Hey, Dear Readers! It is wonderful to see you as always! Gosh! It has been nearly a week since I last wrote an update! There are good reasons too! I have been concentrating on making my case as strong as possible. I have been spending a lot of time doing research, writing letters and so on... Along the way, I keep hearing some misconceptions that I feel must be put straight! POPULAR MISCONCEPTIONS Yes, I understand that my petition isn't about poor suffering animals, Trump (for or against), the beaten down refugees, Europe (pro or against) or anything like that... However, what is happening to certain people, vulnerable UK nationals is up or should be up there with topics mentioned above. This government is actually KILLING the vulnerable because they happen to require Welfare Assistance. In other words, this government is essentially culling the vulnerable to perfect a highly productive society. Put in those terms, it should make you realize just how urgent this situation is. Sadly, those who need to read this are unlikely to take the time dispel their misconceptions. MISCONCEPTION 01: THE CURRENT GOVERNMENT IS "HARSH" This is a "harsh government..." No. The government is STUPID and what they are doing is harsh. Look, there is no need whatsoever to pull Welfare Assistance from the most vulnerable of society: people with long-term illnesses, terminal illnesses, disability, mental illness, elderly and so on. It's ironic that when the afflicted want to take their own lives because they aren't "living" and have become a burden to loved ones let alone the state, they aren't permitted to either take their own lives or be assisted. But this STUPID government can pull the Welfare Assistance from those who want to live who happen to be seriously ill. Your government is STUPID! Me? I am able bodied, mentally sound and willing to work. DESPERATE TO WORK!!! But because of systematic consecutive sanctions, I am struggling financially. There are bills that need paying... The main ones: Electricity, Gas and the Broadband as I am told that I must apply for jobs online and document my preparation for work (work activity) on the Universal Jobmatch website. Now, if I were to get a job interview today I wouldn't be able to go as there is less than £5 in my account and that is supposed to last me until the end of this month! Freaking great! That's how bloody STUPID the government is! MISCONCEPTION 02: THE UNEMPLOYED ARE LAZY AND DO NOT WANT TO WORK Look, we live in a world where money is God. Yeah, you think I am being overdramatic by calling money "God"? Well, just try living without it in London and see just how far you get. The majority of unemployed people are just trying to find their way in a brain-dead society inspired by an equally brain-dead Tory government; a government that believes looking after the super-rich minority is the same as looking after the whole of the UK. It is not! People want to work! Finding work is becoming increasingly difficult by the day! I have been applying to about, on average, 25+ positions per day. It is gotten to a point where I am feeling demoralized. I am exhausted from constantly applying and getting very little back in return. I don't know how it is for qualified school/college/university graduates. But I can tell you that looking for work as an over 35-year-old isn't fun at all. I started off being pretty excited and motivated but now, things are looking bleak! Bleaker, should I let my work coach push me into an area that I have no interest in. MISCONCEPTION 03: THE DWP/JCP WORK COACH ISN'T A CAREERS ADVISER Yes, it is true... The DWP/JCP Work Coach isn't a careers adviser. Why should they be? The "work coach" are just like you and me; he/she applied for a job and become a "work coach". Therefore, the "work coach" isn't able to be a "career adviser" because they aren't trained in the intricacies that are a myriad of careers. Again, the more accurate description of the "work coach" is "work coax". These work coaxes are taught to understand that the unemployed need to coaxed into work for their own good. As a result, the work coax deploys strategies to demoralize for the purpose of funneling people into any job that the work coax thinks is easy to get. In other words, unskilled work. The work coax will use any means demoralize such as age discrimination and put you out into the pasture of a desk job taking inbound calls (customer services); racially profile you because certain people fit into certain job stereotypes (based on age too) and will patronize you at every opportunity. It is SICK! If you, as an unemployed JCP client, want careers advice you have to seek out the National Careers Service. My JCP has the National Careers Service situated on the third floor. Recently, out of curiosity, I asked for help in creating a CV aimed at the Customer Services industry; that was about two weeks ago. I am still waiting for this magical CV aimed at Customer Services... I have not worked in that industry and I will be surprised, amazed - even - to see a CV with my details on it that states I can do Customer Services. And it's not like I haven't tried to do IT related Customer Services jobs past and present, with my current CV I thought that it would be a cinch to get a job sitting at a desk, take inbound calls and advising callers on how to set-up software/hardware, etc. No such freaking luck! Anyway, the work coax treats people as though they are trying to avoid work and use nasty scheming to guide people into a job as opposed to a career. Their motto is, "A job is better than no job." I get it! I really do! But if we, as unemployed, can find something for ourselves then why not support it? MISCONCEPTION 04: YOU MUST DO AS THE DWP/JCP WORK COACH SAYS This one should be a doozy! Check this out... The work coax isn't able to give careers advice simply because they do not have the training or the intelligence. Look, my former work coax who I have dubbed "Tricky Vicky" had me applying to Graphic & Multimedia Design jobs but refused to allow me the time to create an online portfolio. Do you think that this move was intelligent? It comes back to what our parents told us as children, "If your best friend told you to jump off a cliff, would you do it?" So, when a work coax tells me to do something stupid, such as create a CV for a job that I have NEVER worked in I won't do it. I have tried to help my former work coax to help me find work but she just wasn't interested. She took my initiatives and created "work preparation tasks" out of them and turned them into crap! An example is where I have stated very clearly that I would need to create a presentation in order to get a job in Vegan cooking! I want to become a Vegan Chef, I have very little work-based experience but if I presented myself right I could find employment. However, my former work coax told me to create a CV. I took the time out to explain stuff to her and it simply did not register. What was the point??? Sometimes the work coax is a complete idiot. It hasn't come to where the unemployed have no say in determining their future - not yet! If you have an ambition that you know you can fulfill then go for it! Do not let an idiot work coax mess up your working life! MISCONCEPTION 05: IT'S YOUR FAULT THAT YOU ARE SANCTIONED Again, some work coaxes are really thick as a pile of horseshit! Sorry! But that was the case with "Tricky Vicky"! Sometimes you could get a sanction because you haven't done a stupid task that your work coax has set for you. And a lot of the time, a sanction or series of sanctions have been engineered against you. An example is when you have accidentally missed an appointment, you then get a notice that asks why you missed the appointment and to call a specific number to "keep your benefits". You comply, you call... You apologize for the mishap, you get a new appointment and, to be sure, you ask, "Will I be sanctioned?" The Service Centre operative tells you, "No." However, months down the line, you receive a sanction notice to say that you are going to be sanctioned ex-amount of days (the number of days is an arbitrary figure) regarding accidentally missing the same appointment you called about and put things right. When I accidentally missed an appointment with my former work coax, I was running around like a freaking madman trying to get elements together to start my own business. I did the exact same procedure as above and was told that I wouldn't be sanctioned. However, months later... Yes, you've guessed it! Sanctions are usually imposed for very, very stupid reasons and if you challenge them in a tribunal like I have done and will do again, you stand a very high chance of winning! I have won my tribunals against being sanctioned because the reasons were disingenuous. On that note, I will finish up as I have to see my work coach or coax in a bit! Thanks for reading!