Rising Dawn

Anglican Communion News Service: World Day of Prayer for Zimbabwe on Sunday 27 April 2008
A desperate cry from the hearts of Zimbabwe screams across the world

It calls upon all Christians of every denomination in every nation to focus their prayers, in churches, halls, homes or elsewhere, on Sunday 27th April, 2008 on the critical situation in Zimbabwe, a nation in dire distress and teetering on the brink of human disaster.

Let the cry for help touch your heart and mind. Let it move you to do what you can immediately to ensure this Day of Prayer takes place in your country and neighbourhood.

A plea for help from Bob Stumbles, Chancellor of The Anglican Diocese of Harare. If you pray make the people of this oppressed country the focus of your prayers on Sunday.

I am sick of hearing Labour Cabinet minister defending the abolition of the 10p tax band. It’s so pathetic they have lost all credibility. They have to hold their hands up and admit they’re robbing low paid single people of some of their income.

There’s no point in arguing how much better they all are since Labour came to power, or that they will sort it out sometime never. Just give them their money back. Take it out of my tax bill if it makes you feel better but stop being so stupid.

Just because people are single and low paid they aren’t stupid. Many of them are loving caring people like the staff who look after my son who has learning disabilities. They are low paid but they care. And at the moment Mr Darling, Ms Cooper, and the rest of you treasury wonks - you clearly don’t. 

David Cameron’s first criticism of the budget speech was that it was delivered with all the enthusiasm of someone reading out the telephone directory. So I assume he thinks the job should be given to a presenter.

Chris Evans

I switched off - that’s the prerogative of a listener - assuming that, as the opposition leader’s prime criticism, there was little to follow.

Presentation over content is the scourge of the modern age. Make your talk glitzy enough and no one will notice you have nothing to say.

So if David Cameron is elected to power and you want to be Chancellor now would be a good time to put in some broadcasting hours to up your game. Or perhaps David Cameron himself should be given a radio show of his own. If he wants even more popularity he should be a gameshow host, “Vote or No Vote“, or “Who wants to be a Millionaire Tax Exile” with a “Giveaway Budget Jackpot“. The audience figures would be a painful gauge of his popularity.

This is not a defence of Alistair Darling’s budget, just another example of how easily David Cameron can get up ones nose, in the same league as Noel Edmunds and Chris Tarrant.

According to one caller to Victoria Derbyshire’s phone in on BBC 5 Live this morning, deaf people become so frustrated with their deafness that they may try to commit suicide. He was argueing against the campaign of a deaf couple featured in The Observer this Sunday. Garfield and Lichy say the Embryology and Human Fertilisation Bill would prevent them from having a deaf baby by IVF. Their first child, conceived naturally, was born without hearing.

This couple want a deaf child. Should we try to stop them? | Science | The Observer
We celebrated when we found out about Mollys deafness, says Lichy. Being deaf is not about being disabled, or medically incomplete - its about being part of a linguistic minority. Were proud, not of the medical aspect of deafness, but of the language we use and the community we live in.

The problem with the callers’ argument is that if we stop the birth of babies with any kind of disability we devalue all people with disabilities. Their frustration of course is often caused by those who don’t or can’t be bothered to understand how to communicate with them.

In many ways the the problem afflicts everyone. How many times have you been frustrated because someone else didn’t take the time to understand what you were trying to say. Deaf people simply help us realise how poor we are at communicating. Perhaps it’s a British thing and explains why we shout in English at people who don’t speak our language thinking that somehow it’s their problem and volume will penetrate their stupidity. It’s not communication, it’s ignorant and patronising. Perhaps a little like the fine detail of the bill currently going through parliament.

BBC Radio 5 Live has a problem on Wednesday Lunchtimes - it’s two main presenters, Brown and Cameron, are becoming very predictable. Whatever the subject they both turn the conversation to competetence and exchange accusations about the others ability to lead.

So here we are again, Prime Ministers Questions; today mainly on Europe.

BBC NEWS | Politics | Leaders clash over EU referendumGordon Brown has clashed in the Commons with Tory leader David Cameron and Lib Dem Nick Clegg over an EU referendum. Mr Cameron said Mr Brown had lost his “courage” while the Lib Dem leader said the prime minister had “bottled it”. Mr Brown hit back by accusing Mr Cameron of “appeasing” his eurosceptics and putting British jobs at risk. He ridiculed Lib Dem plans to abstain.     

So should we have a referendum? It would be suicide for Brown because he knows he couldn’t win. The right wing press has lined up its tanks along the cliff tops of the channel coast with a firm “No”. There is a deep suspicion in Britain about what goes on in Brussels and Strasbourg and a perception that we give more than we get from the EU. But the risk is also high for Cameron because the process of disentangling the UK from Europe would be long and costly. Will he still be supporting a referendum if he becomes PM? (more…)

The response of Israel to the attacks from Gaza is out of proportion. Whilst I defend the right of a country to protect it’s inhabitants the treatment of the Palestinian people by Israel is unjust. I saw a play called Salaam Bethlehem by Riding Lights Theatre Company in York last December. It is set in a Christian Palestinian home. It made me realise how the Palestinian Community has been humiliated by the overwhelming response of the Israeli authorities to the terrorist attacks in their country. The tension between these communities is as old as modern Israel itself. More bombs, bullets and rockets will never solve the problem. The international community is right to raise a protest, it must also increase its efforts to bring agreement and peace between the two sides. Both have a right to exist, neither has the right to dominate and humiliate the other. Salaam Bethlehem.