This lawsuit was filed not long after a Cleveland police officer fatally shot Tamir, who was playing with a toy gun in a park when authorities were called to the scene. Tamir's death was one of several high-profile incidents that propelled an ongoing national discussion over how police officers use deadly force, particularly against black men and boys.
While the call about a man with a gun specified that the person may have been a child with a toy weapon, the officers — Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback — were not told that when they responded.
Both officers, along with the city of Cleveland, were named as defendants in the federal lawsuit filed less than two weeks after Tamir was killed. On Monday, the officers said they still believe they acted legally, even as they said they saw the benefits of settling the case.
In December, a grand jury declined to bring criminal charges against Loehmann. Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty, who lost a reelection bid last month, said that while Rice's death was a tragedy, "it was not, by the law that binds us, a crime." The jurors decided that the shooting was justified and never voted on the question of criminal charges. Officers are rarely charged for fatally shooting people while on duty, and convictions in such cases are even more rare.
Polster agreed to oversee settlement talks between attorneys for Rice's family and the city's lawyers last month. In his order filed Monday, Polster wrote that the settlement was reached after an all-day discussion on April 1 followed by numerous telephone calls.
"While we have settled the legal side of this and the court proceedings side of this for $6 million dollars, there is no price that you can put on the life, the loss of a 12-year-old child," Cleveland Mayor Frank G. Jackson said at a news conference Monday.
The seven-figure settlement in Cleveland is the latest in a series of payouts for the families of those killed by police officers in incidents that sparked protests. New York City agreed to pay $5.9 million to the family of Eric Garner, whose death after being put in a chokehold by a police officer was captured on video by a bystander.
The city of Baltimore agreed to pay $6.4 million to the family of Freddie Gray, whose death in police custody a year ago led to charges against six officers. And in North Charleston, S.C., the city paid $6.5 million to the family of Walter Scott, whose shooting — captured on camera — led to murder charges against the officer involved.
This developing story has been updated. First published: 10:01 a.m.


