Quick Update. By Uncle Monty

Quick Update After Baghdad & Bucharest.

By Uncle Monty.

^^^

Arrived at Wien or Vienna earlier today after

my latest capital visits to Iraq's rivetting

Baghdad, Romania's austere Bucharest, and

CZ's delightful Prague at where I will return

to attend the opening ceremony of The Antonín

Dvořák International Festival, 2010. Such has

been part of my eight-nation adventure that

will end at the close of America's Labor Day,

2010. My holiday is spread over a 35-day

period and will entail some 22,000 miles of

travel for me once I return to home base.

^^^

Not lost among all of this is still my seething

anger against Peter and John Bird of The

Big Issue and their new evil ally known as

The Colorado Creep. Due to them, I no longer

have my five-year old Big Issue pitch that

they took away from me all just out of their

own spite and vindictiveness against me.

.

Please sign my petition:

onlinepetitionformonty@gmx.co.uk

Put only your name in the subject line.

Your e-mail will not be disclosed.

.

Thus, has I have traveled on my holidays I

have encountered many homeless folkz at

the various nations I have been visiting.

Their stories I will include after my holi-

days with many images I took of them.

^^^

My purpose here is to let you all know

that I am worried that some of you may

have felt I had finally gone away for good

since taking, like I have, an extended break

from writing my blog stories during my

very enjoyable holidays. Sorry, but I am

still alive and well despite my burning

bitterness against the above three

mentioned-cruel and cold arbiters.

^^^

I must run. Have much to do while on

the road. My next story about The Big

Issue is called: "And So, Say All of Us."

It will also include a variety of photos of

those homeless folkz I have encountered

on the road from one capital after an-

other at Eastern Europe and at

the Middle East.

^^^

Proudly, Uncle Monty At Vienna.

+Richard The Lion-Heart/Coeur de Lion,

2010.

^^^
Homeless Kassi of Romania (shown with

me below) sold The Big Issue, too, when she

first briefly came to England. She has since re-

turned home and expressed no love for either

the British or the Bird rag! And, by sheer good

luck we bumped into each other at the austere

capital of Bucharest or in Romania the city is

called "Bucureşti." Kassi was astounded (and

happy) to find another one time Big Issue

vendor, all the way from England, sitting

right next to her at her local park bench.

Bravo to Kassi!!

.

~ Comments & Feed Back ~

allaboutthebigissue@britain.com

.

:: THE BIGGERISSUE.ORG ::

http://thebiggerissueorg.blogspot.com/2010/08/thankz-by-uncle-monty.html

~ To Enlarge Any Image, Just Click On It! ~

.

Crocodile Tears. By Uncle Monty.

Crocodile Tears.

By Uncle Monty.

Graphics By Alex Albion.
-.-

Had Ralph Millward, 41, never been a Big Issue
vendor, he would never have been murdered at

his pitch. Such is one of the many hazards faced

daily by such street vendors while The Big Issue

fat-cats-cum-greedy-profiteers sit ever so pretty

watching their big profits always rolling in at the

expense and safety of their own vendors.

-.-
The murderous case of Ralph Millward is a classic

example of the ever growing dangers faced by Big

Issue street vendors all across the UK. Yet, the

Big Issue fat cats take no steps to provide any

concrete warnings, protection and security

for its defenseless vendors.
-.-
Murdered Ralph Millward.

.-.

The so-called-“training” given to new Big Issue

vendors is a total joke at best and at worst never

instructs such vendors on how they can ward off

disturbing yobs, binge drinkers, open nut cases,

violent-prone by passers, argumentative char-

acters and/or ready muggers at their pitches.

.-.

I myself was once robbed at my now arbitrarily

suspended London Covent Garden pitch and twice

almost physically assaulted just for being at my pitch.

Luckily for me, some good customers of mine came

quickly to my rescue and with also such great friends

of mine like Steve Foley and Oliver Titmarch who

quickly battering them off.

.-.
I could well have been another Ralph Millward

for all The Big Issue would have cared despite

whatever crocodile tears they may have then

engendered just for public consumption and PR.

Just like they did for murdered Ralph Millward,

who was plastered all over the front cover of The

Big Issue as the ilk of John Bird could not contain

his crocodile tears on behalf of his rag called Big

Issue. The pathology of crocodile tears by the

Big Issue owner as UK's "guru" on homelessness

is to switch such on and off according to what-

ever he deems is needed for good public relations.

