As Ever, 'The Guardian' Is Wrong...

It’s hard to think of a published author in living memory who risked arrest in the UK for their political beliefs, hard to think of one whose books could be published anywhere but here. Sally Rooney went into this debacle with her eyes open: she said last July that royalties from her books, and their BBC adaptations, would be used to support Palestine Action.

The ‘Guardian’ knows full well that she’s not risking arrest because her novels are puerile crap, nor because she hold progressive political beliefs, though it hopes you, the reader, might believe this… 

Rooney’s courage is not so much in risking imprisonment, since there is a fix for that, which is what she’s doing – avoiding the UK.

But not avoiding the reason for her publishers to run scared, of course.

Rather, she has chosen the thorniest possible path for this cause. Authors can write essays and sign letters in support of the Palestinian people; actors can voice it in interviews, musicians can say it from the stage, and there is always a cost to it, whether it’s in plain sight and they’ve been kicked off a global tour, or it’s behind closed doors and they are simply excluded from opportunities. But such actions, even if they logically suggest support for a proscribed organisation, don’t entail actively breaking the terrorism laws.

Eventually, even the ‘Guardian’ can’t hide the truth forever. 

She’s never been an apolitical author. Normal People was razor sharp on class, Conversations With Friends wasn’t shy of a Marxist analysis.

There are countless thousands of political authors but they aren’t subject to any consequences for their politics. Hell, I still read Stephen King… 

It was from a reputation of delicately challenging but everyday subtlety that Rooney assumed her outrider position, and in so doing, took on the idea that caring about Gaza is somehow a crank’s life choice; insisted that it is a human response, as natural and quotidian, as passionate and important, as friendship.

She can care about Gaza as much as she wants, donate her entire book revenue to charities caring for Palestinians if she feels that strongly. What she can’t do is fund a proscribed organisation.

It also, come on – surely at some point we’re allowed to say this – makes an absolute mockery of the terrorism legislation thus applied. Nobody anywhere thinks Sally Rooney poses a danger to the British state, or any state, just as nobody anywhere thinks a 94-year-old human rights barrister who was a friend of Ed Miliband’s late mother does. Keir Starmer, paradoxically, given that the two things in his favour were his caution and his legal hinterland, painted himself into an absurd corner, where terrorism arrests went up between 2024 and 2025 from 250 to nearly 3,000. On demos where anyone crunched the numbers, more of them were over 80 than under 20.

Elderly terrorists and terrorist sympathisers are still dangerous, and the state is entitled to take action against them.

See, What It Takes To Stop A Bad Man With A Gun...

...really does turn out to be a good man with one. Not necessarily a cop.

Schools in Bend, Oregon, will be closed on Friday after a 16-year-old shooter opened fire at an elementary school in the city on Thursday, killing three children and a teacher before he was shot dead by a community member.

How did he get in? Simple!  

He shot his way through a locked gate into the school grounds and through locked doors to gain access to the premises, the authorities said.

The police did turn up eventually.

At 1.02pm, police responded to Silver Rail elementary school after receiving several reports about an active shooter. One 911 caller reported an individual armed with a long gun firing at their car.

By the time officers arrived on scene, the suspected assailant had been shot and killed by the bystander, who apprehended him inside.

See, when seconds count, the police really ARE only minutes away.

Gun control advocate Gabrielle Giffords, ⁠a former congresswoman who survived a mass shooting in 2011, said in a statement she was “heartbroken” by the shooting.“This cannot continue to be a reality ​in our country. Leaders at every level must step ​up and act,” Giffords said.

Leaders weren’t there, they never are - a citizen stepped up, with the means to stop it that you would deny to him if you could. 

🎶Oh, Those Russians....🎶

 Matt can't resist a double, and nor can I....

Now how do I get rid of this earworm? 

Sunday Funnies...

 The real scary movies....

Confession Time!

Well, I was wrong, sort of. 

You really can't go back, not when you secured your account with an authenticator that's now run out of battery and the instruction at the site for removing it don't work! 

So it's farewell to my night elf druid, human hunter and shadowpriest, and the various low level alts  I had on that account. 

