The People To Whom Those Funds Belonged Thought So...

...ro your objections count for naught!

Timmy the whale is lost at sea, presumed dead. In normal circumstances, the loss of a young humpback whale would be a sad yet unremarkable part of the circle of life. Dead whales help sustain thousands of marine species – and are part of the global carbon cycle.

Yes, they provide much needed food for hideous slimy bottom-feeders, and this case has done much the same in providing publicity opportunities for their two-legged counterparts on land 

Amy Dickham, a professor of wildlife conservation at the University of Oxford, says there are many lessons to reflect on from the case. “It’s really striking that there’s been such a focus on this individual animal at such great cost during a time of great crisis for wildlife funding around the world,” she told me. “It is really questionable whether it was a good use of funds, particularly compared with issues that impact much greater numbers of whales, such as collisions with vessels and entanglements with fishing gear.”

Who are you to question that? It's not your money, and you have no say over how these people want to spend it, which it the real issue, isn't it?  Even more, I suspect, than the danger that the 'experts' might be proved wrong.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare said that the rescue for Timmy should “give us all pause”, highlighting it as an example of the challenges of social media.There’s a huge pressure to move rapidly and that doesn’t necessarily give experts the time to carefully consider what the best course of action should be, including things such as euthanasia, which might not be popular with the public but might be the best course of action for the animal’s welfare.”

Given what we know about what 'experts' choose to spend the money they are given on, I'll side with social media on this issue.

I Shouldn't Worry...

Some lifts could now be unsafe as manufacturers have failed to adjust their stated capacities in line with soaring obesity rates, experts warn.

I’ve yet to be in a lift where the sign has any bearing on reality! 

Elevators are required to display signs showing the maximum number of people they can carry but these have not been updated for over two decades. It means they are increasingly at risk of being overloaded even when they are transporting the number of passengers they have supposedly been built for, a conference heard.

Manufacturers' assumption that each person fills a floor area shaped like a small oval is also outdated as bulging waistlines mean many are now big and round, he added.

The lifts in my building claim 24 as maximum capacity, but even for normal sized people, that could realistically only be achieved by several of us sitting on the shoulders of others! Why is it a subject of concern for a conference, anyway?

'What's more, suggesting more people can fit in a lift than is comfortable is stigmatising people living with obesity.' 

*sigh* I might have known…bet they didn’t serve carrot sticks and water for lunch at this conference!

A New Low For The Police...

Vikrum Digwa is on trial at Southampton Crown Court charged with the murder of 18-year-old Henry Nowak, from Chafford Hundred, in Belmont Road, Southampton, on December 3 2025. The 23-year-old is also charged with carrying a knife in public and his mother, Kiran Kaur, 53, is accused of assisting an offender by removing a weapon from the murder scene.

Another day, another life lost to the fetishisation of 'enrichment' 

Nicholas Lobbenberg KC, prosecuting, told the jury the accountancy and finance student was sending Snapchat videos to friends as he was walking home from a night out with his football team when the fatal incident happened. He said former Harris Academy Chafford Hundred pupil Mr Nowak had drunk less than the drink-drive limit during the evening.

Interesting phrasing. If he's prosecuting a rape does he feel the need to emphasise how the victim's skirt was of regulation length?   

“His phone captures the moment he met Vikrum Digwa,” Mr Lobbenberg said. “Vikrum Digwa was carrying an extremely large knife in a sheath openly displayed over his clothing.

Ah. but he's a Sikh, and so allowed to carry a decorative knife, right? Yes, Reader and he was, but the murder weapon wasn't this... 

The prosecutor said as well as the shastar – the Punjabi word for weapon or knife – which had a 21cm blade, Digwa had a kirpan knife around his neck and under his clothing.

“After he had been stabbed, Henry climbed on to a bin and over a fence to try and escape but he had already been fatally wounded and there was a blood trail on the street which demonstrates that he must have been stabbed before he climbed on to the bin and over the fence. 

“Vikrum Digwa chose to aggressively pursue him.”

To kill him, or rob him? He did after all do both. 

The prosecutor said a video of the incident was found on Mr Nowak’s phone which was discovered in Digwa’s pocket.

Mr Lobbenberg said the defendant’s father and brother were at the scene shortly afterwards along with his mother, who was captured on video footage taking the knife back to their family home in nearby St Denys Road where it was later found by police.

 Cunning enough to remove the murder weapon, not smart enough to destroy it. 

The prosecutor said Digwa denied at the scene stabbing Mr Nowak and added: “Vikrum Digwa said he had been racially abused and attacked by a drunken man. Henry protested he hadn’t attacked Vikrum Digwa and he had been stabbed.” Mr Lobbenberg said: “He didn’t seek help for the man he had injured with his sizeable knife, instead he accused him of being a racist and being drunk.” 

He added that police initially handcuffed Mr Nowak and started giving him first aid when he then collapsed.

Oh but Ambush, I hear you say, the police didn't know at that point that he'd been stabbed, give them a break, maybe the wounds weren;t visible? Well, the blood certainly was, and some wounds were in the front, not the back as he tried to flee:

Mr Lobbenberg said a post-mortem examination found Mr Nowak suffered four stab wounds and a cut to his jaw, with two of the wounds to the back of his legs.

