Tweet Of The Month

Post Title Of The Month

Tom Paine on sport:

Quote Of The Month

David Thompson on activists' hopes for the latest woke Disney remake, 'Snow White':

"Readers are invited to ponder the conceit that a massively expensive film based on a classic tale for children should exist chiefly to “empower our movement,” i.e., to affirm the politics of mouthy, ungifted actresses.

Rather than, say, to entertain children. Still, I suppose it’s to be expected that obnoxious, narcissistic women should want to re-write a tale that, in its various original forms, is pretty much a warning against female narcissism and spite."

Post Of The Month

Nick Drew at Capitalists@Work offers an incisive look at the Russia/Ukraine situation. 

Sadly, There's Nothing 'Shocking' About It...

This is the horrific moment a 76-year-old pensioner and her pet labradoodle were viciously attacked by a crazed dog on the streets of Birmingham - resulting in the woman being hospitalised for four days and her dog savaged.

Usual suspect, usual breed.

Police are urgently hunting for the owner of the white bull-type breed who was filmed dragging the vicious animal off the panicked labradoodle. The unknown man cycled away from the scene afterwards, leaving the stunned pensioner injured on the ground.

Usual reaction from the owner of this sort of weapon dog. This won't be the first time it's attacked, either.

Inspector Leanne Chapman, from the force's Dangerous Dog Unit, said: 'The video makes shocking viewing, and you can see the sheer force that the victim is hit with.'

'We believe the dog involved may be a bull breed, and it's really important that we hear from anyone who knows the man in the images so that we can take steps to protect the public from harm in the future.'

With stunning deductive skills like that, this'll be wrapped up in no time, right> 

"Oooops, We Screwed Up..."

Jack Beecham, 72, from Prenton, had requested documents regarding an upcoming civil court case from police in June 2019 - but says he was instead mailed two pages about a criminal investigation.

Mr Beecham claimed he was also sent two pages about a misconduct allegation involving a Merseyside Police sergeant.

"...and we're going to make sure you pay for it." 

Mr Beecham said he attempted to phone the police solicitor's office about the papers, and also attempted to contact the subject of the criminal investigation and the police sergeant directly. But when he said he received no response, he forwarded the information to a number of other people, including former police officers and journalists.

He said: "That night, a big yellow van with 10 police officers came to my house to pick up four pieces of paper, which I gave them. They said I must also delete it from my devices, which I did. But then I said 'what do I do about the hundred-odd other people I sent them to?'"

Oh, they knew what to do about that. Charge you. 

He said police "didn't seem bothered at the time" when they picked up the papers. But in late 2021 he was charged with obtaining and disclosing personal data, leading to a lengthy court process spanning nearly two years.

Eventually, someone realised - probably because of the recent events - how this was going to look in the press.  

The pensioner walked free from Liverpool Crown Court on Monday, August 14, after the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) decided it was not in the public interest to pursue a case against him.

ICO prosecutor Anam Khan said: "In light of the knowledge that this is likely to be a lengthy trial, the prosecution takes on the view that it would be a disproportionate use of resources to continue with the case."

I humbly suggest that it wouldn't be a disproportionate use of resources to charge everyone involved in the decision to charge this man in the first place with wasting police time and misconduct in a public office... 

Today's 'YCMIU' Story...

A hotel boss has been asked to remove online footage of thieves who stripped their room nearly bare...

Because the police caught them? Yes, These people aren't the brightest so they tracked them down through the bank card they used. 

OK, so, why do the cops want the footage removed? Because it'll prejudice the case? Well, that's understandable. 

No. Reader, hold onto your hat:

...because police claim it is 'causing them distress'.

They obviously are planning to deny any charge, because police visited them and left without removing any items from their house.  

Dyfed-Powys Police visited Natalie this week to ask her to remove the CCTV from her social media because it was upsetting the alleged thieves.

