Happy New Year All!

And here's to 2017! May it be all we wish it to be...

Normal service will resume on Monday.

Absent Friends....

As we begin the countdown to slip out of 2016 and into a new year, and all that might bring, please raise a glass with me to those we have lost:

Captain Ranty (Blog now sadly gone dark)

Unenlightened Commentary

Anna Raccoon (who closed her blog just before Christmas, as her diagnosis was sadly progressing)

Gone, but not forgotten.

Post Title Of The Month

Al Jahom takes away the trophy for the last time in 2016...

Quote Of The Month

Fahrenheit 211 on lazy journalism:

"This is an excellent piece that is a an antidote to the lazy and inaccurate writing of Mr Dysch. For my own part I’m also disgusted at both the timid attitude taken by all too many in Britain’s Jewish community towards Islamic extremists who promote Shariah and the hostility shown to those like Mr Robinson who are standing up against it. For what it’s worth I’d like to tell Mr Dysch this: I’d rather have Mr Robinson on my side than those whether they be Jew or non-Jew who refuse to look at, let alone do anything about, the growing problems with Islamic extremism in Britain today."

Post Of The Month

Peter Risdon on why Trump's Presidency may not be the car-crash calamity we all might fear...

A New Hope...?

Rebecca Solnit (Guardian US contributing opinion writer, historian, activist and contributing editor at Harper's magazine) on 'hope':

A dozen years ago I talked about hope to a roomful of working-class community college students in Washington, citing the German philosopher Ernst Bloch to the effect that without hope there is no action but without action there is no hope. A woman said in a clear voice that she agreed, because if she had not hoped she would not have struggled and if she had not struggled she would not have survived Pol Pot and the Cambodian genocide.

The 'hope' she wishes for? Well, I'm sure you've guessed by now:

In the United States we are probably headed for a very grim phase of uncertain duration.

Yes, indeed. The prospect of a Trump presidency is exactly like the Pol Pot regime...

There is another America rising and taking action, and it is beautiful. I’m thinking of the many stories of people standing up for the vulnerable, directly when they intervene in confrontations with haters. Or indirectly, as with the young woman I know who co-organised the creation of Neveragain.tech, a public oath people working in tech can take to refuse to create Muslim registries, turn over people’s private data, or otherwise cooperate with state persecution.

This 'new hope' looks a lot like treason and sabotage to me. And to the commenters at Tim Worstall's blog.

This Is What They Have To Do!

The woman called police when she tried to hang herself after drinking while her husband was out walking their 10-month-old daughter.

She said she was arrested, carried out in handcuffs and leg restraints and put face down in a police van. She then claims female officers pinned her down while her clothes and jewellery were removed in a police cell in Crowhurst Road, Brighton, in 2012.

Yup, well, if you're claiming to be suicidal, of course they are going to make sure you've got nothing on you than can be used to self-harm. It's a no-brainer.

She was left naked and crying on the cell floor with a blanket to cover her before being released without charge 11 hours later.

The ordeal, captured on CCTV, triggered horrific memories of being gang-raped as a teenager, she claimed.

Apart from any actual rape.

The woman, from Brighton, told the national newspaper: "Losing control and having to beg people to stop puts you in a position of absolute weakness and vulnerability.

"My motivation for speaking out is both to stand up against the ill-treatment I personally received, but also to help prevent others from experiencing similar incidents."

Nope, they'd do the same. They have to. They'd be crucified otherwise, if some nutcase manages to off themselves with their clothing...

Michael Oswald, of Bhatt Murphy Solicitors, who is representing the woman, said: "It is incomprehensible police officers forcibly stripped her naked despite her mental state and being told she was a rape victim."

You're an idiot. At least she's a headcase. What's your excuse?

What Good Would 'Support Services' Have Done?

Rebecca Harris, Tory MP for Castle Point, used Kelly’s case as she pleaded for change in the Commons over domestic violence laws at the second reading of a Private Member’s Bill.

