It's Not Just Medical Hurdles To Overcome Here...

Two children who were born deaf can now listen and dance to music after undergoing ground-breaking gene therapy. The treatment, given as an infusion into the ear, works by replacing faulty DNA which causes a type of inherited deafness known as DFNB9. Researchers hope a similar approach could help in other congenital cases of deafness – which account for 60 per cent of the 430 million cases worldwide.

Which should be a genuine 'good news story' but I bet there are those waiting in the wings to throw cold water on it for ideological purposes.  

In the world-first gene-therapy trial, five children in China – two girls and three boys, all around three years old – gained hearing in both ears. All five were able to hear and speak words and locate where a sound was coming from.But two showed more advanced improvements and were even able to respond to music, which has more complex sound signals. The latest results, reported in Nature Medicine, build on work the team carried out two years ago when they treated children in one ear.

I'm usually pretty good at seeing someone else's point of view even if I don't personally agree with it, but I cannot fathom the mindset of someone who not only refuses to acknowledge that their child is disabled, but actively resists attempts to fix the problem.

And why is it just this particular disability? Why is there no corresponding 'blind culture', or 'wheelchair culture'? 

The study's main author, Professor Zheng-Yi Chen, said: 'The results from these studies are astounding.

'We continue to see the hearing ability of treated children dramatically progress and the new study shows added benefits of the gene therapy when administrated to both ears, including improvements in speech recognition in noisy environments.'

Professor Chen, who is also an associate professor of otolaryngology – head and neck surgery – at Harvard Medical School in the US, added: 'Our ultimate goal is to help people regain hearing no matter how their hearing loss was caused.'

I wish you the best of luck with that, and I hope you're prepared for more than just the medical complications and roadblocks you'll face.  

Adult Fiction Never Did Me Any Harm...

Parents, publishers and booksellers have generally welcomed “BookTok”, the videos on TikTok promoting literature.

As well they should! 

In an age when many worry about children spending too much time in front of a screen, reading has become “cool” on the platform. But a trend for “spicy” (ie sexy) books has led to fears children may be reading titles with adult content.

Oh noes! Isn't it better that, than they are out on the streets stabbing one another? 

Thriller writer and journalist Kat Rosenfield criticised a bookseller on X last year for sharing a video offering alternatives to teenage readers who want to read adult books. “Imagine being a normal teenage girl, just trying to buy some good old-fashioned smut” and “getting shooed out of the romance section”, she tweeted. “It’s normal and healthy for teenagers to be interested in sex, and there’s no safer way to explore that interest than by reading stories about it,” she added. “The problem is not the kids who are reading spicy books. It’s the ones who don’t – or can’t – read at all.”

So very true. I couldn't wait to get my adult library card (as I believe I've mentioned before), which I got pretty early and maybe far too early, who can say? Certainly a lot of my peers didn't have one. And did I check out some modern-parlance 'spicy' titles? Reader, I cannot tell a lie! Jackie Collins, Jilly Cooper...

The librarians didn't turn a hair. And I learned a lot.

Nature Is Healing

Britain’s tallest bird, the spectacular, wetland-loving crane bred in higher numbers last summer than at any point since they disappeared from the UK in the 16th century. At least 80 pairs of cranes were recorded in 2023, up from the previous high of 72 two years earlier.

It's great to see it's not all doom and gloom... 

More recently it has been boosted by a reintroduction project where hand-reared cranes were released on expanded wetlands in the Somerset Levels. Britain has drained, developed and destroyed more than 75% of its marshland but the recent restoration of some wetlands has helped the species recolonise Wales, Scotland and nature reserves across England, including in Lincolnshire.

For once, government spending on something worthwhile! Such a rare occurrence these days. 

Andrew Stanbury, an RSPB conservation scientist, welcomed recent government announcements to spend £16m on rewetting peatlands and its Landscape Recovery Fund second round, which supports net zero goals such as restoring marshland. Wetlands are effective carbon stores, as well as reservoirs of disappearing biodiversity.

Even the ridiculous Net Zero scam can occasionally prove useful. 

If You Didn't Already Suspect This...

...well, you know what they say about a fool and their money, don't you?

Foodbank charity The Trussell Trust has been accused of misleading donors after it emerged more than 90 per cent of the money it distributes goes on non-food items – including diversity courses, debt counsellors and advisers who help people claim state benefits.

And it's even worse than that, because the donations are probably better spent there than on tins of baked beans anyway!

...it was facing a backlash last night after it emerged the charity spent £18.6 million of donations on ‘financial inclusion’, employing professional benefits advisers and debt counsellors.

