Clegg is wrong to suggest the wealthiest people ...

... could be asked to pay more tax for a limited period.

 A weak politician with feeble ideas, if he had a backbone he would have said ...

Every person earning above the average should be taxed to support the lowest paid in the economy, the lowest paid that underpin our economy through their poverty.

The idea is, we are all players in the game of life, and, with a few exceptions, contribute to society, unfortunately some contribute much effort for little return, and those of us who were cast a better hand are given an advantage that is unjustified.

What is the worth of a doctor to society, when compared to his nursing colleague, compared to the hospital porter, compared to the hospital grounds cleaning team !

The aim of the Liberal Democrats could be a levelling game, the levelling of opportunity for people, this is not the model of Marx but the models based on the propositions of John Rawls, deliberations from behind his "veil of ignorance" to promote social justice.

Would we condemn people to poverty if we might be tomorrows pauper, would we set a minimum wage that is insufficient to sustain our existence.  It's true that poverty is relative in a discrete society, it is not useful to compare the poverty of Britain with the poverty of Brazil when exploring local solutions, solutions to issues that Clegg might consider today;  although in the greater scheme such comparisons will expose our humanity or lack of.

For Clegg he might begin a British long march towards Justice and the elimination of poverty, as a start he could do well to consider the reform of taxation in our country, a reform to ensure that no-one person or company doing business in Britain fails to contribute in full.  That is the foundation, a society where contributing is a virtue.

A digression following on from yesterday in the USA ...

... in the USA during 2007 the following words were expressed ...

"If we took away women's right to vote, we'd never have to worry about another Democratic president. It's kind of a pipe dream, it's a personal fantasy of mine, but I don't think it's going to happen. And it is a good way of making the point that women are voting so stupidly, at least single women."

... by the conservative Fox news guest and celebrity pundit Ann Coulter.

... she would disenfranchise half of society, what hope for the little people ?

Martin Luther King or Royston Jones ...

I have a dream or the language of hate .

First from the Western Mail today ...

SIR – Dennis Coughlin ........

This anti-Welshness also explains why the Welsh Government refuses to run Wales in the interests of the indigenous population ..........

ROYSTON JONES

Tywyn, Gwynedd

... for the whole letter, it's the last in the list.

... second, check out the language of hate, Martin Luther King would recognise the sentiments, would this Royston Jones recognise the Alabama of the 1960's in his vision for Wales.

But for the politicians of Wales an impossible citizen, a citizen who is unable or unwilling to recognise his absurd hatred.

... what exactly is his "indigenous population", how is it characterised, what are the criteria, who would be excluded from our democracy ?

The answer lies somewhere in the dark area's of society, those area's that politics can only imagine might exist !

But for those who believe that "the modern state that is the whole body of a nation expressing its will",  what place for Royston and Co, how does our Assembly satisfy the wants of extremist Wales.

A digression ...

... in the USA reports are coming out that legislation to prevent electoral fraud has disenfranchised a huge swathe of US society, people are unable to register for voting because they do not have unexpired government-issued photo ID's,.

... as many as 11 percent of eligible voters—roughly 21 million Americans—lack current, unexpired government-issued photo IDs.

It only takes a small drop of ink in many parts of the world ...

... to enfranchise its citizens.



Martin Luther King would have recognised this particular anomaly in the democracy held up as an example to the rest of the world.

Might the legislation to prevent electoral fraud have included a mechanism to capture everyone eligible to vote, after all this is what democracy is about.

... the stakeholder eisteddfod,

... in stakeholder Wales, in a stakeholder world.

It doesn't really matter how small the taxpayer contribution is, but for every penny of contribution (for every cent of contribution) we become stakeholders, and as stakeholders everyone should be included.

It's a simple formula, as a taxpayer (and that is everyone) we should expect an equal return on our investment, so the National Eisteddfod if it is to receive any funding from government must become inclusive, and to this end it should be subsumed by a new "Wales Eisteddfod" where the cultures of all the peoples are celebrated, where every stakeholder is able to share their particular cultural niche with everyone.  And Carwyn Jones our First Minister is well placed to lay the foundations for a celebration of everything that is Wales.

.................................

I digress ...

In the USA Apple have been awarded an enormous sum as damages from Samsung, but will the little people receive a stakeholder percentage through taxation, or will the damages be absorbed by Apple's offshore tax avoidance vehicles.  Just thinking ..............

.................................

Returning to Wales ...

If Carwyn Jones created a new eisteddfod he would become the first to create a cultural celebration for all ... the first to recognise the stakeholder citizen.

Cardinal O'Briens' ...

... letter read out to every Scot who attended mass this Sunday ...

