Tweet Of The Month

 

Post Title Of The Month

Nick Drew at Capitalists @ Work on this government's pugilistic tendency:

And Starmer's performing about as well as Antony Joshua! 

Quote Of The Month

Longrider on Labour finding out jeering from the opposition benches is easy, governing is hard: 

"These are the arseholes who said that they would roll back Sunak’s watering down. Oh, yes, they were going to have a hard deadline of 2030, despite clear evidence that this was insane. Now they are in power and reality is punching them on the nose. This is just the start. The whole scam will eventually crumble."

Post Of The Month

Fahrenheit211 asks the important questions.

This Deserves A Double Facepalm...

"Here’s a maths problem for you.

Adam borrowed £44,000 to go to university and has paid back £7,000 since graduating four years ago. How much does he owe? The answer is £54,000. That's because he is one of thousands of graduates in England and Wales who took out a type of student loan between 2012 and 2023 on which interest rates hit a record of nearly 8% earlier this year."

What sort of graduate is going to be taken by surprise over having to pay interest on a loan?

"Adam, 26, studied in London for a BSc in economics..."

The kicker?

He now works in finance in the capital...

*boggle* 

H/T: CJ Nerd via email

It Might Be The Only Reason We'd Watch...

...because nothing the Tories do could possibly top Labour, and I doubt Matt willl get much more material from them.

Let's Give The 'Daily Mail' A Break...

They've never done anything quite as ridiculous as this:

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer mistakenly calls for the 'return of the sausages' instead of the hostages in Gaza during the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool.

Follow live politics updates | https://t.co/xItZsH7tea pic.twitter.com/7An3jB38Ys

— Sky News (@SkyNews) September 24, 2024

Sunday Funnies...

OK, No 1 is too creepy for me!

A Rose By Any Other Name...

...might not pass muster at the Passport Office, because they are all stupid:

Parents who want to name their children after Disney characters, global brands, football teams or sci-fi heroes may well want to think again, as it could make travelling a nightmare in time to come. That was the scenario facing one family this week when they faced missing a dream holiday to the Dominican Republic because of their son's name. A passport application for youngster Loki Skywalker Mowbray was thrown out by Home Office officials 'for copyright issues'.

Incorrectly, actually - this story has already surfaced and been blown out of the water once. So much for civil servants 'learning lessons'.

His disappointed father, soldier and massive Star Wars fan Christian Mowbray, 48, from Woodbridge, Suffolk, was told to change his son's name or get permission from the copyright owner Disney to use the name 'Skywalker'. While the Home Office has since U-turned on their decision, their experience serves as a cautionary tale to others - including people considering changing their birth names by deed poll - not to fall foul of the Home Office's pernickety rules for passports.

They don't need to, the Home Office needs to ensure the people that 'work' there understand the rules. Something they seem to find hard to do.  

Just Without The Killer Robots Of The Delos Corporation This Time..?

The FTC report published on Thursday looked at the data-gathering practices of Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, Discord, Reddit, Amazon, Snap, TikTok and Twitter/X between January 2019 and 31 December 2020. The majority of the companies’ business models incentivized tracking how people engaged with their platforms, collecting their personal data and using it to determine what content and ads users see on their feeds, the report states.

This doesn't often turn out well for the watchers... 

The FTC’s findings validate years of reporting on the depth and breadth of these companies’ tracking practices and call out the tech firms for “vast surveillance of users”. The agency is recommending Congress pass federal privacy regulations based on what it has documented.

Because regulations fix everything. Well, I'm sure one day it'll work. anyway... 

MSM Lying To Your Face Again...

Oh noes! A fuully fledged GP? 

Well, Reader, no, actually:

He successfully applied to the Home Office for a highly skilled worker visa to take up a position at an NHS GP surgery in Ilford, east London, called Doctor’s House. The surgery is sponsoring his visa and he began working there on 1 July 2024, as a GP assistant until he completes an exam called PLAB – Professional Linguistics Assessment Board test – that all overseas-qualified doctors must take before they can start to practise as a doctor in the UK.

So he's not yet working as a fully-fledged GP. And maybe never will, if he doesn't qualify. 

Ikram Khan, the practice business manager at Doctor’s House surgery, described the Home Office’s decision as lacking in compassion.

Of course he did... 

Khan said because of Siddiqui’s ability as a doctor and huge amount of experience he had proved to be a big asset for patients.

Only the ones he can talk to? 

“The amount of service Tajwer has been able to provide for our patients has just been incredible. We don’t want to lose him. It would have a terrible impact on the surgery. He is a great asset to the team. But this family cannot be separated. If Tajwer is forced to leave his job here and go back to Pakistan it will be a lose-lose situation for everyone. I understand that ministers want to reduce migration but we thought the new government would be more compassionate than the previous one.”

Stop lying. He cannot be that much of an asset because he's legally unable to work as a GP.  

Siddiqui said: “I’m completely preoccupied by the situation with the visa and am in limbo at the moment.”

And what work he is allowed to do is probably hampered by his preoccupation with getting his family here. 

He Who Pays The Piper, Stef...

A five-week run of A Midsummer Night's Dream at a major Manchester theatre was cancelled after the director bitterly feuded with theatre bosses over references to Palestine and trans rights. The Royal Exchange Theatre, which sits in the heart of the city, was due to run a modern version of the Shakespeare classic set in contemporary Manchester with a drum and bass soundtrack. It was directed by Stef O'Driscoll, known for her work in London's Royal Court Theatre. Theatre bosses cancelled the first few performances, which were due to start on September 6, citing a cast injury and a 'technical issue.'

But Reader, that wasn't the real reason... 

But the real reason for the cancellation was that theatre bosses objected to a song in the production which referred to trans rights and the phrase 'Free Palestine', Manchester Evening News revealed.

Whereupon it was impressed upon the director who was paying. 

A meeting between the cast, director and upper management took place last Wednesday, where disagreements were supposed to be worked through. But a source told the paper that the row could not be resolved.

And now the money tap has been turned off. 

And poor Stef has gone whinging to the Luvvie's Rag claiming that the situation left the show’s company feeling ‘devalued, invisible, problematic and unsafe’. A bit like trans activists and Palestine terrorism marchers make women and Jews feel, eh, Stef?

If You Build It, They Won’t Come

Parents do not use parental controls on Facebook and Instagram, according to Meta’s Nick Clegg, with adults failing to embrace the 50 child safety tools the company has introduced in recent years.

So what to do, what to do? Well, it's obvious, isn't it? Don't give them the choice, impose it.

