High double standards, a prerogative in Wales where ...

....  do as I say, not as I do, is the preferred way of  Carwyn and chums ...

In June, Health Minister Lesley Griffiths said she would be instructing all seven local health boards (LHBs) in Wales to publish their own corporate risk registers on their websites to :

... assess the likelihood of each risk ..., assess the impact ..., and have counter-measures in place should a risk become reality...

Carwyn Jones [the first minister] personally turned down a BBC Wales request under the Freedom of Information Act to see the government's corporate risk register.

... he said its disclosure would cause "substantial harm".

The registers are a list of all risks an organisation faces, here it is our Cardiff Bay administration.   

The risks assessed include financial, security and IT,  though not restricted to the three important considerations.

The chair of the assembly's public accounts committee, said...

"It smacks of double standards".

 ... the administration said ...

"Publishing risk registers may also appear to legitimise possible but unlikely risks"

"This could prejudice and distort informed public debate about important issues which in turn could have an impact on the conduct of public affairs"

Now myself, I have a need to see the truth, to see the difficult decisions governance deals with each day, I don't have a problem with political warts, I particularly have a need to judge the decision makers by their real actions not the spin.

It's a black day for democracy when political tyranny becomes the norm.

How long before the next election ? 

Is UKIP standing in Caerphilly at the next election ?

Why do we insult those ...

... people and institutions alien to our various cultures?

The BBC has coverage here.  to the most recent example.

In France the editors of Charlie Hebdo are preparing to cause controversy again with a issue released tomorrow. The cover shows a Muslim man in a wheelchair pushed by an Orthodox Jew with foil cap and under the title "Untouchables 2", an imaginary sequel to a recent French film.

... a user Reviews by OttoVonB of the film "Untouchable" includes the following ...

The film's simplicity is delightfully misleading: the script is a masterpiece of comedy writing, and however good the rest of the cast is, the central duo is magical. Sy's comic timing will have you in stitches, but it is his honesty and vulnerability that make you fall in love with the character. Cluzet isn't your typical sad-sack, instead, much of the finest pleasures in the film consist in watching him use his keen mind to mess with the world around him (a sub-plot about an abstract painting really takes the biscuit, you'll know it when you see it).

This is one of the most unique, beautiful and honest friendships ever committed to film. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry... a delightful celebration of everything in life that makes it worthwhile.

The two characters parodied by Charlie Hebdo are ...

... Sy, a failed robber, going through the motions and playing the stereotypical jobless émigré. Cluzet is a romantic and melancholy mind trapped in a useless body.

 

French foreign ministry's website quotes Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault as saying "freedom of expression is one of [France's] fundamental principles", as are secularism and respect for religious convictions.

 

The statement is not at all honest, the Prime Minister of France cites "freedom of expression", yet the arm of the law in France has what is known as "unapproved rallies", I guess the fundamental principles depend upon who you are and what you wish to protest against.

I must go back to the original question, "why insult those we don't know?"

 

What is the point, except in this case to provoke a particular section of French society!

 

 

Is it justified to label Leanne Wood ...

... as being ".. rude and bigoted" because of her very personal and shared republican values.

I don't know, but to understand the values that Mr/Mrs/Ms Watkins has I have replicated her letter written to the editor of the Western Mail, published this morning the last day of April 2012 :

SIR – I write as a Welsh-speaking Welsh woman whose roots lie deep in the culture and history of Wales, but I think of myself not just as a Welsh person but also as a member of the United Kingdom, of which the Queen is the constitutional head.

The Welsh are a race of warm, hospitable and tolerant people and as a race we must feel ashamed that the leader of Plaid Cymru was so rude and bigoted as to refuse to attend the Service of Thanksgiving held on Thursday to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

The Plaid Cymru leader was just invited to attend a service, along with 600 other people, to pay tribute to a lady who has worked for 60 years in a job that she did not actually choose to do and which she has fulfilled in an exemplary fashion. She has won the respect, loyalty and, indeed, love of people not just in Britain but all over the world.

But suddenly, in Wales, Leanne Wood, leader of Plaid Cymru for less than 60 days, could not show respect for a lady who has served her country for 60 years.

I feel ashamed and embarrassed on behalf of all the people of Wales.

M WATKINS
Marine Parade, Penarth

... the original letter can be viewed here at walesonline.

Myself, the freedoms of speech and expression are too valuable to jeopardise because we might object to a viewpoint.

