Of Course You Did, Because Empty Gestures Are Your Raison d’etre ...

The BBC is 'celebrating' the smoking ban, because of course it is...

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... 

Due diligence

Yes, I'm even questioning what "due diligence" involves. Yesterday, a post appeared on X by one JFK Jr who died in a plane crash in 1999. So ... obviously someone is using it as a pseudonym.  However, the information, if true, would be regarded as high grade.

Today, there's another up by "him" on Obama's soc-sec number.  Yes, an Assange type could access it but so could someone inside a letter agency.  In a similar way, a lady who seems to have been abused in an organised way in the 60s and 70s got her story out with the help of a Ted Gunderson, whom deep divers discovered was agency himself.

Throughout all these shenanigans, certain names, apart from corrupt pollies, started to come out.  One such name was Sid Gottlieb, a nasty piece of work, psychologist, who conducted experiments on humans, e.g. using LSD.  There was another called Jolyon West, another Ewen Cameron ... and so it went.

Cut to today and an item by names known as medical writers online:

https://www.reseaprojournals.com/journals/cardiovascular-research/archive/myocarditis-after-sars-cov-2-infection-and-covid-19-vaccination-epidemiology-outcomes-and-new-perspectives

https://x.com/P_McCulloughMD/status/2036782064955961616?s=20

What connection is there between PMcC and those back in the 60s/70s? None as far as I can glean ... until one looks at X's peculiar arrangement of quotes and comments. In short, he was quoting this company:

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?
?

Consequences

First off ... in 1984/5, Yuri Bezmenov, Soviet defector, gave an interview on "demoralisation" of a society, the word used in a broad sense, from loss of moral compass to a feeling of helplessness down the track.

He said that producing such a result in a society was the result of long planning and it crosses generations, to the point that once the disease gets into families, schools, media, entertainment, the judiciary, medicine ... there's no coming back.

He added that people reach a point, esp. on the Left, where they can be presented with "authentic information" and those people are then unable to reason, to draw valid conclusions, to see that their behaviour has consequences.

Contrived, handed down non-reality, disguised as wisdom, or in other words ... narrative ... replaces real reasoning, mental health plummets and behaviour involves deep depression at core level, interspersed with lashing out.

One consequence for this girl below was set in motion long before the actual incident.  For a start, what on earth was she even doing on her own?  Part of the answer appears further down here.  She simply had not adjusted to new societal realities. Just as with Iryna on that subway train. No concept of danger whatever.  But much "independent, strong woman" about it ... cue disaster in 2025/6.

Or this:

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? 

Nationhood has its advantages you know

Not sure any true thinker wishes for a return to wartorn Europe ... and communism was sold to Brits, for example, in 1975, along those grounds ... all in the market together, old grievances forgotten. The fact that this was a Bro on Bro war, at least at the start, did not register in the mind of Common Man.

Throw in "love everyone, hug a tree" feminazism and "don't you oppress us, we're as good as any man, better in fact" ... that was a very corrosive, addictive fiction for the modern gal.

The real aim was, under the guise of global sisterhood of man ... to split, play on deep resentments like wormtongues, to destroy real history and substitute unreality for reality ... we see it out there all around in 2026.

Add western infertility, emasculation, full term and beyond abortion, kill the elderly medical centres, the creation of the new manly woman ... and add the invasion of the neanderthals to cap it off ... armed ... and the direction is clear enough.

There are some things which are good about nations ... esp. western culture as it was at ground level, built on Christendom in its ethical and moral values, minus theocrats in pointy hats and high ritual, combined with enlightened ideas of classical liberalism.  Never mind the practicability ... the nation was a useful bulwark against the hordes out there, now within.

Nationhood has another advantage in 2026 ... escape from tyranny ... Guido illustrates this below, sent by one of our core readers:

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? 

Of Lords, Senators and blog platforms

Going to open with this.

Samantha Smith the rape gang victim, on X, has listed these creatures below:

"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)"

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:

There's A World Of Difference Between The Two, Though...

Four decades ago, my parents were Cambodian refugees. As high school students, they were thrown into one of the darkest chapters of humanity’s history, surviving nearly five years in forced labour camps under the Khmer Rouge genocide. An estimated 2.7 million of my kin perished during that time. Fortunately for my family, they were accepted under Australia’s humanitarian program and arrived in Australia on 26 January, a date heavy with complexity for Australian identity, and our refugee story became another layer within it.

The 'Guardian' appears to have managed to pick a solid, genuine refugee for a change, astonishingly enough. I wonder why? 

Volunteers from around the world stepped into the chaos where states, borders and institutions had failed. Among them were nurses from the US who gave their time, skill and care in conditions few would willingly choose. One nurse, in particular, took my parents under her wing. She helped them navigate medical checks, paperwork, survival and dignity. She cared for them, and for me, as if we were her own family. She was from Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Ah, I see why now. 

Four decades later, another Minnesotan nurse would lose his life supporting migrants in distress. Alex Pretti was shot by ICE agents and made the ultimate sacrifice in service to others.

No, made it to an ideology pretty much the same as that your parents once fled from. 

I watched this unfold on the news in horror, sitting side by side in front of the television with the nurse who had saved my family’s life. Sandra Evenson, a humble Minnesotan nurse...

And drawing some sort of parallel, erroneously. 

We are living through a time when migrants and refugees are increasingly dehumanised, politicised and reduced to slogans. In the US, aggressive ICE raids, including in Minnesota, have torn families apart in the name of enforcement and spectacle. Fear has become a tool of governance. In Australia, far-right groups are undermining the very fabric of our social and economic success, and one of the cornerstones of our regional security: multiculturalism.

Who are these dreamers, these creators of obvious fiction in service to a failed ideology? 

Rathana Chea is CEO of the Multicultural Leadership Initiative and co-CEO of global social impact consultancy The Rathana Group, co-chair of Asian Australians for Climate Solutions and on the board of New York-based Mobilisation Lab

Oh. Of course.