To those who signed the road tax petition....

[dassie]

I wonder if you could give the same time to signing a petition to stop the genocide in Darfur.

The massacres in Chad/Darfur are ongoing - mothers are being murdered in front of their children, in the refugee camps there is hardly enough food or clean water for the survivors to survive on.

I find it shocking that 1.5m people have the time to sign a petition that is all about their back pocket, yet only 30 people have signed a petition to urge our Government to take action to stop this Genocide.

Please sign.

Darfur Petition

Thanks. Was going to post a less contoversial request in 'In the News' aswell (is that the right place).

good for you, dassie! Agrree it's thje little-englander mentality,isn't it?Aka selfish bastard syndrome!
Btw,you must be from SA with that name?

i would have signed it if you hadn't been so rude.
I am concerned about rising cost of car use.
Have you ever tried to get a wheelchair on a bus.
only read dassie's op

don'tthink she was rude at all! Keen and forceful maybe, but it is in a good cause!

2shoes: so campaign for better grants or transport for wheelchair users then! (I have tried to get a wheelchair on a bus btw - it's not difficult if it's an adapted bus).

Not from SA (DH has a link) but have a great love for Southern Africa (and for dassies)!

Re wheelchairs - I don't know anyone who uses them but I always make a point of supporting any campaign regarding ease of access/blue badges etc. Living in London I often wonder how people in wheelchairs cope and I do wish more was done about it. And that is why I signed this petition

link

I don't expect people to sign out of guilt or anything - people should sign because they want the Government to act. But if you are basing your decision not to sign on the basis of my OP - well I urge you to read the reports about what is happening in Darfur/Chad.

I signed it on the other thread iynwim
and thanks have now signed the other one.
4 today!

Done.

"most people do care more and are motivated to do more for things that will affect them, their family and their locale "

ahhh yes the big myth that we should worry about our own before worrying about those abroad.......except for the small fact that unless we sort out the problems abroad the number of refugees coming to this country will continue to increase - putting added pressure on us all.........

have signed and agree with you. (Although I don't blame people for being concerned about road pricing as such.)

2shoes, what's happening in Darfur is far more terrible than some momentary irritation with an MN poster. Can you imagine trying to explain to a mother who has been raped and whose children have been murdered that you wouldn't sign a petition because you didn't like the way a stranger on the internet phrased her request?

I heard a news story about Darfur ages ago. A woman was telling how her son had died - the militia rode through her village, burning the houses. She and her 3yo escaped. Her little boy was hiding in her skirts. Then a militia man rode up and tore the little boy away from her and threw him on a fire, FFS. This is not exaggeration, it's a direct report from a journalist talking to women in a refugee camp. Gives me nightmares, the idea of that poor little boy hiding in his mother's skirts and being dragged away to be burnt alive... horrifying.

signed and bumped thanky you for birning to our attention dassie.

aslo sending it to everyone in my addry book.

2shoes has signed (I have another thread open in 'In the News')

Also noticed that you only need 100 signatures for it to be referred to the suitable department (obviously the more the better!) so only need 16 more!

edam I did sign it on another thread. at your post

Oh, I see, sorry! Yes, that story haunts me. Wonder how many other women and children there are who have suffered such barbarity - hundreds of thousands? All I've managed to do over the past couple of years is sign a few petitions, write to my MP and send some dosh to the Red Cross (when they were still there - think all the agencies pulled out at one point because it was too dangerous for their staff). Wish there was something more bloody useful I could do.

Signed and bumped.

bump again.

Only 2 more signatures to hit the magic 100 (and then I'm aiming for 1000).

I mean 4228 people have signed the petition asking for the national anthem to be replaced with Gold by Spandau Ballet. Am I asking too much?

I'll take a look at this one I promise. I signed the road pricing petition because I am extremely concerned about yet one more intrusion into our ever diminishing privacy.

Thanks - that is my problem with the road tax proposal. in theory, if implemented correctly, it shouldn't cost any more for the average person and will cost less for alot of others. But - it is unlikely to be implemented correctly because I think they see it as a revenue raiser.

And I am very uncomfortable with the tracking aspect. That's why I don't like the oyster card on LU

The oyster card?? (I'm a northerner - haven't been to London in years )

it's like a credit card - you can load cash on it or you can get a travelcard put on it. Speeds things up because you just touch the card on a sensor and it takes the right fare.

But - you have to register for it (and pay a 5 quid deposit) and they keep a record of where you have touched in and out so they know exactly where you have been on the tube.

At the moment it is alot cheaper than paper tickets so tourists to London are being screwed over (what tourist or daytripper can be bothered to pay a fiver and then try and claim it back at the end of their stay?).

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