Post Title Of The Month

Anna Raccoon on the Harvey Proctor affair:

Quote Of The Month

Longrider points out the absurdity of blaming the Baby Boomer Generation for everything:

"I have to say, I’ve been sick of the anti-boomer barrage of bollocks over the past few years. The reality is as stated in the report, the only commonality is the year of birth. Sure, things like university education was free to the student and people had grants for subsistence. However, this was balanced by very few going to university. "

Post Of The Month

Film 15 with Mark Wadsworth!

The English Equivalent Of ‘Hey, Hold My Beer And Watch This!’…

One of the men in the back seat, Grant Taylor, said he had heard one of the other passengers in the car saying "whoa, slow down dude" to Mitchell in the moments before the smash.

I expect if you had a voice recorder going in most high-speed crashes you’d get something pretty similar in all of them…

Knight told jurors he had seen "eyes" that he believed were those of "a deer or a fox" in the undergrowth beside the road when he swerved, and had been travelling "between 65 and 70mph" at the time of the collision.

"I saw what I believed to be an animal or eyes at the side of the road," he said.

"I was surprised, shocked. Then I pulled the steering wheel over to the right."

And why would you be ‘surprised and shocked’?

Knight said he had become depressed following the crash, and attempted to take his own life.

They always attempt it, but it’s funny how they never seem to succeed, isn’t it? You could be forgiven for thinking it was just a ploy for sympathy.

Asked if his driving had fallen "far below" the standard of careful driving, he replied: "Absolutely not. "It was not dangerous driving."

Prosecuting, Andy Houston said there were road signs warning of animals in the road for three miles placed a mile-and-a-half away from the scene of the crash.

"The speed limit is 60mph and you have accepted that you drove between 65and 70mph - do you still maintain you have done nothing wrong?" he asked. Knight replied: "I didn't see it as dangerous.

"It wasn't a dangerous speed for that sort of road. It was completely straight."

/facepalm

*Sighs* Modern Journalism

The news that a Green politician had the nerve to be a - *gasp* - hunter rocked the MSM's world last week.

And prompted them on a predictable trawl through the guy's Facebook and a complete failure to read what he'd actually shot:

Errr, no. A gnu. Wildebeest, if you prefer.

Nope, still a gnu. 

This is what a buff looks like, dummies!

H/T: Stephen Brown, via email

NB: They aren't all that hot at English, either:

He's painting a what..?!?

Going To The Notting Hill Carnival This Weekend..?

Better take sandwiches!

Sunday Funnies...

Well, damn it, now the Hoover Dam isn't half as impressive as I thought...

The Left’s March Through The Institutions Is Nearly Complete…

Some people were so moved by the plight of migrants in Calais, they traveled to France to donate clothes and food.

And for ‘some people’, don’t read hard-working taxpayers, but – of course!- the usual suspects, just like the last time:

Juliet Kilpin, 45, from Westcliff, a member of Avenue Baptist Church and co-ordinator at mission agency Urban Expression, visited the camp with two others.

She went with Matt Dominey, 17, a pupil at Southend High School for Boys, and 20-year-old university student Grace Claydon, from Hawkwell.

They decided to act after becoming increasingly frustrated at the “dehumanisation of migrants trying to find a way into the UK”.

This seems to be becoming a trend – opinionated do-gooders demanding recognition in local newspapers.

Mrs Kilpin said: “David Cameron made me do it when he described the migrants as a swarm.

“The national media have demonised these people and have stoked fear among the British public, so I wanted to go over myself and see what it is like.

“I put the word out that I was going and 48 hours later we had a car-full of stuff in donations and £1,000 to take over.

“One of our friends had made contact with the grassroots charities and volunteers, so we gave them the clothes and helped form a system to hand out food.

“We took over about 350 packs of biscuits and when they ran out there were still people queuing. There must have been about 500 there needing food.

“It was very eye-opening – we saw the world in one square mile. Everyone had heartbreaking stories as to why they were there.”

Yes, I’m sure they did. They always do, because they know there are people – like you! – naïve enough to lap that stuff up.

And never ask awkward questions, like ‘Where are all the women and children?’ or ‘Why have you ‘poor starvlings’ all got smartphones and new trainers?’…

Matt, who is studying politics, history, sociology and English literature, is a family friend of Mrs Kilpin and shared her views on the situation. He and Grace, an international development student, wanted to see the crisis at first hand.

He said: “I was aware of the situation, but what struck me the most was the scale of it.

“If there is a war-torn country in the world, then they were represented in Calais. “They want to make a life for themselves, they were excited by English culture and had a respect for it.”

Yup, they have so much respect for English culture they break our laws to get here. Back to the classroom, sonny…

When a man told me, “our skin may be different colours, but we are all one blood”, I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed by the demonising rhetoric being used by some back home against the hundreds of people I met.

You ought to feel embarrassed at your naivety. I hope this story is around in about 20 years time so you can cringe at just how much of an idiot you were.

Mary Dejevsky: “Well, Hordes Of Immigrants Is One Thing, But Tourists? How Ghastly!”

Entering Parliament Square, the queue to visit Westminster Abbey snaked far beyond the gate, a wait of more than an hour. At this time of year, there are main London thoroughfares – Whitehall and Oxford Street among them – where you can barely walk or breathe for people. It’s the same in every tourist town: Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, York. Massive groups lumber along chaotically behind their tour leaders. When they stop, without warning, to commune with their selfie sticks, I don’t know whether to be proud that Britain is in such global demand.

I can’t decide if I’m hopeful that their money might keep my taxes down, or irritated that their presence in such numbers makes it harder for residents to go about their business.

Yes, it’s awful when you feel like an alien in your own country, isn’t it? As long as it's only tourists that make you feel that way, of course.

If it's not just tourists, well, the State's agents will be along shortly...

Cheap air travel, the information revolution, the privilege of a First World passport, have all given me and my contemporaries unprecedented freedom of the world. I luxuriated in the cosmopolitan benevolence of London during the Olympics, and it did the city a power of good.

But there are now places – Paris, for one – where I try to go only out of tourist season, because eating, drinking, shopping and gallery visiting have become less of a pleasure than a chore. If your approach to the Louvre or the Galeries Lafayette, not to mention your progress around them, feels more like a minor suburb of Beijing, you may start to ask why you are there.

Well, quite! However, maybe you should ask why they are there instead?

Yet tourism, and specifically increasing it, remains an objective shared by cities and countries around the world. It is regarded as an engine of economic growth – or so the orthodox thinking goes. A flourishing tourist “industry” is a hallmark of success in the presumed global competition. London and the UK compare themselves compulsively with their presumed rivals and celebrate a move up the league tables.

Well, yes. Haven't you noticed we are in a recession? Tourist money is to be welcomed, because tourists go home eventually.

But can tourism be too much of a good thing? When all the undoubted benefits are outweighed by the sheer aggravation, when numbers and money, the measurable things, are eclipsed by less quantifiable downsides, such as congestion, jobs that remain low-paid and insecure, and a deterioration in life quality for permanent residents? One European city thinks so, and is daring to challenge the conventional wisdom that tourism is the bright white hope of a modern economy. The new Mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, was elected with a mandate to clip the mighty tourist industry’s wings. The last straw for residents, it seems, was the large number of young visitors fuelling a night-time economy deemed ever more antisocial. That, and the magnet that favourite areas of the city offered to petty criminals who saw tourists as easy prey.

