Best Of

Regarding the subject of the header, as people here know, I don't subscribe to the cultural reason for the grooming gangs phenomena.

I don't care how mediaeval your cultural hinterland is, if you step over the mark and get very harshly punished, you stop.

Look at the recent epidemic of shoplifting. We don't need to go raking through our culture for a history of shoplifting - shoplifting happens because of the absence of consequences.

I believe that if the enquiry is genuine, the blame will be placed overwhelmingly on the police, and others in authority, whose inaction or collusion led this to reach massive proportions.

I think that is why the authorities would like to widen the enquiry's scope - not to avoid the finger of blame being pointed at minorities, but to avoid it being pointed at themselves. Indeed, if push comes to shove, I firmly believe the Jess Phillips of this world will stab community relations in the back and blame it all on culture.

I don't think most people on here realise how fundamentally broken the care system is in the UK.

Kids don't get easily taken from their parents. And if they do, they mostly get sent to other family members,

If you end up in the care system proper, then you are almost certainly the victim of abuse and neglect. You will probably have been excluded from school. You will likely have substance issues.

Social services does their best, but these are exceptionally damaged kids, who have been fucked over by every adult they've ever gotten close to. Not to mention the fact that the girls are regularly sexually abused by the boys.

I knew a kid at Cambridge who had come out the care system. He was one of the most traumatised people I've ever known. His stories would be unbelievable to anyone on here who doesn't know social care.

He was the exception. I doubt a fraction of 1% of people in the care system make it to any kind of university. Most reach 18 and graduate from these homes go straight into a life of benefits and petty crime.

This is still going on today.

The police know how fucked up social care is. They know that the girls have been abused and some have been picked up for soliciting. They know they are inarticulate and make poor witnesses. Even without the ethnic element, they were lazy because these were not easy cases to make.

I would love it if - now we know about the grooming gangs - that kids (particularly girls) in care were less likely to be raped and abused. Sadly, I think it is hghly unlikely. As a society, we've chosen to pretend these problems don't exist, because they are really difficult problems to solve.

A police manhunt is underway after the hotel migrant who sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl in Epping was mistakenly released from prison. Hadush Kebatu, 41, was accidentally let loose from HMP Chelmsford this morning, a Ministry of Justice official told the Daily Mail. The sex offender had been due to be transferred from the jail to a Home Office immigration removal centre in order to be deported.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15224639/Manhunt-Epping-hotel-migrant-sex-attacker-accidentally-freed-prison.html

They are going to need months of listening circles....not for the fuck up, no all the hurty words from the media about how shit they are.

Home Office not fit for purpose....

Uh oh. That is seriously bad news for the Home Secretary and the Government.

Same day as the guilty verdict for a horrific crime committed by another boat person.

And same week as the person who was returned to France under Starmer's 400 in, 1 out policy came straight back.

Its like an episode of Tom & Jerry.

Feck me. It has just dawned on me that the two male characters in The Good Life are called Tom and Jerry.

A police manhunt is underway after the hotel migrant who sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl in Epping was mistakenly released from prison. Hadush Kebatu, 41, was accidentally let loose from HMP Chelmsford this morning, a Ministry of Justice official told the Daily Mail. The sex offender had been due to be transferred from the jail to a Home Office immigration removal centre in order to be deported.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15224639/Manhunt-Epping-hotel-migrant-sex-attacker-accidentally-freed-prison.html

They are going to need months of listening circles....not for the fuck up, no all the hurty words from the media about how shit they are.

Home Office not fit for purpose....

Uh oh. That is seriously bad news for the Home Secretary and the Government.

Same day as the guilty verdict for a horrific crime committed by another boat person.

At least there's space for him in the prison now.

It's Keir Starmer’s new one in one out policy.

"Grooming gangs" sounds like bunches of marauding barbers.

Let's be clear; these are organised gangs of child rapists, the vast majority of whom are of Pakistani heritage.

Sadly, some on the left don't even want to acknowledge that simple fact.

The facts are that the overwhelming majority of both individuals and gangs are white British.

Certain ethnic groups are over represented among offenders, compared to their (minority) numbers in the general population.