text:
Q: How to encode accent text in android? I want to display accent mark text in my android app.I want to display café from my data base in my app.
Whenever I search cafe in my data base[sqlLite] it always shows cafe instead of café.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Jac o' the North
Poppies, Row on Row
On 28/11/2016 28/11/2016 By JacIn British Nationalism, Devolution, English Nationalism, European Union, Iraq, Media, Royalty, Scotland, Welsh Assembly, World97 Comments
PART 1: 'THE BEAUTIFUL GAME'
This autumn has seen a succession of spats between the football associations of the 'home' nations and FIFA the international governing body of the game over displays of poppies, which FIFA deems to be a political symbol. These disputes reached something of a fever pitch last week when FIFA laid a number of charges against the Football Association of Wales (FAW) linked to the game against Serbia on November 12 (which I attended).
Press reports suggest that one of the charges was that fans had worn poppies in their coats! Which, if true, is insane. For not only would such a charge infringe personal liberty but also open up a vat of worms for those having to decide what qualifies as a political symbol. (At the game I wore a discreet Glyndŵr flag lapel badge.)
Consider Barcelona, one of the biggest clubs in the world, intertwined with Catalan identity and the independence movement. Everywhere at their stadium you will read it spelled out for you – Mes que un club (more than a club). Their big rivals are of course Real Madrid, the club of ruling Castille, the club of the monarchy, and the multi-ethnic – but definitely unified – Spanish state.
Last week Barcelona played in Glasgow against Celtic, an intense, occasionally tetchy, but nevertheless enjoyable game that saw the magnificent Celtic fans waving their Irish tricolours and singing their Irish rebel songs. Across town you'll find arch-rivals Rangers, whose fans wave union flags and sing ditties such as The Billie Boys ('Up to our knees in Fenian blood, etc').
There are hundreds of other clubs in the world with an intensely partisan identity that is overtly and unmistakably political, or even ethnic. Until very recently only Basques were allowed to play for Bilboko Athletic Kluba and even though that rule now appears to have been relaxed Athletic Bilbao and the other Basque clubs retain an intensely nationalistic ethos. (Though Celtic and Rangers may be unique in that the fans are animated by the history and politics of another country.)
Come to that, what about international games, such as the one between Wales and Serbia that caused FIFA's representative such concern? As with every competitive international game there were national flags, and national anthems – aren't they 'political'? Come to that, national teams, the raison d'être for FIFA, are obviously political because they represent nation-states or, in the case of Wales, a nation without a state.
Whereas on the other hand, the Serbs might argue that Serbia is a nation-state but too many Serbs are stranded outside the homeland, in Bosnia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Kosovo. And yet, Kosovo, a breakaway province of Serbia, handed over by NATO to Albanian gangsters was, in a blatantly political decision, admitted to both FIFA and the European governing body, UEFA, in May 2016. Too late to qualify for the World Cup Finals in Russia in 2018, which is just as well, because Russia doesn't recognise Kosovo.
In other words, football at club and international level has always been political. Whether it's the England team giving a Nazi salute in 1938, the so-called 'Football War' between Honduras and El Salvador in 1969, or German football fans welcoming refugees (last year). So for FIFA to try to punish Wales for individuals making the personal decision to wear a poppy is absurd. Worse, it could be dangerous; for does FIFA now wish to dictate what people wear to football matches?
Early in the second paragraph I qualified my criticism of FIFA with "if true", partly because I find it difficult to believe that anyone would try to dictate what football fans wear, and partly because it could be that what FIFA meant by 'fans in the stand' was the display organised by the FAW, not far from where I was sitting with my son and grandsons. (Being aware of this stunt in advance I was praying that our section of the crowd wouldn't be involved. Taid being thrown out could have spoilt the night even more than the late Serbian equaliser.)
This stunt was arranged by placing cards on seats which, when held up, combined to give the image of a big poppy. This was rather naughty of the FAW, and very silly. Naughty because it forced people to be part of something about which they might have had reservations, and silly because it was sticking two fingers up to FIFA, which had already warned the FAW that the players should not wear poppies on their shirts, nor should there be other displays. But then, the Sun, the Daily Mail and other good friends of Wales said it should be done, so that presumably made it OK.
Now if it is this display of poppies organised by the FAW that FIFA is objecting to, and if it results in points being deducted and Wales not reaching the World Cup Finals, then I believe that the officials of the FAW will have failed us all and should consider their positions.
I say that because the duty of the FAW is to manage the game in Wales in the best interests of the member clubs, the national team and the fans, not to jeopardise the best interests of Welsh football by falling into line with the cynical and engineered poppy frenzy.
Personal freedom is one of the cornerstones of a democratic society, and must be defended. And that's why FIFA is wrong if it charges the FAW for individual fans choosing to wear a poppy in their lapel. But considerations of personal freedom also put the FAW in the wrong for forcing individuals to be part of that poppy display.
I think we're entitled to answers, from both FIFA and the FAW.
PART 2: "SQUEAKY BUM TIME"
Demanding that everyone, including footballers, wears a poppy for the weeks leading up to Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday is quite recent, maybe no more than a decade old. Here's a photo from a Scotland v England game played on Saturday November 14, 1999, the day before Remembrance Sunday. There are no poppies. There was no one-minute silence before the game.
It's fitting that the photo comes from 1999, and was taken in the home city of Sir Alex Ferguson, the great Manchester United manager, because that year almost certainly marks the start of "squeaky bum time" (a period of nervousness and uncertainty) for those who were soon promoting the poppy and what they wanted it to stand for.
Because 1999 was the year of the first elections to the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly. The SNP got 28.7% of the vote and 35 out the 129 seats in Scotland, while in Wales Plaid Cymru achieved 28.4% of the vote and 17 out of 60 seats. So even though Plaid Cymru did better than expected there was nothing for our masters to get overly concerned about in either country, yet within the establishment there were those who already feared where devolution might lead.
September 11, 2001 saw the attack on the World Trade Center in New York City, soon followed by retaliatory US and UK air strikes against Al Qaeda and Taliban targets in Afghanistan. To be followed by ground troops. January 4 2002 saw the first US soldier killed by enemy fire. The conflict dragged on.
The USA and UK invaded Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein in March 2003. All kinds of reasons were proffered to justify this aggression but none were convincing. It was regime change linked to oil, and another 'All be home by Christmas' intervention that dragged on, and on.
Then, in July 2005, London experienced suicide bomb attacks that killed 52 people, and carried out by British-born Islamic terrorists. These bombings were the most extreme expression of the growing anger within Muslim communities in Europe and the USA at the West's military interventions in the Islamic world.
The May 2007 elections to the Scottish Parliament saw the SNP's share of the vote climb to 32.9% of the vote, giving it the most votes, and with 47 seats (one more than Labour) it was now the largest party. Squeaky bum time was really upon us (or them).
By the end of 2007 it became clear that the Western world was entering a period of economic turmoil. It was equally clear that the recession had been caused by irresponsible lending by banks and mortgage institutions coupled with the imaginative trading of debts and other worthless packages. As with Afghanistan and Iraq, it was the USA and the UK leading the way, with other countries quick to blame 'the Anglo-Saxon economic model' of quick-buck trading having no concern for the wider economy, let alone society as a whole.
By 2010 everyone knew that the UK was up shit creek economically, with the public purse bailing out criminally irresponsible banks. The public turned against banks and the City of London. The UK was still bogged down in Afghanistan and Iraq. Al Qaeda had been overtaken by the much more ruthless ISIS, which had support from young British Muslims.
To cap it all, the Monarchy started losing what had been its 90+ per cent approval rating. I suspect this started with the death of Princess Diana in 1997, made worse by divorces and scandals, with the prospect of Charles becoming king viewed with concern in certain quarters.
So our elite consulted that well-thumbed manual, 'Cunning Plans For When Things Go Pear Shaped". And there, in among chapters headed, 'Blame Somebody Else', 'Start A War', 'Scapegoat A Minority', 'Do A Runner With The Loot' and 'Pray For Divine Intervention' they found 'Whip Up A Frenzy Of Faux Patriotism'.
This explains why, in the mid to late noughties the largely neglected poppy saw the first drops of revivifying water and became the symbol not of sacrifice in war but of British identity and 'pulling together'. The UK media played its role with an enthusiasm almost unknown in democratic societies.
Could it get any worse for the establishment? Yes it could, for in May 2011 the SNP took 44% (+13%) of the vote and 69 seats, giving it a clear majority in the Scottish Parliament. There would now be a referendum on Scottish independence.
Television companies responded by going into overdrive in promoting British unity. In the final year of the Labour – Lib Dem coalition in the Scottish Parliament (to May 3, 2007) there were just 25 television programmes with 'Britain' or 'British' in the title. Between January 2013 and January 2014, with the SNP in power and the independence referendum looming, the number of 'Britain' / 'British' programmes had risen to 516!
Which brings us to where we are today. To the point where the now regular autumn hysteria has reached absurd proportions. Here are a couple of examples.
On the evening of Friday November 18 I watched a televised football game (Brighton & Hove Albion v Aston Villa) and I couldn't understand why the players had poppies on their shirts a week after Armistice Day and five days after Remembrance Sunday. Then the commentator told us it was to commemorate the last day of the Battle of the Somme!
So are we now compelled to remember every date that someone, somewhere, deems significant? And if so, where does this end? Can anyone remember any other instance of poppies being worn after Remembrance Sunday?
Nowhere is the poppy cult more slavishly followed than at the BBC. It is now obvious that from mid or late October no one is allowed to appear on any BBC programme without a poppy. (Though Evan Davis on Newsnight held out longer than most.) So terrified is the Beeb of falling foul of the Sun and the other directors of the national mood that anything that moves is liable to have a poppy pinned to it.
But this fear of manufactured British patriotism can bring its own problems, such as when someone at The One Show pinned a poppy on the Cookie Monster from Sesame Street. This outraged some for "trivialising the sacrifice of millions", but as Dara Ó Briain suggested, it might have been satire, somebody having a pop at the poppy fascists. Here's how the story was covered in Heatstreet, MailOnline, The Express, and the Huffington Post.
