Tuesday, 31 March 2026
Diversity is such a blessing
Monday, 30 March 2026
You Think You Despise Journalists...?
A hospital patient who managed to talk a man out of detonating a bomb in a maternity wing said the would-be attacker “asked for a cuddle” before standing down.
And the article concentrates on the bravery of the man who stopped the attacker…oh, no, my mistake, it does its best to humanise the man who tried to blow up a hospital ward because he had a grudge against the nurses:
Nathan Newby, who stopped an atrocity through an act of kindness, spoke publicly for the first time about his encounter with Mohammad Farooq before receiving the George Medal for bravery.
Farooq, a clinical support worker who took a viable pressure cooker bomb into St James’s hospital in Leeds intending to “kill as many nurses as possible” was jailed for at least 37 years last year. After asking for a cuddle, Farooq told Newby to “phone the police before I change my mind”.
Newby, 35, from Leeds, said he thought Farooq was “probably a nice guy” who was “going through bad things at the time”, and saw himself as someone who was “just in the right place at the right time”.
Typical British self-effacing response to honours, but why the excuses on behalf of utter barbarity? And why make the latter such a feature of the article?
During his trial, Farooq was called “a self-radicalised lone wolf terrorist”, inspired by the so-called Islamic State group, but also chose the hospital as a target as he had been a clinical support worker there and had a long-running grievance with nurses on his ward.
He said Farooq seemed “normal”, adding: “I don’t judge anybody. Everybody’s different and unique in their own ways aren’t they? I didn’t judge him.”
The State did. Rightly so. Has the 'nudge unit' been at this chap like they tried with the victims of Valdo Calocane?
Sunday, 29 March 2026
Smart euthanasia
I was thinking about this the other day when reading, as one tends to do over a nice lunch at the local Italian bistro with a pizza and a glass of red, a 2015 position paper on ‘Making the electricity system more flexible and delivering the benefits for consumers’. This was issued by Ofgem (the quango which regulates the energy market in the UK) at the start of the ongoing process to transform our energy market into one governed by “energy smart appliances”.
These, for those who have been paying attention, are electric devices (your fridge, your washing machine, your EV charger, etc.) which are able to respond to ‘load control’ signals issued through the internet, and thereby reduce or delay energy consumption. Or, to put it more bluntly, appliances which can be controlled remotely so as to limit how much electricity households are able to use. Coming soon to a kitchen near you.
The last time I wrote about this issue in substance was in 2023, not long before the Energy Act 2023 was enacted. That statute created the legal framework within which the use of energy smart appliances could be mandated and regulated. We now find ourselves entering the next stage: gradual implementation. A draft set of regulations, the Energy Smart Appliances Regulations 2026, is currently making its way through Parliament. This, we are told, is the “first phase“.
And so it goes. Better on the Continent, in far-eastern Europe, downunder or on the American continent? In a few isolated countries, yes, e.g. Hungary or El Salvador, plus there are signs Europe itself is starting to awaken from its duped state. Some hope. 🍿🍿🍿
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?
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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?










