Happy New Year All!

And here's to 2026! It can only get better, surely? 

Tweet Of The Month

 December is clearly a good month, it's generated a bumper crop:

Keep 'em coming in 2026, all you Tweeters...

Absent Friends...

Raedwald 

Captain Ranty (Blog now sadly gone dark) 

Unenlightened Commentary 

Anna Raccoon 

Dracunculus 

Bystander, a sad loss to the world of profession-blogging. 

Peter Risdon (Blog also now sadly gone dark) 

Niall Kilmartin and Brian Micklethwait of Samizdata 

Frank Davis 

The incomparable Old Holborn

Mark Wadsworth.

Mr Ishmael

HeadRambles (now also sadly gone dark)

Gone, but not forgotten.

Absent Friends...

Raedwald 

Captain Ranty (Blog now sadly gone dark) 

Unenlightened Commentary 

Anna Raccoon 

Dracunculus 

Bystander, a sad loss to the world of profession-blogging. 

Peter Risdon (Blog also now sadly gone dark) 

Niall Kilmartin and Brian Micklethwait of Samizdata 

Frank Davis 

The incomparable Old Holborn

Mark Wadsworth.

Mr Ishmael

Gone, but not forgotten.

Post Title Of The Month

 Natalie Solent at Samizdata on the EU triumphalism over USB-C:

Disclaimer: I love USB-C, no more struggling to figure out if I'm trying to fit it in upside down.

Quote Of The Month

 Bucko on how government can screw up the best things private industry come up with:

"Someone invented a safety system called 'Antilock braking' It was good, so car manufacturers started adding it to thier cars

The government saw it was good and decided to get involved. 

They said, if you have ABS brakes on your car, the system has to work correctly, so it's now part of the MOT 

The MOT testers said, we can't check that without taking the car out onto a track? 

Someone else invented the ABS sensor, which checks if the system is working, and provides a computer generated fault if it is not 

Good job, trebles all round 

Now cars are regularly failing their MOT because of an ABS fault. 999 times out of 1000, the fault is not with the system, but with the sensor, so the sensor has to be replaced People who make the sensor, sell a lot of sensors, while everyone's ABS systems continue to work correctly 

Intervention by the government caused a problem where none exists 

Meanwhile, the lefties see the number of cars failling on an ABS fault, and tell us that the free market is not working, because private industry keeps making faulty ABS braking systems that are putting lives at risk 

Something should be done, etc..."

Post Of The Month

 Longrider on the Sainsbury Christmas Card affair....

And Yet, Aditya, It's Not The Muslims Afraid In Their Places Of Worship, Is It?

Aditya's been sampling literature for talking points, his usual ones no longer working as they used to...

An Englishman drives into a new town and can’t see the warning signs. Richard Pearson is visiting Surrey to close down his late father’s home and settle his affairs and, everywhere he looks, the flag of St George is flying “from suburban gardens and filling stations and branch post offices”. How nice, he thinks, how festive. Soon he learns the truth. So runs the opening not of a recent piece of journalism, but a novel by JG Ballard, Kingdom Come, which despite being almost 20 years old anticipates today’s Britain with eerie precision.

Does it, Aditya? Does it really? Let’s read on, eh? 

Amid this yawning suburbia, Pearson starts to come awake. One evening, he sees an old Volvo up in flames, and an angry mob about to storm a “shabby house”. Inside, he supposes, must be “a released murderer or a paedophile exposed by the local vigilantes”. But no. Out come Muslim women, who have been praying in a makeshift mosque and who must rely on a police line against violence from their own neighbours.

And yet, you seem not to realise that, far from being some Nostradamus-like predictive text, it’s rather got things the wrong way round about exactly whose places of worship are under threat, and who is bearing the brunt of the terror. 

Must Be A Small Exhibit...

...they can call it 'Clutching At Straws, Fabulous Straws!'

The Imperial War Museum has been accused of 'reframing history' to give it 'woke appeal' in a new tour featuring trans people in conflict.

When are they not in conflict, you might ask, Reader?  

Created to mark the 25th anniversary since the Government lifted its ban on gay people serving in the Armed Forces, the new digital tour tells ‘personal stories from the LGBTQ+ community’ in times of war. But alongside stories documenting the struggles of gay and lesbian service personnel, more than a third of all the exhibits are about transgenderism.

And they've achieved this by making unlikely historical links and references that would make Erich von Däniken blush with shame. 

Examples include a dress worn by a man for a ‘show’ in a deadly Japanese prisoner of war camp during the 1940s, as well as a Land Army girl who liked to be called ‘John’.

Tour curators also claimed reconstructive surgeries for injured soldiers in World Wars I and II ‘laid the foundation for the future of transgender medicine’.

The guide says that one such worker was Enid Mary Barraud, who ‘challenged gender norms’. It notes: ‘Enid preferred to identify as male, known to friends as “John”, and she lived with her female partner “Bunty”.

So, soldiers doing whatever they can to make captivity less horrific, a lesbian Land Girl and the fact that advances in medical procedure might have helped create transgender operations after the war... somewhat pathetic, wouldn't you say, Reader?   

Can They Really, Mayor Brett?

'Tonight our Providence neighbors can breathe a little easier,' Mayor Brett Smiley said at a news conference Thursday night.

I don't think so, somehow....the police hunt for this lunatic has been characterised by the sort of Keystone Kops performance we've come to expect this side of the pond. 

Indeed, if not for the help of the public, they’d still be in the dark. 

Authorities had earlier said they had identified the shadowy figure caught on surveillance footage near the scene of Saturday's shooting, whose face they had been attempting to find with the help of grainy surveillance footage.

Even his own mother would be hard pressed to recognise him from that, so it’s astounding a civilian did… 

The gunman who killed two students at Brown University was found dead in a storage unit as it was revealed his main target was an MIT professor he shot dead in Boston. The suspect - 48-year-old Claudio Neves Valente - was revealed to be a Portuguese national who studied at the Ivy League school in Rhode Island more than 20 years ago. After being on the lam for days, his eventual demise stemmed from a Reddit post that flagged his suspicious activity outside the Providence campus.

It was unclear what the shooter's motive was or what his relationship with Loureiro had been.

No doubt we’ll find out in due course. 

Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others – When It Comes To Labour’s Slaughter Regulations, Anyway

Caged hens will be a thing of the past in England, the government has announced, as it launches a package of new animal welfare laws. Pig farrowing crates, which campaigners have said are cruel, will also be banned under the welfare changes. These cramped crates are used to stop pigs from rolling over and crushing their young, but once in them sows cannot turn over or move around at all.

Graat! More baby piglets squashed! That seems about right for a Labour policy change, to end up bringing about the very thing it sets out to halt... 

