What Happened To 'To Protect And Serve'?

Lindsey Stech received a motion alert from her doorbell camera on Dec. 18, revealing a man lurking in her yard with a flashlight. Stech called 911, and a deputy was dispatched to investigate but found nothing during the initial search. When Stech later spotted the man again through her camera, she called 911 to request the deputy's return. The operator, however, declined her request."There is nobody outside," the operator told the caller. "Well, I mean, I'm looking at him right now," Stech insisted. "They're not going to come by again," the operator replied."I'm going to say goodbye now," the dispatcher said, ending the call. "There's nothing more that I can do now. Have a good night."

Should have simply told her 'I'm getting my gun to shoot him' and she'd have had half the precinct at her door... 

Stech described feeling "lost, hopeless and panic-filled" as the situation unfolded. Ultimately, the deputy returned, spoke with the man, and informed Stech that he was allegedly waiting for another woman, as reported by WYFF.

Sounds dodgy as hell, but at least they did respond. 

Following the incident, Spartanburg County 911 issued a statement acknowledging the dispatcher's failure to communicate effectively with Stech.

Couldn't really bluff this one out!  

The agency apologized, pledged to implement additional training, and confirmed personnel action against the operator.

Probably just a writen warning. And they'd do none of that if it hadn't been for being shamed into it... 

H/T: The Jannie via email

Wrong Simile – Try ‘Shoved Down Our Throats’ Instead

Artificial intelligence will be “mainlined into the veins” of the nation, ministers have announced, with a multibillion-pound investment in the UK’s computing capacity despite widespread public fear about the technology’s effects.

Government wants it, so 'public fear' isn't even a bump in the road or a pothole to navigate... 

Keir Starmer will launch a sweeping action plan to increase 20-fold the amount of AI computing power under public control by 2030 and deploy AI for everything from spotting potholes to freeing up teachers to teach.

Promises, promises... 

The government plan features a potentially controversial scheme to unlock public data to help fuel the growth of AI businesses. This includes anonymised NHS data, which will be available for “researchers and innovators” to train their AI models. The government says there would be “strong privacy-preserving safeguards” and the data would never be owned by private companies.

And we believe them, don't we, Reader? 

Technology companies including Microsoft, Anthropic and OpenAI welcomed the plan as Starmer said the “AI industry needs a government that is on their side”.

So do the voters, but... 

The prime minister is also aiming to accelerate investment in new miniature nuclear reactors as it seeks to power the energy-hungry technology.

If he's facing down the NetZero nutters for this, it has to be a bad idea... 

It Seems A Really Easy ‘Fight’ To Win, To Me…

I am uneasily aware that around this time last year I wrote that my drive to acquire material things had somewhat subsided: I was older and wiser, had everything I needed, was repelled by the sheer volume of stuff in the world, blah blah blah. Unfortunately, the internet seemingly viewed that as fighting talk, an impossible-to-turn-down challenge, and in recent months I have once more found myself wanting stuff. Lots of stuff.

I suppose you've not considered putting the phone or tablet down?

It’s not surprising perhaps – stuff is everywhere, whispering, or shouting, to us from every screen we stare at. “The constant stream of ads on Instagram is exhausting,” said my best friend gloomily just last week, and she’s right: my eyes are constantly assaulted with offers of miracle goop for my mature skin, wellness gadgetry, expensive knitwear and greenwashed “disruptors” of almost everything. I just spent a minute scrolling and was offered, in quick succession, a “calfPRO” (no idea, alarming), kombucha, cleanser, an eco frying pan, “reminiscent of Phoebe Philo-era Celine” jumpers and, bafflingly, Canadian sea urchins.

That seems a rather odd selection of targeted ads. 

In this newly lawless age for social media there are bigger problems than the relentless onslaught of targeted ads, but in addition to the urgent upskilling in critical reading the world needs, we need to work out how to fight back against all the stuff the internet wants us to buy.

I already have - ignore them and scroll past.  

I’ve been trying to deinfluence myself in recent weeks and it’s quite the battle – I am weak-willed and made stupider by the minute by internet nonsense, and the algorithm is tireless. But I have a secret weapon: I know my craven, ridiculous desires intimately, which helps me shout them down. Now when tempted, that’s exactly what I do.

There! Wasn't so hard after all, was it? 

The Insanity Of NetZero Rumbles On

Newcastle Brown Ale's extra-large 'pint' bottle, Grolsch's famous porcelain top flask and a slice of lime in the neck of Mexican lager Corona may all become things of the past, say industry bodies. It is feared the government's 'Extended Producer Responsibility' scheme will slap an additional cost of 5p per bottle on manufacturers, forcing some breweries to switch from glass to cans.

Another Labour triumph! Out with the beloved old, in with the shiny new!  

The new green levy on food and drink packaging, which comes into force in April, is aimed at reducing heavier packaging such as glass.

Which, given glass is so easily recyclable, is nonsense. Did they not think it would have consequences? 

According to the Government's own analysis, the tax could increase Britons' yearly grocery bills by up to £56 per household. British Glass chief executive Dave Dalton said: 'We believe the cost could be even higher once additional supply chain costs and VAT are added.'

So, they did. They just didn’t care. 

Mr Dalton, whose body represents the UK glass industry, added: 'The bottom line is that the Government's packaging Extended Producer Responsibility scheme is putting thousands of jobs at risk in a sector that employs 120,000 in its supply chain - potentially shattering the UK glass sector.'

