The Price of War

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who are hungry and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower

Some facts about military budgets

All currency is calculated in US dollars. This is because most of the on-line information is calculated in dollars.

World military spending totaled more than 1.6 trillion dollors in 2015. The U.S. accounted for 37 percent of this total.

List of countries by military expenditures
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures

The US government alone spends over 700 billion dollars annually on its military.

The cost  to end world hunger  is $30 billion  per year — $737 billion per year is the amount Congress spends on Defense

The U.S’s. military expenditures exceeds the following seven nations combined, in order of expenditure: China,( For every dollar China spends the US spends $2.77) Saudi Arabia, Russia, UK, India, France, Japan: US Defence Spending Compared to Other Countires: 

I must say that India being right up there in the top seven military budgets spending a huge 53.6 billion is surprising but shocking with around 170 million people living in poverty.

The UK has a military budget of 55.5 billion dollars  but apparently under the present conservative government not enough money to adequately fund the NHS and Social Services: Cuts to benefits including those for disabled people,who people have experienced vicious cuts in benefits and services and Social services including neighbourhood services . Also cuts to school budgets of 3billion  a small amount compared to the UK’s military budget.

The USA recently dropped on Afghanistan a bomb costing $314 million yet there is not enough money for education, health care, the 50 million people who go hungry in the USA, meals on wheels, housing, the Environmental Protection Agency, Legal aid for the poor and low-income heating assistance – the last four are to be cut in accordance with the latest budget proposals

Is this what most of the world’s people want? Are we happy that our extortionate taxes pay for our governments to massacre and make destitute millions of people, not to forget animals killed in war, and the destruction of the environment. While the rich get richer and profit from the slaughter the poor die in wars, either as combatants or as civilians who readily support such conflicts, willing going to fight like lambs to the slaughter misguided by the warped ideology of patriotism or other supposedly noble notion.

There is one thing for certain wars are rarely fought for noble causes.

“All wars are fought for the acquisition of wealth” said Socrates, throughout history nothing has changed, war continues to benefit the wealthy, who are protected from its immediate effects, at the expense of the poor.  Trump will be sitting in his opulent golden tower or playing golf while tens of thousands of men women and children die in any conflict with Korea. He was playing golf on Good Friday morning at his West Palm Beach golf course in Florida as North Korea threatened to go to war with the US if provoked

I wonder how keen Trump would be if he like the Kings of times past was expected to lead his troops into battle. Would he be so all fired up to go to war if he had to leave his home and his family and put his life on the line? I doubt it. Like the coward he is he sends others to die with the callous indifference typical of a sociopath .

Apparently Pence told the Japanese that the U.S. will confront the North Korean nuclear threat:  “I say on his (Trumps)behalf today to all the people of Japan, in these challenging times, we are with you 100 percent.” Ummm I wonder where Pence will be when the bombs start dropping, in his nuclear bunker I suppose as will be Korea’s murdering sociopathic monster , the so-called Supreme leader Kim Jong-un

“In all history there is no war which was not hatched by the governments, the governments alone, independent of the interests of the people, to whom war is always pernicious even when successful.”
Leo Tolstoy

What real say have any of us had concerning the war mongering escapades in recent decades undertaken by the US and it’s ally the UK, yet it is mostly the civilian populations that suffers . Here in the UK the mostly bitterly divided parliament almost always agree when it comes to waging war. Yet if this was put to a referendum the outcome may well be very different.

“A people free to choose will always choose peace.” Ronald Reagan

Most of us wherever we live: Syria, UK, USA, Japan North or South Korea just want to live our lives in peace. Instead our lives are destroyed by power-hungry sociopaths in their quest for power and acquisition. If given a choice most of us want this money spent on enhancing our lives, ridding the world of poverty, hunger and disease. The overwhelming majority would rather this money was spent on providing food, universal health care and services for sick and disabled people, free education, decent housing and… Well a quality of life free from the treat of war and insecurity.

What could the USA better spend 700, million dollars on : how much could that money have helped the American people. 

How about spending some of this money in combating homelessness in the USA rather than make people homeless and destitute in the Middle East and elsewhere.

How about universal health care, America’s health care is one of the most expensive in the world. It’s estimated there are between 20,000 and 45,000 deaths a year due to lack of health insurance

Under a recent proposal Meals on wheels which delivers food to elderly and disabled people and housing assistance part of the $3 billion Community Development programme is set be completely dismantled. Included in the same proposal is increased funding for the military and Trumps border wall. Yet £2.4 billion is a puny amount compared to the US’ military budget.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-budget-latest-mick-mulvaney-cuts-food-poor-meals-wheels-welfare-taxpayers-compassionate-white-a7634561.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-meals-on-wheels-cut-pay-mexico-border-wall-immigration-fema-us-coastguard-budget-a7632551.html

Among many inhumane proposals in Trump’s new budget ideas, is the cutting of free school lunches by raising the bar for qualification. This will cause at least 18,000 schools to no longer qualify!

There are over 50 million people in the USA who do not have enough to eat, would not this money be better spent ensuring that everyone receives enough food.

India

India has over 55 billion dollars for its military budget, more than France and is fifth on the list of countries by military expenditure . India also has highest number of people living below poverty line

India has the largest number of urban poor and landless people in the world approximately 65 -70 million people live in urban slums. According to the Hindustan Times The Delhi government is turning a blind eye to the homeless?

UK

In the UK there are almost 14 million people living in poverty

In this time of so called austerity when allegedly there is not enough money to pay for benefits for sick and disabled people or the unemployed, where 3.7 million Children live in poverty and people have to rely on food banks and suffer endless austerity measures, such as cuts to public services, there is always money for war.

We should not forget the poverty worldwide in countries such as Africa, wouldn’t the global military budget of  $1.6 trillion be better spent in providing food, clean water and medicine. 

795 million people go hungry worldwide though I rather suspect this is an understatement and the figure is far highter

“The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that about 795 million people of the 7.3 billion people in the world, or one in nine, were suffering from chronic undernourishment in 2014-2016. Almost all the hungry people, 780 million, live in developing countries, representing 12.9 percent, or one in eight, of the population of developing counties. There are 11 million people undernourished in developed countries”

Read More:
http://www.worldhunger.org/2015-world-hunger-and-poverty-facts-and-statistics/

One person every four seconds dies from hunger or hunger related diseases… Sadly, it is children who die most often.

How many people die from lack of access to clean water and life saving/enhancing medicine and health care? Here are some alarming facts: 663 million people in the world don’t have access to safe water and almost 900 children die every day from diarrheal diseases caused by dirty water.   Half the worlds Population has no access to healthcare

Here is a shocking statistic

A price has been set and estimated by the United Nations to solve this crisis (world hunger) – $30 billion a year. It may seem like a large sum of money, but when compared to the U.S. defense budget – $737 billion in 2012 – $30 billion seems more attainable.

“The cost to end world hunger…

— $30 billion per year is needed to end world hunger
— $737 billion per year is the amount Congress spends on Defense”

Read More:

The Cost to End World Hunger
https://borgenproject.org/the-cost-to-end-world-hunger/

China 

China has a military budget of 215.7 billion the second largest after the USA. In China more than 500 million people were lifted out of extreme poverty as China’s poverty rate fell from 88 percent in 1981 to 6.5 percent in 2012,  however still today China is one of the top five poorest countries in the world where one in ten Chinese is poor, there are at least 82 million people in China live below the poverty line. China also has an homeless population of about 2,579,000   According to the following article: There Are One Million Children Living On The Streets In China 

As with the US and UK China’s military budget (over 200 billion dollars) would most certainly improve the lot of millions of poor people.