So Mr/Mrs/Ms Watkins, share your disgust, or shame, or embarrassment, with all the peoples of Wales, but lets not deny an alternative point of view.

Myself, I took the Queens shilling when I enlisted in the British Army so many years ago, and still feel an affection for our Monarch, but those "Freedoms of Speech and Expression" are far more important than the actions of a politician who is by definition a transitory beast ....

Australia might give Wales a snapshot ...

... of the future where politics controls the media, to wit ...

An Australian political satire has been condemned by monarchists and MPs after depicting the Prime Minister having sex on the floor of her office while draped in the national flag. 

Commentators and members of the public expressing their opinion on newspaper websites were also upset with the show with some saying its depiction of the home life of the country’s first female leader was offensive and sexist

“Rude, negative, abusive, disrespectful and now grubby,” a viewer named Andrea Moore wrote on The Australian national newspaper’s website.

 

A Liberal MP said the program degrades the office of the prime minister, and called for a rethink of funding of the national broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

I cannot imagine a scene where Carwyn was similarly displayed, nor in fact the other political leaders of the Wales Assembly, all draped under the "Red Dragon", not necessarily together, what I can imagine are similar attempts to push political fingers in the media pie were it devolved;  there is sufficient evidence this type of activity has occurred between WAG and S4C in the recent past.

ABC responded with ...

“If it’s okay for others to drape themselves in our flag for all manner of occasions, I really don’t see why it can’t be draped over our prime minister as a symbol of love,” the spokesman said.

I wonder how a devolved "BBC Wales" would show the First Minister if a political sword hung over its head, not a pretty vision to contemplate.

What a life, it's no life, not without reponsibilities, ...

... real responsibilities; responsibilities towards your family, friends, neighbours and those people you have never met.

It came as a surprise that the recent riots came about not because of social unrest, but because a scum-bag known as "Smegz" (Kelvin Easton), 23, was stabbed to death outside La Boheme nightclub in Mile End.  Mark Duggan, who was shot by the police in error (the miscreant was only armed with a blank firing BBM "Bruni" pistol), what has not been reported by much of the press is ...

... for several days Duggan had been the target of special surveillance from Operation Trident,the police unit dealing with "black on black" crime.  The catalyst for the riots was not some innocent bystander, he was the "god brother", whatever that can mean, to Easton, and his immediate task in life, to avenge the murder of Easton.

Duggan, a member of the "Star Gang" is reported by other sources as being under peer pressure to seek retribution on those that murdered Easton.  Gang warfare that the innocent bystander from outwith the immediate area would find difficult to understand.

For the liberals of the Westminster "wet brigade" who see no evil anywhere, the poor fools, the "Star Gang" culture is based on drug dealing, simple as, so is it about time that we switched our attention to the drug users that support the gang culture found throughout Britain, prison of the most basic kind for drug use, a way to shrink the fortunes of the drug gangs, it needn't be expensive, a chain gang approach to cleaning the streets so that the public are able to see those that help perpetuate the gang culture.  Summary justice with no excuse, no special circumstances, and no appeal, but it would be hypocritical if those of us who enjoy an alcoholic drink denied others their preferred poison, recreational drugs.

What followed the death of Duggan was a non-violent demonstration by Duggan's family outside Tottenham police station, this was quickly followed by an escalation of demonstration into violence, and the subsequent copy-cat events in the larger cities of Britain.

Forget the social reasons that might explain why people joined the riots, remember that the vast majority of people didn't, if they were local they became victims, if they were not local they feared the violence might spread to their towns and villages and they would become victims, and if they were political in nature they looked for an angle that might support their corner ....

... it should be one strike and out for those antisocial crimes that intimidate society at large (serious crime is dealt with elsewhere), outlawed, denied those freedoms that come with responsibility, summary justice via the chain ...

... as applied to these female convicts of Dar es Salaam ....

... or these from the USA ...

... I couldn't find images with men, but the principle remains the same ...

... the miscreant rioters, thieves and looters might thank themselves lucky the "Bloody Assizes" were a thing of the past, with hard backbreaking work they might also think twice about repeating their violence, and stop their abuse of the law abiding citizens, those that do not riot, send a powerful message to others that the inocent majority have had quite enough.

And when you tell the judge "its not your fault", we believe "it is your fault", because nobody forced you to throw the rock or start the fire or assault the storekeeper or steal the goods, you did it all by yourself, now the retribution ....

It takes only one person, but only if it's the right person, ...

... being the right person meant that people listened, paid attention to the words and deeds.  Only a very few people are able to command that sort of attention.