That’s just stating the obvious. Of course the overwhelming majority of almost every thing in Britain are white British, as the overwhelming majority of people are

It would be even more terrifying if it wasn’t so

But there haven’t been Gangs of White British men taking it in turns to rape under age non white British girls on an industrial scale and, if there had, I don’t think in the 21st century it would have been covered up for fear of upsetting white British people.

The grooming gangs horror shows that multiculturalism doesn’t work on two levels; firstly that victims are chosen on a religious or racial basis means it doesn’t work on the streets, and secondly that supporters of multiculturalism look the other way when it’s proven to cause harm shows it doesn’t work within the authorities

On topic, govt have clearly mishandled this.
But it's a bit mad that 4 women will resign if Philipps stays and 4 win resign if she goes.
You can't run an inquiry like that. It sounds lovely to put the victims in charge, but i suspect the reason it isnt usually done is that it's not very practical.

I also think it's a mistake to say that you can't have a former police officer or social worker leading the thing. The individuals in question may be wrong, but it's not a conflict of interest imo, it's pretty typical to have ex-whatever doing an inquiry into the failings of a particular industry.

I'd have them on the panel for their expertise.

If an inquiry had been held much earlier then it could be ok. The Jay Report was done by a social worker after all.

But the longer you wait, the greater the expectations and therefore the more important it is to have someone who cannot be accused of partiality.

I have said this a million times before but our biggest failing is that we do not investigate properly at the start. So the problems become v v bad. We then deny and delay for far too long. And by the time we finally try to do the right thing it is far too late, no-one will be held accountable, it will take far too long and cost far too much and achieve damn all. Rinse and repeat.

Proper investigations done early followed by effective action are the answers. I spent bloody ages drumming this into the head honchos where I worked and got there eventually. And it bloody well worked and they were bloody grateful that I did what I did.

This is what government needs to do. It's been told by lots of people. And there are plenty of people with the knowledge and experience who could show them how it's done.

But they don't bloody well want to.

So we have this ludicrous public inquiry industry and a system of Potemkin justice which achieves the square root of fuck all. Grrrr!!!!

Off now to find brick wall to bang head against ....

The Dark Side of Fitness Apps: Study Says They Can Do More Harm Than Good

https://www.newsweek.com/fitness-apps-study-says-they-can-do-more-harm-than-good-10913928

(based on research by a colleague)

I can understand this. There is a very strong motivational factor that sits behind fitness technology which I think is actually really quite helpful, but the downside of that is it is very easy to become consumed by Data and fail to listen to your body.

This isn’t the same thing as the diet apps but my goodness the metrics that smart watches capture now are both a blessing and a curse.

I am on a 177 day streak for getting my 10k steps and it does drive me to go out and walk around the streets in the dark when I otherwise couldn't be arsed. That is probably a good thing. It also gets me to focus on my calorie burn which is also a good thing.

But it doesn't really stop me from eating too much or drinking too much. Weight loss has been very slow and may have ground to a halt well above a "healthy" weight.

On balance I find the Fitbit a good thing. But anyone who thinks that is the answer, problem solved, is deluding themselves. At the risk of stating the obvious it helps you find a healthier lifestyle, it is not a life style in itself.

How many of those steps are pacing up and down the courtroom haranguing the defence? Or does that only happen on the telly?

Only on the telly, I'm afraid. IRL the proceedings are recorded so you are stuck by your microphone and not able to wander.

Thanks for the header @Cyclefree. Hope you are staying strong and keeping well

This whole disgraceful episode is caused by people not wanting to be seen agreeing with people they usually disagree with, nor being prepared to upset those they have taken sides with by speaking truth to them. Moral cowardice in the extreme, and something I thought we were all taught at an early age not to do via Nursery tales and fables.

It’s also people not being willing to admit, or even consider, they’ve made a mistake; what if multiculturalism was just a bad idea?

Better than I have been recently. Problems with low white blood cell count. Now looking better. Most of the time I treat this with magnificent contempt, black humour and try to ignore it. Mostly I succeed. But sometimes it really gets me down. Not looking forward to winter TBH - dark days are bad enough without this as well. Also I was given a real ticking off by the nurse for not calling the helpline when I had a fever.

Still, I'm going to Edinburgh next week to see the Andy Galsworthy exhibition, staying at the New Club which I'm told is very lovely and having some lovely lunches with friends. I've lost 16 kgs in recent months so have treated myself to new clothes which I can show off. An ill wind etc.,.