About 21% of hens in the UK today are kept in enriched or colony cages. These hold up to 90 hens, and have perching spots, scratch mats and nest boxes, but generally only provide a tiny space – about the size of an A4 sheet of paper – for each bird. The birds do not leave the cages for their entire lives – until they are sent for slaughter. This does not meet their welfare needs: chickens like to bathe in dust to keep their feathers clean, scratch and peck on the ground, perch on branches and jump and fly around.The environment secretary, Emma Reynolds, is to announce on Monday that her department will consult on phasing out the remaining enriched colony cages and transitioning to non-cage systems next year.

Thus making British produced chicken extra costly, and resulting in the importation of more cheap chicken produced abroad with lower - or no - welfare standards. Sorry farmers! 

Also in the new laws are humane slaughter requirements for farmed fish to spare them avoidable pain.

And the 'Daily Mail' is already trying to tell us that the lobster issue means restauranteurs will be out of pocket, but if they have chefs that don't know how to humanely despatch  a live lobster with a kitchen knife, they are probably restaurants you wouldn't want to visit anyway.

Richard Wilkins, who runs 104 Restaurant in London's plush Notting Hill, is among those questioning the need for the new guidance.

'How do you police something like that? Is Keir Starmer coming in in his chef's whites to keep an eye on things?'

Mr Wilkins said. 'The wider issue is whether we should we be legislating on everything. It's probably the most inane part of the strategy – if we're just banning it (without enforcement) that's kind of pointless, isn't it?'

Yes indeed, it's very reminiscent of the ban on fur farming, which simply meant that fur was imported from countries that laughed at the sensibilities of the animal rights lobby, like China.

Reynolds said: “We’re a nation of animal lovers. This government is delivering the most ambitious animal welfare strategy in a generation. Our strategy will raise welfare standards for animals in the home, on the farm and in the wild. We’ve already acted to improve zoo standards, end puppy smuggling and protect livestock from dog attacks. Now, we’re planning to ban caged hens, cruel snares, trail hunting, and curb low welfare dog breeding.”

But crucially, I note, not planning to ban the biggest animal rights issue that the public have consistently requested when given the chance:

 

Good Luck With That, Counselor!

Jackson addressed the media after the hearing and asked people not to 'rush to judgment' about the case. 'This is a devastating tragedy that has befallen the Reiner family,' Jackson said.

Well, yes. Parents stabbed to death in a brutal murder by their addict son who now faces the death penalty is the very definition of a devestating tragedy. 

Also, a scriptwriter is probably working something up for Netflix right now.

'There are very, very complex and serious issues that are associated with this case. These need to be thoroughly and very carefully dealt with. 

'We ask that throughout this process you allow the system to move forward in the way that it was designed to move forward, not with a rush to judgment.'

Have you considered a plea for clemency on the basis he's an orphan, Jackson?  

Topical As Always...

                                 

The numbering system I use tells me this is the 100th of these, which is testament to Matt's genius.

I Beg Your Pardon?

 Browsing the online sales, I came upon this at M&S: 

Since when has a jacket been a 'trench coat', even a short one? 

Sunday Funnies...

 No flying car or jetpack yet, you slackers. And where's my genetically engineered dinosaur theme park? 

Well, Don’t Buy Them Then!

It's a Christmas miracle, the 'Guardian' finding a drag artist to whinge about something other than how people are so mean to men in womanface:

It’s lovely going out for dinner in London. It’s a gastro capital with cuisines from all around the world. One night, Indian, French the next, Peruvian, Ethiopian. You can travel the globe without leaving Hackney.

And since we now have the recipes, do we really need the people as well? 

But one pernicious dining trend that refuses to go away and which I detest is “small plates”. My heart sinks and I become inwardly furious when I sit down and the waiter asks: “Have you been here before?” “No, it’s our first time.” “Well, we do ‘small plates’ and we suggest you order between three and 20 per person.”

A suggestion. Simply that. You're free to ignore it.  

People think I’m a hipster, being an east London drag queen, but I’ve got nothing on the purveyors of “caulifower bites”. Suddenly you’re handing out a tenner here, a tenner there, for tiny saucers of pomegranate seeds, things sprinkled in petals and a random blow-torched lettuce leaf. Just give me a bloody dinner!

Just bloody order one - or go to a restaurant that doesn't do the small plate thing. There's plenty, even in Hackney.

I’m 53. I grew up in Kent in the 1970s in a perfectly normal working-class, borderline lower-middle-class household, the kind so wonderfully explored in Mike Leigh movies. It was the kind of home where the food was dished from the pan on to the plate. And then the whole plate was plopped in front of you and you were told to eat it all up – or you couldn’t go and watch Grange Hill.

And look how you turned out, despite that upbringing... 

In small-plates hell, you end up trying to reconstruct a normal meal and paying twice the price for it. Death to small plates – that’s the hill I will die on. Unless you’re in Spain, of course; I love a spot of tapas, but that’s different.

Really? I fail to see how, unless you simply revere anything foreign over your heritage.  

How Very Statesmanlike...

...not!

Volodymyr Zelensky has wished for Vladimir Putin to die in his annual Christmas address - as he offers to create a demilitarised zone in Ukraine to bring an end to the war with Russia. The Ukrainian president called for his Russian counterpart to 'perish' in a pre-recorded statement posted to his X account on Christmas Eve.

Christmas being a traditional time when, no matter what has happenrdf in the world in the year, heads of state make the usual 'turn the other cheek' addresses to their nations, but I guess when your head of state ois a coked up former comedian who had to be admonished on live TV by the US president for his behaviour, the normal rules don't apply.

Mr Zelensky's strong words come after a conciliatory offer he made today in a bid to stop the conflict with Russia, which has now been raging for nearly four years. He suggested creating a demilitarised zone in the east of his country in a bid to speed up marathon peace plan negotiations with US officials in Florida.

I'd say Trump must be pulling his hair out at this, but, well... 

Those Aren't The Only Thorny Issues Ducked, Though, Are They?

As ministers know, animal welfare is popular with the public. Trickier issues such as the damage to wildlife caused by dogs and cats, carbon emissions from intensive livestock farming and the need to reduce overall meat consumption are ducked in a strategy that focuses on the recognition of animals as sentient beings.

Not the only things being ducked. As bloggers have been quick to point out. 

But ministers are right to highlight the issues. Animals should be treated with compassion, not cruelty. In a world that is changing rapidly for them as well as for humans, the law needs to keep up.

It did in Denmark. So why not here?  

Ah, Glorious Diversity!

 Who'd be a Food Standards Inspector these days? You need a strong stomach.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said its National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) investigators working with the Metropolitan Police, discovered the meat during a raid in Deptford on 5 December. 

The 57-year-old man was arrested and later released under investigation.

But he's not named. Of course not, because this isn't the usual case of meat of dodgy origin.

...38kg of illegal frozen bushmeat, including pangolins, cane rats and porcupines, at a site in south-east London.

I love exotic food but I'd give this a miss...

