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Rhondda Records is with you every day bringing the news ------- that gives a view of world events different to the mainstream media or social media!
Except Sundays - our day of rest.
Journalist:To end war ------
prosecute UK, US officials
who wage(d) it illegally
October 22nd, 10:12pm (PressTV)
The world must finally put an end to the impunity of war
criminals, by holding US and UK officials responsible
for launching the illegal war on Iraq, done without
the approval of the UN Security Council, and
prosecuting them --- under the Nuremberg
principles, US journalist Don DeBar said.
DeBar made the remarks in an interview with Press TV while
commenting on a report which has revealed that the British
military inquiries into abuse against Iraqi nationals... have
been closed without a single prosecution being brought,
even though the credibility of many "shocking and
shameful incidents" during the war in the Middle
Eastern country, have been confirmed.
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said in a statement
this week that the Service Police Legacy Investigations,
which was looking at claims of abuse in Iraq, had now
"officially closed its doors."
In March 2003, the US and Britain invaded Iraq in blatant
violation of international law and under the pretext of
finding WMDs; but no such weapons were ever
discovered in Iraq.
More than one million Iraqis were killed - as the result of
the US-led invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq
--- according to the California-based investigative
organization, Project Censored.
The US war in Iraq cost US taxpayers $1.7 trillion with
an additional $490 billion in benefits owed to war veterans, expenses that could grow to more than $6 trillion over the next four decades counting interest, according to a study called Costs of War Project --- by the Watson Institute for
International Studies at Brown University.
DeBar told Press TV that the Iraq war
was illegal from the very beginning.
"It is illegal for a nation to make war on another nation if it
does not have the approval of the UN Security Council, if
any of those nations are signatories to the original UN
Charter. And it’s been adopted - that happened with
the US, as a charter member of the UN -- and it was
approved by the US Senate in the 1940s.
Consequently, the US involvement in Iraq from the beginning, and the UK involvement in Iraq from the beginning, was illegal,” he said.
“And under the Nuremberg standards, which would then
apply, each and every death consequent – intentional
or not - to either US or UK military action there, or
condoning of the US action there, by the media
or public officials, or any act facilitating that,
is an individual war crime. And, by the way,
there’s a death penalty for that,” the
journalist noted.
“No one will prosecute these people. That’s why I started
with the word impunity. And we might bookend with that
because that’s the problem. And until the world puts an
end to that impunity, until the world sees the major
contradiction in all international relations, is US,
UK, and EU imperialism, then it’s going to
continue until this eats our species,”
he stated.
A damning White House memo had revealed details of the
so-called “deal in blood” forged by former British Prime
Minister Tony Blair and US President George W. Bush
over the Iraq war.
The document, titled “Secret... Memorandum for the
President”, was sent by then-US Secretary of State
Colin Powell to President Bush on March 28th, 2002, a week before Bush’s summit with Blair at his Crawford ranch in Texas.
The sensational memo, revealed that Blair had agreed to
support the war a year before the invasion even started
while publicly, the British prime minister was working to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
The document also disclosed that Blair agreed to act as a
spin doctor for Bush and convince a skeptical public that
Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had Weapons of Mass
Destruction, which actually did not exist.
In response, Bush would flatter Blair and give the
impression that London was not Washington’s
poodle but an equal partner in the
“special relationship.”
Powell told Bush that Blair “will be with us” on the
Iraq war, and assured the president that “"the UK
will follow our lead in the Middle East."
Blair has always denied the claim that he and Bush
signed a deal “in blood”, at Crawford, to launch a
war against Iraq that began on March 20th, 2003,
that has killed hundreds of thousands of people.
The Powell memo, however, showed how Blair and
Bush secretly prepared the Iraq war plot behind
closed doors at Crawford.
Powell told Bush: “He will present to you the strategic,
tactical and public affairs lines, that he believes will
strengthen global support for our common cause.”
People hold up a banner as they protest
against Israel at the entrance of the
International Criminal Court.
000 000 000 000 000 000
Day 167: Gaza Bleeds as Israeli Strikes
Kill Dozens, Including Children
and Aid Seekers
August 30th, 4:10pm
(al Manar)
In yet another harrowing day under siege, the people of Gaza
continue to endure relentless Israeli bombardment, now in
its 167th day. The attacks, which show no sign of abating,
have targeted homes, shelters, and aid distribution points,
leaving behind scenes of devastation and deepening the
already catastrophic humanitarian crisis.
At least 76 Palestinians were killed in the past 24 hours alone,
according to medical sources—among them, 21 civilians who
were simply waiting for food aid. The Israeli occupation army
resumed full-scale assaults across the besieged Strip after
unilaterally cancelling a declared humanitarian pause.
In Gaza City, clashes between valiant Palestinian resistance
factions and Israeli occupation forces intensified,
reportedly resulting in Israeli casualties.
On Saturday dawn, an Israeli strike on an apartment belonging to
the Dawood family in Al-Karama, northwest of the city, killed a
woman and her child in their sleep.
Another deadly strike on the Shawa and Hossari residential tower
in Al-Rimal, where displaced families were sheltering, claimed
the life of one and injured several others.
