There’s always a mixture of frustration and glee when mainstream media miss the blindingly obvious, leaving a lowly blogger like me to point it out. Most have focussed on Andy Coulson’s lack of security clearance and BSkyB shares – granted, both important issues. ”No killer blow” have declared BBC correspondents, Sky reporters, journalists, politicos and other assorted lotophagi reviewing the Coulson evidence.
Posted in Politics
We’ve all become used to David Cameron’s standard patronising response to women in the House of Commons; “Calm down, dear”.
He hit a new low today, When Dennis Skinner, at 80 years old a veteran of the House, asked why Jeremy Hunt, the Culture Secretary, enjoyed better employment rights than the rest of the workers in Britain, and suggested that it was so Cameron could use Hunt to shield himself from criticism, Cameron could have just said that the suggestion was rubbish. It wouldn’t have been a good answer, and he would have been criticised for not answering properly. What he actually said was worse though: ”Well, the honourable gentleman has the right, at any time, to take his pension and I advise him to do so.” In other words, “You’re old, so I’m not going to bother with you!”
It’s no great surprise that Cameron is happy to make disparaging remarks about old people. He is, after all, prepared to rob them to pay his banker friends. Nor is it the first time he’s picked on Skinner, saying in January, ”I often say to my children ‘No need to go to the Natural History Museum to see a dinosaur, come to the House of Commons at about half past twelve’.”
Dennis Skinner has a thick skin, and shrugs off these insults. In a way, when his opponent resorts to such tactics, it’s a victory for him. Cameron should realise, however, that his intended target is not the only one who might take his comments amiss.
Elderly people, take note of what the Prime Minister thinks of you.
“Wish you were here?” Some of Ched Evans’ supporters could find themselves behind bars too.
Ched Evans will have his appeal, and it’s possible he will win, but the activity of some of his supporters has been appalling, even if he is acquitted.
I can understand his family and friends standing by him, but the “#justiceforched” hashtag on Twitter has, whether or not it was originally intended, been an attempt to subvert justice by intimidation, chiefly of the victim. Some idiots even posted links to Facebook and Twitter profiles of someone with the same surname, asking whether that person was related to “the slut”.
Evans’ appeal might consist of an examination of the transcript of the trial, or it could be a full rehearing, in which case naming the victim is an even more serious matter.
One or two people have said that they aren’t bothered by the prospect of prosecution, because they’ve heard that it’s “only a £5000 fine, which I haven’t got, so good luck with that”.
Well yes, that’s probably true, if the charge is just for revealing the victim’s name. (That’s leaving aside the possible escalation of charges for failure to pay the fine.)
However, one person has already been arrested for “malicious communication” and, as far as I can ascertain, he isn’t the worst culprit. Malicious communication can be punished with imprisonment, in most cases 6 months, in the case of a sustained attack, 5 years.
I have been very careful to remove the victim’s name from any screenshots, as well as other names that might help to trace hers, It’s probably too late, but it’s still a criminal offence and besides, it’s just plain wrong. Others, including Sky News, have not been as careful, and may face prosecution.
It is those who heaped abuse on the victim, calling her such things as “slut” and “slag”, as well as deliberately and repeatedly using her name, who should be most worried.
Update 1st May: Nine more arrests.
Update 9th May: The plot thickens.
Victims of rape and sexual assault are guaranteed anonymity for life. Some crybabies on Twitter, using the hashtag ”#JusticeForChed“, upset that footballer Ched Evans was convicted of rape, decided for themselves to remove that anonymity. No doubt they’ll be even more upset when the police come to arrest them.
This is just one example of the venom directed at the victim (I’ve obscured the names, though it’s probably too late):
I don’t know why Evans’ conviction upsets them so much. Some are probably fans, others may well think that rape victims deserve whatever they get. They say Evans’ victim is “well known for sleeping around”. I don’t know if that’s even true, but if it is, so what? Who she has sex with is still her choice.
There are certainly some women who cry rape when no crime has been committed. If there weren’t there wouldn’t be a need for trials. One of the reasons for a false accusation is financial gain, either directly from the alleged rapist in the form of blackmail, or from selling the story to the media. Neither of these scenarios seems to apply in Evans’ case, yet his supporters are keen to label his victim a “money-grabbing slag”. If she does sell her story, and it’s not a response to being named and humiliated against her will, then they’ll have a valid argument. Unless that happens, they’re just being abusive, not just to the woman in this case, but to all rape victims.
Edited to add: As for the word slag, being bandied about on Twitter, as MarkC reminds me in the comments below, “There would never be any circumstance in which someone using this term of abuse would ever have a valid argument, since it is based on a false and misogynist premise.”
Evans may appeal against his conviction, and it’s possible he’ll win his appeal, but if he does it doesn’t change the fact that many of his supporters are appalling misogynists. What’s even sadder is that that includes many women.
Posted in Politics
Tagged #JusticeForChed, Ched Evans, Clayton McDonald, misogynist, Rape
Yesterday, Melanie Sykes, on the television programme “This Morning“, said that her experience was that vaccinations brought about (or accelerated) her son’s autism, and, in almost the same breath, that she wasn’t claiming a link between vaccinations and autism. If she is so woolly headed about the issue, perhaps she shouldn’t have mentioned vaccinations at all, especially as that supposed link has been thouroughly debunked.