Shouldn’t Labour be concerned about job losses? 

A spokesman added: 'We are committed to cracking down on waste and boosting recycling.

'These reforms will create 21,000 jobs and lead to more than £10billion investment in recycling over the next decade, while meaning taxpayers don't foot the bill for managing waste.'

Ah, it’s ‘Rachel from Complaints’ maths, where 21,000 is more than 120,000!

Whereas You Exploited Her For Employment Opportunities...

The Archer Project - a homelessness charity - is upset one of their livestock is no more:

Keeley was mostly known as 'Sheffield Keeley' on TikTok and was sought out by people to video her singing popular songs.

But despite bringing 'joy' and going viral, homelessness organisation The Archer Project claims Keeley was 'exploited for likes'.

In a blog post published on Wednesday, January 15, a spokesman said: 'Just for likes, that's what it comes down to. They exploited her just for likes.

'When we say exploited, that's what we mean. It wasn't a casual filming of someone you come across, which many think is bad enough.

'No, she was sought out, she told us she was given money to be on social media, to swim in fountains in the middle of winter or dance in an inebriated state like a performing clown or whatever.

'She was effectively being fed booze to perform because that was her addiction.

'Dance and we'll give you more of what you crave, what you can't do without, what your body craves and needs. Dance and we'll reward you with the funds to buy more.

'Some will say they didn't know. Come on, let's be real, it was hard to not know.

'Her alcoholism was the attraction, her fuelled with drink and what she would do when drunk, that was the sought after video.

'She didn't have the ability to care for herself in any way. She was physically at risk, emotionally at sea and unable to assess safety from danger.

So what did your charity do to save her from this? 

'The truth is she was a person, a daughter, a niece. She was a human being not an entertainment.'

She wasn't a reason for your continued employment either. 

How Will Raising The Tax You Pay Motivate Anyone?

Upcoming changes to stamp duty will "motivate" first-time buyers to buy a property, according to the Halifax.

So, it's going down, and making houses more affordable? No, Reader. Quite the opposite... 

The average price of a UK home ended 2024 close to the £300,000 mark, the UK's biggest mortgage broker said. Its calculations suggested UK house prices increased by 3.3% when comparing the end of the year to the start, although the average value dipped slightly in December. It means the average home now costs £297,166, it added. In April, house buyers in England and Northern Ireland will start paying stamp duty on properties over £125,000, instead of over £250,000 at the moment.

The only reason this might just 'spark first time buyers' is if they decide to buy now before it gets any higher - they will be those already intending (and able) to buy.  

Housing experts expect sales to increase over the next few months, ahead of the stamp duty changes, before falling away afterwards. Alice Haine, analyst at Bestinvest, said: "This will deliver a particularly heavy hit to first-time buyers who will not only need to raise enough money for a deposit but also enough to cover the higher tax bill."

And once that small pool has run dry, what then? 

Should Have Stayed In The Working Men’s Clubs Then

Drag artists are under unprecedented pressure as they are “more visible, but also more debated” than ever before, performers have said, as they paid tribute to The Vivienne. The international drag community came together in London for RuPaul’s DragCon UK over the weekend, its first large gathering since the Welsh performer’s death.

Danny Beard, a fellow winner of Drag Race UK who hails from Merseyside, believes a growing tide of bigotry towards the community is fuelled by transphobia. Drag artists are “more visible but also more debated than ever”, they said, and certain corners of the society have become more comfortable not viewing them as people.

Or more accurately, not viewing them as people who should be given access to read to children at the library.  

“There’s this real rightwing vile propaganda at the moment, and I feel that drag queens get the thin edge of the wedge when it comes to transphobia - I get to put this on and take it off, but our trans brothers and sisters can’t,” Beard added.

Juno Birch, an independent drag artist who identifies as a transgender woman outside of drag, said LGBTQ+ people, especially trans people, were under more public scrutiny than ever before.

It might help if they didn't put themselves in danger by pretending to be something they are not - not every community reacts passively when they find out they were deceived.  

Ginger Johnson, the winner of series five of Drag Race UK, said the situation was “as dire as ever” as drag artists had to live with constant abuse and personal attacks online from people who wanted to insult their “lives, passions and families”.

No, they are welcome to all that, just stay in their lanes and they'll be fine. We'll tolerate womanface even though we've been told blackface is a big no-no, for some reason... 

“It’s just identity politics really, and it’s anger over nothing. They speak about drag but don’t know anything about it. They don’t know the transformative power of it. They don’t know how it changes peoples lives, and they don’t know how it saves peoples lives.”

Ah, yes, we all remember that classic pop song, don't we? 'Last Night A Man In A Frock Saved My Life'. 

So, It's Not Just Car Drivers....

Newcastle Upon Tyne magistrates court was told Addission was drunkenly riding home in his horse and carriage. When police arrived, Addison, who was on a suspended sentence at the time, continued to ride the animal along West Road. When appended, Addison still refused to cooperate and the officer had to use PAVA spray on him in order to detain him.

Well, it must have come as a welcome change from idiots in Audis, I suppose 

District Judge Kate Meek said: 'Quite frankly, it's the first time I have come across a charge of a person being drunk in charge of a horse on a highway.