In the north, the horror continued. Israeli gunfire on Palestinians
waiting for aid in the Al-Waha area killed 11 and wounded 100
on Friday. Later that day, three more were killed—including a
child - in a strike on the Juha family home in Al-Fawakheer.
The Israeli occupation army also expanded its campaign of
demolishing homes in the Al-Sabra and Al-Zaytoun
neighbourhoods of southern Gaza City and in
Jabalia Al-Nazla in the north - part of a
pattern of destruction that has left
thousands without shelter.
In central Gaza, five Palestinians were killed and several wounded
- with others still missing - when a strike leveled the Al-Hafi family
home in Nuseirat refugee camp. North of the camp, Israeli
artillery pounded residential areas. A separate strike on
the Al-Bureij refugee camp earlier claimed the life of
a child.
Southern Gaza saw more bloodshed. In Khan Younis, Israeli
occupation forces fired on tents housing displaced civilians
in the Al-Mawasi area, injuring one person. At sea, Israeli
naval fire claimed the life of the fisherman Mohammad
Ayman Al-Jaabari off the coast of Al-Qarara.
Over the past 24 hours, 19 Palestinians were killed in
Israeli airstrikes on Khan Younis alone - many of
them civilians seeking food and safety.
With every passing day, the death toll mounts, and Gaza’s cries
for justice echo louder. Yet the bombardment continues, as a
people already pushed to the brink -------- face hunger,
displacement, and the unyielding terror of war.
Source: Al-Manar Website
____________________________________________
Lebanon Speaker Berri - Speaks Sunday
on Imam Sayyed Sadr's Disappearance
Anniversary
August 30th, 1:14pm
(al Manar)
Lebanese Speaker Nabih Berri is to deliver a televised
address on Sunday -- on the 47th anniversary of Imam
The speech, at 15:00 (Beirut time) on Sunday, is expected
to tackle the latest developments - especially in Lebanon.
Local media reported earlier this week that Speaker Berri is
expected to give a detailed and firm stance on the US
pressure on Lebanon regarding the ceasefire deal
that ended the brutal Israeli war earlier last year
and disarming the resistance.
“Speaker Berri will outline his stance on the latest developments
and their implications in a televised address next Sunday,” Al-
Jomhouriya Lebanese daily reported on Thursday.
On Friday, Speaker Berri was quoted as saying by Assas Media
that “the US policy serves ‘Israel’ more than the US itself.”
The Israeli enemy continues to bomb Lebanon, mainly the country’s
south, almost daily and maintains occupation over five posts along
the southern border, in violation of a ceasefire deal reached
following a brutal 66-day Israeli war between September
and November 2024.
Despite the continuous Israeli attacks, the Lebanese Government
approved earlier this month “objectives” of a US plan to disarm
Hezbollah, yielding to US and Israeli pressures.
The cabinet session on August 7 followed another session on
August 5, in which the Lebanese Government tasked the
Lebanese Army with drafting a plan to confine all
weapons to the State by the end of the year.
The Lebanese State has been subjected to unprecedented
pressure by the United States ------- the first sponsor of the
Zionist entity, to tackle the issue of disarming Hezbollah.
Imam Sadr founded the Lebanese Amal (Hope) Movement in 1974.
The cleric who is of Iranian descent came to Lebanon in 1959.
He had been known for his patriotic stance and working to
preserve the rights of the Lebanese people - especially
those of Shia Muslims.
His eminence disappeared on August 31, 1978, during
an official visit to the Libyan capital Tripoli.
He was accompanied by Sheikh Mohammad
Yaqoub and journalist Abbas Badreddine.
Source: Al-Manar English Website
_____________________________________
Israeli Defense Chiefs Warn against
Gaza City Offensive:“Wild Gamble
on Hostages’ Lives”
August 30th, 10:40am
(al Manar)
Israeli defense chiefs will call on the security cabinet on Sunday
to accept the current proposal for a ceasefire and hostage
release deal in Gaza, Hebrew media reported on Friday.
The Israeli defense chiefs: “will present an all-but united front to
the security cabinet on Sunday, beseeching ministers to accept
the current proposal for a ceasefire and hostage release deal in
Gaza over the government’s desired offensive in Gaza City,”
The Times of Israeli cited Israeli Channel 12 as reporting
on Friday.
The chiefs include Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, Mossad Director
David Barnea and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, the
report said, noting that the stance of the acting chief of the
Shin Bet ...was not clear.
Security chiefs will also question why Israel has not held a cabinet
meeting to at least seriously consider the latest offer on the table
— an offer Tel Aviv had itself recently approved.
The phased proposal crafted by Arab mediators that Hamas
approved on August 18 envisions the release of 10 Israeli
captives along with the bodies of 18 dead hostages in
five batches over a 60-day ceasefire, during which
the sides will hold talks on the terms of the
release of the remaining hostages and a
permanent end to the war.
“There is a deal on the table that Israel fought for. We must grasp
the opportunity to bring the hostages back alive and to use the
ceasefire to reach an end to the fighting,” a senior security
source told the network.
“Any other decision, based on the thought that Hamas will
surrender if we enter Gaza [City], is a wild gamble on the
lives of hostages and soldiers.”
The unnamed official added that multiple living hostages could
have returned last week and been home safe by now, had
Israel accepted the deal, as it had in the past.