A few people tried to educate Ms Sykes, and these were her considered responses:
Any hint or insinuation that vaccinations are dangerous or harmful can discourage concerned parents from having their children vaccinated. When those insinuations are made by people in the public eye, the effect is magnified. While there vaccination poses a tiny risk for a minority of children, the consequences of not vaccinating are far worse. Not everyone can be vaccinated, but the grounds for that should be purely medical, such as a family history of dangerous allergies. If parents decide against vaccination merely based on rumours, their children are put at greater risk. Others cannot be vaccinated yet, because they’re too young (or haven’t yet been born). That’s where herd immunity comes in. It’s not a difficult concept. Even the most vacuous z-list celebrity should be able to grasp that the greater number of people in a population who are susceptible to a disease, the more risk there is for those who cannot be vaccinated.
So those parents who don’t get their kids vaccinated without a sound medical reason are selfishly putting others at risk, along with their own progeny.
- Measles is one of the leading causes of death among young children even though a safe and cost-effective vaccine is available.
- In 2008, there were 164 000 measles deaths globally – nearly 450 deaths every day or 18 deaths every hour.
- More than 95% of measles deaths occur in low-income countries with weak health infrastructures.
- Measles vaccination resulted in a 78% drop in measles deaths between 2000 and 2008 worldwide.
- In 2010, about 85% of the world’s children received one dose of measles vaccine by their first birthday through routine health services – up from 72% in 2000.
Mumps is an acute disease of children and young adults, caused by a paramyxovirus of which there is only a single serotype. Mumps virus produces no symptoms in about one-third of infected people. In those with a clinical response, glandular and nerve tissue are most often affected. The most common signs are fever and swelling of the parotid glands. Other complications, which may appear simultaneously with these signs or in any sequence, are epididymo-orchitis, meningo-encephalitis, cranial nerve involvement (especially eighth cranial nerve damage leading to hearing impairment), pancreatitis, oophoritis, mastitis and myocarditis. Frequent viruria and abnormal renal function suggest that mumps virus may infect the kidneys. In some instances, one or more of the other implications may be present in the absence of parotitis.
Rubella is an infection that is usually mild when experienced in childhood, but it can often lead to serious and sometimes fatal complications in the fetus when an unprotected woman acquires the infection early in pregnancy (congenital rubella infection)
That was from a cursory search using Google. There is much, much more, and a great deal more detail, if Melanie Sykes can be bothered to look for the facts.
Posted in Science
Tagged anti-vaccers, autism, Measles, Melanie Sykes, Mumps, Vaccination
It has become a tradition in Britain for political parties to accuse the BBC of bias whenever they are put under the pressure of scrutiny. It rarely turns out to be true, if ever, but today I, and many other people, noticed something that seems to give the idea some credibility.
It was a story about a protest in London against welfare cuts for disabled people. The Guardian’s website had the headline “Disability rights protesters bring Trafalgar Square traffic to a standstill“.
It would be inconceivable that the Beeb wouldn’t cover the story, wouldn’t it? Surely they’d lead with it, since it was in the capital. If a sparrow farts in London, it’s a more important story than anything that happens elsewhere.
I watched the BBC news, and I searched the BBC news website. Not a whisper.
Could it be that the BBC’s IT partners would be upset if the story broke? They are the ones who are being paid exorbitant amounts of money to make those welfare cuts, after all.
Edit: Thanks to the commenter “IfIMay” for the link to the BBC’s NewsWatch. If you feel strongly about this issue, please add your voice. Try and be polite though, as difficult as that may be!
ebbie Jolly (victimsofatoscorruption.wordpress.com)Posted in Politics
Tagged BBC, Disability, Atos, London, Trafalgar Square, dpac, protests
I’m embarrassed to say that I’ve arrived late to this party. If Bexley Council have their way, the party is, in fact, over and all that is left to do is to empty the ashtrays and clear up any broken glasses.
They must fervently hope that one of those broken glasses is a blogger known as Sir Olly, who is one of many who write about the misdeeds and corruption that seems rife in Bexley Council.
Sir Olly is facing a custodial sentence after being found guilty on Friday of…well, I’m not entirely sure. Bexley Council introduced so much bullshit into the case, including demonstrable lies, such as accusing Olly of harassment through his non-existent posts on another blog, Bexley is Bonkers, that it’s difficult to see what legal case they had. They were certainly upset about the criticism they received, including one of them being called a cunt, but that word has long ago lost its sting, at least legally.
Another councillor’s house was photographed, and the picture published, leading to the accusation that Olly had put the councillor and his family at risk, but his address was already a matter of public record and nobody would have known it was his house unless they already knew his address.
What the entire case seems to boil down to is that Bexley Council think they have some sort of “divine right” to rule their subjects, without any fear of being brought to account for their actions. It didn’t even seem to matter to them that much whether he was found guilty, so long as he was punished, as this letter, taken from Olly’s website, ably demonstrates:
What a bunch of cunts.
Posted in Politics
Tagged #freethebexleyone, Bexley, Bexley Council, corrupt politicians, government, London Borough of Bexley