What's that old adage again about giving a man a fish vs teaching him how to? 

And if you insist on providing food instead, then, Reader, every supermarket these days has a donation bin for your gifting convenience. Use them instead.

You'd Have To Be Intoxicated...

...to kick the end with the teeth: 

The British Transport Police spoke highly of PD Frankie's efforts on the night and took to Facebook to detail the events that took place.

The Facebook post reads: "Great work PD Frankie. Busy #NightShifts for PD Frankie.

"Firstly she detained a burglar hiding in #SouthLondon & last night when dealing with a violent male at #ManorPark, she was repeatedly kicked in the head. This didn't deter her and she swiftly dealt with him & he was subsequently arrested! #gofranks. 

"The suspect was arrested for causing unnecessary suffering under the #AnimalWelfareAct, in addition to a number of other offences."

Extra Bonio if the scum can't walk for six weeks! 

Wonder How Long This Will Last..?

The boss of the US media company Paramount has said he does not want to remove historic programmes from his new subscription streaming service because they no longer meet current expectations.

Bob Bakish, Paramount’s CEO, said his company had thousands of shows in its back catalogue. “By definition, you have some things that were made in a different time and reflect different sensibilities,” he said. “I don’t believe in censoring art that was made historically, that’s probably a mistake. It’s all on demand – you don’t have to watch anything you don’t want to.”

Probably not long, since he's just painted a big target on himself. But it's refreshing, isn't it? 

See What Can Be Done When You Try..?

It remains to be seen if the courts will ensure that this is matched with sentencing, but...isn't it nice to see policing done right for once?

H/T:PeeWee via email 

"O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!"

The High Court today issued a warrant for the arrest of a prominent solicitor after she failed to attend a hearing to answer allegations of contempt of court.

You'll never guess who it is...! 

The SRA, which earlier this month obtained an injunction to stop Khan ‘unlawfully’ acting as a lawyer through JFP, alleged Khan was in contempt of court by failing to comply with two High Court orders requiring her to deliver up client files.

Khan sought an adjournment of today’s committal hearing, claiming that she needed ‘emergency elective surgery’ – which Mr Justice Fancourt said was ‘a contradiction in terms’.

I get the feeling the judge is not disposed to give her the benefit of the doubt here... 

She also said that she needed legal representation, although the SRA’s barrister Rupert Allen said Khan had previously been ‘categorical’ in saying she could represent herself.

Heh!  

The judge said he had formed the view that ‘she will not voluntarily attend the court based on everything I have seen of her over the last month’. Fancourt said that the ‘only sensible option’ open to him was to issue a bench warrant, not backed for bail, to ‘have her arrested and brought to the court’. ‘It means she will be found and arrested and brought to the court,’ he added.

I bet every eye in every force is peeled, don't you, Reader? 

The court heard that the committal hearing may be heard on Friday, if Khan can be found and brought to the court.

Wow! Better order in another pantechnicon of popcorn... 

H/T: InspGadget via Twitter

"What Are You Rebelling Against...?"

"Well..."

The idea of naming wild plants wherever they go – which began in France – has gone viral, with people chalking and sharing their images on social media.

... 

Presseq told the Guardian: “I wanted to raise awareness of the presence, knowledge and respect of these wild plants on sidewalks. People who had never taken the time to observe these plants now tell me their view has changed. Schools have contacted me since to work with students on nature in the city.”

The concept of 'rebel botanists' gave me a chuckle, anyway. And of course, it's not confined to France. It's happening here:

One anonymous London tree name chalker said: “I’ll keep labelling as I go on my daily walks. I think it’s really tapped into where people are right now.

“Botanical chalking gives a quick blast of nature connection, as the words encourage you to look up and notice the tree above you, the leaves, the bark, the insects, the sky. And that’s all good for mental health. None of us can manage that much – living through a global pandemic is quite enough to be getting on with. But it’s brought me a great amount of joy.”

As has this article, frankly.

I'm Guessing He Won't Do It Again...

A criminal with a lengthy record spat at police officers who arrested him after he was spotted with a knife. Thomas Morgan threw the weapon away as he fled from police in Ilkeston.

When officers stepped in he fell to the floor and was injured, requiring hospital treatment.

But after he was treated the 25-year-old tried to escape again, only to be apprehended, reports Derbyshire Live.

'Apprehended' with extreme prejudice!

Joe Harvey, mitigating, said his client has a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia who on the day of the offences had carried the knife as he’d had some recent trouble in the community but “had no intention of using it”.

He said: “I had the pleasure of representing Mr Morgan at the police station and his face was a mess.