Regulatory pressure is building on tech companies to protect children from harmful content, with the Australian government announcing plans this week to ban younger teenagers from accessing social media. Speaking at an event hosted by Chatham House in London, Clegg said parents were not using controls that allowed them to set time limits and schedule viewing breaks. “One of the things we do find … is that even when we build these controls, parents don’t use them,” he said. “So we have a bit of a behavioural issue, which is: we as an engineering company might build these things, and then we say at events like this: ‘Oh, we’ve given parents choices to restrict the amount of time kids are [online]’ – parents don’t use it.”

Perhaps they don't accept that it's the disaster they are being told that it is? Perhaps they are just lazy?  

Andy Burrows, the chief executive of the Molly Rose Foundation, a charity set up by Russell’s family, said: “Nick Clegg would do a service to children’s safety by stopping passing the buck and starting to take responsibility for the preventable harm caused by Meta’s choices.”

Why is it his responsibilty? They aren't his children. They aren't your children either..  

Strange Thing To Find These Days...

A coroner who doesn't want to point out failings, that is:

Norfolk area coroner Yvonne Blake today recorded a conclusion that Mrs Croghan was unlawfully killed but declined a request by the family to highlight failings by the authorities, saying there was no evidence the teenager had posed a threat to his grandmother or father.

Ms Ronen, a nurse who lives in Norwich, said afterwards: 'We believe there were multiple opportunities across the adult safeguarding team, mental health services and the police to identify risk, all of which were either ignored, dismissed or dealt with in isolation.

'Mum's case is an example of a systemic failure to reflect and learn from mistakes made. We are deeply disappointed that the coroner has not highlighted this within the conclusion.'

She's not usually shy about castigating the authorities when it comes to child deaths, but seems pretty laid back when the victims of failings are elderly.

'Education, Education, Education..?'

Barely literate students with no GCSEs are being accepted onto university courses and being given thousands of pounds in taxpayer cash they will never pay back. As hundreds of thousands of first-year undergraduates arrive in halls across the ­country this week, a Mail investigation has ­uncovered serious abuses of the higher education system. Whistleblowers have told how courses are accepting students with such poor English that they cannot spell simple words, and who fail to attend classes as soon as they receive their first £4,000 maintenance loan and council tax exemption.

I guess we know where the next generation of 'journalists' is coming from... 

One source at a well-known ­university said they have seen instances of 'whole families' including elderly parents and grandparents enrolling on £9,250-a-year courses after being recruited by staff offering cash bonuses for new students. FA second academic claimed that one of their students 'who could barely speak English' openly ­discussed how he was using some of his loan to build a home in Romania, while another lecturer in London said there were 'huge concerns that some people are just scamming the taxpayer.'

I think it's more than likely most of them, not just a few... 

In a recent report, the Office for Students (OfS) warned of 'serious risks to public money' after ­finding that staff managing ­partnerships were 'incentivised' to prioritise student recruitment above course quality, with ­allegations that some institutions lowered entry requirements to meet targets.

Anyone with settled ­immigration status can apply to the Student Loans Company (SLC) for a loan to go to university – £9,250 a year for tuition fees and up to £13,000 for maintenance – and those from low-income households or with children can access thousands of pounds more in free grants.

Is this where the Treasury's 'black hole' originates? Why not call an immediate halt to this drain? 

Susan Lapworth, the chief ­executive of the OfS, said: 'We are concerned about the findings of this investigation. Where a ­university delivers courses through a franchise arrangement with another higher education provider it must ensure that the quality of those courses remains high.

'That includes making sure students recruited onto courses have the commitment and ability to succeed. It also includes ­making sure there are proper ­controls to protect public money.

Doesn't look like you're achieving that, Susan. Perhaps it's time you got your P45? 

'The OFS is working on these issues. We have announced ­investigations of some providers engaged in franchising and are taking steps to ensure all universities are properly gripping these partnerships. We will continue to work with the Department for Education, the Student Loans Company and others on these important issues, including to advocate for the powers we need to regulate effectively in this area.'

Why were you not given those from the start? 

A Disorder That Seems To Be Pretty Common In The Black Community...

The court was told that the killer had a psychiatric disorder which caused him to suffer a 'pervasive distrust and suspiciousness' which made him preoccupied with grievances and grudges against those he believed had harmed him.

...even the ones who don't commit murder.

Lawyers argued that being deported to Uganda would be a 'traumatic event' that could cause his mental condition to deteriorate and that living in an 'alien world' in Uganda, with no friends and separated from his mother who lives in the UK, would add to his 'suspiciousness'.

Frankly, I'd rather the Ugandans took that risk than the British public!  

The court accepted that there would be a 'serious, rapid and irreversible decline' in his mental health if he were to be deported and that this would be a breach of his article three rights under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) which protects individuals against inhumane and degrading treatment or torture. Christopher John Hanson, the senior immigration judge, said he was 'satisfied' that the necessary treatment for ZM's condition was 'either not available or not accessible' to him in Uganda.

Well, that's not true, not true at all. 

And There’s A Good Reason For This…

Online platforms have overtaken TV channels as the most popular sources for news in the UK, according to figures described as a “generational shift” in viewing habits. More than seven out of 10 UK adults (71%) consume online news, said the UK’s communications regulator, slightly ahead of TV, which is used by 70% of adults. Ofcom described the survey result, the first time websites and apps have moved in front of TV, as marking a “generational shift in the balance of news media”.

Why wait for the MSM to get it's boots on when social media is already telling me what's happening. And telling me the things that the MSM would rather not draw attention to? 

The presenter of the BBC’s Question Time programme, Fiona Bruce, said the growth of social media as a news source was “worrying”.

For you, Fiona, I expect it is. 

The most popular social media platforms for news are Facebook, used by three out of 10 adults, followed by YouTube, Instagram and X. The BBC News website and app are used by 18% of adults.

The regulator said traditional news sources still outperformed online rivals in several important attributes such as trust, accuracy and impartiality.

Really? Are you pissing down my leg and telling me its raining again? 

BBC One remains the single biggest news source, used by 43% of adults, although that has fallen sharply from 58% in 2019.

The BBC’s Bruce, who presides over a cornerstone of the corporation’s current affairs coverage, expressed concern about social media’s role. Writing in the Radio Times, she said social media’s role in modern news consumption was a problem for “all of us”. “But it’s worrying that social media is being increasingly used as a news source. It’s not just a problem for journalists, it’s a problem for all of us. And once a fake story is out there, it’s almost impossible to correct. I know, I’ve tried. Good luck trying to get anything taken down from X,” she wrote.

And that's why it's becoming the go to news source.  

Sorry, But You're Not Special...