The mayor has now declared a moratorium on new hotel licences and moved to clamp down on unregistered and illegal apartment-lets. The night-time economy will be subject to tougher policing. Business is already blaming her for killing the goose that laid the golden egg. But is she? Or is it rather a matter of the residents’ reclaiming the city as their own? And could Barcelona offer an example to other cities, including London?

I'm all for residents reclaiming their own. But I can't help but wonder if you'd support all such efforts, or only those that target tourists, Mary....

… Londoners who feel crowded out by tourists would do well to keep an eye on Barcelona. For if the UK capital is to go on extending its welcome – and, despite the occasional scamming rickshaw, that welcome remains open and warm – its year-round residents will need to feel that tourism is more than a cash cow for the national economy, that their city is more than a stage-set frozen in time, and that their interests – above all in having a liveable city – are recognised, too.

I applaud your desire to have a livable city, for the natural born residents of that city to have a say in who settles there. I just think you might, perhaps, have chosen the wrong target.

‘Pre-Dickens’, Frances, Recidivists Would Have Been Hanged…

A woman has been fined nearly £300 for stealing three bottles of baby milk at South Derbyshire Magistrates Court this week.

Janis Butans, 34, was given a six-week community order with a curfew and ordered to pay a £150 criminal court fee, £85 costs and a £60 victim surcharge after sentenced for stealing the bottles from a Sainsbury’s in Intu Derby shopping centre coming to a total of £295, according to the Derby Telegraph.

It comes less than a week after the Independent reported a crowdfunding campaign had been set up to help a woman in Kidderminster pay court fines of nearly £330 for stealing a 75p pack of Mars Bars.

Naturally, the usual suspect s are OUTRAGED! at this:

Mandatory court fines were brought in by former Justice Secretary Chris Grayling shortly before the general election in May to make the courts more self financing. But the charges have been denounced by legal reform charity, the Howard League, as “unequitable”.

The charity’s chief executive Frances Crook said: “There is no leeway. Its a fixed charge and the courts cannot vary it because of circumstance, they have to impose it”

Well, yes.

Because soft-hearted do-gooders (like yourself) on the bench were constantly indulging their own wet consciences at the expense of the taxpayer and the poor bloody shopkeeper or member of the public, freedom to impose these fines had to be removed from them.

In a blogpost on the league’s website, she said the reports of “the homeless and hungry” being heavily fined “read like something from pre-Dickens” .

She has called for urgent reform of magistrates court saying the courts “would still be recognisable to an 18th century observer.”

Actually, our courts would indeed be ‘unrecognisable’, but not for the reasons you propose. They’d think we were far too lenient!

“The court charge, whilst being manifestly unfair, has at least focused attention on the financial penalties applied to people who are stealing food and clothing” she said,

“These people are annoying and they are sometimes intimidating. But they are not serious criminals. What kind of country have we become?”

They might not be serious criminals, but I think you vastly underestimate the nuisance factor. Probably because you rarely experience it.

Just last week, I watched a hi-vis-clad construction worker come out of McDonalds with a cup of coffee for the familiar beggar who often panhandles for spare change just outside. He walked away, and she followed me into the shop to tip the full cup straight into the bin then go back outside to resume begging.

She wasn’t “’ungry an’ ‘omeless!” despite her familiar refrain, she simply wants money for booze or drugs. Often, the ‘small thefts of food or clothing’ aren’t, as Frances simperingly imagines, to keep body and soul together, but because they are the easiest items to sell on.

So while they might not be the most serious offenders, they are often persistent recidivists. Anything that helps to remove the nuisance factor is to be welcomed.

So, Sussex Police, Tell Me Again…

…how you want to prevent people uploading footage and images to social media to ensure you keep control of ‘distressing information’..?

Sussex Police Assistant Chief Constable Steve Barry said it now appears “increasingly likely” the death toll from the worst airshow disaster in 60 years will remain at 11.

Yes, this is the force that last week – several hours before the social media horse had left the stable, of course – was trying to prevent people from uploading images and video of the crash to prevent ‘distress and worry’ to relatives who might not have been contacted by the police yet.

Yet had no apparent problem speculating in the media about the possibility of the death toll increasing to 20 when the fuselage was removed, a speculation that they’ve now had to correct given that they didn’t find any additional remains.

I guess relatives of the missing wouldn’t find that public speculation, given it’s official imprimatur, ‘distressing’ at all, oh, dear me, no.

The Very Definition of The Term ‘Useful Idiot’

A team of students from York are hoping to help…

Abandoned animals? Homeless war veterans? Disabled pensioners or children?

… the thousands of migrants living in makeshift camps in Calais.

Oh. I suppose I should have guessed…

Five University of York students, Emma Bilson, Grace Redmore, Alex Musto, Miki White and Robyn Hillerby, will travel to Calais at the end of next month and have urged the public to donate goods or money to help support those living in the camp.

Emma, 29, is a postgraduate in social work, and said the team had been inspired to go and help the refugees after seeing them on the news.

Social work. Great!

"I know some people don't agree with the Government and it's controversial, but to us it didn't matter. It's just about that human side of it. They are stuck living in horrible conditions, and it's a five-hour drive away from York, it's not a million miles away, and it's just nice to be able to do something personal."

And get credit and networking opportunities amongst the government quangos and fakecharities you’ll be begging for a job from too, eh?

Yes, Bogan, It's All A Horrible Mistake, Indeed...

Tenant Bogan Ionel, 27, who came to the UK from Romania, insisted there had been “a terrible mistake”.

He said he and his wife and two children, aged three and six, were living at the property with other family members.

He said: “Normally it’s just us but the past couple of weeks we’ve had four more people stay with us while they look for a new place to live.

“Sometimes there are people who come in the morning to go to work together and we have friends over in the garden. That’s what’s confused people.

But if that’s been causing a problem we’ll stop.”

Sounds reasonable, doesn't he?

Iyak Hussain, who manages the property through Royel Estates and Builders, said: “I’m absolutely shocked there could be 22 people living there. We had no idea. How would they all have fit? I’ve ever heard of that many people being in a property. We will be looking into it.

“As far as we were aware it was two couples with their children living there. If it’s true and there had been a breach of their lease they will be out.”

Yes. Yes, I'm sure that's what happened.

I Don’t Think Deafness Is Sanjeev’s Main Handicap, Somehow….

Frances Ryan is crying wolf yet again:

Against the backdrop of this month’s jubilant A-level and GCSE results, 17-year-old Sanjeev Singh provides a different picture of what it is to be young in Conservative Britain.

Oh, the humanity! I should provide a ‘trigger warning’ here, because it seems that Sanjeev is forced to…

*readers of a nervous disposition might want to look away now*

…ride THE BUS!

In many ways, Sanjeev is a young person “doing the right thing”. He lives at home with his mum and three siblings and, since leaving school a year ago, he has persisted in looking for work. But Sanjeev, 17, is deaf and once prospective employers know he has a disability, they don’t contact him again.