So, I registered a new account, spent a day and a half downloading it all again on my gaming laptop, and I was back in Azeroth! And straight away slaughtering murlocks on my new main, a Worgan Warlock.

Will certainly create another feral Druid and a Hunter alt for old times sake, but for now, I’m just revelling in nostalgia!

It’s #FishandChipFriday!

…and look, the 'Guardian' has an article on it -  what will they get right?

But what really makes a good chippy? One man has the answer – Andrew Crook is president of the National Federation of Fish Friers, which runs the annual National Fish & Chip Awards.

Well, he must surely know his…err, onions? 

For industry expert Mr Crook, there's one particular quality in top fish and chip shops that help them stand out against others.

What it’s cooked in, perhaps? 

Mr Crook adds: 'The thing that makes an excellent fryer is they're always changing something. They've always got a desire to improve. They're always constantly tweaking things, and I think that's what drives the industry forward.'

No no no! We don’t want change, constant change isn’t good. When you’ve a good local chippy, like mine, you want it to stay exactly the same forever!

Where does he stand on the perpetual debate over whether you should order cod or haddock? After 27 years in the industry, the Lancashire-raised frier has developed a well-rounded take. 'I think it’s a very regional thing, there are lots of fantastic species out there but in fish and chips on the whole people want cod or haddock,' he says.

Now he’s talking - as a southerner, my usual is cod, with an occasional haddock or plaice or even cod roe for variety or maybe when I can (sadly my local doesn’t offer it) skate! Always with a wally (gherkin). But I’ve noticed the further north one travels, the less often the option of cod is available. 

The chippy expert dubs Whitby, in North Yorkshire, as the 'spiritual home of fish and chips'.

 Now he’s talking! The Magpie Cafe in Whitby is the best!

As for Mr Crook's go-to order? Despite being from Lancashire he sides with the 'Yorkshire way of doing fish and chips'. 'It would be haddock battered, not lightly battered just normal batter, chips, mushy peas,' he says, adding that he prefers it to be cooked in beef dripping too.

Now he’s spot on - vegetable oil in the south and beef dripping in the north, and I have to give it to the northerners on points!

Roll on dinner time!

 

Just Who Was The 'Careless' One Here?

A motorist who struck and killed a Pakistani international student who was praying in the middle of an Adelaide road has been given a suspended prison sentence and banned from driving for a decade.

Sounds like the start of a joke: What’s the difference between a dead kangaroo in the road and a dead Muslim? 

…

The skid marks in front of the kangaroo!

Ah, the old ones are the best!

Samia Malik, 20, was seen by witnesses and caught on CCTV appearing to kneel in prayer for almost four minutes on North East Road in Hillcrest on the night of May 6, 2025, before she was hit by then-19-year-old Ashton Jacob Friend. Friend, who kept driving because he thought he had hit a kangaroo, pleaded guilty to causing death by careless use of a vehicle and leaving an accident scene after causing death, and faced court for sentencing on Friday, The Advertiser reported.

The court heard Friend was not affected by alcohol or drugs, was driving under the speed limit, and was looking in his rearview mirror in the seconds he would have needed to avoid hitting Ms Malik.

Did they test her for drink or drugs or just conclude she was impaired by being Muslim? Who else would be stupid enough to pray in the middle of a road?

Judge Barnett told the court that while Friend realised he had hit a person after seeing the news reports, the community expected drivers to be vigilant and attentive, and respond appropriately after accidents.

The community also expects people recognise that roads are for vehicles and not pedestrians surely? 

In America, They Have 'Suicide By Cop'. Over Here, We Go One Better...

...and choose 'suicide by tiger'

The devastated family of a child actor who was mauled to death by a tiger have paid tribute to their 'bright, warm and engaging' son who suffered from 'significant mental illness'.

But not, to the immense frustration of all the armchair experts and disability activists who commented on the story,  autism or leaning difficulties. Just your garden variety nut whose life didn;t turn out as he'd planned, so why not end it all in spectacular fashion?.

William Chapman, 24, died on Saturday after climbing into a big cat's enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park near Doncaster, where he was attacked by a 200kg Siberian tiger named Altai.