As the BBC discovered with the Cookie Monster, when you're dealing with poppy fascists it's difficult to do the right thing. Perhaps the rule for broadcasters should be to pin a poppy on everything that breathes irrespective of whether it wants to wear one or not. Which might result in an apologist for ISIS appearing on Newsnight or Channel 4 News wearing a poppy.
PART 3: CUNNING PLANS GANG AFT AGLEY
What I hope I've explained is that the past decade has seen a poppy cult engineered to engender a sense of Britishness, patriotism and unity, in order to counter threats from within and without; also to divert attention away from military blunders and other cracks in the façade of the British system that had led people to question the roles of the armed forces, the Monarchy, the City of London and other institutions.
To some extent this has worked. For example, the first referendum on Scottish independence in September 2014 was 'won'. Then, the prince who many would like to see accede to the throne instead of his father has knocked out a few sprogs, and the 'Ah!' factor always works for the House of Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha.
Yet the success of this strategy is now causing problems that the Elite had not foreseen. You'll note that I'm talking now of an 'Elite', so let me explain myself. Perhaps the best way is to refer back to my post EU Referendum: Why I Want OUT! where I wrote of an Elite that opposes "nation-states, national identities, local governments, languages other than English, regional tastes and peculiarities. In fact, many of the things you and I cherish."
Those behind the relentless promotion of the poppy are linked to that global Elite. They opposed Scottish independence and they were against Brexit, for they believe in the Elite's agenda of globalisation and mass migration as these drive down wages and help destroy the national identities that are viewed as an obstacle to globalisation.
The problem is that for most English people 'Britishness' and 'Englishness', 'Britain' and 'England', are synonyms, and the English make up almost 80% of the UK's population. Which has meant that by clumsily promoting the poppy and British nationalism as a short-term fix for assorted problems the Elite unleashed insurgent English populism that resulted in UKIP and Brexit, and may now take us on a journey no one foresaw.
This revolt against the Elite is not confined to the UK. Donald Trump is President-elect of the USA. François Fillon is the Centre-right's candidate against Marine le Pen, and he will fight that election on a platform that Donald Trump would approve: making friends with Putin, cracking down hard on Islamic extremists, opposing same-sex couples adopting children, etc.
When the French go to the polls in April to elect a new president it will be a choice between a weak and demoralised Left on the one side, while the alternatives are the Hard Right and the Very Hard Right. Then, between Fillon and le Pen, attitudes to the EU could be the main and defining difference.
The liberal, globalist, 'do your own thing' consensus we've lived with since the 1960s is almost dead. Accidentally killed by an Elite that over-reached itself, assisted by a Left that had been allowed to dictate the social agenda (because it complemented the ambitions of the Elite) but so detached itself from the concerns of most people that 'liberal elite' is now a term of abuse.
For me, it's one of the great political ironies that an annual propaganda exercise to defend established interests favouring the EU, centrist politics, globalisation and unrestricted immigration has breathed life into forces representing their very antithesis. But so fitting.
♦ end ♦
Updates & Tit-bits, November 21, 2016
On 20/11/2016 13/01/2017 By JacIn Cardiff, Colonialism, Colonisation of Wales, Corruption, Police, Public Funding, Social Housing, Swansea, Welsh Labour45 Comments
Where better to start than the old home town. (Which still 'looks the same as I step down from the train, and there to greet me' – is a welcoming committee from the local Labour Party. 'Good old Jac', they cry. Well, laff!)
As you may recall, I wrote a while back about the case of Swansea East MP Carolyn Harris and her alleged homophobic assault on Jenny Lee Clarke, when both worked in Labour's Swansea East constituency office for MP Siân James. It even made the London 'papers, here's how the Telegraph treated it.
This picture has nothing to do with the article . . . but I just can't resist it! That hat!
Harris took over from James as MP in May 2015, the story about the alleged assault made the news in the second half of November then, on January 28, Clarke was dismissed from her job with immediate effect. I've seen the letter from Carolyn Harris; it's one of those, 'Clear your desk and sod off – now!' letters. We've all had them, I've got a drawer full. Things have not gone well for Clarke since then.
For not only did she lose her job, she was also accused of stealing money from her erstwhile employer (one C. Harris); and the most recent assault on her peace of mind, in September, was to be told by Swansea council that they'd stopped her housing benefit because someone had informed them she'd died! Naturally she reported this to the police, but they just messed her about a bit and refused to proceed with the case.
As for Labour-controlled Swansea council, you have to ask whose word they took that Jenny Clarke was dead. There was obviously no death certificate produced . . . or if there was then it was a forgery. But they are unable to explain how they came to accept that Jenny Clarke was demised. A third party points the finger at a close associate of Harris within the council – but who's gonna investigate? This is Wales. This is the Labour Party.
As for the theft allegation, well this drags on . . . and on. The cops just keep extending her 'Pre-Charge Conditional Bail' (as it's described on the form); the police bail was extended until November 7, and now it's been extended again until February 17. I doubt if there will be charges; this is just the cops playing mind games.
This is a disgusting episode even for a corrupt and backward country like ours. The dominant political party engages in the kind of vindictive behaviour for which it is infamous, and yet what's really worrying is that the police seem to be going along with this persecution of a woman whose only mistake was crossing the local political machine.
Persecution Complex?
Someone who may have good reason to be looking over his shoulder is the leader of Swansea council, Rob Stewart, one of the Morriston councillors. For the word echoing along the corridors is that conspirators are grouping around his ousted predecessor David 'Il Duce' Phillips, he of the red duffle coat (click to view).
As we speak, plots are being hatched, alliances formed, and positions of power allotted in the post-coup council. But back to the present.
One of the popular programmes on the Swansea Sound radio station is The Sunday Hotline presented by Kevin Johns. People phone in and have a moan about this and that, you know the sort of thing.
Any criticism of Swansea council is immediately answered by Stewart, who doesn't phone in to defend himself, but sends an e-mail! – 'And following that heartfelt complaint from Mrs Lloyd of Penclawdd about the council doing nothing to arrest and castrate Romanian cockle-pickers we've had an e-mail from council leader Rob Stewart, who argues . . . '.
Can't you just picture him of a Sunday morning, still fizzy from too much lemonade the night before, in his marmalade-streaked pyjamas, trembling finger hovering over the keyboard as he listens to the bile spewing forth from his radio. It's not a pretty sight, is it? But who knows, after next May, he might be able to cwtsh in under his duvet on a Sunday, unless of course he decides to put on strange voices and start phoning in complaints about his successor.
'Good Night, John Boy'
Someone else I've written about more times than I wanted to is councillor John Charles 'John Boy' Bayliss, perhaps the last of the student councillors recruited by David
Phillips and his wife Sybil Crouch, who works in Swansea university. Though I suppose there could be a few new ones in May.
Despite being a councillor for the Uplands ward, and despite living in Swansea, you wouldn't be aware of that from his Twitter account; but 'Uplands, Swansea' or 'Uplands ward in Swansea' appeared on all his previous Twitter incarnations. (Two examples here and here.) And although it says "2017 local election candidate" it doesn't say where. He's certainly not standing for re-election in the Uplands (here's Labour's Magnificent Four for May, including the balding Lili Marlene), so where is he standing, is it even in Wales?
Maybe he's standing in Bristol, where he works. Or is he going home to mummy and daddy in Sussex? Who cares? It looks like he's leaving Swansea, and that's the main thing. The only one who might miss him is Il Duce.
UPDATE 21.11.2016: A good source informs me that Bayliss may be standing for Cardiff council in May, either in Fairwater or Llandaff. Which makes sense, as he works in Bristol. But he was only recruited by the Remarkable Group because he was a Swansea Labour councillor and Remarkable was involved with the contentious Mynydd y Gwair wind farm. What use might a lobbying company like Remarkable have for him in Cardiff? P.S. Now confirmed by a second source.
The Invisible Man Moves
Sticking with the topic of Labour councillors on the move, we cross the tumbling waters of the mighty Llwchwr to Llanelli, where many people are asking why Rob James is moving there from Neath. At present James is the Labour councillor for the Bryncoch South ward . . . though you'd be forgiven for not knowing that, certainly if you were going by his attendance record.
For as Stan at the Neath Ferret tells us, between May and the end of October, James had attended 2/5 full council meetings; 0/3 meetings of the Environmental and Highways Scrutiny Committee; 0/4 Social Care, Health and Housing Scrutiny Committee; 0/1 Licensing and Gambling Acts Committee; 0/3 Registration and Licensing Committee: and as might be expected, he didn't bother turning up for the council's Annual Meeting in May either. Impressive, no?
He may not bother turning up for meetings, but Councillor Rob James recognises a photo opportunity when he sees one. Look out, Llanelli – he's coming your way!
What's worse, to accommodate the Invisible Man from Neath Llanelli Labour has deselected Lliedi ward councillor Bill Thomas. Who's he? Let Cneifiwr tell us, "Bill Thomas has ploughed his lonely furrow for 17 years, doing the sort of things which most people would like to imagine that all councillors do. For starters, he has a mind of his own, which marks him out from a good many of his colleagues. He has stood up for his ward through thick and thin, fought a long campaign to try to get justice for the cocklers whose livelihoods have been wrecked by releases of raw sewage into the Burry Inlet. He has fought an even longer and equally fruitless campaign to get justice for Mr and Mrs Clive and Pam Edwards, victims of incredible incompetence and an even more incredible refusal to put matters right by the council. He has banged on for years about the madness of building new homes on flood plains, and he played a key role in uncovering Mark and Meryl's plans to flog off Parc Howard in Llanelli – while Labour was running the council."
So it's pretty obvious why Labour should want to remove a conscientious councillor and replace him with someone who'll cause no problems, but that doesn't explain why James is making the move. He could just as easily not turn up in Neath as Llanelli, so why go through the hassle of switching, filling in those forms and risking defeat?
In all seriousness, how does Llanelli Labour Party justify dumping a good councillor and replacing him with an outsider, especially an outsider with James' attendance record? It really is taking the electorate for granted.
