ANECDOTES AND ANTIDOTES: March 2014

Tuesday 25 March 2014

THE REALITY OF PRIVATIZATION OF ROYAL MAIL. 1600 JOBS TO BE CUT.

Royal Mail MX55YKC
Royal Mail MX55YKC (Photo credit: didbygraham)
The reality of privatization of the Royal Mail Group Plc kicks in again today with the announcement that 1600 administration jobs are to be axed as the company seeks to streamline its operations. The cuts are estimated to deliver £50 million pound savings including £25 million in the 2015 fiscal year                                                                                           The company narrowly avoided strike action last year when members of the Communication Workers Union threatened to walk out. Unite, which represents 7,000 Royal Mail managers, said today it will consider a ballot for industrial action.                                                                                                         "Unite is demanding a commitment to no compulsory redundancies on fair terms and an effective method for redeployment within the restructured organization" Brian Scott, a Unite officer for Royal Mail, said in a statement.                                                              "First the Government sells off Royal Mail on the cheap and now the newly privatized service is ruthlessly sacrificing jobs. We do not believe that its a coincidence that this announcement has been made just before the company prepares to announce its first full set of accounts since privatization. Its more proof that Royal Mails primary reason for existing is more about profits than about serving the nation."                                                                                           After the botched privatization, by Vince Cable, when the shares where valued at 330p they have regularly traded  above the £5 mark, the figure dismissed by Vince Cable as "froth"  the value of the company has soared on the FTSE index of the top 100 London-listed companys and closed last night with shares at 584p.
   

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Friday 21 March 2014

TIME TO KICK RELIGION OUT OF SPORT.

With the world cup just 82days away is'nt it time that fifa took the lead and demanded that no religious chants or symbolism be tolerated either by crowds or participants in the matches?                                                                Football clubs around europe have been fined and ordered to play matches behind doors and rightly so for racist remarks or chanting by home crowds but nothing is said about the incessant "kissing of the rosary", "signing of the cross" and "kneeling to prayer" that is rammed down the the tv audiences throat when players enter and leave the pitch. Do we realy have to see suarez signing the cross when he scores or ronaldo kissing the rosary?                                                                  There should be no room for racism, politics or religion in any sport.Where in the  world do you see sport being played in churches or mosque's? We are banned from having any religious artifacts in work places and are not allowed to have religious acts there either so why do we allow football players to openly use there religion in a place of work.  I am not a religious person and object to having to watch it on tv when i turn on to watch a sporting occasion, this is why we have churches and mosque's.                                                      You might say that i could always switch off the tv but why should i have to,its a sports arena with a sporting contest not a baptism or marriage, if i wanted to watch that there are many religious channels i could watch. I am told that your religion is a personel thing, please keep it that way, i have no objection to any one practising their religion just do it in an appropriate place, thank you 


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Thursday 6 March 2014

AUSTRALIA WILL CARRY ON DETAINING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

Asylum seekers protesting on the roof of the V...
Asylum seekers protesting on the roof of the Villawood immigration detention centre in Sydney, Australia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

10,OOO HELD IN DETENTION CENTRES WITH NO CHANCE OF RELEASE                                         In 1992, Australia introduced a mandatory detention policy for non-citizens entering the country without a valid visa. It was intended to be a risk-management tool, enabling the health and security status of refugees and illegal immigrants to be checked while preventing such arrivals from simply vanishing into the general population. Of the 10,000 men, women and children held almost half of them are kept in squalid camps in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the south pacific island of Nauru where rape,rioting,mental illness and malaria are widespread.                                                                                “If a liberal democracy decides a group of people, depending on where they come from, can have their liberty placed in jeopardy without the ability to defend themselves, then the consequences are very dire – not only for that specific group but for everyone in that country that supposedly lives under the rule of law,” says David Mann, head of the legal team at Melbourne’s Refugee and Immigration Legal Center. “It casts a very dark shadow over Australia’s commitment to human rights and fundamental respect for human dignity.”                                                       The government’s view is that Australia’s security must come first. “Security assessments are an important part of ensuring the safety of Australians,” the Attorney-General’s office commented.  They also say that these detentions of asylum seekers are a deterent to people smugglers resulting in the deaths of 1,200 people in the last five years, a spokesperson for the Ministry for Immigration and Border Protection said. “These policies are proving to be highly effective, with 75 days having passed without a successful people smuggling venture to Australia.”                                                                                                    Critics however point to the harsh and often dangerous conditions of the camps. Last month, at a detention center on PNG’s Manus Island, a 23-year-old Iranian national, Reza Barati, was found dead with a blunt force trauma to the head, and 76 others refugees were shot or otherwise wounded, after local security guards responded to a protest by the 1,100 predominantly Middle Eastern asylum seekers kept there. In PNG, Manus Island Police Chief Alex N’Drasal has called on Australia to address poor conditions inside the detention center, while local Catholic bishops this week released a joint statement demanding the center be closed.                                                                             “Detaining people against their will in PNG, even if it works as a deterrent, is not a just solution worthy of a great nation otherwise proud of its human rights record,” the bishops stated, saying they encouraged Australia “to find a more humane solution to people seeking asylum in their country.”



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