Biden pardons son on gun and tax charges.

 

Hunter Biden

Nobody is supposed to be above the law in America, but that doesn't seem to apply to President-elect Donald Trump or Hunter Biden, the son of U.S. President Joe Biden. Hunter Biden was facing jail time for gun and tax charges, but he's now been given a 'full and unconditional' pardon by his father.

Although Hunter was given a trial before a jury, found guilty of the gun charges, and pleaded guilty to tax evasion charges, Joe Biden says the charges brought against his son were politically motivated. Donald Trump claims that every charge brought against him was politically motivated.

American voters have just put Trump in the White House despite having been convicted of 31 counts of falsifying business records in order to pay hush money to a former porn star called Stormy Daniels. Trump will take office on January 20, 2025, and is expected to pardon many of the rioters who stormed the Capitol Building in Washington, on January 6, 2021. Any charges brought against Trump are now likely to be held in abeyance or dropped because no U.S. President has ever been prosecuted while in office.

President-elect Trump has just appointed Charles Kushner as U.S. Ambassador to France. His son, Jared Kushner, is married to Trump’s daughter Ivanka. In 2004, Charles Kushner pleaded guilty to filing false tax returns, retaliating against a witness and making false statements to the Federal Election Commission. In 2020, Trump pardoned Charles Kushner who is also a real estate developer.

Are Britain's jobcentres fit for purpose?

 

Over the years, UK Government efforts to get the long-term unemployed back into work have not been a great success. People that I've spoken to who have been on DWP courses aimed at getting them off benefits and back into work, have told me that training providers have often told them that they find it harder to get well qualified people back into work than people with no qualifications.

Some years ago, an unemployed man that I knew, told me that his jobcentre work coach had advised him not to disclose his university qualifications in business studies and economics, because it might be scaring off potential employers. He refused to do so, and contacted the newspapers. This was at a time when Tony Blair was spouting on about "Education, Education, Education."

I know of one person who is long term unemployed who has a science degree, two science masters' degrees, and spent three years studying for a PhD and she still can't get a job. She tells me that her local jobcentre offer her cleaning and packing jobs.

Another problem with so-called back to work training, is that the courses tend to be motivational and of a one size fits all type. They involve a lot of psychobabble and bullshit. They're basically trying to shove square pegs into round holes and people into dead end low paid unskilled jobs. People were frequently bullied into working for no money in order to keep their state benefits. Under Tony Blair's Flexible New Deal, the unemployed were told, "Work or lose your Benefits." Employers soon realised that the jobcentre was providing a load of free labour and they didn't have to pay anyone.

One of the biggest employers is the UK government, but I'm pretty sure that to this day, the DWP don't advertise their vacancies in the jobcentres. I think this also applies to other government departments.

Negative comments about the unemployed made by politicians often make it more difficult for people to get back into work. Boris Johnson used to talk about 'feckless Brits on the dole', but the Johnson family are so well connected that they have no need for the Jobcentre. They can always find someone to give them a leg up. Some employers don't advertise vacancies in the jobcentres because they take the view that most claimants don't want to work and are only applying for the job in order to retain their state benefits.