Saturday, 28 March 2026
Some stats and lists
Friday, 27 March 2026
Of Course You Did, Because Empty Gestures Are Your Raison d’etre ...
Kerr is back at the Calderwood Inn in East Kilbride - a place of special significance not just because it's where he met his wife. It was in this cosy South Lanarkshire pub on the morning of 26 March 2006 that he officially launched the smoking ban.
"Sadly I had to drink an orange juice because the press were here," Kerr tells BBC Scotland News.
Because the press would be utterly astonished by an MP who drinks and folled by a glass of orange juice...
Thursday, 26 March 2026
Due diligence
Wednesday, 25 March 2026
Why Don't People Want To Raise Their Own Children?
It was all going well. Charlotte, five, was chatting with an AI soft toy called Gabbo at a London play centre about her family, her drawing of a heart to represent them and what makes her happy. She even offered a couple of kisses to the £80 toy with a face like a computer screen. It was when she declared: “Gabbo, I love you”, that the fluent conversation came to an abrupt halt. “As a friendly reminder, please ensure interactions adhere to the guidelines provided,” said Gabbo, awkwardly crashing into its guardrails. “Let me know how you would like to proceed.”
All the warmth and compassion of a speak your weight machine, or indeed, our current Prime Minister. So, mums and dads, how about instead of letting Alexa-in-a-teddy raise your child, how about doing it the old fashioned way?
The moment came during a University of Cambridge study into the growing number of AI-powered toys hitting shop shelves for early years children.
It's not all parents plonking their kiddy in front of a machine - some outsource it to a third party to do it instead:
The developmental psychologists behind the study are calling for AI toys that “talk” with young children to be more tightly regulated “to ensure psychological safety by limiting toys’ ability to affirm friendship and other sensitive relational areas with young children”.“Because these toys can misread emotions or respond inappropriately, children may be left without comfort from the toy, and without emotional support from an adult, either,” said Dr Emily Goodacre, a developmental psychologist in the University of Cambridge’s faculty of education.
Whether you#re farming your kiddies out to 'early learning resources' or AI - enabled toys, I feel I must ask, as someone who has never wanted children, why did you even have them in the first place?
?
Tuesday, 24 March 2026
Consequences
Monday, 23 March 2026
Maybe Campaign To Stop Disease Reaching Our Shores Then?
The father of an 18-year-old school pupil who died after the meningitis outbreak in Kent said his family’s devastation is “immeasurable” as he called for better protection for young people.
What sort of protection?
Along with the Meningitis Research Foundation, Kenny and his family are calling for the UK to take urgent action to improve access to the MenB vaccination for teenagers and young people.“Juliette’s impact on this world must be lasting change. Now is the time to ensure families are safe from the impact of meningitis B.”
Well, I don't suppose you'll be clamoring to halt the importation of people from the parts of the world where its most prevalent, then?
Saturday, 21 March 2026
Nationhood has its advantages you know
Friday, 20 March 2026
A Very Convenient Illness
The prominent Swiss academic and Islam scholar Tariq Ramadan has not appeared in court for the first day of his trial in Paris on charges of raping three women in France between 2009 and 2016.The head judge in the case adjourned proceedings until Wednesday and ordered a medical report on Ramadan’s health, after his lawyers said he was in hospital in Geneva because of his multiple sclerosis.
How very convenient.
Ramadan, who advised previous British governments on Islam and society, denies all the charges in a case that has been seen as one of the biggest repercussions of the #MeToo movement in France.Ramadan, 63, was a professor of contemporary Islamic studies at the University of Oxford before taking a leave of absence in 2017 when rape allegations were first made against him. He took early retirement from Oxford in June 2021.
It's always the ones you least suspect, isn't it?
Henda Ayari, 41, a former Salafist Muslim who is now a feminist campaigner, went to the police in 2017 to accuse Ramadan of rape, sexual violence, harassment and intimidation. She said he had raped her in a hotel room in the east of Paris in the spring of 2012 during a conference where he was speaking.Another woman, known by the pseudonym Christelle, told investigators Ramadan had raped her in a Lyon hotel room in October 2009 during another conference and subjected her to a violent attack. A third woman said Ramadan had raped her in 2016.
At the start of the investigation in 2017, Ramadan, who is married with four children, denied any form of sexual encounter with the first two women. In 2018, he changed his account, telling investigating judges that he did have sexual relations with Ayari and Christelle, but that they had sought the encounters and fully consented to the “dominant-submissive” relationship.
Bang to rights. Is he going to plead Taqyia?
In 2024, a Swiss appeals court found Ramadan guilty of raping a woman in a Geneva hotel in 2008 and sentenced him to three years in prison, two of them suspended. Switzerland’s highest court upheld the conviction in a ruling last year. Ramadan’s Swiss legal team announced they would take the case to the European court of human rights.
Why do human rights apply to those who don't believe in them?
