Woman Smart, Man Smarter ?

So say these chaps.

This chap disagrees.

Garden of Eden was very nice
Adam never work in Paradise
Eve meet snake, Paradise gone
She make Adam work from that day on

And not me but the people they say
That de men are leading de women astray
But I say, that the women of today
Smarter than the man in every way

That’s right de woman is ah smarter
That’s right de woman is ah smarter
That’s right de woman is ah smarter
That’s right, that’s right

Another Bomb Victim

The funeral of 16 year old Hannah Lloyd, murdered in Egypt, was held yesterday.

Doctors And Judges Know Best

We really are accelerating down the slippery slope.

Charlotte Wyatt's appeal has been turned down - again.

Who has the best interests of a child at heart ? Doctors, judges or parents ?

Granting the original order in October, Mr Justice Hedley said he did not believe "any further aggressive treatment, even if necessary to prolong her life, is in her best interests". He said Charlotte should be allowed "to meet her end ... in the TLC of those who love her most".

Ah yes - the State fulfilling its role as the best possible nanny to all children.

The arrogance of these people is unbelievable. But Charlotte's parents, like Charlotte herself, will fight on.

Elsewhere we have the case of an 86 year old Muslim, originally from Pakistan. As a young man he fought for Britain in the Second World War. Just the kind of chap Guardianistas should be queuing up to defend. But while Blair and co. are racking their brains to think of new ways to be nice to Muslims, the State is sentencing them to death - "in their own interests".

The high court in London yesterday upheld the right of the NHS to withdraw life support systems from a critically ill 86-year-old man who is considered by doctors to have no chance of getting better.
His Muslim family appealed to the court to block the decision on the grounds that their religious beliefs required doctors to do everything in their power to keep their father alive. Only God had the power to bestow death, they said.

"For legal reasons" neither the hospital, the NHS trust, or the parient can be named. It could be your local hospital.

The parallels between this aged warrior and young Charlotte are striking. The doctors said Charlotte would not survive the winter. The warrior has survived the removal of a ventilator. His family are united in wanting him to receive continued treatment. But what do they know ? Mr Justice Kirkwood knows best.

Robert Glancy QC, for the family, presented the court with evidence from a doctor who had examined the patient and supported the family's belief that their father was getting better.

The doctor, known as Dr R, said the 86-year-old - who had already defied experts by surviving when ventilation was taken away from him on August 16 - had a chance of recovering to the extent that he could live at home with medication to control his ailments, should he be nursed into recovery from his current crisis. But the judge preferred the evidence of the other doctors.

"It doesn't seem to me that the doctor had any evidence of [improvement]. The evidence of all the other doctors of continued deterioration is preferred," he said.

"I'm satisfied that Mr A has significant impairment of his major functions and that Mr A is dying. Medical science shows no sensible chance of recovery.

"The natural process of dying is being extended only by life support interventions and they are not improving the underlying causes of Mr A's condition.

"Mr A is sentient to the extent that he is aware of pain and discomfort and intrusions upon his personal dignity.

"It is in his best interests that he be allowed a peaceful and dignified death.

Who Ate All The Pies ?

From Asian News ... I really think we should be told the name of the pie factory.

Evil butcher Muhammed Arshad murdered 56-year-old Zainab Begum in her Accrington home then chopped up her body with the help of his brother Mohammed Khan.
Both men refuse to say what they did with the victim's remains.

The slain woman's eldest daughter, Samina Amin, aged 33, said she had no idea that Arshad, who was her brother-in-law and who worked at a pie factory, had appealed against his sentence.

UPDATE - pie factory found ... hold on - they do these in our local chippy !

This England ...

From Salford, where teachers who stand up to harassment are sacked by the council ...

Last week the block of flats next to his, on Newcombe Drive, Little Hulton was set on fire. Paul says the fire was an arson attack, and the 16th in the two years he has lived on the estate.

Paul, who has severe spinal disabilities, said: “I was watching TV when I saw a flickering light through my curtains. The next thing I knew the fire engines arrived and they were putting this huge blaze out.”

He is the last resident living in the area and is surrounded by boarded up houses targeted by arsonists.

He said: “I am disabled. I go to bed at night, and I cannot sleep. I am terrified they will attack my house next and if they do, I cannot run. I will die.”

“It really is like Beirut. I know the firemen do all they can. They come here and put the flames out, and then they are back again to put them out all over again. But it just carries on, and I really fear for my life here.”

Paul says he barely goes out anymore for fear of the kids who group up around the estate - the only sign of life in the area.


From Oldham, where mosques are protected but pubs aren't.

94 year old Edna Lamont had lived at her home on Farm Street, Failsworth, for 68 years and always felt safe.

But that changed on October 11 last year when she first fell victim to a bogus official – a man tricked his way into the house and took her purse.