The watchdog warned that meat brought into the UK illegally bypasses required safety and hygiene checks and could carry diseases or contaminants. It added that some species, such as pangolins, are critically endangered and banned from commercial trade worldwide. Simon Ashwin, senior investigator at the FSA’s National Food Crime Unit, said: “This operation forms part of the NFCU’s ongoing work to disrupt the illegal meat trade and prevent unsafe products from reaching the public. “The FSA advises consumers not to buy or eat illegally imported meat, including bushmeat, as it may pose serious health risks. If you have concerns about products being sold, contact your local authority.

“We remain vigilant to the threat of illegal meat entering the food chain and will continue to take action to protect the public.”

I don't think Mr & Mrs Smith are foresaking Waitrose to buy this stuff. Simon.... 

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"

Normal service will resume on Boxing Day! 

When we remember the most glorious festive tradition of all...

This Should Surprise No-One

The 'Mail' has done the investigative work you'd once have expected of 'The Times' or 'The Guardian'

What is certain is that C4C, founded ten years ago by Clare Moseley, a middle-class Liverpool mother and accountant, appears to have morphed into a highly organised political force that stands accused of encouraging migrants to travel here illegally, helped by an army of up to 600 willing, but naive, volunteers. An investigation by the Daily Mail has discovered that Moseley runs a successful company staging anti-racism music festivals along with a man called Weyman Bennett, who is also a central committee member of the Socialist Workers Party and a co-convenor of SUTR.

The usuala suspects, indeed! Die=hard socialistd and weak, middle class white women. 

Their lives have been intertwined since they first met in Calais and, according to official Government land ownership records, set up an office together in a smart Manchester apartment. It seems a far cry from C4C's original roots when, one Saturday morning in 2015, Moseley realised a crisis was unfolding in Calais. A million people poured into Europe as borders opened for Syrian refugees, with many heading to the French coast hoping to reach Britain. As she explained to The Guardian: 'I remember it vividly. I sat up in bed, browsing the internet… and an article caught my eye: it was about the refugee crisis. Men, women and children were risking their lives to get to Western Europe, and many were dying in the process.' 

Must have been the weomen and children dying in the process, since it was mostly the fit, fighting age men reaching our shores. 

'My husband came upstairs to find me crying,' she told the paper in another interview. That day, she said she spotted a charity on the web called Stand Up To Racism which she hoped would help her.

What else is a bored housewife to do but set up a system to flood her country with foreign invaders? I guess making jam with the WI no longer holds the cachet it once did.

Moseley set up a 'distribution' warehouse for food and clothes at the French port, calling the operation Care4Calais, leaving her husband Benjamin and teenage children back in Britain. 'It's been hard for my family. I can't imagine going back to my normal life… restaurants, parties, without thinking how people need help,' she added. Yet in France Moseley ran into problems. She had a year-long affair with Tunisian migrant Mohamed Bajar, which ended in tears when they parted and he tried to burn down the charity's warehouse.

*guilty chuckle* It sounds like a pitch for a 2025 Netflix gritty reboot of 'Shirley Valentine'.... 

Another 'Urban Myth' The Left Pooh-Pooed As 'Racist' Comes True...

Geese are being stolen from a park with locals fearing they are 'being taken to eat' on Christmas Day, a councillor has said. Black Ash Park in Newport is well known for having scores of geese and ducks that visitors love to see and feed. However, the popular birds are vanishing from the park amid concern the missing animals may be linked to upcoming Christmas dinners.

Ah, no doubt the Left are up in arms at more 'racist' dogwhistling... 

It comes as 70 butchered geese killed for their meat were found dumped in the countryside in Terrington St Clement, Norfolk, on December 15.

Ooops!  

West Norfolk Council have issued an urgent appeal for information following the discovery and said it suspected a link with Christmas.

No flies on you, West Norfolk Council... 

I Hate It When A Prediction Comes True..

A woman whose XL bully was shot dead by police has been sentenced after earlier being found guilty of owning a dog dangerously out of control.

Took long enough! Did she get the sentence she deserved? Reader, she did not...

After being handed a rehabilitation order and a £100 fine at the same court on Tuesday, Zaherali said it had "brought tears to my eyes" to have been described by the judge as a "responsible owner". 

Imagine how hard I'm rolling my eyes right now... 

During the sentencing hearing, District Judge Tim Spruce said there had been a "unique combination of circumstances" and Zaherali's offence was the "lowest level" of culpability. Constance Coombes, mitigating, told the sentencing hearing that Zaherali's attempts to identify the officer online "had to be taken in context of her pet being shot in the street" 

"She was never trying to seek retribution or revenge. It was borne out of upset and grief," she said.

So was Lucy Connolly's hastily deleted tweet, no doubt, but that didn't win her any leniency from our wretched so-called 'justice system' did it? Perhaps if she too had been a thick chav who waged a campaign against the police she would have been shown the leniency this underserving nuisance was shown?

While the prosecution had asked for £1,050 to be paid in costs for two trials, which they said had both been fully prepared despite just one having eventually gone ahead, Mr Spruce reduced that sum to £614. 

He also declined a request from the prosecution to disqualify Zaherali from owning dogs.

 Unsurprisingly, this judge has form for being soft on the owners of killer dog breeds. 

"Judge Andrew Lees told Williams "it should never have happened"."

But typically for today's modern judiciary, did absolutely nothing to ensure it wouldn't happen again in future...

Andrew Clark, 43, died in hospital three days after he was struck by Demeish Williams, 30, outside the shop on Upper Elmers End Road in Beckenham at around 8.30pm on March 16. He had become aggressive after Andrew told him he couldn’t cut in front of them in the queue. After a brief argument Williams got a facemask from his car, waited outside for the shop for Andrew, hit him once to the side of the head with an open palm, and shouted “I told you to f***ing apologise”.

Yes, Reader, it's them again.... 

Williams has been jailed for five years and three months. Williams will serve up to two-thirds of the sentence before he is eligible for release, meaning that accounting for time already spent on remand he could be back on the streets by September 2028.

The length of the sentence prompted dismay from Andrew’s family in court as one relative said “this country is a joke” and another called the sentence a “disgrace”.

It is.  

In a statement issued to the press, Andrew’s family said:“We are sincerely grateful to the judge and the court for their thorough consideration of this case, and for recognising the seriousness of this offence.

“For us as a family, this process has exposed the serious shortcomings within our outdated justice system.

“Victims are too often left without the protection, transparency and fairness they deserve.

“An archaic legal framework cannot meet the demands of modern society, nor the needs of victims, their families, friends and wider communities.

“Overcrowded and under-funded prisons place pressure on the courts to sentence based on capacity rather than justice.”

I can't disagree, though I think you give the judge too much credit by believing this lax sentence is due to concerns over space in the prison system, and not simply his own bleeding heart when it comes to the street savagery innate in these people, which he will probably never have to face in his own life, and so he has no concerns about ensuring doesn't proliferate.

OK, We'll Kill Off All The Large Herbivores then, Shall We?

It's lucky Barbados doesn't have the sweeping herds of the Serengetti, so tourism won't be as affected, eh, Mia?