He keeps trying to get interviews but, unable to travel safely alone on public transport, he has no way of getting to them.

Yes, incredible as it may seem, in a country where a double amputee once flew fighter aircraft in combat in a war zone, the removal of a taxpayer-funded taxicab to job interviews is cause for weeping, wailing and rending of garments.

Personally, having ridden the bus in term time (thanks, RMT strikers!), I’d think being deaf would be a blessed relief from the screaming & shouting that seems to take the place of normal conversation, but there we are…

This is where the welfare state’s safety net is meant to kick in. Disability living allowance (DLA), for example – a benefit Sanjeev has received since he was six years old – could pay for a taxi on the days he needs get to an interview and has no one to help him communicate with the crowds on a bus.

But the government chose to replace DLA with personal independence payment (PIP) and after being tested for the new, tougher assessment in December, Sanjeev had his benefits stopped, after more than a decade.

What you’re describing isn’t a ‘safety net’, Frances, it’s a feather bed. Hundreds of deaf people cope with public transport, why should Sanjeev not be able to cope?

Clearly, the Benefit Office realised this, which is why the payments stopped.

Sanjeev tells me he’s going to keep looking for work while starting the appeal process to try and get his disability benefit back. He asks if I know how to fill out the forms. “I’m not getting any help,” he explains. “I’ll need to tell my mum to ring them.”

So you expect to get a job, but can’t manage to fill in the appeal forms without ‘help’? Good lord, you’re seventeen! Why would anyone employ someone so hopeless?

And this hopelessness has nothing to do with your disability, but with your attitude to life. Is being deaf and jobless a picnic? No, I doubt it. Has life dealt you a harsh card? Yes, undoubtedly. But that doesn’t mean you can expect a life coddled by your mum and the taxpayer forever!

Employers aren’t going to be impressed with ‘I can’t get to the interview ‘cos I ain’t got money for a taxi, innit?’ if they can look up and see their own disabled employees at their desks, working away, having surmounted the difficulty of commuting.

I think your main ‘disability’ is perpetual childhood. Grow up.

Sure, ‘Guardian’, Keep Telling Us How Benefits Aren’t Enough To Survive On…

Daniels, 48, of Churchill Close, pleaded guilty to having a banned fighting dog and which was dangerously out of control when it injured Mrs Smith.

Magistrates, as well as ordering the destruction of Keenan, told Daniels that his other dog, a Staffordshire bull terrier called Deano, must be muzzled when outside and on a lead no longer than three feet long. He must also not own any other dog, and pay Mrs Smith £500 compensation.

Daniels’ total bill, with kennel fees and costs will amounts to more than £3,300, which he will be allowed to pay at £20 a fortnight because he is on benefits.

Because it seems that they are enough to survive on, plus feed two – two! – powerful dogs.

Astonishing, eh?

Straight Outta Compton APILN…

A pregnant Greenwich mum claims her kitchen is unsafe after a “massive” cupboard fell off the wall injuring her child.

The local paper snap (so beloved of APILN) of her and her brood that adorns this (non)story just has to be seen to be believed…

Helen Jackson, 34, lives in Stanley Close with her two children, Courtney, 11 and Ben, six. A resident of housing group Hyde, she claims Courtney could have been killed when a three foot cupboard came crashing down.

I dunno, Courtney looks like quite a sturdy lass…

Her son Ben, who has learning difficulties (Ed: Don’t they always..?), was five at the time of the incident at the end of the last month – the day before they were due to go on holiday.

So, you didn’t miss your crockery that much?

Ms Jackson, who’s seven weeks pregnant, added: “I lost all my cups, glasses, crockery, they were all in there. Now I'm living with paper plates and plastic cups.”

She has been trying to resolve the issue with Hyde as soon as she returned this week, and after fears her other cupboards were unsafe she removed all the doors.

...

...

Nope. Me neither.

The stay-at-home mum added: “They want to glue the broken corners and put up brackets.

“I don't want brackets, I want a new cupboard. It doesn't matter what it looks like, it needs to be safe for the kids.”

Well, don’t overload them then!

But a spokesman for Hyde said: “It was clear that the cupboard could be safely re-secured to the wall with appropriate wall brackets. We returned to complete the repair but have, to date, been refused access by the resident to do so.

“We apologise, however we believe that the cupboards do not need to be replaced and are safe. We are happy to arrange for a surveyor to carry out a further inspection.”

Just let the man in to sort your brackets, love. There’s no compo on offer so you might as well give it up…

No-One Comes Out Of This Well...

A dog will be destroyed after biting a four-year-old girl and leaving her with facial scars in an attack in Walton last year just six weeks after biting another young girl and receiving a police visit.

Ooops!

The four-year-old girl, unknown to Trodden and the dog, went up to Paddy and patted him about five times while on her knees, working her way down from his head along his back, although the child in charge of the dog said she should only stroke it twice.

Deputy Circuit Judge Susan Matthews QC said: “She patted him more times than the dog wanted – that’s why you supervise what your dog is doing around children.”

But...don't you also supervise your children around dogs?

Prosecutor Alexander Williams said: “Within minutes of her going off, [her father] heard a loud scream, knew instinctively it was his daughter, saw her backing away from the dog.”

So he didn't supervise her. Well, maybe he had no reason to do s..

Oh.

The victim’s father said afterwards that he had seen the child struggling to control the dog before the attack.

Mr Williams said: “He was struggling to hold the dog on its lead. ”

/facepalm

Paddy had bitten an eight-year-old girl just six weeks earlier on August 9 while he and Trodden were at the home of a client of his civil engineering business, leaving her with facial injuries requiring a number of stitches.

Police then gave him a Dog Behaviour Order (DBO), which the 62-year-old signed, agreeing to terms such as not leaving Paddy with children without the supervision of a responsible person.

FAIL!

After considering a muzzle order, Judge Matthews decided Paddy must be destroyed, despite saying she is a dog lover herself and that Paddy ‘sounds otherwise a very lovely dog’.

She said: “It’s my job to protect the public.”

Well, thank goodness someone's doing their job, here...

After being deemed unfit for unpaid work due to various health issues, Trodden was given 28 days’ imprisonment suspended for 12 months, 28 days’ electronically tagged curfew, compensation of £2,000 to the girl and prosecution costs of £1,350.

Hoe convenient that he's no longer in paid work, eh?

It's The Beginning Of Your Inevitable Compo Claim, You Mean?

Dean’s sister Susan Joseph was in tears as the verdict was read out dabbing her eyes with a tissue and afterwards the family hugged their solicitor.

Outside court his sister said: “This is fantastic. I’m so happy. This is just the beginning of everything now.”

Happy?

If one of my relatives had to be gunned down like a rabid beast to prevent him from killing his lover, I doubt I'd be happy. Ashamed, perhaps.

But why did the local rag choose to highlight the criminal's relative's comments? Weren't there others who should have been heard from?

He said that her mother’s ex-partner had been violent towards her in the past. He told the Standard: “She was upstairs in bed when he broke in through a window. A neighbour called police. I don’t know how it got to the point where police had to shoot.

“He is not a very nice man but a loss of a life is a loss of a life. I didn’t know him very well. But I’m glad I don’t need to look out for my mum anymore. I’m glad that she’s safe.