How about the poorest country in the world which may be the Central African Republic . According to the lastest available data this country spends $54,800,000. While modest in comparison, for a country that is so poor such an amount could well be spent improving the lives of its citizens.

I could continue down the list,  in every country in the world there are poor people,  many desperately so, many go without adequate food and not all of them live in Africa either or other developing countries, though in these countires the problem is more severe of course.People go without food in rich countries such as the UK and the USA

As as a matter of interest North Korea is ranked No. 1 in the world for military expenditures relative to its Gross Domestic Product, an annual State Department report showed between 2004-2014, North Korea spent nearly a quarter of its GDP on the armed forces.

N. Korea ranks No. 1 for military spending relative to GDP: State Department report
http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2016/12/23/26/0301000000AEN20161223000200315F.html

Poverty in North Korea is extensive.
“Forty percent of the population, about 24 million people, live below the poverty line. Most workers earn $2 to $3 per month.

“Unlike earthquakes, floods and volcanic eruptions, war is a disaster created entirely by people, against people. It is never an accident: making war is always somebody’s decision. Nations spend vast amounts of money on training soldiers to fight and kill. They spend even more on devising and manufacturing weapons and machinery for fighting and killing. That is not the only expense. Huge sums are also needed for dealing with the damage when a war is officially over. (‘Officially’, because the effects of war continue long after the truce has been signed.)

From this evidence alone, it ought to be clear to everyone that there’s little to be said for war. But little has been done to liberate the world from it. War still fascinates and excites some people, though it fills many others with revulsion and horror. Too many people – and too many of their leaders – still think that war is defensible, and that it’s not actually wrong for people to learn how to kill each other in large numbers. 

For all these reasons, and more, the invention of war is one of humankind’s greatest blunders. It needs to be put right.”

Read More:

Why is War Wrong
http://www.ppu.org.uk/learn/infodocs/st_pacifism_m1.html

“War does not determine who is right – only who is left”
Bertrand Russell

Related Links

U.S. Military Spending vs. the World
U.S. military expenditures are roughly the size of the next seven largest military budgets around the world, combined.

Military > Expenditures > Percent of GDP: Countries Compared

http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Military/Expenditures/Percent-of-GDP

 

Cadbury’s Dairy Farms: The Cruelty Behind Every Bar of Chocolate

The human body has no more need for cows’ milk than it does for dogs’ milk, horses’ milk, or giraffes’ milk.
Michael Klaper

Cadbury’s want you to adopt a cow!

The cruelty behind your Cadbury’s Dairy Milk

A CALF AND A HALF (VIVA!’S CADBURY FARMS INVESTIGATION)
https://www.viva.org.uk/why-you-dont-need-dairy-animal-welfare/calf-and-half-cadbury-investigation

White Lies
https://www.whitelies.org.uk/

Cadbury’s ludicrous promotion comes with a bizarre offer for families to adopt one of 20 cows and enter a draw to win a family farmyard weekend away to meet the animal. I say bizarre because the reality of the situation is nothing like the one they would like to have you believe.

The idea aimed at families is to submit an on-line a code number from packets of selected Cadbury’s chocolate and choosing the cow they would like to adopt “based on photos and qualities” provided on the site.

In the lead-up to the prize draw in late September, Cadbury will be interacting with families by providing families with “small moments of joy” through regular news and updates from the herd.

Cadbury brand manager David McDermott says: “This latest campaign will remind consumers that the great taste of Cadbury Dairy Milk is created using fresh ingredients from British and Irish farms while creating moments of joy over the summer with a moo­nique and engaging family campaign.”

McDermott adds: “For many people, Cadbury Dairy Milk was their first taste of chocolate thanks to the iconic glass and a half credentials but in research, we uncovered that one in five children do not know that milk comes from cows!”

They also do not know the terrible conditions of cows in factory farms where in reality Cabury’s milk is produced. The milk from the much promoted “Glass and half” does not come from cows grazing in some peaceful idyl in fields of buttercups, with the sun warming their backs and their calves by their sides, in most cases nothing could be further from the truth.

Here is the grim reality behind your, glass and a half milk.

Two or three times every day, dairy cows are hooked up to milk machines. They are commonly pushed to produce ten times more milk than is natural.”

Like other factory farmed animals the lot of a cow is a life filled with suffering and exploitation in dreadful conditions.

The dairy cow is kept constantly pregnant in a continuous and exhausting cycle of misery. Within two to three months of giving birth cows are impregnated again, mostly by artificial insemination. As lactation lasts around 10 months the cow is simultaneously pregnant and lactating for 6 to 8 months during each calving cycle. Cows have a 6 to 8 week period between lactation ceasing and their next calving.

In order to provide you with milk,  a food that we like every other mammal no longer needs after weaning, she is milked two or three times each day and often much more frequently. After giving birth her calf is taken away within twenty-four hours after the calf has taken the colostrum, which in all animals protects the young one from disease. However the calf is removed before he or she can have any of the milk which must all be kept for humans, a calf never has any of his or her mother’s milk. Cows are good mothers, they are severely traumatised when their calves are taken away from them, they can bellow for days. In his book, The Pig Who Sang to the Moon Jeffrey Mason tells of an account given him by an RSPCA officer concerning one particular cow, who was considerably distraught for a period of six weeks by the loss of her calf. When the calf was removed she was beside herself with grief, gazing into the empty pen bellowing for hour after hour, only moving when forced to do so. Even after six weeks she would stare into the pen, it was as though her spirit was broken as she gazed into the pen in the forlorn hope that she would find her calf there.

Because of man’s interference a cow will produce as much as 7,000 litres of milk each year, an enormous amount far in access of that required by her calf, and three times the amount produced a century ago. This drastic increase is the result of injecting the cow with growth hormones to produce more milk. An outrageous and inhumane abuse of another living being; treating a cow as though she is nothing more than a milk producing machine, spouting milk rather like a spring spouts water.

The atrocities of course do not stop there. What happens to her calf? If he is male he is considered an unwanted by product of the dairy industry and unless he is required for breeding he is shot after barely a week of life. Here is an eye witness account of what happens in an intensive factory farm:

‘When I got to the farm, I could see that a cow had just calved. The young calf was just a few hours old and was suckling. I stood watching and smiling. There is no more beautiful sight. The farmer came over and – I thought – tousled the calf’s ear. But there was a gun in his other hand and he put it to the calf’s head. When the shot fired, the mother jumped and ran. The calf went down kicking but he didn’t die outright. He was dragged away, still kicking as the milk spilled from his mouth.’ :
https://www.animalaid.org.uk/secret-filming-reveals-rise-collapse-battery-cow/

Cows are selectively bred, genetically manipulated, and fed with concentrated feeds and hormones, as a result they produce ten times more milk than their calf would have needed to suckle. The dire consequences of over milking result in the painful, distressing and potentially fatal condition of mastitis, an infection of the udder, the antibiotics forced up her udders do little to control the disease: antibiotics to treat mastitis are painfully injected up the teat canal. As a precaution many farmers inject their entire herd. And keep in mind such treatments are not to ease the cow’s suffering but rather to improve the cow’s continued viability as a milk producing machine. Her udders as a consequence of man’s interventions are oversized, as many as two thirds of cows become lame from foot and leg disorders that result from difficulties walking due to the huge size of her udders. Often she can barely walk, so heavy and cumbersome are her udders. The dairy cow is forced in the way described above to produce ten litres of milk per day, normally a cow’s udder will hold only 2 litres. The overload of milk causes the udder to become so heavy that it drags on the ground.