As temperatures continue to rise – including in the oceans, where the extra heat fuels more powerful hurricanes – far greater catastrophes lie ahead as feedback loops push the planet past irreversible tipping points.We have already passed our first tipping point, the progressive loss of warm-water coral reefs, on which nearly a billion people and a quarter of marine life depend; a development particularly relevant to island countries like Barbados.

We are on the brink of several more, including the death of the Amazon rainforest...

Which is actually in more danger from climate shindigs, isn't it? 

Cutting methane emissions is the fastest and simplest way to slow near-term warming and prevent triggering more tipping points.

A legally binding methane agreement for the oil and gas sector can prevent energy waste, while buying time over the next 15 to 20 years to build resilience as research to scale up decarbonising technologies to commercial level builds pace. This will give countries in the south with oil and gas assets the opportunity to use the one thing that can finance their way to net zero.

Net Zero is a fantasy, Mia, nothing we humans down here can do, when climate is driven by that giant ball of burning hydrogen in the sky. 

IC5 Or IC4? Maybe AC-12 Should Help You Do Your Job Better?

A police hunt is under way to track down a sex predator who assaulted three women in the space of just minutes on Edinburgh streets.

Well, I'm sure the good citizens of that fair city will assist you in tracking this animal down. If they can.

The suspect is described as being of Asian appearance, aged between 25 and mid-30s, slim build, around 5ft 8in tall, with light facial hair. He was wearing a khaki or brown-coloured coat and carrying a backpack.

'Asian', eh? Well. Edinburgh does have a lot of Japanese tourists, as I know, having been asked by a trio of  giggling Japanese girls to photograph them in front of Greyfriars Bobby's statue last time I was there. But I don't think that's really what they mean... 

The first assault happened around 5.20pm on Fettes Row, where a woman was approached from behind by a man who sexually assaulted her and made sexual comments.

Just ten minutes later, at around 5.30pm, another woman was attacked as she walked her dog on Inverleith Row. She was also approached from behind and sexually assaulted before the man walked off towards Dundas Street.

A short time after that, a third woman was targeted as she walked past Stockbridge Church on Saxe Coburg Street. The man sexually assaulted her and exposed himself before fleeing the scene. Police believe the same man was responsible for all three incidents.

I know all those places, as Fettes Row is at the end of Royal Crescent, whrere my brother lives, and those are the streets I walk when I go to Stockbridge - they are all remarkably quiet streets where anyone non-white will stick out like a sore thumb. Well off the well-beaten tourist track, apart from Stockbridge itself, so an odd area for a sex maniac to lurk in. 

So a better description would help enormously.

It Sure Is A New Look...

 ...though not one the shopkeepers would have wanted, I suspect!

A silver BMW crashed into Beccles' New Look at about 8 pm on Tuesday.It is believed that the driver fled the scene and a police spokeswoman had said: "Efforts to establish who was driving the vehicle at the time of the incident are ongoing."

Well, you know who owns the car.... 

H/T: Dave Ward via email

Topical...

 

...we'd expect no less from Matt, wouldn’t we Reader? 

Sunday Funnies...

 Oh, Hollywood, all my movie memories at Christmas are lies....? Say it ain't so!  

Tell Me Again How 'They Aren't Terrorists',,,

Because I'm a pretty simple sort, and if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, I get the a l'orange recipe ready...

Federal authorities said Monday that they foiled a plot to bomb multiple sites of two US companies on New Year’s Eve in Southern California after arresting members of an extremist anti-capitalist and anti-government group.In the criminal complaint, the four suspects named are Audrey Illeene Carroll, 30; Zachary Aaron Page, 32; Dante Gaffield, 24; and Tina Lai, 41. They are all from the Los Angeles area, Essayli said.

Officials did not describe a motive but said they are members of an offshoot of a pro-Palestinian group dubbed the Turtle Island Liberation Front.

Law enforcement should have figured out the dangers of these loons long ago, instead of considering them a nuidsance simply demonstrating about a far-off conflict. 

The plan included planting backpacks filled with complex pipe bombs that were set to be detonated simultaneously at midnight on New Year’s Eve at five locations, according to officials and the criminal complaint. New Year’s Eve was identified as an opportune time in the plan that stated “fireworks will be going off at this time so explosions will be less likely to be noticed,” according to the investigation.

And they seem to have been perfectly willing to branch out to whatever fashionable cause is at the top of the Left's agenda:

Two of the group’s members also had discussed plans for future attacks targeting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and vehicles with pipe bombs in 2026, according to the criminal complaint.

Which has no connection to the 'cause' of Palestine, so maybe stop treating them as harmless demonstrators, and start treating them as the nacent trrrorists they often are. 

A License To Rob

At least Dick Turpin had the decency to wear a mask...

Thousands of drivers could have speeding fines cancelled after a fault saw some cameras falsely triggered on English motorways and A roads. And tens of thousands of drivers will have speed awareness courses cancelled as the government orders National Highways to look back at six years of speed camera data.

What about those who have already been on the course? Shouldn't they be compensated for their wasted time?  

Affected drivers will be contacted by police and be reimbursed for any fines while points will be removed from their licences where needed.

Police forces are also thought to be discontinuing thousands of other prosecutions, regardless of whether they were affected by the issue.

Remember this when someone next tells you 'the State works for you, comrade!' 

National Highways apologised for the error. "Safety is our number one priority," said chief executive Nick Harris.

Should have been accuracy instead.  

National Highways, which runs England's motorways, blamed an "anomaly" in how variable speed cameras were interacting with signs on some A roads and motorways. It meant a delay of around 10 seconds between cameras and relevant variable speed signs, meaning some drivers were incorrectly identified as speeding after the limit had changed. So on a road where the speed limit increases, a driver may see a sign saying 60mph, but the camera recording it may still be working on the basis of a previous 40mph speed limit.

Government IT folks... 

Until The Reply Is 'But Miss, It's All In The Koran'....

Schools are expected to solve social problems yet again...

Teachers will be given training to spot the signs of misogyny and tackle it in the classroom as part of the government's long-awaited strategy to halve violence against women and girls within the next decade. The plans - which focus on preventing the radicalisation of young men - are due to be unveiled on Thursday, after being pushed back three times this year.

Because the government thinks that a fraction of a school day is sufficient to overcome whatever you've picked up over a lifetime of home and religious indoctrination. I'm kidding, no-one in this government thinks at all. It's performative theatre. Starmer watched 'Adolescence' and thought it was a documentary.

We all know what's going to happen the first time the Muslims kick off about it, don't we? There's already a teacher who could tell us all, if he wasn't in hiding...

Pupils will be taught about issues such as consent, the dangers of sharing intimate images, how to identify positive role models, and to challenge unhealthy myths about women and relationships. The £20m package will also include a new helpline for teenagers to get support for concerns about abuse in their own relationships.

Will it include a helpline for the teachers too? They are going to need it.  