'You can see why it's an offence because horses are big and powerful things. If you're drunk, you're not capable of controlling that horse and, if it does go out of control, it's a danger to everyone around.'

I wonder what his excuse will be? 

Jonathan Cousins, defending, said: 'Mr Addison was riding his horse home. Police wanted to speak to him. He rode off. He gets back on the horse.

'She follows him in her vehicle. He pulls up and, when the officer pulls in behind him, he's on his mobile phone to his family trying to seek assistance with the horse or for someone to come and take it.

'He has stayed out of trouble since this.

'It was clear he was intoxicated by his manner. The officer sought to stop him doing that. He was not cooperative. The officer followed in her vehicle and the defendant was eventually apprehended.'

Pathetic. Call that a defence? 

Addison, of no fixed abode, has now been fined a total of £250 after he pleaded guilty to being drunk in charge of a horse and obstructing a police officer.

*sighs* 

So Now We All Know, Kier… They Weren’t ‘Far Right’, They Were Just Right

And that's what worried you the most. So don't think we can be bought off with a public enquiry that will be carefully stage-managed to exonerate you.

Charlie Bentley-Astor covered the brief trial and the revelations on Twitter, revealing the horiffic events preceding the murders, and the utter failure of the authorities to seize on chances to prevent it. We were all braced for some sort of state failure, of course, but no-one - me included - had any real idea how bad it would be. 

His obsession with mass killings was also known to the authorities, but it is not clear whether they were aware of his father’s link to the Rwanda genocide of 1994.

It can now be revealed that Alphonse Rudakubana, a taxi driver who arrived in the UK in 2002, is thought to have fought with the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA), an armed force that battled the Hutu-dominated regime in Rwanda and eventually brought an end to the mass ethnic killings of 1994.

He is reported to have been an RPA officer, possibly relatively senior, based in neighbouring Uganda, where his family are thought to have fled well before the genocide.

Well, there's no 'unrest' now, so why can't they be sent back? 

But, some will cry, why do you doubt a public enquiry will be effective? Well, Reader, simply this:

Police have found no evidence that the Southport attack was motivated by political, religious, racial or ideological causes, meaning it cannot be classed as an act of terrorism despite him having possession of a document proscribed under terrorism laws.

Normal people will say 'if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, has in its possession a terrorist manual and ricin, then it's probably a duck terrorist'. But a carefully selected public enquiry will use this sleight of hand to avoid reaching any conclusions that might threaten the squinty-eyed piece of filth in No 10.

Is The Law An Ass?

Well, hearken back to this case:

A police appeal for the named and pictured (note: from mugshots!) wee scamps thought to have been responsible.

And now, without recourse to the Men In Black's neuralizer, we are expected to simply do our own forgetting! 

Two boys, aged 15 and 16 – who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared at Bromley Youth Court in separate hearings on Thursday this week each charged with Kelyan’s murder and are due to appear at the Old Bailey on Monday. Bromley Youth Court heard that Kelyan was stabbed repeatedly on his journey home from school and died from a severed femoral artery.

So I think we can conclude (assuming they are the same youths) the answer is 'Yes. Yes, the law IS an ass'. 

Not Very Bright, Are They, Nurses?

Speaking outside the hospital, another nurse said: 'There was a row with a patient. It just got out of hand but it wasn't a case of the patient going berserk.'

Umm, what? 

'It was just a disagreement that can happen late at night. It happens all the time but it's shocking that the nurse was attacked.'

Good grief! Why on earth is this nurse trying to play down what was, by all accounts, a savage attack on a colleague with a weapon of opportunity? I wonder... 

Detective Sergeant Craig Roters said: 'This is a serious incident which has left a woman in a critical condition.

'Our thoughts are with her family and colleagues, and we will continue to support them throughout this investigation.' Greater Manchester Police said there would be an 'increased presence' around the hospital while officers conduct their enquiries, and to offer 'reassurance'.

I'm sure it's very reassuring, but you can't be there all the time, can you?  

Here We Go....

...for the long awaited trial of the Southport murderer, and the government's getting twitchy:

Whoever drew this is a genius! 

Also D-Day for Ricky - place your bets!

Update: Ricky trial now delayed until 11th August! But we finally have the mugshot of Rudakubana:

Nice Try. 'Guardian' Picture Editor...

....but that's not an iced bun. It's a cream eclair.

Say What, 'Mail'..?

Rhino gore, they don't 'maul'...

Sunday Funnies...

History, sometimes, it's really shit... 

You Just Can’t Save People From Themselves!

Much furore about the Kiena Dawes case, and most of the approbium falling on the police who 'failed to save her'.

During a six-week trial, Preston Crown Court heard how the hard-drinking, cocaine-snorting body-builder went from professing undying love to his girlfriend to physically and mentally breaking her. He punched and kicked Kiena, tried to drown her by holding her head in a baby bath and threatened to 'drill her teeth out'.

Did this come out of the blue? Was there no clue that he was a wrong ‘un? 

In 2019 he attacked his then-partner, Kayleigh Anderson, following a two-day coke and booze session with an uncle.

Didn't think so! Why, then, did she shack up with him? He was a friend of her brother - did her brother not warn her?

In the 12 months before she killed herself, she called police no less than five times either to report that she had been assaulted or give details of the domestic abuse she had suffered. On four of the occasions, she was visited by officers at her home. Twice she had visible injuries, including a black eye when she was six months pregnant.

