It Doesn't Require 'Peace And Safety' Any More...

“We have cordoned off the area to leave this creature in peace and safe from the attention of people,” Randwick Council mayor, Dr Clare Willington, told reporters.

... beacuse it is a dead whale!

Willington said there were no plans to remove the whale and that staff were working with Gamay Rangers about a culturally and environmentally sensitive approach to take.

Well, I wouldn't suggest blowing it up, that usually doesn't go well…

But why the emphasis on cultural aspects, and why prioritise them over health and safety or hygiene concerns.

The Gamay Rangers are an Indigenous ranger team who undertake natural and cultural resource management activities like protection work, conservation, and threatened species management in the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council area.The whale is an important totem animal to the local Bidjigal people, and Gamay Rangers manager Robert Cooley said previous instances where beached animal carcasses were taken to landfill had distressed his community.

Ridiculous pandering to the ‘culture’ of primitive folk who never invented the wheel! 

No, This One's Not A Tragedy...

A killer who took part in the murder of a teenager 30 years ago has died, the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) confirmed. Donna Marie Brand, 47, was serving a minimum of 17 years at HMP & YOI Stirling for her role in the murder of 14-year-old Caroline Glachan.The SPS said Brand had died in hospital on Wednesday while serving her sentence, which she began serving in 2024 

.…it’s the justice she should have had, arriving late and via natural causes, rather than through the too-lenient justice system. 

On Thursday, an SPS spokesperson said: "Every death, whether in prison custody or in our communities is a tragedy for all those who knew and supported the individual."

Now, I hate some aspects of my job, burt at least it's not a job that expects me to state that it's a bad thing when a criminal kicks the bucket.  

What 'Security Procedures'?

A woman who woke up to a man sexually assaulting her in her hotel bed has said she was "failed" by Travelodge after staff gave him a key card and her room number.

She claimed staff told her Smith, who was known to her, had passed their security checks by providing her name.

I don’t think they quite understand that term…

"I feel like they failed me, it makes me more frustrated that they haven't said 'OK yes we did this wrong'. Instead they've put the blame aside." she said. 

"If I checked-in on my own and the room booking is just for me why would you think it's OK to let someone in in the middle of the night while I'm asleep? "At least wake me up or phone the room or come up to the room. Anything is better than just giving someone a key card. 

I have used Travelodge in the past, but this has put me right off! It’s astonishing that in this litigious society that they aren’t facing a lawsuit. Shouldn’t the H&S Executive be having a word too?

"The hotel said that he passed their security questions. "The only thing he would know about me was my name. "They said he was able to show them text messages, but I didn't have his phone number and he didn't have mine."

After reporting the incident to staff, she was later offered a £30 refund. "I saw it as very insulting. It would have been better if they hadn't offered it," she said. Travelodge has admitted the offer was inappropriate under the circumstances.

They seem determined to burn their business to the ground don’t they? 

I'm No Longer Even Shocked...

The first openly trans lawmaker in the US — who was hailed as a trail-blazer — has admitted to sickening child sex charges involving young kids in a daycare. Former Democratic New Hampshire state Rep. Stacie-Marie Laughton, 41, a biological male who identifies as female, pleaded guilty to charges including sexual exploitation of children last week in a Boston federal court, WMUR reported.

He pled guilty because he didn't really have much choice, being caught bang to rights. The state motto is 'Live Free Or Die', but maybe they should change it to 'Don't Elect Trans Criminals' instead? 

Four pictures of children believed to be 3 to 5 years old were sent to Laughton by former partner Lindsay Groves, who took the horrific images in the bathroom of the daycare where she worked in Tyngsborough, Mass., federal prosecutors said.Laughton — who was called a history-maker following their election to the New Hampshire House in 2012 — asked Groves to take the nauseating pictures and exchanged thousands of text messages about them, according to the feds.

It makes you wonder how bad the opposition must have been, that he could get elected at all: 

Laughton was previously forced to resign twice from the New Hampshire House over separate legal issues — including three felony convictions in 2008 for credit card fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud.

And yet they kept electing him! What are they putting in the water in New Hampshire?  

Well, THIS Will Need A Very Specialised Team...

