London Vigil for the Indian Gang Rape Victim

Around 30 people showed up for the Vigil in London for the Delhi gang rape victim today. We chanted, said prayers and stood in silence to remember Nirbhaya (the victim of the gang rape). Here are some pictures from the Vigil. I am still sickened by how something so brutal could happen in this world and I pray that it will never happen again.
Thank you to everybody who showed up and Kirsten Bayes who helped me organise it. Thank you to Holly Rae who led the chanting and now has a sore throat, and to the members of  St Johns's Mar Thoma Edavaka church in Hounslow, London who came and to Father Eapen Abraham.

Vigil For Delhi Gang Rape Victim

On Saturday the 29th December at 5.30pm I will be holding a vigil for the Delhi gang rape victim outside the Indian High Commission in Central London.

The reason I am doing this is first and foremost to remember a poor young woman who spent a Saturday evening watching a movie with a friend, caught a bus home and then was gang raped on the bus. She died in the last few hours. As far as I know her identity has not been released. I don't know her name. But I don't need to know her name because the violence she suffered is a severe and evil violation of every woman's right to personal security. Rape has become so common place all over the world. Small girls and boys and grown men and women are raped everyday. This needs to stop. RAPE CANNOT BE NORMALISED.

Please join me if you can and bring candles and a belief in women's rights.

Is Christmas about Rampant Capitalism or Baby Jesus?

When you first think of Christmas what pops into your head? Is it Father Christmas, presents, a Christmas tree or food? All of these things  involve spending excessive amounts of money. This isn't the real message of Christmas, in fact if the three wise men hadn't come bearing gifts for baby Jesus Christmas wouldn't be about consumerism and  corporations wouldn't make a business out of the birth of a religious figure.

I saw an example today of how Christmas has been ruled by  rampant capitalism and consumerism. I was in Covent Garden, with my parents, when a man who was selling 'The Big Issue' approached us and told us how nobody was paying attention to him and instead they were shoving past him to get to the sales. I could not understand how people can rush by a homeless man to spend hundreds of pounds and not even spend  a second or spare £3 to help him. What have we become?

Shoppers have spent £2.9bn in one day and Selfridges gained £1.5 million in one hour alone and police had to be called in to reign back the crowds in Oxford St. I am not saying that you should immediately stop spending  money and give it all to charity but I think that we need to the rethink message of Christmas and if you are an atheist or you don't celebrate Christmas try to remember that this is the season of goodwill towards those less fortunate than you.

Capitalism doesn't bother me but rampant capitalism does. By this I mean that people are worshipping shops whilst the number of food banks are increasing and there is evermore  need for donations. Rampant capitalism has created a culture where charity is out ruled by consumerism and the poor are blamed for their misfortune and the rich are praised and supported. 

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everybody. 

I hope that you all have a lovely Christmas. 

Here is a quick Christmas prayer for all of you;

God our Father,

whose Word has come among us

in the Holy Child of Bethlehem:

May the light of faith illumine our hearts

and shine in our words and deeds;

through him who is Christ the Lord. 

If you are able to donate to the homeless or any charity this Christmas please do so because this is what the birth of Christ is all about. 

MP challenges Cameron over disability benefits

click here to watch the video

David Cameron's Christmas round robin

David Cameron's Christmas round robin

Condolences to Newtown from a British Child

Child victims of the Newton shootings 

Sometimes something so big happens that it does not matter whether you know the people involved or not, nor whether you have any connection with the area it happened in. I have never been to America. I had never heard of Newtown. My closest involvement with Connecticut was over the recent Presidential election but it was with absolute sadness that I watched BBC News 24 as the news came in about the deaths of children. The picture that affected me the most was a picture doing the rounds on Twitter of a mother receiving a phone call about the shooting and you could see she was screaming. The visual picture of pain showed the raw shock and horror of a mass killing. People expect schools to be a safe place to send children to. It wasn't in this case. Their expectations were betrayed by a man with a gun. The teachers did their best to protect the children and some died while doing this. I don't know how the parents and families of those who died are going to cope. I offer my deepest condolences to Newtown and pray for their strength to cope with all the funerals to come. I am sorry Newtown that this has happened to you and that you face such sorrow. I mourn greatly for these children and will be thinking about them through the whole of Christmas. 