“She is quite shaken up and has some scratches to her neck. She is staying with my brother at the moment. She isn’t allowed to go back to her home. Police even took the clothes she was wearing as it is all evidence.”

Or the real victim herself?

A statement from Ms Moyses, who was too ill to attend court, said: “The policeman was saying ‘Let her go’. But Dean just pressed the knife deeper and deeper into my throat.

“Dean just kept on being abusive towards me and was shouting: ‘There’s nothing to live for, one of us is going to die tonight’.”

I can't help but feel it was the one who thoroughly deserved to.

I Smell A Rat* Here…

The driver of a horse and cart that brought town-centre traffic to a standstill in an extraordinary protest has threatened to repeat it "every day".

Ray Beecham blocked High Street, Croydon, with his horse and carriage for 20 minutes as part of a bitter dispute with the council over parking tickets.

No, no, before you say it, it wasn’t for a parking ticket on the horse and cart!

The dad-of-eight has now promised to repeat the stunt unless Croydon Council stops giving him tickets or moves his family to a different home with more parking spaces.

He has received numerous fines for parking vans and cars outside his town-centre home without a permit.

Hmm, horse and cart, numerous vehicles, attitude of total entitlement and contempt for others… are we dealing with a member of the Caravan Utilising Nomadic Travellers, perchance?

He told the Croydon Guardian: "They've moved us into a place where we've got no parking facilities. I keep getting parking tickets so I had to go up there and tell them, if the parking tickets carry on, I will use my horse and cart.

"I'm going to drive a horse and cart, and if anyone doesn't like it, move out of Croydon. I'll drive the horse in Croydon every day if they want. I could bring 20 horses if I wanted."

He said: "My children have nowhere to play except a main road. I've got autistic children so I have to get them out and about.

"If they can't sort out my parking, I'll have to use a horse and cart because they can't put a parking ticket on a horse and cart. "

Oh, I think you’ll find they can!

The council said Mr Beecham, who is registered as a tenant under the name Mr Howard, was not eligible for permits for his "large number of vehicles" because he did not own them.

Aha! Lots of vehicles at his property he doesn’t own, eh?

A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed officers were called at 4.16pm to "a man on a horse and cart causing issues with the traffic".

He added: "Officers attended and spoke with the man who moved on from the location."

No arrests were made and no criminal offences were alleged.

Yes, I think we can conclude from the speed with which the police are backing away that we have a ‘persecuted minority’ here…

*Or something like a rat…

Fun With Zoology, Part II

The MSM is little better than the smaller press, mind. The recent shooting of a lion sent the copywriters off on their own hunt for evidence of bloodlust, with predictable results.

Ummm, no.

No 'deer' in Africa...

No 'water buffalo' in Africa, and that's a gnu anyway!

Yeah, that's a much safer caption...

Fun With Zoology, Part I

Ummmm.....who wants to tell the headline writer?

Sunday Funnies...

Yes, this is most definitely a trend that needs to be halted in its tracks...

The Tyranny Of The Perpetually Offended…

A café owner in the town where 5-year-old April Jones was abducted and murdered has defended putting up a sign featuring a joke about kidnapping.

Just savour those words. You have to defend humour, now.

The sign read: “The more you weigh, the harder you are to kidnap! Stay safe. Eat cake!!”

And a local resident, one Angharad Penrhyn, tweeted a photo ‘questioning it’. As you do, these days.

Penrhyn said she was apparently told she was being “hypersensitive” about an incident which happened “years ago”, when she complained about the sign.

Good! If a few more of these whinging ‘concerned types’ were met with a robust ‘Sod off, princess!’ the world would be a better place…

Responding to the complaint, the café owner claimed in an interview with the BBC that April Jones’ family had visited the café but “have not said anything” .

And even if they had, why should that oblige the café owner to remove it. They’ve already lobbied to have a perfectly good cottage knocked down, FFS!

The Independent has attempted to contact Chimes café for a comment.

Why? Why not contact Angharad Penrhyn instead, and ask her how she manages to get through a day without hyperventilating?

Lotto Moolah For The Pussy Pass!

Did you think, when you handed over your £2 for the Lotto, expecting to help support good causes, that this would be one of ‘em?

More than 80 per cent of female prisoners have been locked up for non-violent offences such as shoplifting, new figures show, as a drive is launched to clear jails of women who pose no danger to the public.

What about men who ‘pose no danger to the public’? They can just languish behind bars, I suppose?

At least 17,000 children are separated from their mothers every year because of the “devastating impact” of imprisonment and are more likely to suffer homelessness, family problems and trouble at school, the Prison Reform Trust (PRT) warned.

Ahhhh, right! It’s the motherhood angle!

Even though a break from mum’s so-called ‘parenting’ while she’s in chokey is probably a welcome relief to many…

Arguing that women are treated more harshly than men by the criminal justice system, it announced it had secured a £1.2m lottery grant to mount a three-year campaign to cut the number of female inmates.

I suppose a poster and leaflet campaign pointing out to the chavette population that frequent shoplifting and getting plastered in the street before assaulting a stranger will land you behind bars won’t be how they spend the dosh?

Ahhhh, Enrichment..!

Ms Croke, of Grovebury Road, Abbey Wood, died from her injuries whilst Philbert sped away from the site of the collision.

Metropolitan Police officers, London Ambulance Service paramedics and London's Air Ambulance attended but Ms Croke was pronounced dead at the scene.

A post-mortem examination at Greenwich Mortuary on June 23 gave the cause of death as multiple injuries.

Five days later Philbert, then just 17-years-old, was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.

A Range Rover, no less. We aren’t told who owned it. It isn’t reported as stolen.

Draw your own conclusions.

Detective Sergeant Richard Budd from the Road and Transport Policing Command paid tribute to the victim's family and the many witnesses who helped secure Philbert's conviction.

He said: "Philbert was unlicensed, untrained and uninsured when he drove a car and killed a pedestrian on a footpath. He was driving at speed and rather than attempt to help the woman he drove into, he fled the scene.

"His callous actions have had a devastating affect (sic) on the victim's family. I can only hope that today's verdict will go some way to helping them move on from this harrowing case."

Nothing to see here, just a youth of 17 with no known source of income at the wheel of an expensive & powerful vehicle he wasn’t registered to drive. Move along.

Apart From Child Benefit, That Is..?

Mr Iqbal, 57, a cab driver, lived in Blyth Road, Walthamstow for seven years before losing his job and being housed at the temporary property in March this year with his wife and his 12 and nine-year-old sons.

He lost his job as a cab driver and was totally unable to get another one?

Hmmm…

He said: “I wasn’t given a choice. It was either go to Luton or just walk out of the door and be on the street.

“I asked if we could go to Birmingham or anywhere else but I was told again this was my only choice.

“If the council came down here they could see the reality is tough.

“My children wake up at 6am to get ready for school and they are so tired you can see it in their eyes. There were no places at the local school here.

“I have never claimed benefits from the state before but we have lost our freedom, we feel like prisoners here, waiting to go home.

“They have told me it could be up to two years. We are away from all our friends and other family members in east London it is horrible.”

So, doesn’t child benefit count, then? You have been claiming that, I assume?