Otherwise, he really doesn't give a damn now that

he’s rolling in big money at his now retirement

age of 65. The same is true for his little lackies!

The day I see Bird truly crying for one of his

vendors will mean to me he must almost

be dying himself!
.-.
What John Bird Often Times Sayz & Thinkz ...

...
Ralph Millward was treated better in his death

than in his life. He was a very popular Bournemouth

vendor at where he had his pitch and also where he

was savagely and mindlessly murdered by teenage

yobs over a dispute about some stogies. Popularity

is, of course, no guarantee you’re safe or won’t even

get murdered or maimed at your Big Issue pitch.

Nor does one's popularity guarantee you won't

also have your pitch suddenly yanked from under

your feet by the ilk of Big Issue’s Peter and John

Bird like they did to me on May 19th, 2010.

.-.

In other words, nothing is secure with The Big

Issue when it comes to its vendors. There are

always plenty more poor buggers to take their

place. And the Bird Brothers know that better

than anybody else. That's why they don't give

a damn about their vendors, if the truth is

really known. Sure, crocodile tears are cheap

and mostly meaningless despite the horror of

Ralph Millward's despicable murder at the

murderous hands of some young yobs that

Broken Britain has brought upon itself with

the breakdown of traditional child rearing and

home, school, and societal discipline for all too

many little morons who freely roam the streets

and rule the roost with open impunity.
-.-
Another Image of Ralph Millward.

-.-

1) Was killing of Ralph Millward inevitable or is Rossmore's ...
2) Killers of Big Issue seller Ralph Millward sentenced: Craig Real ...
3) Anorak News » RIP Ralph Millward: Killed In Bournemouth
4) Big turnout expected for Ralph procession (From Bournemouth Echo)

.=.

The Big Issue has never for years taken legal

responsibility for the safety and care of its

thousands of street vendors in the UK. It pro-

vides no insurance coverage or health pack-

age or sick leave benefits or pension contri-

butions for such vendors since The Big

Issue is legally allowed, unlike most other

businesses, to dodge such by not technically

employing such vendors due to some an-

tiquated English laws that exempt them

from taking such responsibility for the life and

limb of their vendors selling on the streets.

While the same operators can and do fire or

sack vendors like me as if The Big Issue is a

fully-fledged employer. They get it both ways!

The situation, then, is almost fuedal and/or

Dickensian in which the vendors are seen as serfs

or unwanted orphans under their "benevelent"

masters. The street pitches that are legally

commandeered on the public streets by The

Big Issue is also an unfair advantage and a mono-

polistic business that allows no other would-be

competitor to compete against The Big Issue

monoploy on the streets for almost 20 years.

Such benefits economically only the fat cats and

not the way and stays that are the Big Issue

vendors or sellors. The Big Issue is both a

registered charity and a tax-exempt business.

Such only benefits the Bird Brothers and not

their unprotected and exploited vendors.

.-.
Now more than a year later since his pitch

death, Ralph Millward was shown great

respect by his local newspaper at the Bourne-

mouth Echo, who reported his murder with

sensitivity and care towards those who are

not only Big Issue vendors but also toward

those folkz who are locally homeless for what-

ever reason. Reading the Echo's superb re-

ports about Ralph seemed very real to me, while

reading The Big Issue's story about his killing

seemed oddly enough to be so hollow and so

mechanical to me, if not a bit cynical and hypo-

critical, too. Perhaps I've become the cynic,

since I don't believe a word coming from out of

the big mouths of the Bird Brothers any more!

And, I never will until they decide to treat

me and my fellow vendors properly ...
.-.

As for Ralph Millward, the crocodile tears for

him have long since dried-up at The Big Issue.

Samantha Allen from the Bournemouth Big Issue

office paid obligatory tribute to him and floral

tributes were kindly and thoughtfully placed

at Ralph's Bournemouth pitch by his friends,

his customers, and the general public. But in

the end, the Big Issue vendor is no safer today

then when Ralph was savagely murdered.

And such still exists despite the kudos to

Ralph by The Big Issue Foundation's Colin

Heath, who spoke of a planter having now

been dedicated this year in memory of the

murdered vendor.

.-.