Is this Fairness?

How Funny Are Prank Calls?

Not funny at all, is the answer, unless it is done to family and friends who are able to understand the 'in joke'. When it is done to a stranger, it is just cruel because they are unsuspecting 'victims' who are not in on the humour that is being enjoyed by the perpetrators. Also, the balance of power is in favour of the person carrying out the joke. The 'victim' is powerless. What is funny about this? Prank calling is what children do for fun till they grow out of it. Grown up adults doing it as part of their job is shockingly immoral and juvenile.

There is a huge amount of anger and hate being displayed against the Australian radio presenters who carried out the prank call that caused the death of the nurse. Some will say it didn't 'cause' her death but, given the timing, it must have been a cause. I can only assume as many others do that Jacintha was embarrassed that she had let the prank callers talk to the Duchess of Cambridge's nurse.

It is absolutely wrong that people would find a prank call to a hospital funny when the Duchess had a serious condition. The fact that the presenters endangered two people's jobs should have showed them that what they were doing was completely immoral. Jacintha Saldanha allegedly took her life over something very petty that should not have happened. I pray that she is resting and happy. 

Germs with your Latte?

Employees of Starbucks will lose paid sick leave for their first day of illness. All of us know that the first day of illness is when a person is at their most contagious (colds, flus, viruses). People who work at chain coffee stores aren't paid a lot anyway and I can imagine that the fear of losing a day's pay will force them into work. It will be germs with your latte? This is the typical neoliberalistic actions of big corporations. Starbucks will lose money because they have to stop their tax avoidance but they will make up for their loss by cutting and undermining staff.  Starbucks need to consider their workers rights because people want a germ free latte!

Osborne Set to Cut the Poor, Again!

George Osborne is allegedly going to cut welfare for pensioners and the unemployed with a below inflation rise. This is the worst possible and most cruel thing to do to those in need around Christmas time. This means that the poorest will have to suffer at "the time of giving". Instead of the chancellor putting more of a strain on   the rich he may decide to cut from the most vulnerable members of society instead. The poor may not be able to even afford the bare essentials because of rising prices and less money in their pockets.

Time for the Lib Dem leadership, which is long overdue, to start distancing ourselves from these punishing welfare cuts which is causing genuine hardship. Come on Clegg, enough is enough. We need to intervene and stop the poor from suffering. Where are our values?

Why Men Should Not Be Ordained

10. A man’s place is in the army.

9. The pastoral duties of men who have children might distract them from the responsibility of being a parent.

8. The physique of men indicates that they are more suited to such tasks as chopping down trees and wrestling mountain lions. It would be “unnatural” for them to do ministerial tasks.

7. Man was created before woman, obviously as a prototype. Thus, they represent an experiment rather than the crowning achievement of creation.

6. Men are too emotional to be priests or pastors. Their conduct at football and basketball games demonstrates this.

5. Some men are handsome, and this will distract women worshipers.

4. Pastors need to nurture their congregations. But this is not a traditional male role. Throughout history, women have been recognized as not only more skilled than men at nurturing, but also more fervently attracted to it. This makes them the obvious choice for ordination.

3. Men are prone to violence. No really masculine man wants to settle disputes except by fighting about them. Thus they would be poor role models as well as dangerously unstable in positions of leadership.

2. The New Testament tells us that Jesus was betrayed by a man. His lack of faith and ensuing punishment remind us of the subordinated position that all men should take.

1. Men can still be involved in church activities, even without being ordained. They can sweep sidewalks, repair the church roof, and perhaps even lead the song service on Father’s Day. By confining themselves to such traditional male roles, they can still be vitally important in the life of the church.

http://liturgy.co.nz/10-reasons-why-men-should-not-be-ordained/12471

Do NOT Practice Christian Gender Discrimination On My Behalf

I joined the Church of England at age of 4. That was 9 years ago. My earliest memory is of colouring in pictures of Jesus in Sunday school and joining the children's parade at the end of the Sunday service where every child would bang his/her tambourine as loudly as possible. Now, I help out at services as an MC.
I love going to church and being a Christian is a big part of my life but something weird is happening.