Under the new plans, schools will send high-risk students to get extra care and support, including behavioural courses to tackle their prejudice against women and girls.

The demographics of these courses are going to prove interesting... 

In response to the government plans, some teachers said schools were already doing the kind of work the measures outlined. "While we welcome any initiative that prioritises healthy relationships and consent education, it's important to recognise that schools like Beacon Hill Academy in Dudley have been delivering this work effectively for years," Principal Sukhjot Dhami said.

Dudley, eh? I think it's too late for most of the population. 

"But If You Fancy It, Just Be Someone Else Instead..."

🗣️ "Just be yourself, do whatever you like to do. Just love the game."

🇳🇱 Noa-Lynn van Leuven sends message to LGBTQ+ community after qualifying for the World Championship for the second straight year.

In association with @StarSports_Bet #WCDarts pic.twitter.com/fLfCaox4o3

— Oche180 (@Oche180) December 15, 2025

Strange way to 'love the game' by playing in a category you know full well you don't belong in. 

Predictably, the cult members are up in arms at what they perceive as unfair criticism, claiming - like chess and other non-physical sports - that he has no competitive advantage over a real woman, but is that the point, he's still taking away the chance for a woman to have a place by co,peting in the wrong category, isn't he?  

H/T Graham Linehan via Twitter

Now Do All The Other Organisations....

....because they are all at it!

Arts Council England has been accused of abandoning artistic excellence in favour of bureaucratic box-ticking after a damning review found it was attempting to 'change society' rather than support great art.

It's hardly the only institution to have been captured, is it? We know the Left's MO, don't we? 

1. Identify a respected institution.

2. kill it. 

3. gut it. 

4. wear its carcass as a skin suit, while demanding respect.;

The watchdog, which hands out more than £450million a year in public funding, came under fire in a report by Baroness Hodge, the former Labour culture minister, who was asked to examine how the quango distributes its money. Baroness Hodge wrote that she felt the initiative led to organisations feeling forced to 'tick all the ACE boxes to secure funding', and suggested the strategy be replaced with 'a new, less prescriptive' model. Her review concluded that the organisation had drifted away from its founding purpose, with evidence suggesting that art itself had been pushed into the background.

That was the point of it, Hodge.  

A Dreadful Familiarity...

That's what struck me about the Bondi Beach terrorist massacre, as I read about it over brerakfast in York at the weekend. All the hallmarks we have come to expect fromn the attack itself to the aftermath and the authorities scrambling to excuse their own part in allowing it to happen...

The alleged gunmen were a 50-year-old, who was shot by police and died at the scene, and his 24-year-old son, who suffered critical injuries and was taken to hospital under police guard where he remained on Tuesday. The 24-year-old was in a coma but regained consciousness on Tuesday, NSW police confirmed. Media have identified them as Naveed Akram and his father, Sajid Akram. Naveed Akram is an Australian-born citizen, the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, said. His father arrived in 1998 on a student visa, transferred in 2001 to a partner visa and, after trips overseas, had been on resident return visas three times. The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said the son first came to the attention of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio) in October 2019. He was examined “on the basis of being associated with others”. New South Wales police and the director general of Asio, Mike Burgess, said one of the shooters was known to authorities, “but not in an immediate threat perspective”.

Muslims, taken in by a country and repaying it with slaughter, coming to the notice of the authorities but crucially, never enough enough notice to prevent their murderous hatred from finding expression, bevause of that peculiar sensitivity rtowards this murderous cult that infests every Western government. And then the police, arriving too late to do any good, as always. Ah, yes, the police:

 

As if that's supposed to help...

Some witnesses have suggested police were too slow to disarm the two gunmen, who killed 15 people and injured dozens in Australia's most famous beach on Sunday. "There are two officers in critical care... at the moment," Chris Minns said after sustained questioning from reporters. "They weren't shot in the back as they were running away. They were shot in the front."

The point being they shouldn't have been shot at all. Aren't we always told we have no need to protect ourselves, because a paid and professional force stands ready to do it for us? Yet how often it seems that's worse than useless when it comes to the crunch.

Well, Rev, You Know What They Say Happens When You Assume

Letters in tthe 'Guardian' can be illuminating. Here's one from Rev Dr Michael Fox:

Twenty years ago, while making a documentary on politics for the Open University, I interviewed a group of 15-year-olds at a school in Moss Side, Manchester. The school had selected a mixed group of children, half identifying as white British, half as second-generation immigrant. Against my expectations, when discussing immigration, the children of immigrants strongly expressed views similar to those now espoused by Ms Mahmood. “The country is full,” one of them said. I assumed at the time that the children were reflecting the views and language of their parents, with such factors in play as a desire to “fit in” their host country and to identify with the perceived values of their neighbours, a kind of “self-othering” as a natural response to the trauma of migration. Conversely, the white British children were open and accepting of immigrants.

Oh dear, how awkward, Rev! But why, apart from the obvious, did you assume it would be different? 

As a (non-Conservative) son-in-law of a former Conservative home secretary, the late Robert Carr, who took the decision to admit refugees from Idi Amin’s Uganda in 1972, I have always found it unthinkable that some more recent Tory holders of that office have abandoned the compassion he personified in favour of a “drawbridge” mentality.

A drawbridge is something you pull up when you're under attack, Rev... 

A Warning, If You're Considering Donating Your Body To Medical Science...

 ...which my father did, and his father befote him. It's well handled, the service they throw every year for the relatives to attend is very thankful, and you have the warm feeling that you are in some way helping medical science make advances.

Well, think again:

Yes, this is the US, but who'd want to bet some Dr Frankenstein isn't trying the same thing over here. So uncle Frank's cadaver may not be training the next intake of lifesaving A&E surgeons after all, but rather assisting an NHS plastic surgeon to make uncle Arthur a more superficially authentic 'woman'.

The Only Surprise Here Is It's Not The Met!

 If you were asked, it would be a toss up between the Met or the WMP, the two worst police forces in the land:

A police chief has been told to go back to Parliament amid claims he provided 'shoddy evidence' while explaining the decision behind a ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending an Aston Villa match last month.

The Home Affairs Select Committee has written to West Midlands Chief Constable Craig Guildford to provide 'further evidence' amid claims he misled MPs when he appeared in front of the committee on December 1. 

Daily Mail understands it is the first time a Chief Constable has been recalled to Parliament in this way.

You'd think they'd be more competent liars, at least wouldn't you? Or is it all just a publicity stunt?

Ruining Every Aspect Of The Justice System...

 ...that seems to be David Lamentable's real goal:

Childhood criminal records could be wiped under plans being considered by David Lammy. The Justice Secretary is considering simplifying the current system to prevent people from being affected by petty crimes in later life. It comes after evidence showed that people in their 50s, 60s, and 70s still had offences of street fighting and bike thefts in their youth disclosed to employers.

So not content with plans to ensure the safeguard of a jury of your peers isn't available to you in the future, he wants to ensure that employers can't avoid hiring people they wouldn't hire if they knew their background? 