And the police did their best, within the laws, but…. 

But Kiena was so scared of Wellings that it was only when he brutally assaulted her in front of their baby, 11 days before she died, that she finally backed efforts to prosecute him.

*sighs* 

Even then, police failed to support her as they might have, granting Wellings bail and then failing to lock him up when he apparently breached his bail conditions.'I was in hospital longer than he was in the cells,' she would write in a message shortly before she killed herself.

They can only withhold bail under certain circumstances, thanks to the crisis in our prisons - they don’t make that law, they just carry it out. 

Wellings was not charged until June last year but when he was the charges not only included assault and controlling and coercive behaviour but manslaughter as well, for which he has been cleared.

By the jury, and I suspect the police involved were as furious about that as everyone else... 

Following Kiena's death, Lancashire Constabulary referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) over its handling of the case and the contact they had with her. The police watchdog later announced that it found one officer had a case to answer for gross misconduct and two officers had a case to answer for misconduct relating to actions or omissions connected to the victim's reports of domestic abuse.

I wouldn't consider that any sort of victory, as the bar is so low on these things.  

If You Aren't Already 'Uncomfortable' As A Grown Adult Playing This....

...then trust the march of woke practices to swoop in to save you!

Critics have slammed the newest installment of the Dungeons and Dragons rulebook for 'going woke.'

Is it just a PR stunt, though?

In the game's 2024 Player's Handbook, 'races' are now 'species' and some character traits have been separated from biological identity, according to The New York Times. 'A mountain dwarf is no longer inherently brawny and durable, a high elf no longer intelligent and dexterous by definition,' the newspaper explained.

Mustn't forget the snowflakes!  

Wizards of the Coast, the Dungeons and Dragons publisher owned by Hasbro, implemented a trend that allows players to stop the game when they feel uncomfortable.

'The signal shouldn't trigger a debate or a discussion: thank the player for being honest about their needs, set the scene right, and move on,' the book said.

How can a group play a game if one or more of them can stop complying with the rules at any point? It's like playing 'Monopoly' when someone can exempt themselves from paying when they land on a hotel!  

The foreword of the book shared online said the original game excluded and disrespected women as well as and portrayed slavery 'not as a human tragedy but as a commercial transaction.'

The buying and selling of human beings was a commecial transaction. Still is, in some parts of the world where the practice never ended. 

Of course, the snowflakes are ecstatic:

Others have embraced the changes claiming they make the game more inclusive for players. 'What they're trying to do here is put up a signal flare, to not only current players but potential future players, that this game is a safe, inclusive, thoughtful and sensitive approach to fantasy storytelling,'

Ryan Lessard, a writer and frequent Dungeons & Dragons dungeon master told the Times. 'Wanting all your players to be comfortable and have fun is good actually,' one social media user said.

But you don't want that. You don't want those happy with the way the game has been played for years to have fun, simply because you want to dictate what counts as 'fun' in the first place. 

Solution To Future Issues – Mandate DNA Samples From All Captive Animals In The UK

DNA samples from four lynx that were captured after they were illegally released in Scotland could be used to help track down the culprits behind the ill-conceived scheme.

 Could, yes, but only if they had something to compare them to…. 

Conservationists believe ‘rogue rewilders’ could be behind the release of the animals into the countryside near the Inverness-shire village of Kingussie. Experts believe the big cats (Ed: *sigh* No, they are not 'big cats'...) were transported from Ireland or elsewhere in Europe by rewilding activists, often referred to as guerrilla rewilders, who have grown tired of waiting for official reintroduction schemes.

 I'm not sure why the finger would be pointed at foreigners…. 

Mr Packham said DNA could play a role in discovering more about where the cats came from. He said: ‘If these animals or any of their lineage have been kept in captivity there’s a chance we can find out more. ‘We might not be able to find the perpetrator though.’

Conservationist Derek Gow, a long-standing advocate of reintroducing lynx in Scotland, said the illicit release was never going to be viable as the animals were too tame. But he said authorities will find it hard to trace the big cats’ lineage because there is no DNA database of lynx held in captivity in the UK.

Then perhaps there should be? 

Another Ambitious And Unworkable Policy Crashes And Burns

The government is to scrap the 2035 ban on gas boilers in its new housebuilding standards.

It was a Tory policy, so Labour will expect to get kudos for doing so, despite the fact they are up to their necks in NetZero madness... 

The previous Conservative government had laid plans to phase out gas heating for homes by banning the sale of new gas boilers by 2035, so people replacing their gas boilers after that date would instead have to buy a heat pump or other environmentally friendly way of heating homes.

The former prime minister Rishi Sunak was criticised by scientists and policy experts when he announced his backtrack on a range of environmental measures. This included significantly weakening the plan to phase out the installation of gas boilers by 2035, instead aiming for only an 80% phase-out.

About the only sensible thing he did, but it was too little, too late.  

Now, the plan will be scrapped altogether and there will be no requirement to replace a gas boiler with an environmentally friendly alternative. Government sources confirmed the future homes standard (FHS), expected to be published soon, will not include a ban on gas boilers. They also confirmed there will not be a ban on the sale of gas boilers by 2035 and people will not have to remove them from their homes.

As if that could ever have been a viable option? 