Source: Israeli media (edited by Al-Manar)
_____________________________
IRGC Busts Mossad-linked
Cell in Northeast Iran
August 30th, 10:21am
(al Manar)
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) intelligence forces
arrested a cell linked to the Zionist entity’s Mossad spy
service in the country’s northeast, Iranian media
reported on Saturday.
The IRGC division in Khorasan Razavi announced in a statement
that its intelligence forces have carried out a targeted operation
in the province, successfully identifying and arresting eight
operatives affiliated with Mossad.
The cell was involved in hostile operations during the 12-day
Israeli-US war on Iran in June, according to Iranian media.
The team had been involved in sending the coordinates of vital and
sensitive facilities, as well as information on prominent military
figures, to Mossad intelligence officers, the statement said.
The arrested elements were planning to design and carry out
operations against civilian and military officials, as well as
to sabotage key facilities in the holy city of Mashhad.
The network had in its possession materials for
making launchers, bombs, explosives, and
improvised explosive devices, which
were confiscated, according to
the IRGC statement.
The arrestees were in contact with
separatist groups as well, it added.
The IRGC emphasized that the arrests highlight the vigilance
and operational readiness of its intelligence units in
safeguarding national security against foreign
espionage and sabotage efforts.
Source: Iranian media
____________________________
UN asks Israel to lift blockade
of Gaza to combat famine
August 30th, 4:14am
(Prensa Latina)
A UN agency today urged Israel to eliminate the blockade against
the Gaza Strip to combat famine and the humanitarian crisis in
that enclave, under Zionist fire since October 2023.
The ban imposed by the Israeli authorities on humanitarian aid
must be lifted, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency
for Palestine Refugees in the Middle East (Unrwa) wrote
on the social network X.
“We are ready to continue our work. Our warehouses in Egypt and
Jordan are supplied, ready to fill around six thousand trucks”,
the institution highlighted.
The agency claimed to have a system that allows it
to distribute aid safely and on a large scale.
Days ago, the director general of the Ministry of Health in
Gaza, Munir al-Barash, denounced the high levels of
famine suffered by the territory.
Speaking to Al Jazeera television, the official cited UN data,
according to which half a million people live there
in a state of “catastrophic hunger”.
One million more --- almost half of the enclave's population,
are in a state of emergency in the fourth phase of famine,
and 20 percent in the third, he stressed.
The United Nations officially declared a famine in Gaza and
blamed Israel for the situation, whose government rejected
the qualification and blamed the Islamic Resistance
Movement for appropriating the incoming food.
However, both the UN, and dozens of international NGOs, affirm
that the entry of aid into the territory is limited and insufficient
to mitigate the severe humanitarian crisis there and called on
that country ------------- to reopen all of the border crossings.
In that sense, Al-Barash stated that the famine in Gaza
requires a large-scale humanitarian response.
We need an urgent ceasefire, open humanitarian corridors,
medical delegations, health centres, medicines and
nutritional supplements, he said.
________________________________________________
Abu Ubaida:Israeli Prisoners in Gaza
Will Be with Al-Qassam Fighters
Confronting Occupation Troops
August 29th, 7:01pm
(al Manar)
The spokesman for Al-Qassam Brigades ---- the military wing of
Hamas Movement, maintained on Friday that the occupation
of Gaza will be a disaster for the Israeli political and
military command.
In a social media post, Abu Ubaida stressed that the Israeli
occupation army will meet more deaths and capture
attempts in Gaza, affirming that Al-Qassam
fighters are on alert ....and completely
ready to fight the enemy.
Abu Ubaida indicated that the Israeli prisoners will be in the war
zones, have the same living conditions as Al-Qassam fighters,
and share with them the same threats, affirming --- that
Al-Qassam will announce the death of every prisoner
killed by the Zionist gunfire.
In this context, Abu Ubaida pointed out that the Israeli premier
Benjamin Netanyahu and his Nazi ministers decided to raise
the number of the dead prisoners and keep their bodies
concealed in Gaza forever.
“Netanyahu and his ministers are
completely responsible for that.”
The Palestinian resistance groups announced on Friday
several military operations against the Israeli
occupation forces in the Gaza Strip.
___________________________________________
Palestinian Resistance --- Targets
Several Merkava Tanks in Gaza
August 29th, 5:01pm
(al Manar)
The Palestinian resistance groups announced on Friday
several military operations against the Israeli
occupation forces in the Gaza Strip.
In this context, Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas
Movement, revealed targeting an Eitan personnel carrier with
a Kornet guided missile, directly hitting it east of the Zeitoun
neighbourhood in Gaza City - last Tuesday.
Our fighters monitored the landing of a helicopter
for evacuation of casualties, Al-Qassam stated.
Al-Qassam fighters managed on Thursday to strike a Merkava
tank and a Zionist personnel carrier with Al-Yaseen 105
shells in Jabalia, north of Gaza.
Al-Qassam fighters managed to blow up two Israeli Merkava
tanks with two highly explosive landmines last Monday and
Tuesday, in the east and centre of Jabalia city, north of the
Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic
Jihad Movement, posted a video which shows targeting the
Israeli occupation forces and vehicles advancing in Khan
Younis --- with mortar shells.
