'We're Not In Kansas Any More!'

A Gaza aid activist has said they were 'violently dragged' onto buses and 'beaten' as Egyptian authorities deported them. Thousands have been arriving from more than 80 countries since Thursday to join the Global March to Gaza protest against Israel's aid blockade on Gaza.

I'm with Longrider here, it's been illuminating to see Egyptian police dealing with these vapid virtue-signalling numpties as they should be treated. I doubt any of them will learn anything from it. though.

This cop looks like we all feel with these activist whackjobs

Uzma Usmani, the sponsorship and logistics lead for the UK delegation of the march, explained to CNN: 'This is just another tool, another way [for] the people to raise their voices, to let governments know that we are not happy.

Unfotrtunatly for you and your fellow UK morons, like this astonishing specimen, they couldn't give a damn whether you are happy or not. They don't even pretend to care, unlike the governments of your own countries. They just do whatever they need to in order to get shot of you.

'We need to take things into our own hands, to raise awareness, to put pressure on all the different governments so that they start taking action.'

There's nothing you can do yo 'put pressure' on these middle eastern governments - you are irrelevant. Itt's long past time you found that out.

Back To Normal, Now, Everyone!

What could be more British after a glorious long weekend of pomp and pagentry than trudging to work in the pouring rain and finding the unions are playing silly buggers again? 

*sigh* 

It was great while it lasted...

"No Reality Please, We're Squeamish!"

The dog walker, 50, who lives near Ashridge, says she entered the wood – which is home to Fallow and Muntjac deer – just after 11am to find the two men with guns ‘covered in blood’.

After becoming concerned, she took some pictures of them, prompting one of them to come over and say he was going to film her.

She told Metro.co.uk: ‘This man had blood all over his hands, up his arms, on his clothing and all on his boots.

‘You have to think of the bigger picture here, a woman on her own walking a dog and he comes over saying he’s going to film me.’

Well, you were taking pictures of him, weren't you, love? So...why shouldn't he?

After the man told her he had been contracted by the National Trust to cull deer, the woman realised a dead deer was behind him.

As she called the Ashridge Estate to complain about the situation, the men allegedly began cutting up the animal in front of her, hacking off its leg.

Heh! How does she think her joint of meat ends up in Waitrose, all nicely wrapped in plastic? Does she think it grows like that?

She said: ‘They’d taken the stomach of the animal out while I was standing there.

‘I looked over his shoulder and the other one started to drag it off – a little black deer. It’s absolutely horrendous, the stuff of nightmares.

‘Ok, they’re culling deer but why are they out in one of the most popular dog-walking parts of Ashridge at lunchtime? It’s just not on.

‘I could have had a child with me. It’s horrendous that they’re allowed to do that.’

In listing this tale of woe, the photo editor's apprentice was obviously instructed to get a picture of a deer from the photobank. You know, for all those other readers who, like this hysteric, weren't aware of reality.

Don't think they were culling American whitetail in Ashridge, chum...

For once, they didn't immediately apologise. They defended their actions:

Mr Fletcher added that safety must come first while culling and deer cullers normally do their best to close parks or work early in the morning avoid public upset.

However, he argues ‘it’s good for people to understand what’s going on’.

He said: ‘In an area with a lot of walking around, it may be difficult to try and find a time where it’s possible to do it without people seeing it. My feeling is people ought to know about it and the more they see of it, the better.’

A little education is good for the soul, no?

"Wait, I Can't Have It All? There Must Be Some Mistake!"

Charmaine Parkin, 34, from Hove, said she was forced to use food banks to feed her children.

She alleges the six-in-one benefit system discriminates against self-employed people.

Is she a plumber? Gas fitter? Architect?

When the actress, producer and director split from her partner in October 2017, she tried to claim Universal Credit. But a measure called the Minimum Income Floor (MIF), which aims to ensure people who are self-employed cannot get more benefits than if they were on minimum wage, would have left her with just £8.98 if she paid her rent.