The long-delayed regulations are expected to make solar panels on roofs optional rather than mandatory, as campaigners have called for. Current plans for the FHS are only to “encourage” builders to equip homes with some solar panels “where appropriate”. This is despite the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, having promised a “rooftop revolution” during the election campaign.

The election campaign's over, and the 'rooftop revolution' all Labour MPs are worried about now is if the voters get angry enough to storm Paliament and throw them off the roof into the Thames!  

We’re The Sweeney, Son, How About Some Vivaldi?

Residents in northwest London have been told by police to “play classical music” to deter criminals after a spate of drug-fuelled crimes and robberies in the area.

I would claim astonishment but I fear it wouldn't be believed. Nothing the Met do astonishes me anymore. 

Car windows have been smashed and drug deals have been reported in broad daylight in St John’s Wood, with one person found taking crack cocaine on a doorstep. One resident claimed he was threatened by a drug dealer and warned he would be “shot and chopped up” after confronting them, the Sun reports. Another resident, a businessman who lives near the Abbey Road recording studio, told the newspaper he had sent pictures of similar offences to the Met Police in the hope they would solve the issue.

Fancy expecting the Met, of all farces, to be interested in ordinary crime!  

In response, he said he had received an email from a police constable advising him that should he witness an incident, he should film it, if safe to do so, and call 999. The email added: “You can also contact your housing association/the council and ask them to play classical music as this has proven to deter and prevent crimes.”

Which is why I often hear it in my local Tube station. While the staff ignore the thugs pushing their way through the barriers because they clearly haven't bought a ticket. The only time I don't see this is when the police attend to man a knife arch.

Strangely the email also added that music should not be played at excessive volume “as that can cause other complaints”.

And god forbid there be complaints! Crime can be tolerated, but not complaints. 

The Met told the Standard: “While clearly well-intentioned, the advice in the email sent to the resident in this case doesn’t reflect Met policy.”

Translation: "Shit! He said the quiet part out loud!" 

And What Is The RSPCA Doing?

No, don't tell me, I already know - nothing. 

A young terrier cross has found itself at Many Tears Animal Rescue in Llanelli in heartbreaking circumstances. 14-month-old Bella grew up as a normal puppy in a happy home but has now been left without sight after being attacked on two occasions. "Sweet" Bella was sadly attacked by one of the resident dogs she was living with which caused her eye to rupture and meant it had to be removed. Tragically, as she was healing from her surgery, the dog, who was much larger than her, attacked her once again and ruptured her only remaining eye.

A family allows their dog to savage their other dog not once, but twice, and from the so-called animal protection charity there's not a peep. And it's Wales again - why are dangerous dogs so popular there?

Bella is also in the sad situation of looking for a new home, after her owners decide to rehome her for own safety, and her unfamiliar surroundings are making everything a lot more difficult for her. Many Tears have described Bella as "very noise-sensitive" and heartbreakingly cries when she is left alone.

What I'd like to see done to those owners would probably get me banned from Blogger...

I Don’t Have Any Thinking To Do, Gaby…

Mainly because, under other circumstances, the police would undoubtedly be hunting him for the murder of another identikit black kiddy-thug. Except they struck first.

Kelyan was a caring boy, according to his mother, and his teachers called him “funny, kind and ambitious”. But he was not an angel. An aspiring drill rapper, he had been expelled from school, spent time in care, and lately got into trouble with the law. He was on the way to meet his social worker when he died and, according to the BBC, was due in court shortly himself on charges of carrying a machete.

QED. 

His mother used a word we have heard a lot over the past few days to describe what had gone wrong for him. He had, she said, been groomed. That adult criminal gangs are using increasingly sophisticated tactics to recruit schoolchildren should not be news to anyone.

They aren't forcing them to make TikTok drill rap videos as well, are they Gaby?  

Boys such as this, Longfield has argued, aren’t freely choosing a life of crime any more than 13-year-olds in Rochdale were choosing (as some police officers wrongly concluded two decades ago) to become sex workers, and in both cases what they need is swift protection from predatory adults.

The children of Rotherham and Oldham didn't get that, yet they killed nobody, they haven't recorded rap songs about killing their tormentors, have they? So I'll pass on any further taxpayer-funded efforts to stop these street rats from killing each other.  

Now the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, is leading a cross-government “young futures” unit designed to bring together the threads of everything that is happening in young people’s lives, from a mental health crisis that may be aggravating offending rates to the loss of specialist youth services. (One recent analysis from the Institute for Fiscal Studies calculated that teenagers in neighbourhoods where all the youth clubs in walking distance had closed – as 30% of youth clubs in London did between 2010 and 2019, thanks mostly to budget cuts – were 14% more likely than their peers to have a criminal conviction.)

Ah, the magical qualities of youth clubs. No, don't quibble, just pay up, taxpayer, and England will be a better place again... 

It's A Matter Of National Shame That They Were Ever Under Investigation In The First Place....

...but then, the animal lovers who complained will never accept the harm these dogs (originally thought to have been XL Bullies, now confirmed as the latest menace, Cane Corsos) can cause:

Metropolitan Police firearms officers who shot dead two dangerous dogs during a stand-off on a canal towpath have been cleared of wrongdoing.

On Friday, Scotland Yard said the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) had concluded its investigation into the incident, finding that the incident had been handled correctly.

Why on earth did it ever take so long? The video of the incident was quite clear! 