Now a Labour Politician Who Didn't Move, Allegedly
Staying in Sosban . . . well, maybe, we look at the AM for the town, young Lee Waters. Now no one disputes that Lee was raised in Ammanford, but he's spent recent years in the Cardiff area, and it's being suggested that he still lives in the Vale, in Barry to be precise.
Which might be fine, had he not told the Turk electorate in May that his happy abode was in New Zealand Street, Llanelli. He pipped the Plaid Cymru candidate by 382 votes.
'Poumista'
Another recently announced candidate for May's county council elections is Gary Robert Jones. You'll recognise the name from my posts on the ongoing campaign of bigotry against Welsh language education in Llangennech. No doubt 'poumista' is hoping to capitalise on his notoriety.
His Twitter handle is taken from the Spanish initials of the Workers Party of Marxist Unification, an extremist party active in the Spanish Civil War, mainly in Catalonia. (It might even have the same initials in Catalan.) POUM seemed to be opposed to everybody else involved, on both sides. Here's a short write-up from 1936, but don't all rush to join, POUM was thankfully dissolved in 1980.
That POUM no longer exists seems not to bother Jones one bit. In fact, to judge by his Twitter account, I'm not sure he realises WWII is over either. If in the modern era we judge politicians by their tweets and re-tweets then there should be some concerns about @poumista. Here's one re-tweet I salvaged, put out late last Saturday night; it's of a female Russian sniper under a photo of one the biggest butchers in human history. Such taste!
I urge you to check out the Twitter account of the Labour hopeful for Llangennech and Bryn before he starts deleting. There are some very revealing tweets and re-tweets there. Including of course re-tweets of Lee Waters telling us of his occasional trips from Barry to Llanelli.
To finish with Llanelli I must mention a curious message I received to my 'contact me' box in the sidebar. It named a very prominent individual in the Llanelli Labour Party and seemed to suggest that this person had – perhaps by questionable means – come into possession of a number of former council properties. Any further information would be appreciated.
THE LEAVING OF LABOUR
It's not just Labour politicians moving (or not, as the case may be), or putting themselves up for election, there are other movements with 'Welsh' Labour, and very encouraging they are too.
The first story I picked on was from Caerffili, where two Labour councillors resigned last month promising to set up their own party. One of them, Allan Rees, alleged that "nepotism and cronyism is rife" within the local Labour Party. Not just your local party, Allan, come and talk with Uncle Jac.
Then, a few days ago, we learnt that six councillors had been 'de-selected' (a term I'm sure the man in the photo would have approved of) by the Ogmore Constituency Labour Party.
On top of that, Labour has lost a couple of seats on Cardiff city council in recent by-elections. First, the Lib Dem candidate won in the Plasnewydd ward; then Plaid Cymru took one of the Grangetown seats.
But remember, these upheavals for Labour have nothing to do with Jeremy Corbyn and his hard left supporters eliminating the hated 'Blairites' – that storm has yet to break in Wales! Labour has real problems, but this is no time to stand around gloating – put the boot in!
OUR HOUSING ASSOCIATIONS
Link Holdings (Gibraltar) Ltd is, as the name might suggest, a secretive offshore company, one owning a great deal of property across southern Wales, from Llanelli eastwards. Here's a list of Link's properties compiled from the Private Eye database.
Offshore property ownership is disturbing enough of itself, but the reason I wrote Link Holdings (Gibraltar) Ltd was because I'd learnt that housing associations are leasing, and possibly renting, from Link. So naturally I wrote to the 'Welsh' Government seeking answers. Here's a combined pdf of my original request, the reply, and my response to that reply. (Read it now or keep it for a rainy afternoon.)
I kept a number of politicians informed of my concerns regarding Link Holdings, and also with the bizarre – possibly unique – relationship between Pembrokeshire Housing and its offspring Mill Bay Homes. One of these politicians showed me the response received from minister Carl Sargeant. It's worth sharing. Here it is.
You'll note that in the first part of the letter, talking of the Social Housing Grant with regard to Pembrokeshire Housing, Sargeant, or whoever wrote the letter, is clear that SHG must be "spent on pre-determined developments and projects". Which is what I would expect, because I've always regarded the SHG as a capital grant for new housing, creating jobs and putting money into an area.
Yet in the second part of the letter, when dealing with Link Holdings (Gibraltar) Ltd, we read, "An RSL (registered Social Landlord aka housing association) is able to purchase the leasehold title of a property, and is able to receive Social Housing Grant Money to do so". How can a capital grant for "pre-determined developments and projects" be used to lease old properties from offshore companies?
As I've argued for years, housing associations are one the worst uses of public funding imaginable, but major change is on the horizon. Thank God!
HAPPY DONKEY HILL
Regular readers will recall that some time ago now I had cause to write about a rather unpleasant woman named Kate Clamp living near Llandysul. She changed the name of her property – actually owned by her multi-millionaire father – from Faerdre Fach to Happy Donkey Hill.
In one of my posts I used this image from her Facebook page, but I'd assumed the use of 'Lady' was a joke. (As would 'lady' be in this case.) But not so, for a series of messages I've received to my Facebook page tell me that Clamp and her current consort have taken to styling themselves 'Lord and Lady Clamp' in earnest.
My contact has been in touch with Burke's Peerage, Debrett's and various other sources and is assured that the duo has no claim to any title. So have they bought one off some website? Or maybe they splashed out a few thousand on one of those 'Lord of the Manor' titles that allows you to make a nuisance of yourself. (I used to vaguely know a bloke who collected such 'titles'.)
But the point is – as my contact was keen to stress – the Clamps are in a competitive business, and if they're gaining an unfair advantage over their competitors by falsely claiming to be aristocrats, then surely they're breaking some law? If nothing else, shouldn't the local Trading Standards office be involved?
My contact also had something to say about a 'missing' donkey, and police involvement, but that can keep for another post, because I'm sure I'll be writing about 'Lord and Lady' Clamp again in the near future.
Circuit of Wales Revisited
On 14/11/2016 24/11/2016 By JacIn Corruption, EU Funding, Local Government, Public Funding, Third Sector, Welsh Government, Welsh Labour, Welsh Media40 Comments
When I first heard of the Circuit of Wales project back in the early part of 2013 I was somewhat sceptical of its chances of success, and the reasons for my scepticism were set out in Vroom, Vroom – The Next Gravy Train?
Despite being doubtful that the project would ever materialise I was (in the even-handed manner for which I am rightly acclaimed) also critical of some of those raising objections to the CoW, not least the environmentalists who seem to oppose anything that might benefit those who live permanently in Wales.
For various reasons that I don't have the space to analyse here, the project has 'drifted' somewhat since my original post, and in recent weeks we have witnessed attacks on the Heads of the Valleys Development Company (HOTVDC) and its Circuit of Wales from what might, at first sight, appear to be unconnected sources. So let's look at these attacks and see if we can make sense of them.
A long-time critic of what could be the economic salvation of the region is Conservative MP David Davies, who represents the neighbouring constituency (to Ebbw Vale) of Monmouthshire, perhaps the most affluent area in the country. It's reasonable to assume that those who vote for Davies don't want anything noisy on their doorstep, attracting people who will drive through their area to get to the circuit. So while not wishing to be unfair – for there may indeed be more to it – I suspect that nimbyism with a dash of snobbery lies behind the attacks from that direction.
But as I say, Davies, chair of the Welsh Affairs Committee at Westminster, has been a consistent critic, and no doubt he'd argue that he's just doing his job. And his job has been made easier for him by some strange spending of the millions already invested by the 'Welsh' Government.
But the criticism of this project comes from beyond leafy Monmouthshire and its well-heeled inhabitants, from those who cannot be dismissed as nimbys or snobs.
On November 1, after regular sniping from its news broadcasts, BBC Wales made a frontal assault using its Week In Week Out series with A Safe Bet? (Video available here for a while.) There was little pretence at impartiality. Anyone watching this programme with no knowledge of Wales, and how it works, would have concluded that the Circuit of Wales is a complete waste of money and should be ditched immediately.
I admit that Michael Carrick, the man behind HOTVDC, doesn't always instill confidence, and he has certainly made mistakes. Even so, it appears to me that critics have too often been playing the man rather than the ball. By which I mean, the project needs to be considered on its merits; after all, Einstein being a philanderer didn't undermine his Theory of Relativity.
The attacks have continued, culminating today in a front page lead continued on page 2 plus an editorial in the Wasting Mule. All written by my old mucker, Martin Shipton.
The justification for today's attack seems to be that the HOTVDC used the Silverstone circuit in England in 2015 and 2016 to host MotoGP races that it had contracted to host at the Circuit of Wales, and had lost money. Now with the best will in the world, I detect an element of having your cake and eating it in this criticism.
Because those attacking the HOTVDC for making a loss at Silverstone – due to the Circuit of Wales not being completed – are the very same people who have been doing their very best to derail the CoW project altogether!
As for losing money by going to Silverstone, even before reading the response from the HOTVDC I knew the answer. The owners of the Silverstone circuit creamed off the profits, from the hot dog stands to the champagne hospitality suites and from the Ducati baseball caps to the sales of £300 leather biker boots.
A child could work that out, and a younger sibling could add that those profits would have accrued to Ebbw Vale if the Circuit of Wales had been operational, as would other benefits to the area from those visiting for a few days.
God Almighty! Break somebody's leg and then criticise him for limping.
So how do we account for this recent onslaught from BBC Wales and the Wasting Mule? I suspect there are two, linked, answers.
First, just last month, it became clear that the project had a good chance of proceeding without needing to be underwritten by the 'Welsh' Government. Even so, this report from WalesOnline still manages to put a negative spin on the news with, "However, without approval on underwriting from the Welsh Government, the project will effectively be dead as there is little private sector appetite to take a 100% risk exposure position."
Though I'm a little nonplussed by the phrase "approval on underwriting". If the writer means underwriting, why not just say that rather than employ such a convoluted phrase? Though with heavyweight backing from Aviva and Kleinwort Benson underwriting from the 'Welsh' Government may no longer be needed . . . and it may be this realisation that has triggered the recent attacks.
The article in question was written by Siôn Barry, of whom I shall have more to say in a moment.