John Knight, director at Ascham Homes, the housing manager for Waltham Forest council, maintained that Luton council were informed of the new residents.

He said: “Due to the level of housing demand in Waltham Forest, the council is not currently able to source sufficient properties within the borough or in east London generally which can be used as temporary accommodation.

“Our supplies are under instructions to secure properties in Waltham Forest wherever possible. “Where the pipeline of such properties is not sufficient to meet our needs we consider properties in other boroughs, and make use of them where we are satisfied they are both suitable and cost-effective.

“We take into account the size of families when placing them in these properties however, it is not always possible to avoid some families having fewer bedrooms than their assessed needs.

“In the short term we have no realistic option other than to place some families elsewhere to meet our legal obligations to the homeless.”

And if that means Luton, so be it.

More Like District Judge Mary Connolly, Please!

District Judge Mary Connolly dismissed this and said: "If he is in fear of violence why is he out at night with a hockey mask and sword? You are at home behind closed doors.

"Peer pressure doesn't put you out on the street."

Hurrah! Someone isn't so keen to have the wool pulled over their eyes.

Refreshing, isn't it?

"You ran off discarding it. You can anticipate a sentence of imprisonment - that is what is going to happen to you. It is a question of length."

She bailed him to appear at Blackfriars Crown Court on September 1 for sentencing.

For the obligatory 'reports', no doubt. Let's hope she treats them with the same scepticism she showed his defence mouthpiece.

Judge Clayson Knows Who The Real Victim Is…

Mrs Pilkington had asked for a restraining order to be imposed against her daughter, but Judge Timothy Clayson said that this was not appropriate.

Judge Clayson said: "You have not had an easy life so far, but now you are 20 what happens in the future is really in your hands.

"This is all very unfortunate and you have shown that you understand how wrong it was to take the credit card and the money, it was unpleasant.

"But I don't think you are essentially a bad person at all, what I think what you need is some support and encouragement and some help to make sure that your adult life is successful and happy."

So, what did this poor unfortunate soul do to wind up in the dock?

The relationship between Sandra Pilkington and her mother Naomi had broken down and she had been asked to leave the family home in January, Bolton Crown Court was told.

The court was told that 20-year-old Pilkington continued to harass her mother, until the pair met up for a couple of hours on February 19.

At some point during the evening, she took her mother's debit card, and the following morning used the correct PIN code and withdrew £180 from the account. This was discovered by her mother when she came to check her bank balance, when she was checking to see whether she had been paid while on her way to work at about 3.30am.

When Mrs Pilkington was on her way to work on March 20, again at about 3.30am, she opened her front door to be "confronted" by her daughter.

She tried to close the door on her daughter, but was unsuccessful and she forced her way in, the court heard.

The court was told that she pushed her mother onto her back, and took her purse from her pocket, as well as a debit card. However Pilkington was unable to withdraw any more money, because the PIN number had been changed.

Charming!

Still, no comebacks on Judge Clayson if the next time she calls on mummy, she stabs her, I suppose?

Why Can’t Your Kid Use The One That Exists, Then?

The dad of a nine-year-old injured in a collision with a car in Ripple Road has urged the council and drivers to prioritise road safety.

Thames View Junior School pupil Ayub Mugenyi suffered serious head injuries in the collison opposite Rippleside Cemetery on July 31.

Cue lots of shots of the little tyke looking sad in bandages in the local paper. Plus anguished father bewailing the awful state of affairs.

Dad Abu Mugenyi, 52, said he was at his Rosalind Court home when he was told by a friend of Ayub’s about the crash.

“He came running and said: ‘Your son has been knocked down by a car – I’ve just seen him lying on the floor’,” he said.

“I just ran to the scene and I nearly collapsed because I’m Type-1 diabetic.

“I’m really upset, I really feel bad and have constant headaches and worry.”

Is this a local newspaper interview, Abu, or one you’re preparing for the Benefit Office?

Abu said careless driving blights the area in and around Ripple Road, which has had four crashes since April and says speeding near Rippleside Cemetery is a problem independent from Ayub’s accident.

“People drive too fast in that bus lane,” he said. “People need to drive at 30mph but they don’t – they just fly.”

He thinks a camera might help.

“There should be a speed camera round there and it could do with a zebra crossing for all the kids crossing from school.”

Could it really? Well, here’s the view of that junction:

Gosh, what could that thing in the middle be? A pelican crossing?

So why not use it?

And what’s the official version, since I note no arrest was made at the scene?

A council spokesman said the view of the police and Barking and Dagenham’s road safety team was that the cause of the accident was Ayub entering the bus lane near Rippleside Cemetery.

QED.

Which Came First, The Run-Over Chicken Or The Blind Egg?

The council, which has already spent £241,000 installing four “courtesy crossings” at City Beach, has asked for any legal action to be put off until Wednesday, August 12.

It claims accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists have dropped since Victoria Circus was given a multi-million revamp in 2011.

It also pointed out that people can avoid the shared space by using an escalator outside the train station to enter the Victoria Shopping Centre and go through there to High Street.

Which isn’t going to be much use to the blind lady and her guide dog, now is it?

So…why has the accident rate dropped?

But Ms Allen-King puts the reduction down to the blind and disabled avoiding the area since shared space was introduced.

Ah!

Martin Terry, Southend councillor responsible for transport, said: “The safety of all of our residents is paramount to us and a key consideration when designing any highway project.

“Since the Victoria Gateway scheme was completed, pedestrian and cyclist accidents have reduced.

“The scheme was designed by experienced highways engineers and consultants, was safetyaudited and follows all relevant national guidance and regulations.

"We consulted a range of stakeholders, including disability groups and indeed, Jill Allen- King.”

You might have ‘consulted’ them, but did you act on any recommendations they made?

The Language Changes, Because The Situation Changes…

Ben Doherty doesn’t understand this:

The language that is used now by governments to describe asylum seekers who arrive on their borders, is a demonstration of why the debate has become so polarised, so emotive, and so intractable.

Clearly, he believes that the language chicken comes before the situational egg.

The evolution of Australian government language on asylum seekers has been a tortuous one. In the late 1970s, when the first post-colonial asylum seekers (“boat people”) turned up on Australian shores fleeing conflict in Indochina, the then-immigration minister Michael MacKellar publicly welcomed them, drawing attention to their “harrowing” ordeals in their home country and promising “Australia would offer sanctuary”. He publicly read statements prepared by the asylum seekers, which asked Australia to “please help us for freedom”.

Which worked fine. Until the numbers kept coming, and coming, and coming…

As the 70s drew to a close, and as more boats continued to arrive, public unease with the arrivals began to grow louder. Echoing it, government rhetoric began to change.

Of course it did. Governments reflect the will of the people who elect them (or at least, that’s what should happen).

Against the backdrop of the success of the Orderly Departure Plan – the multilateral UN-run program which, in 1979, began intercepting boat-borne asylum seekers in their first country of refuge and resettling them all over the world, including Australia – there emerged a sense that for people to turn up on boats was the “wrong” way of arriving. It was improper if not unlawful, a “soft” invasion of a complacent Australia. New boat-borne arrivals began to be dismissed as “queue jumpers” and “economic migrants” .

