The Richest and the rest

This is a good video. Oxfam, a charity, is raising the issue of inequality because the politicians are not interested.

Whether it is possible to get the richest to pay 1.5 percent to help the poorest is another matter. It is most likely that the rich will fight tooth and nail to keep their wealth and power. It is hardly likely that Oxfam would advocate socialism and keep their charitable status.

Some Tory MPs want their charitable status revoked as it is. It is more likely that the working class will get justice by fighting for justice themselves.

Politicians dance to UKIP's tune

Michael Fallon responded to the threat of UKIP with outright racist statements about British people being "swamped" by immigrants, echoing the infamous days when Thatcher stole slogans from the National Front. There was a swift denial from the Prime Minister. Cameron did not disagree with the disgraceful racist sentiment but with the "choice of words".

Instead of standing up to racism, "Red Ed" Miliband uses weasel words about "taking on board people's concerns." The lie that pressure on the NHS is not caused by Tory cuts but by the Romanians is given credibility when the Labour traitors are so spineless in their response. I will repeat the fact, a quarter of doctors and half of all nurses in the NHS were born overseas. Get rid of them with "tough immigration policies" and you would double the problems of health care.

It is no wonder Farage is laughing like a demented hyena. UKIP goes up in the polls because people realise the politicians are doing nothing to help them. Then the politicians all dance to UKIP's tune that the EEC and the European immigrants are the problem.

Only one small problem. Stop the free movement of people in Europe and you stop the free movement of British workers overseas. What are they supposed to do? Come back to Blighty and become part of the "benefits culture" we hear so much about?

You cannot win a battle by caving in. The trade unions should give the New Labour charlatans their marching orders. Either support the working class, show some backbone, or the unions will support people who will. #socialistreviews

Everyday Fiction - free story every day

I DON'T WANT YOU TO GO

Very good current story. The writer gets inside the mind of the main character so well. The comments on EDF are often helpful. Occasionally they are less so!

It is a great place to visit and very good to write for. Even if they reject your work it is a lot more than just a "go away!" They give reasons for rejections which enable the writer to have another bash at the story.

You can contrast the comments on the following. I think the problem with Cluedo caused a bit of confusion with The Vicar's Laptop. I had been warned but foolishly ignored the warnings!

THE BEST OF PIES

THE VICAR'S LAPTOP

THE ROWING MACHINE

http://derekmcmillan.com

Bottomley's smug little leaflet

The Conservatives think they hardly have to make any effort in Durrington. They issued a smug little leaflet with a picture of millionaire MP Bottomley.
The heading was "Why should I vote Conservative?"
Each reason was more ridiculous than the last but I will mention only two.

"Conservatives are improving education."

I think that unleashing Gove and his mad expensive schemes on the education system can not be described as "improving education." Bottomley did not have the manners to reply to letters from this voter asking why Gove approves the use of cheap unqualified teachers in academies. Such manners they teach them in Westminster School!

"We are delivering a Country where if you contribute, you gain reward." (They insisted on a capital C for country. Improving education indeed!)

And then this morning the news included the stories that British pensioner poverty is the worst in the EU and that a record number of workers are on poverty wages. More than five million workers are in low-paid work, with the proportion of people on low salaries rising from 21 to 22 per cent last year, according to the new research by the Resolution Foundation think-tank.

Well some people are getting rewarded but they are mainly millionaires like Bottomley and his chums. #socialistreviews

NAHT join TUC

The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) has today (Friday) joined the TUC, bringing the number of affiliated unions to 54.

The union – which is based in Haywards Heath in West Sussex – is led by General Secretary Russell Hobby. With 28,500 members it is the biggest union to join the TUC for some time.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Education matters – to pupils, to parents, to communities and to the UK economy, which is why it is so good to see the NAHT joining the TUC’s family of education unions.”

http://derekmcmillan.com/

White Only Taxi drivers

Car 2000 in Rochdale uses the pretext of a sex grooming scandal for a policy of offering customers white drivers.

Car 2000 are driving a cab through the Equalities Act.

