Thomas Paine's version of "you didn't build that":
"Separate an individual from society,and give him an island or a continent to possess,and he cannot acquire personal property. He cannot be rich. So inseparably are the means connected with the end,in all cases,that where the former do not exist the latter cannot be obtained. All accumulation, therefore,of personal property,beyond what a man's own hands produce, is derived to him by living in society; and he owes on every principle of justice,of gratitude,and of civilization,a part of that accumulation back again to society from whence the whole came"
Submitted by Leah
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Nearly all of these are English-edition daily newspapers. These sites have interesting editorials and essays, and many have links to other good news sources. We try to limit this list to those sites which are regularly updated, reliable, with a high percentage of “up” time.
The future of the union will not be jeopardised by a no-deal Brexit, according to the Prime Minister’s deputy David Lidington. The Cabinet Office Minister said it remained in the best interests of all parts of the United Kingdom to secure a deal with the European Union based on the plan agreed at Chequers in July.
However, he insisted there are “powerful and persuasive” arguments in favour of keeping the union together even if negotiations end without agreement. UK ministers have published a series of technical notices advising businesses and the public on how to prepare for such a scenario, although they have stressed that coming to a deal with European negotiators remains their top priority. READ MORE: Holidaymakers and online shoppers to face higher costs under no deal Brexit Scotland’s Constitutional Relations Secretary Mike Russell has urged the UK Government to rule out the no-deal option, stating that such an outcome “would be deeply damaging and disruptive” to the UK and EU. The Scottish Government is still pressing for an agreement which keeps the UK in the European single market and Customs Union. Mr Lidington said: “I think that the merits of the union of the United Kingdom are still there and are still very powerful and persuasive regardless of the outcome to the European negotiations.
“The UK Government is absolutely determined to get a deal and a deal that works well for all parts of the United Kingdom, but I think if you look at this just in crude business ADVERTISEMENT and economic terms I think the value to Scotland of the single market ofthe United Kingdom, the ability to buy and sell in every part of the United Kingdom, is something that is of huge value to businesses and customers in Scotland.” The minister also insisted Brexit discussions with the devolved administrations are “constructive and business-like”, with Scottish and Welsh ministers given input into the technical notices. Scottish ministers have previously expressed frustration over a lack of involvement in the process, with Mr Russell stating their own preparations for all exit possibilities are “constrained by the lack of clarity on the direction of negotiations with the EU”, and “at the mercy of the UK Government” in terms of reserved areas such as aviation and energy. Mr Lidington said: “We’ve taken very careful steps to try and identify those areas of no-deal planning where devolved competency is involved.”
He said that in devolved areas such as agricultural policy, the technical notices “will actually flag … this is the responsibility of the Scottish Government, and the Scottish Government is setting out how it proposes to deal with this area of policy in the future”. READ MORE: Cliff-edge Brexit looms as Dominic Raab reveals no-deal plans “The texts of the TNs certainly went to the devolved governments for comment and in the case of certain technical notices they were amended by us as a result of comments from either Scotland or Wales,” he added. “There were some which, when I saw in draft, I said, ‘hang on, you’ve not given enough thought to the fact there is devolved competence here, that needs to be spelled out’. “I’ll accept that there needs to be continuing awareness in Whitehall about the fact that we are operating in a constitution where significant areas of policy delivery are devolved in both Scotland and Wales, and that departments needs to be alive to that in their drafting and in their consultation processes.”
“The texts of the TNs certainly went to the devolved governments for comment and in the case of certain technical notices they were amended by us as a result of comments from either Scotland or Wales,” he added.
“There were some which, when I saw in draft, I said, ‘hang on, you’ve not given enough thought to the fact there is devolved competence here, that needs to be spelled out’.
“I’ll accept that there needs to be continuing awareness in Whitehall about the fact that we are operating in a constitution where significant areas of policy delivery are devolved in both Scotland and Wales, and that departments needs to be alive to that in their drafting and in their consultation processes.”
