The Sign Of The Cross

Nothing needs to be said. Authored by Chris Hall

Well, planes anyways, and only then if you're white? Great cartoon. From the Daily Mirror . From now on, anyone arriving in Australia by boat without a visa will be transferred to PNG —this includes women and children. PNG officials will assess their claims on Manus Island,” Acting Australian High Commissioner Sonya Koppe said. Authored by Chris Hall Related articles PNG warns Rudd, Abbott over asylum issue Rudd needs PNG solution to work quickly Asylum-seekers 'tortured and raped at Australian detention centre' Sixteen boats arrive since new PNG deal Death toll from asylum boat sinking rises as Australia accuses people smugglers of lying about PNG policy 1267 boat people arrive since PNG deal

The other day I posted about the Archbishop of Canterbury's crusade against payday loan companies like Wonga and others. He received much praise from the media and even from that bloke at the head of the National Secular Society (least I think it was praise when I heard him doing a rent-a-quote on the radio). However it seems that someone has whispered in Justin Welby's ear that the dear old Church of England actually invested in the creation of Wonga . He must feel that he's had the rug pulled from under him. Oh dear! Does raise a question with me on church structure though. Should the church be dancing with mammon or set up in such a way that the church can give it a sound thrashing? For the future methinks. Authored by Chris Hall

Image via CrunchBase Have to say I was initially chuffed to see the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby laying down a challenge to Wonga and others of their ilk. The AoC communicated that he wanted to see the payday loan industry driven out of business by promoting the use of credit unions. The payday loan industry is involved in outright usury which is condemned by many faiths such as Islam and Christianity and others. Usury we can look upon as the lending of money at exorbitant rates of interest. But then I thought what was the AoC actually saying? He wanted to replace excessive usury with not so excessive usury. Is that what we should be aiming for? Plus the architects of our current austerity are backing the AoC! I would love to see all of the credit industry driven out of business but it will only be done by paying workers a decent wage, sharing in the profit of their labour and making capitalism history. At the end of the day this sort of initiative is just a...

Unite logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Have seen two conflicting statements today around the issue of the Samaritans and their relationship with Unite the Union . Unite is claiming that the Samaritans are de-reconising the union, maybe a a prelude to changes to terms and conditions etc. They have issued this statement : Problem for Samaritans - derecognising Unite 24 July 2013 Samaritans, the charity that has helped people with their problems for 60 years, has a problem of its own - it has derecognised Unite as the union representing its staff. Samaritans has recognised the right of the workforce to have an independent trade union and elect representatives for many years, however the charity has recently reneged on this agreement, claiming that ‘the agreement does not reflect the nature of our working relationship’. Unite regional officer Jamie Major said “I would strongly urge Samaritans to reconsider its position. This act of derecognition goes totally against the...

Image via CrunchBase A few days ago a story broke around a Newcastle United football player called Papiss Cissé who refused to wear the Newcastle strip as it displayed their new sponsor's logo. The new sponsor being Wonga, the infamous scummy payday loan company. Cissé's stand is apparently being taken on religious and ethical grounds. Religious in that his Islamic faith frowns upon usury (lending money at interest, and at at up to 5,835% Wonga needs frowning upon). And ethical/religious in that those who suffer at the hands of these companies and also fill the coffers of these parasites are the poor and unfortunate, classes of people who deserve protection in any faith worth it's salt. So I applaud  Cissé's stand on this. If only our political masters had some backbone like him. But of course they haven't, all the leadership and backers of the main political parties are enmeshed with the parasitic capitalists and see nothing wrong with the poor bei...

Sadly seems appropriate? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23394324 Authored by Chris Hall