MPs were debating whether to ratify the Istanbul Convention, an international treaty on domestic and sexual violence, aiming to improve protection for victims. It would increase the availability of support services for people who experience domestic and sexual abuse.

So did Kelly die because she needed vital 'support services' and didn't get any?

Kelly Pearce, 36, was stabbed in the face and neck 40 times by Anthony Ayres in November last year and died after suffered skull and brain damage in the assault.

Anthony Ayres was convicted by a jury at Chelmsford Crown Court in July for the murder of his partner, and given a full life sentence.

Ayres was already a convicted killer after strangling his girlfriend in 1993.

Ah. No. Kelly died because she decided to shack up with a convicted killer. Who'd been released by the same State now demanding taxpayers stump up for talking shops.

See, We Don't Need To Import Nigerian 419 Fraudsters...

The Bolton Tent City camp set up in Cheadle Square on Christmas Eve. Organisers had asked local people to give items for the homeless.

A handful of tents were pitched and people called at the site on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day to donate clothes, camping equipment, sleeping bags and food to help.

The organisers said the project was largely taking place to protest against the way Bolton Council deals with homeless people, as well as to help those less fortunate in the town.

 Awww. How heartwarming!

So, naturally, all the snowflakes and SJWs arranged a bit of public virtuesignalling:

Liberal Democrat campaigner Warren Fox was contacted by Bolton Tent City and visited Cheadle Square on Christmas Day to donate warm clothes to the project.

But, oh no! What's happened?

...now concerns have been raised among those who donated items after the Facebook group which was organising the project disappeared.

The main contact phone number being used to contact people is no longer working.

The four tents remain in Cheadle Square but they are empty and there is no sign of the organisers or any homeless people.

Excuse me a minute...

Ahahahahahahahahahaha!

On Facebook, ‘Shana Bee Bee’ said she had been blocked by the Bolton Tent City group on Facebook after volunteering to help.

She said: “I went down there on Christmas Day with my kids with lots of tea and cakes, only to find no one was there.

“We waited for two hours. We gave morning notice we’re coming in the evening.

“I contacted them and they told me they had to nip home to charge their phones.

"Then they blocked me on Facebook.”

Oh, stop! You're killing me! *wipes away tears of mirth*

The Bolton News was able to briefly make contact with Andy Dodd, one of the people purported to be organising the project.

He said he could not comment on the situation, as he was currently seeking legal advice about comments he said had been made about him on social media channels.

*rolls on floor laughing*

If Only There'd Been Some Sign...

Kevin Dixon, 37, attacked neighbour Mark Hunter and his wife in November last year after the couple went round to his home on Castle Avenue to check he was alright.

Dixon pushed Mr Hunter’s wife causing her to fall down some steps into a fence and when her husband intervened he was pushed to the ground by the defendant.

Prosecutor David McGonigal said Dixon was kicking Mr Hunter in the body as his wife shouted at him to stop.

“The defendant then stamped on Mr Hunter’s ankle causing it to break,” said Mr McGonigal.

“The defendant threw some unknown liquid over Mrs Hunter before closing his door.”

Nice!

Dixon was bailed after being interviewed by police about that incident, but five weeks later he was involved in another violent attack at the Dalton home of his former partner Toni Gledhill.

Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday (Mon) that during the violence Dixon grabbed Miss Gledhill by the throat and armed himself with knives.

Maybe a remand in custody might have prevented this? But I guess no-one could have forseen that he was...

Oh!

Dixon, who was given a suspended jail sentence after being convicted of animal cruelty in April 2015, pleaded guilty to wounding Mr Hunter and assaulting his wife. He also admitted a charge of affray in relation to the violence at Miss Gledhill’s home.

Naturally, he's all better now.

Barrister Chloe Fairley, for Dixon, said he had spent the last three months in hospital receiving treatment after being remanded in custody a year ago and he was now in a very different state than he was last year.

She said that Dixon was “not a well man” at the time of the offences.

But is sound as a pound now. OK, then, Chloe, tell you what - you provide him with room and board for six months.

That'll be the acid test, won't it?