More than half of disabled people out of work

More than half of disabled people out of work but just one in ten receiving support, say Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion in Fit for Purpose: Transforming employment support fordisabled people and those with health conditions published 3 July 2014.

Ram Dass on judgement

When you go out into the woods and you look at trees, you see all these different trees.  And some of them are bent, and some of them are straight, and some of them are evergreens, and some of them are whatever.  And you look at the tree and you allow it.  You appreciate it.  You see why it is the way it is.  You sort of understand that it didn’t get enough light, and so it turned that way.  And you don’t get all emotional about it.  You just allow it.  You appreciate the tree. The minute you get near humans, you lose all that.  And you are constantly saying “You’re too this, or I’m too this.”  That judging mind comes in.  And so I practice turning people into trees.  Which means appreciating them just the way they are. 

Public sector good, private sector bad, admits Tory Gov!

The DWP press release for the launch on 30 June 2014 of the new Child Maintenance Service, which is under the direct control of the government, includes the following:

Chaos at the DWP

• after £612 million being spent, including £131 million written off or written down, the introduction of Universal Credit is now years behind schedule 
• the Minister of State for Disabled People admitted to the Work and Pensions Committee on 11 June 2014 that over 700,000 people are still waiting for a Work Capability Assessment
• the Office for Budget Responsibility in March 2014 found that projected spending on Employment and Support Allowance has risen by £800 million since December
• the Committee of Public Accounts in its First Report, HC 280, found that Personal Independence Payment delays have created uncertainty, stress and financial costs for disabled people and additional budgetary pressures for Government
• the Work Programme has failed to meet its targets
• the unfair bedroom tax risks costing more than it saves

We will all benefit - StingRadio - My radio interview

My radio interview on Tuesday 24 June is at http://www.mixcloud.com/StingRadio/stingradio-show-24062014/

It starts at 36.45 minutes and ends at 45.35 and is followed by one with David Bryceland of Oxfordshire MIND (who I know and have worked with) which lasts till 48.40.

Part of the We will all benefit Campaign (not to be confused with Who Benefits).

money wasted building "bigger, better" roads

Think of all the money our councils have wasted over the years by building "bigger, better" roads — and they're still not cured of the "disease". We've spent 50 years trying to emulate the US (and now nearly everyone in Britain drives to shop "out of town"), only for the Americans to show us it's been a huge waste of time and cash.

The World is My Country

“The World is My Country” is Peace News' poster exhibition and speaking tour to mark the centenary of the start of the First World War. It highlights the history and stories of the people and organisations that opposed the conflict: police raids, feminist peace initiatives, clandestine printing presses, striking German munitions workers and communities of resistance from Huddersfield to Hackney.