Furthermore she becomes exhausted and her muscles waste away as a result of the enormous expenditure of energy required to produce these unnatural amounts of milk. After three years of such misery cows are utterly spent, exhausted and many die well short of their life expectancy of 21 years or more. There is a case of a cow in Ireland living until she was 39, so who knows cows may live longer in the wild than we realise.  Those who somehow cope with the exhaustion, survive mastitis and other diseases are in any case slaughtered for their meat after giving birth to as many as eight calves, after between four to seven years of exploitation. Moreover as many as 25 percent of dairy cows are actually pregnant when they are killed.

Yes you will see cows in fields of course but most are in milking sheds, like you see in the Animal Aid video above, dark dank places with concrete floors – a major cause of lameness – tethered in a narrow stall unable to graze or follow their natural inclinations. Rather like battery hens many cows are kept in such conditions all year round, only a very few are put out to pasture. Grass and other feed consisting of high protein diet to increase milk yield is brought to them. This is called zero grazing and takes the cruelty of dairy farming to another level; grazing is a strong natural instinct as is the rearing of their young. In even more severe and inhumane scenarios cows are intensively milked day and night by computer automated machines, the old fashion farm where a cow is milked twice a day, twelve hours apart is becoming a thing of the past.

Any modicum of freedom is denied them, instead of standing in grass, in the warmth of the sun and the cool of the breeze they now stand on concrete floors in their own excrement, there is no mental stimulation, they suffer lameness and the misery of mastitis. Such intensive farming results in high levels of stress, disease and psychological damage.

Help to bring an end to this cruelty, please do not enter this promotion, eat chocolate or other dairy products

Cows are amongst the gentlest of breathing creatures
none show more passionate tenderness to their young when deprived of them and, in short, I am not ashamed to profess a deep love for these quiet creatures

Thomas de Quincey

Related Links

Animal Rights: Cattle
http://www.think-differently-about-sheep.com/Animal-rights-Cattle.htm

Please Take Action to Help Prevent the Tragedy of Grenfell Tower Ever Happening Again

“Something you can’t avoid is that Kensington is a tale of two cities,”

“The south part of Kensington is incredibly wealthy, it’s the wealthiest part of the whole country. The ward where this fire took place is, I think, the poorest ward in the whole country.”

Jermey Corbyn https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-fire-inequality-idUSKBN1962XI

My heartfelt thoughts go out to all those who died in the terrible Grenfell fire and all who have lost love ones and whose lives will be changed forever as a result of their tragic loss. There are no words that anyone can ever say to mitigate such an awful event.

I am so shocked by this tragedy which should never have happened and no doubt did as consequence of Tory austerity cuts and profit before people.

Most people here in the UK are deeply shocked and saddened by the fire which tore through the tower block of Grenfell in North Kensington in the early hours of Wednesday 14th June.  What makes this tragedy even more awful is the fact that it should never have happened. Seventeen people so far have been confirmed dead many others are in a critical condition in hospital. There are reports of 70 people unaccounted for, so the death toll may be much much higher. Many have lost loved ones, in some cases their entire family.  All have lost their homes, their possessions and along with it their memories. All suffer and will continue to suffer psychological damage. Most tragic of course is the loss of life in the most horrific way imaginable. 

It must never happen again.

How many people have to die as a result of Tory Austerity cuts to services including the reduction of fire services and their general attitude towards poorer people – I very much doubt this would happen in a luxury private apartment block where fire precautions of the highest standard would be in place. The Tory run council have neglected the safety and well being of the poorest people in the entire country in favor of policies favoring the interests of the rich. It has been suggested that the main purpose of the cladding was for aesthetic reasons for the benefits of Kensingon’s wealthy inhabitants whose expensive apartments overlook the Tower blocks:

Listen to what the young man has to say in the interview below

@akalamusic: “The people who died and lost their homes, this happened to them because they are poor” #Grenfellpic.twitter.com/lRthiV6Lrd

— Corbynator (@Corbynator2) June 15, 2017

You can read more about the reasons why this disaster should never have happened yet it did despite constant concerns directed to the council from Grenfell Action Group:

“Regular readers of this blog will know that we have posted numerous warnings in recent years about the very poor fire safety standards at Grenfell Tower and elsewhere in RBKC.

ALL OUR WARNINGS FELL ON DEAF EARS and we predicted that a catastrophe like this was inevitable and just a matter of time. Below is a list of links to previous blogs we posted on this site trying to warn the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, who own this property, and the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation who supposedly manage all social housing in RBKC on the Council’s behalf:”

Click the link to acess
https://grenfellactiongroup.wordpress.com/2017/06/14/grenfell-tower-fire/

Please sign and share the petition below. There follows further information and other suggested actions for you to take.

Speak out for the victims of Grenfell
Please sign the petition to make sure this never happens again.
https://speakout.38degrees.org.uk/campaigns/grenfell_tower?utm_campaign=speakout_campaign_2277&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=thank_you  

After signing the petition you will be taken to new webpage where you have the opportunity to send an e-mail to the minister responsible for housing regulations.

You may also want to write to your MP and express you concerns, your anger and outrage.

Contact Your MP;
http://www.parliament.uk/get-involved/contact-your-mp/

In addition you may wish to contact Kensington and Chelsea Borough council :

Please express in no uncertain terms your views concerning this devastating fire which should have not happened:
https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/contact-us/contact-us

Their postal address:

Town Hall
Hornton Street
W8 7NX

Telephone

Call on 020 7361 3000

Contact them on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/rbkc

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/RoyalBorough/

I know it is tempting to give them a piece of your mind in an abusive way but Please be polite as insulting abusive rhetoric is unlikely to be read.

In your comments to the council and the government you might like to raise some of the following issues

Below you can read about the eight reasons which resulted in this awful disaster including dangerous cladding, a change in the law, single stair case, no sprinklers, missing fire doors, eight failures in all

Eight failures that left people of Grenfell Tower at mercy of the inferno:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/15/eight-failures-left-people-grenfell-tower-mercy-inferno/

Concerning cladding, in the US no cladding is permitted on buildings taller than 40ft instead a fire-proof one which would have cost £5000 more is used.

The same cladding used in France and Australia resulted in an out break of fire

London fire: Grenfell Tower cladding ‘linked to other fires’

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40283980

It has been suggested that empty buildings of which the council of Kensington and Chelsea have the most should be requisitioned to provide homes for those who have last their homes in the fire:

Grenfell Tower fire: Jeremy Corbyn suggests using empty Kensington properties for victims
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/empty-homes-owned-by-overseas-investors-should-be-requisitioned-to-rehouse-grenfell-fire-victims-a7791986.html

This map shows the location of 20,000 empty homes in the capital the highest in Kensington, no one should have to live in tower blocks.
http://metro.co.uk/2017/05/11/map-reveals-shocking-number-of-empty-homes-across-london-6630121/

Frankly it is a disgrace that people sleep in the streets while there are so many homes which stand vacant

This article cites the number of empty homes which are vacant as 57,000:
http://metro.co.uk/2016/04/08/need-a-place-to-live-almost-57000-london-homes-are-lying-empty-5804072/

Related links

Theresa May Avoids Survivors of Grenfell Tower Fire During Visit to Scene of Disasterhttps://theintercept.com/2017/06/15/theresa-may-avoids-survivors-grenfell-tower-fire-visit-scene-disaster/

