British public sector workers strike over "poverty pay"!

Hundreds of thousands of public sector workers including teachers, council workers and firefighters staged a 24-hour pay strike on Thursday in a stoppage that has prompted Prime Minister David Cameron to pledge a crackdown on union powers.

Protesters marched through the streets of many of Britain's main cities in one of the biggest co-ordinated labour stoppages for three years.

Denouncing what they called "poverty pay," they demanded an end to restrictions on wage rises that have been imposed by the government over the past four years in an effort to help reduce Britain's huge budget deficit.

In London, demonstrators marched towards Trafalgar Square at midday, chanting "Low pay, no way, no slave labour" to the beat of a drum. A giant pair of inflatable scissors, carried by members of the National Union of Teachers (NUT), read "Education cuts never heal."

Firefighter Simon Amos, 47, marched wearing his uniform behind a flashing fire engine parading members of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU). "The government are making us pay more for our pension for it to be worth the same, and making us work longer," he said.

The biggest public sector union involved, Unison, said early reports showed the strike had lead to 3,225 school closures with more than 1,000 others partially closed.

Refuse collectors, school support staff, cleaners, street sweepers, care workers, nursery assistants and social workers were joining the strike, it added.

Hot spots, it said, included the North East, Wales and East Midlands where most council offices had closed, while more than 60 picket lines have closed most services in Newcastle.

"It is a massive decision by local government and school support workers to sacrifice a day’s pay by going on strike, but today they are saying enough is enough," said Unison General Secretary, Dave Prentis in a statement.

HARD TIMES:

Britain's coalition government has enforced a policy of pay restraint for public sector workers since coming to power in 2010, imposing a pay freeze until 2012 and then a one percent pay rise cap, resulting in a fall in income in real terms.

The Cabinet Office played down the impact of the strike, saying that most schools in England and Wales were open and that fire services were operating throughout the country.

On Wednesday, Cameron told parliament he planned to limit unions' powers to call strikes.

"How can it possibly be right for our children’s education to be disrupted by trade unions acting in this way" he said.

Tough new laws would be proposed in the Conservative manifesto for next year's general election, he added.

These would include the introduction of a minimum threshold in the number of union members who need to take part in a strike ballot for it to be legal.

The manifesto could also back the introduction of a time limit on how long a vote in favour of industrial action would remain valid.

The NUT mandate for Thursday's strike, for example, came from a 2012 strike ballot based on a turnout of just 27 percent, Cameron said.

The issue of minimum voting thresholds last arose three months ago when a strike by London Underground train drivers caused huge disruption in the capital, prompting Mayor Boris Johnson to demand that at least half of a union's members should vote in favour for a strike to go ahead.

Source: Reuters

Four women arrested for protesting against rape!

An enduring feature of Burma is the authorities’ willingness to arrest people for protesting a crime that the authorities would rather keep to themselves. The latest example is four women in remote Chin State who were arrested in late June for arranging protests urging punishment of a Burmese soldier arrested for the alleged attempted rape of a 55-year-old woman. 

The Chin women organized two demonstrations of more than 600 women in Razua and Matupi towns, and were charged under section 18 of the deeply flawed Peaceful Procession Law. 

It was gathered that the military has long frowned on the citizenry calling for transparent justice, particularly in a case they’d rather sweep under the rug.

Since 2002 there have been numerous credible reports by women’s rights groups from Burma detailing impunity for widespread sexual violence allegedly committed by Burma’s armed forces, or Tatmadaw. The repugnant practice of rape in war has been a widespread feature of Burmese army counterinsurgency operations in recent conflict in Kachin State, and in military cantonment zones around civilian settlements throughout Burma for years.

According to reports, the Burmese government recently agreed to sign on to a British government initiative to end sexual violence in conflict, for which there was a major global summit in late June.  But the signature so far has meant little, as the military continues to deny its troops perpetrate rape in war. One positive admission has been the government’s recent reporting of prosecuting eight cases of sexual violence in its response to the annual report of the United Nations Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur, but this just touches at the problem.

International optimising over Burma's reforms is declining just as interest in engaging the Tatmadaw is increasing, as evidenced by the recent visit to Burma by a senior US military commander, who called on the military to improve its human rights record. Donor governments should be looking for ways to support local actors committed to ending sexual violence in Burma, starting with women’s rights groups in Chin State, Kachin State, and other conflict areas in the country.  Ultimately, however, a change of mindset will be needed in the military, which is still largely living in denial over the scale of atrocities its troops commit.