Mohamed Bouazizi, by his actions, set alight North Africa and the Middle East, a conflagration that continues, the conditions that led to his anger and subsequent action, he asked his government for justice.  It took just over a month for the President of corrupt Tunisia to flee with his family to Saudi Arabia, ever the ..... democratic deficit, the country will not allow half the population to drive because they are ................ women.

His need for justice flew across borders much like tumbleweed in old western films,it jumped a country into Egypt with similar consequences, Egypt's president didn't escape, he awaits trial with his family.

In Libya the fighting continues as it does in Syria, leaders of both countries without the legitimacy of democratic elections, but in both case, too far away in time from the martyrdom of Mohamed Bouaziz, there is no-one that fits the bill of "the right person" to drive a wedge into the tyranny.

In the Middle East there is a deficit of democracy, in Saudi Arabia there is a democratic deficit, a country that helps Bahrain suppress the voice of democracy, Sport might just galvanise this small kingdom into progress towards granting those  freedoms we take for granted.

At home we have only one "right person" at present, and he has created the conditions for a constitutional crisis, in the green grass of home we have the technocrat who will do exactly what the majority of people want, very little change, at the heels of this man will be the rabid voices of radical nationalism, a distraction only, Carwyn Jones has a good five years ahead, but only if he is able to ignore the tumbleweed that is nationalist politics (MH takes the biscuit with this little gem), less is more just now, radical can wait a year or two.

The hippocratic oath ...

is not difficult to understand, it reads thus ...

I swear to fulfil, to the best of my ability and judgement, this covenant:

I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.

I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures [that] are required, avoiding those twin traps of over-treatment and therapeutic nihilism.

I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug.

I will not be ashamed to say "I know not," nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient's recovery.

I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given to me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.

I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person's family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.

I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.

I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.

If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience 

the joy of healing those who seek my help.

Unfortunately the oath does not apply in Bahrain ...

... where dozens of doctors and nurses who treated injured protesters in Bahrain have appeared in court charged with attempting to topple the monarchy, it is a grotesque miscarriage of human rights to pervert this ancient oath taken by medical staff, it demonstrates a level of barbarism unwanted in this world we live in, don't take my word for it read it here.

Bernie Ecclestone was so wrong when he supported the return of the F1 Bahrain Grand Prix to the racing calender, the Hippocratic Oath would need to become the Hypocritical Oath to satisfy the brutal regime in Bahrain.

Listen to the people of the world Mr Formula One .... we do not want you supporting brutality wherever it exists.

I feel lucky, when I get .....

... up in the morning, there is no sound of helicopters engaging military establishments or armed checkpoints.  Can you hear the sounds of thousands protesting against government atrocities, and the sniper fire in the distance, reports of dozens killed.  And it doesn't matter whether I belong to either the Shia or Sunni peoples in Bahrain, I know that I will not be abused by a secret police.

The FIA have stamped on the face of humanity by caving into the wants of the Bahrain government by re-scheduling this years race in the face of the suppression of the people of the country.  "This is welcome news for all of Bahrain," said Zayed Rashid Alzayani, he also said ""As a country we have faced a difficult time, but stability has returned ... ", he didn't mention the secret police attrocities.

... back home in the Caerphilly basin where I live, my Saturdays and Sundays will not include the sounds of Bernie Ecclestone's Formula 1, there are some things more important than two hours of sport ............. not being kidnapped during the night by Bahrain's secret police is one, freedom of association another, and the freedom to protest against injustice is so important to humanity.

Bernie Ecclestone, by re-scheduling the race sends a message to me that secret police kidnapping, preventing free association and preventing protest is OK by him, obviously we have different sets of ethics.

In Wales we have little to protest, soon there will be the official opening of the Assembly in Cardiff, our elected representatives will be there to welcome our Queen, except Leanne Wood the Plaid Cymru member; we have to ignore her behaviour she is allowed bad manners.  We demonstrate the the rest of the world that British democracy accommodates even those who would destroy our world.

A moral dilema for ...

... the FIA.  Shia or Sunni, does it make a difference how people worship their God, apparently so, if you live in Bahrain.

The Sunni have taken to suppression based on the way people follow the teachings of Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullāh, it seems that in Bahrain the Sunni rule whilst the Shia not so much drool but hide away from government abuse, there exists a secret police that perform outrageous acts of humiliation and torture upon the Bahraini people, see today's Times page 31 "Letter from Bahrain", it makes a democrat weep.

