Rhondda Records is with you every day bringing the news ------- that gives a view of world events different to the mainstream media or social media!
Except Sundays - our day of rest.
Journalist:To end war ------
prosecute UK, US officials
who wage(d) it illegally
October 22nd, 10:12pm (PressTV)
The world must finally put an end to the impunity of war
criminals, by holding US and UK officials responsible
for launching the illegal war on Iraq, done without
the approval of the UN Security Council, and
prosecuting them --- under the Nuremberg
principles, US journalist Don DeBar said.
DeBar made the remarks in an interview with Press TV while
commenting on a report which has revealed that the British
military inquiries into abuse against Iraqi nationals... have
been closed without a single prosecution being brought,
even though the credibility of many "shocking and
shameful incidents" during the war in the Middle
Eastern country, have been confirmed.
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said in a statement
this week that the Service Police Legacy Investigations,
which was looking at claims of abuse in Iraq, had now
"officially closed its doors."
In March 2003, the US and Britain invaded Iraq in blatant
violation of international law and under the pretext of
finding WMDs; but no such weapons were ever
discovered in Iraq.
More than one million Iraqis were killed - as the result of
the US-led invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq
--- according to the California-based investigative
organization, Project Censored.
The US war in Iraq cost US taxpayers $1.7 trillion with
an additional $490 billion in benefits owed to war veterans, expenses that could grow to more than $6 trillion over the next four decades counting interest, according to a study called Costs of War Project --- by the Watson Institute for
International Studies at Brown University.
DeBar told Press TV that the Iraq war
was illegal from the very beginning.
"It is illegal for a nation to make war on another nation if it
does not have the approval of the UN Security Council, if
any of those nations are signatories to the original UN
Charter. And it’s been adopted - that happened with
the US, as a charter member of the UN -- and it was
approved by the US Senate in the 1940s.
Consequently, the US involvement in Iraq from the beginning, and the UK involvement in Iraq from the beginning, was illegal,” he said.
“And under the Nuremberg standards, which would then
apply, each and every death consequent – intentional
or not - to either US or UK military action there, or
condoning of the US action there, by the media
or public officials, or any act facilitating that,
is an individual war crime. And, by the way,
there’s a death penalty for that,” the
journalist noted.
“No one will prosecute these people. That’s why I started
with the word impunity. And we might bookend with that
because that’s the problem. And until the world puts an
end to that impunity, until the world sees the major
contradiction in all international relations, is US,
UK, and EU imperialism, then it’s going to
continue until this eats our species,”
he stated.
A damning White House memo had revealed details of the
so-called “deal in blood” forged by former British Prime
Minister Tony Blair and US President George W. Bush
over the Iraq war.
The document, titled “Secret... Memorandum for the
President”, was sent by then-US Secretary of State
Colin Powell to President Bush on March 28th, 2002, a week before Bush’s summit with Blair at his Crawford ranch in Texas.
The sensational memo, revealed that Blair had agreed to
support the war a year before the invasion even started
while publicly, the British prime minister was working to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
The document also disclosed that Blair agreed to act as a
spin doctor for Bush and convince a skeptical public that
Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had Weapons of Mass
Destruction, which actually did not exist.
In response, Bush would flatter Blair and give the
impression that London was not Washington’s
poodle but an equal partner in the
“special relationship.”
Powell told Bush that Blair “will be with us” on the
Iraq war, and assured the president that “"the UK
will follow our lead in the Middle East."
Blair has always denied the claim that he and Bush
signed a deal “in blood”, at Crawford, to launch a
war against Iraq that began on March 20th, 2003,
that has killed hundreds of thousands of people.
The Powell memo, however, showed how Blair and
Bush secretly prepared the Iraq war plot behind
closed doors at Crawford.
Powell told Bush: “He will present to you the strategic,
tactical and public affairs lines, that he believes will
strengthen global support for our common cause.”
Venezuelan Armed Forces reject
kidnapping of President Maduro
January 4th, 1:22pm
(Prensa Latina)
The Bolivarian National Armed Forces today forcefully rejected
“the cowardly kidnapping of citizen Nicolás Maduro Moros,
Constitutional President of the Bolivarian Republic of
Venezuela”, by US forces.
A statement from that institution repudiates the action against
“our Commander in Chief, and his wife, First Lady Doctor Cilia
Flores de Maduro, perpetrated yesterday, Saturday, January
3rd --- after murdering a large part of his security team
- soldiers and innocent citizens - in cold blood”.
The statement from the Ministry of Popular Power for Defense
explains the decision that same day of the Constitutional
Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice, by which -
«citizen Delcy Eloína Rodríguez Gómez, Executive
Vice President of the Republic” is appointed to
head the country.
The statement specifies that the official will assume “as MANAGER,
the powers, duties and powers as President of the Bolivarian
Republic of Venezuela; in compliance with the provisions of
our Magna Carta, the Organic Law on States of Exception
and the Organic Law of National Security”.