The pensioner was left so frightened she took to sleeping with her handbag under her pillow.

Just five days later, on Saturday, October 16, she was awoken by a banging noise and then, to her horror, realised her handbag had gone from under her pillow. She went downstairs and noticed a window at the rear of the house had been forced.

She went to a neighbour’s for help and they went back to the house with her. The telephone socket was not connected so one of the neighbour’s telephoned the police on her own mobile.

Officers arrived and Mrs Lamont began to tell them what had happened. She went upstairs to show them where she kept the handbag.

Sgt Angela Robinson, who was present, described how Mrs Lamont, as she was talking to them, “laid on the bed and her eyes began to flutter and she became breathless”. The officers attempted to revive her and an ambulance was called – she was taken to North Manchester General, where she was pronounced dead on arrival.

Good Job He Didn't Mention Rugby ...

Mr Thomas, who moved into the nearby village of Douglas three years ago, decided to consult his local councillor after hearing reports that the area was to be used as a dumping ground for hundreds of tonnes of English waste.

Relating his meeting with Meikle, Mr Thomas told the court: “I asked him about some letters he hadn’t replied to. His response was a torrent of foul language. He said, ‘I wouldn’t answer any of your f***ing letters, boyo.’

Mr Thomas continued: “He told me to f*** off out of his surgery, and stuck his face up to my face. He then said, ‘You don’t f***ing worry me, boy, and you don’t f***ing frighten me, boyo.’

I was dumbfounded. I’ve dealt with councillors over a number of years and I’ve never encountered anything like that.”

New Pro-Life Blog

Fiona Pinto, the Pro-Life Alliance candidate who was famously cleared of insulting behaviour for displaying a picture of an aborted foetus during the 2003 Welsh Assembly election campaign (and who briefly became infamous as the rumoured subject of some MacGonagallesque love poetry) has her own blog.

She's a woman with a mort of common sense.

During last week's hearing, one police officer described the image of the aborted foetus as 'one of the most gross, upsetting and totally despicable sights I have ever seen'. But Pinto said if people found the image shocking, that was a reason why abortion should be illegal.

Couldn't agree more. Had she been convicted we'd have had a situation where abortion was perfectly legal, but also considered so horrific that it could not be shown or described.

UPDATE - this story, via ifeminists, seems relevant.

Aug. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Russians, whose lives are shorter and poorer than they were under communism, have more abortions than births to avoid the costs of raising children, according to the country's highest-ranking obstetrician.

About 1.6 million women had an abortion last year, a fifth of them under the age of 18, and about 1.5 million gave birth, said Vladimir Kulakov, vice president of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. ``Many more'' abortions weren't reported.

``The appearance of a first child pushes many families into poverty,'' Kulakov said today in the government's official newspaper, Rossiskaya Gazeta. ``Potential parents first try to start a career, stand on their feet and so forth.''

The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the ensuing hyperinflation and depression deprived millions of Russians of their incomes and savings and discouraged couples from having children. By 2000, the number of pensioners in Europe's most populous country outnumbered children and adolescents for the first time.

The increase in poverty and the decline in the quality of health care since the fall of communism have left about six million women and 4 million men -- 7 percent of Russia's 145 million people -- incapable of having children.

We all hate terrorists, but ....

Adam Nicolson says 'Mandela would understand' in the predicted (and predictable) Guardian piece.

One guinea-pig, one vote !

British Understatement Emigrates to America

Mr. Robertson has set off an international firestorm by saying that the United States should assassinate President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela. "It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war, and I don't think any oil shipments will stop," Mr. Robertson said on his program on Monday.

The State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack, said at a briefing in Washington: "Allegations that we are planning to take hostile action against the Venezuelan government are completely baseless and without fact.

"I have been very clear that this is not the policy of the United States government. We do not share his views. And his comments are inappropriate."

Guns N' Drugs

Once upon a time shootings were a rarity in the UK.

Let's have a look at icSouthLondon - a fine site.

August 23

A teenager and a party-goer were blasted by gunmen in separate shootings in the early hours of Sunday.

Gun-toting gangsters 'use Islam as a cloak'

August 19

A gunman chased down and fired at two men and women before riding off on a motorbike. The man was spotted chasing the group in Choumert Grove, Peckham Rye, shortly after 7pm on Tuesday.

Four men were cut down by machine-gun fire in a gangland-style shooting.
Miraculously, all escaped serious harm when a gunman opened fire in a car park off Neville Close, Peckham, shortly before midnight on Wednesday.

A gunman frantically hunting for "stolen" drugs held a pistol to a young mum's head and threatened to execute her, a court heard.
Shari Campbell was ordered to kneel on her bedroom floor as Robert Cassan aimed his gun at her head, jurors were told. Having ransacked her South London home, Cassan allegedly told her: "You don't love life. I'm going to kill you."