My beloved church is voting on whether to allow women to become Bishops! What is even worse is that this debate has been going on for so much of my childhood so far. So many things about this make me angry.

Women face an uphill struggle already in this world of rising gender inequality. Girls? Well, the further down the age ladder you go the discrimination seems to get uglier. As a Christian girl, i would hope to be able to draw moral strength and courage from my church. Oh No, say the pious Christian right. Gender equality is alright for the 'outside' world but not within the walls of the CoE. In fact, they even disagree that it is to do with gender equality. Well, what is the 'headship' argument about then?

The CoE has been devalued of its' true mission, i think, which should have been about stewardship of the poor and vulnerable, climate change theology and educating young Christians. Can General Synod please vote for women today, join the 'outside' world and give young Christians like myself a true Christian message and vision of inclusion? Do not use my gender to exclude me. 

How Many more Children will die in Gaza?

When I was younger and I went out to play I would look around me or down at the ground, the children of Gaza look up at the sky constantly whilst they play. What do you think they are looking for? Missiles and rockets. The count so far is 24 child deaths in Gaza. One was an 11 month old baby, he was the son of a BBC picture editor in Gaza.

Will the deaths of these children bring the solution that Israel wants? Israel is carrying out the attacks under an act of 'self defence' it claims. If somebody tried to attack me with a spoon and I retaliated with a hammer would that be self defence and a proportional response? Israel has an air force, an army, submarines, highly sophisticated secret service and nuclear weapons. Gaza does not have any thing that matches this. How is a peaceful solution ever to be found? 

The slaughter of innocent children is NOT a price to be paid for ineffective Governments, an ineffective UN
and an ineffective Western world that constantly supports Israel with large amounts of money and looks the other way from the injustice being suffered by the Gazan children.

To gauge the depth of hatred for the Gaza please read this shocking article. 

Children of Egypt

انا نادم على فقدان حبيبك الاطفال الذين قتلوا فى تحطم حافلة اليوم. فقدان الطفل, وانا واثق من الصعب تحمل و اقدم خالص تعازينا وصلواتنا. انا المسيحيون الا الحزن لا الحواجز.

I am so sorry for the loss of your beloved children killed in the bus crash today. The loss of a child, I am sure, is hard to bear and I offer my deepest condolences and prayers. I am a Christian but grief has no barriers. 

IF Romney wins will the 47% please leave the lights on when they leave America

Those who voted for Romney will need the lights on to search for the American dream that he is promising. 

Romney is selling a outdated American dream of nostalgia. I was watching Romney on TV give his speech at Des Moines, Iowa and he spoke about making America great again. 

Firstly, I DO think that America is a great country but I do think that the American dream of making millions out of cents is a thing of the past. The reason that I think this is because there is a capitalist system that exists in the world which restricts the poor and favours the rich. Therefore those with cents will still have cents and those with millions will still have millions. We see it here in Britain where nostalgia is used to sell dreams but the reality is that anybody who is below the 1% is struggling. 

Also, for any dream to become a reality it must exist in a perfect world untouched by difficulties and hardships. America, like Britain, isn't an imperial state any more. There are the emerging economies like China and Brazil, even Indonesia. To sell a dream of jobs and more money means that Romney is promising that America will always win in the globalisation war. In reality, the people who will benefit from Romney's promises will be big corporations, well off individuals and the multi-millionaires who have funded him and expect alot in return. 

I wish America all the very best. I am an Obama supporter myself. The majority of Brits would vote for Obama if we could. This should interest Americans because there is a TEA PARTY economy going on here and it isn't much fun. 

P.S Remember to leave the light on. 

Mr Burns and Romney

A Pictoral Tribute to the Republican Candidates

Washing clean dishes. I am washing a clean dish because I can't be bothered to get my hands dirty.

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/election-2012/wp/2012/10/15/charity-president-unhappy-about-paul-ryan-soup-kitchen-photo-op/

Binders full of women.

Tonight is the 3rd US Presidential debate. I will be getting up at 2:00 am and urging Obama on!