Ms Parkin’s lawyers say she would have been £393 a month better off if she had quit her career and claimed the equivalent of jobseekers’ allowance.

So, why doesn't she?

She said: “Working in the theatre has always been my passion and it is what I am trained to do but the nature of the work means that my earnings can vary a lot from month to month.

“It has made me feel like I have to choose between being a good mother and pursuing my chosen career path because it is no longer possible to support my family by continuing the type of self-employed work that I need to do as a theatre practitioner.”

Well, welcome to the real world, sweetie. You have had children. You're now a parent. Did no-one tell you that this involved sacrifice?

Her lawyers, Leigh Day (Ed: Well, well, well....), claim MIF is “unjustified discrimination” and are applying for a judicial review to get it changed.

Of course they are. Because who's paying? Not her!

Commonality...

I was struck, whilst reading the account of the trial yesterday, by the commonalities of this case to so many others.

No, not the uselessness of the police:

...after officers decided to take no further action due to a 'misunderstanding' Bolland texted a friend saying: 'Got NFA. Ha ha ha. Michelle proper put a statement in. I'm buzzing. She's a stupid c*** and I'm going to let everyone know she's a grass.'

Nor even the inability of the other State agencies - despite seemingly not lacking those 'resources' we are always told they hunger for - to resolve things for the innocent party:

She saw at least six different officers, statements were made, risk referral forms completed, fire service personnel carried out two 'safe and well' visits, the family social worker was informed, social services alerted and she begged her landlord, housing association City West, to move her.

No, it was the stark contrast of reality, once again, to the constant whinging of the progressive press that the benefit system is too mean to allow people to live and feed their children.

All three defendants were young, fit, healthy, well nourished and had cash to spare. Despite the fact that none of them had a job:

Worrall:

...had previously failed to complete a community order for drink-driving as he 'went on the sick' and claimed benefits, he told the jury at Manchester Crown Court. ... Like Bolland, he had been drinking and snorting cocaine that night.

Bolland:

He stalked the estates around Walkden in a black hoodie, kept a pit bull-type dog, did not have a job but had money for drink and drugs, and habitually carried a large machete with an 18in blade down his tracksuit bottoms...

Brierley:

The 20-year-old had a string of convictions for threatening behaviour, street robbery and battery. ... Like Bolland she did not have a job but did enjoy drinking and drugs and admitted she could sometimes get 'mouthy'.

So the next time we see some simpering moron taking out a hankie in the pages of the 'Guardian' to demand more benefits, remind her that what she's really asking for is more beer & drugs tokens for the sort of underclass filth that think the answer to a petty squabble is to burn down a house with children inside.

New Vs Old...

New policing:

Torbay police inspector Si Jenkinson said: 'The dangerous practice of "outing" people as professional criminals based on often unverifiable information fails to acknowledge the very complex vulnerabilities and chaotic lives of those concerned.'

Old-style policing:

Officers have stated there are no genuine rough sleepers in Ely, Cambridgeshire, and are concerned the 'homeless' are misleading people.

Sergeant Phil Priestley said: 'There are no rough sleepers in Ely - all of the individuals that have been seen begging recently have been catered for with regards to housing and support.'

Spot the difference?

Who would you rather have looking after your streets?

"Wait, It's Still Breaking The Law If We Do It For A 'Good Cause'..?"

Yup! Welcome to reality. Hurts, doesn't it?

Taking Non-Speculation To Incredulous Lengths…

Reece Harnetty, 19, died when his Mini Clubman burst into flames after crashing into the rear of a parked lorry in a layby in Suffolk.

An inquest at Suffolk Coroners’ Court in Ipswich was told Reece, of Ilmington Drive, Basildon had turned sharply from the outside lane into the layby at Creeting St Mary, near Needham Market on January 20.