Next we will be able to insist on heterosexual drivers, Protestant drivers and definitely Juden Verboten.

The media coverage implies all paedophiles are from Pakistan. That Jimmy Saville kept the fact he was from Pakistan a secret didn't he? Him and thousands of other paedophiles in fact.

It is absurd that an employer can discriminate in this way and use a grooming scandal as a pretext. The council say they can do nothing. That is utterly ludicrous. A workers' party would be organising a boycott of all racist taxi firms. Instead New Labour always retreat in the face of racism. UKIP blame our economic woes on Eastern Europeans. Instead of telling these idiots that is untrue, Labour is adding fuel to the flames. Does anybody really think Miliband can pose as a better racist than Farage?

http://derekmcmillan.com/

OFSTED are useful for something - shock!

Who would have thought OFSTED were valuable for anything except compost :)

http://derekmcmillan.com/

Save A&E at Worthing Hospital

The threat to Worthing A and E is a direct consequence of the privatisation of the NHS. The Tories have handed a £235m contract for Musculoskeletal (MSK) services to their chums at BupaCSH Ltd.

This is something which has got to be fought by any means necessary.

Sign the petition Click here

We made use of Worthing A and E when we lived in Horsham so they cannot reasonably ignore signatures from outside Worthing.

 Local MPs support a government which is hell-bent on the privatisation of virtually everything but these MPs are coming out against the threat to the local hospital and to their votes. They are the sort of people who give hypocrisy a bad name.

Death Agony of Capitalism

This is an extraordinary find on Amazon. The price is a bit beyond the pale ($34.30) but this is an original Workers' International League pamphlet. They are few and far between. For all I know this is unique.

The battle the WIL was engaged in against the betrayal of Socialism is still alive.

#socialistreviews
This is the link
If you want a cheaper version for Kindle, ipad and PC
click here

Saturday Night Reader

Click here for Saturday Night Reader magazine

They also have a facebook page 

 https://www.facebook.com/SaturdayNightReader

They have also accepted a short story of mine. It will be published in December.

Everyday Fiction - The Best of Pies

Click here
Everyday Fiction have published a story I wrote. They are a site which can let you have a carefully chosen free story every day. However they pay their writers. Woohoo!

It was the best of pies. It was the worst of pies. I have to admit the pastry could not be faulted. I actually enjoyed it. Then as soon as I bit into the pie I found that it was all gristle and bits of animal I prefer not to speculate about. The Commanding Officer stood over me and made sure I ate every scrap of it too. All of the troops who were going out to the forward base ate these pies. It was as if it were some kind of toughening-up exercise.

Click here to read on

Schools for scandal?

According to The Independent and the Organised Crime and Corruption
Reporting Project,

"Britain's top private schools are coming under scrutiny from
anti-corruption groups for unwittingly accepting laundered money from
wealthy foreign criminals and corrupt officials."

I can imagine St Trinians being involved in money laundering but I
thought it was a work of fiction.

If the allegations are true it puts paid to the idea of sending Tristram
to a posh school to meet "the right kind of people" wouldn't you say?

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http://derekmcmillan.com

#teacheroath - any more bright ideas little Tristram?

"I pledge to have better data than my colleagues so I can get a pay-rise instead of them" That's good education, isn't it? #teacheroath
— Martin Powell-Davies (@MPDNUT) October 12, 2014

I thought Tristram was useless. I didn't realise he was *worse* then useless #teacheroath #classroomteachermanual
— derekmcmillan (@derekmcmillan) October 12, 2014

.@TristramHuntMP thinks teachers are education's problem. He's wrong: competition,fragmentation and GERM are #teacheroath http://t.co/wuaakGoUBA
— Natalie Bennett (@natalieben) October 12, 2014

#teacheroath has out-trended x-factor results chat @TristramHuntMP Be warned. Education matters. Oaths are meaningless.
— Michael Rosen (@MichaelRosenYes) October 12, 2014

and a cast of thousands!
According to little Tristan's website he thinks he is a "nationbuilder". Delusions of grandeur or what?.