Eton Style

Shooting a 14 Year Old Girl For Going To School Is Evil

How can a 14 year old girl be shot when the only thing that she did 'wrong' is to campaign for basic human rights? Malala Yousafzai campaigned and blogged for girls to be able to go to school in her town of Swat Valley after the Taliban banned all girls attending school there. Education is a basic right and as a feminist and young female blogger ,like Malala, I am appalled. 

I go to school every day, unless I am ill or at conference, and I must admit that sometimes I dread my hours in the classroom but without education girls would not be able to compete, contribute or even have basic human rights. Does that sound wrong to you? Does it sound like something that would happen in medieval times? It does to me but yet it is happening in the 21st century. 

At school I hear sexist comments everyday at school and I condemn them but at least I am able to go to school. Malala had been banned from attending school by the Taliban and do you know what happened when she objected? She was shot.  The Taliban think that education for girls is too 'Westernised' but it's not.  Education is a basic human right!

Malala is very brave but I shudder to think what else the Taliban will do to her if she survives and carries on living in Pakistan. All girls deserve an education and basic human rights. I loudly applaud Malala for standing up for these rights. Malala is a heroine for young girls and I look up to her. Without her young girls would not have had a future in her area. All that is in jeopardy now. She stood up to the most feared organisation for the sake of young girls.  She was shot because the Taliban fear her and the difference that she can make. She is a heroine for all young girls and she does not deserve this suffering.

It Takes a Village- A Tribute to April Jones

Sometimes you can sit within the safety of your home and watch something on TV that shakes you to the core. So it was with me today as it must have been with so many of  you who watched the procession take place to the church in the village of Machynlleth in tribute to April Jones. The saying 'It takes a village to raise a child' had never seemed more relevant. 

The phrase 'It takes a village to raise a child' means that everybody comes together to nourish and care for a child in the village. It means looking out for their well being and their safety. It's so obvious that Machynlleth was just that sort of village but they were let down by one evil person.  As a result a poor innocent little girl was betrayed by somebody  that she knew and thought was part of the village. The whole village came together today not to raise her but to pray for her. 'It takes a village to raise a child' was taken to a level of utter sadness and despair. 

 When April was taken people in the village and in the rest of the country waited and prayed. There were tweets from people who would wake up early hoping for good news. For my part I am so sorry about the things that April will never get to see and do. She won't get to see another Christmas, learn double digit times tables to silly tunes, do show and tells at school, draw pictures of her family and friends in bright garish colours or play with her latest Barbies. 

Her parents and the villagers of Machynlleth need to know that all our thoughts and all our wishes were with them from day 1. A child's world is a morally poorer place for the abduction of April Jones. I post a pink ribbon as a tribute. 

Rest mewn heddwch angel hardd bach - Rest in peace beautiful little angel. 

A Child's Welfare Is a Public Concern

In just a week we have  heard more about the Rochdale grooming and how the female victims were blamed, people turning a blind eye to what Jimmy Saville did to girls and a father killing his own children in an act of domestic violence.

What society and the authorities need to realise is that it 'takes a village' to raise a child. All the present circumstances justify this thinking. It has been scorned by neo-liberal right wing types who would blame a stray rabbit that came into their garden for being attacked by their pet dog.

The well being of a child isn't just  about gang violence and street fights. It is about challenging attitudes towards girls, the blame culture and helping mothers who are in abusive relationships because their children inevitably suffer. 

How Can ANY Party Appeal for a One Nation?

I fail to understand how any leader can unite a Nation while we have a neo-liberal capitalist system which has inbuilt mechanisms that divide the rich and the poor, the able from the disabled, youth from baby boomers and serves the vested interest of the 1%. 

Ed Miliband Going to a Comprehensive is Half a Story

I am confused about what Ed Miliband is trying to say. He speaks fondly and proudly of going to a comprehensive school. His objective is clear enough. He is trying to differentiate himself from the millionaire Cabinet members who mostly went to private school. Ed's story is one of a simple start in life at a level playing field school without the leverage of privilege.

That is not totally true though. His father, Ralph Miliband, was a well known academic in Marxist theory. Ed  must have grown up being exposed to political discussions and debates all the time. I would say Ed must have had a brilliant advantage in politics from an early age.

