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  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 53,508
    kinabalu said:

    Sandpit said:

    kinabalu said:

    Sandpit said:

    dixiedean said:

    £250k pa per child.
    OFSTED rated "good".

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63792458

    Thankfully this is very much a one-off, and not at all representative of dozens hundreds of court cases, over decades, involving abuse of children in what’s somewhat euphemistically called “care”.

    It’s a massive scandal but the media ignore it, because it doesn’t fit their “narrative”.
    What narrative do you mean?
    Start with the “Rotherham” problem, with the long list of victims ignored by authorities, journalists, and politicians, over a droid of more than a decade.

    It took a very brave report from Andrew Norfolk at The Times, for the issue to be allowed to be discussed in polite society.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-61868863.amp
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotherham_child_sexual_exploitation_scandal
    I don't see the link to this. Are you saying there's a media narrative that vulnerable children are never abused?
    The media narrative, is that lower-class white people cannot be victims, because they don’t fit into the woke hierarchy of vitimhood.
  • solarflaresolarflare Posts: 3,705
    Coming late to it but hope Mike got/is getting on ok at the hospital today.
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,556
    Sandpit said:

    kinabalu said:

    Sandpit said:

    kinabalu said:

    Sandpit said:

    dixiedean said:

    £250k pa per child.
    OFSTED rated "good".

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63792458

    Thankfully this is very much a one-off, and not at all representative of dozens hundreds of court cases, over decades, involving abuse of children in what’s somewhat euphemistically called “care”.

    It’s a massive scandal but the media ignore it, because it doesn’t fit their “narrative”.
    What narrative do you mean?
    Start with the “Rotherham” problem, with the long list of victims ignored by authorities, journalists, and politicians, over a droid of more than a decade.

    It took a very brave report from Andrew Norfolk at The Times, for the issue to be allowed to be discussed in polite society.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-61868863.amp
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotherham_child_sexual_exploitation_scandal
    I don't see the link to this. Are you saying there's a media narrative that vulnerable children are never abused?
    The media narrative, is that lower-class white people cannot be victims, because they don’t fit into the woke hierarchy of vitimhood.
    That's just nonsense.
  • stodgestodge Posts: 13,690
    Evening all :)

    As usual, well off the pace but this morning's public finance data was just plain bad and the flash PMI numbers weren't brilliant either.

    At least Hunt can safely ignore the siren calls for tax cuts from those who believe it's the only way for the Conservatives to win re-election. It would be good if, as Ken Clarke in the mid-90s, he put the overall health of the economy and public finances before pre-election gimmicks.

    The priority now should be to reduce the deficit which won't be easy if £200 billion every year is going on debt interest payments. Spending cuts? Perhaps but where? Defence ? Hardly seems politically acceptable. Welfare? Ditto. NHS? Hardly.

    Tax rises? We are told those who pay most of the tax are already paying too much and they'll be on the first plane to (fill in the gap) if we try to take any more from them.

    Obviously, we can kick the can down the road - growth will help when more favourable conditions return and as tax revenues recover (and we can perhaps look at raising taxes when growth is back), we can get the deficit down which will mean we're back to living somewhere within our means but for now, it looks very bad.
  • StuartDicksonStuartDickson Posts: 12,146
    Your main focus should be on rude good health.
    All the best OGH!
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 41,551
    edited January 2023

    Jersey has fallen to Woke. Thoughts and prayers.




    Maybe when Scotland becomes independent Jersey could apply to become a Scottish Crown Colony under Good Queen Nicola?
    I hadn’t realised that your repetitive predictions of Sturgeon going off to another job involved a throne.
    I like the ‘when’ instead of ‘if’, mind.
    Touch of irony. It's really not gonna happen is it?

    BTW - not sure I have been making "repetitive" predictions. Am resigned to her not going any time soon. Politicians usually need to be pushed and no sign of that despite mumblings in the ranks.
    I find someone who retreats from crap Scotpol predictions saying ‘It's really not gonna happen is it’ re. Indy strangely comforting.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 48,605
    edited January 2023
    kinabalu said:

    Sandpit said:

    kinabalu said:

    Sandpit said:

    dixiedean said:

    £250k pa per child.
    OFSTED rated "good".

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63792458

    Thankfully this is very much a one-off, and not at all representative of dozens hundreds of court cases, over decades, involving abuse of children in what’s somewhat euphemistically called “care”.

    It’s a massive scandal but the media ignore it, because it doesn’t fit their “narrative”.
    What narrative do you mean?
    Start with the “Rotherham” problem, with the long list of victims ignored by authorities, journalists, and politicians, over a droid of more than a decade.

    It took a very brave report from Andrew Norfolk at The Times, for the issue to be allowed to be discussed in polite society.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-61868863.amp
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotherham_child_sexual_exploitation_scandal
    I don't see the link to this. Are you saying there's a media narrative that vulnerable children are never abused?
    The whole care system is rife with abuse.

    The prize winning blogger, Winston Smith, who worked in the system, revealed a good deal of how the system creates a converter belt of vulnerable children ready for the predators.