We support - he adds - the Decree of State of Foreign Commotion
in the national territory, previously signed, while the Bolivarian
Government will guarantee governability, and our institution
...all its available capabilities --- for military defense, the
maintenance of internal order and the preservation
of peace.
The declaration «active in the national geographical space and in
perfect popular military police fusion, the Complete Operational
Preparation, to integrate the elements of National Power in the
mission of confronting imperial aggression - in a single block -
for the freedom, independence and sovereignty of the Nation”.
_________________________________________________
China advocates for the immediate
release of Maduro --- and his wife
January 4th, 9:14am
(Prensa Latina)
China today demanded that the United States immediately release
President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, and stop subverting order
in Venezuela.
In a statement, the Asian giant's Foreign Ministry assured that
«such actions flagrantly violate international law and the
fundamental norms of international relations,
contravening the purposes and principles
of the Charter of the United Nations».
Beijing also stressed its deep concern about the detention and
forced deportation of President Maduro and his wife, while
calling for guaranteeing the personal safety of both.
China urged the United States to resolve the issue
with Venezuela through dialogue and negotiation.
The day before, the Foreign Ministry condemned Washington's military
attack against Caracas and expressed its deep shock at the reckless
way in which it exercised force against a sovereign country ---- and
its president.
«This type of hegemonic behaviour by the United States - seriously
violates international law, it violates the sovereignty of Venezuela
and threatens the peace and security of the Latin American and
Caribbean region», the statement added.
The local media closely followed the events in the South American
country, where the United States violated sovereignty, militarily
attacked Caracas and kidnapped the president and his wife.
In an interview with the Telesur channel, Venezuelan Foreign Minister
Yvan Gil assured that he maintained communication with China after
the attack and that he received the support of this country, Russia
and all the nations of the Global South.
In fact, hours before the attack, President Nicolás Maduro received a
high-level delegation from the People's Republic of China in Caracas,
led by Qiu Xiaoqi, special Representative of President Xi Jinping
for Latin American and Caribbean Affairs.
Beijing and Caracas maintain a Full-Trial, All-Time Strategic
Relationship with extensive multi-sector cooperation.
Chinese experts agreed that the United States military attack
against Venezuela will have lasting negative effects on
Washington's relations with Latin America and
the Caribbean.
Numerous international voices --- including leaders, presidents,
officials, senators, artists and organizations around the world,
have repudiated the military aggression against Caracas ---
and the kidnapping of Maduro and his wife.
#China #Ripe #Venezuela
_____________________________
They call health facilities in Venezuela
bombinga cowardly attack by the US
January 3rd, 8:51am
(Prensa Latina)
The sectoral vice president of Science, Technology,
Ecosocialism and Health of Venezuela, Gabriela
Jiménez, denounced ---- that, in the greatest
expression of cowardice ---- the US today
bombed the warehouses of the Dialysis
and Hemodialysis Program of the
National Public System.
On her Telegram account, the Minister of Science and
Technology expressed that the forced disappearance
of President Nicolás Maduro and the first combatant
Cilia Flores was not enough, but they intended to
affect the right to health of our patients with
kidney disease.
“Faithful to the commitment to our people, we continue to
fight - together with our working class - in the health
sector, guaranteeing due continuity in the care
of our patients”, she stated.
The message is accompanied by a statement from the
Venezuelan Social Security Institute (IVSS) in which
it confirmed that “the warehouses of the dialysis
and nephrology program - were bombed,
located in the state of La Guaira,
by the US Government”.
She stressed that the military attacks against health programs
deliberately seek to limit the availability of supplies for the
care of more than nine thousand kidney patients --- who
benefit free of charge from the IVSS, in hemodialysis
and peritoneal dialysis units.
The text denounced to public opinion and the international
community “this criminal action” by the president of the
United States of America, Donald Trump, in violation
of the Charter of the United Nations, the right to
health and to live in peace - of Venezuelans.
Shee affirmed that, in the face of the terrorist attacks of North
American imperialism, the Bolivarian Government “remains
unstoppably in the fight ---- guaranteeing due care for
patients with kidney disease” with the mystique
and patriotic commitment that characterizes
the working class in the health sector.
Likewise, the IVSS declared itself firm in defense of peace, the
right to health, to national independence ----- and unrestricted
support for our leader of victories, President Nicolás Maduro.
Shee concluded that as the eternal commander Hugo Chávez
stated, “in any circumstance --- we will continue in unity, to
fight, battle and win victory! For more social insurance!”.
People hold up a banner as they protest
against Israel at the entrance of the
International Criminal Court
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Israel kidnapped 42 Palestinian journalists,
including 8 women, in 2025, says union
January 3rd, 7:01pm
(PressTV)
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) has reported that
the Israeli military abducted 42 Palestinian journalists,
including eight women, during 2025 in the occupied
West Bank, al-Quds, and other parts of the
occupied territories.
The union reported that the Israeli regime has persisted in
a systematic targeting policy, involving arbitrary and
administrative detentions, physical assaults,
deportations, equipment seizures, and
forced interrogations.