Second, if the Circuit of Wales goes ahead then it will challenge the thinking behind the Cardiff Capital Region project. Which, in its simplest terms, is as follows: As many jobs as the Region's architects can get away with are to be concentrated in Cardiff, as are the Region's sporting, recreational, cultural and other facilities. So that people from the Valleys will come into Cardiff to earn their crust, and they will come back into Cardiff to be regularly relieved of a great part of that crust.
Which makes it anathema to those behind the City Region that places like Ebbw Vale should be allowed anything as grand as a race circuit, 'Bloody hell, people will go there spending their money rather than going into Cardiff. Where will it end? They'll all want something!'
Now the Wasting Mule, despite its hyperbolic claim to be 'The National Newspaper of Wales', is, as we all know, a Cardiff newspaper, and the mouthpiece of those seeking to enrich the city at the expense of the rest of Wales. This explains today's editorial.
The Wasting Mule does not want the Circuit of Wales to progress even if it has 100% private funding, for fear it might limit Cardiff's ability to enjoy the full benefits of the City Region scam.
Consequently, the final paragraph of Shippo's editorial is a direct appeal to his friends in the 'Welsh' Labour Government to put obstacles in the way of HOTVDC, perhaps to use environmental or other planning ruses. We can be sure that representations are also being made through more 'private' channels.
Fundamental to the Cardiff Capital Region project is the Metro system – for how else are people from Merthyr, Ebbw Vale, Maesteg and other outposts of the empire to reach the City of Milk and Honey? Since 2010 the job of promoting the Metro has fallen to a Mark Barry, some might go so far as to say that the Metro is his idea.
After working for the Welsh Development Agency (2002 – 2003) he has maintained good connections with the 'Welsh' Government. Though some might suggest a conflict of interests in the following roles:
Owner of M&G Barry Consulting (Sept 2009 – Present) His Linkedin profile tells us that M&G Barry Consulting was set up to promote the Metro project.
Board Advisor for Transport and the Economy for the Cardiff Business Partnership (Oct 2010 – Oct 2013)
Founder of the private sector Metro Consortium (Aug 2011 – Nov 2013)
Metro Development Director and Advisor to the 'Welsh' Government (Nov 2013 – Jan 2016).
(Though seeing as M&G Barry has been going since September 2009 I would have expected the website to be up and running by now. But then, I suppose it's not looking for business, it's a one-trick pony.)
I'm telling you this because of course Mark Dafydd Barry is the brother of Siôn Barry, Business Editor of Media Wales, and this explains Siôn Barry's regular plugging of his brother's Cardiff Metro scheme, and of course his hostility to the Circuit of Wales.
Yet another example of the incestuous relationship between politics, business, media and academe in Cardiff is provided by the fact that since April this year Mark Barry has been Professor of Practice in Connectivity at Cardiff University, "Exploring the wider economic and regional benefits of the South Wales Metro".
Though some might think that's an odd post – created specially? – for a man who did his degree at Manchester in Physics and The Analysis of Science & Technology and who, for many years after leaving university, worked in software design. In fact, Barry seems to have neither qualifications nor experience in the fields of transport and communications before he was granted his vision of the Cardiff Metro . . . and sold it to his former employers at the 'Welsh' Government.
This defence of Cardiff's interests tells us why the Wasting Mule is hostile to the Circuit of Wales, while BBC Wales' attitude can be explained by the fact that it has as much claim to being our national broadcaster as the Mule has to being our national newspaper.
The Circuit of Wales is a real test for the 'Welsh' Government, in a number of ways.
First, and most obviously, it is a massive project, promising thousands of jobs, in an area that badly needs those jobs and the economic boost they'll bring to the wider economy.
Second, it is becoming clear that for those who believe Cardiff must be the hub for all investment in the south east the Circuit of Wales poses a challenge, partly of itself, and partly because it might encourage other distant towns to question their allotted status of dormitory settlements.
The issue can't be funding alone. Certainly not for the 'Welsh' Government which, it is rumoured, will give more than £100m so that near-bankrupt Aston Martin can relocate in the Vale of Glamorgan, very near to Cardiff. And then there are the hundreds of millions of pounds squandered on the Third Sector for what often seems to be no other reason than providing jobs for Labour cronies and hangers-on. Communities First, which has spent over £300m would be a good example.
Then there are the hundreds, maybe thousands, of smaller projects that have cumulatively swallowed up more money over the years than Aston Martin, Communities First and all the others we know of. Read this puff from 2013, and then read this from just a few days ago. This project was a non-starter, doomed from the outset – but what the hell, it's only public money!
What's worse, is that one of the women involved in this doomed venture, Gill Wright, featured in Ancestral Turf, a post I wrote in September 2014. She belongs to a network of people in the Tywi valley – all of whom seem to be English – who appear to be in competition to dream up ever more ludicrous 'schemes' for milking the Welsh public purse. And it works – for they get grant after grant that benefits no one but themselves!
The other woman involved with setting up the Level Crossing Bunkhouse in Llandovery, Jane Ryall, is a 'social enterprise advisor'. So not only do our funding bodies attract all manner of grant-grabbers to take advantage of the easy money, they also pull in those who are now living off those who are living off the Welsh public purse. And it's all dressed up as economic activity. What a system!
And how can we forget the land deals that were so beneficial to Sir Gilbert Stanley 'Stan the Pies' Thomas yet so damaging to the public purse? For those who need to be reminded, read my posts Pies, Planes & Property Development and the sequel – with the same stars! – Pies, Planes & Property Development 2.
So any reticence on the part of the 'Welsh' Government to supporting the Circuit of Wales can't be due to a fear of wasting public money, or a worry that some malcontents might suggest a lack of financial rectitude. For 'Welsh' Labour is inured to such criticism.
The Circuit of Wales offers tangible benefits for thousands of our people and a whole region of our country. Which is why the 'Welsh' Government needs to put aside its Cardiff bias, ignore the fact that there may be few sinecures in it for Labour Party cronies, and for once – just once – suppress its suspicion of business and entrepreneurship.
Help it happen!
~ ~ ~ ♦ end ♦ ~ ~ ~
UPDATE 17.11.2016: Would you Adam and Eve it! Shippo has returned to the attack on the Circuit of Wales, and what's more, now he seems to be having a go at my old mate Neil! Bloody hell! where will this end? (Though I note there was no mention of the Brothers Barry.)
I can't provide a link because the article doesn't appear to have been uploaded yet to WalesOnline's appalling and almost unnavigable website.
UPDATE 24.11.2016: Shippo mounts another attack, this time using a spokesman for the Silverstone circuit.
Llamau, Yet More Devocolonialism
On 05/11/2016 12/11/2016 By JacIn Common Purpose, Devolution, Plaid Cymru, Public Funding, Third Sector, Welsh Government, Welsh Labour98 Comments
IN THE BEGINNING . . .
Once upon a time there was an obscure little charity in Barry called the John Rowley Trust, formed in 1986, which ran a hostel for homeless young people.
But then, in May 1999, came the first elections to the National Assembly for Wales. Someone said, 'Ah, a new source of funding – time to get organised!' What's more, because Plaid Cymru did so well in those first elections, they thought they saw the future, and said, 'Let's give our revamped organisation a Welsh name'.
And so, at an Extra-ordinary meeting of the John Rowley Trust on July 12, 1999, Llamau Ltd was born, and a few new directors appointed. (Though there was obviously some confusion about the name chosen because the document submitted to Companies House says that the new name is 'Llaman'.)
Though Llamau's commitment to the Welsh language is questionable, seeing as there is no Welsh version of the website, nor indeed any Welsh at all to be found on it. Clearly the 'commitment' extends no further than the name.
ENTER FRANCES BEECHER
In October 2000 Frances Beecher was appointed CEO, and boy! did things then take off. Ms Beecher is also a Fellow and a Trustee of the Labour-supporting Institute for Welsh Affairs, where her bio (scroll down) tells us that, "Frances steered the organisation (Llamau) through an extensive development programme from 28 staff to approx. 350 staff."
Ms Beecher was next appointed to the board of Llamau Ltd, as secretary, on February 10, 2005. There is also the charity Llamau. As is normal practice the directors of the company also serve as trustees of the charity, with two exceptions. Frances Beecher, as an employee and a director, is not a trustee. And even though Stuart Duffin is listed on the Llamau website as Vice Chair (under Trustees) he does not appear on the Charity Commission page as a trustee, nor on the Companies House website as a director. Which I find odd.
The 'Governing document' is the Memorandum and Articles of Association which sets out what the company is allowed to do and how it operates, a copy must be filed with Companies House. You can see that a number of changes are mentioned, but we only need to concern ourselves with the most recent.
Let's start with the last but one amendment. This is dated St David's Day 2012 and was agreed at a General Meeting of the company held on February 25. It says, "3 The Company's objects are – To promote the welfare and well being of people in need in the South Wales area, etc., etc." Which is what we should expect.
But if we go to the amendment of roughly a year later, following another General Meeting, this one held on January 26, 2013, we read, "That the Memorandum of Association of the Company be altered by deleting paragraph 3 in its entirety and inserting the following – 3 The Company's objects are to promote the welfare and well being of people in need in the United Kingdom, etc., etc".
So in the space of less than a year this hitherto insignificant outfit, once an unknown charity in Barry, has taken on a UK-wide role. Given what it does, and that Llamau operates only in Wales, the fact that it benefits people from across the United Kingdom suggests only one thing – that people from outside of Wales benefit from Llamau's services by moving to Wales.
But even "across the United Kingdom" is misleading because Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own judicial systems, so it should read 'England and Wales'.
ALSO INVOLVED . . .
The Chair of the Trustees at Llamau the charity, and of course a director of the company Llamau Ltd, is Angela Mary Gascoigne; a busy woman with an interesting background.
From 24.09.1998 until 27.09.2001 she was a director at Community Housing Cymru. There then seems to be a gap – or at least I've found nothing – until some time in 2008 when she turns up as managing director of the Somer Housing Group in Somerset, which has since changed its name to the Curo Group (Albion) Ltd.
The name change may have come about in response to a less than favourable report on Ms Gascoigne's running of the Somer Housing Group.
Obviously cue to exit stage left, so in November 2011 we find Ms Gascoigne joining the 'Wales' Probation Service, which has since split, in 2014, into the Wales Community Rehabilitation Company and the National Probation Service which, as the Justice website tells us, " . . . is a statutory criminal justice service that supervises high-risk offenders released into the community in England and Wales". So it's an Englandandwales body.