Source: Al-Manar English Website
Iranian MPs -urge dozens of countries
to impose sanctions on Israel
July 17th, 9:54am
(PressTV)
Members of the Iranian Parliament’s Judiciary and Legal
Committee have called on dozens of countries to work
towards imposing sanctions on Israel ----------- over the
regime’s “systematic violation of international rules
and human rights.”
In a letter sent to the parliaments of 44 states on Thursday,
the lawmakers - asked the legislatures’ legal committees
to condemn last month’s illegal Israeli-US aggression
against the Islamic Republic ....and notify the
Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) of
their decision.
They also urged those parliaments to put on their agenda
the legislative process for taking restrictive measures
against the criminal Zionist regime.
“Likewise, the legal committees have been asked to place
investigations into Israel’s crimes within the jurisdiction
of their country's legal authorities, in order to prevent
the impunity of the Zionist regime and the US, and
stop the Israeli warmongering in the world,”
the letter read, signed by Mohammad Sargazi, head of the Iranian Parliament’s Judiciary
and Legal Committee.
On June 13, Israel launched a blatant and unprovoked aggression
against Iran, killing at least 1,060 people, including high-ranking
military commanders, nuclear scientists, and ordinary civilians.
The head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society says that
civilians suffered the most casualties during the
Israeli aggression against Iran.
The United States also entered the war on June 22 and bombed
three Iranian nuclear sites in a grave violation of the United
Nations Charter, international law, and the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
In response, Iranian Armed Forces targeted strategic sites across
the occupied territories as well as the al-Udeid air base in Qatar,
the largest US military base in West Asia.
On June 24, Iran, through its successful retaliatory operations
against both the Israeli regime and the US, managed to
impose a halt to the terrorist assault.
Today, August 30th, in 1672,
Ito Jinsai,
philosopher and teacher,
is born.
He is considered to be one of the most influential Confucian
scholars of seventeenth century Japan, and the Tokugawa
period (1600–1868) generally.
Jinsai's school, known as the Kogigaku, advocated a
philosophical vision based on an understanding of
the meanings of key terms in Confucius'
Analects and the Mencius.
Jinsai is often described as an apolitical philosopher.
However, the Gomo jigi, can easily be seen as an
inherently political text, one which defines the
very philosophical foundations of an ideal
political order.
In the Analects, 13/3, Confucius, when asked by a disciple what he
would do if given political authority, replied that he would "rectify
terms" (zheng ming). When his disciple responded with
bewilderment, Confucius explained that if words
were not used correctly, then in effect there
could be little hope for order in a state.
For that reason, Confucius added,
the prince is always careful
in his use of words.
Jinsai's project of defining philosophical terms rightly, is very much
a later day expression of Confucius' view --- that in order to govern
effectively, one must ensure that words are understood and used
correctly. If that is not done, then all will be lost.
Works
jigi 1705 (The Meaning of Words
in the Analects and Mencius).
jimon 1705 (Questions From Children).
Daigaku teihon 1705 (The Established
Text of the Great Learning).
Hakushimonj 1704 (Postscripts to
the Collected Works of Bo Juyi).
Keir Hardie - Britain's first Labour MP - opposedWorld War One.
His namesake is stammering his way in the opposite direction.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
ROGER WATERS TO MUSICIANS:- "BOYCOTT ISRAEL"
Roger Waters formerly of Pink Floyd, in an open letter, calls on his fellow musicians --- to boycott the Zionist Israeli regime and follow the example of the cultural boycott against the ex S. African Apartheid regime.
“Given the inability or unwillingness of our governments [to act] …. I write to you now, my brothers and sisters … to ask you to join with me, & thousands of other artists around the world, to declare a cultural boycott on Israel,” Roger Waters says in his letter.
Waters says the Zionist regime has been found guilty of major breaches of human rights and international law by international organizations, UN officials and the International Court of Justice.
He touches on two such cases, saying the regime has been identified as perpetrating the “crime of Apartheid”, including in a statement on March 9th, 2012 by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and the “crime of ethnic cleansing” including in East Jerusalem (al-Quds).
Waters adds that he has been a member of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against the Israeli regime’s occupation of the Palestinian lands and Tel Aviv’s violations of Palestinian human rights for 7 years, and now wants other musicians to also join the anti-Israeli front.
“Please join me and all our brothers and sisters in global civil society in proclaiming our rejection of Apartheid in Israel & occupied Palestine, by pledging not to perform or exhibit in Israel or accept any award or funding from any institution linked to the government of Israel, until such time as Israel complies with international law and universal principles of human rights.”
The former Pink Floyd Musician also says he has recently faced a boycott by the US media after his November 29th, 2012 address at the UN on behalf of the Russell Tribunal.
In the address, he sought accountability for the Zionist regime’s violations of the international law and the lack of United Nations resolve that prevents the Palestinian people from achieving their inalienable rights, especially the right of self-determination.
____________________
AT THE FACTORY
Tickets from
www.wegottickets.com/thefactory
www.ticketweb.co.uk
browse venues in Wales
www.ticketlineuk.com
02920 230130
Cash tickets from:
The Factory, Porth Instrumental Music, Penygraig Spillers Records, Cardiff
Indulge in a delicious cake and a cup of tea while enjoying music and sing-along songs from fantastic Welsh musicians.