Families of the men killed in the world's worst oil rig disaster have branded plans to make a television drama out of the tragedy 'an invasion of our deepest wounds'. In all, 167 men died when a gas leak set off explosions that ripped apart the Piper Alpha platform 120 miles off the Aberdeenshire coast in July 1988. The BBC and STV Studios are looking to make a factual drama to retell the events of that night. But families of workers who died say their loss should not be 'trivialised into a plot for entertainment'.

Why not? This is no different to other disasters. 

Patrick McLaughlin's father Charles, an electrician, also died in the disaster, aged just 46. Mr McLaughlin said: 'To have actors who could be portraying someone who was killed that night doesn't feel right. I know if there was someone playing my father I wouldn't be happy. Families have been through enough.'

Welp, it's a historical disaster, like Chernoble or Bhopal or 9/11. And no-one objected to those, or if they did, they were rightly ignored.  

Looks Like The NHM Is Fixing To Go Broke

The Natural History Museum in London has announced a major programme of transformation it says will mark “a step-change from being a catalogue of natural history to a catalyst for change...”

Change for what?  

...in response to the climate emergency.

*sighs* I should have know they wouldn't stop with exiling Dippy. They seem determined to ruin my favourite museum. 

The scheme to renovate the museum’s celebrated Victorian building and develop a new research and storage facility will build on its aim to turn visitors into “advocates for the planet”, it said on Thursday. Four existing galleries will be overhauled, including its enormously popular dinosaur gallery, while the museum plans to reopen two long-closed exhibition spaces, one of which, the Old General Herbarium, has not been accessible to the public since 1948. One of them will house a new permanent exhibition that the museum’s director, Doug Gurr, said would include the most explicit climate messaging it had ever offered. The exhibition, Fixing Our Broken Planet, will have the express aim of “nudging” visitors to change their behaviour, he said.

This 'nudging' has no place in a museum. 

“Of course, we still want people to have a brilliant, fun family day out. But if you can come out of that being a little bit more interested in nature and a little bit more aware of some of the challenges, you’re a bit more likely to want to do something about it.”

Nope, not me! I know propaganda when I see it, even when it doesn't have a little explanatory label in the case... 

I Don’t Think Peabody Are To Blame For This…

Bexley residents opposing plans to demolish their homes have been given notice to end their occupation of empty homes in the area in order to object to a scheme to deliver nearly 2,000 new units on the site.Protestors have been occupying homes on the Lesnes Estate in Thamesmead for five months in the hopes of blocking plans for Peabody to build 1,950 new homes.

But I thought everyone was in favour of cramming more and more tiny rabbit hutches onto every singlr square inch of London? Have the press been lying to me again? 

Maria Ivanova, 72, has lived on the Lesnes Estate with her son since purchasing her home there in 2007."At this time, my family from Bulgaria visits me every summer. For the last two years they said this area has never been so dirty. It’s full of waste on the streets. It’s like nobody lives here… This rubbish stays there. There are flies and there is a smell when you pass it.”

And are Peabody doing that, Maria? Or is it someone else? 

The homeowner claimed she felt the slow decline of the estate had been done intentionally by Peabody. Pictures seen by the LDRS show multiple cars on the estate with broken windows as well as a variety of fly-tipped household items including mattresses, bathtubs, chests of drawers and armchairs left in both communal areas and gardens of derelict homes.

Flytippers, Maria. The sort of people that make up your neighbourhood, most likely. Not the housing firm.  

So Bad They Named Him Twice?

Or did they get him confused with Boutros Boutros Ghali?

*Chef's Kiss*

 

Just pefect, Matt, as always. And that's the way to rattle this thin-skinned moocher, utter ridicule wherever he goes.

Sunday Funnies...

I've never really understood the mascot thing, but trust the Yanks to take it too far - Southern Illinois, go home, you're drunk! 

'Red Flag? OK, Here's Our White Flag...'

The trial of Deveca Rose has started, and throws new light on why four children died in a burning house:

...social services had been working with the family but closed the case after Rose failed to co-operate, jurors have heard.

Damn, that's it? Must try that at work: 'Sorry boss, it's getting a bit tricky to do this task, can I just skip it?' 

Darren Woodhams, a fire investigator for the London Fire Brigade, found the fire started from a either a discarded cigarette or an upturned tea light, which set fire to rubbish on the floor and then a sofa in the living room. The fire spread due to the amount of rubbish on the floor, the court heard. Jurors were shown photographs of the floor of the living room which was covered in rubbish 20cm deep and littered with human excrement.

And children were living in it. While social workers washed their hands of responsibility. In any normal world, the state of the house and the refusal to co-operate should have been grounds for more action, not less.

Giving evidence to the jury today, Mr Woodhams said: 'There was a smoke detector on the first floor landing however this was found to be inoperable and had no battery.'

Rose is not in court as she has an issue with her eyes and is observing the trial via a link from a room with lower lighting.

Once again, the inversion of the justice system, treating the alleged perpetrator as a victim. 

Sound Like They Are Desperate For Alternative Benefits

Thousands of children switched to walking or cycling to school following the introduction of controversial Ultra-Low Emission Zones (ULEZ) in London, reveals new research.

Four in 10 youngsters in central London who previously went to school by car switched to more active modes of travel following the introduction of ULEZ, according to the findings.

In Luton, Bedfordshire, where there were no ULEZ, just two in 10 children made the switch during the same period.

Well, I'm sure that's an added benefit, but it wasn't the goal of the ULEZ, was it? The goal was to give us cleaner air. And it's failed. 

So just as climate change nutters are trying to move the goalposts, as Tim Worstall pointed out last week, so too, it seems are ULEZ fans desperate to find another benefit of their wretched scheme.

It’s Because We Don’t Have Real Problems…

...that things like these get blown out of all proportion:

One week it’s an airport security tray filled with carefully tessellated items that represent the owner’s personality, the next it’s a curated fridge shelf decorated with fairy lights and flowers. But is this the acme – or the nadir - of the organising cult? According to some, the trend has gone too far. We are cluttering our mental landscape with our decluttering schemes, say the experts – and when the Association of Professional Declutterers and Organisers tells you to put down the duster, you know you’ve been spoken to.

I didn't even know such a thing existed.... 

“The constant need to keep up with these decluttering and organisational trends is causing genuine mental and physical stress,” says Siân Pelleschi, the APDO president. “People are losing the ability, in some cases, to distinguish between a fad and a method that can benefit their life. They’re experiencing overwhelm and feelings of hopelessness thanks to all these different organisational trends and methods.”