Detective Chief Superintendent James Conway, who leads policing in the area, said: “The IOPC investigation has been extensive, examining every aspect of what happened that day and scrutinising body worn video, mobile phone footage and CCTV of the incident as well as consulting dangerous dog experts.

“The investigation found the officers faced a really challenging situation and made numerous attempts to get the owner of the aggressive animals - after they had attacked a woman and her dog - to surrender them to prevent further injury to anyone.

“The officers demonstrated impressive restraint and bravery in trying to resolve the situation in the face of the owner repeatedly refusing to comply, and only took further action when they were left with no choice after the dogs came free of the man’s grip.”

What a total waste of IOPC time. Hopefully this will give the cops renewed confidence in dealing with dangerous dogs in the future, and we will see more action taken like that from the US cops.  

It’s Not ‘Unfair’ If They Committed The Crime

Survivors of domestic abuse are being criminalised and unfairly punished in the broken justice system, top lawyers, campaigners, and experts have said in a major call for government reform. Figures including Cherie Blair KC, former Victims Commissioner Dame Vera Baird KC, and campaigning lawyer Harriet Wistrich are among the signatories to a letter from the charity Women in Prison, calling for an end to “unfair criminalisation of women”.

Oh, go on. Give us an example of this 'unfairness', then.  

They say the signs of domestic abuse and its impact are not taken into proper account when a woman ends up being prosecuted for a crime.

A crime she's committed? How is that unfair? 

One survivor who went to prison said: “My boyfriend was a drug dealer who abused me financially, sexually, emotionally and physically.

“When we’d go out, he’d say ‘You’re carrying the drugs’. I was scared to say no.

“I was arrested and given a custodial sentence. I don’t ever want to see women going to prison after experiencing what I went through.”

Well, they won't if they choose better partners, and refuse to do anything illegal for them. But...you didn't, did you? You committed the crime. You are just proffering an excuse.  

At the Labour Party conference in September, Ms Mahmood said “for women, prison isn’t working” and announced the creation of a new body, the Women’s Justice Board, which aims to cut prison numbers.

“Rather than encouraging rehabilitation, prison forces women into a life of crime”, she said. “After leaving a short custodial sentence, a woman is significantly more likely to commit a further crime than one given a non-custodial sentence.”

So, the answer's obvious - give them longer sentences!  

Police Appeals & Picture Cropping

Anyone else wonder just what that hand gesture the cops have gone to such trouble to try and crop out of the image is? Yeah, me too. No wonder the police farces are stepping away from Twitter, they don't like the questions it allows people to ask.

No doubt some poor PC spent ages sweating over MS Paint. Or maybe they just got the guy they used to crop out the Black Power salute on that well-used photo of Stephen Lawrence...

DEI And Democrat Environmentalism Kills!

Despite the usual suspects pushing the 'This is climate change, NOW will you obey?' message for the LA wildfires, it doesn't seem anyone is prepared to listen, and for good reason.

The main target of their anger is LA mayor Karen Bass, who was away in Ghana when the fires began. When she did eventually show up to give a press conference, she informed her now desperate citizenry that all the help they needed could be ‘found at URL’. She had meant to give the emergency website for victims of the fire to visit, but it appears the script in front of her only said ‘URL’ – the shorthand for all web addresses. Thinking on your feet is not a Bass speciality. Ms Bass is utterly out of her depth. Everyone already knew that her last budget included $17.6 million (£14.4 million) of cuts to the fire department. Now a leaked memo has revealed that just days before the fire, the city also asked the fire department to make an extra $49 million (£40 million) of budget cuts.

Whoops! Oh, well, I'm in no doubt that once they return to rebuild, most of LA will still vote Democrat. Some people just don't learn.  

And of course, they won't even question why some come to pour fuel on their flames. 

Another major factor is the dried-out underbrush and unmanaged forests that, under the right conditions, become flammable with almost a single spark. In LA, brush and forestry needs to be regularly cleared. It wasn’t. Why? Well, according to Edward Ring, co-founder of the California Policy Centre, a conservative think tank, environmentalist lawsuits have consistently blocked the necessary logging, grazing and thinning of forests. This allowed California’s forest density to increase to about five times what it had been for the past 20 million years and turned them into tinderboxes.

And this accusation appears to be gathering pace like the wildfires that are still raging out of control.  

Then there are the water issues. Hydrants in Pacific Palisades had little to no water running out of them as the fires began. By 3am on Wednesday, Janisse Quinones, the chief executive and chief engineer of the LA Department of Water and Power, confirmed all three water storage tanks in the area – each holding about 1 million gallons – had run dry.

I wonder if there's a clause in her contract that says 'No water? No pay!' - it'd be nice to think so, wouldn't it. And this isn't something that wasn't foreseen. 

What makes all this so lamentable is that these problems were all made plain just two months ago. In November, firefighters battling a large blaze in the Santa Susana mountains, some 15 miles north of Palisades, similarly reported issues of low water pressure and outright unavailability. Ventura County Fire chief Dustin Gardner later said at a community meeting: ‘Did water run out? Yes... when those hydrants – on the west side or in the Estates – wherever they went dry, firefighters adjust to that... we’re used to that.'

The things firefighters are 'used to' seem a little...changed...from what we all fondly imagine they would be, Dustin. 

