You Can Never Close 'The Disadvantage Gap'

The gap between how well pupils from better-off backgrounds perform at school compared with their classmates from lower-income households has widened, according to a new report. Despite some improvements in the years since Covid, the Education Policy Institute (EPI) said the disadvantage gap had widened again in England and was still bigger "at every phase" of school than it was before the pandemic.

Ah, ‘before the pandemic’. Nicely slipped in there, that mad time when all plans were derailed, even socialist ones. 

The Department for Education said it was working to close the disadvantage gap by delivering opportunities for every child, including expanding government-funded childcare and extending eligibility for free school meals.

Working to close the disadvantage gap by funnelling money, taxpayer money at that, towards a hopeless cause. Typical socialist trick.

The EPI said the overall difference in academic achievement between low-income students and their wealthier peers was now 17% greater for children in early years than it was before Covid.

Hardly a crisis that requires government intervention, is it? 

"The size of the gap between the educational outcomes of children from more and less advantaged backgrounds is a scourge on our society," Julie McCulloch, chief executive of the EPI said.

Really? I can think of many things which could truly be considered a scourge on society, but this is not one of then. 

The EPI made a number of recommendations in its report for how to achieve it, including widening access to free funded childcare to all children, and increasing the amount of money schools can receive for the number of children they teach who are eligible for free school meals.

The Local Government Association called for more investment in the SEND workforce, and for a review into which children qualify for funded childcare hours, to make sure "those on lower incomes do not miss out".

The Department for Education said the government would do "whatever it takes" to ensure every child had access to opportunity, regardless of their background.

If some children don't take advantage of the access that already exists what more should be done is up to their parents, not the governement.

What Fresh Hell Is This?

A police press release:

A 22-year-old man has been charged in connection with an incident in Bristol in which a teenage girl was raped and a second teenage girl was sexually assaulted. 

Javed Orykhel, of Bedminster, an Afghan national whose self-defined ethnicity is Arab, has been charged with one count of rape, two counts of sexual assault, and one count of possession of a class B drug.

I suppose it's no great leap from accepting that a man can self-describe as a woman to having to accept that he can self-describe as a particular ethnic group. If you've already drunk the 'identity' Kool-Aide, and the police farces certain have.

 H/T: Jenn via Twitter

You're Holding The Store Responsible?

When the Dollar Tree lawyer asked her what she wanted out of the lawsuit, she replied: “You [have] to take accountability of what is happening in your stores. You’re causing pain to people. I don’t know if it’s because of the bottom line, or what, but it’s happening and you guys need to stop it.”

What does she want the store to stop, (and to pay her money for what has happened in it, of course)? 

Over the following months, the term “dollar store gooner” became a meme on the internet that spread far beyond the closed world of the gooners themselves. A “Dollar Tree gooner” crypto coin launched in January 2025, followed by an unofficial Pokémon card and a song released on SoundCloud by an underground noise band from Tennessee named Mukus.

I know you'll be as baffled as I, Reader, at least, I hope so!  

Long before it developed an association with criminal acts, “gooning” was understood as a pornography-fueled compulsion, sometimes involving multiple screens at once, that can become a substitute for intimate relationships with others. It also tends to come with a heavy dose of self-loathing. Experts say that online forums and video content aimed at gooners often send the message that obsessive masturbation – whether alone or in public – is as much as men like them can aspire to in life. Webster described it as a “disavowed manic state of triumph over something hideous”. One common trope of the pornography that these gooners consume has men ejaculating over women’s bodies, faces and hair – acts that, Lankford said, have no basis in evolutionary biology and are difficult to interpret as anything other than demeaning to the women.

When I shop at a store, i would expect the store to be responsible for non-slip flooring, electrical-safe freexer units and escalatots and lifts in working order. I wouldn't expect them to be financially responsible for the behaviour of other customers.

But this is America, and I guess Dollar Tree has deep pockets, while the disgusting 'men' who do this aren't worth suing.

These Are Apparantly 'Celebrities'?

If only they had been real ones maybe something would finally be done about these wretched dogs...

Freddy Brazier's nan Jackiey Budden was attacked by his bulldog Pablo and her neighbours called the police days before he was mauled by the animal.The son of Jeff Brazier and the late Jade Goody, 21, spent eight hours in hospital getting stitches on Monday after his dog savagely bit him at his nan's London home.

No Reader, I've no idea either... 

Jackiey was injured while attempting to pull Pablo off of him. Freddy was shocked when it happened and was left in a lot of pain,' reported The Sun.

He shouldn't have been that shocked, it wasn't the vicious brute's first attempt at biting the hand that feeds it!

Now it has been revealed that it is not the first time the bulldog has attacked with emergency services attending the scene to help last week.

Police and the fire brigade were called on July 16 by a concerned neighbour who heard screams of agony as the dog gripped onto Jackiey, which left her needing medical treatment. Four days later Pablo attacked again leaving both Freddy and Jackiey injured and requiring hospital treatment.

'Both the police and the fire brigade attended, but fortunately it wasn't too serious – and they agreed not to pursue criminal charges.

Bet that decision's being reviewed now!  It's classed as a 'pocket bully' so noy included on the DDA but probably should have been from the get-go if only the Tories had done a proper job.

'It's been an awful few days and Freddy is devastated as he absolutely adores that dog and Pablo is a huge part of the family.'