Well, yes. A process was set up intended to be fair and equitable, and yet people chose not to avail themselves of it. So naturally, suspicions arose in the populace. That’s human nature.

It was a crucial semantic shift: the “illegal” construction gave the government the imprimatur, almost the obligation, to enact more punitive policies against asylum seekers.

No, simply to reflect the growing unease with those who – seeing a legal gateway – opted instead to do an end run around it. Of course people got wary about the true motives of these migrants. Why wouldn’t they?

By 2013, the language of asylum had become conflated with that of war: the Australian government was “engaged in a war” with those organising boat journeys.

Yes, because when you have an ‘enemy’ determined to breach your boundaries and in the process, change your culture and way of life, then you are, de facto, at ‘war’.

The fear that drives the likes of Ben Doherty is the fear that the side he despises is winning:

What exactly is Australia offering? Australia’s avowal to stop the boats is untrue. The boats have not stopped, they are still coming, they are still being stopped: 46 Vietnamese asylum seekers were intercepted at sea last month and secretly returned to Vietnam, some reportedly to detention; undenied allegations the crew of an asylum boat travelling to New Zealand were paid (in US dollars) by Australian officials to turn around; a boat forced back to Indonesia crashing and breaking up on a reef.

So as evidence that the policy isn’t working, you offer three examples where migrants didn’t succeed in reaching Australia? You might want to redraft this bit! Maybe after reading a dictionary.

But the UK and Europe appear to be following the Australian lead. Certainly, they are beginning to sound like Australia.

Well, good!

By talking tough against asylum seekers – by abusing and dehumanising them, by casting their movement as some amorphous threat rather than a natural and rational human instinct – political leaders are doing nothing to solve the problem, and are only making it worse. Europe is starting to sound like Australia on asylum, the worst thing it could do now is to start acting like it.

Well, you would say that, wouldn’t you? Because you can see that it’s working.

And you hate the thought of it working..

I’m Not Saying Cyclists Are All Nutters, But…

The man, aged in his fifties, was stopped by PCSOs in Acomb for cycling on the pavement, and offered advice at the scene. When he refused to give his details to the PCSOs, and would not accept a fixed penalty notice, warranted officers were called to assist, and he further refused to give his name or any details. The officers then arrested the cyclist and took him into custody. A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said the man continued to refuse to give his details at the police station, so was remanded in custody overnight to appear before court for cycling on the pavement.

*sighs*

When he appeared before York and Selby Magistrates' Court on July 1, The Press understands he told the court he had legally changed his name to "I Am That I Am", and refused to give any further details.

Great, a God complex. I thought all pavement cyclists came with those?

He was released on bail to appear for a trial over the alleged cycling offence on September 7.

One to watch with a big bag of popcorn!

The Wisdom Of Celebrities…

Tennis champion Serena Williams has spoken out on the death of Christian Taylor, an unarmed black teenager who was killed by a police officer…

This is the new form of ‘speaking out’ which involves reporters getting wind of Tweets you’ve made and then printing them, of course.

But still, another young black man minding his own business has been brutally taken from…

Oh. Wait.

… after he allegedly drove an SUV through the doors of a car dealership.

Ah. And this prompts a Tweet from Williams why, exactly?

Writing on Twitter, Williams, who won the Women's Singles at Wimbledon earlier this year, said: "Really? Are we all sleeping and this is one gigantic bad nightmare? #ChristianTaylor how many hashtags now?" , referring to the Twitter hashtags that have regularly sprung up following the deaths of people like Michael Brown, Eric Garner and Sandra Bland at the hands of police.

All of whom met their demise when they refused to obey police instructions (except Bland, who killed herself) or attacked police.

Why is this so hard to understand, even for sportswomen?

CCTV footage from the car dealership shows a man, who resembles Taylor, wandering around the dealership's car park. At one point in the video, he climbs on top of a car and begins stamping on the windscreen. He then allegedly drove his Jeep through the front window of the showroom.

When police arrived, they told him to surrender. According to Arlington Police Chief Will Johnson, the officers went inside the showroom to arrest him.

A confrontation followed, the details of which are still unclear, and Taylor, who was unarmed, was shot and killed by trainee officer Brad Miller.

Speaking to local news channel KTVT, Taylor's father Adrian said that what his son had done was wrong, but said he didn't deserve to be killed for it.

And if he’d surrendered and gone quietly, he wouldn’t have been.

He said: "You're a police officer, you're trained to take down men with your hands. You have your Tasers, you have your clubs, whatever there is. Unarmed, a 19-year-old, and you shoot to kill?"

*yawns* Well, at least he didn’t request they only shot him in an arm or a leg.

Another Potential Brain Surgeon Is Lost To Us...

It began as no more than a neighbourhood dispute.

We've all been there, haven't we? Arguments with the neighbours that result in weapons being brandished, and the police called...

Jordon began rowing with neighbours, who accused him of stealing money and said they had called police.

One said he was sending five men over to beat him up. Mrs Begley, 48, dialled 999, believing her son was in danger and that the police would be able to help him.

As you do...

She recalled: ‘Jordon walked into the kitchen and picked up a vegetable knife. I told the police he had a knife and men were coming to the house.

/facepalm

For reasons that are still unexplained, one of the PCs fired a nine-second Taser shot at Jordon’s chest. Jordon, who weighed 10st, was then restrained by other officers, handcuffed and put face-down on the floor.

 Whereupon he promptly expired. Now who feels silly, eh, Mrs Begley?

The inquest jury concluded that while an initial Taser shock did not cause his heart to stop, its use and the restraint used ‘more than materially contributed’ to a package of stressful factors leading to his fatal cardiac arrest.

Well, could happen to anyone, right?

Jordon’s alcoholism and cannabis use contributed to his state of health at the time of his death, the inquest heard.

Ah.

The jury added that police officers were ‘more concerned about their own welfare’ than Jordon’s.

Yup, don't blame them in the slightest. I'm more concerned about their welfare than that of some underclass ex-doper and pisshead, frankly.

Mrs Begley said: ‘This is not about closure. It’s about making sure that no one else ever has to go through this. The only way that can happen is a fundamental review of Taser training guidelines.’

No, the only way that can happen is for people to act like reasonable human beings, and not jungle savages.

So, Clearly You Had Seen Something Like It...

...you'd obviously seen a tarantula!

Say What..?

Errr, that doesn't sound like a good idea!

This pretty much sounds like what a bomb is supposed to do...

Ah! That's better!

Sunday Funnies...

PETA would no doubt disapprove...

Science With George Monbiot!

I know this statement will be unwelcome. I too hate the idea that people cannot change their circumstances. But the terrible truth is that, except through surgery, for the great majority of sufferers obesity is an incurable disease.

Now, I’m not going to tear shreds off the idiocy of that statement, mainly because Chris Snowden already did.

But we’re talking here about progressives that think nothing whatsoever of believing that people can ‘change sex’ (with the aid of science), yet size and weight is suddenly fixed and immutable.

Industry and government will resist the obvious solutions until they can be resisted no longer. Eventually the change will have to happen, with similar restrictions on advertising, sponsorship, display and accessibility to those imposed on the tobacco pedlars. One day, though not before many thousands have needlessly died, it will become illegal to advertise any food or drink that merits a red traffic-light warning. They will be sold only in plain packaging, with health warnings, on high shelves.