It said these actions are intended to “suppress coverage and
dismantle the national media framework.” The committee
on freedoms of the syndicate, cautioned against what
it termed, a "perilous change" in arrest procedures.
It stated this includes concentrating on the most influential
journalists, consistently detaining the same reporter,
broadening the application of administrative
detention without formal charges, and
employing --- both physical and
psychological violence, as
a means of deterrence.
56 journalists - fell victim to Israeli strikes
throughout 2025, says Gaza Media Office
The Government Media Office in Gaza -- says at least 56
journalists have fallen victim to Israeli military strikes
in 2025 while performing their professional duties
across the war-battered region.
The report recorded numerous instances where journalists
were kidnapped while performing their duties in the field
and reporting on military raids. It said this is used as a
way..... to “empty the field of witnesses and prevent
the transmission of truth.”
It noted - that 2025 also saw a sharp rise in Israel targeting Palestinian women journalists through arrests, interrogations, and expulsions, with some being re-arrested.
The report said the committee emphasized the connection
between these violations - and the documented accounts
of foreign women journalists who have endured torture
by Israeli forces.
The union additionally reported an increase in raids on
the residences of journalists and the arrest of their
family members, which it stated ------- is aimed at
“psychologically and socially breaking them.”
It finally reaffirmed that “Palestinian journalism will continue
to fulfill its professional and national role despite all the
policies of repression and arrest, and that targeting
journalists will not succeed in silencing the truth
or erasing crimes.”
Today, January the 3rd, in 1876,
Friedrich Wilhelm Reinhold Pieck,
democrat, socialist,
communist and patriot,
is born.
He served as the co-chairman of the Socialist Unity Party
from 1946 to 1950 and as the president of the German
Democratic Republic (E. Germany) from 1949 ....until his death in 1960.
Pieck had been active in the SPD since the 1890s, breaking from
the party in 1917 over his opposition to the First World War.
He co-founded the Spartacus League and the KPD, rising to
become chairman of the latter organization following the
imprisonment of Ernst Thälmann and John Schehr by the Nazis.
After the end of the Second World War, he played a key role in
the 1946 merger of the KPD and SPD into the Socialist Unity
Party of Germany.
He was also instrumental in holding the Third German
People’s Congress (Volkskongress) ...on May 29th,
in Berlin ---- which attempted to stop the West
from breaking Germany into two states.
The participants were 1,500 delegates from the Soviet Zone,
elected on May 15th and 16th, and up to 600 West German
delegates. Recent elections gave the People’s Congress
its democratic legitimization, and the right to speak in the name of the German people.
At this, Friedrich Wilhelm Reinhold Pieck said:
“The German people, can really count themselves lucky
that the Soviet Union belongs to the victor powers. As
a socialist state, it opposed the imperialist plans,
and as a friend, stands by the German people
in its demand for unity, a just peace,
and economic development.”
“We know what difficulties for the maintenance of the unity
of Germany have been created, by the splitting measures
of the West occupation powers and that the outlook for
an understanding is only very slight - especially on
account of the proposals made yesterday ---- by
Bevin ---- in the name of the West Powers, at
CFM - which are a downright insult to the
demands of the German people for
unity, a just peace, and for
national autonomy.”
“It is possible - that the West's Powers are letting themselves
be guided in these proposals by the bad business principle
of demanding much.... in order that one may be able to
yield a little, and that an understanding.... might
even yet be reached.”
He went on to say:
“We wish to draw new forces into this movement for unity and
a just peace and economic upsurge and thereby create the
great National People’s Movement in all of Germany
through which --- we can continue to struggle for
the national autonomy and unity of Germany --
until it is achieved and secured. That is the
great task before whose fulfillment we
stand, and that is why this German
People’s Congress was called.”
Following Pieck, Otto Nuschke (co-President of the People’s
Council and Chair of Soviet Zone CDU) also attacked the
West Powers proposals at CFM and demanded that
the US Government --- recall its Berlin Sector
Commandant, General Howley -- because
he had broken the 4-Power agreement
by ordering the US Sector police to occupy S-bahn stations.
Max Reimann (KPD Chairman) did not appear at the People’s
Congress, because of his re-arrest by the British Military
Government. He was represented by Erich Ledwohn
(KPD) who called the National Front -- a “great
weapon of the healthy part of our people
....against the danger of chauvinism
which is rising in West Germany
and is used as a weapon of
imperialist interests.”
Hans Jendretzky (SED) declared that the Berlin problem could only
be solved within the framework of an all-German settlement, and
said that “those who talk so much of elections” should permit
a vote on the question of German unity, and a peace treaty.
Spain acts against Israel's illegal settlements,
orders platforms to remove listings
December 30th, 3:10pm
(PressTV)
Spain has ordered seven major online platforms to remove
more than 100 holiday-rental listings located in Israeli-
Spain’s Ministry of Consumer Affairs said on Tuesday that it
had identified 138 listings on platforms operating in Spain
and notified the companies to “immediately remove or
block” the content.