                                             

Who could possibly take this one on? 

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph and the wee donkey"

Yes, They Actually Let A Fox Guard The Henhouse...

The head of a primary school who discussed sexually abusing a child with a mother he met on a fetish website has been banned from teaching for life.

Gosh! I wonder what the school safeguarding team thought about this? 

Paul Brown, the safeguarding lead at Bransgore Church of England school in Christchurch, Hampshire, left in April 2024 due to 'personal reasons'.

Oh.... 

But it has now emerged that he was arrested in July 2023 as a suspected paedophile - although he was not charged.

Why not? Another CPS lazy day, I guess. Or the police failed to secure enough evidence to charge him. 

Brown used a bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism (BDSM) website Fetlife between June and July 2023, sometimes during school hours.

Gotta have a little something to while away the long boring hours, I guess... 

After police arrested him, Brown claimed he thought it was 'all fantasy' and that Person A's children did not exist.

As likely an excuse as 'the dog ate my homework'... 

Despite the accusations against him, the misconduct panel heard character witness statements. One person wrote to the panel: 'I agree that he acted unwisely and without rational perspective but I don't believe he has ever, or would ever, harm another human being, including a child.' Another wrote: 'I believe that Paul is safe to work with children,' adding that 'Paul has spent his life helping children' and is a 'good man who has had his life's work taken away by this very sad affair'.

Luckily, the panel didn't go along with this. And he showed his utter contempt for the system by his behavior at the hearing. 

The conduct panel heard how, despite the nature of the conversation Brown had with Person A, he did not report the profile to the website or contact the police despite being aware that children were at 'risk of sexual abuse'. Brown did not attend the hearing. In a letter and a statement to the panel dated October 2025 he admitted to 'large parts of the allegations facing him'.

It should come as no surprise that these people seek to put themselves in these positions of access to prey but when caught, they really should face more consequences than this. 

Less Time Than Lucy Connolly Got For A Tweet...

Henge, of Shelton Old Road,Stoke on Trent, was jailed for two years and eight months on Thursday after he admitted attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent and dangerous driving at earlier hearings. He was also disqualified from driving for six years and four months, and told he would have to take an extended retest after serving his sentence.

You might think that a just sentence, until you read what he did to get it: run over someone's dog then assault the owner with his car - a deadly weapon - as he himself acknowledged:

Following Thursday's hearing at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court, Det Con Mia Joyce said Hange confessed he "used his car as a weapon" when he was interviewed in custody. 

"Hange showed no remorse before he launched an attack on his victim, who thankfully was not seriously injured," she added.

Unusually, the worthless judge who sentenced this creature isn't named in any of the news reports and nor can I find the case in court listings for that Thursday - probably to avoid the public finding out what other ridiculously lenient sentences they've passsed in their career. 

H/T: The Grift Report via Twitter

First World Shop Problems

Shop owners are usually worrying about light-fingered customers making off with their goods. But for one independent craft shop in East London, the real scourge is patrons with “excessively greasy hands”.

It's Hackney, so why are people's hands greasy?  Fried chicken? 

Fabrications has been trading on Broadway Market in Hackney for over 25 years, specialising in handmade, one-of-a-kind garments, sustainable fabrics and woven blankets. Its next door neighbour is the luxe cosmetics brand Aesop, whose distinctive amber bottles haunt the bathrooms of Millennial creatives and small plates restaurants across the city.Anyone who passes Aesop can try their £80 Resurrection hand balm for free – bottles of the woody, citrus-scented lotion are fixed in a bracket “strategically placed at the front door"

Oh, I see. 

While this is designed to tempt customers into the store, it is having a “major, accumulative, detrimental impact on our business”, according to Fabrications owner Barley Massey.In a sign posted in the shop window, Massey bemoaned the “free and unsupervised” use of the “aromatique and greasy” lotion. “Passers-by have been taking excessive amounts of this balm which is impossible to absorb into their hands,” Massey wrote. “We regularly witness people rubbing the excess cream on their arms, legs and even other people’s hands, faces, arms and legs”.

How revolting! But I guess that's Hackney for you. 