But for those cops, the magic words had been spoken, so they will be expecting to fear no consequences for handcuffing a dying murder victim. Henry, you see, is white.  

The consequences of public disgust will be felt by other cops, when they need the public's help with something, after all...

Not Letting This Mutt Have It's 'One Bite'...

A dog has died after being attacked by a Staffordshire bull terrier.

The incident took place on a footpath near Nightingale Road in Pakefield between 2.25pm and 2.55pm on April 8.

I'd imagine owners believe at that time they will be safe to walk their pet without coming into contact with dangerous mutts but not on this occasion.

The Staffy, which was on a lead, bit a cockapoo, also on a lead, when it was being walked along the footpath near the beach.

Officers are asking anyone with any information to contact Suffolk Constabulary quoting the crime reference 37/20460/26.

Odd that the police are taking it seriously, when they usually do all they can to swerve dog-on-dog attacks, but enlightement, as ever, comes from social media below. 

To the comments, where the usual defenders of vicious breeds show up: 

And to Facebook, where the police reaction is somewhat explained by the behaviour of the mutt's owner and the fact it's the THIRD such incident: 

I hope they catch him. Amd shoot his weapon dog in front of him.

H/T: Dave Ward via email

Many A True Word...

 

...illustrated in cartoon form by Matt.

Sunday Funnies...

 Given the title, I half expected David Lammy to make an appearance....

Seems A Strange Decision For An Unpopular PM Who Faces 'Two Tier' Claims...

Prosecutors have vowed to get tough on protesters who spew hate ahead of an unprecedented £4.5million policing operation to deal with rival rallies on Sunday.

Sunday, Mail? It's today, isn't it?  

And everything they say underlines the attitude of the establishent that there's only one concern, despite there being two marches. 

Keir Starmer warned on Saturday of a 'fight for the soul of this country' after the head of the Crown Prosecution Service announced a new hardline stance against those inciting hatred at protests.

Man without a soul (or personality!) is not best qualified to pontificate about it, surely?  

Britain's biggest force is preparing to use armoured vehicles for the first time in a decade as it deploys 4,000 officers to tackle a series of protests on Sunday, including a Unite The Kingdom rally led by far-Right activist Tommy Robinson and a pro-Palestine demo to mark Nakba Day.

Visiting the Metropolitan Police's Command and Control Special Operations Room yesterday, the Prime Minister outlined a 'ramped-up justice system' ready to quickly haul violent offenders in front of judges, saying: 'We're in a fight for the soul of this country, and the Unite The Kingdom march is a stark reminder of exactly what we are up against.'Its organisers are peddling hatred and division, plain and simple.

 And what, peay tell, is the other march peddling? Its not kittens and rainbows, is it? 

Arabic for 'catastrophe', Nakba refers to the displacement of Palestinians in 1948 for the founding of Israel.

Kier has nailed his colours to the mast - this is what he stands for. Not the historic right of the people of Britain to march in support of a cause, but the right of foreign-born 'citizens' and their handmaidens in the lanyard classes to march in support of the overthrow of a foreign country

Eleven foreign far-Right agitators have been blocked from entering the country.

Meanwhile, third worlders come in on boats every day, and who knows who they are or what they stand for? 

You're Answering A Question No-one's Asking

 

The quetion isn't what would they do, it's what would they be and the answer's that they wouldn't be Starmer. And for a lot of people, although they may dress it up for quotes, that's enough. It certainly is for me. Principally, it's punishment. For Southport, the Chagos Islands, Two Tier policing, etc.

Well, You've Only Yourselves To Blame...

Broadcasters must urgently adapt to an existential threat from “creator journalism” that is causing audiences to shun traditional television news, the former boss of BBC News has said.

Because they are more immediate and trustworthy than the MSM?

Deborah Turness, who resigned from the BBC alongside the then director general, Tim Davie, last year, said consumption was “collapsing” for traditional television news, which was facing “a profound moment of disruption”.

She said that a new habit of following personality-led journalism on digital platforms such as YouTube, TikTok and Substack was now in the process of replacing traditional news.

Least anyone forget why this useless creature is no longer employed by the BBC: 

In her first intervention since stepping down from the BBC after the corporation’s edit of a Donald Trump speech...

If you're goung to follw someone making up the news, it might as well be the guy down the road. He's less likely to be a nonce, after all... 

They Should Never Have Been Given This Power!

Little Rowan Antolovi, who has a rare genetic eye disorder, is struggling to manage in the classroom because of his failing eyesight. But when his concerned NHS hospital consultant referred him for urgent assistance to help him cope, he was turned away when the local council found out he went to a private day school.

This is of course in Scotland, where gesture politics override even safety concerns, but who gave a local council the power to refuse service on the NHS in the first place?  Weren't we subjected to endless sneering on social media last week at Reform's policy on the NHS, and assured that local council elections had no bearing on it!?

Now Rowan's furious mother Virginia Osborne has accused them of discriminating against a little boy who needs help because 'of a decision we made as parents about where to educate him'. 

'We are not rich. We are an ordinary working family as are most at his school. We have saved money for the government by sending our child to a private school.' 

'As a result of our choice we are now precluded from accessing council provision for children even though we have also paid all of our taxes which pay for those services.'

Many funding decisions of local councils seem power-crazed or shortsighted - this is one that seems truly evil!