Authorities warned that failure to comply could result in further
government action, though the penalties were not specified.
The Minister of Consumer Affairs, Pablo Bustinduy, condemned the
listings, saying they help “normalize and perpetuate a colonial
regime considered illegal under international law.”
The move is a part of measures introduced by Prime Minister
Pedro Sanchez’s government to support Palestine and hold
Israel accountable for its genocidal aggression in Gaza.
Sanchez has repeatedly denounced the international community
for oscillating --- between “indifference” and “complicity” with
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
This latest move builds on a series of measures Spain has adopted
in recent months ---- to confront Israel over its illegal settlement
enterprise and military aggression.
In September 2025, the Spanish government banned imports
of goods produced in illegal Israeli settlements in the
occupied Palestinian territories.
Sanchez said the goal is “to stop the genocide in Gaza, pursue
its perpetrators -------- and support the Palestinian population.”
The Spanish government has prohibited ships and aircraft
carrying weapons directed towards Israel from entering
its ports or airspace.
The country has said that it will ----- deny entry to
anyone directly involved in the atrocities in Gaza.
Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank -- are considered
illegal under international law, a position upheld by the United
Nations and the majority of the global community.
In July 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a
landmark advisory opinion declaring Israel’s occupation of
Palestinian territories illegal -- and calling for the removal
of all settlements from the West Bank and East al-Quds.
Since recognizing the Palestinian state - in 2024, Spain
has been one of Europe’s most vocal critics of Israel’s
genocide in Gaza.
Israel has so far killed more than 71,000 Palestinians since
launching the genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023,
before a ceasefire deal, brokered by the United States,
was reached in the strip last October.
The world and her daughter are calling for a boycott of the genocidal colonial apartheid state of Israel.
Place yourself on the right side of joy and sorrow by joining the world's boycott - say ''no'' to evil!
Keir Hardie - Britain's first Labour MP - opposedWorld War One.
His namesake is stammering his way in the opposite direction.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
ROGER WATERS TO MUSICIANS:- "BOYCOTT ISRAEL"
Roger Waters formerly of Pink Floyd, in an open letter, calls on his fellow musicians --- to boycott the Zionist Israeli regime and follow the example of the cultural boycott against the ex S. African Apartheid regime.
“Given the inability or unwillingness of our governments [to act] …. I write to you now, my brothers and sisters … to ask you to join with me, & thousands of other artists around the world, to declare a cultural boycott on Israel,” Roger Waters says in his letter.
Waters says the Zionist regime has been found guilty of major breaches of human rights and international law by international organizations, UN officials and the International Court of Justice.
He touches on two such cases, saying the regime has been identified as perpetrating the “crime of Apartheid”, including in a statement on March 9th, 2012 by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and the “crime of ethnic cleansing” including in East Jerusalem (al-Quds).
Waters adds that he has been a member of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against the Israeli regime’s occupation of the Palestinian lands and Tel Aviv’s violations of Palestinian human rights for 7 years, and now wants other musicians to also join the anti-Israeli front.
“Please join me and all our brothers and sisters in global civil society in proclaiming our rejection of Apartheid in Israel & occupied Palestine, by pledging not to perform or exhibit in Israel or accept any award or funding from any institution linked to the government of Israel, until such time as Israel complies with international law and universal principles of human rights.”
The former Pink Floyd Musician also says he has recently faced a boycott by the US media after his November 29th, 2012 address at the UN on behalf of the Russell Tribunal.
In the address, he sought accountability for the Zionist regime’s violations of the international law and the lack of United Nations resolve that prevents the Palestinian people from achieving their inalienable rights, especially the right of self-determination.
____________________
AT THE FACTORY
Tickets from
www.wegottickets.com/thefactory
www.ticketweb.co.uk
browse venues in Wales
www.ticketlineuk.com
02920 230130
Cash tickets from:
The Factory, Porth Instrumental Music, Penygraig Spillers Records, Cardiff
Indulge in a delicious cake and a cup of tea while enjoying music and sing-along songs from fantastic Welsh musicians.
Ticket information:
The Cultural Services Booking & Information Line:
08000 147 111 or book online at
www.rct-arts.co.ukÂÂ
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Mid Rhondda Modelling Club...
7pm - 9pm
Tonyrefail Comprehensive School Mid Rhondda Modelling Club
has been running for over 30 years.
We meet on a regular basis
& enjoy making models for display.
We encourage both Gentlemen
and Ladies to attend, and also young people aged 12+.
However, Young people under 16, must be accompanied by an adult.
Ticket information
£1 contribution every week. Under 16's free
Telephone Mr. Davies on 01443 686658
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Comedy In The Laughter Lounge
The Park & Dare Theatre, Treorchy.
COMEDY IN THE LAUGHTER LOUNGE
Join us once a month in the intimate setting of the Laughter Lounge for some top notch comedy with some of the biggest and brightest rising comedians on the circuit.
Laugh? You'll snort like a pig!
Hilarious - TimeOut.
www.rct-arts.co.uk
Rhondda Records exists to express the Rhondda's vision --- when it was confident, powerful, caring, and socialist.