Other cases of Big Issue vendors being beat-

en up is not that rare either like the vendor

who was beaten after an animal rights activist

tackled him over an advert in The Big Issue

that the activist felt was anti-animal. Big Issue

honcho A. John Bird (AJB) declared no such

ads would ever be published again in his rag.

But it was too late for the bloody vendor

who got his gob smacked and beaten-up

thankz to the big honcho's careless ad.

Crocodile tears, no doubt, also came once

again from the narrow eyes of that

AJB honcho.

.-.

Then there was the gruesome case of the Big

Issue staffer Sam Woolock at London's Covent

Garden distribution spot, who was found with

two huge black eyes and severely beaten all

over her face that some say was due to some

alleged alteracation with a vendor or a fellow

staffer or a domestic abuser. I was not made

privy to all the sad details, but to see any

mother with two black eyes and facial bruises

is just awful and I think totally uncalled for.

There's another problem, too, with conflict

between vendors that can result in some

nasty street violence that "brings The Big

Issue into disrepute." But such is never

broached by the Big Issue fat cats nor

do they ever reports such stories for

again such only "brings the Big Issue into

disrepute." That term now sounds mighty

familar to me personally after the vile

Bird Brothers also applied that to me! ...

What cads?

.-.

While the murder of a vendor like Ralph Mill-

ward does wonders for the public image of The

Big Issue, that's for sure; but beyond that, the

bottom line for Bird's rag is always business

as usual along with putting away his crocodile

tears until the next vendor becomes come kind

of crime or murder victim, which will surely

happen again, sooner or later, just by being on

the cold streets to rake in more profits for the

Bird Brothers and their fellow fat cats at

their London Vauxhall HQ. As one of my

American buddies used to say after watch-

ing CBS Evening News, "A good tear jerker

is always good news for enhancing corporate

profits." Same, I guess, is also true for those

Vauxhall jerks and their little gang of lackies!

.-.

But just one last thing about Ralph Millward.

No vendor’s life is worth being lost, no matter

how indirectly, for the sods of The Big Issue.

That's how strongly I feel.

.=.

Your feedback is welcome. If you wish

to post a blog message or have a Big

Issue story to tell, please send to:
allaboutthebigissue@britain.com

.

For talkative, yet so shy Ralph, Uncle Monty.

+Lammas Day, 2010.

.

:: A Red English Rose For Me ::

Whoever it was who apparently left a lovely red

English rose with my name at my Long Acre pitch

believing that somehow I had passed away, I

want to thank such a person for their kindness in

remembering me. While I am, in fact, very much

alive, I know there are some evil folkz who would

be very happy if I passed away. I live and die

by His grace only, not be the wicked minds and

evil lives of those who want me dead. Whatever,

it is now a pitiful case, I must say, of living with

my dead pitch all because of The Big Issue's

ever-bloated pair of Peter and John Bird and

their new, ever-poisonous, friend known

as America's "Colorado Creep."

How dreadful they truly are!!

.

:: Now For Kev's Thoughts ::
"mont i wondered what was up not seeing you any

more down covent garden. some sellor gave me

your blog. then i saw all this about pete bird and

you. i don't like him myself. never have or that

nazi duffy who thought he was king shit. don't get

me going on sam. she's a cold witch. she would not

let me have books on credit when i was skint. no big

issue i don't do anything with them anymore. mont

give up your pitch. don't expect them to help you

out like sam was to me. i was told a load of shit

about you. take it as a compliment. i don't give a

fuck what they say. you always helped me out

when others would not like sam. mont i hope we

bump into each other again soon. we will i am sure.

whatever happens you know i am another friend to

you. i will always be even if big issue wants only to

shit on you badly. best for now, mont. i'm your old

mate kevin. remember me? i know you do. you

have a fantastic memory for people and places you

always do. cheers. //////// guess what? got my first

kid since i saw you last. could have named him mont

now i think about it ///// sorry about that mate."

:: Kevin is an ex-Big Issue vendor ::

.

Sign up to have Monty's Big Issue pitch restored:

onlinepetitionformonty@gmx.co.uk

Simply type your name only in the subject line and

then send. Your e-mail address will not be disclosed.

.

:: HOLIDAY NOTICE ::
With August now here, I shall be taking a little time

off from posting my regular stories and photographs

until after both the UK Summer Bank Holiday and

America’s Labor Day set for September 6th, 2010.

