Day of Action Against Atos - 30th September

Day of Action Against Atos – 30th September Posted: 08 Sep 2011 06:34 AM PDT Take Action Against Atos Origin and the Poverty Pimps on the 30th September 2011. Atos Origin have a £300 million contract with the Con-dem Government to continue carrying out ‘work capability assessments’. It is claimed assessments are to test what people can do rather than what they can’t. The real purpose is to strip benefits from as many people as possible. This testing system has already led to people with terminal illnesses and severe medical conditions being declared fit for work and having benefits cut. GP’s are ignored in favour of decisions made by Atos Origin’s computer. Plans announced for the scrapping of Disability Living Allowance have also revealed that this intrusive testing is likely to be extended to everyone on some form of disability or health related benefit. To date around 40% of appeals against Atos Origin’s decisions have been successful. Atos have now extended their harassment of sick and disabled by using legal threats to silence websites which have been critical of them, see the Benefit Claimants Fightback website below for more details. In London people will be gathering outside the BMJ Recruitment Fair from noon at the Business Design Centre, Islington, where Atos will be attempting to recruit yet more ‘disability assessors’. http://benefitclaimantsfightback.wordpress.com/ Send details of local actions to this address or post on the facebook group wall.  We’ll do our best to help promote and publicise all events:http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=181940165210541

The A-Z of M.E.

This was posted onto the Facebook group, 'A Better M.E.' but, unfortunately, know one seems to know who the author is, so they can't be credited.
But the poem describes the lives of so many people that I know, including myself, that I couldn't resist re-posting it here :)






A's for Arthritis,
B's the bad back,
C's for the chest pains - perhaps car-d-iac?


D is for dental decay and decline,
E is for eyesight, can't read that top line!
F is for fissures and fluid retention,
G is for gas, which I'd rather not mention.


H is high blood pressure - I'd rather it low,
I is for incisions, with scars you can show.
J is for joints, out of socket, won't mend,
K is for knees that crack when they bend.


L is for libido, what happened to sex?
M is for memory, I forget what comes next.
N is for neuralgia, in nerves way down low,
O is for Osteo, the bones that don't grow.


P is for prescriptions, I have quite a few,
Q is for queasy, is it fatal, or flu?
R is for reflux, one meal turns into two.


S is for sleepless nights, counting my fears,
T is for Tinnitus - there's bells in my ears!
U is for urinary . . . big troubles with flow,
V is for vertigo, that's 'dizzy', you know.


W is for worry - NOW what's going 'round?
X is for X-ray, and what might be found;
Y is another year I'm left here behind,
Z is for zest that I still have - in my mind.