This meant that customers who then came into Fabrications were leaving unwanted smells and stains on their materials, causing “unnecessary stress” to staff. Fabrications were even losing business from “having to prevent customers with excessively greasy hands from entering the shop”.

Frankly, they sound like the sort of low-impulse-control customers you wouldn't want in your shop, so it could be argued that Aesop's doing you a favour by allowing them to mark themselves as such... 

According to Fabrications, Aesop has shown “no regard or interest to the problem”. The local MP, Meg Hillier, has even become involved, and Aesop was asked by Hackney Council to remove the sample bottles. Aesop did not immediately respond to The Standard’s request for comment.

Her requests have so far been brushed off, though at one point a manager did get in touch with a peace offering: some free Aesop hand sanitiser.

*chuckles* Well played, Aesop, well played... 

I Beg Your Pardon?

 Browsing the online sales, I came upon this at M&S: 

Since when has a jacket been a 'trench coat', even a short one? 

How Very Statesmanlike...

...not!

Volodymyr Zelensky has wished for Vladimir Putin to die in his annual Christmas address - as he offers to create a demilitarised zone in Ukraine to bring an end to the war with Russia. The Ukrainian president called for his Russian counterpart to 'perish' in a pre-recorded statement posted to his X account on Christmas Eve.

Christmas being a traditional time when, no matter what has happenrdf in the world in the year, heads of state make the usual 'turn the other cheek' addresses to their nations, but I guess when your head of state ois a coked up former comedian who had to be admonished on live TV by the US president for his behaviour, the normal rules don't apply.

Mr Zelensky's strong words come after a conciliatory offer he made today in a bid to stop the conflict with Russia, which has now been raging for nearly four years. He suggested creating a demilitarised zone in the east of his country in a bid to speed up marathon peace plan negotiations with US officials in Florida.

I'd say Trump must be pulling his hair out at this, but, well... 

What's The Ministry Of Justice Playing At?

 Remember Ike Ekweremadu? No? Surely you do, Reader?

Last week, a Nigerian government delegation, led by the foreign minister, Yusuf Tuggar, met officials at the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to discuss Ekweremadu’s case. The delegation requested his deportation so he could serve his remaining sentence in Nigeria.

Hurrah! Trebles all round! The Prison service gets an empty cell to fill and the taxpayer's no longer on the hook for a foreign criminal!  

A source at the MoJ has confirmed the request was rejected.

Wait, what? 

It is understood the UK government was concerned that Nigeria could offer no guarantees that Ekweremadu would continue his prison sentence after being deported.

In other word, Nigerians - even high level government officials - are such notorious liars they can't be trusted? Then why do we even allow them an Embassy?  

Another Day, Another Murderous 'Child'...

Referring to what might have led to the death of Ms Bednarczyk, Mr Skinner added: 'The sad truth is we may never know - but we don't need to know - what brought about this situation.

'Difficult as it may be to accept, this killing is nothing to do with her (the girl's) mental health - as much as we all might want the comfort of seeking to say to ourselves that mental health and diminished responsibility explains what she did. 'Why do I say this? Because of the evidence of her premeditation – I have told you about the research she was doing - because of the evidence of her lies, and because of the evidence of respected and experienced medical professionals who say she did not have an abnormality of mental function which gives rise to the defence of diminished responsibility.

And yet, despite all this, she is still accorded accommodations due to her status as a 'child' by the justice system: 

Because of the girl's age, she is sat on the back row of the court benches accompanied by an intermediary and her social worker instead of in the glass-panelled dock. Neither judge Mrs Justice Tipples nor any of the barristers in the case are wearing gowns or wigs, and jurors have been told the sitting hours will mirror those of a school day.

But the odd part about this story is what happened after she was picked up by the police close to the ctime scene:

The teenager was taken to hospital, where she was seen smiling by a police officer and a nurse and did not appear to be 'confused or responding to voices telling her what to do', the court heard. Mr Skinner added that the girl asked for her mobile phone to be returned to her, and started sending text messages to her friends 'about what she said had happened'.

Isn't securing a suspect's phone SOP for police these days? Frankly this is the sole astounding thing about this story!  