“A very significant amount of force was used against him and he was certainly dealt with very roughly by the police.”

*rummages*

Ah!

File Under 'Nobody Cares'...

The family of 21-year-old Jamal Mahmoud, who was stabbed to death at Pentonville prison, today hit out at authorities for “neglecting” him.

*rolls eyes*

The prisoner was jailed for six years and six months in July as one of two gang members sentenced after hiding a loaded Skorpion machine gun and ammunition in a garden in Enfield.

He was already serving five-and-a-half years in prison for a separate robbery.

Now that's chutzpah!

His sister Souzan, speaking on behalf of her mother Hawa, told ITV News: "For her to get a phone call that her son had died in prison is just devastating. "I blame the prison more than the actual person that done it. They owed him a duty of care and they just neglected him.

"She's worried about my other brother who is also in prison."

What a charming family!

His fiancée Melissa Modeste, an administrative assistant with whom he had a 10-month old son, last night joined a vigil organised by friends.

In an emotional post on Facebook, she wrote: “Sleep tight my darling Jamal. I miss you, I love you, forever and always.”

She added: “I miss you telling me you love me, I miss planning our future together. I miss you making plans for [our son], I miss us talking about having another baby in the future, I miss us planning to get our marriage registered. 

"All I have left is a couple of tops and your 50 pairs of trainers. My engagement ring will never leave my finger.” 

My heart of stone seems strangely unmoved...

You Say 'Failure'....

...but, I'm not so sure it's not a success!

The Somalian national, who slit his wheelchair-bound neighbour's throat in his Abotts Road flat, had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act less than a month before his death.

Mohamed, who had Type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease, died in the early hours of the morning on February 24 last year.

He was costing us a fortune...

It’s Like The Death Of An Old Friend…

A community-led street redesign project transforming the Becontree estate has reached its end after two years of consulting, planning and building.

Oh, that seems familiar – could it be…?

Yes. Yes, it can.

Provider of utterly useless ‘improvements’ that residents were apparently clamouring for, but in reality, weren't even aware were needed!

Who can forget the amateurish signs? And who can forget the star? And no, it DIDN’T come back!

Project coordinator Phillippa Banister, 29, led the scheme from the off, working with the public to find out what exactly was wanted from those living and working in the area.

And then ignoring it and providing exactly what the designers wanted…

But the project isn’t leaving the borough just yet, with the launch of a similar regeneration scheme already planned in Marks Gate.

Be afraid, Marks Gate. Be very afraid…

When Is A Property Developer Not A Property Developer..?

...well, I guess when it turns out that's not his main source of income:

Dad-of-one Afyon Saint-Hilaire, 22, was attacked by a gang after he was ambushed outside McDonald's in Old Bromley Road during a botched cannabis robbery plot on July 13 last year.

Prosecutor Dorian Lovell-Pank told the trial: "A number of young men met together for what was supposed to be a cannabis deal - but things were not quite what they seemed because some of the men had other ideas, namely to rob the dealers of their cannabis.

"In the course of the meeting things became violent and one of the dealers was stabbed in the lower part of his leg and one of his companions fired a shot at the others.

No loss to the world of 'property developing', I think...

Van 1, Thug 0

A teenager suffered serious injuries after being mown down by a van driver following a row in the street.

The 19-year-old was arguing with his girlfriend on Gatehope Drive, South Ockendon at about 2am this morning. The lad punched a nearby van in anger.

The van’s owner arrived and challenged the lad. Police believe the van owner then got in to his vehicle and ran the 19-year-old boy over before driving off.

The comment section is, predictably, full of his semi-literate friends & relatives outraged that anyone has the temerity to object to their property becoming the punching bag of yet another inarticulate youth unable to control his temper.

One even gives him ‘credit’ for punching the van rather than his girlfriend!

A Good News Story At Last!

A widow in her 80s today told of her shock after a burglar fleeing her back garden apparently broke his neck and died after being trapped under a fence.

The man, aged 34, was said by neighbours to have been “guillotined” as he crawled under a garden fence. A heavy wooden panel crashed down, snapping his neck and trapping him.

Gotta admit, I laughed…

Homeowner Ilonka Simon, 89, told the Standard she had disturbed the man after spotting him in the garden. She said: “I looked out the back window and there was this youngster standing there. I shouted ‘Oi! What are you doing?’

“He looked startled and tried to jump back over the fence, but he couldn’t make it.”

*chuckles*

The ‘Standard’ didn’t name him, but the ‘Mail’ went a bit further:

Local villain Stephen Pope, 34…

No doubt the grieving relatives will be complaining about that!

