Robert McNamara: war criminal dies

We of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations acted according to what we thought were the principles and traditions of our country. But we were wrong. We were terribly wrong.

Former Defence Secretary, Robert McNamara, to Kennedy and Johnson has died aged 93 years. He will be remembered as the architect for the Vietnam War. Years later he had an attack of the mea culpa (see Oscar winning documentary, Fog of War).

McNamara’s Vietnam strategy killed millions of people, similar to war criminal Henry Kissinger. Kissinger, the imperialist enforcer, who intellectualises about the necessity of war mongering. Though I don’t think Kissinger has been plagued by a guilty conscience.

McNamara was maybe a complex flawed man riddled with guilt but he took his time in becoming public about his doubts and condemnation. And witnessing the repeating farce and tragedy of history, he opposed the Iraq War (“It’s just wrong what we’re doing. It’s morally wrong, it’s politically wrong, it’s economically wrong.”).

Though McNamara recanted he was still part of a war mongering cabal. I suspect that the likes of Kissinger, Blair, Thatcher, Bush (both senior and junior) will probably all die in their beds unpunished for their war crimes and global terrorism.

Justice doesn’t prevail.

What Sarah Palin will do next..?!?!

Sarah ‘little shop of horrors’ Palin has resigned as Alaska’s governor. I know this happened last Friday but I am still trying to get my head around her resignation speech, which, to sum up, is about ethics, dead fish and quotes from General MacArthur.

What is about about Republicans and their ability to speak total utter surreal nonsense…!

So farewell to the hockey mum Republican who relentlessly pushed the corporate interest (‘Drill’, ‘Drill’, ‘Drill’) while using the usual dog whistle politics of anti-choice, pro-gun creationism of the religious minority in the US.

I am waiting for the ‘Tina Fey’ treatment. And am still wondering if Palin ever got back to Katie Couric about what magazines and newspapers she read….

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/30/palin-a-journalism-major_n_130707.html

http://www.gov.state.ak.us/exec-column.php

But to misquote that fine Hollywood actor, ‘She’ll be back’…. Probably sometimes around 2012…

Gosh darnit!

Btw: The latest Vanity Fair has an article on Palin and McCain. Interesting read….

Oh, and if you are sad to see her go then you can get yourself a scantily-clad Palin action figure (with a scary inane grin). 

Hat-tip: Jim Jay

http://jimjay.blogspot.com/2009/07/ex-governor-palin.html

Now that’s what I don’t call vetting…

Well, it seems like the cop who attacked Ian Tomlinson had an outstanding disciplinary for ‘unnecessary force’. He took early retirement before the disciplinary convened. And when he rejoined the cops the disciplinary didn’t emerge during the vetting process.

Details of the past of the officer at the centre of the IPCC inquiry into Tomlinson’s death emerged yesterday. He had been on a disciplinary charge and facing a misconduct hearing earlier in his Met career.

 The charge related to an incident while he was on sick leave with a shoulder injury when the officer became involved in a road rage incident. It is understood he tried to arrest the other driver involved in the incident, who later complained that the officer had used unnecessary force.

 Before the discipline board convened, however, the officer took early retirement from the Met on medical grounds, and was awarded a medical pension.

Some years later he rejoined the Met as a civilian. He then applied to join Surrey police as an officer.

When he was vetted the unresolved disciplinary matter should have shown up but does not appear to have done so. The officer was recruited to Surrey police with no blot on his disciplinary record. He later applied for a transfer to the Met, which again did not reveal the unresolved disciplinary charge.

Anyway I assumed ‘unnecessary force’ etc. would be an essential part of the job description/ person spec. when it comes to getting a job in the TSG. No?

SSAC want your views on benefit sanctions

The Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) has launched a consultation on new regulations that include provision for benefit sanctions for those who refuse to participate in skills training.

The main claimant groups for the pilot will be -

• those aged 18 and over who have claimed JSA continuously for 6 months – and who are therefore in Stage 3 (the ‘Supported Job Search’ stage) of the Flexible New Deal regime within the pilot period; and
• others who are fast-tracked to stage 3 – including those who have claimed JSA for 22 of the previous 24 months; and those in certain disadvantaged groups – for example ex-offenders, refugees, drug and alcohol misusers, and those claiming JSA having failed the Work Capability Assessment Test - who may volunteer for early access to Stage 3.

Four types of training, which will be full-time or part-time, will be included in the pilot -

• literacy, English language for speakers of other languages and numeracy;
• employability skills;
• short job-focused training of up to 8 weeks; and
• other job related provision available through Further Education and other LSC providers, learndirect and DWP support contract provision which is longer-term in nature.

Sanctions will however be applied where a person, without good cause, does not attend a pre-entry interview; gives up a training place; refuses or fail to apply for or accept a place on training; neglects to avail themselves of a reasonable opportunity of a training place; or loses a training place due to misconduct.

Before the SSAC considers and reports on the proposals, it would like to hear from organisations and individuals who have views, especially in relation to the use and impact of benefit sanctions, and the role of mandatory training in supporting benefit claimants into work.

The deadline for submissions to SSAC is 3 August 2009.

So please please contact SSAC telling them what you think about sanctions, and what impact they will have on people. Now is the time to tell these people why sanctions won’t work in relation to mandatory training and whether that will ’support’ people back into work….

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/newsroom/press-releases/2009/july-2009/ssac-060709.shtml

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/jsa-skills-conditionality-consultation.pdf