‘Regeneration is a euphemism for ethnic and class cleansing’: Kensington resident and writer

https://www.channel4.com/news/regeneration-is-a-euphemism-for-ethnic-and-class-cleansing-kensington-resident-and-writer

 

How War Effects Animals

“The street dogs, howling in terror were the most accurate indicator of an impending air raid on Baghdad”

Shocking fact: At the beginning of WW2 in the UK pet owners slaughtered 750,000 of their animals – pet owners where told that their pets would not be allowed in air raid shelters

The world is in turmoil with wars raging and the constant threat of war including a nuclear war. How many people have died in conflicts is astronomical in number.During World War 1 military and civilian casualties were more than 38 million: there were over 17 million deaths and 20 million wounded,    World War II was the deadliest military conflict in history with over 60 million people killed, which was over 2.5% of the world’s population. In more recent conflicts including Vietnam, a protracted civil war of over twenty years, 2 million civilians on both sides and some 1.1 million North Vietnamese and Viet Cong fighters were killed. The U.S. military has estimated that between 200,000 and 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died in the war. The Syrian conflict as taken the lives of 470,000  -55,000 children

How many animals died in these conflicts? How about the recent MOAB , the largest non-nuclear bomb ever used in combat, dropped by the USA in Afganistan on what was described as a tunnel complex, which was far from a civilian populated area but which could have nonetheless killed many animals in addition to the human lives taken. No one knows or cares how many animals died in the one mile blast zone?  The following animals are indigenous to Afganistan and include more than 100 mammal species, some of which are nearing extinction. The most seriously endangered are the goitered gazelle, leopard, snow leopard, markor goat, and Bactrian deer. Other wild animals of Afghanistan include Marco Polo sheep, urials, ibex, bears, wolves, foxes, hyenas, jackals, and mongooses. Wild boar, hedgehogs, shrews, hares, mouse hares, bats, and various rodents also occur.
http://www.afghanistans.com/Information/PlantAnimal.htm

How many of them were killed? Of course all these species may not live in that particular area.  How about rats a likely inhabitant of tunnels, but who cares about rats except rats of course?  What about insects? Sadly few care about insects, is it because they’re tiny or is it as a result of a common innate phobia which many of us share. Yes it is not easy to avoid killing insects and in some cases doing so is a matter of survival, mosquitoes for example, however they’ re casualties of war nonetheless, an insects life is important to the insect. Ever watched an insect struggle for survival if he accidentally falls in water. All creatures have the will to live, for all beings life is precious.

The affects of war on the other species with whom we share this world is rarely considered. The death toll of these innocent bystanders or enforced participants is staggering and in addition to death their suffering is significant.

Stop for a moment and consider the following

World Wars One and Two resulted in unimaginable loss of life for humans, many of whom just like animals were innocent bystanders or forced participants. During these conflicts countless millions of animals died in an horrific fashion often callously murdered in the most cruel of ways or killed and maimed as a result of indiscriminate booming such as the case of the Dresden Zoo

This next article explains the horror that befell Dresden Zoo during WW2, a harrowing story of the suffering of these innocents confined against their will in zoos or farms.

All Creatures Innocent of Blame

“The bombing toll on domestic pets and farm animals is never spoken of, but it was a slaughter of momentous proportion. Horses burned alive at various stud farms or were simply let loose (see “Horses” on the East Prussia section of site), cattle were blown to pieces, sheep literally cooked in the fields and thousands of pets were lost, lamed, blinded, orphaned and even eaten out of desperation. For zoos it was hellish. Zoo animals were bombed or later slaughtered and plundered at war’s end. The few survivors starved or died of cold.

Famous animal trainer, Otto Sailer-Jackson ran the Dresden Zoo watched in horror as a wave of bombing set the zoo ablaze:

“The elephants gave spine-chilling screams. Their house was still standing but an explosive bomb of terrific force had landed behind it, lifted the dome of the house, turned it round, and put it back on again… The baby cow elephant was lying in the moat on her back with her legs helplessly reaching up toward the sky, suffering severe stomach injuries unable to move. The hippopotamuses were drowned when debris pinned them to the bottom of their water basin. In the ape house, a gibbon reached out to the trainer, only bloody stumps left of its arms. Nearly forty rhesus monkeys escaped to the trees but were dead by the next day from drinking water polluted by the incendiary chemicals. The next day, a U.S. aircraft pilot flew in low, firing at anything he could see was still alive… In this way, our last giraffe met her death. Many stags and others animals which we had saved became victims of this hero.”

Continue reading the complete article
http://www.revisionist.net/zoo-bombing.html

This will shock you as it shocked me. During WW1 eight million working horses lost their lives, along with countless donkeys and mules. Also one million dogs and pigeons and other birds whose numbers are not known. During this war 16 million innocent animals with no say in or understanding of the matter were forced into war. During the  the battle of Verdun in 1916 7,000 horses died in one day alone.

Contrary to the article below they were not willing heroes in this form of human insanity.

The 9 million unsung heroes of WW1: Dogs, horses and carrier pigeons made victory possible:

“A 16 million-strong army of animals including mules, donkeys, cats and even camels was deployed – with the lives of 9m tragically cut short

“With less than 200 men from a 500-strong unit still alive, three messengers were sent on a perilous last-ditch mission to let HQ known their position. It was their only hope.

Two were killed at once. The third was hit too. But blinded in one eye, with a gaping chest wound and one leg hanging by a single tendon, the determined courier managed to struggle a further 25 miles and deliver the message before collapsing.

The plan worked. Allied bombardment ceased at once and 194 men from what became known as the US Army’s Lost Battalion were rescued.

What makes this heroic First World War story all the more astonishing is the fact the messenger was not a soldier. It was a female carrier pigeon called Cher Ami.”

Please continue to read the stories of these animals who although saved many lives were nonetheless exploited and used in a conflict that had nothing to do with them and about which they did not understand.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/9-million-unsung-heroes-ww1-3939895

During more recent times animals are killed deliberately such as Soldiers retreating from Kosovo used cattle as target practice, spraying them with gunfire. Animals also continue to be exploited as service animals, dogs in particular who may even be euthanized after their days of use are over. Recently The UK army have euthanized dozens of dogs who have been put down due to being “old and worn out” after risking their lives serving the country. These dogs were not ill or injured but where simply not able to “carry out their duties” for the British Army. As many as 45 dogs have been killed in the last four years. Another 200 dogs where also euthaniased , these where dogs injured “carry out their duties”.  Hundreds of  these dogs served in Afghanistan and Iraq, sniffing out explosives or protecting troops.

Elisa Allen of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said: “Dogs in military service are conscripted to risk their lives, they’re not volunteers.

“They should have their own Chelsea Pensioners home and, where possible, receive end of service care. For canine recruits who fail to reach a certain standard, a thank you is in order – not a lethal injection.”

Please continue reading this story:
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/760609/british-army-dogs-put-down

Likewise the USA exploits dogs and other animals in its conflicts, 2,700 dogs on active duty in the American military

Obviously many pets, live stock and other captive animals have died in recent conflicts in the Middle East, Ukraine and elsewhere. There are no records of these casualties. Animals caught up in these conflicts who know nothing of human hatred and aggression or the craving for power or wealth that drives this madness.