H/T: Ron Hughes via email

Top Marks To Tesco!

I mean, they shouldn't have pleased poverty, obviously. They should have simply said 'No. We aren't paying AGAIN for you to do the job you're already paid to do'...

Dozens of businesses in St James’s Street area of Brighton have signed up to the city’s Business Crime Reduction Partnership as a way to club together and reduce antisocial behaviour for the greater good.

But, despite its parent company making a profit of more than £1 billion a year, the local Tesco Express told community activists it could not afford the cost.

So...what would Tesco have got for their money?

Steve Parry, who sits on the St James’s Community Action Group Policing Working Group, wrote to the firm’s chief executive Philip Clarke. The letter in Mr Parry’s name said: “We have in Brighton and Hove, as in many other parts of the UK, a Business Crime Reduction Partnership that is extremely effective.

...

“As with most areas having similar demographics to ours we have a serious problem with shoplifting and associated antisocial behaviour, largely centred on drug and alcohol abuse.

“We are making progress but this is hindered by the lack of support from a very limited number of traders.

When information is shared between retailers within the BCRP it is most effective when used by all shops in the area. Unfortunately Tesco Express on St James’ Street is one of the few businesses declining to work with the local community and, worse of all, has stated that the reason for not joining the BCRP is one of cost (£8 + VAT per week).

And why should it cost anything to share information? What's the money they extort actually paying for? Is it so a better class of biscuit can be enjoyed at these BCRP meetings?

Shouldn't that be the thing raising the ire of 'local campaigners'?

Must...Work On...Keeping....STRAIGHT FACE!

*giggles helplessly*

Meanwhile, in other GlobalWarming news...

*rolls helplessly on floor*

Wow, Even The Nano-Violin Is Too Big For This One...

...and the 'Give-A-Fuck-Ometer' just exploded:

Twenty-nine single mums - all aged under 25 - are being evicted from a hostel and could be relocated hundreds of miles away after the mother and baby unit was closed following funding cuts.

Oh noes! *fetches tissues*

Since the women received a letter last month stating they had to leave by October 20, housing organisation East Thames has offered them new accommodation as far away as Manchester, Birmingham and Hastings.

Oh, right. Not exactly Outer Mongolia, then?

The majority of the young mothers grew up in Newham and are reluctant to leave their friends and family. Jasmine Spone, 19, was staying on friends’ couches until she moved in 15 months ago when her daughter Safia was born.

She said: “We want our children to grow up around our families. I’m 19 and I have a baby and we both need support.”

Well, tough! You should have thought about that before you saddled the taxpayer with another mouth to feed, shouldn't you?

Another, Javea Samuel, 22, mum to three-year-son Jofiah, fears she will have to drop out of college if she is forced to move away.

“I can’t move outside of London. I’m trying to make a life for my son and get myself off benefits,” she said.

They do have colleges (and jobs!) in Manchester, Birmingham and Hastings, you know...

I'm Not Entirely Sure That Lord Tebbit Would Approve...

...but good on you, Mr Asher:

You may be more used to seeing him flying from building to building in Hollywood blockbusters. But Spider-Man will now be hitting the streets of Witney.

No. Not really:

He won’t be fighting the Green Goblin or Venom but will instead be ridding Witney homes of eight-legged creatures.

Hmmm. There's clearly a lot of this about*...

Richard Asher is taking up the role of professional spider catcher, in the guise of the Marvel Comics character.

Mr Asher has not been bitten by a radioactive spider like the comic character Peter Parker – but he got the idea for his off-beat new job by a joke in the pub one night.

Well, isn't that where the best ideas come from?

The 34-year-old said: “I am always catching spiders in my house and have always been the one that people come to get rid of them. So my friend said in the pub one night that I should take it up as a career.

“Most people forget about things like that but I took it as more of a challenge and I ordered the costume.”

My admiration grows!

Mr Asher, originally from South Africa, said he was hoping to make a business from the “skill”. He said: “I work in a factory and the Teddy Bears of Witney shop but it doesn’t always make ends meet.“

He has two jobs already and wants another one? Why can't our latest generation with all their GCSEs think like this?

Mr Asher, who lives in Woodstock Road, Witney, said he will be on call 24/7.

“I only have a bike to get around on, so I won’t be able to go too far and not outside of Witney, but people can call me when they are in need.”

If you need Spider-Man, call 07986 369246.

Sadly, I don't live close enough, and since getting two Siamese killers I haven't even seen a spider in the house this autumn, but I wish you well, Mr Asher...

H/T: Jim Watford via Twitter