A Message for Marriage Sunday 26 August 2012

from The Bishops’ Conference of Scotland

In all things, we as Catholics look to Jesus Christ as our model and teacher.   When asked about marriage He gave a profound and rich reply: “Have you not read that the Creator, from the beginning, ‘made them male and female’, and said: ‘This is why a man must leave father and mother and cling to his wife and the two become one body’.”   (Matthew, 19: 4-5)

In the Year of Faith, which begins this October, we wish to place a special emphasis on the role of the family founded on marriage.   The family is the domestic Church, and the first place in which the faith is transmitted.   For that reason it must have a primary focus in our prayerful considerations during this period of grace. 

We write to you having already expressed our deep disappointment that the Scottish Government has decided to redefine marriage and legislate for same-sex marriage. We take this opportunity to thank you for your past support in defence of marriage and hope you will continue to act against efforts to redefine it.   We reaffirm before you all the common wisdom of humanity and the revealed faith of the Church that marriage is a unique life-long union of a man and a woman.

In circumstances when the true nature of marriage is being obscured, we wish to affirm and celebrate the truth and beauty of the Sacrament of Matrimony and family life as Jesus revealed it;  to do something new to support marriage and family life in the Catholic community and in the country;  and to reinforce the vocation of marriage and the pastoral care of families which takes in the everyday life of the Church in dioceses and parishes across the country.

For that reason, in the forthcoming Year of Faith we have decided to establish a new Commission for Marriage and the Family.   This Commission will be led by a bishop and will be composed mostly of lay men and women.   The Commission will be charged with engaging with those young men and women who will be future husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, and with those who already live out their vocation to marriage and parenthood in surroundings which often make it hard to sustain and develop the full Catholic family life we cherish. 

We wish to support too, those who are widowed, separated and divorced and all who need to feel the Church’s maternal care in the circumstances in which they find themselves.   The new Commission will promote the true nature of marriage as both a human institution and a union blessed by Jesus.

The Commission will be asked to develop an online presence so that prayer, reflection, formation and practical information on matters to do with marriage and family life can be quickly accessible to all.   It will also work to produce materials and organise events which will support ordinary Catholic families in their daily lives.   During the course of the coming year we will ask for your support for these initiatives.

Our faith teaches us that marriage is a great and holy mystery.   The Bishops of Scotland will continue to promote and uphold the universally accepted definition of marriage as the union solely of a man and a woman.   At the same time, we wish to work positively for the strengthening of marriage within the Church and within our society.

This is an important initiative for all our people, but especially our young people and children.  We urge you to join us in this endeavour.   Pray for your own family every day, and pray for those families whose lives are made difficult by the problems and cares which they encounter.  

Finally, we invite you to pray for our elected leaders, invoking the Holy Spirit on them, that they may be moved to safeguard marriage as it has always been understood, for the good of Scotland and of our society.

Is the Catholic Church in Scotland opposition to Gay marriage another manifestation of intolerance towards minorities ?

I believe so, and mores the point, if politics doesn't remove this intolerance, it will send a message that intolerance of minorities is "Open Season" ...............

............... who or what would be next on the intolerance agenda ?

Culture, is there a place ...

... for this ...

... in the cultural landscape ?

It's not quite ...

...Marchal-Mithouard, but it might be if our cultural mindscape were not inhibited by the boundaries of a cultural past, is it time the youth who create the skateboard art were invited to our Eisteddfod ...........

A cultural border, the Eisteddfod ...

... in Wales does little to embrace cultural Wales, so says Dennis Coughlin of the Heath, Cardiff in today's Western Mail (the second letter).

I recently visited the Eisteddfod at Llandow where what seemed an entirely white Welsh speaking gathering were enjoying this traditional event of Welsh language, literature, history and music. I support this subsidised festival because it helps protect the ancient language and culture for this minority who have a long Welsh speaking lineage.

But you cannot impose this elite parochial version of Wales on the rest of us. This is your world.

Literature, art and history are international and the English language provides access to a cornucopia of cultural treasures from Kafka to Corrie, Socrates to the Simpsons, and Voltaire to The Vulcan. This is my world and I cannot be restricted to cultural borders.

Is Dennis correct, is there a minority elite that has created a cultural border that excludes the majority of peoples in Wales ?

If Dennis is correct there would be a great injustice being played out behind minority cultural doors !

If Dennis is correct .................... remember the 14 July 1789, not every "Bastille" is stone built.

Apple or Scott McKenzie ...

... are both in the news, innovative Apple and the harmonies of Scott McKenzie who died a few days ago.

Scott is remembered here ....


... whilst Apple is reported in today's news as :

... the most valuable company ever !

... as reported in the Telegraph.

There is no dispute that Apple is an icon of the age, there is little dispute that its success will probably outlive the fan-base of Scott McKenzie ...

... but when will Apple pay its taxes to the peoples of the USA, that's the big question that neither Washington nor the little people of the States seem to be asking in a voice loud enough to be heard, strange ....

... in Wales politics seems to have become a dry husk ........... no change there !