Both during a war and the relative peace which follows animals suffer horrendously as a result of land mines. There are reports of herds of elephants, cows and other animals being blown to pieces. As shocking a fact as it may seem hundreds of millions of land mines, even some left from World War2, are hidden from view in the countryside and roadsides waiting to kill or maim the unsuspecting child, adult or animal. Often their location is not known and with the exception of WW2 landmines are difficult to detect.  For both domestic and wild animals the death toll is as much as between ten and twenty times higher than it is for people. The live stock population of some countries has been reduced to half.

Even more shocking is the use of animals as triggers to clear roads and fields of mines, sheep in Bosnia and pigs in El Slavador. Cattle were pushed forward in Zimbabwe to detonate mines to clear the way for people to return to their villages and farms.

In some cases trained sniffer dogs have been used to detect mines. The ethics of this is debatable, in my opinion the animal has little choice and maybe does not understand the implications of his training and basically has no real choice in the matter. Giant rats are increasingly trained to detect mines because they’ re supposedly better at locating these hidden killers than dogs. In particular the African giant pouched rats who have extraordinary sense of smell. Apparently these rats are light enough to walk over the mines without setting them off, and use their noses to find the explosives quickly. While less awful the use of animals to resolve the problems created by humans cannot be justified. Animals have their own lives, they are not our servants or slaves. Nonetheless a better option than the use of sheep, cattle and dogs who would invariably be killed.

At Sea human conflict results in the death of hundreds of animals even when not located in a war zone. The sonar from navel war ships is killing hundreds of whales and dolphins. To escape the noise created by Sonar whales, dolphins and other sea creatures try to escape the sound and rise to the surface too quickly and die from decompression, more commonly called the Bends.

“While little is known about any direct physiological effects of sonar waves on marine species, evidence shows that whales will swim hundreds of miles, rapidly change their depth (sometime leading to bleeding from the eyes and ears), and even beach themselves to get away from the sounds of sonar.”

Read More about the effects of sonar on marine animals:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/does-military-sonar-kill/

As already mentioned earlier, during times of war animals suffer terribly in zoos where they may be abandoned or worse.

One example is the Kabul Zoo in Afghanistan where grenades were thrown into cages, and the animals were left in misery.”

Below are examples of what happens to zoo animals during recent conflicts

Animals starved abandoned in a Syrian zoo.

“Right now animals are starving in a zoo in war-torn Aleppo

Amid the ruins of the civil war-ravaged city of Aleppo, Syria, are the remnants of what was once a zoo – and some animals are still there.

Two skeletal tigers, two bears and several monkeys have been trying to survive in their cages at the zoo known as Aalim al-Sahar, or The Magic World.”

Please continue reading:
https://www.thedodo.com/aleppo-syria-zoo-tigers-bears-2353723366.html

Rescuing The Last Two Animal At The Mosul Zoo.

“Mosul’s forlorn little zoo, a collection of rusted cages in a park near the Tigris River, was abandoned by its keepers in October, as the Iraqi Army began to liberate the city from the Islamic State. For three months, the zoo was a staging ground for isis fighters. More than forty of the zoo animals died, either as collateral damage—trapped between warring combatants—or from starvation. By January, when the eastern half of Mosul was freed, only two animals had survived: Lula, a caramel-colored female bear, and Simba, a three-year-old lion.

Animals, like people, suffer from war psychoses, including P.T.S.D. During the most intense urban combat in history, Lula ate her two cubs from hunger and stress. Simba had been one of three lions. Simba’s father, weak and emaciated, was killed by his mate to provide food for herself and Simba. In the wild, lionesses hunt for the entire pride. She, too, soon succumbed.”

Read More:
http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/rescuing-the-last-two-animals-at-the-mosul-zoo

Animals Starve to Death

“Two Hundred and Sixty-five animals were abandoned in war Torn Yemen to starve to death.

War births refugees. Streaming out of blasted-out cities, civilians are forced to flee their homes, sometimes their families, away from the bombs, into the unknown.

What happens when you can’t leave? That’s the story of abandoned zoos in wartime. It’s the story unfolding now for the animals in Yemen’s Taiz Zoological Gardens, neglected in the cross fire of the country’s civil war.”

Continue reading:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/12/wildlife-watch-taiz-zoo-animals-starving-leopard-war/

Yemeni zoo animals are starving due to ongoing civil war

“Campaigners urge the government to allow for the evacuation of animals from a zoo in Tiaz after 11 lions and six Arabian leopards reportedly starved to death”

Continue Reading:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/yemen-zoo-animals-taiz-starving-civil-war-saudi-arabia-coaliton-a7489631.html

Hundreds of dogs and cats were left to fend for themselves in war-torn Ukraine, in the city of Donetsk alone 800 dogs and cats depended on the courage of willing carers who risk death to help the beleaguered animals along with refugees.

Please read the full story:
Extreme Bravery from the Women Saving Ukraine’s Dogs of War
http://www.care2.com/causes/extreme-bravery-from-the-women-saving-ukraines-dogs-of-war.html

Bird migrations have been effected by war

It is not always the obvious casualties of war who are forgotten but the less well known, including birds who may suffer when their natural behaviours are disrupted. One such disruption is the migratory patterns of come birds.

War in Syria prevents bird migration

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/war-in-syria-prevents-bird-migration-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=96818&NewsCatID=378

War has dire consequences for wildlife conservation and biodiversity,

“The negative impact that war has on the environment and wildlife is typically fuelled by a number of factors, including:

•A breakdown in law and order, together with disruption of agricultural production and economic trade leads to a lack of income opportunities as a result;

•A growing dependence on natural resources and wildlife (eg. wood for cooking, wildlife for food) due to lack of other options;

•An increase in human movement through natural protected areas as a result of a mass exodus of refugees fleeing war torn areas or an insurgency of militants, all of whom require food and shelter;

•An abundance of trigger happy militia armed with high powered automatic weapons and firearms makes unarmed wildlife an easy target and that much more vulnerable.”

Continue reading:

War and the Effect on Wildlife
http://www.ourendangeredworld.com/war-effect-wildlife/ – The effect on wildlife is well explained in this article.

Petition

Stop Putting Down Healthy War Hero Dogs Just Because They’re “Old”
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/773/177/837/

Did you know that the USA abandons its military dogs in conflict zones?

The US Military Euthanised or Abandoned Thousands of Their Own Canine Soldiers at the End of the Vietnam War
https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/the-us-military-euthanized-or-abandoned-thousands-of-their-own-canine-soldiers-at-the-end-of-the-vietnam-war-253

Animals should never be used for military purposes. Animals are unable to understand the political or moral implications of human conflict. Animals are not equipped to make a free-will choice to participate in such enterprises. For human beings to make use of them in those situations is exploitative and immoral.

This article took some considerable time to research and at the end I wondered why I had done so. The idea came shortly after the Americans dropped the MOAB on Afghanistan and I remembering thinking how many rats or other animals had died in the tunnels or in the mile wide blast zone. It  was the first time I had given any serious thought to the animal casualties of war with the exception of writing a piece once for another blog now no longer on-line about animals used in warfare in ancient times after seeing the film Alexander the Great. I was not prepared for the shock concerning the extent of the suffering of innocent animals during war-time. Frankly quite depressing in view of the continued massacre today of both human and non human animals in the pursuit of power and insatiable greed by the few while millions of people and animals die who neither understand or condone this, one of the greatest tragedies that befalls all living beings and one that seemingly will never end.

