Why Is Science Bowing To Superstition?

'We know very little, practically nothing' about the creatures, Hannah Hendriks, marine technical adviser for the Department of Conservation, said. 'This is going to lead to some amazing science and world-first information.'

If the cetacean is confirmed to be the elusive spade-toothed whale, it would be the first specimen found in a state that would permit scientists to dissect it, allowing them to map the relationship of the whale to the few others of the species found, learn what it eats and perhaps lead to clues about where they live.

Some good news on the science front, at la...

Oh. Wait.  

This time, the beached whale was quickly transported to cold storage and researchers will work with local Maori iwi (tribes) to plan how it will be examined, the conservation agency said. New Zealand's Indigenous people consider whales a taonga - a sacred treasure - of cultural significance.

/facepalm 

In April, Pacific Indigenous leaders signed a treaty recognizing whales as 'legal persons,' although such a declaration is not reflected in the laws of participating nations.

Then why on earth is anyone consulting them on anything? What can they usefully add to this debate?  

Nothing is currently known about the whales' habitat.

And if science bows to superstition, we never will... 

Superstitious Savages...

...and the people who should know better than to pander to them:

The Great North Museum (GNM) in Newcastle has come under fire for refusing to loan certain pieces for display purposes in case they are seen by females.

Female staff working at the museum may also be prevented from handling certain artefacts, such as secret-sacred Australian Aboriginal objects, in case this offends the culture from which they originated.

Anyone remember that scene in 'Crocodile Dundee' when the aboriginal man uses a cellphone to contact Mick Dundee, who has tried to contact him using a bullroarer? I couldn't help but think of it reading this, and wondering if they think some tribal elder is Googling 'Newcastle' right now... 

But the move has sparked fury among Newcastle residents, who branded it 'PC gone mad' and accused the museum of not maintaining 'our cultural standard' of treating men and women equally. Others claimed it was 'hypocritical' of the museum to enforce such measures seeing as they 'shouldn't have these items in the first place'.

Good point, outraged Geordies! The museum itself is pooh-poohing the very idea! 

A Tyne & Wear Archives and Museums spokesperson said: 'Like many museums in the UK, the Great North Museum: Hancock cares for objects in its collections that are sensitive in nature. These include sacred and non-sacred objects from countries and communities around the world.

'To ensure that we manage these collections legally and ethically, several policies govern our work, including our Sacred Objects policy. This policy has been publicly accessible on the Museum website since 2018.

'We work in accordance with this policy on a case-by-case basis. However, no items have been removed from display, nor are any planned to be removed, and we have not been approached by any museums, institutions, or cultural groups about borrowing or viewing sacred objects. Therefore, no action has been taken whatsoever.'

Always the safest course of (no)action, eh?  

I'm Really Glad To Hear It, Ehwi...

Ehwi, who lives with his wife and young daughter in Cambridge, sends money to Ghana, and is facing the squeeze. His monthly electricity bill has more than doubled, and he has had to limit the amount he spends on “luxuries” such as taking his wife out to eat.

“The frequency I’m sending money home is increasing because the economic situation in Ghana is worse than the UK … [but] I’ve received practically nothing to help deal with the cost of living here.”

Because why should they, if you have enough excess cash to send it to people abroad, rather than spending it in this country? 

“Sending money home is something I have to do, it’s not an ‘I would like to do this,’” says Toyin Oshinowo. A project manager who moved to the UK from Nigeria when she was one, Oshinowo, 42, remits money between her “two homes” to support friends and family and pay bills in Nigeria.

One year old. And as soon as she starts earning, she's expected to support moochers abroad. Christ, what a 'culture'... 

Those flows of money are hugely important for developing economies, vastly outweighing foreign aid sent by governments.

Let's stop all foreign aid then! It clearly isn't needed. 

"You were teenagers in Gloucestershire, but you spoke in the patois of urban gangsters..."

It's becoming a sadly familiar tale...

After the guilty verdict, Josh's family called on lessons to be learnt to avoid similar tragedies.

But lessons about what went wrong are likely to be far harder to elaborate and spread than simply 'it's social media won dun it!'... 

They said: 'We feel all parents need to learn an urgent and desperate lesson to take closer notice and involvement in the lives of their young people, in particular on social media.

'Similarly far too many lives are being destroyed by knives, with social media an aggravating factor.'