The Toxicology tests ruled out the presence of alcohol or drugs and forensic accident investigator PC Jeff Cribb said there were no defects identified with the car, although a full examination wasn’t possible because of the fire damage. No faults were found with the road surface either.

Witness Dan Braun was travelling past just feet away when the crash occurred. He described how the Mini hadn’t slowed or changed course as it turned sharply towards the lorry.

Hmmm, seems deliberate. Or that other modern day scourge...?

There was no evidence that Mr Harnetty was using his phone at the time of the accident although checks had shown he had used it shortly before the crash.

Nope. Who was he calling?

It is believed he was upset following relationship problems with a girl he had met online.

The inquest heard that in phone calls prior to the accident, Reece refused to say where he was but was heard sobbing as he said: “didn’t want to be here anymore” and ending his last call without saying goodbye to the female, Alicia Watts.

Case closed!

His mother Wendy Harnetty suggested her son, who had only passed his test last May, could have mistaken the layby for the inside lane on the road as he wasn’t a regular on that route.

I can see why she'd like to think so.

Suffolk Area Coroner Nigel Parsley said: “We won’t ever fully know, regrettably, what made Reece turn into that layby. There are some unanswered questions here, however, there is insufficient evidence to suggest that Reece intended to take his life.”

At the inquest on Wednesday, Mr Parsley recorded a conclusion that teenager died as a result of a road traffic collision.

*boggle*

#PrayforDrShackleton

As the junior doctor's strike got under way yesterday, one revealed the awful conditions these brave souls are struggling with in a heartless Tory world...

Monsters, they are. Monsters, I tell you....

The Halls Of Academe Feel The Winds Of Change…

…and they don’t like it one little bit:

Mental health problems are on the rise among UK academics amid the pressures of greater job insecurity, constant demand for results and an increasingly marketised higher education system.

Commercialisation is coming, and it’s causing stress. Oh noes!

University counselling staff and workplace health experts have seen a steady increase in numbers seeking help for mental health problems over the past decade, with research indicating nearly half of academics show symptoms of psychological distress.

David Thompson always has a wonderful selection of academics showing symptoms of psychological something…

Dr Alan Swann of Imperial College London, chair of the higher education occupational physicians committee, blamed "demands for increased product and productivity" for rising levels of mental health problems among academics.

He says: "They all have to produce results – you are only as good as your research rating or as good as your ability to bring in funding for research."

Ah. You mean, they are making university life mirror real life? How awful!

Research by Gail Kinman, professor of occupational health psychology at the University of Bedfordshire … points to poor work-life balance as a key factor, with academics putting in increasing hours as they attempt to respond to high levels of internal and external scrutiny, a fast pace of change and the notion of students as customers – leading to demands such as 24-hour limit for responses to student queries.

Yes, the ‘notion of students as customers’ is the real problem. For countless years, they’ve been considered merely pawns in the delivery of ever more wacky theories, and now they are valued customers!

Oh, it's all too much! Pass the sick leave form, I'm too stressed to carry on!

Now I’m Confused…

Chris Keates, general secretary of the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers, said of his comments: “I think it is appalling that people feel they can stand on a public platform and make these sort of comments about working people .

“I just think it is appalling just to say you want to manage through a culture of fear.”

Don’t teachers manage through a culture of fear, then?

Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: “Comments about creating a culture of fear show a distinct lack of understanding of what will work best to encourage all teachers to achieve their optimum for pupils and their school.

“Teachers need to be supported and encouraged to get on with their work, not terrified of a headteacher’s judgement.

“Performance related pay is about paying more teachers less, not so called good teachers more.”

‘So called’ good teachers..? You mean, you may not agree with what others consider a ‘good teacher’?

“Teaching is a collaborative profession which makes measuring teachers’ individual contributions next to impossible. Decisions will be unfair, subjective or even discriminatory.”

Just like they are in…the real world. The world of work. Suck it up.