No, thanks to them taking any notice of them. I don't, so I'm perfectly fine.  

Decluttering and organising has been a thing since long before the Netflix series Tidying Up with Marie Kondo made it a bone fide trend in 2019. But it has now reached heights of unparalleled intensity. The TikTok hashtag #Cleantok has more than 110.4bn views.

Once again, I'm so glad I don't do TikTok. 

J’Nae Phillips, senior trend analyst, fashion columnist and creator of the Fashion Tingz newsletter, says these curated visuals are “a way for individuals to express their creativity and values in spaces that might otherwise seem mundane”.

These are the sort of people that drive this stuff? Good grief!  

“Sharing images of aesthetic airport trays and meticulously organised fridges on social media isn’t about reducing one’s identity to simplistic snapshots,” she says. “Instead of being reductive, these posts serve as micro-narratives in which we actively reconstruct and recontextualise our identities to align with contemporary trends where online presence is a significant extension of self.”

To which I can only say: PARKLIFE! 

Have We Reached Peak Absurdity Yet?

Somnetimes, I just can't be sure, as every time I think so, something else pops up...

The Labour MP Paulette Hamilton and singer Mel B are among leading Black Britons urging parliamentarians to make the UK the first western country to introduce a law to end afro hair discrimination.

Whut?! 

The letter has been signed by 100 campaigners and supporters, including the singer Beverley Knight, writer and campaigner Patrick Hutchinson, singer and presenter Fleur East, school leader Evelyn Forde MBE and Prof Patrick Vernon OBE. It warns that the “omission of hair as a protected characteristic from the law has facilitated everyday discrimination and the normalisation of afro hair as inferior in every sphere of life”.

I don't think it's the hair that people see as 'inferior', actually.  

Campaigners have long argued that British children are unfairly penalised in school for wearing natural styles and protective methods for the upkeep of their afro hair, while adults in UK offices also face discrimination, harassment and assault.

De Leon said: “Laws are actually there to tell people what is right and what is wrong and to protect minority groups from oppression, discrimination and injustice. We simply do not have the right laws in the UK to stop generations of Afro hair discrimination from continuing.”

Personally, I think we do have the right laws in England, and we certainly don't need any more.  

That Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act Is Going Well, Then...

A senior academic has been reported to police after allegedly making ­sectarian comments at an anti-racism rally.

Oh. 

Jeanette Findlay, an economics professor at Glasgow University, spoke at the event in Glasgow on Saturday. She is chairman and founding member of Call it Out, a campaign against anti-Irish racism and anti-Catholic bigotry.

And her chosen method is....Protestant bigotry!  

In a recording of her speech to protesters, shared on social media platform X, Professor Findlay said members of the Orange Order were at the event. She said they ‘swim in the same dirty water as the racists who are in Luton or London’ and claimed ‘anti-fascist’ protesters had been ‘kettled’ by ‘political police’ at the event. Professor Findlay said: ‘When you say you won’t allow the Right on your streets, can I remind you that the Right march our streets every week 11 months of the year – and in particular in July, when they take over the whole city from the first hour of the morning to the last hour at night. You need to stand with us and our community and protect our churches, our places of ­worship, when those b******* are going past us.’

Protect them from people marching past, not actually doing anything other than existing? What a snowflake.

The professor is also seen in another video shared on X ­asking a police officer who is telling her to move on: ‘Are you moving the Huns?’

Well, I'm learning new epithets for religious bigotry, not sure of the derivation of that one...  

A Police Scotland spokesman said: ‘A complaint has been received and is being assessed.’

As you have to do now.  

A statement online said the Grand Lodge had ‘written to the Scottish Government, police and other organisations expressing our concern over Professor Findlay’s speech and seeking action’. Todd Ferguson, a Tory councillor in North Ayrshire, tweeted: ‘The speech is at odds with the Scottish Government’s Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021.’

Easy to see why crime is becoming rife in Scotland, if the police are tied up with this nonsense all the time... 

"People used to think if they were affiliated with Hezbollah but not fighters, they were effectively safe."

There's an old saying, chum - lie down with dogs and you'll get up with fleas.

"But this changes everything. The pager attacks happened in areas where you thought they could never happen – Christian areas, for example. But Hezbollah are everywhere in Lebanon and you can't know who is who."

When they go 'boom!' you soon find out. And then all your terrorist-supporting journalist friends start crying about it on social media:  

We are gazing into the portal of a dystopian future, where anyone on earth can be killed with the flick of a switch.

Consider how further technological advances could mean anyone could be immediately located and killed. It would become impossible to resist anyone with that power https://t.co/8KV4pWoenj

— Owen Jones (@owenjonesjourno) September 17, 2024

'Anyone can be killed' squeals little Owen. Conveniently forgetting that to put yourself in the electronic crosshairs, you have to launch an unprovoked attack on Israeli civilians. 

Maybe They’re Just Illiterate?

Do you know Pollock from pollock or a collie from a coley? If you don’t you are not alone as new research reveals that Britons struggle to name common fish, while two-fifths admit that they have “only ever eaten it in batter or breadcrumbs”.

Is that wrong? Both are delicious!  

Over half of those surveyed had no idea that a John Dory was a spiny fish; 12% mistakenly thought “he” was a famous poet, according to the Marine Stewardship Council poll. The Family Fortunes-style answers do not stop there. The poll of 2,000 adults found that 10% of respondents thought a coley was a breed of dog.

Well, when put on the spot, it seems a lot of people try their best... 

Another 6% said the only pollock they had heard of was the American artist Jackson Pollock. A similar number thought that a hake was a garden tool.

...but just can't do it!   

They might not know the taxonomy, but that does not stop Britons eating lots of fish, as those surveyed ate it an average of five times a month. However, they tended to eat the same things, and 80% of the seafood eaten in the UK is made up of the “big five”: cod, haddock, salmon, tuna and prawns.

Yes, and? 

George Clark, the MSC’s UK & Ireland programme director, said the poll showed that there was a big opportunity for consumers to improve their fish knowledge and seafood skills. This month it is “encouraging people to try something different”, particularly sustainable varieties of fish and seafood caught by fishing communities around the UK.

Put them in batter and breadcrumbs and they probably will!  

More Proof They Are As Feral As Their 'Pets'...

...although the dogs are probably smarter: 

A woman made death threats to a judge after he ordered the destruction of her dangerous dogs just days after Liverpool's top judge revealed he had received threats following the recent sentencing of people involved in the violent disorder across Merseyside. Melissa Thorp, 50, took to TikTok to post drunken ramblings inciting violence against York Crown Court judge Simon Hickey and a police officer.