Ticket information:
The Cultural Services Booking & Information Line:
08000 147 111 or book online at
www.rct-arts.co.ukÂÂ
*************************************************
Mid Rhondda Modelling Club...
7pm - 9pm
Tonyrefail Comprehensive School Mid Rhondda Modelling Club
has been running for over 30 years.
We meet on a regular basis
& enjoy making models for display.
We encourage both Gentlemen
and Ladies to attend, and also young people aged 12+.
However, Young people under 16, must be accompanied by an adult.
Ticket information
£1 contribution every week. Under 16's free
Telephone Mr. Davies on 01443 686658
************************************************
Comedy In The Laughter Lounge
The Park & Dare Theatre, Treorchy.
COMEDY IN THE LAUGHTER LOUNGE
Join us once a month in the intimate setting of the Laughter Lounge for some top notch comedy with some of the biggest and brightest rising comedians on the circuit.
Laugh? You'll snort like a pig!
Hilarious - TimeOut.
www.rct-arts.co.uk
Rhondda Records exists to express the Rhondda's vision --- when it was confident, powerful, caring, and socialist.
A Rhondda very aware of the media's poisonous tricks -- how they con working class people into attacking each other, or racial groups, or, often, even their best allies and friends... instead of seeing their real enemies:--- an elite who hate the very idea that working people can think, create, or achieve a fairer society.
Thatcher said her proudest achievement was Blair and New Labour - who parachuted in careerists and expenses fiddlers - to stop local Labour members having a say, and who made genuine socialist MPs leave the Labour party in disgust and many members and voters to despair... and the young to stop voting.
Jeremy Corbyn was always attacked because he was trying to reverse all that New Labour corruption --- that's why membership was flooding in all over the UK.
______________________________________
Get Involved!
– If you feel you’ve been ‘purged’, take this online survey:
– Request all your own data that the Labour Party holds on you:
http://www.labour.org.uk/pages/privacy
_______________________________________
IF - YOU THINK you HAVE BEEN UNFAIRLY BARRED:
“Any member who is suspended & intends to appeal the decision should throw in a ‘Subject Access Request in accordance with the Data Protection Act’ --- for ALL data that the Labour Party hold on them.
The Labour Party are Data Controllers and therefore have to, by law, provide you with all material/information they hold on you.”
If anyone is in contact with anyone who was barred from voting --- please can you pass this info on:
The Labour leadership election was under the jurisdiction of the electoral reform services.
If you were unfairly deprived of your vote you can call them on 0208 365 8909 and lodge your complaint, and inform them of your Data Protection request.
https://www.electoralreform.co.uk
The notification letters barring new members did not give a clear reason, or information on how to appeal, so Vox Political suggests that anyone in this situation, could also contact Liz Davies here: http://www.whycantivote.com
She is a barrister --- who can advise members on what to do.
**************************************
PONCY LABOUR MPS PROBLEM?
A huge drop in working-class Labour MPs, caused a massive drop in support among voters with similar backgrounds, reveals research seeking to explain why support has dwindled in the party’s heartlands.
The study says past leaders like Kinnock and Blair made a concerted effort to pick “more and more middle-class candidates to run for office, during the 80s and 90s, as part of an effort to rebrand” -- which had initial successes at the ballot box.
But this “conscious electoral strategy” stored up problems, as working-class voters who initially, just didn’t vote in response, now seek an alternative.
The solution?Trust each constituency to put forward its own candidates, and don't impose ‘party-approved’ choices who can't do the job.
Now, unfortunately, there are "entryist" MPs who, for decades, have been groomed by CIA cold war relic organisations -- like the Atlantic Council -- and are now trying to misdirect the Labour Party towards cuts, a militarised police, and a US war agenda... - and their anti-Corbyn slant is hobbling Labour.
‘How Can I Deselect My Labour MP?’ A Short Guide to Reselection and Democratic Accountability by Eric Sim, excellent free advice here:
http://novaramedia.com/2016/07/13/how-can-i- deselect-my-labour-mp-a-short-guide-to- reselection-and-democratic-accountability/ CHRIS BRYANT - SUPPORT THE MEMBERS' LEADERSHIP CHOICE & POLICIES - OR GO!
Chris Bryant, the Rhondda's dodgy MP, was on TV -- as soon as the PLP coup started -- telling us that Jeremy MUST go, because it was the ONLY way to act in the Labour Party's interest...
Chris Bryant's voting record: from TheyWorkForYou.com
On Tuition Fees:
On 27 Jan 2004: Chris Bryant voted in favour of university tuition fees increasing from £1,125 per year, to up to £3,000 per year.
On 31 Mar 2004: Chris Bryant voted to allow university tuition fees to increase from £1,125 per year, to up to £3,000 per year.
On 31 Mar 2004: Chris Bryant voted for the introduction of variable university tuition fees (top-up fees) of up to £3,000 per year in place of the previous fixed fee of £1,250 per year.
On 31 Mar 2004: Chris Bryant voted to allow university tuition fees to increase from £1,125 per year to up to £3,000 per year, and to make other changes to higher education funding and regulation arrangements.
On 14 Sep 2004: Chris Bryant voted against: the immediate abolition of all tuition fees, the re-introduction of maintenance grants of up to £2,000 for students from low-income homes, and changes to the country's higher education system.