The authorities have been found wanting, the buck must stop with someone, and ultimately that someone is California governor Gavin Newsom. Hoping to douse the criticism coming his way, he has announced an investigation into why the hydrants were short of water. But a big part of any inquiry will undoubtedly be his role in the management of California’s water resources and forests.

The mismanagement of the water allegedly being to protect a species of fish. Gavin is hopefully about to find out that fish don't vote.  

The political firestorm facing the Democrat is made worse because Donald Trump is now on his case.

Good. 

In a video that has gone viral, a mother whose daughter’s school burned down ran up to Mr Newsom and asked what he was doing to solve the crisis. His grandiose reply that ‘I am literally talking to the President right now’ came unstuck when the woman asked to listen to the call, forcing him to admit that he wasn’t actually speaking to Joe Biden. ‘I’ve tried five times to get through’, he mumbled weakly. ‘Why is the President not taking your calls?’ she demanded.

Just like UK politicians, the first response is to lie, comfortable in the fact that they are rarely challenged on it by the sycophants in the media.   

Not Lovin’ It

You'd think he'd be able to spot any lurking perverts, wouldn't you?

McDonald's workers have said they are still facing sexual abuse and harassment, a year after the boss promised to clean up behaviour at the fast-food chain. One 19-year-old worker, Matt, told the BBC some of his colleagues were scared of going into work, and that managers would "touch up" other members of staff.

Maybe that's why the Stratford Westfield branch seems to hire useless hijabis who can't get my order right? 

The UK boss of McDonald's has been summoned on Tuesday to answer MPs' questions for a second time, including over claims of sexual abuse.

Does anyone ever refuse to go? I sure would. Let them fume and grandstand to an empty chair.  

Mr Macrow told MPs then that the firm was taking action to improve working conditions, after the BBC uncovered widespread concerns over the treatment of staff. However, one current and two former workers from different parts of the country, claim that the restaurant audits that were promised, were stage-managed by the branches.More than 700 current and former junior employees are now taking legal action against the firm, accusing it of failing to protect them.

The only winners are going to be the lawyers. As always.  

I Didn't Expect Matt To Weigh In...

...on the rape gang scandal, and this is pretty soft-pedal, but not wrong!

 

*Checks Calendar* Nope, Still Winter

 I got this on Friday when I checked my Tube app:

'Leaf fall'? What leaves are left that haven't already fallen? 

Sunday Funnies...

Small, but occasionally mighty....

But Those Cops And Social Workers Are Still In A Job, Gaby

And that's the real issue. They shouldn't be. 

"Sophie" was 12 years old when she walked into Oldham police station to report a sexual assault. For a vulnerable child, first befriended and then viciously exploited by much older men, that must have taken courage. But officers simply told her to come back when she wasn’t drunk. It was a terrible missed opportunity, as an independent review of so-called grooming gang allegations in Oldham commissioned by the Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham made clear in 2022. Sophie was picked up from the police station and driven to a house where she was raped by multiple men. Many years later, she learned that although a man eventually convicted of abusing her had given Greater Manchester police two other names, they had inexplicably failed to follow these leads.

Why is this - and the thousands of other instances where the authorities failed to do their job - not the main driver of the public's ire? Taxpayer money squandered on 'services' that failed miserably. 

There are thousands of Sophies out there, yet they are already slipping through the cracks of a debate that is supposedly about them: becoming pawns in an unedifying power struggle on the right of British politics, as the world’s richest man tests the limits of his influence over it.

At least he's keeping the pressure on, Gaby. I don't see anyone at the 'Guardian' stepping up to the plate.  

The BNP first tried to capitalise on rumours of Asian men exploiting white girls in Oldham a decade and a half ago, apparently distributing leaflets reading Our Children Are Not Halal Meat. Now Reform UK is demanding a new national inquiry into an already exhaustively examined scandal, the deportation of perpetrators with dual nationality – that many, not all, perpetrators were of Pakistani heritage is an awkwardly inescapable part of the story – and the jailing of anyone caught looking the other way, while Kemi Badenoch races to keep up and her rival Robert Jenrick races to outdo her.

Why is it 'awkward'? Usually, if crime is being committed by identifiable groups, that helps the police efforts, doesn't it? 

“I have a message for the legacy media,” announced the academic turned Reform cheerleader Prof Matt Goodwin. “If you’d been doing your job, we wouldn’t need Elon Musk.”

A message that should be resonating. But it isn't. 

My guess is Musk will lose this fight, because it’s Farage Reform members come to see: bounding onstage to denounce the “mass rape abomination” – his audience consider the phrase “grooming gangs” too soft – and accusing Starmer of failing to prosecute rapists, before arguing that the Conservatives were practically as bad.

The phrase IS too soft and yes, the Conservatives did fuck all for 13 years, but they are out and Labour are in! The buck stops where, Gaby? 

What may resonate, however, is the nagging sense that justice has still not entirely been done. With no police officer sacked or professional charged over arguably Britain’s worst child protection scandal, we are lacking a sense of catharsis.

So why aren't you using your pulpit to call for that, Gaby, instead of whining about Musk and Farage? 

Survivors need to know that in future such failure will have consequences, which is why Starmer is right to signal a new criminal offence of failing to report abuse, as recommended by the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse set up under Theresa May.

What good will that do, when the people they were reporting it to covered it up and ignored it!  It's just yet more useless legislation! 

