour to do skilled jobs. Sound familiar, if not it soon will, it's coming to an employer near you.


          In an attempt to drive workers back to the dark ages of casualization and destroy their union strength Auckland Ports has made a “take it or leave it” proposal to the Maritime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ) that would do just that and threatened to replace them with contractors if they refuse.

          The IUF is standing with the MUNZ, the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions and with the International Transport Workers Federation (our sister Global Union Federation) in refusing to be bullied into accepting this ultimatum. You can read more here or you can simply help by taking a few moments to sign on to the union’s petition by clicking here
Thank you in advance for your support.
Ron Oswald,
IUF General Secretary



 

YOU ARE ALSO IN THE PONZI SCHEME.


           Having been a long term visitor to Greece and having a family connection there, I can tell you that the full extent of what the Greek people are suffering is well beyond the propaganda on the media. What is not reported widely by the mainstream media are the facts on the ground, the people behind the statistics. Overall unemployment is running at over 22%, among the young it is over 50% and the IMF, (International Mankind Fuckers) has dictated that another 150,000 have to lose their jobs. On top of three years of wage cuts and tax increases, the Mafia at the IMF are demanding a further 22% cut in the minimum wage with further pension cuts. Think on these figures, try to see it happening where you live, what would you do? The Greek people are expected to accept a life of severe third world deprivation at least for the next generation or two, and accept it like good subservient serfs. Would you kneel and accept this plunder of the social fabric of your society, see your kids future deposited in the bank account of the corporate fascists that rule this world, or would you stand up and try to do something about the situation? There is no point in appealing to your "elected" government, it has been taken over by a Goldman Sachs hit man with his heavy team waiting in the wings, the illusion of democracy has been broken. The technocrat Papademos, installed by the IMF to run Greece in a manner suitable to the financial Mafia, obviously has double standards. In a statement about the mass protests taking place across Greece he said, ”Vandalism, violence and destruction have no place in a democratic country and it won't be tolerated.” Of course he believes that an international body imposing somebody to run that country, has a place in democracy and will be tolerated? Well perhaps it will be tolerated by the suits in parliament, but will it be tolerated by the people? The extent of the anger in Greece can be seen in the bitter clashes with that imposed authority. In Athens as the suits with their imposed leader sorted out the implementing of the IMF plan, riots covered the city. More than 150 shops were looted including at least one gun shop, 48 building were set alight. Also destroyed, perhaps symbolically, was the Asty cinema, which was used during the second world war by the Gestapo as a torture chamber. While this was going on, similar scenes were taking place in Thessalonika, other cities and on some of the Greek islands.

 





What worries me is that we all tend to feel that it is all happening over there, it couldn't possible happen here, but we are all in the same ponzi scheme, sooner or later our little illusion will be shattered and we will all be standing doing battle in our own little patriotic backyard. Mean while, the corporate fascists are organised world wide. This is not a national problem, this plunder of public assets is organised on an international basis and it can only be combated on an international basis, this is corporate fascism taking full control, the end of elected governments having a say in the fiscal policies of their country. Of course you may feel that your government is more democratic and won't let it happen to you, they'll fix it before it really hurts you, more the fool you.

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Sunday 12 February 2012

GREECE BURNS AS THE BANKERS DEMAND THEIR POUND OF FLESH.


           Today in Greece tens of thousands, possible hundreds of thousands of its people have taken to the streets, In Athens it is estimated that more than 50,000 people crowded the streets around Syntagma Square where running battles with the police continued well after dark. Several buildings were on fire as darkness engulfed the city. At the time of writing tear gas and Molotov cocktails are criss-crossing the streets. The Euro-Bank and the first floor of the State's Accounts Office are ablaze. What I find more significant about this demonstration is that as there have been demonstrations across the country and the islands, there has also been many occupations by demonstrators the list of building is quite impressive;


          Protesters and strikers have occupied the following buildings and have transformed them into headquarters for the evening rally:
Athens Law School
Ministry of Health in Athens
Cinema-Theatre Olympion in Thessaloniki
Building of the Regional government of Western Greece in Patras
Building of the Regional Government of Ionian islands in Corfu
Building of the Regional Government of Crete in Rethymnon
Building of the Regional Government of Thessaly in Larisa
Rethymno City Hall
Holargos City Hall
Regional Union of Imathia in Veroia.