Nornally I'd take the piss out of such a statement, but with this sort of 'family' it's ptobably not so unusual. 

Clearly. Andy Burnham Reads Tim Worstall's Blog...

 ...he's said 'No to digital ID' after all! 

Andy Burnham will scrap plans for a government-issued digital ID for all British adults when he becomes prime minister on Monday. The move, which follows plans for new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea, will shift focus to "the daily priorities facing people across the country", Burnham's office said.

Most suspect it'll be back later in a new guise, and they are probably right. 

"This reprioritisation of public resource shows a change in direction towards improving everyday life and strengthening local economies over expensive national government schemes."

He's made a good start on that already by purging the Starmerites; we won't have Reeves, Lammy or Hermer to kick around any more,

Reacting for the Conservatives, shadow technology secretary Julia Lopez accused Burnham of "trying to pretend he's riding to the rescue" after Labour "wasted millions of pounds on this project". "After pressure from the Conservatives, mandatory ID was already apparently off the table. Andy Burnham now needs to explain whether that was untrue, or whether he is simply claiming credit for a decision that had already been taken", she said.

Probably the latter, and we'll see whan the honeymoon phase is over, won't we. 

Usual Suspects...

Elijah Seriki, 23, was found with stab wounds on Andre Street, Hackney at around 1.40pm on Monday July 13, and died a short time later.

Police have been surprisingly quick to generate a theory about who killed him too. 

Police have named and pictured two men they want to speak to.The Met have confirmed that they would like to speak to Cavalli Harriott, 22, and Jayqwan Stevens-Burke, 23, as part of their enquiries.

Isn't that handy - they both have official mugshots

 Ah, wonderful enriching diversity! 

The Key Word Here Is 'Fiction'

Nine of the 10 bestselling fiction paperbacks in the UK this week have one thing in common: a woman is murdered.

So? The big seller is crime novels, someone has to be murdered. I don't want to read a novel about bank fraud, my maths isn't up to it!

While the titles range from historical fiction to domestic noir and police procedurals, each centres on the death of at least one female character.

The key word there being 'fiction', of course, and literature is hardly the main culprit here, movies, tv shoes and even computer games also feature murders of women. 

Only The Correspondent, a novel about the art of letter writing, breaks the pattern.

Wow, that must be a rivetting read! 

The trend was highlighted on Instagram by the author Wendy Jones, who wrote: “So 84% [sic] of the books people bought and read in the UK this week involved a woman being murdered for entertainment. What is going on here?”

But why does commercial fiction keep returning to the same story? Critics argue that repeatedly turning women into victims risks normalising violence against them. Yet the genre’s paradox is that women are also its biggest consumers, with some arguing its appeal may be a way of processing real-world fears.

Longrider weighs in on this 'paradox' too. 

The crime writer Mel McGrath wrote that the genre has, in some ways, moved on from the time of male authors such as Raymond Chandler and Mickey Spillane killing off women chiefly so the men investigating their deaths could be heroes. “Reading crime fiction written by women remains a powerfully feminist act,” she said. The crime writer and critic Laura Wilson explained that domestic noir is popular at the moment because it reflects “some very real fears”.

No, it's mostly that mystery is the hook here, not the act of murder. 

The novelist Denise Mina traced the appetite back to the broadsheet sellers of 18th-century London, who found that manufactured crimes sold copies so long as the victim fitted a particular profile.

A traditional crime novel, Rader-Day said, wraps up in under 400 pages with the mystery solved and order restored, “not at all like what actual death is like”, which is precisely why it’s so comforting. She said both craft and culture explained why the victim is so often a woman.“Most readers, most consumers, are women too, so if a writer wants to showcase anyone’s anxieties, a woman’s is a good choice – the anxiety that they themselves could become a victim,” she said.

That would imply that horror is popular because people can imagine themselves summoning demons, wouldn't it? And what about sci-fi? 

C'Mon Internet, Do Your Stuff, And Make Him Infamous

A postman wearing an England shirt has been caught on camera kicking a blind shih tzu ‘like a football’ - with it later dying from organ failure. Owner Eve Lewis, 40, said the man denied attacking her dog Ethel, but Ring doorbell footage showed that he had, just seconds after he handed over a parcel. The 11-year-old pet was partially blind and had only one tooth, so posed no threat, Ms Lewis said.

Utter bastard, and if not for video doorbells, he'd have got away with it. He still might, thanks to the uselesness of the authorities:

It is understood the postman has been suspended by Royal Mail.

Sadly, not from a tree, which is what he deserves! 

A Thames Valley police spokesman said: 'No arrests have been made but there are ongoing enquiries regarding animal welfare and criminal damage incidents.'

They shouldn't take this long, should they, since it's on camera and the Post Office knows who he is? 

Are The BBC Getting Their Reporters From The ‘Daily Mail’ Now?

An escaped big cat believed to have been roaming the countryside for two months has been captured after being found with injuries in a plant pot in a back garden

They didn't learn a thing last time , did they? The fact a 'big cat' fits into a plant pot should give them pause, surely?

Kevin Murphy, of Norfolk Wildlife Rescue, has been trying to track down the Savannah cat since it was spotted three weeks ago near Bramerton, south of Norwich. The feline is native to sub-Saharan Africa and it had been on the loose since escaping from its home in May.

No, one of the species that makes up this hybrid animal is native to Africa... 

Sunday Funnies...

 Any day now, HS2 will surely make the cut.