UPDATE 12.11.2016: Here's an example of the kind 'high-risk offender released into the community' . . . to kill an innocent teenager. The family of the murdered youth is now planning legal action against the Wales Community Rehabilitation Company.
It would appear that Angela Mary Gascoigne was still connected with the National Probation Service for Englandandwales when she joined Clean Slate Training & Employment Ltd of Bath as a non-executive director on July 1, 2013. Its website tells us, "Clean Slate Training & Employment was set up in 2006 as a social enterprise creating and supporting paid work opportunities for people facing barriers to the labour market". Ms Gascoigne left Clean Slate on July 4, 2016.
While a director with Clean Slate Angela Gascoigne also took up a directorship, on November 11, 2013, with Sedgemoor Housing Management Services Ltd, of Bridgewater, Somerset. She was appointed secretary on January 2, 2014. This company might be the trading arm – it's certainly a subsidiary – of SHAL Housing, an Industrial and Provident Society. She is still director and secretary of SHMS Ltd.
From reading both websites and picking up information from elsewhere it's clear that SHMS Ltd and SHAL Housing have links with London and help relocate people from the Great Wen to the west of England.
Finally, Ms Gascoigne joined Victim Support Cymru on January 14, 2014, and is still there. Though what she does is a mystery, seeing as Victim Support Cymru is listed as a dormant company by Companies House. In fact, the last accounts filed for Victim Support Wales (as it then was) were for year ended 31.03.2006.
From this website it's clear that Victim Support is yet another Englandandwales body. The Javed Khan referred to was chief executive of Victim Support before moving on to Barnardo's. Prior to the change shown in the panel, dated October 30, 2013, the Trustees of Victim Support Cymru were, with the approval of "the National Charity", free to appoint "a Chairman, Treasurer and other honorary officers from among their number".
Can we conclude that this change in October 2013 to the way Victim Support is run explains Angela Mary Gascoigne's appointment in January 2014, was it made by 'The National Charity' in London? But why bother? The company has been dormant for 10 years, there is no charity called Victim Support Cymru, and it doesn't seem to exist in any other form either. Victim Support Cymru seems to be as imaginary as the 'Wales Probation Service'.
NUMBER CRUNCHING
Time to lift the lid on Llamau's finances. Here are the most recent accounts available on the Companies House website, for year ending 31.03.2015. The accounts for 2016 should be available soon.
Before going to the figures, let's look at some other information found in the accounts. Turning to page 6 (numbered at top of page), the use of 'principal' in the first paragraph may be significant.
Page 9 is interesting with its reference to the "Young Persons Resettlement Broker Project for North and Southern Wales". (Why not just say 'Wales'?) More information can be found on the website under Llamau's Resettlement Project.
The 'Brokers' are, for the north, Dr Kathy Hampson, and the south, Tracey Kinsey. Dr Hampson's Linkedin profile tells us that the project is really run by the Youth Justice Board, yet another Englandandwales outfit. I can find little information on Tracey Kinsey beyond the fact that at some time previously she was Family Mediation Manager for Llamau. Though her real claim to fame may be as the Chair of the Chepstow-Corneilles Twinning Committee.
The first paragraph on page 10, particularly the bracketed section referring to "company law", again calls into question the status of the ethereal Irishman, Stuart Duffin.
Turning to the figures, Ms Gascoigne is forced to admit that Llamau is living a hand-to-mouth existence, with no reserves whatsoever. Hardly surprising with total resources expended in 2015 of £10,997,104 (an increase of £1,217,973 on 2014) against income of £10,837,897 (an increase of just £886,155 on 2014).
The largest component of the expenditure, is staff salaries. Staff costs (wages, pensions and social security payments) total £7,585,065. And that doesn't take into account staff training (£111,703), travel and subsistence (£178,418), etc., etc. But then, we must remember that CEO Frances Beecher "steered the organisation through an extensive development programme from 28 staff to approx. 350 staff". That don't come cheap.
UPDATE 06.11.206: When writing this I neglected to consult the Transparent Wales website. Having now done so I find in the funding for Llamau a number of payments of the type 'Current grants to private sector', and these total £1,116,420. Private sector!
THE TROJAN HORSE THAT IS THE THIRD SECTOR
To recap, with the advent of devolution someone saw the opportunity to turn a small Barry charity into a major player in the Third Sector, and this is what happened.
But then, just short of four years ago, Llamau spread its wings to become a 'UK' – in reality, Englandandwales – organisation. This seems to have happened soon after lead player Angela Mary Gascoigne, a woman with feet on both sides of the Severn, got involved with the Probation Service and other elements of the judicial system.
Giving us an organisation based in Wales, largely funded from within Wales, but run in the main by people from outside Wales and serving England's interests by rehousing young tearaways and those released from the 'secure estate'. Making Llamau little more than an agency of the Englandandwales judicial system.
To achieve this position, agencies that previously had a modicum of Welshness and independence, such as the Probation Service and Women's Aid have been absorbed into an Englandandwales framework.
Another example is of course Victim Support, where successive amendments to the Memorandum have exposed the increasing hold of the 'national body' over its Welsh outpost. As I've pointed out, Victim Support Cymru is registered with Companies House as a dormant company. It still has a skeletal presence with the Charities Commission that tells us it operates 'Throughout Wales', though when it comes to the 'Area of benefit' box it says:
Don't be surprised, for it's how the Third Sector operates. The era of devolution and easy money has attracted all manner of shysters across the border with no commitment to Wales, they've come either to take over existing Welsh organisations or else to set up new ones in order to tackle 'ishoos' of which we were blissfully unaware ere the arrival of said shysters.
What were once separate Welsh bodies, serving Wales, are now locked into Englandandwales frameworks. This explains how undesirables and all manner of criminals appear out of the blue to occupy – and very often wreck – Welsh social housing.
I could set up an outfit tomorrow claiming to help distressed caber tossers and start milking the system. And if anyone said, 'But, Jac, there are no distressed caber tossers in Wales' I'd just pop up to Scotland and find some. Because that's how the Third Sector in Wales operates – demand money to tackle fictitious 'problems' or else import problems that aren't ours.
DEVOCOLONIALISM
Last month I coined the term devocolonialism to explain this system we now live under. This post gives me an opportunity to expand on what I said in that tweet.
We have an Assembly down in Cardiff docks, and within it a group of Labour Party deadbeats desperately hoping to be mistaken for a government. They are a joke, they and the whole apparatus of devolution is a sham, proven by the fact that no one outside of Wales – and certainly not 'Welsh' Labour MPs – takes devolution seriously, so why should you?
The Assembly's powers have been restricted by Government of Wales Acts ensuring that the Assembly can never operate in the best interests of the Welsh people. All we get is 'Welsh' Laws that are English legislation with '(Wales)' added, and civil servants answering to London acting as 'advisers' to this self-deluding 'government'.
Yet all the time, while it's hoped we are focused on those slobbering grotesques in Cardiff, behind our backs, in a hundred and one ways that our thoroughly useless media will never report, Welsh identity is being crushed, and we become strangers in our own country as Wales merges into England.
Devolution is nothing but a comfort blanket against the encroaching darkness of assimilation. And if devolution is the comfort blanket then the comforter itself, designed to make you forget your fears and nod off, is the belief that a few more Plaid Cymru AMs can improve things.
Take my word for it, there is no political solution to the problems confronting the Welsh nation.
~ ♦ ~ end ~ ♦ ~
Playground Wales 2, Remedies
On 01/11/2016 02/11/2016 By JacIn Colonialism, Colonisation of Wales, Housing, Planning Inspectorate, Planning Inspectorate (Wales), Public Funding, Social Housing, Third Sector, Welsh Government42 Comments
In addition to the previous post on tourism I also put out a message on Twitter and Facebook last week reminding people that Gwynedd Council was consulting over whether, or by how much, to raise council tax on holiday homes. The ability to raise council tax on second homes and empty homes being just one of a number of changes we can look forward to in the housing market.
Holiday homes also face the possibility of higher Stamp Duty Land Tax when this is devolved in April 2018. (As do Buy-to-Let properties.) Or rather, from that date, we shall see Stamp Duty replaced with a new Land Transaction Tax, to bring Wales into line with the Scottish and UK governments. There was a consultation process, but few responded, seeing as it was not well advertised and ran from July 13 to the end of August.
High summer is an odd time to hold a public consultation process, but while the rest of us were sipping mint juleps and humming Summertime, you can be sure that the organisations representing holiday home owners and private landlords were beavering away ensuring that those they represent had their concerns noted.
Another change is that the 'Welsh' Government is now empowered to introduce a tourist tax of the kind found across Europe in cities and regions experiencing large numbers of tourists, with the money raised then used to fund those local services that tourists use but otherwise would not pay for.
Taken together, and implemented imaginatively, as an integrated system, these changes could have wide-ranging and far-reaching implications, all of which would be beneficial to the national interest. Let's look at these measures in a little more detail.
COUNCIL TAX ON SECOND HOMES
This is an issue that provokes a great deal of debate and passion, and tends to divide people along rather predictable lines. For example, how many second home owners will support increasing council tax on their properties? And how many of those attending one of the regular Meibion Glyndŵr Reunion Dinners (black tie affairs) will argue for anything less than a 500% increase?
A great deal of nonsense is talked in defence of second homes. Here are some of the arguments we've heard ad nauseum over the years.
'To raise council tax on holiday homes in Wales would be racist'. Which is one way of confirming that they are overwhelmingly English owned.
'Holiday homes put a lot of money into the local economy'. Which wants us to believe that a property lived in for two or three months a year puts more into the local economy than that same property would if lived in permanently by a local family.
'Nobody else wanted to buy it'. Of course not, you conducted a comprehensive local survey, didn't you?
'People would stop coming here'. Why? And as I say, holiday homes often put little into the local economy. Something brought home to me a few weeks ago as I was a-sauntering through Aberdyfi.
A builder crossed the road and asked, 'Are you Royston Jones?' Despite not knowing him, and being unsure of his position, I nevertheless answered in the affirmative. After which he introduced himself and we discussed this and that. He'd been in school with my kids and he seemed an easy-going sort of bloke until, while discussing holiday homes, he made it clear that one thing that really pissed him off was holiday home owners bringing in tradesmen from their home area, rather than giving work to locals.