If, however, some major news occurs, I will be back

to quickly blog! In the meantime, I shall be off

to places and events, far and wide, along with en-

countering old and new friends, and meeting some

important and famous people, coupled with my

exciting planned visits, here and there, both at
home and abroad. Happy Summertime everyone
and have a good one! Your’s, UM. Contact John

Lenhart, ONLY if you need to contact me

urgently: johnlenhart@email2me.net.
.
Now for some new stories set for
mid-September and beyond:
Come With Me To Paradise
How The Big Issue Lost 25,000 Quid
Fanny - Nunz & Nazis - Bloody Broken Britain

Welfare Reform Right On - Guess What?
From Paris To Berlin - Althorp & Afternoon Tea
Arrival of the Pope - What I Was Told About Tom
Inside Lambeth Palace – Yet, His Evil Son Still Lives
All these and more future blog stories are in the

works by Uncle Monty and/or other writers .

.

Cymru’s Sant John Roberts.
I mewn Cymraeg At Ewythr Monty.
In Welsh By Uncle Monty.
Fotos a graffigau ny Alex Albion.
Photos & Graphics By Alex Albion.

http://thebiggerissueorg.blogspot.com/2010/08/cymru-in-welsh-by-uncle-monty.html

.

Considering. By Uncle Monty.

Considering The Big Issue.

By Uncle Monty.

Graphics By Alex Albion.
:::

Their silence is deafening at The Big Issue
since pathetic Peter Bird and joyless John Bird

illegally suspended me for “bringing the Big Issue

into disrepute.” Whatever, let’s go head so that I

can now raise more questions considering

The Big Issue. So, here we go ....
:::

Considering The Big Issue is owned and operated

by a self-confessed, ex-criminal. Considering one of

The Big Iusse’s favourite pets is a lass with almost
100 criminal convictions to her name and who has

publicly met then Prime Minister Gordon Brown at

No. 10 with John Bird and his picked fancy fans; she

met David Cameron, too, who is now the British Prime

Minister, and the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

:::
Considering The Big Issue is known to have 3,000
London street vendors of which some third of them,

or around a 1000 of them, have allegedly either

criminal records or have been in prison or on

probation or have had ASBOs or were imposed

with community service sentences by

the British courts.

:::

So I wonder why on earth Peter and John

Bird are now acting all so "Holy & Thou"

towards me? And, whose past American sins

were callously revealed by America's "Kook of

The Year." Why have they signaled and singled

me out considering The Big Issue isn't full of

sinless folkz from the top to the bottom of the

Bird street publication that is sold weekly on

the open and cold streets the UK.

:::

The answer is they decided to victimize me

with the aid and abetting of the Colorado cunt

and his intent to destroy my life. All that the

Bird Brothers have now done is to try to de-

stroy my English life like the Colorado kook

did by viciously hounding and stalking my

then American life since 1996. As of last count,

the same "cleric" cunt sent over 3,000, yes

3,000, menacing e-mails to me. Now, he's

started on my English life with the help of the

Bird Brothers! "A gift from a bad man, brings no

good," and that's exactly what the unconvicted

criminal cyber stalker of Loveland, Colorado,

has brought for Peter and John Bird and The

Big Issue. Beware, too, that the same Loveland

bogus bishop calls himself a "Press Officer" by

sending out threatening e-mails on behalf of

his empty and paper "Episcopal" Church. He

is no more a real Press Officer, than I am a

one-legged Muslim ... Oh, and before I forget,

the kook also hates the English at every step.

:::
The So-Called "Guru" of UK Homelessness.

:::
Considering The Big Issue has already lost £25,000
for what it has done to me. And, my full story about
that will go online in couple of weeks or so, if I en-

counter no further legal hitch to reveal such. I am

hoping, too, that I can also stop another major gift

from coming The Big Issue way.

:::
Considering The Big Issue has ignored over 1,000

people in their support of my public petition to be

restored to my rightful pitch of five years at

London's Long Acre outside of Cafe Nero. The

Big Issue believes it is legally immuned thanks

to the free legal advice from Charles Russell and

Doughty Street Chambers. But the Bird Brothers

may in the end be in for a rude legal shock sooner

or later, if they continue to ignore the obvious.
:::
Considering The Big Issue has violated my human

and legal rights with utter contempt. Considering

The Big Issue's vile brothers Peter and John Bird

have also dismissed my civil and protected rights

under both European Union and British laws.