A Rhondda very aware of the media's poisonous tricks -- how they con working class people into attacking each other, or racial groups, or, often, even their best allies and friends... instead of seeing their real enemies:--- an elite who hate the very idea that working people can think, create, or achieve a fairer society.
Thatcher said her proudest achievement was Blair and New Labour - who parachuted in careerists and expenses fiddlers - to stop local Labour members having a say, and who made genuine socialist MPs leave the Labour party in disgust and many members and voters to despair... and the young to stop voting.
Jeremy Corbyn was always attacked because he was trying to reverse all that New Labour corruption --- that's why membership was flooding in all over the UK.
______________________________________
Get Involved!
– If you feel you’ve been ‘purged’, take this online survey:
– Request all your own data that the Labour Party holds on you:
http://www.labour.org.uk/pages/privacy
_______________________________________
IF - YOU THINK you HAVE BEEN UNFAIRLY BARRED:
“Any member who is suspended & intends to appeal the decision should throw in a ‘Subject Access Request in accordance with the Data Protection Act’ --- for ALL data that the Labour Party hold on them.
The Labour Party are Data Controllers and therefore have to, by law, provide you with all material/information they hold on you.”
If anyone is in contact with anyone who was barred from voting --- please can you pass this info on:
The Labour leadership election was under the jurisdiction of the electoral reform services.
If you were unfairly deprived of your vote you can call them on 0208 365 8909 and lodge your complaint, and inform them of your Data Protection request.
https://www.electoralreform.co.uk
The notification letters barring new members did not give a clear reason, or information on how to appeal, so Vox Political suggests that anyone in this situation, could also contact Liz Davies here: http://www.whycantivote.com
She is a barrister --- who can advise members on what to do.
**************************************
PONCY LABOUR MPS PROBLEM?
A huge drop in working-class Labour MPs, caused a massive drop in support among voters with similar backgrounds, reveals research seeking to explain why support has dwindled in the party’s heartlands.
The study says past leaders like Kinnock and Blair made a concerted effort to pick “more and more middle-class candidates to run for office, during the 80s and 90s, as part of an effort to rebrand” -- which had initial successes at the ballot box.
But this “conscious electoral strategy” stored up problems, as working-class voters who initially, just didn’t vote in response, now seek an alternative.
The solution?Trust each constituency to put forward its own candidates, and don't impose ‘party-approved’ choices who can't do the job.
Now, unfortunately, there are "entryist" MPs who, for decades, have been groomed by CIA cold war relic organisations -- like the Atlantic Council -- and are now trying to misdirect the Labour Party towards cuts, a militarised police, and a US war agenda... - and their anti-Corbyn slant is hobbling Labour.
‘How Can I Deselect My Labour MP?’ A Short Guide to Reselection and Democratic Accountability by Eric Sim, excellent free advice here:
http://novaramedia.com/2016/07/13/how-can-i- deselect-my-labour-mp-a-short-guide-to- reselection-and-democratic-accountability/ CHRIS BRYANT - SUPPORT THE MEMBERS' LEADERSHIP CHOICE & POLICIES - OR GO!
Chris Bryant, the Rhondda's dodgy MP, was on TV -- as soon as the PLP coup started -- telling us that Jeremy MUST go, because it was the ONLY way to act in the Labour Party's interest...
Chris Bryant's voting record: from TheyWorkForYou.com
On Tuition Fees:
On 27 Jan 2004: Chris Bryant voted in favour of university tuition fees increasing from £1,125 per year, to up to £3,000 per year.
On 31 Mar 2004: Chris Bryant voted to allow university tuition fees to increase from £1,125 per year, to up to £3,000 per year.
On 31 Mar 2004: Chris Bryant voted for the introduction of variable university tuition fees (top-up fees) of up to £3,000 per year in place of the previous fixed fee of £1,250 per year.
On 31 Mar 2004: Chris Bryant voted to allow university tuition fees to increase from £1,125 per year to up to £3,000 per year, and to make other changes to higher education funding and regulation arrangements.
On 14 Sep 2004: Chris Bryant voted against: the immediate abolition of all tuition fees, the re-introduction of maintenance grants of up to £2,000 for students from low-income homes, and changes to the country's higher education system.
On 14 Sep 2004: Chris Bryant voted to reject the Liberal Democrat policy of abolition of tuition fees.
