There has to be a better way. Where’s our compassion? These Tories want to do away with Human Rights altogether. They’d banish unions and all protest too if they could!
Well Said Gary Lineker!
Human Rights – The UN Charter for Human Rights is the only hope for mankind. – Article 1.
Human Rights
Article 1.
- All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
This basically means
– stop indoctrinating the children with religion and politics
– be tolerant to each other
– There is no basis for sexism and racism
– We need greater global equality and justice
– Do not oppress others
– Love each other, help each other, show compassion and friendship
– Stop being greedy and selfish
– Do not impose your religion, politics or views on others
– Stop blowing the hell out of each other, trying to terrorise, intimidate, or murder each other.
– We are all equal, all worthy of respect, all different.
That’s what I believe! That’s the only place I put my faith!
Let’s discuss abortion, the rights of an unborn foetus and the rights of women to decide on what they do with their bodies.
It seems to me that there is, cutting through the hype and emotion, a valid argument to discuss.
Should a woman have the right to decide for herself? Surely that is freedom?
Does an embryo have rights? When is it conscious? When does it become a baby?
Should religion have the right to impose its views on others? Shouldn’t the religious confine themselves to dealing with their own lives? Have they any right to interfere with how others choose to live or what they choose to believe?
What right do people have to impose their own views?
Should medieval scripture be involved in secular laws?
Isn’t this a case of freedoms? Don’t adults have the right to weigh things up for themselves and decide?
Who should be involved in this process?
Why has this become political?
Is this the tip of an iceberg? Will these religious people be after taking away the right to contraception? Are they really wanting to impose female chastity? Isn’t this a misogynistic form of punishment for ‘sins’ committed? Is sex back to being regarded as a grave sin for females (but not so bad for males)? Will women be back in long robes, face coverings and hidden away from sight? Are women to be seen as wanton temptresses who have to be controlled?
I thought we’d moved on.
Rwanda – An act of Compassion? Or cynical ploy to punish dark-skinned refugees?
This is not a government that accepts criticism. They always seek revenge – just ask the BBC and Channel 4.
I bet the police will find their services cut too!
Human rights? Who cares? Deterrence at all costs. Concentration camps in Rwanda sound like a good idea.
Besides, there’s money to be made. The Sunak family hold the franchise.
A Day in the life of Joe Conservative
All the rights we now enjoy had to be fought for against greedy capitalist conservatives who only care about wealth and power.
6 Ways the government is abandoning Human Rights
I was shocked!!
Only six??
Obviously Amnesty international has not thought about this enough.
I would have thought that continually lying about Brexit and the Corona Virus must surely be an infringement of human rights.
Then there are the take overs of the media – like the BBC being stuffed with Tories. Surely that is a move to a one-party state? An infringement of rights?
The changes to electoral boundaries??
The propaganda machine that operates through the newspapers?
Isn’t the incompetence that has resulted in 132,000 deaths an infringement of human rights?
Or the giving of billions of pounds to their chums?
Or the austerity programme of pay cuts for the poor and public servants?
Amnesty surely needs to do better than this!!
6 Ways the UK Is ‘Abandoning Human Rights’, According to Amnesty International (globalcitizen.org)
Poetry – My Culture
My Culture
This is my culture – the wisdom of my ways.
Suppression and oppression – the order of past days.
Freed into the sunlight – on a democratic wave.
Released from penury – and the status of a slave.
The blood of my forebears sinks heavy in this soil
They paid dear for a share of the profits from their toil.
They fought for their rights and freedoms against a selfish few
Who garnered all the wealth away and propped up many a pew.
This is my culture – the result of battles fought.
Standing up for rights – against a great onslaught.
Liberty and equality – to stand tall and not in fear.
Freedom from King and God – is a right that we hold dear.
From the wealthy, the bishops and the kings
We wrested back our freedoms, among a host of things.
They grudgingly relented to give the very least
And we seized the goods on offer from the Baron and the Priest.
This is now my culture – value it we must!
If once our eyes do stray away – they’ll fling it in the dust.
Rights and freedoms – are febrile in the light.
They’ll rip them away – they have the power and the might.
I give thanks to the Levellers, the Chartists and rebels all,
Without all their struggles we would not have a life at all.
The suffragettes and Wilberforce struck blows for equality.
They chipped away at oppression and left us democracy.
This is that culture – worthy of a fight!