:::
Considering The Big Issue has thrown alway all

of my good and many customers with utter im-

punity by its unjust and disgusting “suspension”

of me as a Big Issue vendor even though I com-

mitted no crime or offences on or off my pitch!
Considering Peter and John Bird have thrown

away my pitch of five years standing to satisfy

their own sense of bloated self-importance and

naked lawlessness.

:::
Considering The Big Issue has acted in a totally

arbitrary and capricious manner against me.
Considering The Big Issue has discarded my

vendor life and vunerable status as sheltered-

house pensioner at their utter whim.
Considering The Big Issue is continuing to

purposely ignore my public protests has

if I don’t even humanly exist.

:::
Considering Peter and John Bird have dismissed

absolutely the pleas of my friends and good

customers for The Big Issue to simply lift

my suspension and give me back my pitch.

:::
Considering The Big Issue provides no

in-house process for vendors like me to appeal

the Bird Brothers' unjust and revengeful decision

to take away our pitches at the drop of a hat!

:::

Pathetic Peter Bird!

Please continue to sign my online petition.

All you need do is simply write your name

in the subject line and then send. Your

e-mail address will not be disclosed.

onlinepetitionformonty@gmx.co.uk

Thankz for your support!!

:::
Considering The Big Issue goes on and on. I

will suffice for now on many other comments

in considering what The Big Issue has done

not only to me but to other vendors over the

years ... Some of what I have been told

amount to pure horror stories from some

vendors who have contacted me since

the start of this my new blog that is

all about The (REAL) Big Issue.

:::

Your Feedback or To Post A Blog Message:

allaboutthebigissue@britain.com
:::
Here's The "Guru" Himself!

:::

:: BEST MESSAGE AT HALF-YEAR ::
"Dear Uncle Monty, Where on earth did the word

"DEBADGED" come from? Never heard of such a word

before. It's a strange use of the English language.

Look, I have also been following the big issue saga

re - you. And, that bogus bishop and "Kook of the

Year, 1996" in Loveland, Colorado, who set in motion

all your troubles with big issue. I am so disappointed

with John Bird being an ex-criminal himself for bending

his knee to that kook. None of us are angels including

myself who served time in prison like John Bird did.

Reading the things you are alleged to have done in the

States should have no impact on what you do (or did) at

your patch. The kook is wallowing in your misfortune

as usual. I don't believe big issue has done you right.

Be sure Uncle Monty to stand up for your rights (which

you seem capable of doing) while it seems John Bird,

the whole of big issue, and the kook in Colorado, have

contemptuously violated. I am sure you have a good

law case to sue the socks of them. The more I have

read about your 'suspension', the more I am convinced

you've been blackened by their gross conspiracy to

destroy you. Hang in there; you might overcome them

one way or another. I shall be watching carefully the

outcome of your case against John Bird and that kook".

Ex-con, with Ph.D., Prison Badge

No. 213-703-9118A.

:::

Following this latest story, I have now almost

completed my next one about the murdered

Big Issue vendor Ralph Millward entitled:

"Crocodile Tears." By Uncle Monty.
:::

Alive and angry, Uncle Monty.

+Eighth Sunday after Trinity, 2010.
:::
White Funeral Day - The Full Story.

http://thebiggerissueorg.blogspot.com/2010/07/white-by-uncle-monty.html

.

.

(To Enlarge Any Image, Just Double Click On It)

.

.
~ Please note that I do NOT solicit or accept donations

or paid advertising for any of my world blogs ~

.

Debadged. By Uncle Monty.

Debadged or Not! By Uncle Monty.

Story Photos By Jill Ferguson, Wilfred

Wong, Miles I'Anson, & Alex Albion.
~~~

Sure, it was lovely to be back again at my old

Big Issue pitch on London's Long Acre after my

five-year pitch was closed down by the vile decision

of Peter and John Bird to suspend me for "bringing

The Big Issue into disrepute." Such is the catch-all

rule used against vendors at the whim and will of

The Big Issue Bird Brothers. Their "suspension" of

me is illegal and has no legal validity against me

until a court of law rules whatever which way for

me or The Big Issue. Thus, legal counsel informs

me of such and on that basis I have now freely

acted accordingly as seen today by the use my

pitch to once again sell The Big Issue that I

most certainly see no reason why I shouldn't.

Or whether I am a vendor who is "debadged or

not!" by the nasty ilk of The Bird Brothers.

