Dannyno

Family allowances were introduced in 1945, so child benefit has now existed for c65 years. I expect fathers are still dying sometimes today, too. I'm sure not every single father absconds. I'm a father, and I haven't absconded. I'm also sure there was a certain amount of pre-war absconding as well. I'm not a Labour supporter, precisely because I *am* a socialist. Labour has been neo-liberal since Blair. And it's neo-liberal ideology, and its social effects, which has done most to "destroy" what we value about our country, certainly ever since Thatcher.

I like this image of Bob Crow "making" firefighters strike on bonfire night! The firefighters *voted* for strike action. And they did so because their employers tried to force through contractual changes by imposing new contracts (the dismissal and re-engagement tactic). Out of about 4400 votes, about 3500 voted in favour of strike action. On a near-80% turnout, union members voted for action by about 80%. Bob Crow isn't "making" the poor firefighters do anything. He's doing what he's told by his members.

Let's just remind ourselves of who works in the public sector. Sure, your middle class professionals. But then also: Cleaners, technicians, library workers, nurses, security staff, porters, catering staff (school and hospital meals, university and council catering), nursery workers, home carers, caretakers, grounds and maintenance staff, drivers, and so on. Where do you get the idea that all public sector workers are "white collar" from?

I see. So the billions pumped into the banks had nothing whatsoever to do with the current deficit, then? I'm baffled by the notion of demonstrating "for" anyone. The demo the other saturday was people demonstrating in defence of their own livelihoods, and in defence of the communities they live and work in. You don't demonstrate "for" anyone, you demonstrate in *solidarity*. When there have been instances of private sector workers taking action, public sector workers have usually supported them. I know I have. Well, maybe what happened to Sheffield Forgemasters is an example. I remember rallies taking place about that. Where were you?

There were a lot more than 9, as the pictures clearly show. Given it was a horrible day, cold and raining, the turnout was quite good.

Hallam's Adsetts Centre is open to the public. If you pay an annual subscription you can borrow books. It gets very busy during term time, though. Take a look at this for other information about libraries in the area: http://extra.shu.ac.uk/syall/ Entry for Adsetts, including opening hours for external users etc: http://extra.shu.ac.uk/syall/organisation/sheffhallcity.htm

That's not the full story either. She had suffered a stroke a couple of years ago. That's the "underlying health problems" they were talking about. Again, while true as far as it goes this not the whole story. Pregnant women certainly can take retroviral drugs - under medical supervision, obviously. What the NHS says is here: nhs.uk/Conditions/Pandemic-flu/Pages/QA.aspx They say that there are risks attached to retroviral use in pregnancy, but lower risks than those attached to influenza.

You know this "non white" thing, and the suggestion that it's a "more PC" phrase? It's really not, you know. It's probably worse, because it makes "white" the standard by which everyone else is judged. As far as I can see, this thread is dominated by the "anti-PC brigade" more than the "PC brigade". I looked at the thread title, which is "black guy outside cathedral", and thought, "what on earth is that about?" Then it turns out it's just someone asking about an apparent argument or altercation. So my point isn't a "PC" one, it's about being helpful when titling threads. If you want people to know what on earth you're going on about, why not say what you mean? So in this case, "argument outside cathedral" would have more accurately described the situation being asked about, then perhaps the first post could have said "saw someone kicking off outside the cathedral about x o'clock today - the guy was black, about so high, wearing [whatever he was wearing], the other guy was [whatever the other block was] anyone else see it?" It's probably not a racist title at all, it just picks out the wrong information. On the other hand, concentrating on the wrong information can push buttons that say "racist!" for many people, and you can understand why: there are those for whom the very presence of black or Asian people in Sheffield is a problem, and who draw attention to it irrelevantly all the time. Which *is* racist.

Why don't you pop into your bank and ask them?

Let's recap again for the benefit of people who react to headlines without reading the discussion. Omar Bakri Muhammed doesn't live in Britain, and isn't allowed to return to Britain. Omar Bakri Muhammed didn't say that Peppa Pig should be banned. Omar Bakri Muhammed is not leading a "campaign" to ban Peppa Pig. Nobody else is campaigning to ban Peppa Pig either. I did a bit of further research. It turns out that there is a new shopping centre in Sarajevo, BBI Centar. It is owned by Bosnia Bank International, which is an Islamic Bank (Bosnia is about 45 % Muslim and Sarajevo has a majority Muslim population). As far as I can tell, the Shopping Centre does apply some Islamic rules, so there is no gambling or alcohol. But I found websites (had to use google to translate them!) specifically denying the allegation that "Peppa Pig" had been banned. Bosnia has its own anti-Muslim tendency, you see, and it seems jokes have been circulating about this new shopping centre. This one just got picked up and more widely spread. Dan

Interestingly, the National Black Police Assocation is in fact open to all police without regard to skin colour. Take a look at their website: nationalbpa.com Let's look more closely at the Daily Star article. What's actually happened is that a Daily Star journalist has got Omar Bakri Muhammad's phone number, and gives him a call if he's stuck for a story. In this case, having picked up this story about Peppa Pig in one shopping centre in Sarajevo, the journalists rings up OBM and asks what he reckons. There's no campaign. OBM isn't in Britain. Peppa Pig probably isn't even really banned in Sarajevo. Dan