Social media is, however, just the medium by which these animals communicate with each other; it's not the cause. That's something far deeper, and harder to reach.  

'Parents and communities cannot rely on the authorities to provide a moral education to their children.'

Sadly, for far too many, it's too late. They have relied on this, for far too long. And a generation of nihilistic killers has been born.  

Maybe The Fact Their 'Significant Relationships' Aren't With Parents Is The Issue..?

Former footballer Ian Wright has lamented cuts to youth centres and linked them to “lives being wasted” as he discussed an Arsenal-backed anti-knife crime campaign he is fronting alongside Idris Elba.

*sighs* Here we go again. Why are 'youth clubs' regarded as a key to stopping (mostly) black youths from acting like animals? 

Wright and Elba said one of its aims was to increase spaces for young people which may offer an alternative to gang violence.

Speaking to ITV, the former Arsenal striker said he had been “lucky” when he was growing up to have access to youth workers and “people who were looking out for me”.

You mean, your parents and relatives weren't..? 

“When you look at the last 10 years, 750 youth centres closed down, 4,500 people out of work, youth workers, people you build relationships with, people who know you, and then when you look at the lives that are being wasted… this campaign is about… inspiration and action.”

No, this campaign is about avoiding the elephant in the room. And it's clearly a Loxodonta africana. I don't see a rise in knife crime among young Chinese or Thai youth. 

The campaign was praised by Home Secretary Priti Patel, who described it as “hugely powerful” while Mayor of London Sadiq Khan also backed the drive.

That's all you need to know how effective it'll be, isn't it? 

Deliberately Misrepresenting The Issue

Finn Mackay is the author of Female Masculinities and the Gender Wars and is a senior lecturer in sociology. And the 'Guardian' wheels him out to lecture us all on what's really going on with gender wars::

The UK’s national LGBTQ+ charity, Stonewall, has recently been accused of advocating for trans rights.

Who cares if it 'advocates for trans rights' (although it's hard to see what rights they don't already have)? 

No-one. It's the fact they are encouraging those rights to trump those of others that's the issue, and well you know it.

In 2017, the then prime minister Theresa May promised that these reforms would be carried out, and at a Pink News awards event assured the audience that the Conservative government did not see being trans as a mental illness, and the process of acquiring a GRC would be simplified.

It'd be easier to understand them 'not seeing it as a mental illness' if the most vocal advocates weren't clearly utterly deranged, wouldn't it? 

...due to misunderstandings of what these proposals would mean in practice, these concerns grew.

No, it wasn't 'misunderstandings' at all. It was the utter lunacy of cases like this one.  

The current gender wars are not a fight against the binary roles that constrict our society, instead this particular manifestation of the culture wars is a battle against trans women in particular.

No, it's not. And I expect most trans women - like most gays and lesbians when Stonewall was ortiginally founded - want nothing more than to be left alone to live their lives. 

As always, it's the spokepersons for this 'cause' who are intent on pushing and pushing because it's validating their own warped worldview. And giving them something to do.  

It seems as if the Conservative government has purposely fuelled and exacerbated the gender wars in order to consolidate its base.

Really? You think this is a Conservative government that panders to its base? That even knows what its base is...?

This debate may remain contentious for some time, but any lesbian, gay or bisexual person, in particular, supporting the current war on trans people, should remember that while T is near the end of our acronym, the other letters are just further back in the queue. Any talk of the movement going too far, or the community getting too broad is just a shameless display of exclusion, pointing at someone else you think is weirder than you and saying they are the real problem. But tomorrow’s weirdo could be you.

Trust me, it won't be.  

Maybe This Doesn't Say What You Think It Says, Gary...

Perennial race-baiter Gary Younge opines once more:

We were not protesting against some new manifestation of racism in Britain, but the enduring nature of it. The YouGov poll from June revealed the percentage of non-white people who think racism was present in society 30 years ago is virtually identical to the proportion who think it is present today.

Maybe that does tell us something, Gary, but I suspect a lot of people - myself included - draw a rather different conclusion from it. 

And wonder why our government and all its agents seem hell-bent on appeasing people who can't, by this evidence, ever be appeased. Whose dissatisfaction with their lot in life isn't based on objective reality. And never will be. 

Here is my proposal. We should do this again; only without the Home Office. We could hold a series of themed public meetings, independent of political parties, across England, on a range of issues, at which a few experts and practitioners in each field could lay out the challenges and then open the floor for people to bear witness (race in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland has its own dynamics, and will need specific proposals).