I go to a private school but there is no way I would have become interested in politics if my mother had not introduced me to it. This part of my life does not come from school. My point is that Ed's opportunities did not come solely from going to a comprehensive school and it is wrong of him to say so. It presents a misleading picture. There are thousands of children who attend Comprehensives who will not have the life opportunities that he did. By presenting our state school system as a great starter covers the problems that exist such as underfunding and poor results. This is why children who go to private schools stand a better chance in life. It shouldn't be the case but it is.

The speech I would have given at the welfare reform debate

I put in a speaker's card to speak at the Debate on Equal Citizenship- supporting independence for sick and disabled people.  I was not chosen to speak so here is what I would have said. I am very disappointed that I didn't get to speak because I felt that somebody should have stood up for Remploy at a Lib Dem conference. 

Good afternoon conference. I joined the Liberal Democrats and gave my first conference 

speech at the age of 10. I am now 13. Being in government seemed a distant dream then but I 

firmly believed that if ever we were elected we would make a huge difference to the lives of the 

vulnerable.

 Now we are in government and do you know what the irony is for me? That the current welfare 

situation affecting the sick and disabled is one that I would have imagined happening without 

our influence.  

I support lines 28 to 31 but there has to be a recognition that many disabled and ill people can only enjoy full and equal citizenship within the limits of their condition and, quite often, by depending on others. 

 One word will sum up the nonsense of the welfare to work discourse of the Government. Remploy. This is a group of factories that employs disabled people and 27 out of 54 have been closed. Never mind that Remploy was actually manufacturing things like electronics, textiles and furniture.- a Vince Cable dream. There is a table in my classroom made by Remploy and it is the one of the only tables that is stable.

 This slash and burn Government ignores its’ crucial role in supporting disability. Fellow Liberal Democrats, by scrapping DLA the recipients stand to lose an allowance that pays for ways to be independent – calling for a taxi, getting a carer or buying special equipment for home use. 90,000 motability cars and scooters will be repossessed. Here’s another irony – DLA will be replaced by a scheme called Personal Independence Payments (PIP). Independence? 

Even our great Paralympians needed DLA. Natasha Baker, Britain’s dressage champion who won gold used DLA to pay for her petrol.  Surely we didn’t go into government to practise butch politics where ministers accuse disabled employed people of sitting around drinking cups of tea all day.

 I am a Liberal Democrat because of our stated values, ‘no one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity. We champion the freedom, dignity and well-being of individuals”

 Fellow LibDems That’s why we have had Remploy protesters outside conferences. These were protests to influence and appeal to the Lib Dem better nature which needs to come to the forefront now.

 The government needs to listen as set out in line 61. The Spartacus report was written by disabled people. Did the government listen?  

 Referring to lines 72 to 73. Independence only works if there is a society that recognises the disabled and sick as individuals worthy of respect. I deplore the way the government has actively encouraged a hostile culture towards welfare claimants. Yes, there are real life benefit scroungers. No, they aren’t the majority.

 As a young party member I ask that our leaders stand up to the moral test of social justice. Who do we want to be the real winners of the Paralympic spirit? Atos? ESA? Or Liberal Values? 

As The Troops Gather in Brighton

Wow! Has there been a bigger heralding of conference time than an apology from the leader of the party to the nation? 'Sorry' is going to be the dominant word of this conference. I think it is fair to say that this conference will be a fractious one but perhaps it is time to have that difficult talk.

The recent conferences that we have had since May 2010 have been far too complacent. We listened to Nick telling us that there was no other choice but to go into coalition with the Tories ( I still think that this is correct) and then we patted ourselves on the back for being martyrs to the cause of austerity cuts. Somewhere along the way we lost our identity but kept justifying our actions and Nick's actions. The cuts aren't working, borrowing is going up and there are no jobs.  Membership is down.

My hope as a youth member is that this conference will see frank debate which will help us re-establish our identities and sense of direction. A sort of back to basics 5 days is what I am hoping for.

The Indian Rubber of Flexible Labour Markets

Almost everyday there is talk of how much more flexible our labour market needs to be to accommodate growth in jobs. I have been thinking about this and something seems wrong. Mind you, I am no economist but the sums do not add up.