Related Links

People Are Actually Staying In A War Zone … So They Can Save Animals
https://www.thedodo.com/syrian-animal-rescues-1649764900.html

Shelter lends helping paw to animal victims of Syria war
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-3926280/Shelter-lends-helping-paw-animal-victims-Syria-war.html

Too often, animals are the forgotten victims of war
http://www.thenational.ae/opinion/comment/too-often-animals-are-the-forgotten-victims-of-war

Starved to death and left to MUMMIFY in the world’s worst zoo: Once proud animals including lions and crocodiles are now no more than horrifying ‘statues’ after carers had to stop feeding them
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3478261/Horrifying-mummified-corpses-remains-dozens-animals-starved-death-world-s-worst-zoo-Gaza-Strip.html

“By World War II the role of the dog had morphed into that of Kamikaze Canines. These anti-tank war dogs, intensively trained by the Soviets, carried explosives on their backs, the bombs then detonating upon their impact with German tanks. How do you get a dog to run underneath a tank and detonate a live bomb strapped to their bodies? Keep them hungry and hide food treats beneath enemy tanks. The training routine simulated war conditions, using real tanks with running engines. This made for a seamless transition during real-life battles. The training regimes though had disastrous results, killing many dogs and Soviet soldiers. During the simulated wars, dogs would get spooked by the tanks and run back to their human soldier companion, inadvertently detonating the bomb and killing both themselves and their master. To counter this, any dogs who were seen to be running back towards their human, to their perceived safety, were shot dead. Heart breaking. This Anti-tank dog regime continued until as recently as 1996.”

Continue reading, this is an excellent and informative article concerning the use of animals in warfare.

Military Menageries- they had no choice.
https://humanenoughblog.wordpress.com/2015/05/01/military-menageries-they-had-no-choice/

If you happen to travel down London’s Park Lane you may notice a striking landmark. Unveiled a few years ago to much ceremony, the Animals in War Memorial is a powerful tribute to the many animals in conflict that gave their lives in war zones of the 20th century. It’s a fitting memorial to some forgotten victims of war.
https://spana.org/news/working-in-war-zones-animals-and-conflict

Source of some of the above information:

Animals in War
http://www.looking-glass.co.uk/animalsinwar/

Election Results: Who Voted Tory?

While Donald Trump is an embarrassment to the USA; Theresa May is now an embarrassment to the UK . Trump with “Make America Great Again” ; May with “Strong and Stable” both worn out mantras, empty meaningless. America great for the rich; UK strong and stable also for the rich. Now to add to the travesty that yet again so many people voted for the party which supports the minority May clings to power by forming a coalition with terrorists or at least a party supported by terrorists

Theresa May should do the decent thing and resign, an alliance with the DUP Democratic Unionist Party … whatever next!  Desperation to cling to power? What a fiasco.

Why I have to ask myself did so many vote Tory, a real mystery to me as the Tories’ policies have upset most people.The dismantling of our NHS alone should have been enough to have swayed the vote towards Labour. Most if not everyone relies on the NHS, even those who use private health care will need the assistance of the NHS in an emergency and like the rest of us will want an efficient service which saves lives!

People vote for selfish reasons. Travelling through the country side I noticed many farmers displaying Tory election boards prominently. As a vegan I am not in favour of live stock farming of course for obvious reasons but this time single them out for criticism because of their selfishness regarding the election which shocks me, as clearly they are voting solely for some personal advantage, never mind the NHS, sick and disabled people, the elderly or anyone else, they just vote from self interest. Sadly this is the case for most people, but even so the under funding and deterioration of the NHS surely should be paramount in casting your vote and override other perceived advantages.

So who voted Tory – well it wasn’t the sick and disabled that’s for sure!

Watch the video below, it is shocking how something like this does not outrage people enough to vote for Labour yet not only will you find few people who know about this shameful treatment of disabled people, which has come to the attention of the UN human rights committee and been condemned, but sadly few care.

Note this is a lengthy video featuring other issues the part concerning people with disabilities is right at the beginning.

You can Listen to the woman at 47:10  or click the following link to read some of the text.

https://www.thecanary.co/2017/06/07/tens-thousands-died-name-austerity-senior-torys-response-utterly-despicable-video/

After listening to this woman’s passionate appeal to Dominic Raab how can you than go and vote Tory. Do you not hear what she is saying, thousands have died as a result of Tory austerity measures on the backs of sick and disabled people in the form of benefit cuts and cuts to services, many by their own hand.  IF YOU VOTED TORY you are complicit!

Tens of thousands have died in the name of austerity. A senior Tory’s response is utterly despicable [VIDEO]

“There were 30,000 excess deaths in 2015 alone in the name of Conservative austerity, according to an Oxford University report. Cuts to health and social care are likely to be the “main cause” of tens of thousands of British citizens losing their lives early. And on The Big Debate, senior Tory Dominic Raab’s response on the matter was utterly despicable.”

Continue reading:
https://www.thecanary.co/2017/06/07/tens-thousands-died-name-austerity-senior-torys-response-utterly-despicable-video/

It sure wasn’t young people who voted Tory. Thousands turned out to vote. I am sure they did not endorse the Tory tuition fees of £11,000 per annum!

Students inspired by Corbyn played big role in Labour surge

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jun/09/students-inspired-by-corbyn-played-big-role-in-labour-surge

Neither was it parents, why would they with a 3 billion cut in school funding.

Nor was it nurses of other public workers with a pay freeze of just 1 percent

I certainly can’t imagine older people voting Tory after the abandonment of the triple lock, raising the state pension age, cuts to winter fuel payment and forcing people to use the value of their own homes to pay for social care.

It most certainly was not people who defend foxes, badgers and other wildlife, the hunt saboteurs, the League Against Cruel Sports, vegan/ vegetarians, animal rights activists. Again why would they as the Tories have been elected the Badger cull will commence once again and they will attempt to repeal the hunting fox hunting bill and have not pledged a total ban on the ivory trade.

Anyone opposed to fracking which is now taking place in our National Parks and extensively elsewhere     would surely be unlikely to vote conservative.

Who could not vote for the nationalisation of the water industry for cheaper bills and a more efficient service, the same with the railways and the postal service. Labour also promised to partially nationalise the energy industry with a pledge that no ones bill would be more than £1000 per annum, yes it is still a lot for many but better than the situation we have now.

The list of the Tories detrimental polices is extensive, add to the above the huge increase in food banks, homelessness, child poverty, low wages, zero hours benefit sanctions see previous blog post , the above is but the tip of the iceberg. There can be few people surely for whom Tory polices have not had a detrimental effect.

So who voted Tory as it looks to me as though there are few people left who the Tories have not adversely affected. The exception being big corporations with low taxes or no taxes.

I am frankly disgusted that anyone with any decency would elect them for another five years. I doubt that at the end of it the NHS will be recognizable. Is it ignorance, selfishness or greed and gullibility, believing the the Tories represent prosperity for all?I wonder how many now regret this in light of the Tories parties’ coalition with the DUP.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Election 2017 Final Comments

Please do not vote for five more years of hell under the Tories

If you have time for nothing else please at least scroll down to watch  a brutally honest video of a speech by an NHS doctor which every voter should watch before voting.

Consider the following

What does her promise to once again attempt to repeal the fox hunting ban say about Theresa May? Anyone who can endorse one of the most cruel of blood sports cannot be a compassionate person or a person one would associate with goodness. Anyone with any shred of decency would not wish to undo a law banning fox hunting surely! Few people condone  such brutal cruelty, eighty-five percent in fact! Not only is this callous women condoning an act of extreme animal cruelty but she is going against the wishes of the people… So this is an undemocratic attempt for certain perverse people in our society to get their own way.  Fox hunting is a minority pass-time usually of the more well off.