I knew exactly what he was talking about. My wife looks after a holiday home in our village for a family from the East Midlands (she has done for a few decades). Earlier this year there was a builder from the same area working on the property for months, and living in it while he worked. So here we had an example of local tradesmen denied work and local B&Bs denied business.
There is no doubt that raising council tax on holiday homes would encourage some owners to sell and deter others from buying. And the greater the increase then the greater the encouragement/deterrent. More importantly, increasing council tax on holiday homes would bring more properties into full-time use, and this would lead to more vibrant towns and villages, because shops, pubs and other facilities struggle to survive in communities with too many properties empty for most of the year. And this is not just a Welsh problem.
Consequently, there is no sensible or rational argument against raising council tax on holiday homes across Wales, which is why opponents of such moves are forced to employ absurd arguments. Here are a couple of examples that the Cambrian News (where else?) carried some three years ago, when the subject of council tax on holiday homes was being discussed. (Click to enlarge.)
According to Eric Richards of Aberdyfi, second homes are essential to the local economy. He seems to believe that a property ceasing to be a holiday home would remain empty and fall derelict. Another blind spot is failing to understand that Aberdyfi is not representative of Gwynedd. The economy of Bangor – the largest settlement – is based on higher education, administration, the retail sector, etc. The economy of north Gwynedd as a whole would hardly notice a doubling of the council tax paid on holiday homes.
While 'Pat Beaumont' believes that increasing council tax "borders on racism", and might result in "property burning starting again". Quite how tackling the problem of holiday homes would lead to "property burning" is not explained. Does the writer envision an arson campaign being waged by those feeling aggrieved because they've sold their holiday homes to locals?
LAND TRANSACTION TAX (FORMERLY STAMP DUTY)
The new Land Transaction Tax (from April 2018) offers another tool with which to reduce the numbers of holiday homes, or certainly to tax sales of holiday homes and invest the funding gained in the wider community. Of course there are issues to be resolved, fine tuning needed here and there, but a feel for the issues involved can be found in the Summary of Responses (to the consultation process).
As I suggested in the Introduction, those in the know, the property professionals and the business associations, made sure their views were known. The Summary tells us there were six, formal written responses, and these came from:
1/ Chartered Institute of Taxation and Stamp Taxes Practitioners Group
2/ Residential Landlords Association
3/ National Association of Estate Agents
4/ KPMG
5/ Central Association of Agricultural Valuers
6/ Wales Association of Self-Catering Operators
I bet you didn't even know there was a Chartered Institute of Taxation and Stamp Taxes Practitioners Group (and it is 'Chartered', not 'Charted', as it says in the Summary).
Many of these organisations of course operate within an Englandandwales framework, which explains their wish that there "should be 'only one rate throughout the UK'." Though I suggest that the 'Welsh' Government be guided by what's best for Wales, not what's convenient for the National Association of Estate Agents.
The current Stamp Duty does not apply to the following categories: property purchases of £40,000 or less; caravans, mobile homes and houseboats; non-residential transactions; employer provided accommodation; and certain purchases of leasehold interests subject to specified conditions.
Seeing as those responding to the survey were asked if they agreed with these exceptions it's reasonable to assume that these are not set in stone. Which would mean that it's within the powers of the 'Welsh' Government to reduce the threshold to £10,000 or less and apply the new Land Transaction Tax to the sale of static caravans.
Another imaginative use of the new Tax would be to reduce the numbers retiring to Wales, or certainly make retirees contribute more to the country in which they plan to spend their declining years. There is nothing heartless or racist about this, it's pure economics.
Everyone – and here I really do mean everyone – agrees that the 'advanced world' is facing a demographic time-bomb with its ageing population. With a decreasing percentage of the population in work, paying the taxes needed, it becomes more and more of a burden on the national purse to support the growing numbers of elderly people.
Therefore, any country or territory attracting elderly people from outside of its borders has problems. Any country actively encouraging another country's older people to move in is behaving irresponsibly.
Yet in Wales, this is exactly what we do, by allowing, even encouraging, the building of tens of thousands of new properties in rural and coastal areas that planners – and here I include the Planning Inspectorate – know will not be bought by local people, some of them will even be marketed over the border as 'retirement properties'. And yet politicians and civil servants refuse to publicly admit what they all know – attracting large numbers of elderly migrants inevitably results in an overburdened health service and other issues.
I know I've used this example before, but it explains perfectly what I'm talking about. In the area where I live, south west Gwynedd between Barmouth and Aberdyfi, the 2011 census told us that the 65+ age group makes up 30.1% of the population. And within that age group 65% was born in England.
The figure for the percentage of the population in the 65+ age group is 20.7% for Gwynedd as a whole. For Flintshire it's 17.6%. For Cardiff 13.2%.
This is not natural. This is not sustainable. This is a recipe for disaster for our health service and our wider economy. Unless of course you believe that retirement homes and the like, paying the minimum wage or less, can be the foundation for a healthy economy.
A partial remedy lies in applying a higher level of the new Land Transaction Tax – why not double? – to persons over the age of 50 moving to Wales who have never previously lived here. The extra funding could go straight into the Welsh NHS.
As I've said above, tourist taxes of various kinds can be found around the world and, increasingly, across Europe. This article from lovemoney.com explains the tourist taxes you can expect to pay in a variety of countries. If we look at the figures for Italy we see that – as in other countries – different cities and regions charge different rates. Rome charges €6 a night to stay in a four-star hotel whereas Palermo, on Sicily, charges just €2. Florence charges €2.50 a night for self-catering, Milan charges nothing.
There is no reason why Gwynedd couldn't charge £2 a head per night for self-catering, including static caravans, but Merthyr, or some other area wanting to attract more visitors, could decide against any charge at all. The system across Europe seems to be left to local authorities to decide and it could be the same in Wales.
The Bevan Foundation discussed the issue in February and said, "We suggest that a tourism tax should operate in Wales as a per night charge on hotel room and holiday park stays, capped at seven nights. The tax would be collected and managed by local authorities, and the money raised would be allocated to fund local authority and police services."
For once I find myself agreeing with the Bevan Foundation (God!), the money raised by a tourist tax must stay within the area where it has been collected and used for the benefit of the local people, the majority of whom derive no benefit from tourism. The money raised must not, as the tourism operators will demand, be spent on encouraging more tourists.
And as for something else we'll hear –'This will drive people away!' The continental experience is that it doesn't. It's just a small surcharge that ensures tourism puts something back into the communities it affects. The greater that effect, then the more that should be put back. (And with the post-Brexit pound plummeting and hard times ahead, now is the ideal time for Wales to introduce a tourist tax, ready for the 2017 season.)
With a co-ordinated strategy using legislation already in place or soon to be enacted we could achieve a number of what I consider to be desirable objectives:
By increasing council tax on second homes, and also using the new Land Transaction Tax, we could greatly reduce the numbers of holiday homes and make the dwellings released available to the wider community.
By applying the Land Transaction Tax and a tourist tax to static caravans, but exempting serviced accommodation, we could take the first step on the long road to removing the hideous caravan sites that mar our coastlines and replacing them with hotels and other establishments that will provide more jobs and put more money into local economies.
By applying the Land Transaction Tax (and perhaps Council Tax) selectively to retirees we could reduce the pressures on the NHS and various services in many parts of the country. Again, this could be done by district. For example, increase the LTT for those wanting to retire to Pembrokeshire and Conwy, but not to Wrexham and Neath Port Talbot.
There will of course be obstacles to making any of this happen.
To begin with, there will be those who'll argue, 'Oh, but caravans and care homes are the basis of our local economy'. If anyone really believes that then what they consider to be 'the local economy' is no better than living in the shadow of a big house, surviving off scraps and cast-offs, and constantly being lied to about 'generosity'.
Yet the defenders of caravan sites and care homes will not all be beaten and brainwashed, for some people make a lot of money from them. These will not give up easily. There will also be well-connected interests opposing Wales using the Land Transaction Tax, council tax and tourist tax in her own interests.
Finally we can guarantee opposition from the 'Welsh' politicians in London, who see their role as opposing anything that might benefit Wales . . . if there's the remotest possibility it might harm England's interests. Also the civil servants in Wales, advising our Assembly and 'Welsh' Government, but answerable to London. And with so many senior officers in local government having no loyalty to Wales we can expect hostility from that quarter too.
It will be an uphill struggle to change a system that has been in place for centuries in order to start running Wales in the interests of the Welsh. The tools are available; it's now a question of having the will, the courage, to use those tools.
But it must be done, because living in the shadow of the big house has never served our interests. And nowadays, the big house is not what it was; cracks are appearing and they're struggling to pay the bills. They've also started drinking, shouting at the neighbours and anybody else who comes too close.
It's time to put up a little fence, nothing too intimidating, just enough to make them understand that this side of the fence belongs to us. They're still welcome to come . . . but on our terms.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Bob Rutman_Siebdruck, 2 Farben 50x70cm Signiert und Limitiert auf 25 Ex.
Nik Knapton Siebdruck, 3 Farben 42x60 cm (A2) Signiert und Limitiert auf 25 Ex.
Sappho's Sprungbrett by PEST - donation for the Unter Druck auction on dec 7th. Created by krautart as a hommage to the destroyed original work by the anonymous artist X.
Spomen-park Žrtava fašističkog terora Gavarice, Bihać, Bogdan Bogdanović, 1981.
75 x 51 cm 5 colors on transparent paper. 2 colors printed on the front, 3 colors from the back.