On 25 May 2016: Chris Bryant was absent for a vote on Queen's Speech - Forcing Schools to Become Academies - Further Rises in University Tuition Fees
On Human Rights:
Consistently voted for introducing ID cards
Almost always voted for requiring the mass retention of information about communications
Generally voted for mass surveillance of people’s communications and activities
On the Environment:
Generally voted against greater regulation of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to extract shale gas
On Special Interests:
Almost always voted against limits on success fees paid to lawyers in no-win no fee cases
Generally voted against a statutory register of lobbyists
On War or Peace:
Generally voted for use of UK military forces in combat operations overseas
Consistently voted for the Iraq war
Consistently voted against an investigation into the Iraq war
Generally voted for replacing Trident with a new nuclear weapons system
On 2 Dec 2015: Voted to support UK airstrikes in Syria [without UN authorisation]
On 2 Dec 2015: Voted to support UK airstrikes in Syria [without UN authorisation]
On Independence:
Generally voted for more EU integration
____________________________
Chris Bryant Labour MP From Wikipedia
(aka 1962-1986: Mr Christopher John Bryant 1986-1991: The Reverend Christopher John Bryant, 1991-2001: Mr Christopher John Bryant, 2001-: Mr Christopher John Bryant MP.)
Born in Cardiff, to a Scottish mother & a Welsh father, Bryant grew up in Cardiff, Wales (where his father worked for 5 years), and Cheltenham.
He was educated at Cheltenham College, an independent school for boys in the spa town of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, where he was captain of the school swimming team, and Mansfield College at the University of Oxford, where he graduated in 1983, with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in English. This was later promoted to a Master of Arts degree (MA (Oxon)), as per tradition.
After completing his first degree, Bryant began training to be a priest in the Church of England at Ripon College, Cuddesdon, in Oxfordshire. There, he obtained a degree in theology.
Although a member of the Conservative Party, and an elected office-holder in the Oxford University Conservative Association, he joined the Labour Party in 1986, after leaving Oxford.
He was ordained deacon in 1986 and priest in 1987. He served as a Curate at the Church of All Saints, High Wycombe, from 1986 to 1989; then as a Youth Chaplain in Peterborough, as well as travelling in Latin America.
In 1991 Bryant left the ordained ministry, after deciding that being gay and being a priest, were incompatible. Statements made by Richard Harries, then Bishop of Oxford, also influenced his decision.
After leaving the priesthood in 1991, Bryant worked as the election agent to the Holborn and St Pancras Constituency Labour Party, where he helped Frank Dobson hold his seat in the 1992 general election.
From 1993, he was Local Government officer for the Labour Party; he lived in Hackney and was elected to Hackney Borough Council in 1993, serving until 1998. He became Chair of the Christian Socialist Movement.
He is both a member of the Labour Friends of Israel and Labour Friends of Palestine & the Middle East. From 1994 to 1996 he was London manager of the leader-grooming "charity", Common Purpose.
He was Labour candidate for Wycombe, in the 1997 general election (he lost by 2,370 votes), and Head of European Affairs for the BBC, from 1998.
His selection for the very safe Labour seat of Rhondda, South Wales in 2000, shocked many people given Bryant's background – gay, an ex- Anglican vicar, and someone who was a Tory, while studying at Oxford, and a member now, of the Henry Jackson Society 'think tank' --- described by The Guardian newspaper as 'neoconservative'. It is pro-US, pro-NATO and pro-military intervention, as well as being fundamentally anti-socialist.
Fifty-two people applied for the candidature and a local councillor was hot favourite to win, before Bryant was parachuted in.
In 2004, a photograph of Mr Bryant in his underpants, which he had posted to a gay dating website, was published in 'papers.
When an interviewer suggested he was a 'disgrace to the Rhondda', he replied: "They can't get rid of me."
His pay, allowances and some expenses:
The basic annual salary for an MP, from April 1st, 2016 is £74,962. MPs also get expenses: to cover the costs of running an office, employing staff, having some- where to live in London, plus, in their constituency and travelling between Parliament and their constituency.
His MP's expenses story:
Chris Bryant changed second home twice to claim £20,000: the deputy leader of the House of Commons, "flipped" his second home twice, in 2 years, allowing him to claim almost £20,000 for renovations and fees.
Chris Bryant, MP for the Rhondda, split over £92,000 of expenses between 3 properties in Wales and London --- within five years.
In 2004, he attempted to claim £58,000 to overhaul his second home in Wales, after allegedly complaining that properties in his constituency were "terrace or mine owners' houses".
Mr Bryant, a former Church of England clergyman, wanted the money for a new bathroom & kitchen, and to demolish his conservatory. He'd bought the detached house for £97,500, under a year earlier.
He submitted a claim to the Commons fees office for £58,493.26 --- almost 3 times the annual maximum. He noted that the claim exceeded his allowance.
His alleged justification was disclosed... in correspondence between Commons officials. By email, an official wrote: "He had problems finding a suitable property because in the Rhondda there is a choice mainly of terraced property or mine owners' houses." When approached by the Daily Telegraph, Mr Bryant said: "I have never said or thought anything of the sort".
In all, he successfully claimed over £13,000 for renovations, repairs & appliances, in 2004. Along with other bills, his annual claim was £20,902.
In April 2005, he flipped his expenses to his flat in west London, which he bought for £400,000 in April 2002. He also claimed £630 a month for mortgage interest, along with other bills. After claiming over £3,600 over 3 months, he sold the flat in July 2005 for £477,000.