Thursday, 19 March 2026
Of Lords, Senators and blog platforms
"These are the 185 Lords who just voted to legalise DIY abortions up to the point of BIRTH. They deserve to be named and shamed. Never forget their betrayal. Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat) Lord Adebowale (Crossbench) Baroness Alexander (Labour) Lord Alli (Labour) Baroness Anderson (Labour) Baroness Andrews (Labour) Baroness Armstrong (Labour) Lord Babudu (Labour) Lord Bach (Labour) Lord Barber (Labour) Lord Barber (Labour) Baroness Barker (Liberal Democrat) Lord Bassam (Labour) Baroness Bennett (Green Party) Baroness Berger (Labour) Baroness Bi (Labour) Baroness Blackstone (Labour) Baroness Blake (Labour) Baroness Bousted (Labour) Baroness Boycott (Crossbench) Lord Brennan (Labour) Baroness Brinton (Liberal Democrat) Baroness Brown (Labour) Lord Bruce (Liberal Democrat) Baroness Bull (Crossbench) Baroness Caine (Labour) Baroness Carberry (Labour) Lord Carlile (Crossbench) Lord Cashman (Non-affiliated) Baroness Chakrabarti (Labour) Viscount Chandos (Labour) Baroness Chapman (Labour) Lord Clark (Labour) Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat) Lord Coaker (Labour) Lord Collins (Labour) Baroness Crawley (Labour) Baroness Curran (Labour) Baroness D’Souza (Crossbench) Baroness Dacres (Labour) Lord Davidson (Labour) Lord de Clifford (Crossbench) Baroness Debbonaire (Labour) Baroness Deech (Crossbench) Lord Dixon (Liberal Democrat) Baroness Donaghy (Labour) Baroness Doocey (Liberal Democrat) Baroness Drake (Labour) Lord Dubs (Labour) Lord Duvall (Labour) Lord Eatwell (Labour) Baroness Elliott (Labour) Lord Evans (Labour) Lord Falconer (Labour) Lord Faulkner (Labour) Lord Forbes (Labour) Lord Foulkes (Labour) Baroness Fox (Non-affiliated) Lord Fox (Liberal Democrat) Baroness Freeman (Crossbench) Baroness Gerada (Crossbench) Baroness Gill (Labour) Lord Goddard (Liberal Democrat) Baroness Gohir (Crossbench) Baroness Goudie (Labour) Baroness Grender (Liberal Democrat) Baroness Griffin (Labour) Lord Hain (Labour) Baroness Hamwee (Liberal Democrat) Lord Hannay (Crossbench) Lord Hannett (Labour) Lord Hanson (Labour) Viscount Hanworth (Labour) Baroness Harding (Conservative) Baroness Harman (Labour) Lord Harris (Labour) Baroness Hayman (Labour) Baroness Hayman (Crossbench) Baroness Hazarika (Labour) Baroness Healy (Labour) Baroness Helic (Conservative) Lord Hendy (Labour) Lord Hermer (Labour) Baroness Hodge (Labour) Baroness Humphreys (Liberal Democrat) Baroness Hunt (Crossbench) Lord Hunt (Labour) Baroness Hunter (Labour) Baroness Hussein-Ece (Liberal Democrat) Baroness Hyde (Labour) Baroness Janke (Liberal Democrat) Lord John (Labour) Baroness Jones (Green Party) Baroness Jones (Labour) Lord Katz (Labour) Baroness Keeley (Labour) Lord Kennedy (Labour) Baroness Kidron (Crossbench) Baroness Kingsmill (Labour) Lord Kinnock (Labour) Lord Knight (Labour) Baroness Kramer (Liberal Democrat) Baroness Leaman (Liberal Democrat) Lord Leong (Labour) Baroness Levitt (Labour) Lord Liddle (Labour) Baroness Lister (Labour) Lord Macdonald (Crossbench) Baroness MacLeod (Labour) Lord Macpherson (Crossbench) Baroness Mallalieu (Labour) Lord Mann (Labour) Baroness Martin (Labour) Baroness Mattinson (Labour) Lord McCabe (Labour) Lord McNicol (Labour) Baroness Merron (Labour) Baroness Miller (Liberal Democrat) Lord Mitchell (Labour) Lord Mohammed (Liberal Democrat) Lord Moraes (Labour) Baroness Morgan (Labour) Baroness Morris (Labour) Lord Mott (Conservative) Lord Nagaraju (Labour) Baroness Nargund (Labour) Baroness Neate (Crossbench) Lord Newby (Liberal Democrat) Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat) Baroness O’Grady (Labour) Lord Pack (Liberal Democrat) Lord Paddick (Non-affiliated) Lord Pannick (Crossbench) Lord Patel (Crossbench) Baroness Paul (Labour) Baroness Penn (Conservative) Baroness Pinnock (Liberal Democrat) Lord Pitkeathley (Labour) Baroness Pitkeathley (Labour) Lord Pitt-Watson (Labour) Lord Prentis (Labour) Baroness Primarolo (Labour) Baroness Rafferty (Labour) Baroness Ramsey (Labour) Baroness Rebuck (Labour) Lord Redesdale (Non-affiliated)"
Tuesday, 17 March 2026
The rotting corpse of the CofE not fit for purpose
Update as of 8 a.m. (the post was written in the middle of the night): that cow (excuse my French) is going to be there after all in the Lords it seems, but not the two clown bishops. Possibly the weather for Damn Sarah looked like being inclement, who knows, for Canterbury "pilgrimage".
......
An Oxford doctor, Calum Miller, writes:
Have received word that the Bishops of Winchester and Norwich are not attending Parliament to vote against ABORTION UP TO BIRTH due to unspecified "diary commitments".
Let's go back to yesterday and recap:
And so the clergy and laity started piling on:







