Friday, 10 January 2025

Another Attack On Farmers?

A farmer's daughter who was almost trampled to death by a herd of cows has warned that many people remain oblivious to the dangers posed by the normally docile animals.
Libby James was airlifted to hospital after being attacked by a group of the animals while walking with her husband Ger and their dog Arti in 2014. Since then Ms James has dedicated her time to raising awareness of attacks by 'killer cows', with shocking figures showing that in the past eight years at least 38 people have died in encounters with the herbivores.

A job that once went to sadly departed blogger Mark Wadsworth, but I suppose someone's got to pick up the baton... 

Speaking to the Mail, Ms James said she was not a novice when it came to being around the animals, but that still didn't prevent them attacking her.
'My father taught me to walk through a field of cows,' she said. 'I strolled confidently through the field and when the herd approached I raised my hands and bellowed "Go back".'

That's the wisdom imparted by dear old dad? 

Ms James has set up campaign group Cows On Walkers Safety (COWS), which runs the website 'Killer Cows' and has received more than 900 reports of cattle incidents since 2017. According to the latest available figures from the Health and Safety Executive, 62 people were killed by cows in the past ten years.

Sadly, our agriculture and livestock farming, not to mention our food production, relies on livestock, so we can't ban them like the XL Bully. Maybe scientists should be DNA-tinkering to produce more docile cows, and not ones that fart less? 

Ms James is calling for footpaths to be fenced off and cattle to be separated from public rights of way if fencing is not possible.

Has she any idea how much that would cost? 

'The footpaths were there before the farmers came on board. So the farms were established over the footpath network,' she said. 'The footpath network is wonderful, it keeps us in touch with nature and keeps people fit, and being able to access the countryside without the need to for an expensive gym or anything like that.
'So we need the footpaths, but we need them to be safe. People have a right to walk on those footpaths. It is indelibly laid down in law. 'But actually, if you put cows in a field and you are no longer safe to walk through that field. You are blocking that footpath, and that is illegal.
'And that is something that people don't realise yet.'

If it's illegal, how come no-one's been arrested for it? I'm sure the police would oblige, since Starmer The Farmer Harmer has decided they are Public Enemy No 1...

Liar, Liar, (XXL) Panties On Fire!

The Louisiana Supreme Court has revived a lawsuit between a middle school librarian and furious parents who accused her of promoting pornography and 'erotic content' to children.
Amanda Jones, the school librarian at Live Oak Middle School, sued the Citizens for a New Louisiana, its leader Michael Lunsford, and parent Ryan Thames for defamation in 2022.
The lawsuit was dismissed that same year, but Jones' appeal reached the state supreme court who overruled the judgment on Friday - sending the case back to the court of appeals to reconsider.

And the usual suspects are OUTRAGED! that she should have to defend herself from the charge of being an activist for perverts, of course.... 

'Before all this, I was just a school librarian, but they wanted to silence me, so I thought I would do the exact opposite and become an activist,' Jones told The New York Times.

Sure, like that's not exactly what you were all along. Why else would you be trying to push this stuff? 

The online abuse triggered Jones to launch the legal battle - as she admitted that two years on, she still can't leave her home to buy groceries because of the alleged defamation.

 Is that the fat jowly face of someone who isn't getting regular groceries?

Jones' lawyer, Alysson Mills, told WBRZ they are looking forward to their day in court and presenting the case to a jury. 'I believe a jury of ordinary citizens, whey they hear what happened to her, they would want to hold the defendants accountable. The First Amendment does not protect falsehoods,' Mills said.

Well, you keep hoping that, Alysson. I don't think you've any more idea of what ordinary citizens want in a library than your client.  

Thursday, 9 January 2025

Maybe You Shouldn't Bang On Endlessly About The 'Obesity Crisis' Then?

Weight-loss injections are being aggressively marketed to British consumers through often illegal promotions, in a practice experts have described as a “wild west” industry of drug selling. The booming market for jabs such as Wegovy and Mounjaro has triggered a price battle among online pharmacies, with even high-street chains cashing in on the soaring demand.

Well, why the surprise, when the media is full of stories like this and you can't walk into any dr's surgery or A&E without screaming posters about obesity being a 'killer'?  

...a Guardian review of reports by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has revealed many online pharmacies are flouting the rules in an attempt to attract customers looking for weight-loss treatments. The regulator has regularly written to online pharmacies who advertise cut-price and multibuy deals on jabs to censure them for their promotions, reminding the seller that the suitability of weight-loss injections “should be a professional prescribing decision based on a consultation”.

We live in a 'quick fix' society, so of course people worried about the constant pressure from the NHS aren't going to eat healthily and exercise, because that all takes too long. A jab is the ideal solution for them. 

The MHRA’s official guidance states that a failure to comply with any requirement imposed by a notice served under the regulations is a criminal offence.
“The penalty is a fine and/or imprisonment for up to two years,” it states.

And how many have been issued? Zero. So it might as well not exist. Like any legislation that isn't enforced.

A Rat Getting Out Before The Ship…What? Not ‘Sinks’, This Time...

In a post on Meta's Facebook on Thursday, Sir Nick, a former leader of the Liberal Democrats, said he was departing the company after nearly seven years. He will be replaced by his current deputy and Republican Joel Kaplan, who previously served as deputy chief of staff in the White House during President George W Bush's administration, and is known for handling the company's relations with Republicans.

Not even inaugurated yet, and he's having an effect!  

"Meta, like other tech companies, has been rushing to curry favour with the incoming Trump administration," she told the BBC. Sir Nick leaving Meta, and increased political polarisation on social platforms, suggests the company may shift how it moderates political speech, she added.

For the better, I'm sure. And that's exactly how it turned out. You know you're on the right track when you look at who you're upsetting... 

Wednesday, 8 January 2025

Cover Me! 'MacArthur Park'

Decided on another musical series for 2025 and thought I'd post some of my favourite cover versions. So to start us off for January, here's Donna Summer's disco-style cover of the oddity that is 'MacArthur Park'. Along with the original. 

Clearly, The Need For Segregated News Is Over

As it nears its 20th anniversary next year, PinkNews should be celebrating a period that has seen remarkable progress for some but not all LGBTQ+ people in Britain. Instead, the future of the world’s largest LGBTQ+ website looks uncertain after multiple allegations of sexual misconduct were made against Benjamin Cohen and Anthony James, the couple who run the outlet.
The website, set up in 2005 when Cohen was the Channel 4 News technology correspondent, has, at times, wielded its influence for positive change in British LGBTQ+ life.

But often, when one looks behind the scenes, one finds everything isn't as rosy as it appears. And then, the great and good begin to rethink their approbation: 

Last week, Downing Street called the claims against Cohen and James “very concerning” and James was suspended from his role at the Bedfordshire hospitals NHS foundation trust. The potential downfall of an influential title that bills itself as a safe space for LGBTQ+ journalists has caused dismay and sparked wider fears about the state of queer media in the UK.

Maybe we don't need a specifically 'queer media'? 

“It’s horrific to hear these allegations, especially for the journalists working there. There’s not many LGBTQ+ publications in the UK, especially ones with this sort of financial backing and influence,” said investigative journalist Finbarr Toesland. Last year, Toesland authored a study, commissioned by the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity (LHC) at Birmingham City University...
Ha ha ha ha! No, really? Good God!
...that found LGBTQ+ journalists face an increasingly hostile environment in the UK. Seventy-eight per cent of those surveyed agreed that it is becoming more dangerous to be an LGBTQ+ journalist in the UK.

What sort of 'hostility' are we talking about, anyway? Any examples? 

“I was quite surprised at the time to hear their experiences and how challenging they had found it. There was one example of a journalist who was working in sports media. When they walked into a press briefing, they overheard someone say: ‘That’s that gay journalist from x publication.’ There are examples of people feeling singled out because of their sexuality and facing homophobic abuse,” he said.