There is less money to spend because salaries are being frozen, people are having to take pay cuts, people are losing their jobs and the expenditure of people on benefits is being slashed. Where is the consumer spending money  going to come from if labour markets are being squeezed, bent and twisted?

We can't end up with rock bottom wages like it is in China and India because the cost of living in the UK is higher. So where is the sensible pressure for competition for the UK to have even more flexible labour markets coming from? A neoliberal agenda or a realistic economic necessity? 

Taliban Child Victims

Korshid. One of the children who was killed in this attack.

How can this happen in the world? In modern society? The Taliban sent a 14 year old boy as a suicide bomber to blow up Nato headquarters in Kabul.  Four of the children who were killed, aged 12-16, sold trinkets and chewing gum to soldiers and diplomats. They were close friends and shared the money they earned to help their families. Those children already led difficult lives and they were happy but even that was taken away from them. I want to remember these children and hope that children will no longer be the victims of adult's fighting.

A Child Says Conventions Need a Crèche

Democrats hold their convention next week and it is creating waves of the wrong sort. The Democrat's convention isn't providing a crèche and every single little person including babies have to be registered. Democrats are well known for being the party that supports women's rights and I find it shocking that a major American party is limiting Women's attendance at their national convention.

Childcare is an issue even for non-feminist women and providing childcare is the entry point for mothers to be able to participate. I should know! I cut my political teeth at a few Lib Dem crèches years ago. If the Lib Dems hadn't provided subsidised childcare my mother couldn't have attended conference. Because of the childcare provided at conference I am where I am now.

Come on Dems! Can you provide childcare? Yes you can!  Just think, one of those children who needs the crèche may be the future President of America and may give the GOP  a thwacking that it deserves. You never know.

Twisting Children's Futures - GCSE & A Levels

Over the past week we've seen the hands of Michael Gove and David Willetts reach out and twist the fate students who had sat for A Levels and GCSEs. There is a name for this twisting action. It is called 'grade inflation' and along with it goes the deflation of hopes and dreams for young people. It is very neoliberalistic. The Government has manipulated the result indicators to produce top results. It is very artificial. Teachers who followed the set patterns of previous years are now faced with a redesign of the exam system after the game has been played. Never mind the fact that it is human beings who are involved in this whole ugly grade deflation.

It seems as if the Government is trying to phase out education as a public good and only those who go to good private schools can do well. Not only have the Government been elitist and neoliberalistic over GCSE results but also over universities. My sources have revealed to me that red brick universities are under subscribed because the Government will not allow students with lower grades to apply.

Michael Gove gave an interview to the Times on 15 August in which he said, 'The Left saw the pursuit of excellence as narrowly elitist'. How? Very high university fees, grade inflation and not reforming the comprehensive school system will only allow the elite to survive in education. The left was guilty of selling false dreams to youngsters. People were told by Brown and Blair that if a youngster went to university their lives would be better off.

All Three Parties have left the youth down in education. Indicators and using education as a something of a measuring tool will only work if there is a level playing field. There isn't. We are the jilted generation. I turned 13 today and wonder what the future holds for me. 

Of Course, The Sun

The Sun has just announced that it is going to publish photos of Prince Harry naked because people in Britain deserve to see what others in the rest of the world have already viewed. How gallant of The Sun. While other journalists travel the world to report on war, famine and corruption to inform us of what we would not otherwise hear, The Sun has picked what it only knows best to do - publish pictures of naked bodies. Is there any use for this newspaper other than to line the cat's litter tray with? 

Mitt Romney is Lazy

Mitt Romney may present himself as a man of action given his umpteen expensive fast cars and a jet ski but an element of intellectual policy substance was missing. Then Mitt did a Disney. He waved a magic wand like a fairy godmother and conjured up a plan. Oh, it wasn't one he had made earlier but one that Paul Ryan had made earlier but that is irrelevant. Now Mitt has a plan. 

Perhaps I am getting my Disneys mixed up. Is Mitt being Cinderella instead who can now go to the ball (Republican Convention) because he has his dress (the Ryan budget)?

Either way Mitt was being intellectually lazy by not working up an economic policy and then parachuting in the Ryan plan.   Laziness? Now, that is another Disney movie  - Sleeping Beauty? Dopey the dwarf?