Mr Bryant used his profits to buy a more expensive flat in west London, which was valued at £670,000. He immediately flipped his second home expenses there, claiming almost £6,400 in stamp duty, legal fees and mortgage fees, incurred in the purchase.
He then began claiming interest of £1,000 a month on the mortgage. He also claimed a further £6,000 a year for the flat's service charge and ground rent.
In all, he claimed £92, 415 in second home expenses, from 2004 to 2009.
Mr Bryant said at the time: "I moved flat in London, so as to be closer to Parliament."
Research by Channel 4 News in 2015 found that at least 46 MPs had this kind of system in place – a move one Labour backbencher described as “a new fiddle”. Channel 4 reported then:
“Our investigation found that many of the MPs bought their London properties with the help of the taxpayer, when a previous expenses system allowed them to claim back mortgage payments. But when those claims were banned, following the expenses scandal, they switched to letting out their properties, in some cases for up to £3,000 a month. They then started claiming expenses for rent and hotels in the capital.”
Among those identified was Chris Bryant, shadow leader of the House of Commons. He had already bought a penthouse in London back in 2005 and claimed around £1,000 a month in mortgage claims under the old system.
But after the expenses scandal, he started renting the property out. It’s since been advertised by estate agents as having a private lift and a porter, with rent at about £3,000 a month. Meanwhile, Bryant moved into a new flat;- claiming his own rent on expenses.
Russian/Scottish scientists hail long-range secure quantum communication system.
A group of scientists from ITMO University in Saint Petersburg, Russia, has developed a new approach to constructing quantum communication systems for secure data exchange.
The experimental device based on the results of the research is capable of transmitting single-photon quantum signals across distances of 250 klmtrs or more, which is on par with its cutting edge analogues, the ITMO press-service says.
"Now researchers are on a mission -- to create a fully-fledged quantum cryptographic system, that will generate & distribute quantum keys and transmit useful data simultaneously", ITMO says.
Information security is becoming more and more of a critical issue not only for large companies, banks and defense enterprises but even for small businesses and individual users.
But the data encryption algorithms we currently use for protecting our data are imperfect - in the long-term, their logic can be cracked. Regardless of how complex and intricate the algorithm is, getting around it, is just a matter of time.
Unlike algorithm-based encryption, systems that protect information, by making use of fundamental laws of quantum physics, can make data transmission totally immune to hacker attacks, in the future.
Information in a quantum channel is carried by single photons that change irreversibly if an eavesdropper tries to intercept them. The legitimate users will instantly know about any kind of intervention.
Researchers at the Quantum Information Centre of the International Institute of Photonics and Optical Information Technology at ITMO Uni., Russia, along with their colleagues from the Heriot-Watt University, in Edinburgh, have devised a new way to generate and distribute, quantum bits.
This makes it possible to share quantum signals --- via optical fibres --- 250 kilometres in distance.
"To transmit quantum signals, we use the so- called side frequencies," says Artur Gleim, head of the Quantum Information Centre, at ITMO University,
"This unique approach gives us a number of advantages -- such as a considerable simplification of the device architecture and the large pass-through capacity of the quantum channel. In terms of bit rate and operating distances, our system is comparable to absolute champions in the field of quantum communications."
According to Robert Collins, research associate at the Institute of Photonics & Quantum Sciences at Heriot-Watt University, and one of the authors of the study, this may become a pivotal point for the whole field of quantum communication and cryptography:
"Down the track, this new approach can enable smooth coexistence of numerous data streams with different wavelengths in one single optical cable. On top of it, these quantum streams can be fed into the already existing fibre optic lines --- along with conventional communications."
The research paper is published in the Optics Express journal.
Scottish universities are to be congratulated for their strong & growing links with Chinese and Russian universities....
What a shame, that Wales is lying low --- with academics too scared to break from US military research.
KILLING THE ELDERLY BY CLOSING CARE HOMES
Did you know that each time a local authority
closes a care home for the elderly, within 8
months, around half the residents are dead?
Campaigners liken the cuts and their effect to euthanasia of the UK's elderly. What to do?
We can start by urging our MPs to sign EDM 2251:
EDM 2251: The contents
This House notes with deep concern the worsening crisis for elderly care as growing numbers of local authority and private care homes face closure
Acknowledges concerns that the loss of elderly people's care homes causes fear, anxiety and, in many cases, a higher mortality rate, when vulnerable, elderly people are forced to leave their homes
Further notes that the Southern Cross crisis will increase needs for local authority care
And therefore calls on the government to hold a public inquiry into the deaths after closures, of local authority care homes, and impose a moratorium on the closure of local authority care homes, until that inquiry publishes its results, to ensure that vulnerable, elderly people's lives are not put at further risk.
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MAKING THE CONNECTION IN WALES
Households across three more English areas will be able to access superfast broadband in the latest phase of a Government scheme to connect rural homes and businesses.
The £50 million funding package for Devon and Somerset (£30 million), Norfolk (£15 million) and Wiltshire (£4 million) will aid the roll- out of superfast broadband services unable to be reached by the market alone.
Areas will also receive financial support from their local authorities and private investors, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport says.
