If you've ever had to wonder why your JSA has been sanctioned, have a look at the Guardian website under "The job seekers story". Sorry I don't know how to do a link but this story is food for thought at the very least. pitcher

Hi Ruby, I don't think you're ranting at all. Sorry about your blood pressure! You're angry? Join the club. I agree with most of your post but you differentiate between pensioners and the sick/disabled etc. It’s been said by others on this site, divide and rule is how the condems try to fool us. IMHO this is the problem we all have to deal with. The condems state they are for the strivers I.E. those in work, while at the same time, through their cuts, over three hundred thousand public sector workers have lost their jobs. The condems, through the right-wing press encourage the low paid workers to think that the dole/ESA etc. is a life of luxury and therefore sets the working class against the unemployed/sick and disabled working class. Sorry If I've gone on a rant! I think I need a blood pressure tablet. I'm fuming. pitcher

Yes you are 100% right on that one. maybe liebor are just letting the condems do their dirty work for them. I have lost any faith in any of the main parties but I had little trust in any of them to start with. pitcher

Hi Antone, You have given me very good advice, twice in the past so of course I respect what you say. My point is your point. My post was to the point – if you have nothing to say i.e. something positive or helpful, then don't post anything. Ay up, slap my wrist if I’ve done wrong, pitcher

If you can't summon up any sympathy then read all of the other posts. If you still feel the same way, maybe you're on the wrong site. pitcher

Hi Bazooka, I think you can say what you want, the site won't close. Your posts may be edited by the site team! When it came to the poll tax I protested both legally and illegally, it is a personal matter of how far anyone is prepared to go. I's great to hear you're fighting, more power to you! Sorry to disagree with you on the matter of revolution. I've seen high times in the past that came to nothing and I see nothing new. Revolution, regardless of which way it goes hurts those less able to deal with change and now I don't want to see anyone hurt. Apart from the rich, greedy F*****S. Regards, pitcher PS Signed WOW, every little hurts!

Hi Ruby, WOW! I read and feel your anger on this matter. I agree with what you say about the rich get richer and the poor getting it in the a... The use of retrospective legislation is very scary and immoral but I do not think it's puts us on a path to dictatorship, maybe a very short step but no more. If I'm wrong and the worst comes to be, you will see me on the barricades, I'm the one in the wheelchair. As for joining a party, yes it is both worrying and sad that the issues we seem to have in common are not foremost in the minds of any creditable party. Yes the condems are pigheaded and defiant, It will take more than the odd e-petition to make a change but on this day over a quarter of a million people went on strike to show exactly what they think of this government. There are more targeted strikes to follow. You state in your post, “I don't have to bang on about benefits and the such...” I'm more than happy for any one to “bang on about benefits”, this government, with the help of a right-wing press has demonised the sick and disabled etc. It shows just how low they are. Please keep you MP on his/her toes and sign those e-petitons, I think it can make a difference. My best, pitcher

Hi, Yes, grim reading indeed , we are not in a dictatorship or anywhere near it. If we were this site and a great many more would not exist. We can start or join a pressure groups, write or lobby our MP's or start/sign any (e)petition, join a political party and a great deal more and as a last resort, we can take direct action. We are not toothless. What this government rely on is apathy and resignation on behalf of the majority of us. If you feel what is happening is bad, use the means at your disposal. If you can login to cag then you can start/sign a e-petition, email your MP etc. I'm deeply unhappy with this government and I'll do all I can to express my dismay to all sundry. I hope you will join me. pitcher

Hi ford, looked at all your posts again, you said a lot in a small space, food for thought indeed... So on to Firefox add-ons NoScript. First add-on for firefox, yep can't fault that but as you state, it can and does interfere with functionality of websites. If you wish to sign up, register or even buy something then you have to turn on some if not all of the scripts that are blocked. I think this means If your firewall/AV hasn't stopped an infection,then you infect yourself. How can you tell? (I value your posts so this is an honest question so that I and others may learn from. it's not a case of one one-upmanship, I don't do that) . And no need for flash block? yep again. Addblockplus. I think it does what it says on the tin, blocks ads and all known malware sites. I use it and have no bad word to say. I use it with Add block plus pop-up add-on, for no other reason than it's recommended by the same team. Seems to do no harm. Better privacy. It’s something I've used but for no reason that I can recall, I've moved to Ghostery, I like the interface. If you have a tech preference between the two, please tell. WOT. As you state in your post, It can't give prior warning of infection but if you wish to interact with a website, e.g. register or purchase something, it will give feedback of other peoples experiences. It may save a lot of spam, heartache and/or money. If you have kids, it's another safeguard to add to all the others you should have in place. HTTPS Everywhere. Used in conjunction with HTTPS Finder. I don't think you did this but I take on board the shortcomings you mention. I also think you had no time for the sll observatory! Key scrambler. This is no longer a Firefox plugin but works across twenty plus browsers. I'm happy to go belt and braces on this one. Paranoia is no bad thing on the web! I see no slow down using it. Not Firefox but your comments on spybot teatimer is echoed by a lot of “experts”,I don't use it or recommend it. Your Comment on I.E. I opened I.E for the first time is a long time and had a good look around. Yes maybe I.E. has a few things inbuilt but I find it a sterile and contrived environment. What I mean is my Firefox is my Firefox and my add-ons don't make it I.E. One thing of interest I found in I.E was a time for each add-on to load. That would be a nice touch for Firefox. I just do not like the “feel” of I.E. If that makes sense. It's not security but it is an add-on, I have found speed dial most useful, I ask anyone out there to give it a try. If you have the time, have a look at the CsFire addon, your comments most welcome. And how do you feel about the Avast! Update? I feel I've lost something! Save Browsing, pitcher