'The officer's exact words were that it was causing them distress,' Natalie said. 'I don't want to be hard or spiteful but they should have thought of that before they took everything from the room.'

The answer to the useless cops is simple: 'You want the footage removed? OK. Charge them. If not, it stays up.' 

The Wit And Wisdom Of Martha Gill...

What to do about shoplifting? It’s a delicate subject.

Is it, Martha? Why?

Shoplifting is not quite like other crimes.

How does it differ, then?

Pilfering, purloining, filching, snaffling – it is by nature relatively trivial, the sort of thing children try their hands at without necessarily graduating to car heists and bank jobs.

I thank my stars I clearly didn't have your upbringing, then. Because theft is theft, whether we are talking about nicking baby powder from Boots or bullion from Brinks Mat. 

And it may be 'relatively trivial' in your mind, but not when done on an organised scale to the big supermarkets or the hard-pressed sole proprietor. It's not trivial when staff are threatened or assaulted. 

...most of all, shoplifting is a crime that seems to reflect social need: it rises when the economy dips.

Ah, of course. The fact that organised gangs are now behind it, or drug addicts stealing to sell for their next fix, is ignored; in Martha's feeble brain, it's always Jean Valjean stealing a loaf of bread... 

Not only does “cracking down” on shoplifters through the criminal justice system raise difficult moral problems, it doesn’t even work.

Since when has combating theft - or any crime - caused a 'difficult moral problem'..? Surely not cracking down causes that, as we can see in California, as David Thompson's readership is quick to point out?  

Technology has made breaking the law much harder. The use of deadlocks has decimated car theft...

And the use of keyless entry has increased it again. Technology is always a two-edged sword.  

Yet in many modern shops, we have the opposite phenomenon. Although some security measures have increased, with door alarms and beeping tags, in other ways theft has become easier. Once goods were kept behind counters, but since the birth of large supermarkets they have been laid out near the door, ready for the taking. Automated self check-out means the customer in effect monitors their own behaviour. Staff levels have dropped precipitously.

Yes, and women wearing short skirts increases rape, eh, Martha? 

I'll Believe It When I See It...

Met Police officers will be banned from supporting 'woke' causes while on duty, Britain's most senior policeman has warned.

Sir Mark Rowley says officers won't be allowed to take the knee, fly rainbow flags or wear badges that support environmental causes, The Telegraph reported.

However, the police commissioner said it is 'perfectly proper' for officers to wear remembrance poppies, Help for Heroes wristbands and the police memorial badge.

What took so long? Did Suella tell him his fortune, at last?

His view on the issue differs significantly from that of his predecessor, Dame Cressida Dick, who had said it was at each individual officer's discretion if they wanted to take a knee in support of Black Lives Matter.

We'll see if this claim actually means anything. I'm not hopeful. It's going to be a bigger clean up job than this one. 

Wow, Apps Are Getting Amazingly Sophisticated..!

A woman who was cleared of cruelty to one of her horses has said that the damage caused by a “trial by social media” is “irreversible” and that she received hand-delivered death threats because of the incident.

Twitter (I refuse to call it 'X') can now arrange for your menacing post to be hand-delivered...! Truly, we live in an age of wonders!

You know, if I'd avoided a jail term for kicking and punching one of my pets in a fit of temper, because a jury had returned one of those baffling verdicts that they can sometimes be prone to, I'd want to hide away and shun the limelight until everyone forgot. 

But of course, I'd never ever do what this woman did in the first place...

She said: “It is profoundly troubling that, in this digital age, misinformation can spread like wildfire, leading to premature judgments and jeopardising the lives and careers of innocent individuals.

“A snippet of video was taken out of context, and manipulated to paint a picture of me that is entirely at odds with who I am.”

No, it showed what it showed, and your real issue isn't that it showed that. It's that it showed quite the opposite. 

The jury didn't buy the offence, but that video - and the resulting impression people were given of you - is never, ever going away.