~~~

But for now, back at my pitch I was today and so

enjoyed every minute of it as old friends and good

customers were surprised to see me again. In fact,

I spent two extra hours beyond my planned time

to set-up and sell my wholesale supply of the

latest edition of The Big Issue, No. 906.

~~~
Two of my good friends held the banners high.

~~~

Aside from the fact that the front cover of No.

906 was one of the worst Big Issue covers I've

seen in a good while, I still finally sold out with

some good profit for me, too, after being deprived

of making an honest dime for the past 8 weeks

since the callous Bird Brothers conspired to get rid

of me all because of some notorious sham bishop

and unconvicted international criminal cyber

stalker at America's State of Colorado who has

gleefully and viciously told them tales of

every horror supposedly about me!!
~~~

Another good friend did the honours, too, for me!

~~~
One of the last things that Big Issue's distributor

Sam Woolock asked of me was whether I was

then "debadged or not?" I told her, before she

then called the police on me behind my back,

that as far as I knew I was merely suspended
but for how long I wasn't told by ruthless Peter

Bird since he said he needed to conduct "an in-

vestigation" of me to which I would then be told

further matters regarding his suspenion of me.

Needless to say, I've not heard a dickey bird

back from either little honcho Peter Bird

or from his big honcho brother John Bird.

~~~

I consider at this point that whatever period

of suspension I have had, I have now served

that after 8 long weeks for whatever reason (s)

The Big Issue saw fit to do what it has already

done to me. Perhaps all they want to do is like

the sham bishop and who has literally tried to

throw away my life and Christ-being all to

satisfy whatever fits his own brand of hatred

toward me ... I am long ago immuned to

whatever the bastard says about me.

I simply don't care anymore ...

~~~
Yet another good friend also came and did

public honour for me right next to my pitch.

~~~
I am sure that I am the first Big Issue vendor

who decided to go back to his or her pitch whe-

ther he or she is "debadged or not." The term

"debadged" is based on The Big Issue taking

away a vendor's badge that he or she must

wear while selling on the street or at an

assigned pitch. The badge has a crude mug-

shot of the vendor with a badge number and

Big Issue seal. Every six-months the badge

number of the vendor is updated and a new

colour one is issued for the new badge. Non-

Big Issue badges are bogusly printed by rogue

sellors across the country. Genuine badges are

sometimes lost or stolen or sold and then used

by street people who have themselves either

been unjustly suspended or refused a badge for

whatever reasons or who don't want to go to the

hassle of signing-up to become a badged vendor.

My badge is No. 115 and I started out five years

ago with the No. 2669. Always remember, too, it

doesn't matter how long you've been with The

Big Issue, they'll shaft you on the spot and have

no sense of loyalty even though they demand

the vendor give loyalty to The Big Issue ...

~~~

Today was a very good day for me. Even though

I still see no light at the end of The Big Issue

tunnel for me, I will continue to do further public

protests against the unjust Peter and John Bird.

I have other surprises instore for them and I

don't care if they get even more mad against me.

Once they take some positive steps to rightfully

restore me to my Long Acre pitch, then I will not

let up on writing all I can about them and their

Big Issue. I've lost what I had at The Big Issue,

so until I gain it back again then in my loss I

can only contain my deep anger against Peter

and John Bird by my pen that is mightier than

the sword. I cry, while my enemies rejoice!

But one day, I shall rejoice against The Bird

Brothers and most especially against that

sham bishop of Yankee hate. Mark my

words, my dear ones!! And that will come

whether I am "debadged or not!"

~~~

Over 1,000 people have now sign my

petition either "live" or online to have my

Big Issue pitch rightfully restored to me:

onlinepetitionformonty@gmx.co.uk

In the subject line write your name only.

Your e-mail address will not be disclosed.

~~~

I fight the good fight with

all my might, Uncle Monty.

+St. Gregory, 2010.

~~~

"Considering The Big Issue" is the next story by Uncle

Monty here at allaboutthebigissue.blogspot.com

Then Came Billie, who is pictured below ...

.

Read All About "Democracy Village," too.

http://thebiggerissueorg.blogspot.com/2010/07/democracy-village-by-uncle-monty.html

~~~
.

.