Shotgun thugs bundled a terrified man into a side street in broad daylight and opened fire.
Passing motorists watched in disbelief as the mob made a grab for their victim in busy Catford Hill and dragged him into Elm Lane.

August 18

Two men accused of shooting a man in the leg at a nightclub pleaded not guilty at the Old Bailey last week.

August 12

A barber was blasted in the stomach as he opened up his shop.

August 2

A boy of eight was blasted in the head with a shotgun in a sickening road-rage shooting.

Not bad at all for less than a month (I've ignored the stabbings and beatings to death). In fact you can find over 150 stories where Operation Trident detectives are involved, so Lord knows how many there are altogether.

This one's particularly sad.

They poured a can of fuel over the elderly man as he lay in bed, Southwark Coroner's Court heard.
One of the attackers opened fire as the brave pensioner beat them back into the hallway.
As Mr Speid lay dying, the gunmen set fire to the flat in Bob Marley Way, Brixton, the inquest heard.

One love, one heart, eh ? Stories like that show why the natives are running away.

Still, I don't want you to get the idea that the Native Brits don't have some bad boys as well. Here's a genuine and unpleasant (though non-lethal) Islamophobic attack.

Doom And Gloom

What a depressing day. Poor Rory Blackhall turns out to have been murdered. I don't know why, but I haven't been so upset by a child murder since Damilola Taylor. Let's hope that Rory's parents get justice - which is more than Damilola's have.

It's a comfort to reflect that when his killer is caught, the Liberal Democrats will struggle to ensure that the murderer gets the vote which Rory will never use. Johann Hari will consider the murderer to be among 'the most abused and brutalised in our society'. And if the poor killer has to empty his slop-bucket in jail, he can expect a share of the £44m taxpayer compo for this ghastly breach of man's inalienable human right to a flush toilet.

The second depressing story is the total victory of the Newchurch terrorists. What's remarkable is the inability of Staffordshire Police to prevent an entire community being terrorised, and the refusal of the judges to protect them.

It's a pound to a pinch of s***, as they say in the Black Country, that there will be gloating in the pages of the Guardian within two days. Watch this space. (Update - Majority Rights aren't pleased either).

Enough of this gloom. Let's lighten up with a couple of cheery tales of underclass life.

Soggy Hedge Trimmings From The Curate's Garden

The Dumb One and Rotty Pup deconstruct the "Justice For Jean de Menezes" (any relation ?) campaign and find the usual suspects.

And I never thought I'd say this, but Blood And Treasure have a great post on Sir ("I Know Blair") Ian Blair.

David Farrer reports on MSP Keith Raffan, a man who appears to have got his snout permanently stuck in the taxpayer trough.

Indifference to the book, a mixture of contempt and pity for the author - yes, it's a Dalrymple book review. How could the Sunday Telegraph have sacked him ?

"If You Say They're Extremists, There'll Be Disastrous Consequences"

Madeleine on why we shouldn't read stuff like this.

Safer Streets For Ladies

We've had the Respect Agenda - now a big shout for the "feminised street", courtesy of - John Prescott ? They're making this up, aren't they ?

Guidelines to be issued by the deputy prime minister’s office are principally intended to encourage women to “reclaim” the streets from rowdy teenagers, which they believe will help curb antisocial behaviour.

Through creating friendlier streets, community spirit will be reinvigorated, the department believes. “Improved social interaction and relations, knowing your neighbours and those around you, came up [in interviews with the public] as one of the key things to make people feel safer and more secure,” someone working on the project said. “Women are instrumental in this process.”

Wasn't 'reclaiming the streets from rowdy teenagers' what Tracey Cullum tried to do ?

Anyway, the streets of Sheffield are safer for women tonight.

A Home Office spokesman said: "This was a traumatic incident for the staff and other prisoners. Our thoughts go out to Louise Giles' family at this difficult time."

If it's all right with the Home Office, my thoughts go out to the family of Helen Hay, killed by a woman who should never have been on the streets. She'd been given community service, that great crime preventative so beloved of Lord Justice Woolf, only weeks before she killed Helen Hay, for assaulting police and medical staff. The year before, she'd barricaded two social workers in her house and threatened them with a knife (I didn't say she was all bad). For this she got - community service.

If this Sheffield Star piece is correct, "feminised streets" will be covered in puke and fistfuls of hair ...

UPDATE - Peter Briffa in the Times.

Charlotte Wyatt - Improving

Remember Charlotte Wyatt ? The baby in whose 'interests' (and against whose parents wishes) Portsmouth NHS Trust went to court to get their 'Do Not Rescuscitate' order upheld ?

Charleotte's parents are back in court this week.

We can but hope. although last time out, the judge admitted that Charlotte had confounded all the medical evidence by surviving the winter. He then upheld the ruling on the basis of the medical evidence.