Here is what Teresa May says about fox hunting: I have always been in favour of fox hunting

During this election campaign more so than any other I have felt the need to air my views as the outcome is so vital to so many people, and not just people but also our wildlife and the environment. Regarding the environment, although not mentioned much during this election or at all, fracking is underway in our National Parks and quite extensively elsewhere in the UK. Labour will bring an end to franking.

I cannot understand why the Tories were re-elected back in 2015,  since that time life for many people has become progressively worse. Why vote for a political party which so obviously puts the interest of the wealthy above the vast majority of the electorate. A party who even puts it’s own petty amusement first by continually trying to push through the fox-hunting ban repeal despite the fact that about 85 percent of the population oppose this barbarity which is neither ethical nor democratic.

Why? Why do people vote Tory? Indeed why does anyone consider right-wing politics the best way to bring about a fair society, that is assuming most of us want a fair society but sadly this would be a naive assumption as there will always be those who think they ‘re better than others and require and deserve more than other people. Frankly this is right-wing mentality, self centered, unequal.  Yet many people vote Tory, even disabled people who are among those most severely affected by Tory policies in the last seven years.  Is it simply ignorance or greed which makes people vote conservative?  Do people think that the improving economy, if indeed it really is improving or will improve, is going to make them more wealthy? If there has been any improvement it has been at the expense of the most vulnerable in our society who have been hit the hardest by austerity measures. However you can be certain that any improvement to the economy will affect only the wealthy as will a Tory led “Good Brexit” outcome which will be good only for corporations, again the wealthy few in our society. Concerning austerity, which the Tories fully intend to continue, the so-called debt –  and who really understands without a degree in economics what the hell that is all about  – since the Tories came into power has  increased by £555 billion.  Even if it had fallen do you really think that any improvement would take place in the lives of the vast majority whether working class, middle class, pensioners, people on benefits and so on. The answer  is no. Did you know that we are  facing the biggest fall in our standard of living since WWII.  In fact over  Over 120 economists worldwide just urgently backed Corbyn to avoid UK economic catastrophe:

How can anyone who uses the NHS even consider voting conservative, yet they did in 2015. During the last seven years the NHS has been chronically underfunded and progressively privatised with nurses pay cut and their numbers reduced and hospitals closed.

With regard to the NHS alone no one should vote Tory. A conservative government in power for another five-year will bring about the end of the NHS.

A vote for a Tory candidate will be a vote for the  privatisation of our NHS, the eventual end to free health care

Watch a brutally honest video of a speech by an NHS doctor:

Read More:
Every voter needs to watch this brutally honest speech before Thursday [VIDEO]
https://www.thecanary.co/2017/06/06/one-video-every-voter-needs-watch-thursday-one-video/

Read about the great Tory NHS sell off :
The Tories were hoping no-one would stumble across this list of mass NHS sell-offs before the election. But we did.
https://www.thecanary.co/2017/06/06/the-tories-were-hoping-no-one-would-stumble-across-this-list-of-mass-nhs-sell-offs-before-the-election-but-we-did/

Consider do you really want private profit hungry big businesses carrying out surgery, performing scans, X-rays and other diagnostic tests. Never forget that with all private business profit is the main motivation. Making private business responsible for your health care is a slippery slope to the end of the NHS as we know it.

A vote for the Tories is a vote for the continuation of zero hours, low pay, 1% NHS workers pay cap… Labour’s policies in contrast offer:  a £10 living wage, stronger employment rights from day one in a job, ending zero hours contracts and ending the 1% pay cap for NHS workers, restoring collective bargaining in the public sector, reintroducing bursaries for training NHS workers — will all boost working-class living standards. Labour’s £10 living wage (up from its current £9) will boost the incomes of more than 20% of the workforce. These steps will push back against almost 40 years of redistribution in favour of the rich!
http://www.workersliberty.org/node/31096

An x beside a Tory candidates name on you ballot paper will result in  more and more people needing food banks : Report reveals scale of food bank use in the UK: “There are at least 2,000 food banks operating in the UK, giving out emergency food parcels on a weekly basis to people in hardship…”
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/may/29/report-reveals-scale-of-food-bank-use-in-the-uk-ifan

The the unfair bedroom tax will continue to add to poverty and misery if you vote Tory: 

While there have been some exemptions to the bedroom tax as a result of a hard fought court case over three years, which the DWP spent £100,000 of the tax payers money to challenge, most people continue to pay this unfair tax:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/tories-finally-make-legal-changes-9957777   Labour has pledged to end the bedroom tax for everyone

Homelessness will continue unabated getting increasingly worse if you vote conservative on June 8th

Homelessness, which has risen for the sixth year in succession  An estimated 4,134 people bedded down outside in 2016, according to the snapshot survey, an increase of 16% on the previous year’s figure of 3,569, and more than double the 2010 figure.

A vote for the Tories will mean you endorse another five years of Austerity.

Voting conservative will endorse the Killing of our wild animals: Your decision at the ballot box may condemn wild animals to suffering and death.

If you vote Tory you vote for the possible reinstatement of one of the most hideously cruel blood “sports” Fox Hunting.

Theresa May officially pledges fox hunting vote in Tory election manifesto
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/theresa-officially-pledges-fox-hunting-10447278

Voting for a conservative government will mean the continuation of the badger cull.

Consider: Your vote could stop the badger cull:
https://networkforanimals.org/badger-cull-2017/

“…the 2017 cull could be starting again in a matter of months, depending on the outcome of a general election on June 8th.  If the Tories win again, they will go ahead with yet another badger cull. This is a party that has shown that it doesn’t care about scientific evidence, cited by some of the world’s leading experts”

“If the Tories are defeated, and Labour wins the election, then our badgers are safe. Labour as a party are opposed to the cull, and Jeremy Corbyn is against it on a personal level too.”

A Tory government will also mean the UK will not implement a total ban on the Ivory trade.

Conservatives quietly bin pledge to ban ivory trade in 2017 manifesto

2017’s Tory manifesto, released ahead of 8 June’s general election, makes no mention of the pledge.
” the Prime Minister made a general vow to protect endangered species and the marine environment.
Around 20,000 elephants are killed by poaching in Africa every year, which means an elephant is killed every 25 minutes.
Government accused of bowing to pressure from powerful antiques industry lobby
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/conservatives-ivory-trade-ban-2017-manifesto-scrap-pledge-illegal-poaching-a7748581.html

All of these threats to wild animals will be removed if Labour win the election tomorrow.

If you intend to vote Tory, ask your self why you do not care that the rise in wages are the lowest since Victorian times and that living standards have plummeted, that your fellow citizens have to use food banks , and do not forget that many people who use food banks have jobs they simply do not get enough pay to afford to eat! Do you not care about the injustice of Tory welfare reforms which have seen the income and services for disabled people drastically reduced with 500 hundred people so far who have had their mobility vehicles seized from them.

Tory voters: Do you not care that the NHS is falling apart as a result of Tory cuts.

Are the British people so selfish that they no longer care for the underdog or anyone and live only to feather their own nests or are they so misguided that they really believe life will now improve for us all in this the land of multimillionaires and billionaires who have accrued more wealth while the rest of us who have suffered under austerity.