{ To enlarge any image, simply click on it! }
.

Dead Bird. By Graham Walker.

Dead Bird Walking. By Graham Walker.
Part 2 of 2. Edited By Uncle Monty.

Story Graphics By Alex Albion.
:::

I was appalled on behalf of all other vendors who, as

‘unreliable’ as they are, have, over the past 18 years,

stood on the streets braving the elements, subsequent-

ly lining your pockets with nugget. I was then angered

that as a Big Issue vendor myself for 15 years, you

were getting personal, you were also talking about me!

I myself have been one of your "unreliable" vendors

for 15 years. I have been so unreliable as a big Issue

vendor that I have raised £65,000 for various charities

(including £2000 for the Big Issue Foundation) and,

without going into detail, I’ve been even more unreliable

than that! And then, lost in my own achievements, for

me, guiltily too late, my thoughts turned to the many

friends I’ve lost on ‘Big Issue street’. Although you

never met them, although you’re not even aware

of their existence, to you, they were no more than

an expendable, unreliable workforce. Well I can tell

you Mr Bird, having known intimately, each one of

them, they were nothing less than wonderfully
reliable friends and vendors who are now, each

of them, ‘reliably’ dead.

.
So in memory, and speaking on behalf, of Pete,

Myles, Debs, Carol, Dan, Graham two ties, Craig,

Pontoon Steve, Geoff, Geordie John, Fluffy Mark,

Helen and Gillespie, and to the many I never

got to know . . .
:::

"How dare you!”
Mr. Bird. I’m sorry if this article is a little heavy,
but it’s made so by the leadened bricks of irony you’ve
littered throughout. Yes, ironically, without the brazenly
dressed, beer swigging students, the posh g its who can’t
write proper, the violent, uncultured working class,
many of whom buy the Big Issue. Without the homeless
drug addicts, the alcoholics, the feckless, the scumbags
and the most unreliable workforce on God’s earth who
sell it. Without the charities who often pay good dollar to
advertise in it. Without the soup runs, agencies, churches
and charities such as Shelter, Crisis and the Salvation
Army who support, house, feed and often repair the
homeless, in many instances, ensuring vendors are still
capable of standing on the streets to sell your magazine.
Without each of these, the Big Issue wouldn’t survive!
And the biggest irony for me is, if the welfare state; the
benefits system, you are so, so derisory of, were to shut
up shop first thing tomorrow morning, The Big Issue Co.
Ltd. and you too Mr Bird, would be no more than five
minutes behind it! Yes, on behalf of my dear, dead

friends, and indeed on behalf of your mentally and

physically damaged, (‘irresponsibly dead’) ex-soldier.

How dare you!
:::
A. John Bird's Nude Sketch That Fetched

Over 300 Quid For Charity Last Year.

:::
John bird on students:
“I live near a university. All the women students

walk around with their tits hanging out and the

guys wear baseball caps backwards swigging

from beer bottles.” ⒈
:::
John Bird on soup runs:
“Soup runs keep people ON the streets

rather than helping them off.” ⒉

:::
What the hell are you thinking of John?
Having had a suck at rough sleeping yourself,
you know full well that this has always been a
sworn secret, sacrosanct amongst the homeless
community; an enigma that academia has

scratched it’s head at for millennia, i.e., why do

people sleep rough?. And now you’ve gone
and told the whole world and it’s blinkin’ dog!
Talk about whistle-blowing. What you’ve done

is akin to the president of the magic circle reveal-

ing the ‘sawing a woman in half’ trick on live TV.

It’s worse than someone in the know, selling
Banksy’s true identity to the Daily Mail for a few

shekels. So well done you Mr Bird, the secret is

now out. The game’s up! Yes indeed, the motive

behind people sleeping rough on the streets of

Britain, risking abuse, death from hypothermia

or being beaten senseless by a drunken mob is

down to the mug of lukewarm minestrone

they get handed late at night!

:::

John Bird on Charities:
“We need to stop our conscience-salving donations

to Shelter and Crisis.” ⒊ “The government and

charity's actions combine to keep people mired in

their “Christmas help seems to me, a desperate

act.” (Politea (right wing think tank)

Christmas address).
:::
“The Big Issue is not a charity, it’s a business ...