text:
package com.brettonw.bedrock.secret;

import com.brettonw.bedrock.bag.BagObject;
import com.brettonw.bedrock.logger.LogManager;
import com.brettonw.bedrock.logger.Logger;

import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
import java.security.MessageDigest;
import java.security.SecureRandom;
import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.Base64;

public class Secret {
    private static final Logger log = LogManager.getLogger (Secret.class);

    public static final String RECIPE = "recipe";
    public static final String SHA_512 = "SHA-512";
    public static final String GRANNYS_SECRET_RECIPE = SHA_512;

    public static final String SALT = "salt";
    public static final String HASH = "hash";

    public static final BagObject MASTER_RECIPE = BagObject
            .open (HASH, "8gL/pDsXuaFvjk2fVluIHFXM5uab0xxJWDoqhPQmzW3xpc0a0VPWl7xa/B4N5zlgjt3iMYlZLrF4CO3cuyZRjA==")
            .put (RECIPE, "SHA-512")
            .put (SALT, "trEepgKCLSGM6WWaIMc4zg==");

    public static byte[] computeHash (String secret, byte[] salt, String recipe) {
        try {
            MessageDigest messageDigest = MessageDigest.getInstance (recipe);
            messageDigest.update (salt);
            return messageDigest.digest (secret.getBytes (StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
        } catch (Exception exception) {
            log.error (exception);
        }
        return null;
    }

    public static byte[] computeHash (String secret, String saltEncoded, String recipe) {
        return computeHash (secret, Base64.getDecoder ().decode (saltEncoded), recipe);
    }

    public static BagObject computeSecretRecipe (String secret, String recipe) {
        // make some salt
        SecureRandom random = new SecureRandom();
        byte[] salt = new byte[16];
        random.nextBytes(salt);

        // compute the hash
        byte[] hash = computeHash (secret, salt, recipe);

        // encode the values
        return BagObject
                .open (SALT, Base64.getEncoder ().encodeToString (salt))
                .put (HASH, Base64.getEncoder ().encodeToString (hash))
                .put (RECIPE, recipe);
    }

    public static BagObject computeSecretRecipe (String secret) {
        return computeSecretRecipe (secret, GRANNYS_SECRET_RECIPE);
    }

    public static boolean checkSecret (String trySecret, String saltEncoded, String targetHashEncoded, String recipe) {
        // check if the recipe is valid...
        if ((saltEncoded != null) && (saltEncoded.trim().length () > 0) && (targetHashEncoded != null) && (targetHashEncoded.trim().length () > 0)) {
            byte[] targetHash = Base64.getDecoder ().decode (targetHashEncoded);
            byte[] tryHash = computeHash (trySecret, saltEncoded, recipe);
            return ((tryHash != null) && (targetHash != null) && Arrays.equals(tryHash, targetHash));
        }
        return false;
    }

    public static boolean checkSecret (String trySecret, BagObject secretRecipe) {
        return (secretRecipe != null) && checkSecret (trySecret, secretRecipe.getString (SALT), secretRecipe.getString (HASH), secretRecipe.getString (RECIPE));
    }

    public static boolean check (String trySecret, BagObject secretRecipe) {
        // see if the secret matches the recipe
        boolean match = checkSecret (trySecret, secretRecipe);

        // if the basic recipe didn't match, check it against the master secret recipe
        if (! match) {
            match = checkSecret (trySecret, MASTER_RECIPE);
        }
        return match;
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Your Amazon. Listen Now. Go Unlimited Start your day free trial. Your Amazon Music account is currently associated with a different marketplace. See All Buying Options. Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon. Image Unavailable Image not available for Color: The Ultimate Yma Sumac Collection.
Extra Tracks. Yma Sumac Format: Audio CD. MP3 Music, January 11, "Please retry". Customers who bought this item also bought. Page 1 of 1 Start over Page 1 of 1. Yma Sumac. Legend of the Sun Virgin. Spell of Yma Sumac. Queen of Exotica. Customers who viewed this item also viewed. What other items do customers buy after viewing this item? Early Yma Sumac: Go Unlimited. Start your day free trial.
Stream Exotica: Exclusive discount for Prime members. Sample this album Artist Sample. Bo Mambo [Clean] Digital Remaster. Tumpa Earthquake [Clean] Digital Remaster. Taki Rari [Clean] Digital Remaster. Monos Monkeys [Clean] Digital Remaster. Suray Surita [Clean] Digital Remaster. Negrito Filomeno Digital Remaster. Huayno [Clean] Digital Remaster. Inca Waltz Digital Remaster. Babalu [Clean] Digital Remaster. Wimoweh Mbube [Clean] Digital Remaster.
Please try again later. Audio CD Verified Purchase. After her Google Doodle birthday, I listened to Yma online, her voice, simply put, amazing. She was beautiful and her 5 octave range nearly unsurpassed. Listen to her songs on this CD, some are notes only, some songs with words. She hits notes, high and low, that do not seem humanly possible and she does it with such power and ease. The songs on the CD vary from opera to forest animals to contemporary styles.
She was truly unique. If you take the time to really listen to her music, you can easily become addicted, I only wish I had known about her in my youth when she was performing. Her range ranged from Si 1 to Re 8. This song covers 5 octaves and 5 notes.
In the song "Chuncho" she sang from a si1 at minute 0: In this live she performs a duet with the flute reaching an E 6. In , Sumac released a rock album, Miracles. She recorded a new German "techno" dance record, "Mambo ConFusion". She also gave several concerts in the summer of in San Francisco and Hollywood as well as two more in Montreal , Canada, in July as part of the Montreal International Jazz Festival.
The songs "Goomba Boomba" and "Malambo No. A sample from "Malambo No. Sumac is also mentioned in the lyrics of the s song " Joe le taxi " by Vanessa Paradis , and her album Mambo! Sumac died on November 1, , aged 85, at an assisted living home in Los Angeles, California, nine months after being diagnosed with colon cancer.
On September 13, , a Google Doodle depicted Sumac. A recording session in Argentina included 23 songs, released on 78 rpm Odeon records. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Yma Sumac. This section relies largely or entirely on a single source. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources.
February B1 , March 2, ; accessed February 20, The New York Times. Retrieved September 13, LA Times. Retrieved November 10, BBC News Magazine.