Didn't Russia try this sort of public denunciation once? I'm sure it did. How'd that turn out, Gary?  

As Threats Go, It's Not One I'm Bothered About...

Britain could be flooded with...

Oh no, what now? 

We've endured illegal immigrants, chlorinated chicken, Covid and rap music. What existential horrors await us now? 

...books using US spellings and words if ministers push ahead with changes to copyright rules, say publishers.

Oh... 

Book rights are currently sold in a way that allows them to sell titles at different prices in different territories. This supports the British book industry and authors.

But the Government is looking at an ‘international exhaustion regime’ which could open the way for internet retailers to flood the market with cheap imported editions.

So a cozy protection racket is coming to an end? Usually that's a good thing, unless it might unleash calamities undreamed of, of course. 

Might we get an example? 

The Publishers Association fears this would lead to the Americanisation of books in Britain. ‘We will see an influx of cookies, sweaters and sidewalks instead of biscuits, jumpers and pavements – as well as the missing u’s and z’s instead of s’s that drive Brits bonkers,’ said Stephen Lotinga, chief executive of the Publishers Association.

 I think I'll survive. Now, I need to sort out a packet of Maryland biscuits to go with my morning cuppa...

I Wonder What Else Has Increased Along With It?

The number of “honour-based” abuse (HBA) offences recorded by English police forces has soared over the past five years, figures suggest.

Hmm, what else has 'soared' over the past five years in tandem? 

While some of the increase in HBA offences could be down to more victims coming forward and improved identification of offences by police...

That 'could be' is doing a lot of work, eh? 

...Imran Khodabocus, a senior associate at the Family Law Company who represents families in such cases, said the rise was alarming.

He said: “It’s essential education around what honour-based abuse is and how it impacts families is improved across the country.”

Education for whom, Mr Khodabocus? 

Perhaps If She'd Insisted She Was Really A Man, She'd Still Have A Job...

A nurse has unsuccessfully tried to sue the NHS after claiming she was being secretly hypnotised at work - to force her to uncontrollably break wind.

*boggle* Gosh, I hope she was just a five-a-day consultant or something, not in a trusted position.

The Acute Medical Unit nurse...

Oh... 

...described it as ‘extremely bothersome’ when she sent an email at work in April 2019. Its claims led bosses to become concerned about her mental health and they referred her to an occupational health team.

They weren't concerned before? Surely there was some warning? 

Three different doctors saw her, with two deeming she was unfit to work, and the Trust repeatedly tried to get her to see a psychiatrist. However, Miss Samson insisted she was not mentally ill and refused to see the psychiatrist, claiming she thought she was being ‘experimented upon’.

At least they acted, this time. 

Miss Samson was suspended then sacked in December 2019 for refusing to cooperate with psychiatric help, with the Trust saying ‘there was no other option’ than dismissal.

One hopes her card is well and truly marked and she can't apply for any other nursing job? But it's strange, isn't it, how some delusions are not tolerated, and some are not only tolerated but 'celebrated'? 

Strange Choice From The Photobank...

...because I don't think young smartly-dressed white boys and girls with attentive parents have most to fear, do they? Unless it's as victims.

Compare And Contrast, Pt 783245896512

A teenage car thief who killed a father-of-three when he rolled over his head after stealing his vehicle has been jailed for less than five years.

The boy, who was 14 at the time of the crime and is now 15 so cannot be named because of his age, sped off in restaurant-owner Mohammed Islam's silver Mercedes, as the owner shouted 'No! No! No!' and held on to the car.

He went 'flying' as the teenager — who has an IQ of 66 — 'floored' the vehicle, Manchester Crown Court heard.

A car thief and killer at 14. What was the victim doing at the same age, I wonder?  

Mr Islam, 53, who came to the UK alone from Bangladesh as a 14-year-old, had worked 'tirelessly' all his life, first to bring his family over to Britain and then to build up a successful restaurant business.

Ah.  

Simon Csoka QC, mitigating, said the teenager has significant learning difficulties and an attention deficit disorder, but was now making progress.

In what..? 

He added: 'He does have comprehension of the enormity of the loss he has caused.'

Does he? That's nice. 

With an IQ of 66 I was expecting this to be another case of the products of cousin marriage within the victim's own 'community', but looking at the co-defendant names, I'm not so sure... 