'The family are hopeful that the relevant authorities will do their upmost to get to the bottom of why our amazing son did what he did.'

Why should they? People kill themselves all the time, usually not by spoiling everyone's nice day out, but by ruining their commute home, but even so, the only person that could tell you why isn't around to... 

It emerged on Tuesday night that Mr Chapman was a 'passionate' child actor who appeared in an ITV comedy drama.

Then we must be thankful he chose only to delete himself from the world, unlike others. 

But his acting work apparently largely stopped during his adolescence and he appeared to not have had any screen work for many years before his tragic death on Saturday in the tiger's cage at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park near Doncaster.

In a statement, the park said: 'Many, many people have contacted us about Altai, the tiger. 'We can reassure everyone that he is safe and well and will not be euthanized as a result of this incident.

Why should it be? It's too late for that to do any good, and he's no more dangerous now that he was before a disturbed person chose him as the instument of his suicide. 

The licensing authority for Yorkshire Wildlife Park, City of Doncaster Council, has now launched a health and safety investigation into the man's death.

And will no doubt find the zoo up to code, because nothing could have prevented this. 

Food Blogging

 Well, not to be left out, I’ll contribute something. I saw these in my local Sainbury's a fortnight ago, and as I love game, particularly exotic game (Lidl's Christmas offering of frozen reindeer steaks are fondly remembered) I was tempted, except the species wasn't indicated anywhere on the packaging so I declined at first. 

When I got home I looked them up and the reason they give for not being more specific is that the meat comes fron commercial culls so it could be any one of a dozen species, and presumaly no guarentee the two pre-cooked indivudually packaged steaks come from the same animal.

So this weekend, I took the plunge, and bought one. The packaging gives you instructions from frozen, but these were found in the meat aisle unfrozen - and as they are precooked, all you are really doing is reheating, so take them out of the fridge an hour before to come up to room temperature, and away you go!

My verdict? 100% would buy again; delicious and trouble-free lean wild meat, goes paticularly well with redcurrant sauce and a nice glass of red wine! 

And posting will be light for the next few days as I,m taking some time off to play 'Planet Zoo 2' which releases today, and maybe get back into 'World of Warcraft', although I may have to start again from the beginning as the little authenticator I used to login is dead and it's proving hard to remove it *sigh*...

More Legislation, Or The Police Doing Their Job Properly?

A woman has begun a campaign to change the law after her dog was killed by a "bully hybrid". Karen Hawthornwaite, 55, of Darwen, began a campaign to strengthen the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 after her seven-year-old Lhasa Apso, Benji, was attacked by an off-lead unmuzzled pocket bulldog in 2025 - and had to be euthanised. Despite capturing the attack on CCTV, Karen said it did not meet the criteria for prosecution.

Why not? Beceause the police are lazy and the CPS complacent, of course. And there are few consequences for them of not doing their job. 

Lancashire Police said it had sought expert advice but the incident "did not meet the criteria" under the Dangerous Dogs Act.Under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991,external dog attacks on other animals may amount to an offence, but it is for the individual police force and Crown Prosecution Service, to decide whether this is appropriate, on a case-by-case basis.

The dog in question was a pocket bulldog - a cross-breed that is technically not on the dangerous dogs list. But Karen argues that mixed breeds of dogs such as pocket bulldogs fall under a "grey area", allowing dangerous dogs to "evade the full force of the law".

Thr full force of the law is so easy to evade that it may as well not exist at all. 

The spokesperson added: "However to reduce the likelihood of a similar incident happening again, the owner of the pocket bulldog was given an Acceptable Behaviour Contract under the Anti Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act, 2014 with specific conditions which include ensuring their dog is on a lead at all times in residential areas."

Conditiond that no-one will ever check are being complied with are a waste of time. 

"We're all fed up of hearing about these incidents," Trevor Cooper, solicitor and dog law specialist, said. "There are victims who deserve better and the law that we have is a complete mess. "It is high time the Dangerous Dogs Act was perhaps thrown away and let's start again with something that is fit for purpose."

It's high time we realised tha the police and CPS are not fit for purpose, and tinkering with legislation won't fix that.