Nor is that even the most shocking thing:

The mum-of-one was jailed for two years at Leeds Crown Court.

Looking at the picture, the first thing that comes to mind is 'mum of one what?'

The general assistant of a cemetery (sic) was incensed by the destruction of her pet Blu and later deleted the posts once she "sobered up", the court was told, but the videos had already been viewed by several people who reported it to police. She was arrested and charged with sending communication threatening death or serious harm. She admitted the offence, which put her in breach of a suspended prison sentence for the original offences of being the owner in charge of a dangerous dog.

You may wonder why someone with her history got a suspended sentence in the first place: 

Thorp has convictions for 21 offences on a criminal record dating back over 30 years, the court heard. They include a previous malicious-communications offence, attempted robbery, carrying an offensive weapon, affray, threatening behaviour and criminal damage.

Just more evidence, if it were needed, of the sort of people who want to own dogs like these. 

I Guess, Looking At Her....

...a false claim for rape wouldn't have been believable, so a false claim of stabbing had to suffice:

Three teenagers were arrested after a 24-year-old PCSO was found with a 'serious' knife wound in her arm - but now she has been accused of stabbing herself in order to claim compensation. Olivia Morphew, 24, reported being knifed during an attack in Esher, Surrey in June 2023. Three teenage boys were arrested later that day in nearby Claygate on suspicion of attempted murder and a kitchen knife with a 9cm stainless steel blade was recovered at the scene.

Fast work for the cops!  

At the time, Surrey Police said it was 'appalled' by the alleged attack. However, it's now been alleged that PCSO Morphew stabbed herself and subsequently submitted a compensation claim for her injuries.

*sighs* 

The former PSCO will now appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on Wednesday charged with perverting the course of justice, fraud and possession of a knife in a public place.

DEI hires. Are any of them any good? 

"I can't believe this happened. You’re walking home on a normal day and then your life changes.”"

Yes, sadly, because it seems in this country, we value someone's right to own a fighting breed dog above the rights of others to walk the streets safely with their own, normal dogs.

A spokesperson for Merseyside Police said: "We are investigating after a man reported he was bitten by a loose dog in Liverpool yesterday, Wednesday 11 September. At about 2.40pm the man, who is in his 30s, was walking his dog along Belvidere Road when another dog attacked his dog. When the man tried to intervene he was bitten on the arm and hand.

A rather bland statement that in no way reflects the savagery of the attack and harm done, as usual. 

"The man attended hospital for treatment for his injuries and the injured dog was taken to the vets to be checked over. Officers arrived and seized the offending dog, believed to be an exempt pitbull, which was reported to have escaped from the garden of a property in Toxteth. Enquiries into the incident remain ongoing. If you have information on the incident, contact us via @MerPolCC on X, call 101 with reference 24000774880 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111."

What more 'enquiries' do you need? If you know it's an exempt pitbull (how bloody old is this thing?) you know you can apply to destroy it and charge the owner now. Why haven't you done that?

H/T: Sam Browfan via Twitter

Of Course You Will, Because You’re Responsible…

 

In the end, the vote to cut the winter fuel allowance passed easily. Hundreds of loyalist Labour MPs tramped through the lobbies to back the government’s controversial plan. No 10 will hope the heat has gone out of the issue.

Well, it's approaching panto season, so just let me say 'Oh no, it won't!'

Scores of MPs abstained in silent protest, fearful that they could be condemning vulnerable pensioners to a cold, hard winter.

Government sources argued that only a dozen of the 52 Labour MPs who were absent for the vote had not been authorised in advance. The others had legitimate reasons including medical appointments and official travel. But what they did not acknowledge was that many of those who had permission to abstain were bitterly opposed to the cut.

Then they should have done the decent thing and voted against it. Instead, they took the coward's way out.  

In the days running up to the vote, whips had been encouraging them to find urgent constituency business so they could legitimately be absent.

I'm no longer shocked at the perfidy of politicians... 

Almost all Labour MPs, however, also blamed the Tories for the difficult decisions that they left the chancellor to take. “None of us wanted to do this,” said one. “But we wouldn’t have to if they hadn’t left us with such a mess.” A number of them do not regard the fight as over – and are planning to push ministers to look at extra help for the most vulnerable as the months get colder, perhaps by expanding the warm homes discount or bringing in a cheaper social tariff for some pensioners.

How quickly they forget 'There's no money left'... 

"It was not suddenly bred. It will not swiftly abate. "

"Through the chilled years ahead, When Time shall count from the date That the Saxon began to hate." 

Better begin counting....

Aldershot has a Labour MP @Ms_Alex_Baker. In Rushmoor 340+ flats has been bought by the council, using taxpayer's cash for migrants. No Brits allowed.

She also voted to end winter fuel payments to pensioners.

Down the pub she is told she is not welcome, get out & is a traitor.… pic.twitter.com/iEqBKUS0uh

— David Atherton (@DaveAtherton20) September 15, 2024

Just like her boss getting booed by the crowd at Doncaster racecourse. People are finally having enough. Long may it continue!  

H/T: David Atherton via Twitter

Labour's Prison Release Scheme, Skewered!

Always knocking it out of the park, that Matt...

Pulls It Out Of A What?!

I think the word they were grasping for was 'sheath'.

Sunday Funnies...

Are we even allowed beauty anymore? Some days, it doesn't seem like it...

Maybe The Critics Are Heartless Morons?

Critics say the deaths are tragic but have been blown out of proportion.

This is the resurgence of predators like brown bears in Europe which are now so numerous, they pose a threat to human life and agriculture.  

In Romania, which is home to the most brown bears in Europe, the animals killed 26 people and injured 276 over 20 years, according to the environment ministry. Data from Eurostat shows that motorised vehicles killed 45,000 people in the country in that time.

We can't really do without motorised vehicles, they are intrinsic to our society. Large man-eating predators, not so much. 

But wait, Reader! That's not the daftest assertion they have to make, no, not by a long chalk.

Cultural associations are a problem for the wolf, which has long been portrayed as the villain of fairytales. Helmut Dammann-Tamke, president of the German hunting association and politician with the centre-right Christian Democrats, says the threat of wolf attacks on sheep is “like something on a serving platter” for the far right because it reaches people on an emotional level. “This issue is an incendiary force in the hands of populists.”

Those dastardly far right, errr, wolves. 

A 2022 study of German municipalities found that wolf attacks on livestock predict far-right support. After controlling for factors such as immigration and jobs, the researchers found wolf attacks were associated with far-right gains in municipal elections of between one and two percentage points.

And suddently, I'm in favour of 'rewilding' after all!  