“In order to save the banks from bankruptcy, they’ve thrown us into poverty and unemployment. They sold off our country and all that belongs to us. Switch off your TV, take to the streets, for victory!”
          So while the expensive suits, without consulting the people, sit in the parliament building trying to do a deal with the devil, heaping more misery on the heads of the Greek people, the people have been on the streets telling them that deal or no deal they will not accept any more deprivation to protect the wealth of the bankers.
           We should all be out demonstrating in solidarity with the Greek people, what is happening to them is no less than the sacrifice of a people on the alter of bankers greed. Greece is being turned into a third world country and there is no guarantee that it will not come over here. Portugal, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Romania, and Hungary are all teetering on the brink, and when the chips are down the bankers will have no qualms about doing to the rest of Europe, what they are now doing to Greece.
           It was also interesting watching the BBC six o'clock news, and thinking of a previous post, true to form, the main item and the longest spot went to the death of an American singer Whitney Houston, with Greece and what is happening there a very brief second spot.
          Since writing this I have learnt that there are several banks on fire across Athens. How far will the bankers push the rest of the people in Europe??


SAY "NO" TO ACTA.




              Saturday 11 February saw a demonstration in George Square Glasgow. Though not the largest protest I've seen on the Square it was colourful, enthusiastic and mainly young people. This protest was against ACTA the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, which many believe will be a direct attack on our basic human rights and the fundamental freedom of the internet. What was significant about this protest was not that it took place at all, but the fact that the same thing was happening across Europe on the same day, city after city. This was a pan-European protest. It is a tactic that those protesting against the system should employ. Just as the ACTA is more or less global, so is the attack on our conditions by the corporate Mafia, global, our response can only succeed if we act globally.




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Saturday 11 February 2012

THE BBC MANUFACTURING CONSENT???


Manufacturing consent from Think Left.
         The BBC should be an important voice, not least because we, the people own it- and its users, ( so that’s us again) – fund it. We would hope to be able to trust it to provide quality educational material and to keep us informed about what is happening in the world, and honest and accurate reporting.
Today, rather than report on Ed Miliband’s letter to the House of Lords about the Health Bill, the BBC bombards us with articles about the Falklands, Syria and disgruntled Christians.
So what is happening at the BBC? We are kept well informed about the goings-on in the Falkland Islands. Is that a co-incidence in that as I remember it was the flag-waving and cheering of the departing ships, which led to a recovery for Margaret Thatcher in 1982 when the public-service cuts were hitting hard?
The BBC inform us of the coming-and-goings of managers of football clubs, about complaints from Christians about being marginalised. I am unsure as to why the BBC should be a voice for religious groups – isn’t that what churches are for?
While all this is going on, the most unpopular policies in recent years go unreported by the BBC, and by much of the Press.   Continue READING.

              An interesting article on the manufacturing of consent and the failure of the BBC to keeping us well informed on what is going on in our own country and also the rest of the world. The BBC is meant to be an information source free from the tainting bias of money. However it is no more than a propaganda organ for the establishment and though it comes in for a lot of criticism from that body, that criticism is mainly that it is a public owned body, as they believe it should be privatised and allow their corporate friends to make lots of money from the organisation. It is a publicly funded body that should serve us the public that fund it but fails miserably on that score. Naivety would surely be the only reason for stating that the BBC is an unbiased organisation.

CHAPLIN IS ALIVE AND WELL!!


        Probably a speech from a movie that has more relevance today than when it was written. I can't see a modern big time movie maker allowing such a powerful piece onto the mainstream movie circuit. Charlie wrote the speech himself and it took him many hours of re-writing until he was satisfied that it said what he intended. I love the fact that the film in which Chaplin made the speech was made about 70/80 years ago but has been married to images of today. An excellent piece of work.




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