I am a retired academic, with an MA & PhD in Social Policy & Administration from the Universities of York & Kent respectively. I am disabled, & am deeply concerned about human, gay and disability rights, the climate emergency and the biodiversity crisis. I was politically homeless, but now favour the Green Party. I like films, classical music, jazz & reading.
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2026-06-11T14:05:06Z Event JSON
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Last Notes npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber I'm all in favour of juvenile offenders receiving non-custodial sentences, as a rule, & think there are far too many youngsters in #jail - but a £26 fine for #rape is absurd & obscene. How can THAT comply with Sentencing Council guidelines? npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber Many of you will have noted the #DDOS #attack on #Mastodon, which I was affected by today. I don't know who was responsible, [@FediTips](https://social.growyourown.services/@FediTips ), but they're a bunch of &*^% (censored), & they can cease & desist. I strongly suspect they're motivated by right-wing, or far right-wing, #politics, & paid for #dark #money. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://theconversation.com/who-profits-from-war-with-iran-understanding-that-will-be-key-to-resolving-the-conflict-277889. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/03/06/trump-orwell-hypocrisy-democracy-fascism-imperialism-multilateralism/. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.dw.com/en/palestinian-journalists-tortured-in-israeli-prisons-report/a-76027348. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/feb/18/extinction-rebellion-fbi-trump-environment. First it was #PalestineAction; now it's @npub1ymn…y40u, according to Donald #Trump & his #FBI. The definition of #terrorism is VERY flexible these days, @npub1san…jgxu! But the FBI should note that the High Court in #London has rule the proscription of #Palestine Action to be ILLEGAL, precisely because it violated their rights to freedoms of expression & assembly (https://theconversation.com/palestine-action-why-the-high-court-ruled-against-the-government-and-what-it-means-for-the-future-of-protest-275976). Will the US courts be that different, @npub1z6y…qah3? npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber Even hypocrites can speak the truth, & - in this case - he is, which doesn't excuse his hypocrisy. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jan/20/biodiversity-collapse-threatens-uk-security-intelligence-chiefs-warn; https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/696e0eae719d837d69afc7de/National_security_assessment_-_global_biodiversity_loss__ecosystem_collapse_and_national_security.pdf; https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/03/climate-crisis-on-track-to-destroy-capitalism-warns-allianz-insurer. I am so glad to see all these people agreeing with me, @npub1san…jgxu. I am far from being glad about all the suffering & death that will be entailed by our continued burning of #fossilfuels & #destruction & #pollution of the natural world. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.dw.com/en/greenland-updates-macron-proposes-g7-summit-with-russia/live-75575266. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://theconversation.com/how-george-orwells-nineteen-eighty-four-predicted-the-global-power-shifts-happening-now-273122. We must not allow Messrs #Trump, #Putin & #XiJinPing to turn Orwell's fictional "1984" into a nightmarish dystopian reality in 2026. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/jan/15/nhs-limiting-number-of-adhd-assessments-despite-soaring-demand. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jan/15/glyphosate-cancer-linked-pesticide-uk-playgrounds. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/mcfadden-brags-about-cutting-disability-benefits-just-as-his-own-strategy-warns-of-deep-material-poverty/. McFadden BOASTING about cutting #disability #benefits, with more cuts to come - at the same time as the #DWP admits that single-parent #families, & families where at least one person is #disabled, are "particularly overrepresented in deep material #poverty", @npub12pw…zvxn, @npub1s2u…42jv. #Labour seem Hell-bent on making the #Tories look like nice, cuddly people! npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/12/09/pfas-forever-chemicals-infant-deaths/. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/12/08/trump-national-security-strategy-culture-war/. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://theconversation.com/the-world-is-facing-a-cancer-crisis-thats-hitting-the-most-vulnerable-hardest-270862; https://theconversation.com/fine-particle-air-pollution-is-a-public-health-emergency-hiding-in-plain-sight-106030. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.dw.com/en/us-halts-immigration-processing-for-19-nations/a-74993456. An all-too-typical #Trump move, alas. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://theconversation.com/does-bbc-civilisations-get-its-four-stories-of-collapse-correct-experts-weigh-in-270114. How the #BBC gets it mostly wrong, again, it seems. I shan't be watching. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://theconversation.com/people-with-dyspraxia-are-at-high-risk-of-falling-and-its-too-often-overlooked-256134. Don't I know it! I have been feeling very wobbly after my recent fall in a street near my home, & have very nearly fallen several times since in my home. Add a lesion on my left parietal lobe (the cause of my #epilepsy) to my age & the #dyspraxia, & you have the perfect combination, given that the left parietal lobe deals with one's sense of balance. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/12/01/venezuela-iraq-regime-change-trump/. Can anyone think of an example where it WASN'T disastrous - because, discounting the wartime examples of #Germany & #Japan, I can't, @npub12pw…zvxn. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/11/22/forever-chemicals-pesticides/. This is not the "Environmental Protection Agency" - under Donald #Trump, it's the #Environmental DESTRUCTION Agency & the #PublicHealth Destruction Agency, as well, @npub1san…jgxu. #PFAS in your #food & #water? Trump doesn't care! npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/starmer-asylum-reforms-labour-backlash-b2866872.html?lid=p8z7ern5sg3p&utm_medium=email&utm_source=braze&utm_campaign=Morning%20Headlines%20Newsletter%2018-11-2025&utm_term=IND_Headlines_Masterlist_CDP&empar=d05890695c3bf72b24c4cee29f3c758897f834bb104b9715c1c6f867c77393ae. "There are concerns that Ms Mahmood’s changes - which have been endorsed by the far-right activist Tommy Robinson, among others - go too far & will exacerbate divisions within communities." There you have it, @npub12pw…zvxn, @npub1s2u…42jv - a so-called "Labour" policy endorsed by Tommy Robinson! npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/dwp-refuses-to-rule-out-cuts-to-pip-next-year/. This is the very last thing #disabled people need, @npub12pw…zvxn, @npub1s2u…42jv. The Government-sponsored #disability #discrimination continues, & the disability #hatecrime will follow in its wake, stoked up by the right-wing #media & #socialmedia. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/new-official-figures-expose-how-politicians-and-media-have-repeatedly-lied-about-social-security-spending/; https://obr.uk/docs/dlm_uploads/OBR_Economic_and_fiscal_outlook_March_2025.pdf (Ch.5). Compare & contrast: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/nov/06/tesla-1tn-pay-package-elon-musk. #Musk, the first ever trillionaire, while #Labour, #Tory & #ReformUK #politicians here in the UK treat #disabled people like shit. Perhaps people will forgive me for being just a weeny bit depressed today, @npub12pw…zvxn, @npub1s2u…42jv. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/11/04/hektoria-glacier-retreat-record-antarctica/; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-025-01802-4 (abstract only). Very bad news for the potential rise in #sealevels, @npub1san…jgxu. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber I'm not sure about it being a "much bigger" factor. #Fiscal #policy does have an impact, & I'm inclined to believe it's greater than that of #monetary policy. It's also very clear that, in the absence of any intention to reverse #Brexit, #Labour will be imposing further #austerity on the most vulnerable members of our #society, which is the exact opposite of what the #LabourParty ought to be doing. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2025/oct/21/rachel-reeves-economy-starmer-labour-streeting-sentencing-bill-uk-politics-live-news-updates. Has the #Labour #Government of which #RachelReeves is a member any plans to reverse #Brexit? NO. They don't even intend to restore #freedom of #movement or allow #Britain to re-join the #SingleMarket or join #EFTA. So what is the point of this candour, @npub12pw…zvxn? They know what the #medicine is, but they have no intention of swallowing it! npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber I'm not saying their "idiots". As for "fiscal probity" - may Heaven spare us from it. They remind me of Messrs Gradgrind & Bounderby in Dickens' "Hard Times". We need to liberate governments from the mercy of the bond markets. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/oct/16/rachel-reeves-should-consider-welfare-cuts-in-budget-ifs-says. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), which apparently wants to inflict yet more #poverty, #misery, #suffering & #inequality on #benefits recipients in this country, all in the name of keeping the gilt #markets (& "bond vigilantes") happy, @npub12pw…zvxn, @npub1s2u…42jv, @npub1ecs…kh2u. "How to be a bunch of evil bastards in one easy lesson." See: https://ifs.org.uk/sites/default/files/2025-10/IFS-Green-Budget-the-Budget-and-bond-markets_0.pdf. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2025/10/08/rutgers-mark-bray-antifa/. If I were Professor Mark Bray, I wouldn't even think about returning to the #USA at any time in the future, because it's not a safe place for #free #enquiry. Academic #freedom isn't valued there, & nor is #freespeech, unless you agree 100% with Donald #Trump & the #Republicans. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/money/2025/oct/01/labour-considering-charging-workers-for-employment-tribunal-claims-sources-say. "The Party of the Workers" - HAH, @npub12pw…zvxn, @npub1s2u…42jv, @npub1ecs…kh2u!! For that read, "The Party of the Bosses." npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/zbmp3_v1. This is a preprint, but still worth reading, @npub12pw…zvxn. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/09/19/trump-administration-noem-venezuela-tps-supreme-court/. Pure, unadulterated #racism. What is the point of condemning the abuses of Nicolas #Maduro - &, indeed, seeking to arrest him on alleged #drug charges - but plan to deport Venezuelans resident in the #USA back to #Venezuela? npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/09/20/national-parks-climate-change-slavery-purge/. Yet another feeble & pathetic #Trump attempt to suppress the #truth! Calling it "improper partisan #ideology" doesn't make it anything other than the truth! npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/sep/11/tories-rightwing-junktanks-no-10-government-civil-servants. Thanks for this, [@georgemonbiot.bsky.social](https://bsky.brid.gy/r/https://bsky.app/profile/georgemonbiot.bsky.social ). "Like [Liz] Truss, & in the face of powerful evidence, the #Starmer administration believes #growth will be delivered by #deregulation - which happens to be a fundamental tenet of #neoliberalism." Your comments, @npub12pw…zvxn? npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/sep/04/israel-president-visit-london-talks-ministers-isaac-herzog. WHAT?! Well, let's make sure he gets a warm welcome... VERY warm. Too warm for his comfort, or that of his hosts, the wretched, #Israel & #genocide supporting UK #Government, @npub1zxn…0kqm! npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/08/27/gaza-journalists-killed-israel/. "According to a recent opinion poll, 76% of #Israeli #Jews agree to varying extents with the claim 'there are no #innocents in #Gaza'." What, no innocent #children - or #babies? Are they "fair game", too, @npub1zxn…0kqm? npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/money/2025/aug/27/higher-energy-bills-price-cap-rises. Alternative @npub13yw…wwpf headline: "UK #energy #poverty to increase," @npub12pw…zvxn, @npub1q2e…weuj. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2025/aug/24/ella-baron-on-gazas-man-made-famine-cartoon. Only too accurate, @npub1zxn…0kqm. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/aug/21/why-shabana-mahmoods-outlook-on-prisons-is-wrong. Not just wrong, but badly, catastrophically wrong, @npub12pw…zvxn, @npub1q2e…weuj, @npub1ecs…kh2u. The answer to #crime is NOT more #prisons, the answer to sexual offending is not #chemical #castration & PAVA spray is not the way to maintain order in juvenile prisons. #Texas is NO example for this country to follow in penal policy. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber Is the taking of #hostages & the killing of #Israeli #civilians anything other than #terrorism? I can understand - easily - why any #Palestinian in #Gaza might end up joining #Hamas, but the organisation is an extremist Islamist one, which (for example) has persecuted the #LGBTIQ community. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber #Hamas has got far, FAR less of a case than #PalestineAction. If any #organisation has engaged in #terrorism, & deserves to be called #terrorist, it is Hamas. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.dw.com/en/middle-east-israel-approves-west-bank-settlement-project/live-73697384. The #Netanyahu Government is determined to create a "Greater #Israel" & make a two-State solution impossible, @npub1zxn…0kqm. What will be the reaction from Global North governments? Muted at best, non-existent at worst. Meanwhile, the #genocide in #Gaza continues unabated. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/aug/16/spain-put-up-wealth-taxes-pandemic-billionaires-stayed. So much for the Laffer Curve, @npub12pw…zvxn! If #Spain can do it, why not the #UK? Why are our #politicians so in thrall to the 1%, or even the 0.1%? What right do the likes of Keir Starmer & Rachel Reeves have to call themselves "Centre Left" or "Labour"? npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/aug/14/gaza-starvation-deaths-unrwa-israel-middle-east-crisis-latest-updates-news. #Smotrich wants to make a State of #Palestine completely impossible, because he wants an ethnically pure, #Jewish one-State #GreaterIsrael, @npub1zxn…0kqm. He, & #Netanyahu, MUST be stopped! npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/12/gaza-antibiotic-resistant-disease. As if #Gaza didn't have enough problems already, @npub1zxn…0kqm. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber Actually, no it wasn't. The #legislation aimed at #climate #protesters came later, under the #Tories. (I refer to, e.g., the Public Order Act, 2023: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Order_Act_2023; https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/15/pdfs/ukpga_20230015_en.pdf.) The Terrorism Act, 2000, is being abused, not used, in its application to #PalestineAction - which cannot, in any meaningful sense of the word, be described as #terrorist. Clearly, the wording of the 2000 Act needs to be amended, so that it can't be abused. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber Yeah, as those 532 people arrested on Saturday by the #MetPolice in #London, protesting about the proscription of #PalestineAction as an allegedly #terrorist #organisation - half of whom were over 60 (https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/aug/10/police-arrest-hundreds-london-protest-over-palestine-action-ban) will have discovered. "Protest is #Terrorism; #Freedom is #Slavery; #War is #Peace; #Ignorance is #Strength." And, of course - we ALL love Big Brother! npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber They aren't stopping other #arms #exports to #Israel - & just how do they stop the #Israelis from using #German #weapons in #Gaza? This is just feeble #gesture #politics. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/ministers-comments-add-fuel-to-access-to-work-concerns/. "Comments by the #disability minister have fuelled concerns that the government is planning changes that will cut the amount of #workplace #support #disabled people can receive through the Access to Work scheme." So much for their concern for the disability #employment gap, @npub12pw…zvxn! npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.dw.com/en/israels-gaza-city-takeover-plan-draws-condemnation/live-73560904. All of this so-called "condemnation" is fatuous. Words are cheap - what is needed is ACTION, #action to STOP what #Israel is doing in #Gaza, & save #Palestinian lives, @npub1zxn…0kqm. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/aug/07/uks-surveillance-flights-over-gaza-raise-questions-on-help-for-israeli-military. Direct, & unambiguous, #evidence of UK #complicity in the #Israeli #genocide in #Gaza, @npub1zxn…0kqm. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://theconversation.com/israels-plans-for-a-full-occupation-of-gaza-would-pave-the-way-for-israeli-resettlement-262723. This is Netanyahu's plan, & would constitute a direct violation of Article 49 of the 4th Geneva Convention of 1949, which #Israel is already violating wholesale in the #WestBank. How much longer is this continuing breach of #international #law going to be allowed with total #impunity, @npub1zxn…0kqm, @npub1uqn…lhdy? npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/06/microsoft-israeli-military-palestinian-phone-calls-cloud. The #collaboration of the #Israeli #military & #Microsoft laid bare for all to see, as is the mass #surveillance of #Palestinians, @npub1zxn…0kqm. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/05/israels-assault-on-humanitarian-norms. Please NB - this letter is from two academics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, @npub1zxn…0kqm. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/aug/05/progress-by-samuel-miller-mcdonald-review-humanitys-greatest-myth. This is a book I think I want to get my hands on & read, pronto. The critic tries to dismiss him, but is talking balderdash. The only deterrent is the cover price of £22 for the hardback. Nevertheless, it sounds a worthwhile investment, [@breadandcircuses](https://climatejustice.social/@breadandcircuses ), @npub1san…jgxu. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/aug/05/lord-dannatt-urged-ministers-to-crack-down-on-palestine-action-at-request-of-us-firm. "A member of the House of Lords urged ministers to crack down on #Palestine Action at the request of a US defence company that employs him as an adviser. Richard Dannatt, a former head of the British army, wrote privately to 2 separate Home Office ministers asking them to address the 'threat' posed by the group after its #activists targeted a factory in 2022." So, this is how the decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a "terrorist" organisation was made, @npub1zxn…0kqm. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber We must do an Asquith & "Wait & see." Curious term, "gaslighting". People didn't say "candle-lighting" when gas was the main, or only, source of light, did they? Plus it was coal-gas - carbon monoxide - dangerous stuff! npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/aug/03/bank-of-england-interest-rates-cut-forecast-rising-unemployment-and-trump-tariffs. A drop in the cost of #borrowing will doubtless be welcome news for Rachel Reeves, @npub12pw…zvxn, & for #businesses as well - not such good news for savers, however, which includes us poor #pensioners. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/aug/02/the-us-complicit-genocide-israel-gaza. Indeed it is. #Trump is full-on in his #support for #Netanyahu, & for his use of #starvation in #Gaza. The #USA is absolutely complicit, & has been since #Biden, in the #genocide, #crimes against #humanity & #warcrimes being committed by #Israel against the #Palestinians in both Gaza & the #WestBank, @npub1zxn…0kqm. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/08/02/radioactive-wasps-south-carolina-nuclear-site/. Only fools will be surprised by this, [@breadandcircuses](https://climatejustice.social/@breadandcircuses ), @npub1san…jgxu. Where there is #nuclear #waste, there will be #radioactive #contamination, in this case 10 times the permitted level. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/mps-ask-government-key-questions-on-impact-of-universal-credit-cuts-bill-on-poverty-and-safety/. Why weren't these MPs asking these questions BEFORE this wretched Bill was passed - & not AFTER it, @npub12pw…zvxn, @npub1q2e…weuj? Why did so many "Labour" MPs just trundle through the "Aye" lobby like a load of mindless zombies because the Whips told them to? Why should ANY #disabled person vote for their damned Party in 2029? npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/jul/29/uk-to-recognise-state-of-palestine-in-september-unless-israel-holds-to-a-ceasefire; https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2025/jul/30/keir-starmer-uk-palestine-statehood-gaza-uk-politics-latest-updates-news. #Israel will not "commit to a two-state solution", because #Netanyahu & his political allies believe in a one-state, Jews-only, solution, where all #Palestinians have been removed from #Palestine permanently - & are either dead or exiled. That is THEIR version of the "Final Solution"! As to Starmer's promise to recognise a State of Palestine - I'll believe it when it happens, & not one nanosecond before, @npub1zxn…0kqm. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jul/28/uk-debt-doom-loop-hedge-fund-chief-ray-dalio-tax-rises. We've heard all this "Laffer Curve" nonsense before, @npub12pw…zvxn. It's strange that the rich haven't fled high tax economies like those in Scandinavia. Wealthy #Democrats in the #USA don't want their Trump-supplied tax cut, would prefer higher spending on public services & less public sector borrowing. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/28/israel-committing-genocide-in-gaza-say-israel-based-human-rights-groups. "Two leading #humanrights organisations based in #Israel, B’Tselem & Physicians for Human Rights, say Israel is committing #genocide against #Palestinians in #Gaza & the country’s western allies have a legal & moral duty to stop it." Indeed they do, @npub1zxn…0kqm - a duty they are shirking. Indeed, they are aiding & abetting the genocide, rather than doing anything to prevent it. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/07/20/west-bank-israeli-settlers-violence/. Most of the citizens of the #Palestinian village of Al-Mazra’a Al-Sharqiya in the West Bank have US nationality, but that hasn't stopped murderous #Israeli settlers from killing them, @npub1zxn…0kqm. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber Do you not care about #XiJinping's treatment of the #Uyghurs, which amounts to #genocide? Or his attempt to stamp out Tibetan culture? I don't know what you mean by "political" growth, although I don't dispute China's #economic growth. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber What, including #Trump & #Putin, not to mention #XiJinping & Kim Jon-Un? npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/jul/20/yvette-cooper-to-create-new-offence-to-cover-non-terrorist-planning-of-attacks. Given that #YvetteCooper thinks #terrorism covers throwing red paint at RAF jets, God alone knows what this will entail - one dreads to think, @npub12pw…zvxn, @npub1q2e…weuj! npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/20/two-uk-pro-palestine-organisations-have-bank-accounts-frozen-gmfp-psc. This is yet more #evidence of #freedom to #protest, freedom of #thought, #speech & #expression being suppressed in this supposedly "free" country, especially insofar as it relates to #Palestine, @npub1zxn…0kqm. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/07/18/israel-denies-visas-un-officials/. This is absolutely typical of the #Netanyahu regime, @npub1zxn…0kqm. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/jul/19/palestine-action-protests-uk-london-arrests; https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/19/gaza-israel-palestinians-killed-idf-fires-on-crowds; https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/19/killing-of-young-siblings-at-gaza-water-point-shows-seeking-lifes-essentials-now-a-deadly-peril; https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/jul/19/uk-government-faces-legal-action-over-not-evacuating-critically-ill-children-from-gaza. The UK authorities arrest 100 people across the country in protests relating to #Palestine Action, that supposedly "terrorist" organisation, @npub1zxn…0kqm, at the same time at the REAL #terrorists murder 32 #Palestinians in #Gaza! npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jul/18/two-uk-charities-donate-millions-israeli-settlement-occupied-west-bank. This is absolutely appalling & outrageous, @npub1zxn…0kqm. The Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under #international #law - they shouldn't be there - so for these "charities", the Kasner Charitable Trust & UK Toremet, to donate £5.7 million to the Bnei Akiva Yeshiva high school in Susya, one of these settlements, is completely wrong, & the Charity Commission shouldn't have allowed the donation. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/jul/18/syria-druze-sweida-israel-gaza-war-latest-news-updates-middle-east. The #genocide in #Gaza continues unabated, @npub1zxn…0kqm - & the Global North continues to sit idly by, allowing it to happen, or actively supporting it, with #money & #weapons. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/jul/16/reform-led-durham-county-council-scraps-climate-emergency-declaration. Vote #ReformUK - vote #climatechange denial, @npub1knk…jmjh! Those who voted for that wretched Party must own the #consequences of their #actions. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/17/european-missile-group-mbda-selling-parts-for-bombs-that-have-killed-children-in-gaza. SHAME on them! See also: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/03/global-firms-profiting-israel-genocide-gaza-united-nations-rapporteur. Read the report carefully - it is a thorough piece of investigative journalism. MBDA's UK headquarters are at: MBDA UK Ltd, Six Hills Way, Stevenage Herts. SG1 2DA, @npub1zxn…0kqm. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/07/13/israel-gaza-idf-children-killed/. Yeah, some "error". NO, this was a deliberate act of cold-blooded murder of #children, whose lives were deemed worthless by #Israeli #soldiers, because they were #Palestinian children, @npub1zxn…0kqm. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jul/14/our-medecins-sans-frontieres-staff-are-being-killed-in-gaza-why-are-uk-ministers-enabling-that. Why indeed - at the same time as banning a group protesting at the #genocide in #Gaza, @npub1zxn…0kqm, & labelling THEM terrorists, when the REAL terrorists are the people doing the killing? npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/13/dozens-of-palestinians-killed-in-latest-israeli-attacks-near-food-aid-distribution-sites-medics-and-witnesses-say. The #genocide in #Gaza continues - but what are Western governments doing to stop it? Nothing. They are continuing to supply #Israel with #weapons, money & political support, to their shame, @npub1zxn…0kqm. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/12/arrests-for-second-week-running-at-london-event-that-references-palestine-action. I can't announce my support for #Palestine Action on this website, because doing so would be a criminal act in the UK, & would be supporting #terrorism, according to the UK Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper. Have they blown people up, or shot people? No. What have they done? Thrown red paint at RAF jets. That is the sort of act that constitutes "terrorism" in the UK, now, @npub1zxn…0kqm. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/11/francesca-albanese-un-gaza-investigator-us-sanctions-guilt. Francesca Albanese is absolutely right, @npub1zxn…0kqm - not that the US will ever admit its guilt. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://theconversation.com/plans-to-relocate-gazans-to-a-humanitarian-city-look-like-a-crime-against-humanity-international-law-expert-260727. "Look like"? They ARE a #crime against #humanity, @npub1zxn…0kqm! npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/urgent-letter-from-un-to-labour-government-warns-we-think-your-cuts-continue-tory-attack-on-disability-rights/. The "Labour" cuts DO continue the Tory attack on #disability #rights in this country, & Starmer, Reeves & Kendall should be ashamed of themselves - or they would be, if any of them possessed consciences. Ditto, all those "Labour" MPs who voted for their wretched Bill, @npub12pw…zvxn, @npub1q2e…weuj. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber We must agree to differ, I think. I fear that academics like Elliott are giving unwitting aid & comfort to those who WOULD take us out of the ECHR. They don't need very much excuse, & will take whatever intellectual cover they're provided with. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/09/israel-gaza-war-un-sanctions. Why am I SO not surprised by this, @npub1zxn…0kqm? The #Trump regime, in cahoots with #Netanyahu, doesn't like the #UN exposing the #genocide #Israel is perpetrating in #Gaza. Fascists like to stick together, especially when it comes to ensuring impunity for their #crimes. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber I don't agree with leaving the ECHR, full stop, not even with "robust #humanrights protection embedded in a UK constitution", but there is no sign of that - rather, the reverse. The HRA & the ECHR may not be perfect, but they are the best way we have of protecting human rights at the moment, & we also have the @npub1vn0…cnhn of the @npub109v…4q73. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber He was arguing for a scrapping of the HRA & replacing it with a "Bill of Rights", similar to the one proposed by Dominic Raab, as I read him, a proposal rightly rejected. I have no idea what you mean by the role of the ECHR being "negotiated". If you mean a restriction of the right of appeal to it, I would be wholly opposed. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber I don't agree with ANY of this - in fact, I'm absolutely appalled by it. Do you really want the UK to withdraw from the ECtHR & the ECHR (which would entail expulsion from the @npub109v…4q73) & be like pariah States like #Russia & #Belarus? Surely not! Ask @npub1uqn…lhdy what he thinks of it, or @npub1st9…2twj what they do. It's BS, & nasty BS, at that! npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber Really? The supposed "U-turn" on #disability #benefits is just a tactical retreat until Timms delivers his Review, & the cut to the health element of UC is going ahead. Furthermore, the Govt. plan to cut the legal entitlement of #disabled #children to #SEND #education. Starmer has reiterated his opposition to a #wealth tax. There's plenty of money for nuclear warheads, though! npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://theconversation.com/how-donald-trumps-economic-policies-including-uncertainty-around-tariffs-are-damaging-the-us-economy-259809. Trump is a menace to the US & global #economy - a capitalist who may well spell the doom of #capitalism. How richly ironic that is, @npub12pw…zvxn! What is a far worse menace is the enormous income & wealth #inequality global capitalism entails - both between countries & individuals. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/06/israeli-strikes-gaza-ceasefire-talks-critical-point-netanyahu. The Israeli Government expect Hamas to carry on talking about a #ceasefire as the IDF continues its campaign of #genocide in #Gaza, @npub1zxn…0kqm. "According to the health ministry in Gaza, 80 people were killed & 304 wounded in Israeli attacks there over the last 24 hours." npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2025/jul/07/children-ehcps-support-cuts-special-educational-needs-reform-nigel-farage-keir-starmer-20th-anniversary-july-7-attacks-uk-politics-live-news. This is absolutely shameful & disgusting - & constitutes yet ANOTHER attack by this "Labour" Government on #disabled people, @npub12pw…zvxn, @npub1q2e…weuj, @npub1pq4…2mle, @npub1ecs…kh2u - & specifically, on disabled #children. It is totally unacceptable, coming on top of the cut to #disability #benefits. What next - compulsory sterilisation? An Aktion-T4 programme? How they must HATE us! npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber I don't care if what I say in reply to you is now a criminal offence in the UK, but #protest is NOT #terrorism, & #PalestineAction is NOT a #terrorist organisation, no matter what Yvette Cooper says. To call it one is an abuse of the English language of Orwellian proportions. We are, it seems, living in "1984". The UK isn't a #democracy, & nor does it respect #humanrights. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/oct/15/israel-united-nations. Agreed, 100%, @npub1zxn…0kqm! npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/jul/04/gary-lineker-bbc-should-hold-head-shame-gaza-film. Gary Lineker is absolutely right, @npub1zxn…0kqm. (Am I a "terrorist" for saying so? Is he?) npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/four-disabled-labour-mps-stand-up-to-government-over-cuts-to-disability-benefits/. If Marsha de Cordova, Marie Tidball, Emma Lewell & Marie Rimmer all voted against the Bill, why did Vicky Foxcroft vote for it, just because of the last-minute concession - which wasn't enough, for it still leaves the reduction in the health element of UC in the Bill, @npub12pw…zvxn, @npub1q2e…weuj? She is putting loyalty to Party & Government ahead of loyalty to #disabled people - when she IS disabled, & that is inexcusable! npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber The removal of the 4 points criterion for PIP is only temporary. After the Timms Review (pending) it will have to be re-introduced if "Labour" are to cut #disability #benefits by £1 billion p.a. between now & 2030. Meanwhile, they are pressing ahead with the cut to the health-related element of UC. Working age adult benefits remain stable at 5% of GDP - so why the "need" for any cuts? npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jul/01/britain-musician-gaza-glastonbury. "How morally lost is a society in which a chant against a genocidal foreign army provokes a political & media firestorm, but the intentionally starved, unarmed human beings being mowed down on the orders of the IDF high command do not?" We may well ask, @npub1zxn…0kqm. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber It is NOT "antisemitic" to oppose #Israeli #genocide, nor is it antisemitic to oppose Zionism. npub18md3d47fha9luyl5dvcu2xj89pq9fkvldayx9ktvj20c83cg9sssu0qnq3 Richard Michael Blaber https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/01/aftermath-israeli-missile-strike-gaza-al-baqa-cafe-witness-accounts. "Witnesses have described the bloody aftermath of an Israeli strike on a crowded seaside café in Gaza, which left at least 24 dead & many more injured on Tuesday... Among those killed, who included many women, children & elderly people, was a Palestinian photojournalist, Ismail Abu Hatab, & an artist, Frans al-Salmi, who had exhibited internationally." THIS was #terrorism - not throwing paint at RAF jets, @npub1zxn…0kqm!