Governments and multinational bodies have an immediate role to play, calling for the release of the four women protesters in Chin State and pressing the government to punish rape, not the people who protest it.

Source: Human Rights Watch

NASA's SDO Spots a Summer Solar Flare!

This picture from NASA’s SDO shows a mid-level flare erupted on the left side of the sun on July 8, 2014.


This image from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory highlights light of 131 Angstroms, which highlights the hot temperature of solar material in a flare and which is typically colorized in teal.

Gaza attack- U.K Prime Minister reiterates support for Israel!

Following series of rocket attacks launched by Israeli and Palestinian military over the past couple of days, dozens have reportedly been wounded while the number of casualties continues to rise.



With Aljazeera reporting the situation as: "The Palestinian Ministry of Health on Wednesday said another 465 people had been wounded since Israel launched its campaign in Gaza this week, which it said targeted Palestinians firing rockets into its territory. 

The Israeli authorities say more than 200 rockets have been fired into Israel from Gaza since Monday, with some reaching as far as Tel Aviv". 

The United kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron today placed a call across to his Israeli counterpart, in which he condemned the attacks and underlined Israel's right to defend itself.

The message below:

"The Prime Minister spoke to Prime Minister Netanyahu earlier this evening about the situation in Israel. The Prime Minister strongly condemned the appalling attacks being carried out by Hamas against Israeli civilians".

"The Prime Minister reiterated the UK’s staunch support for Israel in the face of such attacks, and underlined Israel’s right to defend itself from them". He said.

Roving Informant says.....From all indications, it seems this situation is turning into some sort of "armory strength" show-off. 

We call for a peaceful resolution of this avoidable crisis, because people are dying. Like the saying goes "two wrongs can not make a right".

Why so many kids can’t sit still in school today!

I found this article on the internet and thought it wise to share with you all, peharps after reading this, parents will mellow down on trying to make robots or proper 'ajebota' out of their kids, by not allowing them play outside for longer periods.... as a matter of fact, it aids balance in a child's mental development. 
Remember we did that, and dint turn out bad after all.'wink'.


Please read:

A perfect stranger pours her heart out to me over the phone. She complains that her 6-year-old son is unable to sit still in the classroom. The school wants to test him for ADHD (attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder).This sounds familiar, I think to myself. As a pediatric occupational therapist, I’ve noticed that this is a fairly common problem today.

The mother goes on to explain how her son comes home every day with a yellow smiley face. The rest of his class goes home with green smiley faces for good behavior. Every day this child is reminded that his behavior is unacceptable, simply because he can’t sit still for long periods of time.

The mother starts crying. “He is starting to say things like, ‘I hate myself’ and ‘I’m no good at anything.’” This young boy’s self-esteem is plummeting all because he needs to move more often.

Over the past decade, more and more children are being coded as having attention issues and possibly ADHD. A local elementary teacher tells me that at least eight of her twenty-two students have trouble paying attention on a good day. At the same time, children are expected to sit for longer periods of time. In fact, even kindergarteners are being asked to sit for thirty minutes during circle time at some schools.

The problem: children are constantly in an upright position these days. It is rare to find children rolling down hills, climbing trees, and spinning in circles just for fun. Merry-go-rounds and teeter-totters are a thing of the past. Recess times have shortened due to increasing educational demands, and children rarely play outdoors due to parental fears, liability issues, and the hectic schedules of modern-day society. Lets face it: Children are not nearly moving enough, and it is really starting to become a problem.

I recently observed a fifth grade classroom as a favor to a teacher. I quietly went in and took a seat towards the back of the classroom. The teacher was reading a book to the children and it was towards the end of the day. I’ve never seen anything like it. Kids were tilting back their chairs back at extreme angles, others were rocking their bodies back and forth, a few were chewing on the ends of their pencils, and one child was hitting a water bottle against her forehead in a rhythmic pattern.

This was not a special-needs classroom, but a typical classroom at a popular art-integrated charter school. My first thought was that the children might have been fidgeting because it was the end of the day and they were simply tired. Even though this may have been part of the problem, there was certainly another underlying reason.

We quickly learned after further testing, that most of the children in the classroom had poor core strength and balance. In fact, we tested a few other classrooms and found that when compared to children from the early 1980s, only one out of twelve children had normal strength and balance. Only one! Oh my goodness, I thought to myself. These children need to move!

Ironically, many children are walking around with an underdeveloped vestibular (balance) system today–due to restricted movement. In order to develop a strong balance system, children need to move their body in all directions, for hours at a time. Just like with exercising, they need to do this more than just once-a-week in order to reap the benefits. Therefore, having soccer practice once or twice a week is likely not enough movement for the child to develop a strong sensory system.

Children are going to class with bodies that are less prepared to learn than ever before. With sensory systems not quite working right, they are asked to sit and pay attention. Children naturally start fidgeting in order to get the movement their body so desperately needs and is not getting enough of to “turn their brain on.” What happens when the children start fidgeting? We ask them to sit still and pay attention; therefore, their brain goes back to “sleep.”

In order for children to learn, they need to be able to pay attention. In order to pay attention, we need to let them move.

written by Angela Hanscom on the Washington Post

I didn't grow up the popular girl- Wendy Williams talks on tortuous childhood!

With her 50th birthday coming up on July 18, talk show host Wendy Williams spoke to ABC's Dan Kloeffler on Tuesday about her new stand-up comedy show "Lipshtick" in Las Vegas.

The show hits Vegas on July 11 and is part of a bucket list Williams had before the big birthday, including doing karaoke for the first time, driving a monster truck and of course, stand-up comedy.

"I've always been told I was funny," she admitted. "So, I said, 'I would like to do an evening of stand up.'"

Her jokes will be "the Wendy no one has ever seen," said Williams, adding they will come from personal experience.

"I had a very tortured childhood," she said. "I was tortured, they fat shamed me ... So, I want to talk about growing up. I want to answer the big question about the boobs. People know they are breast implants, but a lot of people, I read and see, 'You've lost so much weight now, you need a breast reduction.' I will answer you straight and direct, if you are in Vegas."

Williams also will address gender in her jokes.

"People do think I was born a man," she said. "That is absolutely not [true]. I get it. I've got a strong face, a strong body, I'm 5'11. I wear wigs."

Williams added that in her opinion, "there's no worse way to insult a woman than by saying she looks like a man, but once a woman gets over that, there is no stronger woman."

After a celebrated radio career, Williams learned early on, when celebrities "invite you to stuff, don't go."

She said, for her personally, "it taints my 'Hot Topics,'" a segment where she gets to riff on celebrities.

"It also taints my celebrity culture," she said.

Of course, she will have guests on her show, but usually she likes to do her show in Manhattan and then go back to New Jersey "and mind my own damn business."

She added the celebrity life isn't tempting because, "I didn't grow up the popular girl or the popular cheerleader. I've never been to a prom, I didn't have a lot of boyfriends, so I'm used to be on this side of life."

So, now with a hit talk show, she's still the same Wendy and just wants to go home, not to celebrity events.

Prostitute Injected Google Exec With Heroin, Left Him to Die on Yacht!

More than seven months after a 51 year-old Silicon Valley executive was found dead on his yacht of an apparent overdose, Police said they have uncovered new video evidence that reveals he may have been murdered.

26 year-old Alix Tichelman, described by the Police as a high-end call girl, is believed to be the woman in the video injecting Forrest Hayes withsubstance suspected to be heroin during a date together in November 2013.

According to Santa Cruz Police, officers posed as a potential client and met up with Tichelman in a hotel on July 4 and arrested her.

She appeared in court today on manslaughter and drugs charges but did not enter a plea. Tichelman is being held on $1.5 million bail.

Initially it was thought that Hayes, who had worked at Apple and was employed by Google at the time of his death, died of an overdose on his yacht, "The Escape."

How Tichelman was uncovered:

The newly uncovered surveillance video shows a woman, who Santa Cruz police say is Tichelman, administering the drugs and never trying to help Hayes or to call authorities when it was clear something had gone terribly wrong, Deputy Chief Steve Clark said.

"She was so callous that in gathering her things, she was literally stepping over the body and at one point stepped over the body to grab a glass of wine and finish the glass of wine," Clark told KGO-TV.

Investigators took Tichelman's fingerprints from the wine glass, according to KGO-TV. 

An obituary posted in the Santa Cruz Sentinel describes Hayes as a husband and father to five children.

"More than anything else he enjoyed spending time with his family at home and on his boat," the obituary said. "His brilliant mind, contagious smile, and warm embrace will be missed and cherished in memories by his friends and family." The obituary read.