'Journalistic Ethics? Never Heard Of Them' Says 'Guardian' Columnist...

 

An extraordinary thing to have published in a major newspaper, even one as blatently biased as the 'Guardian':

The resignation of the BBC’s director general, Tim Davie, over accusations of bias comes as a shock...

Only in the sense that the ones at the top of any corporate shit heap usually cling on by their fingernails, Jane…

...and leaves a gulf at the top of the corporation when it needs leadership most. Davie stressed that the decision was his alone – neither the board, nor even many of those who led the coordinated attack among rightwing press and politicians expected it.

’We’d have got away with it if not for you pesky kids rightwingers’ eh? 

Leave to one side for now the direct allegations about specific failures of BBC coverage, and the BBC’s own baffling inability or unwillingness to defend itself over the past week.

 How exactly can it defend itself when the evidence is there for all to see?

But the row obscures the context that explains what is, at the heart of the matter, a political campaign against the BBC that could act as a textbook example of how to confuse and undermine the kind of journalism that is, at the very least, aiming for impartiality in a sea of spin and distortion.

Aiming...yet missing the target by a country mile. That's not incompetence, that's deliberate. 

None of this is to say that the BBC has not made mistakes. At the very least, the Panorama documentary appears to have included a bad and misleading edit of an hour-long Trump speech, which is unacceptable even if that speech was subsequently found to have encouraged insurrection. The BBC is expected to apologise on Monday over the Trump edit. That should have been enough.

For The Donald? No. And it wouldn't be enough for me either. 

Given the sheer volume of the content it airs and criticism it receives, the BBC can sometimes be forgiven for not wanting to stir passions further. But by spending days insisting that it did not comment on “leaked documents”, the corporation has simply looked weak and cowardly, just when it needs to be robust and brave.

Because it is, like all bullies, weak and cowardly when it faces stiff opposition. 

These are difficult times for the BBC. About to enter into negotiations to renew its charter after more than a decade of licence-fee cuts, it is also caught in political and economic headwinds. Johnson’s threat to cancel his licence fee comes after 300,000 more households did so over the past year.

And this is merely going to increase the rate of withdrawal.

This article is so extraordinarily bad that the 'Guardian has seen fit to add a disclaimer: 

Jane Martinson is professor of financial journalism at City St George’s and a member of the board of the Scott Trust, which owns the Guardian Media Group. She writes in a personal capacity

Translation: 'Please don't sue us too Mr President!' 

Don't Forget The Batteries This Christmas...

 It's that time of year...when the 'Guardian' starts to publish lists of gift suggestions that no-one in their right mind would give anyone. This one in particular caught my eye for all the wrong reasons...

'Vegan'!! Are you too wondering if the 'Guardian folk' are a little confused about which orifice this thing is designed for, Reader? 

'Mum Of The Year' Award Can Be Given Early....

Amanda Shannon, from Dovecot, claims Rainhill High School has repeatedly failed to implement "reasonable adjustments" for her daughter Rebecca, who began the new term in September wearing nose and upper lip piercings - a birthday gift from her father.

One of the most unpleasant and unattractive of modern 'fashions', and of course, mum exercises no taste or control and so agrees to this. 

Rebecca, who has inattentive and hyperactive ADHD and is awaiting assessment for pathological demand avoidance (PDA), is said to have been placed in isolation and later excluded for two days for breaching the school's uniform regulations.

A grab-bag of initials that prtobably means 'perfectly healthy but disobedient and disrespectful little hellion'.... 

Amanda claims the school declined to allow Rebecca to wear transparent retainers whilst on the premises – something she believes would have represented a reasonable compromise.

You seem to be forgetting they have no readon to compromise - they laid down the rules, and you need to follow them. 

The piercings, Amanda maintains, are vital to Rebecca's sense of self and fulfil a practical function by serving as a "fidget toy" in her mouth, helping her concentrate during classes, reports the Liverpool Echo, reports the Mirror.

Strange hoe such things weren't needed when I was at school, we all concentrated or we knew what would happen! 

The 44 year old told the ECHO: "She sees it as part of who she is. Rebecca struggles with identity and confidence. She's said to me: 'This is me, this is who I am.'