Slippery slope, anyone?

Haven’t sensible folk like Dick & Leg-Iron & Longrider been warning you that smoking would just be the start?

Does this seem draconian to you?

No, it sounds insane. And evil.

If so, remember that obesity afflicts a quarter of the adult population, and is rising rapidly. It causes a range of hideous conditions, just one of which – diabetes – accounts for one sixth of NHS admissions and 10% of its budget. In what looking-glass world is this acceptable? If smoking demands fierce intervention, why not overeating?

Well, why not? And when that’s been ‘conquered’, what next?

This is the choice we face: to recognise that the only humane and effective means of addressing the obesity epidemic is to prevent more people from being hooked, by restricting the pushers – or to continue a programme of fat-shaming, bullying and compulsory treatment, whose only likely outcome is unhappiness. Now ask yourself again: which of these options is draconian?

The former, idiot. The latter penalises only those affected, not everyone else who isn’t.

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown Rends Her Garments Again…

Since 2010, the number of needy kids has risen by half a million. They don’t get the nutrition they need, feel nothing in a land of plenty. Once in a while you see poverty porn on TV, but most of the time, the injustice is swept to the margins so we don’t have to witness it, or hear hungry infants wail.

Middle and upper class kids, in contrast have too much; they are, perhaps, spoilt. Too many among them still feel disempowered and deeply dejected.

A daughter of a friend came to see me recently. She is feeling worthless and low. Her parents – both strong, successful and practical – tell her to grow up and be thankful for her fortunate life. She sobbed on and off for an entire afternoon: “They just walk away, never try to understand. It’s as if I am failing them by not being the girl they want me to be.” She is on anti-depressants and coping better, but her parents still won’t talk to her about her formless, nameless sorrow.

But she found a sympathetic ear in you, eh? I bet she won’t do that anymore, now she knows she’ll be used in one of your columns.

Assuming she even exists, of course…

Remember those lines in T.S.Elliot’s Four Quartets: “…human kind Cannot bear very much reality. Time past and time future What might have been and what has been Point to one end, which is always present.”

A bit of Philip Larkin might have been more appropriate…

But what’s caused this outburst is, of course, Camila’s Kids Company debacle, which is The Worstest Thing Ever™ as far as Yasmin’s concerned:

The charity loved, hugged, parented the most vulnerable and most far gone, gone bad young Brits. Their one sanctuary is no longer open. Their wounds will bleed again and they feel once more that they do not count. This is not a country for young girls and boys.

Camila Batmanghelidjh and Kids Company made Britain uncomfortable by demonstrating this truth over and over again. Other children’s agencies and charities will carry on doing good work, but none will ever again be as daring or as provocative. They have, in this way, been silenced.

It’s ‘daring’ and ‘provocative’ to rinse the taxpayer for millions to squander it all on employing the offspring of your trustees and adding to John Lewis’s bank balance?

Well, I suppose you’re actually right for once, Yas.

Not so much fun when you get caught doing it, though, eh?

“Oh, This Blanket Of Victimhood Is So Cozy!”

Curtis, 52, told the hearing at Beverley Magistrates' Court: "The bruises weren't as bad as she's making out, I went to her house and I saw the cuts myself.

"I think the woman is going after me because she is jealous.

"I don't want to use the word jealous, but some of the people where I live see me riding my horse, and they have something against me."

Lady, your uncontrolled dog savaged her leg! Where on earth does jealousy come into it?

Curtis began to cry as she told the court she has split up from her husband – a leading agricultural businessman and co-owner of the dog.

Well, tears always help, don’t they? You’re clearly the real victim in this, not the woman with the bite wounds…

Chairman of the bench Graham McDonald, said: "We felt initially that Max ought to be given a destruction order. It's clear to us that your dog caused the victim considerable injuries.

"But we have decided Max will only be put down if you do not ensure he is under proper control, on a lead, and fully muzzled at all times while on and off your property."

Curtis was also made to pay £500 compensation, as well as £590 costs and given a 12-month conditional discharge. Mr McDonald told her that a breach of these terms would "without question" result in Max being put down.

Prepare another syringe for the owner…

Notice They Are Never Housed Near The People Who Make The Decisions?

“There is some anger that Ron spent the last months of his life with a neighbour whose erratic and intimidating behaviour was causing him distress and worry.”

If I had my way, they would be...

An Oxleas NHS Foundation spokesman said an inquiry found Atkins’ attack on Mr Parsons could not be predicted but new procedures had been put in place.

I wonder what they are..?

Some Women Just Lack A Survival Instinct…

Alican Reilly, 21, appeared so convincingly ‘official’ that one victim thought he might be a police officer or ticket inspector.

And did he behave how you might expect a police officer or ticket inspector to behave? Say, identifying himself and asking to check your ticket?

Reilly rubbed himself through his jeans as he handled the women’s shoes or touched their feet.

Ummm…

He first struck on 28 October 2010 on a train from Kew Bridge towards Clapham Junction, Blackfriars Crown Court heard Reilly told the victim he liked her boots and asked her if they came off, but she replied "no, they staying on".

OK, so, that can be interpreted as a clumsy conversational gambit that failed. Who hasn’t been the recipient of one of these..? No harm, no foul.

The next victim was travelling on the top deck of an empty bus from Coldharbour Lane in Hayes towards Harrow on 17 April 2014 when Hayes came and sat beside her.

"He asked me to take my boots off, it sounded very official like maybe he was a ticket inspector or CID or with the police - I felt like I had to," she said.

Reilly then ran his hands all over her boots and put his hand inside them, before putting his hands on her feet and rubbing them "almost like a massage." He asked the woman if he could keep her boots, but she refused.

The woman said: "I didn’t feel like I could call for help because he was so official with me - I didn’t like the way he touched me, it made me feel very uncomfortable."

You have to be kidding me..!

She added: "No one has the right to touch me, I didn’t give him permission."

Well, yes, yes you did, because you didn’t not give permission! You simply sat there like a cowed prey animal hoping the mauling wouldn’t be fatal!

She was so concerned she left her seat and went and sat close to another male passenger and told him what had happened.

Brilliant survival strategy! Now he knows you are a pathetic victim type, and if the feminist whackjobs were right and ‘all men are rapists!’ you’ve just compounded your troubles.

Luckily for you, they aren’t.

A month later on 28 May 2014, Reilly approached a 14 year-old-girl on the Metropolitan line as she made her way home from a day out with a friend. Again he sat down beside her, despite the fact the train was almost empty, and told her she had nice shoes and asked where she got them from and how she took them off. Once he had tricked her into taking her boots off, he began feeling her feet while covering his crotch with a newspaper so he could rub his genitals.

She’s 14, so I’m inclined to give some leeway. Not much, though.

He was eventually tracked down by British Transport Police via his freedom pass but was declared unfit to plead because of his profound autism.

Oh, shocker!

Following the jury’s decision, Judge Peter Clarke QC said: "Not only is what he did to those woman wholly unacceptable, but also consider what a man witnessing this sort of behaviour might do to him."

Yes, you see, he might be the real victim!