On 14 Sep 2004: Chris Bryant voted to reject the Liberal Democrat policy of abolition of tuition fees.
On 25 May 2016: Chris Bryant was absent for a vote on Queen's Speech - Forcing Schools to Become Academies - Further Rises in University Tuition Fees
On Human Rights:
Consistently voted for introducing ID cards
Almost always voted for requiring the mass retention of information about communications
Generally voted for mass surveillance of people’s communications and activities
On the Environment:
Generally voted against greater regulation of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to extract shale gas
On Special Interests:
Almost always voted against limits on success fees paid to lawyers in no-win no fee cases
Generally voted against a statutory register of lobbyists
On War or Peace:
Generally voted for use of UK military forces in combat operations overseas
Consistently voted for the Iraq war
Consistently voted against an investigation into the Iraq war
Generally voted for replacing Trident with a new nuclear weapons system
On 2 Dec 2015: Voted to support UK airstrikes in Syria [without UN authorisation]
On 2 Dec 2015: Voted to support UK airstrikes in Syria [without UN authorisation]
On Independence:
Generally voted for more EU integration
____________________________
Chris Bryant Labour MP From Wikipedia
(aka 1962-1986: Mr Christopher John Bryant 1986-1991: The Reverend Christopher John Bryant, 1991-2001: Mr Christopher John Bryant, 2001-: Mr Christopher John Bryant MP.)
Born in Cardiff, to a Scottish mother & a Welsh father, Bryant grew up in Cardiff, Wales (where his father worked for 5 years), and Cheltenham.
He was educated at Cheltenham College, an independent school for boys in the spa town of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, where he was captain of the school swimming team, and Mansfield College at the University of Oxford, where he graduated in 1983, with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in English. This was later promoted to a Master of Arts degree (MA (Oxon)), as per tradition.
After completing his first degree, Bryant began training to be a priest in the Church of England at Ripon College, Cuddesdon, in Oxfordshire. There, he obtained a degree in theology.
Although a member of the Conservative Party, and an elected office-holder in the Oxford University Conservative Association, he joined the Labour Party in 1986, after leaving Oxford.
He was ordained deacon in 1986 and priest in 1987. He served as a Curate at the Church of All Saints, High Wycombe, from 1986 to 1989; then as a Youth Chaplain in Peterborough, as well as travelling in Latin America.
In 1991 Bryant left the ordained ministry, after deciding that being gay and being a priest, were incompatible. Statements made by Richard Harries, then Bishop of Oxford, also influenced his decision.
After leaving the priesthood in 1991, Bryant worked as the election agent to the Holborn and St Pancras Constituency Labour Party, where he helped Frank Dobson hold his seat in the 1992 general election.
From 1993, he was Local Government officer for the Labour Party; he lived in Hackney and was elected to Hackney Borough Council in 1993, serving until 1998. He became Chair of the Christian Socialist Movement.
He is both a member of the Labour Friends of Israel and Labour Friends of Palestine & the Middle East. From 1994 to 1996 he was London manager of the leader-grooming "charity", Common Purpose.
He was Labour candidate for Wycombe, in the 1997 general election (he lost by 2,370 votes), and Head of European Affairs for the BBC, from 1998.
His selection for the very safe Labour seat of Rhondda, South Wales in 2000, shocked many people given Bryant's background – gay, an ex- Anglican vicar, and someone who was a Tory, while studying at Oxford, and a member now, of the Henry Jackson Society 'think tank' --- described by The Guardian newspaper as 'neoconservative'. It is pro-US, pro-NATO and pro-military intervention, as well as being fundamentally anti-socialist.
Fifty-two people applied for the candidature and a local councillor was hot favourite to win, before Bryant was parachuted in.
In 2004, a photograph of Mr Bryant in his underpants, which he had posted to a gay dating website, was published in 'papers.
When an interviewer suggested he was a 'disgrace to the Rhondda', he replied: "They can't get rid of me."
His pay, allowances and some expenses:
The basic annual salary for an MP, from April 1st, 2016 is £74,962. MPs also get expenses: to cover the costs of running an office, employing staff, having some- where to live in London, plus, in their constituency and travelling between Parliament and their constituency.
His MP's expenses story:
Chris Bryant changed second home twice to claim £20,000: the deputy leader of the House of Commons, "flipped" his second home twice, in 2 years, allowing him to claim almost £20,000 for renovations and fees.
Chris Bryant, MP for the Rhondda, split over £92,000 of expenses between 3 properties in Wales and London --- within five years.
In 2004, he attempted to claim £58,000 to overhaul his second home in Wales, after allegedly complaining that properties in his constituency were "terrace or mine owners' houses".
Mr Bryant, a former Church of England clergyman, wanted the money for a new bathroom & kitchen, and to demolish his conservatory. He'd bought the detached house for £97,500, under a year earlier.
He submitted a claim to the Commons fees office for £58,493.26 --- almost 3 times the annual maximum. He noted that the claim exceeded his allowance.
His alleged justification was disclosed... in correspondence between Commons officials. By email, an official wrote: "He had problems finding a suitable property because in the Rhondda there is a choice mainly of terraced property or mine owners' houses." When approached by the Daily Telegraph, Mr Bryant said: "I have never said or thought anything of the sort".