"Last year, even getting her into the classroom was a struggle. This year she really wants to learn. She's told me she wants to progress sets and do well, but now it feels like she's being shut out."

She probably is, if I headed up that school I'd do anything I could to ensure she stayed out, for the sake of the kids who want to learn without disruption. 

Amanda, an NHS critical care nurse (Ed: !!!) , also claimed that Rebecca was denied access to the school canteen during her isolation period, stating: "Rebecca rang me saying, 'Mum, I'm hungry and they won't let me get any food.' I had to tell the teacher they were breaching her basic human rights. Only then did they let her get something to eat."

School says 'Didn't happen!'  

Rainhill High School has categorically refuted this, asserting: "We can confirm that we would never restrict access to food or drink for any student, regardless of the situation."

Translation: 'Chavmum is trying it on, just like her hellspawn. Who probably learned it from her in the first place. 

The concerned mother worries her daughter could face permanent exclusion unless the matter is resolved.

Again, if I were headmistress, that's what I'd be planning. 

HIghly Trained Professionals

That's what we are always told armed police are. And yet...

A police officer has been shot in the leg by a police firearm while trying to detain a man with a machete. The Gloucestershire Constabulary officer was taken to hospital with a non life-threatening leg injury after the incident in Silverstone Walk, Gloucester, on Wednesday.

Oh, Gloucestershire... well, they have form. Perhap Mr Mickelthwaite's found a new job?

"My thoughts are with the officer who's been injured and his colleague following this incident," said temporary chief constable Maggie Blyth. "I am grateful for the bravery they have shown in detaining someone suspected of carrying out a robbery and possessing a machete and who was believed to have been a real danger to the public."

Sounds to me like he’s not the only one! And if you send armed officers, shouldn’t they stand well away and use the threat of  their guns as a deterrent, rather than get close and start wrestling with the prisoner?

A spokesperson for the South Western Ambulance Service confirmed an ambulance, critical care car, a rapid response vehicle and the hazardous area response team attended the incident.

Why a ‘hazardous area response team’? Did he bleed acid like a xenomorph? 

A cordon has been put in place and police officers will remain in the area to provide reassurance to the public.

Very reassuring, I’m sure! 

Apart From The Obvious?

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said Thursday that authorities did not have any information indicating that school shooter Robin Westman suffered from mental illness despite officers being called to her home twice.

The fact he was disturbed enough to believe he could be a woman wasn't clue enough then? 

Mary Grace Westman, the mother of shooter Robin Westman, 23, was a former employee at the Annunciation Catholic Church where the horror unfolded Wednesday morning. The mother has reportedly sought legal counsel out of an abundance of caution in the aftermath of the tragedy. 'She is completely distraught about the situation and has no culpability but is seeking an attorney to deal with calls like this,' Attorney Ryan Garry told Fox News.

She wasted no time jumping on a plane back from Florida only to not answer any qurestions? Why? Couldn't she have lawyered up in Florida just as easily?

She has retained criminal defense attorney Ryan Garry, known for his work with NFL star Colin Kaepernick in cases related to protests at the death of George Floyd in 2020.

Ah, maybe woke lawyers are harder to come by in Florida? 

Weaponized drones are being tested inside US schools, flying through hallways with the ability to neutralize active shooters in seconds. Equipped with non-lethal pepper spray, powder pellets, and live video feeds, the drones launch from secure charging stations, six per school, when gunfire is detected.

WTAF? What sort of Robocop induced crazy plan is this? Why not arm the teachers, who are often the first people to raise the alarm about mentally troubled students? Or maybe start dealing seriously with mental illness, instead of considering it 'just a lifestyle choice' that people are free to make? 

Wait, What?!?

 

They are cooking the sushi? Abandon ship, love! 

Why Does Anyone Other Than The Criminal Owe You Compensation?

It was September last year when 24-year-old Kelly was on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha to London Gatwick after a trip to Africa. Tucked underneath a blanket and with her headphones firmly on, she quickly fell asleep after a strenuous day of travel. The quiet murmuring of voices from the film playing on her screen helped her to drift off on a packed overnight flight. But two hours before landing, Kelly - whose name has been changed for this article - was woken by the man sitting next to her, sexually assaulting her.