Well, we can but hope…

He told Reilly there was "no question of a prison sentence" but ordered him to return to court on 21 September to determine future mental health treatment. The judge said: "Authorities are very strapped for cash at the moment but it’s important that they do everything we can to try and help."

I’d rather you helped the women this pervert targets, but then, they don’t seem to help themselves, do they?

Ah, Those Saintly GPs…

Patients at Waters Meeting Health Centre in Astley Bridge claim Dr Nasima Sidda, GP at the Sidda Family Practice, has been parking in a disabled bay without a permit for years.

But Dr Sidda, who admits she has no disability permit, says she has no choice but to leave her white Audi A7 there because there are no designated GP bays at the surgery.

Oh, really? Is that how it works?

She claims she has raised the issue of GP parking multiple times with Bolton commercial property agent Hurstwood Holdings, which manages the building, but so far nothing has been done.

So if you don't get listened to (and why move in to the centre in the first place?) you can just do as you please? Good to know!

A patient at the surgery, aged 40, said: “I have seen this happen every time I have been to the practice and have mentioned it to security.

“She is very well known and so is her car because of the distinctive number plate – but I have never seen a disability badge displayed in her car.

“It would be understandable if there were no parking facilities, but in the morning when she arrives the car park would not be full at all.

“Several times I have seen people turn up and have to wait to get into a disabled bay. I cannot believe this is continuing.”

I can. Sadly.

Dr Sidda said she is being “picked on” – with the word ‘disabled’ etched into the dirt on her car on several occasions.

Next, if this doesn't work, the race card will come out!

Dr Sidda said no disabled patient has ever come in and asked her to move her car, and said she happily would have done so if requested to.

She added: “We have to have designated car parking spots for GPs because we are here every single day. Until that gets resolved I don’t think it is an alternative. I have been raising the parking issue repeatedly since 2011 and I don’t feel like my requests have been taken heed of.”

So if there's no designated GP spaces, where do the other GPs park? They seem to manage. What makes you special?

Gaming 1997: "Theme Hospital" (Dell Pentium)

Sim-type games were all the rage at one time – if there was an industry, business model or commercial enterprise, there was a sim game for it, whether it be funfairs, airlines, zoos or pizza factories.

And - despite the fact that of all PC games, they tend to feel most like 'work' - I must have played the vast majority. But the one I tried first was Bullfrog's 'Theme Hospital':



Long before 'The Sims' really hit the scene, this quirky little game, with its bright graphics and childish sense of humour really was the ultimate timewaster. I could spend hours in front of the PC (my brand-new Pentium, no less!), managing my little hospital, trying to avoid epidemics and survive earthquakes.

And best of all, it's now free! Give it a try. You might be surprised.

It’s Amazing What You Can Still Afford, Though…

A popular fireworks display has been axed by a London council which says budget cuts mean it "simply cannot afford it".

Funny how they never axe the ‘Stop Smoking’ teams, or the ‘Five A Day Co-ordinator’, or the ‘Race Awareness Champion’, isn’t it?

Lambeth Council's cabinet member for neighbourhoods Cllr Jane Edbrooke blamed the decision to call off this year's event on central government cuts.

Of course he did.

"We simply can’t afford to fund everything in the way we once did and so we have to prioritise the things our residents care about most."

And the things your residents care most about are having inflation-busting staff wages, soaking local businesses for extra taxes, pointless vanity propaganda and reducing traffic speed expensively and unnecessarily, I suppose?

Why Be Impressed..?

A thug bottled his sister's ex in an unprovoked attack — but avoided jail because a judge was impressed that he had sought anger management counselling.

Isn’t this the first thing his brief would have suggested?

Let Me Guess, We’ll Need More Anti-Racism Teaching..?

The ‘Guardian’ prefaces their article on the sentencing of the youth (who cannot be named, of course) who stabbed his teacher with this prissy little warning:

Warning: this report contains offensive language

Because what’s ‘offensive’ about this affair is the language, not the facts. Let’s look at those, shall we?

Jonathan Sharp, prosecuting, said the boy was described by others as “disruptive and a bully” and had taken a dislike to Uzomah in the seven weeks he had worked at the school, as a supply teacher.

Sharp said: “He did not show any especial hostility to other teachers. Mr Uzomah, however, is black.

“The defendant disliked him, claiming he couldn’t teach, and freely referred to him by the epithet beginning with the letter n, including saying it in anger just before he attacked him.”

Now, for those who didn’t see the YouTube video of this ‘boy’s’ arrest before the Internet censors got to it, he himself is clearly not of white English heritage (and a hulking great lump into the boot). 

So maybe that explains why he got a pass for behaviour and language that would see anyone else expelled.

But then, the rest of the class don’t win any awards, either:

Sharp said the boy told a friend the previous day that he was planning to stab a teacher and took a knife with a “substantial blade” into school on June 11, discussing his plans with other pupils.

And they never uttered one peep..

What a place! It’s hard to see how they could be the breeding ground for this sort of attack, isn’t it? 

Still, I’m sure a lot of handwringing in the progressive media is to follow (probably about the real victim, the poor ‘youth’…), along with demands for more anti-racism teaching.

 Who knows, they might even have them up & running by the time he gets out, which could even be as quickly as three years.

I Suppose There Isn't Any Evidence If You Refuse To Look...

Sentencing the pair, Ms Richardson said: “That video was distressing and you know you didn’t do what you should have done to protect that horse.

“It was a poor decision but there is no evidence of long term, wilful neglect or cruelty to any of your animals.”

Really?

Wilson was also sentenced in relation to four other animal welfare charges.

He admitted causing unnecessary suffering to a lurcher dog by failing to have an infected wound checked; keeping ferrets in a dirty cage with a rabbit carcass and no water; keeping a lurcher in a cage covered in excrement and failing to ensure a West Highland Terrier who had injuries to his mouth was protected from suffering.

It's about time some magistrates were beaten like a rented mule...

But The Reason People Object To Their Presence Is 'Racism' And 'Prejudice'...

...isn't it?

Will Wilson, aged 79, whose home in Rogers Close backs onto the land, said: "It's absolutely horrendous. I can't understand that we apply the litter law to people who drop cigarette ends but when we get these people leaving a horrible mess like this no one can take any action or doesn't bother taking action.

"It is indescribable really what has happened. When they arrived last week I said the mess when they left would wreak havoc and it's done exactly that.

"It's a beautiful area, kids play on there and people take their dogs for a walk and people are unhappy when they see it turned into an absolute mess and used a toilet."

Another resident, who asked not to be named, added: "We've been scared to leave our house for the past week, these people have no morals whatsoever.

"How they've left the park in that way is disgusting."

Another resident, who did want to be named, said: "Tell me how it's fair that residents could be potentially fined for allowing their dogs to dirt in the park but the travellers themselves are leaving human faeces for us to clean up, where's the justice?

"What have the police done in this situation? I haven't seen them at all over the last week."

Either the law applies to everyone, or it doesn't...

H/T: Ted Treen via email

I Dunno, It's A Complete Mystery, Frankly...

Totally baffled. Totally...

Try As I Might...

...I can't help but read this to myself in a Sean Connery accent.

Seems A Bit Excessive...

...if all he wanted was a nice, smooth lawn?