Rachel de Souza, the Children's Commissioner, previously said judges should have the power to wipe criminal records of people who had 'done their time' for silly crimes committed as a child. Last year a 13-year-old girl admitted to threatening violent behaviour after she kicked a glass door at an asylum hotel. The offence will stay on her record for life and will be disclosed if she works in a job with children.

As it should be, no doubt. In modern Britain, being less than welcoming of the new Predator Classes is the greatest crime of all, isn't it? So much so that the filth will hunt YOU down if you object too strongly:.

so basically what I’m gathering from this is that a brown guy was harassing three women, they lashed out because they wanted him to go away, and now they’re being hunted by the police for doing a racism because they wouldn’t let the brown guy harass them endlessly pic.twitter.com/2t1kOcv0vC

— pagliacci the grinch 🎄🎁 (@Slatzism) December 11, 2025

Tell Us Again How Diverse Students Are The Key To The NHS, Labour...

 ...we need to keep hearing it as the evidence against mounts up and up:

A newly qualified doctor who pocketed £10,000 in benefits while studying medicine has been suspended from treating patients. Dr Ramkali Kaur, 28, illegally claimed housing benefit, income support and carer's allowance for two years while completing her five-year degree at Queen Mary University of London.

And when she was caugght bang to rights, she simply hastily donned the Cloak of Victimhood!

She later lied about the fraud to a senior consultant and attempted to shift the blame onto an 'overbearing' female relative, alleging the woman promised to cancel her welfare claims but instead let them run on and even intercepted her post.

Yeah, yeah, tell us another one… 

A Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service panel has now found her guilty of misconduct and suspended her for four months, despite her protestations that she had been the victim of family pressure and financial hardship.

In her evidence, Kaur told of her upbringing in a deprived area of Birmingham and how she had been the only one in her family to be accepted into a 'prestigious and highly competitive' Grammar School.

A ‘deprived’ area, eh? 

For the GMC Ms Lousie Cowen said: 'Dr Kaur's conduct was of a repeated nature and showed a reckless disregard for professional standards. Her dishonesty was significant and she has provided only limited evidence of remediation, having not attended any courses on probity.'

Would any courses have workedon someone like this anyway? 

But Kaur's counsel Mr Andrew Faux said: 'This is a young doctor from very challenging background who has clearly made mistakes and had to grow up very quickly in the face of those mistakes.She then put her head in the sand and hoped things would go away, a response that continued through until the meeting in October 2022. The risk of Dr Kaur repeating her actions is low.''

Just the sort of attitude you want in a doctor - just ignore reality and ir'll go away! 

Handy, If You've Got A Paper Car!

 

Spuotterd at this advert.

H/T: Dave Ward via email

Sunday Funnies...

 If I'd starred in some of these disasters, I'd make sure my agent got me a part that was hard to identify too!

How Refreshing (At First)!

A coroner has warned that a social media clamour for selfies and videos could be contributing to fatal road collisions - after hearing how two teenagers died in a crash caused by a fellow sixth former as he drove them home from school.

Oh! Not anyone else's fault for a change? Not the car manufacturer, or local road maintenance firm? 

Matilda Seccombe, 16, and 17-year-old Harry Purcell were killed when the Ford Fiesta they were passengers in collided with an oncoming Fiat at 64mph while being driven by pal Edward Spencer. Another boy, Frank Wormald, 16, also died in the horror smash, which took place in April 2023 just six weeks after Spencer had passed his driving test. After Spencer, who was 17 at the time, pleaded guilty to three counts of causing death by careless driving earlier this year, prosecutors told Warwick Crown Court he had a history of 'showing off' behind the wheel. The court also heard he had a 'history of bad driving' since he passed his test, evidenced by social media posts and videos.

Ah, well, there you go. No doubt he'll be suitably punished?  

The farmers' son, of Newbold on Stour, Warwickshire, was sent to a young offenders' institution for two years, as well as being handed an eight-year driving ban and told he must take an extended driving test when he applies for his licence back.

Oh, I forgot - in this judicial system, killing people with your car is the best way of getting away virtually scott free... 

Ms Lee told Coventry Coroner's Court that she may write to the government and insurance industry bodies to highlight issues raised by the tragedy. But she was urged by solicitor Patrick Maguire, representing Harry's family, to consider contacting social media companies, after he referenced the videos showing Spencer's dangerous driving. Mr Maguire told the hearing similar footage from other drivers existed online, and suggested social media firms may have a 'duty to take this material down' as it 'subconsciously validates and encourages others to copy that driving'.

Blame the tool that allows you to post footage of yourself being a tool, and not the tools driving like idiots = that's modern life all right. 

'I'm from the Travelling community.'

 Oh, is that supposed to be an excuse for going on a rampage in the West End last Christmas, killing one man and bringing terror to all the others? Or is it a coded pleas for clemency? 

He said he was 'not a madman' and his brain must not have been 'in the right state' because he had been attacked.

Yes, he mowed down innocent pedestians returning from church and evenings out but it's totes OK, because he's a victim!  

Mr Aylett KC told jurors Gilheaney has six convictions for dangerous driving between 2012 and 2023 and two for driving whilst disqualified. Gilheaney said: 'I've been disqualified for as long as I can remember in my whole life since I was ever old enough, or before the age, to own a driving licence. I have been disqualified since the age of 14.'

Thus proving what use a disqualification that tsn't monitored for compliance is worth in our justice system. 

Gilheaney, of Harlow, Essex, denies murder and three counts of attempted murder following the collision in Shaftesbury Avenue, shortly after midnight on December 25. He also denies wounding with intent for getting out of his car and attacking a man. He admits dangerous driving, causing death by driving whilst disqualified and possession of a bladed article in a public place.

And so we waste more taxpayer cash and jurors' time.... 

'To say that the defendant had been driving like a maniac is simply a gross understatement,' Mr Aylett KC said. 'Instead, he was using his car as a weapon.'

Cops who went to this incident must have feared an Islamist attack. So why wasn't he shot at the scene by the armed polivce that were sent, thus saving the taxpayer the farce of a trial?  

If It Was Up To The CPS, You Wouldn't Even Know Their Names...

That thing that 'never happens' according to the left-wingers and the delusional refugee=coddlers has happened again:

Afghans Jan Jahanzeb and Israr Niazal, both 17, had arrived only months earlier in small boats before assaulting the 15-year-old in a park on May 10.

Phone footage captured by the victim was so appalling that even one of the boy's own barristers warned it would lead to 'disorder' if 'the general public were exposed' to it.

No wonder the bleeding hearts are getting worried.

In the distressing three-minute clip, the girl could be heard crying 'you're going to rape me' as she was dragged away from where she had been drinking with friends in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. The footage, played at Warwick Crown Court yesterday, also showed her weeping, screaming 'help' and begging not to be taken to the park.She was forced to perform a sex act on the boys in a secluded area, before she escaped and filmed more clips describing her ordeal. The girl was eventually found by a passer-by who took her to a nearby police station, where officers were able to obtain vital forensic evidence.