The man in his 60s has now been jailed but Kelly is finding it difficult to go on with her day-to-day life and is locked in a battle for compensation.

No, Reader, Not from the perpetrator. And not from the airline, either.

Kelly was initially moved to a cabin crew seat before being moved elsewhere in the cabin until landing. "I had to endure the rest of the plane journey, which was awful," Kelly remembers.

It’s an airplane, love, it’s not like the pilot can just pull over and let you out, is it? 

Although Kelly is pleased he has been convicted, she said the impact of the assault on her has been severe. "I haven't been out in almost a year - to events or summer parties with my friends. I can't do that. I'm too scared. I don't want to be touched or looked at. So it's never leaving me. It's literally there every single day before I sleep, I'm thinking about what happened."

And someone needs to pay for that. A normal person would say it should be the pervert who assaulted her, wouldn’t they? 

Kelly is now fighting for compensation under the government's Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (CICS).

Ah. My mistake. Of course, it’s the poor long-suffering British taxpayer, isn’t it? Because there’s no way all the (doubtless unpaid) fines levied under the justice system are even covering the administration costs of the scheme, is there? 

But when Kelly applied to the scheme for compensation in April her application was refused. A letter from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) - which processes applications on behalf of the Ministry of Justice - said the offence did not occur in a "relevant place" as defined by the scheme. She appealed against the decision but in May was refused again.

The British civil service never met a loophole they didn’t love: 

The current rules of the scheme state an aircraft is only considered a "relevant place" if it is a British-registered aircraft within the meaning of section 92 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982. Kelly was told as the offence occurred on a Qatari-registered aircraft, she was ineligible for compensation. She believes this is unfair.

Well, I believe that it’s unfair that you should claim compensation for your ordeal from anyone but the man who put you through it.

This Isn't Just Any Male Pervert Wanting To Get His Hands On Your 14 Year Old Daughter...

....This is an M&S male pervert who feels entitled to put his hands all over your 14 year old daughter!

And you thought the worst thing M&S had ever done was those Christmas adverts with Dawn French! 

Marks & Spencer has apologised after a transgender employee approached a 14-year-old girl in the bra section and offered to help. The child's furious mother complained and said it was 'completely inappropriate' for her daughter to be approached by a 'biological male' in the lingerie section, where she was hoping to have a bra fitting.

So, did M&S train a man to perform bra fitting duty? They claim they didn’t!  

The retailer replied and said they were 'truly sorry' and 'deeply regret the distress your daughter felt during her visit to our store'. It added they took her concerns 'very seriously' and wish to make arrangements for a better experience in their next visit, including 'assistance from a female colleague'. An M&S spokesman said: 'We want our stores to be inclusive and welcoming places for our colleagues and customers. 'We have written to this customer and explained that our colleagues typically work across all departments in our stores and customers can always ask to speak to the colleague they feel most comfortable with.'

She didn’t get a chance - the man approached HER! So there are more red flags here than Red Square on Parade Day!

It is understood the employee works across the clothing section and does not carry out bra fittings.

Many respondents on Twitter have been surprised that they were approached, saying they’d had to hunt up an assistant when they needed one. And I concur; though I’ve never had a bra fitting in M&S I’ve shopped there often, and never been approached when needing help, I’ve always had to do the same. Which makes this incident worse, though - this being Scotland, Ayr to be precise - the police were dismissive and simply said all they had to do was refuse the help offered. Clearly, they have no concerns about a man in womanface approaching children. Hell, it’s probably legal up there by now! 

Human rights boss of the charity Sex Matters, Fiona McAnena, told The Telegraph: 'M&S needs to rethink its priorities and remember that women and girls have rights too, and that this man should not be permitted to hang around in the women's underwear department as a matter of common decency. 'This is what happens when a business centres the feelings of men who identify as women, even at the expense of their own customers. It is entirely inappropriate for a man to approach a teenage girl in a lingerie department.'

I guess beyond the Wall it’s only to be expected. Has any area been captured by the trans cult more completely than Scotland?