In all, he successfully claimed over £13,000 for renovations, repairs & appliances, in 2004. Along with other bills, his annual claim was £20,902.
In April 2005, he flipped his expenses to his flat in west London, which he bought for £400,000 in April 2002. He also claimed £630 a month for mortgage interest, along with other bills. After claiming over £3,600 over 3 months, he sold the flat in July 2005 for £477,000.
Mr Bryant used his profits to buy a more expensive flat in west London, which was valued at £670,000. He immediately flipped his second home expenses there, claiming almost £6,400 in stamp duty, legal fees and mortgage fees, incurred in the purchase.
He then began claiming interest of £1,000 a month on the mortgage. He also claimed a further £6,000 a year for the flat's service charge and ground rent.
In all, he claimed £92, 415 in second home expenses, from 2004 to 2009.
Mr Bryant said at the time: "I moved flat in London, so as to be closer to Parliament."
Research by Channel 4 News in 2015 found that at least 46 MPs had this kind of system in place – a move one Labour backbencher described as “a new fiddle”. Channel 4 reported then:
“Our investigation found that many of the MPs bought their London properties with the help of the taxpayer, when a previous expenses system allowed them to claim back mortgage payments. But when those claims were banned, following the expenses scandal, they switched to letting out their properties, in some cases for up to £3,000 a month. They then started claiming expenses for rent and hotels in the capital.”
Among those identified was Chris Bryant, shadow leader of the House of Commons. He had already bought a penthouse in London back in 2005 and claimed around £1,000 a month in mortgage claims under the old system.
But after the expenses scandal, he started renting the property out. It’s since been advertised by estate agents as having a private lift and a porter, with rent at about £3,000 a month. Meanwhile, Bryant moved into a new flat;- claiming his own rent on expenses.
Russian/Scottish scientists hail long-range secure quantum communication system.
A group of scientists from ITMO University in Saint Petersburg, Russia, has developed a new approach to constructing quantum communication systems for secure data exchange.
The experimental device based on the results of the research is capable of transmitting single-photon quantum signals across distances of 250 klmtrs or more, which is on par with its cutting edge analogues, the ITMO press-service says.
"Now researchers are on a mission -- to create a fully-fledged quantum cryptographic system, that will generate & distribute quantum keys and transmit useful data simultaneously", ITMO says.
Information security is becoming more and more of a critical issue not only for large companies, banks and defense enterprises but even for small businesses and individual users.
But the data encryption algorithms we currently use for protecting our data are imperfect - in the long-term, their logic can be cracked. Regardless of how complex and intricate the algorithm is, getting around it, is just a matter of time.
Unlike algorithm-based encryption, systems that protect information, by making use of fundamental laws of quantum physics, can make data transmission totally immune to hacker attacks, in the future.
Information in a quantum channel is carried by single photons that change irreversibly if an eavesdropper tries to intercept them. The legitimate users will instantly know about any kind of intervention.
Researchers at the Quantum Information Centre of the International Institute of Photonics and Optical Information Technology at ITMO Uni., Russia, along with their colleagues from the Heriot-Watt University, in Edinburgh, have devised a new way to generate and distribute, quantum bits.
This makes it possible to share quantum signals --- via optical fibres --- 250 kilometres in distance.
"To transmit quantum signals, we use the so- called side frequencies," says Artur Gleim, head of the Quantum Information Centre, at ITMO University,
"This unique approach gives us a number of advantages -- such as a considerable simplification of the device architecture and the large pass-through capacity of the quantum channel. In terms of bit rate and operating distances, our system is comparable to absolute champions in the field of quantum communications."
According to Robert Collins, research associate at the Institute of Photonics & Quantum Sciences at Heriot-Watt University, and one of the authors of the study, this may become a pivotal point for the whole field of quantum communication and cryptography:
"Down the track, this new approach can enable smooth coexistence of numerous data streams with different wavelengths in one single optical cable. On top of it, these quantum streams can be fed into the already existing fibre optic lines --- along with conventional communications."
The research paper is published in the Optics Express journal.
Scottish universities are to be congratulated for their strong & growing links with Chinese and Russian universities....
What a shame, that Wales is lying low --- with academics too scared to break from US military research.
KILLING THE ELDERLY BY CLOSING CARE HOMES
Did you know that each time a local authority
closes a care home for the elderly, within 8
months, around half the residents are dead?
Campaigners liken the cuts and their effect to euthanasia of the UK's elderly. What to do?
We can start by urging our MPs to sign EDM 2251:
EDM 2251: The contents
This House notes with deep concern the worsening crisis for elderly care as growing numbers of local authority and private care homes face closure
Acknowledges concerns that the loss of elderly people's care homes causes fear, anxiety and, in many cases, a higher mortality rate, when vulnerable, elderly people are forced to leave their homes
Further notes that the Southern Cross crisis will increase needs for local authority care
And therefore calls on the government to hold a public inquiry into the deaths after closures, of local authority care homes, and impose a moratorium on the closure of local authority care homes, until that inquiry publishes its results, to ensure that vulnerable, elderly people's lives are not put at further risk.
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MAKING THE CONNECTION IN WALES
Households across three more English areas will be able to access superfast broadband in the latest phase of a Government scheme to connect rural homes and businesses.