#teacheroath
#classroomteachermanual

Planet of the Dogs - Free to friends and family for one week

You can own The Planet of the Dogs for free between 13th and 17th October.

Click here to try before you buy

 

This is a book for children making the transition from picture books to books which are predominantly print.

 

Are you ready for a book without pictures? You will have the words and your imagination to work out what Alfred, Uncle Finn, Seren, Tom, Abby and the Prof look like and what it must be like to step out on a strange planet for the first time. If you are not ready for this, go back to your picture books for now. We will be here when you are ready.
We want to set your imagination on fire. 

Cassetteboy on Cameron

Couldn't have put it better myself
#socialistreviews

Religion and Politics

Millionaire Sir Peter Bottomley, writing in the Worthing Herald. seems
to assume that the Church is the Conservative Party at prayer. Given
that this government's beatitudes seem to include "Blessed are the Rich"
and "Blessed are the warmakers" people might like to think twice about that.


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http://derekmcmillan.com

Sick-out! Teachers and students protest rewriting of history

American independent news programme Democracy Now! reports,

"After a county school board in Colorado proposed to rewrite the district’s high school U.S. history curriculum to stop teaching about civil disobedience, students and teachers have responded with acts of civil disobedience of their own. 

"Classes have been canceled twice in Jefferson County as teachers stage mass sick-outs and students walk out of classes. At a protest last week, hundreds of Denver-area high school students held cardboard signs with slogans including, "Don’t make history a mystery" and "Keep your politics out of my education." 

"The protests began after the school board announced it was considering reviewing the curriculum of Advanced Placement history courses and adding more material to "promote citizenship, patriotism, essentials and benefits of the free-market system, respect for authority and respect for individual rights." The proposed changes also call for the removal of classroom materials that "encourage or condone civil disorder, social strife or disregard of the law." 

"In addition, teachers are protesting a pay-grade system that ties their salaries to performance reviews. "

It is the sort of thing which would have the late Michael Gove turning in his grave :)

Pride - an inspiring film with lessons for today

This really is the kind of history which the late Michael Gove would
call "bunk". It is about ordinary people doing extraordinary things. It
is about trade union solidarity - three words Gove would choke on.

It is a version of the true story of "Lesbians and Gays Support Miners."
The thing it does include and the keynote of the story is the idea of
solidarity exemplified with the handshake. Miners shaking hands with
lesbian and gay activists, gay and straight Londoners shaking hands and
seeing the miners as the front line troops in the battle against the
hated Thatcher government.

And in addition to all that, don't go away with the idea this is a
worthy film which you ought to watch out of moral duty. Not at all. It
is a witty and intelligent narrative with brilliant acting from (for my
money) George MacKay as Joe, the repressed suburban gay young man swept
up in the movement and Ben Schnetzer as the driving force. All of the
cast do a brilliant job and you will have your own nominees. Bill Nighy
and Imelda Staunton do not need any recommendation from me.

The story (no spoilers here) shows the gay community, initially
reluctant to support the miners gradually being won round. It shows the
ups and downs of the attitudes of rank and file miners towards the gay
community and it ends with the magnificent intervention of the National
Union of Mineworkers in Gay Pride against the "no politics here"
attitude of the bureaucracy. Anyone who has attended Pride has met that
inflated bureaucracy and they could most certainly do with watching this
film.

It is a feel-good film despite the victory of Thatcher and her bully
boys in the end, the mood of solidarity which existed at that time has
important lessons for the present day. Thatcher is alive and well in the
Tory government, despite her multi-million pound funeral.

The film had to stop somewhere and the Gay Pride march was as good a
place as any. We should remember that it was working class solidarity
which ultimately ditched Thatcher and her hated poll tax.


The utter brutality of Margaret Thatcher and her police thugs is skirted
around and the hatred of the newspapers against Gay People in the wake
of the AIDS advertising of the government is mentioned a bit but the
vicious editorials in The Sun at the time are probably too disgusting
for the audience to believe.

Go and see this film.

#socialistreviews



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