Environmental activists question whether blanket policies to cull animals will do much to avoid conflicts with humans and have called for measures to promote peaceful coexistence that range from fences and guard dogs to awareness campaigns for visitors.

Sounds a lot like what they call for when they want to persuade us 'diversity is a strength not a threat', doesn't it? 

TfL Need To Beef Up Their Cyber Security

The news that TfL had suffered a cyber attack barely made headlines. I read it, but didn't think it would affect me, as they said it wasn't going to affect passengers. 

Until, of course, my Oyster card ran low, and I needed to top it up online. And found I couldn't.

Transport chiefs in London are restricting access to a photocard portal for Oyster 60+ and other travel concessions after a cyber attack. The incident, which first became public on Monday evening, has largely not affected people who use the transport system in the capital.

But the transport bosses have now decided to temporarily restrict access to the photocard portal, which allows customers to apply for travel concessions, including the Zip Photocard, 16+ and 18+ Photocard and the 60+ Oyster photocard, as the investigation continues into the cyber targeting.

It also prevents people wanting to top up their balance online from doing so. As I found out. The only way to do it is at a shop. They didn't exactly advertise this, I had to find out from Twitter. 

In an updated statement, Shashi Verma, TfL’s Chief Technology Officer, said: “There remains no impact to our public transport services and no evidence that any customer data has been compromised.

“However, as part of the measures implemented to deal with the ongoing cyber security incident, we have temporarily restricted access to customer journey history for pay as you go contactless customers, as well as limited access to some live travel data via apps, TfL Go and the TfL website, including next train information and the TfL JamCams.

“In addition, we have made the decision to temporarily restrict access to the photocard portal, which allows customers to apply for travel concessions, including the Zip Photocard, 16+ and 18+ Photocard and the 60+ Oyster photocard.

“We apologise for any inconvenience that these temporary changes will cause to some customers and are working to bring these back online as quickly as possible.”

All that money the London Mayor gives TfL and where does it go? Not on cyber security, it seems.  

And on Friday morning  I got an email. Ooh, I thought, they've fixed it! That is, until I opened it:

So much for 'no evidence that any customer data has been compromised' Shashi. Looks like you found some after all. Good job you kept looking, eh?

Who Knew They Still Had Any?

And presumably, it being 2024, the women's testicles too?

The arresting uniform has been narrowly cut in such a way that there is barely room to swing a baton, they say. Women officers meanwhile are unhappy about the lack of space given 'between waist and the crotch'.

Most of the female cops are practically dwarves anyway. 

The damning verdicts on their official issued uniform came about as part of the first ever police uniform and equipment survey run by Lancaster University and the Police Federation.

Benjamin Elk of the Taxpayers' Alliance dismissed the survey as a 'farce' and 'distraction' to officers fighting crime.

Ah, if only that's what they did, instead of harassing people wanting to film in public. Or critiquing a crime victim’s language while ignoring the crime she's trying to report. 

‘It could be a rock...'

Well, yes, it most likely is. It's not really going to be a 20ft tall Bigfoot, is it? 

Quite apart from anything else, it doesn't appear to be climbing as a living creature would. What we have here is a classic case of pareidolia.

They Aren’t Fleeing ‘War And Oppression’, Enver…

...not if they are coming from France. It's not that bad.

Labour will be at real risk of failing to reform the UK’s broken asylum system unless it challenges Tory rhetoric and stops focusing on the deportation of asylum seekers, the head of the Refugee Council has said.

Enver Solomon, the charity’s chief executive, said Keir Starmer must use the language of “compassion and humanity” in order to tackle the vilification of refugees.

That'll be hard, since he doesn't possess those qualities. 

The home secretary’s plans to expand detention without opening safe routes are “costly and unnecessary” and the government must instead accelerate grant rates for asylum claims to tackle the backlog and community tensions around asylum hotels, he said. There is growing concern from charities, unions and left-leaning MPs that the government is adopting the language and policies established by the Tories around asylum and immigration.

Yes, clearly, nothing will halt 'the vilification of refugees' like cramming even more of them into our towns against our wishes. 

Solomon said the Labour government had not yet challenged the political rhetoric that had contributed to the hatred and vilification of refugees. He said: “Angry talk of invasion, stopping the boats and labelling everyone as ‘illegal’ has raised the temperature and had the effect of stripping people fleeing war and oppression from the world’s trouble spots of their stories and humanity.

What 'stories'? The usual load of old flannel they tell the 'Guardian'? What 'humanity'? When they put their children's lives at risk by leaving a safe country? 

“The challenge now is to ensure that the language of compassion and humanity is adopted by all politicians, with government taking the lead.”

“The current private contractors have consistently failed to deliver and it’s now time to bite the bullet and end the contracts as soon as possible. The government must work hand in hand with councils to ensure they are fully equipped to house people in local communities in a safe and dignified way that ensures value for taxpayers’ money.

How will we ever know if we are getting that, when it becomes a state secret? 

“Following the riots, it is also vital that serious work is led by government on community cohesion, including a clear plan on refugee integration,” he said.

Stopping arresting them for protesting would be a good start.  

Will Gen Z Survive?

They seem determined not to...

Experts have warned against a new Gen-Z health fad of drinking dead bacteria, which they claim could damage gut function and cause bowel issues. Also known as postbiotics, the supplements are growing increasingly popular among young people on social media.

Ah, social media, you have a lot to answer for! Is this fad being driven by vacuous slebs? Reader, you know it is: 

Last month, US supermodel Bella Hadid, 27, launched Picklesecco, a 'gut-healthy, postbiotic potion' that claims to support digestion and the nervous system, balance the gut microbiome and 'conjure clarity and vision'.

Sarah Miles drinking her own urine seems almost tame these days... 

In a video viewed more than 300,000 times, US health influencer Cecily Bauchmann said daily postbiotics helped to get rid of her bloated stomach. And in another clip seen more than 10,000 times, TikToker Brianna Wehan claimed that taking postbiotics had helped her 'debloat and ease my discomfort with my tummy issues'.

What do real science degree types say? 

'Would I take them? Absolutely not,' said Dr Christopher Stewart, professor of human microbiome research at Newcastle University.

I'll skip them too then. 

This Is The Attitude That Lead To That Victory In The First Place...

German chancellor Olaf Scholz has urged mainstream parties to exclude “right-wing extremists”, after preliminary results showed the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) had come top in a state election, while a new populist force on the left established a firm foothold in the country’s political landscape. 

Voters in two closely watched elections in the former communist east made their dissatisfaction with Germany’s mainstream political parties clear, putting the AFD in the top spot in Thuringia, with 32.8% of the vote, and second place in Saxony, with 30.6%, according to preliminary results.