Do you Conservative supporters think it is right that the UK now has more billionaires in residence than anywhere else on Earth while people rely on food banks,even starve to death,  struggle with a low income and in some cases no income as a result of benefit sanctions? Tory voters does it not bother you that the government reduce taxes, even ignores taxes for big corporations, while people are sleeping on the streets, while many live in poverty including  3.7 million children with no hope, no future?

For a better future for us all June 8th Vote Labour

 

 

 

Reasons Not to Vote Tory

 

If you are in any doubt about who to vote for on June 8th please consider the following reasons why you should not vote for a conservative candidate

Cuts to The NHS

“Cast your vote wisely if you wish our public health service to have any kind of future..” 
John Lister

The NHS has been underfunded since the Tories came into power in 2010. Since that time there have been numerous cuts:

Beds cut by 15,000 beds are cut in six years        – reduction in beds is the equivalent to closing 24 hospitals, amounting to a 10 per cent fall in NHS beds at a time when the health service is under unprecedented pressure and needs them the most.

mental health nursing staff cut by nearly 6,000  There are now 6000 fewer mental health nurses than in 2010 despite Theresa May’s claim the Tories will improve mental health care.

Mental Health beds cut by 44% since 2000, finds BMA

Walk in centres cut by 33 percent

It was Tory cuts to the NHS that left it vulnerable  to hackers  NHS computer support ‘cut one year ago’ by Tories – despite hack warnings

Cuts to funding have resulted in  3.9 million people on NHS waiting lists

One in four patients have to wait a week or more to see their GP      –  http://www.labour.org.uk/index.php/nhs-campaign . 

Cuts to nurses pay
Nurses will see their pay ‘cut by 12% over a decade’
Impact of wage restraints could lead to staffing shortfall of 42,000, says Health Foundation report:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/apr/29/nhs-nurses-pay-cut-12-per-cent-over-decade

You can read about the detrimental affect to the NHS as a result of Tory polices in a previous entry:
https://rantingsfromavirtualsoapbox.wordpress.com/2017/05/01/dont-vote-tory-if-you-value-our-nhs/

Tories Obliterating the NHS behind the scenes
https://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-2ec8-Tories-obliterating-the-NHS-behind-the-scenes#.WR0nDGjytPY

 

Child Poverty

 Child poverty in UK at highest level since 2010, official figures show

About 30% of Britain’s children are now classified as poor, of whom two-thirds are from working families

 

Education

Huge increase in tuition fees, fees set to rise further  as high as £11,697 by 2025 per year

Cuts to school funding     – poorer urban areas are hit harder than Tory shires

“Schools in England will face real-terms funding cuts for years to come if the Conservatives win the general election, according to analyses by two thinktanks. The figures show year-on-year falls over the coming parliamentary term despite a Conservative manifesto promise to redirect £1bn in additional funding to state schools by slashing free school meals for infants.”
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/may/26/england-schools-face-years-funding-cuts-tories-win-election-ifs

 

Benefit cuts to sick and disabled people

£30-a-week cuts to the sick and disabled     – Disabled people won’t be able to pay for essential items because of government cuts to benefits

Denying disability benefit to 165,000 people   – while slashing inheritance tax for the rich

Anger over Tory cuts to disability benefit payments
http://www.thenational.scot/news/15121428.Anger_over_Tory_cuts_to_disability_benefit_payments/?ref=rl&lp=3

Disabled students fear for their future as independence payments cut
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/apr/04/disabled-students-future-independence-payments-cut-benefits

500 disabled people loose adapted vehicles       –   900 cars are now being seized every week

The Benefit cap Over 200,000 children hit by benefit cap  

500,000 low income households at risk for poverty by lower benefit  cap

The Bedroom Tax

The bedroom tax has affected  420,000 disabled  people, each of whom lost an average of £728 per year.Note for many disabled people a “spare” room is used for medical equipment, or for carers to sleep in.

Tory policies will deny homes to hundreds of thousands of pensioners and disabled people, warn housing chiefs
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tory-housing-policy-disabled-pensioners-crisis-warning-a7720721.html

Read what life is like for three disabled people in Tory UK
Lying on the floor for hours awaiting help, unable to afford both incontinence pants and food … This is the reality of disability cuts for Stephen, Alex and Elli
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/may/30/disabled-readers-austerity-disability-cuts

Theresa May refuses to rule out more cuts to disability benefits
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/theresa-refuses-rule-out-more-10395147

Benefit Sanctions

More than 40,000 disabled people have had their benefits docked since 2012

The Government have issued over 71,000 sanctions to disabled people on Employment Support Allowance

“shocking to see that the Government have issued over 71,000 sanctions to disabled people on Employment Support Allowance that have been sanctioned since the Tories ramped up the regime in 2012”.

“This problem only seems to be getting increasingly worse, with nearly twice as many people being sanctioned on a monthly basis now than at the start of this year,”
Debbie Abrahams, the shadow Work and Pensions Secretary

Read in previous post concerning the disastrous affects of Tory Benefit cuts:

Stop Punitive Tory Welfare Cuts:Vote Labour
https://rantingsfromavirtualsoapbox.wordpress.com/2017/06/03/stop-tory-punitive-welfare-cuts-vote-labour/

 

Return of fox hunting and badger culling

A Vote For The Tories is a Vote For Fox Hunting And Badger Culling (Massacre) June 8th Vote Labour!

If the Tories gain power in addition to all the above, they will eventually try to repeal the fox-hunting ban and will most certainly continue their massacre of helpless badgers referred to as culling.

 

Legal Aid Cuts

Legal aid cuts creating two-tier justice system, says Amnesty

https://www.theguardian.com/law/2016/oct/11/legal-aid-cuts-two-tier-system-amnesty-international-law-justice

 

Zero Hours contracts

Record 910,000 UK workers on zero-hours contracts

Labour party pledges to outlaw all zero-hours contracts

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/apr/29/election-labour-mcdonnell-corbyn-zero-hours-economy

Unions say Tories’ zero-hours workers’ review doesn’t go far enough

Review of contracts and gig economy expected to argue that new rules are needed but unions say proposals are weak
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/may/23/fixed-zero-hours-contracts-insecure-work-gig-economy-review

 

Food Banks

Report reveals scale of food bank use in the UK

Project by Independent Food Aid Network finds at least 2,000 food banks giving out parcels, with demand continuing to grow

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/may/29/report-reveals-scale-of-food-bank-use-in-the-uk-ifan

Shocking rise in the number of food banks
http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/15324027.Shocking_rise_in_the_number_of_food_banks/

 

Housing benefit stopped for 18 to 21 year olds

Housing Benefit For 18-21 Year-Olds Axed Under New Rule Slipped Out By Department For Work And Pensions
“Old enough to fight for their country, but not to get housing help”
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/housing-benefit-axed-18-21-year-olds-dwp-damian-green_uk_58b99db8e4b0d2821b4dcc6e

 

The article below list other disastrous Tory Polices which you should consider before voting on June 8th such as: Scrapping the human rights bill; Snooping on all your texts, e-mails and browsing records: Crackdown on unions 

Read all 29 reasons why you should not vote Tory

Why should I not vote Conservative? 29 nasty policies you shouldn’t forget in the 2017 general election

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/should-not-vote-conservative-29-10303180

 

The UK has a military budget of  £46 Billion but apparently under the present conservative government there is  not enough money to adequately fund the NHS and Social Services: Cuts to benefits including those for disabled people,who people have experienced vicious cuts in benefits and services and Social services including neighbourhood services . Also cuts to school budgets of 3billion  a small amount compared to the UK’s military budget.

For the sake of us all including wildlife and the environment Vote Labour