... and this is where I feel sick to the bottom of my stomach, I believe every person has a right to a life free of abuse, and in and around Bahrain there are discussions as to whether the cancelled Formula 1 race should go ahead.  In Bahrain, where the government is responsible for the sectarian atrocities against it people, there is no moral case for doing business with the regime, and the race is business.

... as Damon Hill said of Formula 1 and the FIA, "If the bottom line(money) is the only criteria, then it (the criteria) is a bad one".  He continued "You cannot say that anything is for sale regardless of the moral position that contradicts ...".

I for one as a follower of Racing since the days of Graham Hill, Damon's father, will not watch Formula 1 from Bahrain, if the FIA restores Bahrain to the Formula 1 calendar the question I must ask myself is "will I watch other races".

No, I don't think so, because if the FIA return to Bahrain there is a tacit support by the FIA for the suppression of humanity, an unacceptable condition for any business or Government.

When they look at Britain, the people of ...

North Africa, the Middle East and other less than than democratic countries must feel the jackboot of tyranny like nothing we can imagine.

In the United Kingdom last week we were offered a different way to elect our democratic representatives, the vast majority declined ...... whilst in Syria the scum Assad and company sent armoured troops to suppress a wish for democracy.

In Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland we went to the polls to determine our preferred political shape, the democratic process gave exactly what was asked for, In Wales we preferred Socialism underpinned with Conservative and Liberal Democratic values, Nationalist elements are being slowly rejected democratically ..... whilst in Libya Gaddafi punished the people by dropping cluster bombs on men women and children who wish for freedom.

In England there were local elections to select by secret ballot ...... whilst in Morocco King Mohammed has yet to fulfil his promise of democratic reform and to end government corruption.

In Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Persia there are no people, only a subjugated mass of humanity ...... it is time the people of these countries threw off the yoke of serfdom and embraced democracy.

Here in Wales and the United Kingdom, there were no secret police on the streets last week, no aircraft dropping bombs to influence the voters, corruption is dealt with by the law (imperfect possibly), and we have freedom of religious expression ......... and we still complain, aren't we lucky we can complain, complain in the knowledge that there will not be a knock on the door during the night, a knock that is followed by a dissenting brother being dragged into the night never being seen again .......

You can have anything you want ...

... as long as I want to give it to you.


"I would like to be part of Naom Chomsky's ".... democracy where the people participate", unfortunately, not in Wales. It seems participation is restricted to election time, otherwise you can participate, but only if the outcome is largely irrelevant.

Do you want to save a bridge for cultural reasons, no problem, we will build a new bridge alongside the old, the best of both worlds, I don't disagree with the sentiment or outcome, it happened in Ponty.

... old in the foreground, the new seemingly underneath, but the decision to keep the old and maintain it in perpetuity is only a line on a balance sheet, politically irrelevant.

Let me digress slightly ...


Next months elections to the Assembly has produced a few forgettable promises that mean very little, for example ....

The Conservatives ...... Create a government manufacturing strategy, aimed at safeguarding jobs and supporting the creation of new hi-tech businesses.

The Labour Party ...... Foster a new relationship with the business community and social partners, led by the first minister.

The Liberal Democrats ...... Develop a Jobs and Growth Innovation Programme to include an increase in the number of patents, establishing business-mentoring schemes and upgrade old manufacturing sites for new jobs.

Plaid Cymru ...... Support 30,000 apprenticeships and develop a high value in-work training programme.


The operative words are Conservative - strategy, Labour - foster, Liberal Democrats - develop, Plaid - support.

In other words, much like Ponty bridge, forgettable sound-bites without substance designed so that there will be no sleepless nights for our Wales politicians.  There are a few elephants in the room, but with a clever use of blue smoke and mirrors, our politicians will use other organisations to fire the bullets of justice, planning for large scale power generation, teacher recruitment and pay, these are issues that will scare the pants off the electorate, so will be dealt with as below the line accounting, hidden that is until it is too late for an effective debate.

Noticeable by its absence is "tax raising powers", this is another area that could cause the electorate to rise up at any time and say "No".  Our politicians in Wales are lazy, maybe not physically lazy, but democratically lazy, they seem to enjoy the trappings of power without any real responsibility, cry foul I hear ...... from politicians that is ......

...... the NHS, there has been extensive criticism about a £billion miss-spent and a refusal by the Health Minister to debate the issue. 