I didn’t want to do a charity because

charities piss me off.” ⒌

:::
Response from Jamie McCoy ... I spent 30 years on

and off the streets and I entirely disagree with what

Mr. Bird says. Yes, there are lots of homeless charities,

but they are all trying different things. One charity

paid for me to learn to read and write. Another
charity provided a hostel and then a permanent

home, an outreach team helped me to manage my

finances and keep my place clean, and I learnt cooking

skills at a centre for the homeless. The way forward
is to fund prevention of our drug culture, not saying

stupid things about homeless charities.

:::
Tim, 32. Homeless, He remembers COC (Crisis

Open Christmas) “It’s been a salvation as I’ve been

depressed about Christmas. It’s like having a new

family. It makes you remember how kind some
people are, it reminds me what life could be like.”
:::
John Bird on the welfare state:
“It exists because you could never trust the

working class to put a bit of money aside for

their kids education, or put a bit aside for their

health.” ⒍“Social security is criminal, insane,

a new form of slavery. It ensures people stay in

poverty."⒎“The social security is the biggest

bug bear that’s ever been deposited on the

lives of the poor.” ⒏

:::
The Big Issue UK Headquarters at London's Vauxhall.

:::
With average Big Issue sales per vendor of less than

40 magazines per week (earnings £30), with a large

proportion of vendors living in bedsits, hostels and

temporary housing, with living costs of £150+, it

doesn’t take an abacus to work out that the over-

whelming majority of vendors are reliant on benefits:

‘Enslaved with the insane bug-bear of social security!’

Yes, the vast majority of vendors are victims, inextri-

cably locked into the benefits system you abhor. And

ironically, through purchasing ‘Issues’ from you (John

Bird), vendors do, by proxy, turn you into perhaps

the largest recipient of Social Security benefits in
the country!

:::
John Bird on entrepreneurism:
“... for some people who start selling the Big Issue,

it gives them the chance to spend yet more bad

money to put into their arms or down their throat.

What we have to realise about entrepreneurism is
that there’s always plusses and minuses ... one guy

I heard of, left the British army, had severe mental

health and physical problems, had spent a lot of
time causing himself ‘grief’, then sold the Big Issue.

He worked for us for six months and then died!
The thing about the Big Issue is, it’s an opportunity

but, it’s also about people taking responsibility for

themselves. And if they don’t take that responsibility,

if they don’t have the social structures and support

system, they may well die. What I’m trying to sell is

the life and death reality of social entrepreneurism.” ⒐

:::

These two articles has been written because I am

saddened and totally wearied at the constant derision

and scorn Mr. Bird continues to pour on everything and

everyone who has contributed and continues to contribute

to his personal standing, wealth and well-being. In so do-

ing, also dispelling the popular misconception that Dr. A.

John Bird MBE. BA. Hons. the ’co-founder’ of The Big

Issue, is the authoritative spokesman on homelessness.

Although he describes himself as the ‘self-confessed’
representative for the homeless community, as a ‘long-

standing’ Big Issue man; a fully paid-up member of that

community, I, along with many others, find that the maj-

ority of Mr. Bird’s views on the homeless, the solution to

homelessness, and society in general, bear little resem-

blance to the reality I have witnessed over the last twenty

years. This article is not written as a sleight on The Big

Issue, it’s core ‘intentions’, and most definitely not it’s

vendors and the homeless community at large.

.
These two articles (have also) been written because

I have rarely in life stood up to be counted, rarely in

life spoken out against injustice. It’s, in the main, been

a life-time perched comfortably on the fence. Now,

in the enviable position of having nothing, enviable

because I therefore have nothing to lose, it would

be remiss of me not to fling wide open this window

of opportunity to, at last, let fly my opinions and

air my responses to Mr Bird’s often outlandish

comments and often bigoted views.

:::

I’ll leave the last word to Mr. Bird:
“I have always had a belief in myself. It is almost
delusional-as though I had been sent here to save

the world ... Religion won’t save us, even if it is

of the secular variety. You are better off in the

hands of imperfect people like me who create

something usable than the hollow hands of those

who are looking forward to the day when we

all wake up to true Socialism.” ⒑

.

The 10 Reference Quotes Herein Are Availabe

Upon Request. Your Feedback Is Also Welcomed.

allaboutthebigissue@britain.com

...

"The Birds (Peter & John) Are Circus Freaks."

Alex Albion.

.

.

{ To enlarge any image, just click on it }

.