Free of church and monarchy – valiant and bright!
A culture to be proud of in which I take delight.
Proud to be an Englishman and put the world to right!
Not as an exploiter, a victor or an owner with his fee
But as a friend, a fellow traveller, a champion of the free.
Together we could stand to create justice without tyranny
Take the best from all our cultures and live in harmony.
I offer the hand of friendship
But keep a wary eye.
Freedom is a very rare thing,
But seize it we must try.
Opher 18.8.2015
My Culture
The society we live in did not come about by chance; it was fought for every inch of the way by people with vision and aspiration. The peasants and serfs were kept in poverty but they were not stupid. The robber barons stole the land from under their feet and they were powerless. The wealthy businessmen stole their products through guile. The State enacted laws to protect the establishment and keep the poor in their place.
With the coming of the industrial revolution ordinary people were kept down. They were paid a pittance in order to keep the profits high. The bosses creamed off huge wealth while the workers slaved. The owners and aristocrats lived in mansions and palaces with servants while the producers of the wealth lived in poverty and working conditions that were scandalous.
Gradually the ordinary people fought for representation, fair reward for labour given and justice. Ever so gradually the work conditions improved and the wages rose. Each step on the way was met with bleating and violence. The establishment was loath to give up its luxury; they feared the result of suffrage for ordinary people. They believed we might change the laws to create fairness.
They give us as little as they think they can buy us off with. Only through the unions was a living wage grudgingly conceded. Their fear is revolution.
This society we live in is the result of struggle. The freedoms we have are tenuous. The establishment claw back all they can. The wealth still sticks with the elite. The trickle down is as meagre as required to keep us docile. Zero hours contracts, austerity, unemployment and pay freezes are deployed while the rich get richer. We are all in it together is a lie. Information is biased and distorted – the Daily Mail and the rest of the press, even the BBC are all part of an establishment. He who tells the story controls the minds. The media moguls have a vested interest. Democracy is a fragile thing and bought with blood – lots of blood.
Freedom.
For me, freedom is not the right to bear arms and do what you like. It is about living responsibly within a society without violence, hatred or division. Within that society, I want to be free to do what I want without repression, oppression or restriction providing I do not do harm to others, incite hatred or violence, or infringe on other peoples’ rights. That is a compromise.
Freedom to me is having a good standard of life without having to work too hard or in dangerous conditions.
Freedom is about living in an environment that is pleasant, congenial and has respect for nature.
Freedom is about not having to worry about healthcare, injustice, discrimination, exploitation or violence.
Freedom is about having choice.
I feel extremely fortunate to live in a country with a great deal of freedom.
I think we take it for granted.
I live in the UK.
I am free to travel inside my country or abroad.
I can follow or criticise any religion I want.
I can vote for any political party.
I can follow and criticise any political party without fear of retribution.
I live in a country that at least aspires to provide equality to all races, religions and genders (even if there is still inherent racism, sexism and prejudice).
I have access to free education and healthcare.
I have a pension.
I have a welfare system as a safety-net should I need it.
In the workplace, there are rights – minimum pay, safe working conditions, maximum hours, holiday pay, employer contributions to pension and health.
We do not have a brutal armed police regime.
We have clear restrictions on detainment and the conditions we experience when detained.
We have a justice system.
We are not terrorised by crime. Our criminals are rarely armed. Our society is not riddled with guns.
There are environmental laws to prevent the environment from being destroyed and my food, air, soil and water being polluted.
I am free to protest and complain.
If I compare this to other countries, even Western democracies like the USA, I feel extremely fortunate. Many countries have tyrannical governments, theocracies where other religions or atheism are persecuted, discrimination against homosexuals, women or racial minorities, gagging of protest, heavy police states with armed police and no adequate justice systems. There are places where workers are exploited to the point of being slaves and the environment is trashed for profit, where the air, water and soil are so heavily contaminated as to be a health hazard.
Our rights and freedoms have been long fought-for over many centuries. This is not the result of benevolence from our rulers and bosses. They gave every shred of freedom grudgingly and are always looking to claw it back.
We see in the States the environmental laws being dismantled and workers’ rights being reduced – to maximise profits and stimulate the economy (ie. to put more money in the pockets of the wealthy).
We see the same thing in the UK with Brexit where environmental laws and workers’ rights are up for grabs.
History shows that we have to be vigilant.