And lo, there was a great rending of garments and gnashing of teeth!  

“Our country cannot and must not get used to this. The AfD is damaging Germany. It is weakening the economy, dividing society and ruining our country’s reputation,” Scholz said, adding that the most dire predictions, that his centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) might fall out of a state parliament for the first time, had not materialised.

This time, Scholz, This time, and with that attitude towards the voters, who knows what will happen next time? 

He Could Cite Chris Whitty As A Cause...

A civil servant scared of catching viruses has won the first stage of an employment tribunal case over his bosses' refusal to let him work from home. John-Paul Pryce, who worked as a case officer dealing with debt and bankruptcy, was allowed to work from home during the pandemic. As a child he was frightened of germs, viruses and illnesses and those fears continued into adulthood.

And he never sought therapy? 

But with the emergence of Covid-19, and him contracting the virus in March 2020, he became fearful in the presence of others and would suffer panic attacks if people were close by. Mr Pryce said he saw them as 'coughing, sneezing germ and virus spreaders'.

Well, given that's exactly how the government of the day was describing them at the time, that's understandable. Of course, they were wrong then, so he's wrong to still believe it. 

In 2022, he was asked to return to the office, and his flexible working request emphasising the benefits of home-working because of his embarrassment in admitting to his phobia was rejected.But now he has won the first stage of an employment tribunal fight, with a judge in Glasgow ruling his symptoms should be classed as a disability under equality laws.

And the term 'disability' is stretched even more beyond recognition. 

Translation: "Oh No! We Accidentally Said The Quiet Bit Out Loud!"

Jewish organisations last night slammed an NHS Trust after an email urged its staff to boycott antisemitism awareness training. Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust provoked outrage after it published a statement in its weekly newsletter warning staff 'not to attend' an 'inappropriate' session led by the Antisemitism Policy Trust (APT).

Whoops! Never commit stuff like that to print, chaps! Haven't you heard the term 'plausible deniability'? 

An email — sent by an employee from the Trust's diversity team — followed a handful of complaints about the APT made via the Black Minority Ethnic network. Claire Murdoch, chief executive of the Trust, interrupted her holiday to personally telephone the head of the APT and apologise for the egregious 'error'.In an email seen by the Daily Mail, she told staff that the statement about the training had been made in 'error' after it had not 'gone through our usual sign-off process'.

Well, someone's face is red...or black or brown, I guess. 

She added: 'I have asked that colleagues look into how such a message was communicated in error and we will get to the bottom of it.'There have been a small number of concerns raised by some individuals via the BAME network with the Trust about the antisemitism training.

'This will be properly investigated - which is the right and proper thing to do - and will be shared both with the APT and NHS England.

'I have personally telephoned the chief executive of APT this morning to apologise for what I can only describe as poor process and error on our part.'

And not a slip-up exposing your true feelings? 

It is unclear if the person responsible for adding the statement to the newsletter will face any disciplinary action or will be required to attend the antisemitism training themselves.

I'm betting the answer's 'no' to both. 

Wait, What Country Am I In Again?

A man who drove for almost 100 feet with a 12-year-old girl trapped underneath his van has walked free from court. Ali didn't stop until the girl came out from the back of the vehicle, lay motionless on the floor, and a member of the public alerted him to what had happened. The unnamed girl was left with a broken collarbone and elbow and also friction burns.

Police at the time of the crash in Oldham, Greater Manchester said she suffered 'life changing' injuries.

The girl's family declined to support a prosecution, meaning he could not be charged with causing serious injury by careless driving.

Wait, what? This isn't the States, where the victim of a crime is required to 'press charges'. This is the UK, where the Crown takes on that job! 

At Tameside Magistrates Court, Ali admitted the lesser charge of driving without due care and attention. He was also ordered to pay £205 in costs and victim surcharge and had six points endorsed on his driving licence. The court heard he already had three points on his licence from two years ago for speeding.

*sighs* 

Sentencing, JP Pauline Taylor said: 'This is an unusual incident I must say. You have got three points already so you need to be extremely careful. It is a serious matter. If you get another matter on it, you might get disqualified.'

And, the law being an ass, you might not. 

H/T: RealBlackIrish via Twitter

It Should Be A Belated Wake-Up Call For The UK Too…

If there was shock, it wasn’t immediately obvious. Mario Voigt, leader of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) in Thuringia, assumed the pose of an election winner, even though his party came second by some margin, with 24% of the vote. He announced he would begin coalition negotiations with other “parties of the democratic centre” – meaning without the AfD. In Saxony, where the CDU won narrowly, their leader, Michael Kretschmer, has also ruled out working with the AfD. In both states, this will require the centre-right party to build complex alliances with two or three leftwing parties.

Yes, it's the AfD's victory again, worrying all the right people in the left-wing press. 

Disgruntlement with mainstream politics was long treated as a peculiarity of the former East Germany, which included Saxony and Thuringia. The vice-president of the Bundestag, Katrin Göring-Eckardt of the Green party, herself a native Thuringian, was not alone in claiming that some east Germans are “stuck in dictatorship glorification”. Now Göring-Eckardt’s Greens have been kicked out of the Thuringian parliament and are polling at 11% nationally. Telling voters that their concerns aren’t real, it turns out, is not an election-winning strategy.

We'll have to see how it plays out in the UK next election, because I'm sure Sir Kier Stalin will try it. 

There were lively public debates everywhere in the buildup to the elections. People discussed politics at workplaces and at the kitchen table. Turnout was at a record high, with three-quarters of people casting their vote. East Germans are neither fed up with politics nor with democracy. They are fed up with not being taken seriously.

Ringing any bells, yet? 

The same applies to other demographics. A staggering 37% of young voters in Thuringia have voted for AfD. In Saxony it was 31%. Though higher than the national average, this is still in line with what we saw in the European parliamentary elections in June when the AfD beat all three parties of Scholz’s coalition in the 16-24 vote, coming second with 16% – just one percentage point behind the conservatives. The AfD also won the working-class vote by some margin in the European elections, but this fact gained little media attention and seems to have raised no eyebrows in the other political parties.

Ask Germans what their main concerns are. Immigration tops the list, followed by energy prices, war and the economy. The word I heard over and over again in recent months was angst. Given that a growing number of immigrants are being charged with violent crimes, which are on the rise, many feel this is an issue of safety.

Yes, this is definitly starting to seem very familar. 