So it's Broadband Heaven for England...
and crapola for Wales' broadband - the
slowest, worst Broadband in the UK !!!
Lib Dems in Scotland might have received a pummeling for Clegg and his betrayals, yet, in Scotland, their campaign centred on it becoming the "most connected country in Europe," to massively boost their economy.
In Wales, which political party is now willing to put into practice scientists' recommendations: that Wales' hilly topography requires establishing
free 'wireless' broadband?
It could connect the people of Rhondda and the world, boosting Wales' economic regeneration, like no other move.Wireless technology is now supplying free broadband to an entire island off New Zealand's coast.
Come on; if New Zealand can do it - so can we !!!
Western China has embraced "green-mode development" - with painful changes from which, Wales could well learn.
Eastern China has seen fast growth and urban mess. The West, a mining and agricultural area, has not.
Xi'an Chan-ba Ecological District, is a model for reclaiming old mining areas.
It took six hard years, but now Xi'an is showing the world how best to change, by turning a badly polluted rubbish landfill site, into an all new environment-friendly development.
As China's economic focus moves from east to west, it's using the lessons learned during 30 or more years of rapid industrial development.
The green way for China's west, is to combine green industrialization & green urbanization.
The western region's strategy is to adopt effective energy-saving and environmental protection technologies... AND to extend its industry through science and products unique to China's West, together with strong vertical growth in agriculture and all its ancilliary economic & professional spin-offs.
In undertaking this industrial revolution, the western region will keep a sharp eye out - to avoid all polluting non-sustainable industries.
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A BIG DROP OF HONEY !!!
Spring is beekeeping and honey-processing season in Yunnan province, in China.
Waves of bees flit across vast fields of flowers.
Local beekeepers and many from other places, such as Sichuan and Fujian provinces - set up their base in tents among the rapeseed farms.
The 430,000 hectares of rapeseed blooms in Luoping attract myriads of bees, which produce 15 - 20 million tons of honey a year.
Local people now look to brand their county as a honey production base & increase sales to outside markets.
Luoping Tianyuanmiyu Bee Industry Co Chair, Zhu Hongkun, founded his enterprise in 2009.
It mainly produces honey, propolis and propolis powder.
His company works with 270 plus beekeepers, who each earn 80,000 yuan a year on average.
Some earn 200,000 yuan annually, Zhu says.
Who says beauty endowed by nature isn't worth a fortune?
The whole of the uplands of south Wales could be as beautiful & productive, if used wisely!
CHINA's PREMIER POINTS WAY FORWARD
As the Tories threaten a "bonfire of the Quangos", perhaps Wales should take note. Now extracting all our mineral wealth has been stopped (apart from sand and rock) we find ourselves "in" the 1st World of the UK, but with a 3rd World economy, only just kept going by quangos which promise much... but deliver little... and rely on weak public support.
We could WAKE UP & understand that we either do something, or stay as begging bowl cases.
China's premier points the way forward for Wales:
"Industrial restructuring is the key... only by developing energy-efficient, indigenous innovative and high value added products can our companies and economy, achieve sustainable development."
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WHILE FRANCE, GREECE, IRELAND, ETC, STRUGGLE TO STOP THE PENSION AGE RISING HIGHER AND HIGHER...
An online survey on qq.com, a popular Chinese news portal, finds that 91% of its over 800,000 respondents, are against raising the current official Chinese retirement age.
745,123 of those surveyed say they oppose raising retirement ages -- 72,456 support it.
China's scholars & the public have been debating whether to raise the retirement age, for the past few years, but the issue rose to prominence after remarks by an official.
Wang Xiaochu, the official vice minister of the Ministry of Human Resources & Social Security, said at a press conference that the government was "studying the matter"...
The retirement age in China is generally set at 60 for men and 50-55 for women.
Wow! Bet you didn't know that !!!
FARMING AND SCIENCE COULD REGENERATE WALES
A new UN General Assembly report warns "vast areas" of cultivated land are lost each year, and that this could lead to unrest.
The report says up to 30 million hectares, an area the size of Italy, is lost each year to environmental degradation, industry & urbanization - the growth of cities - and all because of speculative building and greed.
The UN special rapporteur Olivier De Schutter, gives the example of eastern Africa, where the amount of cultivated land has declined by half --- in just one generation! "
As rural populations grow and competition with large industrial units increases, plots cultivated by smallholders are shrinking year after year," says De Schutter.
"Farmers are often relegated to soils that are arid, hilly or without irrigation."
The UN officer also mentions India as another example, where the average landholding fell from 2.6 hectares in 1960 to 1.4 hectares in 2000. A cut of nearly half in 40 years!
He says 500 million small farmers suffer from hunger, partly because their right to land is being violated. The expert warns of the devastating consequences, as foreign investors compete for larger and larger areas of the world's land for "their" agriculture.
Rhondda Records says Wales could rebuild its new economy by basing it on a fresh approach to high-value added products, using science and agriculture... such as the Altzeim project in Gwent.