I am glad I am living in a free country. It is by no means perfect. There are many battles ahead to maintain our rights and freedoms and to improve upon them.
But, every now and again, perhaps we should stand back and think how lucky we are to live in a country with such freedom and how grateful we should be for the people who fought (and gave their lives) for us to enjoy these freedoms.
The onus is on us now to build upon them.
Freedom to not wear a face mask
Matt sent this through to me in a tweet. Unfortunately, it was in a form I couldn’t copy so I retyped it.
Thank you to whoever wrote it. Very salutary!
Freedom to not wear a face mask
Welcome to the Freedom Café!
We trust you to make your own choices if you want to wear a face mask. And, in the same spirit of individual liberty, we allow our staff to make their own choices about the safety procedures they prefer to follow as they prepare and serve your food.
We encourage employees to wash their hands after using the bathroom, but understand that some people might be allergic to soaps or may prefer simply not to wash their hands. It is not our place to tell them what to do.
We understand that you may be used to chicken that has been cooked to 165 degrees. We do have to respect that some of our cooks may have seen a meme or a YouTube video saying that 100 degrees is fine and we do not want to encroach on their beliefs.
Some servers may wish to touch your food as they serve it. There is no reason why a healthy person with clean hands can’t touch your food. We will take their word for it that they are all healthy and clean.
Water temperatures and detergent are highly personal choices, and we allow our dishwashing team to decide how they prefer to wash the silverware you will put in your mouth.
Some of you may get sick, but almost everyone survives food poisoning. We think you’ll agree that it’s a small price to pay for the sweet freedom of no one ever being told what to do – and especially not for the silly reason of keeping strangers healthy.
Migration and Immigration – why we need checks.
Migration and Immigration – why we need checks.
The overriding issue that was behind Brexit was immigration. There is a fear of terrorism, a feeling that we are being swamped with foreigners – particularly Muslims and Eastern Europeans, a sense that they are taking our jobs, receiving housing and benefits, causing overcrowding, creating problems for schools and the NHS, putting pressure on transport, displacing our culture and not wanting to assimilate and take on British values.
How accurate are these fears?
Is there a basis to them?
Is an opposition to mass immigration xenophobic or even racist?
The British people are a mongrel race. We always have been. We take in immigrants from all over the world, welcome them and assimilate them into our culture. I like the richness of culture that introduces. I like the cosmopolitan communities it produces and I like the way immigrants over the centuries have assimilated, become British, taken on our customs and values while still celebrating their own heritage.
But I do not think it is either racist or xenophobic to be concerned with mass immigration. It is the sheer numbers and attitudes of the recent immigrants that are causing the problems.
We have areas of the country with high Muslim populations who have completely displaced the indigenous people and culture. The perception is that many do not wish to assume British values at all. There are militants in the Muslim community who espouse to take over Britain and bring in Sharia law. The Hijab and Burqa do not fit easy with many people. It represents a culture and attitudes they do not agree with. Many, because of the association with terrorism and this strident, arrogant militancy, find it threatening.
There are a number of Muslims who support ISIS and the Caliphate. People find this traitorous to the country they have come to live in. ISIS is our avowed enemy. We have had terrorism from these militants. It creates suspicion and fear. In reality the number of incidents are few, the Intelligence Services are doing a good job rooting the militants out before they cause atrocities, and most Muslims do not subscribe to these extreme views.
There are Eastern European shops opening all over the place and Eastern European languages all around in many cities. I do not think that people have a problem with this until it reaches a point where they feel saturated and displaced.
Yes it does cause big pressures on the NHS, Schools, housing and the infra-structure. That causes aggravation but I don’t think it is the main issue.
The main issue is not one of racism, xenophobia or pressures on services – it is simply that there have been too many people coming in.
I believe we need immigration. We need labour for our economy. We need to staff the NHS, to pick crops, to work in Old People’s Homes. These people are valued. Their cultures are respected.
But when they come here they should respect our culture and if they are planning to stay, be prepared to assimilate into our communities.
In my opinion this integration is not assisted by more Faith Schools or concentrations of immigrants in any one area.
Education is the long-term solution. But mass immigration needs curbing. We need to stop so many coming into the country and the ones that do come in need processing. We do not need terrorists, criminals or people who do not subscribe to our values being allowed into the country.
We did not need to leave Europe to achieve this. Most of Europe wants the same thing. It surely is not beyond the wit of man to devise a practical system?