The CPS didn't want to name them: 

Jailing Jahanzeb for ten years and eight months, and Niazal for nine years and ten months, Judge Sylvia de Bertodano also accepted a legal challenge mounted by the Daily Mail which means they can be named for the first time.

But don't start praising the judge just yet. You've yet to hear her true concern about the impsct of this crime... 

She said they had 'betrayed the interests' of genuine refugees and 'should feel a deep and lasting sense of shame'.

It takes a breathtaking lack of awareness to state this as a valid concern and a reason for shame, rather than considering the impact on the actual child victim, but we should welcome it as a true peek under the mask of the modern judiciary, and a reminder that their interests ans concerns are so often these days not those of the country, or thei fellow couyntrymen.

The asylum seekers were living in taxpayer-funded houses at the time of the attack, having arrived in the UK by small boats. The boys admitted the attack in October. Jahanze faces deportation, but Niazal does not, as he pleaded guilty a day before turning 17 – too young to qualify.

His barrister made the extraordinary suggestion this would allow the younger of the two rapists to 'make a life for himself in this country' when he is eventually released. The judge later confirmed during her sentencing that she would recommend that the Home Secretary considers deporting both Jahanzeb and Niazal.

If we really do see the back of this pair after they serve whatever of their sentence the Prison systems sees fit, no-one will be more surprised than me. After all, they weren't even remanded in custody after admitting thair crime.

I Thought We Were Short Of Court Time?

Yet we apparently have time to waste on snowflake slebs' hurt feelings:

That brings our coverage of today's sentencing hearing to an end - thank you for joining us. To recap: Former foootballer Joey Barton has been given a suspended prison sentence for creating grossly offensive social media posts aimed at broadcaster Jeremy Vine and pundits Lucy Ward and Eni Aluko.

Hardly a valid use of court time, I feel. Unless he made threats to harm them, it was something that should have been dealt with purely via the complaints procedure of the social media apps in question. So did he make death threats?  

His trial heard he had "crossed the line between free speech and a crime" with six posts on X including comparing Aluko and Ward to serial killers Fred and Rose West, and calling Vine a "bike nonce". Barton, originally of Huyton, Merseyside, was jailed for six months but told his sentence would be suspended for 18 months.

That's it!? No wonder Vine and the others went squealing to the police, that wouldn't have even been covered by the media company complaints systems - they'd have simply been told to block him and ignore him. But thatwouldn't have sat well with the egos of these people, who are used to support systems that prevent them ever hearing what people really think of them, and they have people who know just what you need to say to get the useless police on your side:

In victim impact statements read to court on Monday, Vine called Barton "a small man who feeds off the pain of others"; Ward said she was "constantly afraid"; while Aluko said she was "humiliated"

None of those things justifies arrest and trial of Barton. Even if we weren't so short of court time that a moron is considering overthrowing centuries of our judicial safeguards.. 

Just going back over the judge's sentencing comments, it is clear that Andrew Menary KC was keen to talk about where the boundaries lie in the freedom of speech debate. He told Joey Barton: "Robust debate, satire, mockery and even crude language may fall within permissible free speech.

"But when posts deliberately target individuals with vilifying comparisons to serial killers or false insinuations of paedophilia, designed to humiliate and distress, they forfeit their protection.  

As the jury concluded, your offences exemplify behaviour that is beyond this limit - amounting to a sustained campaign of online abuse that was not mere commentary but targeted, extreme and deliberately harmful."

Absolute bollocks. 

Methinks He Doth Protest Too Much...

The jury, which was chaired by Alex Farquharson, the director of Tate Britain, commended Kalu's 'bold and compelling work' and praised the 'lively translation of expressive gesture' in the abstract sculpture and drawing. He added that her win was based purely on merit, saying: 'The result wasn't about wanting, first and foremost, to give the prize to Nnena as the first neurodiverse artist. That wasn't a driving factor. 'It was interest in, and a real belief in, the quality and uniqueness of her practice, which is inseparable from who she is.'

Sure, sure, we believe you, don't we, Reader? 

Hollinshead also said that Kalu has faced discrimination for her learning disability, where she has limited verbal communication, which continues to this day. 'Hopefully this award smashes that prejudice away,' she said, before adding: 'As Nnena is such a superstar, has worked so hard and has made history, she is ready to accept the call from the Palace about her Damehood.'

Don't laugh, the nomination's probably being written as I type this... 

Cover Me! 'We Have All The Time In The World'

Another old favourite that I thought would never be bettered to finish off the year, it's Elbow's rendition of the classic Louis Armstrong Bond song, 'We Have All The Time In The World'...

Just missing out on inclusion of this list, by virtue of being released in March after I'd already drawn it up, was Justin Heyward & Mike Batt's cover of 'Life In A Northern Town'...

New Ways To Tell Everyone That You're A Snowflake Who Can't Handle Life

Are you overly sensitive to rejection? Do you take it particularly hard when you’re criticised, playing the moment over and over again in your head? Are you constantly on the lookout for mild disapproval from others? If so, you might have Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria.

Or you might just be a terrible human being who cannot cope with life… 

Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria, or “RSD”, is just one of the latest buzzwords that has become associated with autism and ADHD following the uptick in diagnoses for both conditions. Between 2019 and 2023, there was a fivefold increase in the number of open suspected autism referrals in the UK, while prescriptions for ADHD medication saw a 51 per cent increase over this same time period, according to the Nuffield Trust.

But we mustn’t sneer at this and consider it to be a case of people being eager to gain a tick in the box, even if the Health Secretary has his doubts too! 

As awareness increases (or overdiagnosis, depending on your view), the standard ADHD or autism diagnosis has become insufficient for some sufferers, who are seeking more niche subsections of the condition they can identify with. RSD, for example, is understood to be an extreme emotional sensitivity to rejection or criticism. It’s a fairly recent addition to the mental health lexicon, having been coined by psychiatrist William Dodson in the 2010s.

Of course, one everyone has it, you’re not special any more and have to find something else.

An equally popular cluster of ADHD/autism symptoms is Pathological Demand Avoidance, aka PDA, which is when an individual experiences an extreme resistance to doing something that is requested or expected of them. This can include anything from big tasks to everyday demands, like the mere act of going to work, as per the UK-based PDA Society, which defines PDA as “a determined avoidance of so-called ‘common’ demands of life.” Despite PDA being coined by psychologist Elizabeth Newson in the 1980s, it’s important to note that neither of these terms is included in formal diagnostic systems.

But they are proliferating in the places these people go to find validation of course: 

That hasn’t stopped them from taking root on TikTok, where users are embracing the terms with open arms.

’Users’ being a very apposite term for these people… 

Why Do Actions Never Match Words?

A woman savagely “battered” her own dog to death with a saucepan after stumbling home drunk from a party. Jordanna Wheeler, 29, whacked the bull mastiff so hard the pan was left buckled before she passed out on her sofa.