Co-defendant Connor Read, 18, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal, was given 13 months detention suspended for two years and ordered to do 120 hours unpaid work.

A second teenager, aged 15, is yet to be sentenced for conspiracy to steal. Two others, both aged 18, are due in court on the same charge on Tuesday.

Hmmm... 

Self Censorship Isn't Leadership...

Christian Horner has been accused of giving ‘racists an excuse to let fly their vitriol and evil’ at Lewis Hamilton following his criticism of the Mercedes driver after Sunday’s British Grand Prix.

We can't criticise someone now if they have a touch too much melanin? No matter what they do? 

Lord Hain, vice-chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Formula One, believes Horner will ‘regret’ the remarks he made in the wake of Hamilton’s 180mph collision with Max Verstappen on the opening lap of the Silverstone race.

So did he say something racist? 

‘I am not suggesting that Christian was implying anything racist in what he said. He was talking in pure racing terms and not racist terms and that is obvious.’

If it's 'obvious', why are you complaining? 

‘I hope it was something said in the heat of the moment when Christian was feeling aggrieved. But these are moments when leadership is required and not intemperate outbursts.’

Like the sort of leadership you're showing, in demanding that if the person you feel requires criticism is black, you shouldn't criticise them? 

Release, And Let Them Scream...

The National Rural Crime Network (NRCN) – made up of 32 crime commissioners and their forces – ordered the research into serious and organised crime in the countryside and found the traveller community featured prominently in offences such as hare coursing, fly-tipping, farm vehicle theft and poaching.

The only astonishing thing is that it required research... 

The study was due for release last October, but the organisation’s bosses ruled it should be delayed so more evidence could be gathered.

Because 'more evidence' will help them fend off the woke mob? What a waste of money! You cannot reason with people like this. No amount of evidence will ever convince them. 

A police source said: ‘The report has been hugely delayed as there were real concerns at the fall-out because it found travellers played a big part in rural crime. They’re terrified the woke brigade will jump down their throats, so they asked for more supporting evidence to ensure against that.

'But every month delayed is another month we delay having this out in the open and a proper debate about how we help rural communities who feel under siege.’

The woke mob will scream. Let them. No-one who matters should care. 

Last night, Conservative MP Peter Bone said: ‘We’ve had problems in the past when police forces have gone soft on certain sections of the community and, as a result, finding out terrible crimes have been carried out.

'People feel there is one set of rules for us, and one set of rules for travellers. Let’s have the report out and let’s have the arguments.’

There is indeed one set of rules for them and one for the law-abiding settled population. It's been going on for years. And if people are too afraid to admit that, it'll keep going on. Enough is enough.  

Just What Is It You Think 'The Wider Electorate' Cares About, Mustafa?

Mustafa Al-Dabbagh, a spokesperson for the Muslim Association of Britain, said: “We’re speaking to British Muslims on a daily basis and they feel alienated. Muslims feel like they are not being taken seriously by the leadership on the Labour party. There seems to be an attitude that Muslims have always voted Labour, so they’re always going to.”

He said the party needed to take a stronger stance on tackling Islamophobia as well as on foreign policy issues. “The Conservatives have left Labour with an open goal to come and engage with Muslim constituents and it’s not doing so. You have a government that ignores foreign policy issues like Palestine and Kashmir, and you have an opposition that equivocates,” he added.

Because I can tell you - it's not what happens in other countries, it's what happens in the UK... 

“When you’ve got Labour party officials briefing frankly Islamophobic statements and making Muslims feel like they’re not part of the wider electorate then I’m sorry, what do you expect from us?” he said.

If your concerns are purely for foreign policy, then you're not part of the wider electorate, are you? 

Why Must We Remove Freedom From Everyone...

...simply to prevent a small sector of society from abusing it?

A move to outlaw weddings for under-18s was backed by senior Tories yesterday.

The right to marry at the age of 16 is a loophole that should go because it encourages child abuse and exploitation, former chancellor Sajid Javid said.

Both of which are against the law. Is this so widespread? Well... 

Mr Javid, who comes from a Pakistani background, said: ‘I’ve seen this myself in the community I was raised in, young girls expected to enter into marriage far before they were ready to with painful consequences. Let’s call this what it is: Child abuse.’

Yes, let's! And let's see some action against it that doesn't affect the existing rights of the majority population, shall we? 