YEA Ruby! I think all decent people will agree with your post. When we fought against the poll tax (showing my age!) there was very good organisation behind the protests. However most of this came from so-called ultra left-wing parties/groups. I think, it's been said by others, today, we have forgotten how to protest. This is not the forum to extol the virtues of ultra left-wing party/group (and I'm not) but without organisation we are all p%$$*ng in the wind. Maybe a non-payment protest will have the desired effect but it's hard if you do this on your own. Only a well organised protest will have any effect on coalition policy. If this happens then we will see it all come tumbling down on top of them. My best, pitcher

Everyone is sick of looking at George Osborns smug face :-)

Hi Nice piece of work. Does Cameron understand his own polices? Probably, it may just be a case of him being economical with truth at PMQ's. (not for the first time!). However, I don't think he has any idea about the hardships the bedroom tax will impose on the most vulnerable in our society. Some people are saying this will be his poll tax. One can only hope so. pitcher

Hi, I humbly suggest, playing junior economist is a dangerous thing, just look at what George Osborn has done. A man with a poor degree in history/Art and with no real life work experience has become Chancellor of the exchequer. Priceless! A living wage means exactly what it says. Paying someone just enough to live on, no more no less. How are people supposed to live if their employer pays them less than what is needed to survive? Are you advocating begging, robbery or maybe even prostitution to make up the short fall? please explain. Regards pitcher

Hi, I'm NOT signing, How about a petition to keep pedestrians safe from self-righteous cyclists! I am not anti cycle at all, just anti most of the people who ride them. Put you own house in order before asking for support. Compulsory insurance and licence numbers for all cyclists. My best regards, pitcher

Hi Yep, I'll go with Avast! But as I'm sure you've seen, the web rep browser addon is not up to much, It seems to work on the same principle as WOT but with much fewer users. I've disabled it. Apart from the chance of a small install problem, I'd recommend spybot to anyone. In Firefox options/security there's the tick box option to block attack sites and web forgeries. I'm not geek enough to know but it seems to have a similar role to the immunize function in spybot (tell me if I'm wrong) however two databases may better than one. I'm glad you gave WOT a punt on a spare pc, I do think it can help one to make a decision before entering a site and risking infection! Lastly, as you have a spare/test pc, I'd ask you to give HTTPS Everywhere a try, it comes from the same stable as noscript and is used in the tor browser bundle. Anyone who wants to improve their browsing safety may do a lot worse. Safe browsing pitcher

Hi again Ford Spybot YEA! Used it for years and it's more than worth its salt. Anyone reading this might like to try Malwarebyts Anti-Malware free, like Spybot, it is an on demand scanner and according to tests it's hard to beat. I'm glad you mentioned Avast!, I tried AVG free as its got a big rep. Had no end of trouble with updates and even problems uninstalling it. Like you, Avast! has done me well over a long period of time, saved me a few times as well. No problems with updates or anything. Well worth a try. I know the thread is about Firefox but any interaction about security can't be a bad thing. Regards pitcher

Hi Ford, Thanks for your response I agree, any decent anti-virus should take care of keyloggers but as long as a plugin causes no interference with browsing speed and use, I'm always happy to use a belt and braces approach to security. I did not mention noscript as It's praises had already been sung. I consider it an essential plugin for Firefox. WOT can be useful if a subject is “googled “ because an indication of safety can obtained without having to enter a site, if one chooses to enter then noscript is an excellent defence. We all use the web with the fear that we can be “hacked”, [problem]med etc. so I feel any attempt to defeat the “bad guys” gives us a chance of a more open and free web. Any other advice on security most welcome. Regards pitcher

Re: firefox plugins In the security department here are three that I think are worth a look. HTTPS Everywhere, used in conjunction with HTTPS Finder. It's a bit hi-tech to explain, (especially for me) but adds an extra layer of protection on a lot of web sites. Key scrambler. It scrambles your keyboard input to protect against keyloggers which can steal your passwords card numbers etc. Also works in I.E. WOT (web of trust), This is a plugin that shows what users think of web sites, giving a green, yellow and red code. Click on the icon and get info on how safe/unsafe a site is. Taking two sites at random, say, CAG and ATOS UK. CAG comes up as green with an excellent reputation,while ATOS shows red with a poor reputation (read into that what you will!). Once these plugins are installed there is little interaction needed, so browsing is not interrupted too much. Any feedback/advice on security for firefox will be much appreciated. pitcher

hallo Ida I did not want to say any more because of the sad nature of this thread but I clicked your link on firefox and no go. I quit firefox and went to chrome and the link worked fine. If anyone has this problem maybe chrome is the answer. my best to you and all the site team, pitcher

Hi cerb I tried the link but pay pall error again. As I said to HB this is a private thing for most people so I don't want to make a meal of it. I don't use pay pall so if you take credit card or debit card please explain how to donate by these ways. I will not post on this issue again, I hope this matter will be sorted by the site team. Thank you, site team for all your good works Martin 3030 R.I.P. Pitcher

Thanks HB If I can't do my little bit, there is a lot more out there who can't do the same. A response to the Martin3030 memorial fund should be done in a private way. The only reason I posted was to make sure all who want to say thanks for his work can do.

Help, Hi Site team I am trying to make a small donation (like most on CAG, it's all I can do) to the Martin3030 Memorial fund. I'm using firefox with all add-ons off but all I get is a pay pal error page. I think a lot of us want to say thanks to martin for all his good works. I don't know the right place to post this but I know the site team will see this and give advice. My best wishes to Martins family and friends. Pitcher

Hi Antone, Thanks for your advice, It's just what I was after. I will do a bit more research but I don't think I'll be introducing myself to Atos at this time! My best wishes, Pitcher

I'll Sign. It's a worthwhile petition and I hope more people do. Pitcher