People whose self-image appears to rely entirely on them being recognised as 'gay journalists' consider overhearing the fact that they are being referred to as 'gay journalists' some sort of 'hostility'? 

The Dear Old Grauniad Starting 2025 Off As One Expects...


...with rampant misandry. Wonder what the stats are for men killed by other men? And by the way, it isn't even accurate (would anyone expect anything less?):

None of these incidents are linked in any way other than that a woman has been killed and a man charged in connection with her death.

So they stuck in that 'allegedly' but if he's acquitted, the number will come down, won't it? 

Tuesday, 7 January 2025

Looks Like Police Policy On Dangerous Dog Attacks For 2025...

...is to remain mostly utterly fucking useless, just like they did - with a handful of notable exceptions - in 2024. 

Three dogs have been seized after an attack at a playing field in Devon led to two dogs being euthanised, police said.

No, not the attacking mutts despatched at the scene, oh, dear me no. 

Devon and Cornwall Police said officers were called to Exwick Playing Fields on 21 December after reports of dogs attacking "other dogs and humans". The force said two dogs were put to sleep as a result of the attack, while a woman was taken to hospital and treated for puncture wounds. It said a woman, in her 50s, has been identified in connection to the investigation and three dogs remained in police kennels.
Then we have this farce in Nottingham (trigger warning for animal death/police gross incompetence):


It's no surprise the police were so useless, when this is the pathetic attitude of the country's dog warden

To the comments! 


I saw this video less than an hour after seeing this one from the States, and thanking my lucky stars we didn't have to put up with useless fat black DEIhires who can't do anything useful when they do turn up, so now, I have to eat my words! 

But Kier, That’s Not The Threat You're Facing…


...that comes from those telling the truth! And if you cannot see that, you are doomed. Actually, I think you're doomed anyway, if this is the level of competence in your communication team. 

Former home secretary James Cleverly warned that the PM’s comments risked inflaming public anger over the issue.
Perhaps he thinks it can't get any more inflamed. He's as wrong on that as everything else.

Monday, 6 January 2025

What’s Up With The Fairer Sex?

Two teenage girls have been sentenced for a series of antisemitic attacks in London, including one that left a woman unconscious. The 14- and 15-year-olds, who cannot be named because of their age, targeted members of the Jewish community in Stamford Hill in four separate incidents over half an hour in December 2023, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.
The CPS said the pair appeared at Stratford magistrates court on Wednesday where they were handed a youth rehabilitation order for 18 months. They were also ordered to undertake a rehabilitation activity requirement for 30 and 45 hours, and placed under curfew with an electronic tag for three months.

In other words, they faced almost no punishment at all, despite this being a clear 'hate crime' of the sort that Two-Tier Kier and his idiot lapdog Home Office Minister seem to think deserves special punishment.  

And then we have Brighton:

A teenage girl gang who went viral on social media after they were filmed attacking train staff, passengers and police officers in an alcohol-fuelled rampage have been spared jail. The five girls, who cannot be named for legal reasons, threw punches, headbutts and ripped out hair in an incident described as 'mass hysteria'. One girl held up a clump of hair from the head of a rail passenger like a trophy during the hour-long melee, a court heard.

That's mass something all right, I'm just somewhat doubtful it's hysteria.  

None of the girls, two aged 15, two 16 and a 13-year-old at the time, can be named for legal reasons. Defending one of the girls, Paula Bristow described the incident as having an element of mass hysteria. 'She is doing well at school and this was completely out of character.

Bollocks!  

'There is an element of mass hysteria in this incident.'

No, there's an element of entitlement and lack of proper punishment, bevcause she's a 'juvenile'.  

The three youngest girls were given nine-month referral orders. The two older girls were given 12-month intensive referral orders.

In effect, they got away with it. And will probably grow up and go on to bigger assaults.