She's a tiny little thing, it rather beggars belief she managed it. Yet she was found bang to rights.

Cops found the pet dead on its bed in her filthy Swansea flat along with the “severely deformed” saucepan she used in the attack still covered in dog hair.

Wales again!

Prosecutor Dean Pulling said Wheeler later tried to “manipulate” mental health staff into sectioning her once she realised what she had done. She told a nurse she’d been out partying before she “woke up on the sofa covered in spew”.

And only when she came around did she discover “I had battered him to death”. The nurse said she showed “no remorse”.

Judge Geraint Walters said the public would be “outraged” and blasted her.“In this case, this is about as savage an attack on an animal by a person as I have ever heard.”

Quite right, so she's looking at a few months in chokey? 

He spared her jail, handing her a 16-month sentence suspended for 18 months and banning her from keeping animals for ten years.

*sighs* 

Oh No, Real People! Help, Help, I Feel Unsafe!

A BBC 'journalist' encounters real people's views:

We were filming an interview on the outskirts of a public park in Falkirk when a woman approached. "Can I just ask why you're encouraging these men to sit in this park?" she asked while recording the exchange on her phone. The man we were speaking to for our latest Disclosure documentary was living in a nearby asylum hotel, where angry protests had been taking place since the summer. The woman said men from the hotel had been following local children, and asked us to take our interview elsewhere.

Oh dear, not the hero's welcome for supporting refugees this BBC wonk expected? 

At this point, a group of asylum seekers who we hadn't noticed playing football nearby appeared over the hill. She told me it was my fault they were there and if "anything happens here, you've got it on your head".The woman uploaded her video to the internet. It was viewed millions of times after being shared by right wing influencers such as Tommy Robinson. She was hailed a hero for standing up for women and children. I was deluged with abuse and warned that I should stay out of Falkirk.

LOL! 

I don't believe my interview with this man, who later withdrew consent for its use, put anyone in danger. But this encounter, and its aftermath, gave me perhaps the sharpest insight yet into the fear some within the town - and beyond – have about asylum seekers in their communities.

It doesn't sound much as if you really learned why that  situation existed, but the folk of Falkirk did their level best to school you... 

Asylum seekers are not generally permitted to work while their claims are being processed and get an allowance of £1.42 a day to live on. With free meals, accommodation and no bills to pay, it sticks in the throats of some. Kevin, a regular protester, told me: "They're getting telly, they're getting warmth, they're getting clothing, they're getting phones, they're getting free healthcare and if you think that's right in our country right now, I don't."

Who could possibly think this was a sensible state of affairs, or one that can be sustained for too long without a backlash from the population forced to pay to give invaders a better lifestyle than they themselves can afford? 

The Cladhan was once a favoured place for wedding receptions, anniversaries and birthday parties. No warning was given or consultation held with the local community that up to 90 asylum seekers were going to be housed here in 2021.

Of course they weren't consulted, they knew what the answer would be!  And they knew why that would be the answer...

Former Cladhan resident Sadeq Nikzad, from Afghanistan, was jailed in June for the rape of a 15-year-old local girl. Sarah Jane Waugh, part of the Falkirk Pink Ladies group which wants the hotel closed, told us it "killed me to know that that girl's life was ruined". "We shouldn't be walking about in fear," she added.

No, you shouldn't, Do you think the local council executives are walking about in fear? They should be - fear of ther almighty backlash that is coming! 

There is a feeling among some, perhaps based in part on perceptions around how other cultures treat women, that asylum seekers are more likely to carry out sex attacks. Part of Nikzad's legal defence was that he didn't understand what was and was not allowed due to cultural differences between the UK and Afghanistan.

It can hardly be said to be just a 'perception' when everyone can see exactly how women are treated in these alien cultures when they open their morning newpaper... 

Some Good News Finally!

The upmarket bakery chain Gail’s is planning 40 more outlets after sales rose by a fifth last year as it opened 36 new bakeries and sales to supermarkets increased.

Hurrah! I love Gail's, I hope one opens nearer me than Wanstead or Central London! 

Speaking at a conference organised by Propel this month, Tom Molnar, who co-founded Gail’s 20 years ago, said the business was “still early in our growth”. He said: “We do have a lot of bakeries now, but it took 20 years to get there. It wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t very fast. Twice, we had to stop growing altogether, because we didn’t think that we could be better; we were worried about getting consumed by speed. We’re still early in our growth. You take McDonald’s, Greggs or any other successful food business here in the UK – they operate from thousands of sites, and we’re still below 200.”

Yes, because people don't appreciate quality and don't want to pay what it costs. They'd rather eat cheap - which is why Greggs ans McDonalds are so ubiquitous on every high street. 

The rapidly expanding chain has become an unlikely political bellwether – used by the Liberal Democrats to help identify areas where voters might be ready to switch from the Conservatives.

Eh?  

Its expansion has also spurred local protests, including a heated one in Walthamstow, east London, where a petition to stop a Gail’s opening was signed by hundreds of residents. A new branch in Brighton was spray-painted with the world “boring” and a large image of a penis, according the local newspaper the Argus.

Who could possibly object to a bakery? 

Whether We, The Readers, Would Buy Them Is The Real Issue Though

Waterstones would stock books created using artificial intelligence, the company's boss has said, as long as they were clearly labelled, and if customers wanted them.

And if customers won't buy them, there's no point in stocking them. 

However, James Daunt, a veteran of the bookselling industry, said he personally did not expect that to happen. "There's a huge proliferation of AI-generated content and most of it are not books that we should be selling," he said, but added it would be "up to the reader".

It's ALWAYS up to the reader, in the end. 

Daunt, who is heading into his 36th Christmas season in the book trade, said Waterstones' success had been built on handing more control to individual store managers to serve their own communities. "Head office is there to make life easier," he said. "Make sure the books that they order turn up on time, but do not tell [managers] where to put them."

And that can be a two-edged sword, with managers going rogue because they can, and damaging Waterstones' reputation.

A report published last month by the University of Cambridge , found that more than half of published authors feared being replaced by AI. Two-thirds also said their work had been used without permission or payment to train the large language models which lie behind generative AI tools. But some writers use AI themselves, especially for research, and AI tools are being used to edit novels, and even produce full-length works.

I look forward to one of my favourite author's takes on this... 

'Not Over', Nesrine? When Did It Ever Actually Start?

A “dangerous illusion that life in Gaza is returning to normal”, is how Amnesty International’s secretary general, Agnès Callamard, described this post-ceasefire period. Israeli authorities have reduced attacks and allowed some aid into Gaza, she said, but “the world must not be fooled. Israel’s genocide is not over.”

The 'genocide that never was', you mean? The 'genocide ' that the Israils aren't carrying out, or the one Hamas itself is doing it's level best to slip though the fog of war, unnoticed by the MSM?

Finger On The Pulse As Ever...

...eh, Matt?