Tweet Of The Month

Ah, Labour. The gift that keeps on giving. Giving things to poke fun at mercilessly:

Post Title Of The Month

Hector Drummond has a fortuitously named antagonist:

Quote Of The Month

DumbJon on the Trump Korean Affair:

"Apparently, all it took was a successful summit meeting and suddenly The Golden Don has been transformed from Literally Hitler into Literally Chamberlain.

Don't be surprised if one of the left's more repellant groups rebrands itself the 'Start The War' coalition and Madonna and that tool from Coldplay get together to do a duet of 'Give War A Chance'."

Meanwhile, the furore about 'upskirting' provided Tim Newman with a chance to nail the feminist raison d'etre to the wall:

"Firstly, let’s not pretend this is something so traumatic it needs to be dealt with as matter of priority by the national government. I haven’t seen any upskirting pictures but I can’t imagine they show very much other than some blurry skin and what might be knickers. As the police mentioned in the video said, they’d show more than you’d them to show, but they’re hardly pornographic and you couldn’t identify anyone from them. When the woman in the video says “I had no rights over my own body at that point” she is engaging in laughable hyperbole which is all too common when talking about women’s rights in the modern era."

Post Of The Month

Grandad at HeadRambles does some, errrr, 'property maintenance'...

There Are No Words....

Well, actually, there are. And those words are 'fucking useless politically correct police who aren't fit for purpose and should be strung up by their bollocks (if you can find any)', but this is a family blog and...

Oh. Well, it was.

A magistrate defending his family against an armed gang who stormed his home ended up being arrested himself – and accused of a racially aggravated assault.

Police detained Nigel Stringer for three hours and he remains under investigation while the gang – believed to have been armed with a gun, knives, metal bars and a crossbow – were allowed to leave.

Is there a bit of schadenfreude that this is a member of the criminal justice system suddenly realising what all of us who aren't have known for years?

Reader, I'd be lying if I said there wasn't...

The 67-year-old, who has been a magistrate for 26 years, is now standing down to pursue a private prosecution against the men.

But you know what? I totally admire him for this. Not content with just whinging, he's going to fight.

Mr Stringer says justice 'runs in my blood', with his grandfather and parents having careers in policing.

But he said: 'They would all turn in their graves to know that modern political correctness caused my son and I to be taken from our home for defending our family.

'In detaining us the police left my wife and daughters unprotected with some of the gang still in and around our garden.'

Of course they did.

And I'm wondering now if the cops that arrested him had ever come up against him in court, and lost. After all, it seems to be a pretty common thing for uniformed thugs to get the idea they can do as they please.

Yesterday Mr Stringer said: 'This should be a warning to all homeowners that not only are the police unable to protect us, they will actually arrest innocent homeowners who protect themselves, even against an armed and dangerous gang.'

Thanks for the warning, but we didn't really need it. We've seen it happen too many times.

A Norfolk Police spokesman said a file has been submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service and Mr Stringer 'remains under investigation'.

I hope there's a few sweaty collars in the CPS & ACPO ranks right now, and not just because of the unseasonable temperatures...

It's Not 'A Witch Hunt' If You Find Witches....

...the owner of the Alsatian, John Bennett, 71, said he had become the victim of a witchhunt.

Oh, really?

Mr Bennett said eight year old Rex was a rescue dog with a "lovely nature".

Gosh, we've heard that one before!

"There has been a total witchhunt literally by 100s of people. It has just gone beserk. I have it all on film because after the first incident I got a body camera," he said. "I have been the victim of a hate campaign. It is totally untrue. My dog was trying to defend itself. Mr Laurie walked up to me."

Your alsatian was 'trying to defend itself' by ripping the guts out of a miniature schnauzer less than a quarter of its size?

Referring to the previous incident, Mr Bennett said Rex had only attacked the man after he intervened in a fight between the two dogs.

Not the best excuse, since he wouldn't have had to if you'd kept your animal under control. But then, that's always been a bit of a problem for you. Hasn't it?

He said he had given Rex a new home in February after the death of his much loved 11 year-old Alsatian Lotty.

In 2010 Sevenoaks magistrates ordered Mr Bennett to keep Lotty on the lead after she knocked over a young girl in Greatness Recreation Ground.

Can't control one powerful dog, gets another as soon as he can...

A spokesman for Sevenoaks District Council said the council's dog warden was aware of the latest incident and was investigating.

Why aren't the police investigating? What was the point of the new legislation they demanded, if they don't use it?

When You Begin To Wonder What They Are Putting In The 'Guardian' Watercooler...

Eh...? Who...?

*googles*

OK, Suzanne, how the hell does the death of some 'rap star' in the US (probably by another 'rap star') show anything at all about UK drug policy?

*reads article*

Another tormented genius has gone. New drugs and new music, perhaps. But the same old story. The torments are actually carried out on the broken bodies of women and gay men. “Troubled” masculinity kicks down, always down. Into the darkest places of all.

Nope. I'm none the wiser.

Ummmm......

A stabbing in Westcliff by a group of yobs on bikes:

Detective Inspector Paul Ahmed said: “This is an isolated incident and we have had no further reports which we believe to be similar or linked.”

 Really? Are you sure? Because not two paragraphs later...

The latest one prior to this incident was a stabbing in Kenway where a man suffered lifethreatening stab wounds to the chest and was taken to hospital on June 12.

In that case, the suspects also rode away on push bikes.

Do you have to be thick as mince to apply to work for Essex Police, or do they provide on the job training?

The Latest Front In The Entitlement Wars

I am disabled with very limited mobility and a chronic pain condition which makes commuting incredibly difficult at the best of times. I have my 'please give me a seat' badge and card which I wear whenever I travel, but it is not enough.

No, it never is, is it?

I still find myself having to plead with people for a priority seat (or any seat) on tubes and buses. Part of the problem is people do not look up at the stops. Sometimes intentionally, sometimes because they are engrossed in their phone or paper.

So what, people should obsessively scan the carriage, never relaxing? You don't expect much, do you?

This petition is to ask TFL and the Minister for Transport to launch a new campaign. A 'Look Up' campaign.

Great. Another new campaign.

TFL have pre-recorded announcements on every bus and tube in the city with upcoming stop information, with mind the gap announcements. I would like TFL to consider introducing an announcement at every stop with the message 'look up, does someone need your seat?'

Which will be 'tuned out' just the same as those other messages.

Having to ask someone to vacate a priority seat is incredibly hard. Not just because of the embarrassment or fear or rejection but because you cannot be sure if the person sitting in it is able to stand or not.

Just like everyone else, then!

We need 'Look Up' to become as common place and as instinctive as 'Mind the Gap'.

And as soon as it does, and everyone treats it just like those announcements, you'll be back demanding more action. Won't you?

Who Do You Think You're Fooling?

Assistant Chief Constable Jo Edwards, of Lancashire Police said today: 'The incidents at Thwaites over the Bank Holiday weekend understandably caused a huge amount of upset and anger in the local community and we recognise that.

'We have had a dedicated team of officers working hard behind the scenes to identify those responsible for causing these unacceptable criminal acts...

Maybe they wouldn't have needed to, if they'd turned up and arrested the travellers there and them?

...and this morning's activity is just the latest stage in our ongoing investigation.

'We continue to work closely with Thwaites Brewery and we have updated them with this morning's activity.'

'I would like to remind people that we generally have good relationships with the travelling community and the level of destruction and damage caused to the Thwaites site is not reflective of the behaviour of the majority of travellers.'

I'm assuming you didn't manage to say that with a straight face? Frankly, I don't see how anyone could...