Perhaps That’s The Issue – There Should Be Judgement, Just Not Of The State Of The House…

Kirstie knew it was time to ask for help, but she was scared. "I was so embarrassed," she says. The mother-of-three's house in Ipswich had got out of control after a traumatic event left her bedbound. "I had a stillborn baby girl in May 2022 and I had to carry on for my other two children but every day was a struggle and I spent months in bed," she explains.

There are pictures, and they aren't the worst I've ever seen, no dead decayed pets, rodent droppings or unwashed dishes, but still.... 

Every surface of the house was covered in clutter and one of the three bedrooms was out of bounds because it was full of broken furniture, so her six-year-old son and nine-year-old daughter had to share a room. The dining room was full of baby items like a crib and bouncer and pram that Kirstie could not bear to look at.

Is she single? No, Reader. But he's not much use either.  

"Both myself and my husband Stephen really struggled with our mental health and we couldn't keep on top of the house," she says.

So, what to do? Well, the answer's obvious isn't it? Breed again!  

The NHS worker conceived another baby but it was a high-risk pregnancy, leaving her anxiety "through the roof". She started having therapy at home, but a visiting nurse struggled to find space to sit down.

/facepalm 

When their baby son was born, Kirstie knew it was not the ideal environment for him. After a week in the neonatal unit, she worried about bringing him home. They looked into decluttering services but they were too expensive for her and her husband, who works in a supermarket.

"I took some photos of the house and I was so nervous, I was shaking, but I showed the leader of a baby group I went to, who got in touch with a health visitor who referred me to the charity Dora Brown," the 37-year-old says. The Suffolk charity has a team of 80 volunteers who transform homes, free-of-charge, for families living in crisis.

Ten volunteers pitched up at Kirstie's house in June and "got stuck in". They sorted everything into piles of items to be thrown away, kept, recycled or given to charity. They gave them more storage and took away their rubbish and even their dirty laundry, later bringing it back and putting it away.

Cleaned, one assumes... 

"When you're really depressed and really overwhelmed, these things feel like huge, insurmountable tasks. I was just trying to get through each day. "It was such a positive experience and there was absolutely no judgement," she says.

I can't help but wonder if maybe that's the heart of this issue. 

The charity, which has a waiting list of families needing help, hopes to expand across England, but that depends on funding and for now it is "small but mighty" with six part-time staff.

It does seem as if it's a genuine charity, not one of the many fake ones that are simply fronts for government propaganda or sinecures for ex-politicians, but still... 

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.  

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... 

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? 

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.

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.  

Maybe A Child Would Be Less Credulous?

Mr Chant said the attack, involving a dog believed to be a rottweiler, happened at the Marsh playing fields behind the swimming pool when he was walking his own dog. He had approached the owner of the dog, who was in the children's play park, to ask if he could pet it and the owner, a woman, said it was fine.

Oh oh!

Speaking about the attack, he said: "I put my hand out to stroke the dog and it bit me and as she was trying to pull the dog off me it pulled my hand through the railings.

"There were children in the play park. What if it was a child? It would have been at face height."

Perhaps a child would have been more sensible than to want to pet a large unknown dog or to believe the owner when she said it was fine, though?  

Mr Chant said the woman who had the dog had been in touch with him to apologise.

And the cops? What are they doing?  

The attack took place on the afternoon of Sunday, December 15 and Dorset Police is carrying out an investigation. No arrests have been made at this stage.

Sod all, as usual. But to the comments! 

Dog racism. If I rolled my eyes and harder they'd fall out of my head. 

 

Punctuation, Punctuation, Punctuation...

Blimey, Elon, It took 6 years to build the Channel Tunnel!

Going Into 2025 Just The Same As Ever, 'Mail'?

Through the what? The doorbell? 

H/T: Stephen Brown via email

Sunday Funnies...

No. 1 would be unbelieable, if not for the target being French...

Because People Remain People, Yvonne…

...even at Christmas.

Every Christmas, domestic abuse rates soar as women find themselves on the receiving end of batterings, abuse and controlling behaviour from a partner, son or former spouse demonstrating anything but festive peace and goodwill. It’s a year-round problem with a seasonal peak.

Though rarer, pretty sure there'll be a few men dreading Christmas with a violent female wife of partner too, Yvonne. Doesn't that concern you?

Keir Starmer is committed to halving violence against women and girls (VAWG) in a decade. Several initiatives have been announced. They include embedding domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms; new domestic abuse protection orders that mean perpetrators could face tougher sanctions; and powers given to six police forces to charge a domestic abuse suspect without first going to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Kier Starmer said a hell of a lot before getting into No 10 Yvonne. I don't think anyone will be surprised if this is yet another of his broken promises...

These are early days but so far, like random jigsaw pieces that have ended up in the same box, the initiatives don’t cohere. What’s more, it might have been better to establish what already works well: to implement existing legislation, for instance, on stalking and coercive control; and to introduce an oversight mechanism that monitors whether police, probation, health, housing and all the services are collaborating to address a constant (and repetitive) stream of recommendations from domestic homicide reviews, inquiries and inquests that could save the lives of women and children. But that’s not happening.

Of course not! This is politics, and 'We're making the public sector do their jobs properly now!' doesn't get the same headlines as 'We're introducing new legislation!'. Does it?