Academic and author on family law Patricia Morgan acknowledged the ‘problem of attitudes to women in some communities’ that see girls marry young, but added: ‘This is a very minor issue. It affects only a very small number of people. I am surprised ministers think it is worth the time and effort.’

Sadly, I'm not. It has the hallmarks of modern Toryism all over it. Ignore the elephas maxima in the room and find some way of looking to be doing something without actually pointing fingers.  

Don't Try And Tell Me 'It's Not The Parent's Fault!'...

...especially in this particular case:

Nicola Leighton, 36, allegedly drove her son, Tyreese Ulysses, 19, and three other youths to the scene of the killing, a court heard.

Armed with machetes, the four teenagers allegedly stabbed 17-year-old Levi Ernest-Morrison to death.

The killing, in Hazel Grove, Syndenham, on April 10 is said to have been a “pre-planned” attack.

Mommie dearest as your getaway driver. That's pretty gangster, isn't it? 

Leighton, of Sydenham, Ulysses, of nearby Catford, and three youths, aged 14, 15, and 17, have been charged with Levi’s murder.

Usually with these street killings, the cry goes up 'What hope have the parents got..?' 

Imran Mirza, whose 19-year-old son Mohammed was fatally stabbed in Ilford in 2019, said: “Nothing has changed since my son died and if anything things are worse. These boys are becoming desensitised to violence. In the schools they need to teach them some humanity at an early age… The kids are living in fear, more action is need at all levels.”

If you're relying on schools to teach the basics of being human, rather than reading, writing and sums, you failed as a parent from the moment of conception. 

Because Lying Has Become A Fast Track To Satisfaction...

The lie had led to the killing of a man and father of a five-year-old boy.

And if that lie had been one of molestation, there'd be people lining up to spout '#Ibelieveher'. 

There are still those, of course, who are paid to excuse her actions: 

The girl’s lawyer, Mbeko Tabula, insists the weight of the tragedy should not fall on the shoulders of a 13-year-old girl.

“It was the father’s excessive behaviour, making and posting a video incriminating the professor that led to this spiral,” Tabula told the Parisien. “My client lied, but even if it had been true, the reaction of her father was still disproportionate.”

So, we should blame the father? 

Chnina, who is under investigation for “complicity in a terrorist killing”, told police he had been “idiotic, stupid”.

“I never thought my messages would be seen by terrorists. I didn’t want to harm anyone with that message. It’s hard to imagine how we got here, that we’ve lost a history professor and everyone blames me.”

Well, they aren't going to blame Islam, are they? 

Chalk Up Another Win For Carrie..?

To animal welfare activists, it's 'torture in a tin'; to gourmets – or at least some of them – it's a delicious delicacy.

Now Britain is set to ban the import of foie gras in a post-Brexit move that should delight anti-cruelty campaigners.

And someone very close to the seat of power at No 10, no doubt. 

Sources said yesterday that Lord Goldsmith, the Animal Welfare Minister, is determined to implement the ban 'in the next few months'.

There's no more pressing concerns for his department to work on, then? 

Last month, he congratulated Fortnum & Mason after the Queen's grocer announced that it would no longer stock the delicacy, usually sold as a pâté or mousse made from the enlarged livers. At the time, Lord Goldsmith tweeted: 'Foie gras is unbearably barbaric. It's hard to imagine anyone could watch the process and still enjoy eating it.'

Don't they say the same about sausages? Oh, and laws? 

"Nee-Naw, Nee-Naw, It's The Snowflake Police!"

Dead moles should not be left hanging from a barbed wire fence in the Cotswolds, police have said.

The grisly sight has been causing distress in the area near Cowley Manor and police want it to stop.

'Police'..? Really? 

PCSO Andrew Biddell is even going to put up a sign asking people not to string the dead mammals on the fence.

He said the moles have been found in the lane that goes round the back of Cowley Manor and past the Girlguiding Gloucestershire HQ, heading towards The Green Dragon.

Issuing a Community Alert, he said: “I will be putting a sign up asking for the moles to not be hung from the fence.

“This issue is causing a lot of distress to people and I would like to get it stopped.”

So a bunch of townies feel 'upset' at the sight of a country practice going back decades before you were born, and you think it should cease immediately? 

But, realising you've no power to stop it, you're going to litter the countryside with hectoring signage?