Fortnight round up:
- Wales want the whole English GCSE saga cleaned up, while Michael Gove is being a stubborn little shit by not asking for a nationwide review.
- Topless photos of Kate Middleton are posted by a *regulated* French magazine
- "Sam" gets the US into a shitload of trouble
- Middle-eastern countries may *possibly* be using the dodgy US video as a front for a backlash against the US presence in their countries
- Brits are murdered in France
- My first week at school is full of homework and catch-up
- I start fencing and manage to injure myself before we even start fencing
Today, I shall talk about Atos.
For those unaware, Atos is a company hired by the government to sort everybody claiming incapacity benefit (and DLA - disability living allowance) into three groups: Those who can work, those who can't work, and those who can do a "work related activity" (working with extra support etc). The general idea is to stop people claiming the benefit when they can work.
However, there are questions surrounding the contract between the government and Atos. Some people believe that they are paid more to declare people fit to work - thus causing the government to have to pay out less.
Now, when the complaints first started (on shows like Saints & Scroungers, Rip Off Britain etc), I just thought it was one of those few that slip through the net, as always happens. A few stories of someone with severe asthma, someone with trouble walking, ones like that. These people had either worked for most of their life and then had to stop, or attempted to work but physically couldn't. They also have multiple health records from their GPs and doctors in hospital proving they are ill. Yet their assessors would look at them on one day, ask them a few questions and decide their capacity to work based on that short time. As one arthritis sufferer said, "I have good days and bad days. You can't judge based on a single day."
It caught my attention when these little stories popped up repeatedly did I think something was up. Looking into it, it seems that Atos have declared that nobody is disabled and everybody is fine. Woo! Good thing they've sponsored the Paralympics.
Wait, what?
Yes, amid all their controversies, they thought it was suitable.
But that is not a point I shall explore.
I find myself much without an ending, as anything I say can be said better in an old article by Mark Steel. See you in a fortnight.
http://www.independent.co.uk/hei-fi/views/mark-steel-odd-choice-for-a-paralympics-sponsor-8091782.html
- Wales want the whole English GCSE saga cleaned up, while Michael Gove is being a stubborn little shit by not asking for a nationwide review.
- Topless photos of Kate Middleton are posted by a *regulated* French magazine
- "Sam" gets the US into a shitload of trouble
- Middle-eastern countries may *possibly* be using the dodgy US video as a front for a backlash against the US presence in their countries
- Brits are murdered in France
- My first week at school is full of homework and catch-up
- I start fencing and manage to injure myself before we even start fencing
Today, I shall talk about Atos.
For those unaware, Atos is a company hired by the government to sort everybody claiming incapacity benefit (and DLA - disability living allowance) into three groups: Those who can work, those who can't work, and those who can do a "work related activity" (working with extra support etc). The general idea is to stop people claiming the benefit when they can work.
However, there are questions surrounding the contract between the government and Atos. Some people believe that they are paid more to declare people fit to work - thus causing the government to have to pay out less.
Now, when the complaints first started (on shows like Saints & Scroungers, Rip Off Britain etc), I just thought it was one of those few that slip through the net, as always happens. A few stories of someone with severe asthma, someone with trouble walking, ones like that. These people had either worked for most of their life and then had to stop, or attempted to work but physically couldn't. They also have multiple health records from their GPs and doctors in hospital proving they are ill. Yet their assessors would look at them on one day, ask them a few questions and decide their capacity to work based on that short time. As one arthritis sufferer said, "I have good days and bad days. You can't judge based on a single day."
It caught my attention when these little stories popped up repeatedly did I think something was up. Looking into it, it seems that Atos have declared that nobody is disabled and everybody is fine. Woo! Good thing they've sponsored the Paralympics.
Wait, what?
Yes, amid all their controversies, they thought it was suitable.
But that is not a point I shall explore.
I find myself much without an ending, as anything I say can be said better in an old article by Mark Steel. See you in a fortnight.
http://www.independent.co.uk/hei-fi/views/mark-steel-odd-choice-for-a-paralympics-sponsor-8091782.html
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