...... the £600 per pupil year underspend when compared with other parts of the UK, what about it, there is no mechanism by which the elected Wales Assembly members can demand a reason and get an answer why our children are disadvantaged by government priorities.

In fact we are kept in the dark as to where the money was actually spent regarding both issues, be rest assured the funding was received by WAG and it is known how the money was either misused or diverted.

Though, if the First Minister sees advantage in a fundamental change to our democracy it is possible, the 5th May referendum for the "Alternative Vote" is an example that First Minister Carwyn Jones embraces and suggests it should be adopted in the Assembly.  Early indications are that the Labour Party may have a decisive advantage if AV were adopted by the Wales electorate.

So, as I started, so I will end .....

You can have anything you want ...

                        ... as long as I want to give it to you.

A story that places Wales democracy in doubt ...

... where civil servants are employed to prevent real change to the way we are governed ...

... and in Syria the craven dictator, hereditary President Bashar al-Assad, has spoken on the state run TV, he said of the government action  "This is a test for our unity", what he didn't say was "......  that hundreds of people chanting "freedom" had taken to the streets of Latakia," he didn't assure the supporters of his despotic regime that ".... troops had fired warning shots in an attempt to get them to disperse."

The dictators government is reported to be studying the liberalisation of laws on media and political parties as well as anti-corruption measures, the easing of restrictions on civil liberties and political freedom.  The operative word is studying, nothing new then, but from human rights activist Aktham Nuaisse he believes the country stood "at a crossroads".  he is reported as saying "Either the president takes immediate, drastic reform measures, or the country descends into one of several ugly scenarios. If he is willing to lead Syria into a real democratic transformation, he will be met halfway by the Syrian people."

The people of Syria should seize democracy not listen to this son of a dictator, look to other countries in the region, use these examples to topple Bashar, there is everything to play for, in the west we call it freedom.

In Wales our civil servants are trying to prevent the submission of the proposed amendment to the GOWA, it reads ....

We call upon the National Assembly for Wales to urge the Welsh Government to petition the UK government to modify the Government of Wales Act 2006 to include the following Legislative Recall and Referendum option.

Where a Bill has been passed by the Welsh Assembly, one-third of the members of the Welsh Assembly may, within five weekdays from the final passing of the Bill, request of the Plenary Chair that the Bill be submitted to a referendum. Such request shall be made in writing and signed by the members making the request.


At the referendum votes shall be cast for or against the Bill. For the Bill to be rejected, a majority of the electors who vote, and not less than thirty per cent of all persons who are entitled to vote, shall have voted against the Bill.


Finance Bills, Salaries and Pensions Bills, Taxation (Direct and Indirect) Bills, UK and European Union government Bills, as well as Bills for the purpose of discharging existing treaty obligations shall not be submitted to decision by referendum.

... it would make law making more inclusive, no-matter what flavour of politics, the government of the day would be obliged to consider everyone, not just reflect on party politics, good for democratic accountability, the death-knell of partisan politics.

Would you support such a bill, currently the "badger cull" bill might be the subject of the Legislative Recall and Referendum option I am proposing, as might the "presumed consent" for the organ transplant bill, but nothing is certain, Assembly politicians after due deliberation could pass the laws with such a majority that the laws could not be subjected to recall.

While I consider the importance of giving politicians tools to strengthen democracy, in Syria its dictator murders citizens .....

Libya is falling apart and Yemen is changing .... is Saudi listening to the winds of change blowing from the dunes ........

The wind of change is blowing ...

... in Syria, the tyranny of the despotic son of the despot has reached new heights of despicable behaviour, he has sent 20,000 troops to Deraa to quell the call for democracy, for greater freedoms, to put it into perspective the dictator of Syria sent 1 soldier for every 3 citizens of Deraa.

With a population of 24 million the "Hereditary Dictator", a craven son of a bitch, will need to super-size his half a million army to a massive 8 million, and then coerce it to murder or imprison every citizen, because that is the only way to suppress democracy ..........

Libya, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain et al ....... take note of the wind of change, people like to speak, I am a human being ...... and I have an opinion


............. once again from Naom Chomsky ...

... "make it a real functioning democracy where the people participate".

... whilst back in the ranch, the Assembly tried to prevent the petition, to be posted soon after the May election, they tried the "not in the remit of the Assembly Government", to bad I have read the GOWA ...

... GOWA 2006 section 62,  

Representations about matters affecting Wales

The Welsh Ministers, the First Minister and the Counsel General may make appropriate representations about any matter affecting Wales.

... democracy is difficult even in Britain ...................