The most important thing Nuras brought with her into exile from Myanmar is a baby she found while fleeing an attack on her village. Photograph: Brian Sokol/UNHCR
When you have to flee your home, what do you take? Since the last exodus from Myanmar in August, more than 688,000 Rohingya people have escaped to Bangladesh. Here, refugees talk about the things that mean most to them
All photographs by Brian Sokol/UNHCR
The most important thing Nuras brought with her from Myanmar is a baby she found while fleeing an attack on her village. As 25-year-old Nuras and her four children fled, she heard the baby’s cries and found him near two bodies of Rohingya people. She searched for the baby’s family but when no one claimed him, she and her husband decided to name him Mohammed Hasan
The chain around 15-year-old Yacoub’s* neck is the only thing he has left to remind him of his father. The last time they spoke, his father was heading out to gather firewood. Then their village was attacked. Yacoub bought the necklace at a market in Myanmar five months ago with money his father had given him as a gift. He now lives alone in a tent, with his puppy Sitara. His aunt, uncle and sisters live next door. No one knows what happened to his father * Names have been changed
More than 700,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar in the past year. It is vital we don’t forget them
Michael Sheen: ‘I couldn’t stop thinking about the vulnerability of the refugees in the camp.’ Photograph: Siegfried Modola/Unicef
Since the end of August 2017, more than 700,000 Rohingya refugees have fled escalating violence in Myanmar to Bangladesh where they are staying in refugee camps. The influx was so fast and immense that there was little time to plan for their arrival. As such, the homes people have built for themselves from bamboo and tarpaulin are unstable and precariously positioned.
Basic sanitation – the kind many of us might take for granted – is limited and most camps have sewage flowing freely through them. More than half the population in these camps are children, who are especially vulnerable to the dangers presented by these living conditions. Rohingya refugees have gone through a horrendous ordeal before arriving here. Now, in the midst of the monsoon, they are faced with having to rebuild their homes once again.
As a Unicef UK ambassador, I’ve seen a lot of the organisation’s work during emergencies. Some of the most inspiring things I saw on this trip were the child friendly spaces. These are places where children who are caught up in horrendous situations can come to receive support to recover from the trauma they have witnessed, and to just play and be themselves.
At one centre on the edge of Kutupalong camp, I was shown pictures the children had drawn when they arrived here in September. Children’s drawings are usually so full of innocence, but what I had in my hands were very real accounts of the horrors these children had witnessed. The scale and brutality of the violence they’ve gone through is unimaginable. Their pictures showed villages on fire and people being hung from trees, shot at and killed. As the scale of the situation started to hit home, it became clear to me that it was different from anything I’d ever seen before.
One of the things that really struck me was the way in which the horrors of the Rohingya situation were balanced out by hope and inspiration. Many of the children who arrived in the camps were clearly traumatised – they’d witnessed the kind of violence that no one, child nor adult, should see. The child friendly spaces provide these children with psychosocial support. They’re a space to play, sing songs and laugh once again, but also somewhere children can try to process what they’ve witnessed. If just one of these centres were removed, 23,000 children would go without access to vital psychosocial, recreational and educational facilities.
Michael Sheen with children at a Unicef-supported Learning Centre in the Balukhali refugee camp, Cox’s Bazar. Photograph: Siegfried Modola/Unicef
The monsoon season adds to the pressure as heavy rains could restrict access to these centres for many children. It’s not only the child friendly spaces that are affected by the monsoon season – everything in the camps is at risk. Kutupalong is one of the largest refugee camps in the world – in April it was estimated that more than 604,000 people were living there. From one of the high points, I could see nothing but a sea of tarpaulin shelters. They stretched from where I was standing all the way to the distant horizon, where hills mark the border with Myanmar. Under every tarpaulin is a family.
It’s horrific to think that the devastation these families have already experienced is being compounded by the destruction caused by the heavy rains. Now monsoon season has hit, the Rohingya community will soon be in desperate need of clean water, health facilities and safe latrines. If people aren’t supported, the situation will be unimaginably bad.
On my return to London I couldn’t stop thinking about the vulnerability of the refugees in the camp. You could never really escape the stench from the river of sewage, which often flowed directly past people’s homes. When the camps flood, children will be among the most vulnerable – they’re particularly susceptible to waterborne diseases, such as cholera, which can have a devastating impact and can sometimes be fatal.
As I reflected on the conversations I’d had while in the camps, it struck me how often they turned to what were then the imminent rains. I spoke with countless people in Bangladesh and they all asked: “What will happen to us?”
The situation in the refugee camps speaks both to the worst acts of humanity, and to the staggering amount of hope that exists – but it’s abundantly clear that organisations like Unicef must be provided with the support they need to do their work. The Rohingya population have faced so many atrocities. It is vital that, one year on, we don’t forget them.
Visit Unicef’s website to support its work with Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh
With an almost constant flow of controversy coming out of the White House, the impeachment of Donald Trump does not seem completely out of the question. But what does it take to impeach a president? Has it happened before? We take a look at the history of impeachment, from Andrew Johnson to Bill Clinton
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