These are uncomfortable topics to discuss, especially for left-leaning parties, but discussing them is exactly what they must do instead of handing a monopoly over those issues to the AfD. That is not the same as plunging into populism. If centrists don’t start a constructive debate on sensitive issues, nobody will. The response to the regional elections must be more than preventing a far-right takeover. This is a belated wake-up call for Germany’s mainstream parties. I hope it will be heard loud and clear in Berlin.

It needs to be heard in London too.  

Achievement Unlocked!

You sure have knocked that one out of the park, TwoTier! 

Sir Keir’s personal ratings have already suffered a drop since he took office, with the decision to axe winter fuel payments, repeated warnings about the state of the economy, and pressure on government spending ahead of the budget at the end of October.

D'Ream need to revise their hit, 'The Only Way Is Down' would be most appropriate, 

An Appeal For A Functioning Spellchecker?

It would seem to be sorely needed...

H'T: Ian J via email

You Know Where You Can Stick Your Entry Fee!

 

The Museum 4 Watton has a rather nice website, but clearly they didn't employ a proofreader! 

H/T:  Dave Ward via email

Sunday Funnies...

I'll stick to The Carpenters, I think..!

It Was Never About The Environment, Was It?

Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) (Ed: this mob) issued the plea ahead of next month's Autumn Budget, claiming it would receive the full support of the public.

Without any evidence for that, of course. It's not like this fakecharity is relying on the public for their money, after all.

In a letter to the Chancellor, It is proposed that drivers of EVs should be charged based on how far they travel. However, it says those who bought battery cars before the implementation date should be exempt from road pricing.

Which shows just what a nonsense the idea is, doesn't it? Either these vehicles are not taxed because they are better for the environment, or they are taxed. An arbitrary cut-off point makes no sense. 

With the Labour government set to bring forward the ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars to 2030, the public transport charity says this has become an 'urgent issue' and that time is of the essence for ministers to find a solution for EV drivers to help plug the huge loss in road fuel taxation.

I wonder if it's occurred to anyone yet that this black hole will only exist if people buy these wretched things, and so far, they are resisting. as Longrider points out. 

Pay-per-mile taxation has been put forward by previous administrations but ditched as the scheme was deemed too politically toxic.

But since Starmer's Labour started out toxic, why not try them, eh, Silviya? 

CBT director of policy and campaigns Silviya Barrett said: 'The new Chancellor faces a looming black hole. She can avoid it, in a way which is fair and which garners broad public support. But she should start now, as this issue will only get more pressing.

'It should be cheaper to drive a zero-emission vehicle than a more polluting vehicle, but it's only fair that these drivers should pay a share, and a pay-as-you-drive model can achieve this.'

If only those 14 wasted years of 'Tory' government had done something about the proliferation of these quangos and lobbying groups masquerading as charities... 

There Are Definitely Consistent Aspects To All These

A series of deeply violent, sinister murders and attacks carried out by children have hit the headlines in recent months. Last week, the 17-year-old boy who stalked and murdered schoolgirl Holly Newton, 15, was found guilty of murder in just the latest youth case to reach the courtroom. From the killing of Brianna Ghey by Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe to that of Shawn Seesahai by two unnamed 12-year-olds, some of Britain's most dreadful crimes have involved shockingly young perpetrators.

Can we find an expert to say that these murderers are the real victims? Reader, of course we can... 

MailOnline spoke to clinical and forensic psychologist and co-host of Locked-Up Living Dr Naomi Murphy about some of the most chilling crimes to go through the UK's courts in recent times. Dr Murphy, who has almost two decades of experience working with some of the country's most dangerous criminals, including teenagers convicted of murder, told MailOnline how those at the heart of such cases are often 'really damaged'.

*sighs* Of course, reading the article, there are other conclusions to draw. 

Just look at the names, where names are known:Bardia Shojaeifard,Cartel Bushnell,Yura Varybrus all sit among classic English names. And gang membership and 'revenge killings' stand out among the rest.

Im no clinical psychologist, so I'm not one to fail to notice what's staring me in the face... 

Change The Population, Change The Mood

Pride in Britain’s history has fallen sharply over the past decade as the country has become less nationalistic and jingoistic and more reflective about its place in the modern world, according to a leading barometer of the British public mood.

Is it still a barometer of the British mood, or is it merely reflective of the 'new Britons' that we've been importing in job lots over the last twenty years? 

Although Brexit and immigration have created flashpoints around national identity in recent years, the wider picture shows a more inclusive and self-critical sense of Britishness emerging and a decline in my-country-right-or-wrong views.

Perhaps because for many surveyed, they don't regard it as their country? 

There was a striking 22-point fall in the proportion of people saying they were proud of Britain’s history, from 86% to 64%, and a 13-point drop in those who said they would rather be a citizen of Britain than any other country, from 62% to 49%.

Is this merely reflective of the continual denigration of Britain and its history in schools and tv shows? 

There were also marked declines in the proportion of people expressing pride in Britain’s democracy, its economic achievements and its political influence in the world. People were less likely to agree that Britain was better than most other countries or that people should support their country even if it was in the wrong.

The progressives can, it seems, be proud of how their long march has turned out.... 

News Manipulation

That was the headline for the story. So the casual viewer probably flicked past it without even noticing a crucial point - it should have said 'claimed', not 'revealed'. 

Those two words do not mean the same thing. As the article makes clear.

And yesterday, we had this:

Surely the word they were looking for there was 'murdered'? 

And it's not just the MSM, the locals are at it as well:

The 'victims' in this case were the thieves who stole the bike. Some might say that disqualified them from the status. 

This Explains A Few Things About The Hampshire Farce...

A police officer has been given the green light to take his force to an employment tribunal for discrimination after he was ordered not to bring his dog to work.

No Reader, not his police dog.

Detective Sergeant Mathew Parker told bosses he needed his ‘psychiatric assistance’ pet Koda with him to help with his autism and other mental conditions.

Which in any sane world you'd imagine would be a bit of a barrier to being employed as a police officer in the first place. But we are well through the looking glass now. And this is the Hampshire Police farce, after all...

But when he brought the animal in without permission, he was sent away by a detective inspector who told him to come back without the animal, an employment tribunal heard.DS Parker sued Hampshire Police for disability discrimination, claiming that three other staff members had been allowed to bring assistance dogs to work.

Good grief, it's like a uniformed insane asylum... 

The tribunal held in Southampton, Hampshire, heard that DS Parker has worked for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary since 2004.The experienced officer suffers from autism, ADHD, PTSD, depression and anxiety, the hearing was told. At the time he made his claim he worked in the force’s digital investigations team.

Was he mad before he started work, or did it send him mad? 

H/T: BettyBoo via Twitter