The £50 million funding package for Devon and Somerset (£30 million), Norfolk (£15 million) and Wiltshire (£4 million) will aid the roll- out of superfast broadband services unable to be reached by the market alone.
Areas will also receive financial support from their local authorities and private investors, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport says.
So it's Broadband Heaven for England...
and crapola for Wales' broadband - the
slowest, worst Broadband in the UK !!!
Lib Dems in Scotland might have received a pummeling for Clegg and his betrayals, yet, in Scotland, their campaign centred on it becoming the "most connected country in Europe," to massively boost their economy.
In Wales, which political party is now willing to put into practice scientists' recommendations: that Wales' hilly topography requires establishing
free 'wireless' broadband?
It could connect the people of Rhondda and the world, boosting Wales' economic regeneration, like no other move.Wireless technology is now supplying free broadband to an entire island off New Zealand's coast.
Come on; if New Zealand can do it - so can we !!!
Western China has embraced "green-mode development" - with painful changes from which, Wales could well learn.
Eastern China has seen fast growth and urban mess. The West, a mining and agricultural area, has not.
Xi'an Chan-ba Ecological District, is a model for reclaiming old mining areas.
It took six hard years, but now Xi'an is showing the world how best to change, by turning a badly polluted rubbish landfill site, into an all new environment-friendly development.
As China's economic focus moves from east to west, it's using the lessons learned during 30 or more years of rapid industrial development.
The green way for China's west, is to combine green industrialization & green urbanization.
The western region's strategy is to adopt effective energy-saving and environmental protection technologies... AND to extend its industry through science and products unique to China's West, together with strong vertical growth in agriculture and all its ancilliary economic & professional spin-offs.
In undertaking this industrial revolution, the western region will keep a sharp eye out - to avoid all polluting non-sustainable industries.
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A BIG DROP OF HONEY !!!
Spring is beekeeping and honey-processing season in Yunnan province, in China.
Waves of bees flit across vast fields of flowers.
Local beekeepers and many from other places, such as Sichuan and Fujian provinces - set up their base in tents among the rapeseed farms.
The 430,000 hectares of rapeseed blooms in Luoping attract myriads of bees, which produce 15 - 20 million tons of honey a year.
Local people now look to brand their county as a honey production base & increase sales to outside markets.
Luoping Tianyuanmiyu Bee Industry Co Chair, Zhu Hongkun, founded his enterprise in 2009.
It mainly produces honey, propolis and propolis powder.
His company works with 270 plus beekeepers, who each earn 80,000 yuan a year on average.
Some earn 200,000 yuan annually, Zhu says.
Who says beauty endowed by nature isn't worth a fortune?
The whole of the uplands of south Wales could be as beautiful & productive, if used wisely!
CHINA's PREMIER POINTS WAY FORWARD
As the Tories threaten a "bonfire of the Quangos", perhaps Wales should take note. Now extracting all our mineral wealth has been stopped (apart from sand and rock) we find ourselves "in" the 1st World of the UK, but with a 3rd World economy, only just kept going by quangos which promise much... but deliver little... and rely on weak public support.
We could WAKE UP & understand that we either do something, or stay as begging bowl cases.
China's premier points the way forward for Wales:
"Industrial restructuring is the key... only by developing energy-efficient, indigenous innovative and high value added products can our companies and economy, achieve sustainable development."
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WHILE FRANCE, GREECE, IRELAND, ETC, STRUGGLE TO STOP THE PENSION AGE RISING HIGHER AND HIGHER...
An online survey on qq.com, a popular Chinese news portal, finds that 91% of its over 800,000 respondents, are against raising the current official Chinese retirement age.
745,123 of those surveyed say they oppose raising retirement ages -- 72,456 support it.
China's scholars & the public have been debating whether to raise the retirement age, for the past few years, but the issue rose to prominence after remarks by an official.
Wang Xiaochu, the official vice minister of the Ministry of Human Resources & Social Security, said at a press conference that the government was "studying the matter"...
The retirement age in China is generally set at 60 for men and 50-55 for women.
Wow! Bet you didn't know that !!!
FARMING AND SCIENCE COULD REGENERATE WALES
A new UN General Assembly report warns "vast areas" of cultivated land are lost each year, and that this could lead to unrest.
The report says up to 30 million hectares, an area the size of Italy, is lost each year to environmental degradation, industry & urbanization - the growth of cities - and all because of speculative building and greed.
The UN special rapporteur Olivier De Schutter, gives the example of eastern Africa, where the amount of cultivated land has declined by half --- in just one generation! "
As rural populations grow and competition with large industrial units increases, plots cultivated by smallholders are shrinking year after year," says De Schutter.
"Farmers are often relegated to soils that are arid, hilly or without irrigation."
The UN officer also mentions India as another example, where the average landholding fell from 2.6 hectares in 1960 to 1.4 hectares in 2000. A cut of nearly half in 40 years!
He says 500 million small farmers suffer from hunger, partly because their right to land is being violated. The expert warns of the devastating consequences, as foreign investors compete for larger and larger areas of the world's land for "their" agriculture.
Rhondda Records says Wales could rebuild its new economy by basing it on a fresh approach to high-value added products, using science and agriculture... such as the Altzeim project in Gwent.