    It’s like police corruption. After how many “bad apples” do you start to think something is up with the barrel, or maybe the whole fucking orchard?
  • Can I ask PB Brains Trust a question please. I moved over Christmas, to a new build, where town is expanding into what used to be a rural area. The only problem I've had is my mobile phone signal is utterly awful, when I am on the phone its often crackly and quite a few calls simply get missed and go straight to voicemail which I can't be having.

    I'm with Sky Mobile which I believe uses O2. Think I might need to switch though. My wife is with Vodafone and her signal is better, but still not great. Had visitors on Three, their signal was poor as well. Don't know about EE.

    I've tried looking at Ofcom's signal checker service to see what networks work here, the postcode isn't recognised with it being new, but scrolling the map it seems to show no signal for 3, limited signal for O2 and both Vodafone and EE claiming to have good 4G signal. No 5G for any network at this location.

    Without getting a new Sim card on a different network is there any way to test what the various networks signals would be like at my location so I can decide which network to switch to?
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,322
    @BartholomewRoberts wifi call is your friend
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,648
    edited January 2023

    Let me repeat what I said earlier: I do not think Trump is a "prohibitive favorite" to win the Republican nomination.

    And here is some more data, supporting that conclusion, from another column by Aaron Blake, this one from last December:
    "Another pollster to weigh in after the election is Marist College. It asked Republican-leaning voters who has a better shot of winning in 2024: Trump or a hypothetical “someone else.” In October 2021, Trump led on that measure 50-35. Today, “someone else” leads 54-35.
    . . .
    But it’s not just that Republicans finally see a plausible alternative and worry about Trump’s prospects; there are signs that they have soured a bit on what he has wrought for the party. Before the 2022 election, the Quinnipiac poll showed Republicans said Trump has had “mainly a positive” impact on the party by a 76-point margin, 85-9. Today, it’s a much smaller 46-point margin: 70-24."
    source$: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/05/trump-2024-polls/

    The trends are not his friends.

    I’ve been laying Trump as nominee for a while. Just the worry that crediting the US republicans with some sense might land me in the same hole as did thinking that the Tories would surely never put a lying clown into number ten.
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 8,041

    Can I ask PB Brains Trust a question please. I moved over Christmas, to a new build, where town is expanding into what used to be a rural area. The only problem I've had is my mobile phone signal is utterly awful, when I am on the phone its often crackly and quite a few calls simply get missed and go straight to voicemail which I can't be having.

    I'm with Sky Mobile which I believe uses O2. Think I might need to switch though. My wife is with Vodafone and her signal is better, but still not great. Had visitors on Three, their signal was poor as well. Don't know about EE.

    I've tried looking at Ofcom's signal checker service to see what networks work here, the postcode isn't recognised with it being new, but scrolling the map it seems to show no signal for 3, limited signal for O2 and both Vodafone and EE claiming to have good 4G signal. No 5G for any network at this location.

    Without getting a new Sim card on a different network is there any way to test what the various networks signals would be like at my location so I can decide which network to switch to?

    I have the same issue (dense tenements) and wifi-calling is the answer. Does your phone support that?
  • BurgessianBurgessian Posts: 2,685

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    The SNP voted down an amendment to prevent rape defendants from legally changing their sex before trial. To help avoid sort of defence advanced by defence barrister in this case, that this now-convicted male rapist shouldn’t be seen as a “predatory man”

    [Thankfully this means the jury rejected the extraordinary argument from Bryson's KC that "if you accept that evidence, that she is transitioning ... that goes a long way to acquitting her of these charges."]

    Key facts: this convicted rapist started transitioning in 2020 AFTER he raped two women in 2016 and 2019 with what was referred to in court as “her penis”

    But, no, it’ll never ever happen and women are crazy to fear that male sex offenders will cynically abuse a system that allows them to change their legal sex with barely any safeguards.


    https://twitter.com/soniasodha/status/1617881626503155716

    The proposition that the KC, one of the most experienced at the Scottish bar, put forward in that case was little short of outrageous. I am relieved that the Jury were not misdirected from the real issue in the case, namely whether 2 very vulnerable young women had been raped.
    The general public appears to have remained sensible through all this, unlike some of their more excitable politicians....
    The problem though is what does the Scottish Prison Service do with this person for the next 5 or so years? She will no doubt want to go to a women's prison. The risk assessment connected with that is going to be horrendous. In fairness she would not be safe in a men's prison either.
    Logical solution for me is men's prison with protective solitary custody if that is required.
    From the BBC:

    "Clearly, Bryson cannot be held in segregation - solitary confinement - forever. It would breach her human rights.

    At some point she will mix and be housed with other prisoners. One commentator with extensive knowledge of Scotland's jails said the prison service "is in a very difficult position facing very difficult choices.""

    You can say that again.

    A very realistic fear is that sex offenders will game the system and, simply on the basis of self identification, declare themselves a woman, with all the perquisites that go with it.

    I'm really not surprised that feminists are simmering with fury at this. If anyone can be a woman - even a male rapist - what was the whole battle for womens rights actually about?
  • Can I ask PB Brains Trust a question please. I moved over Christmas, to a new build, where town is expanding into what used to be a rural area. The only problem I've had is my mobile phone signal is utterly awful, when I am on the phone its often crackly and quite a few calls simply get missed and go straight to voicemail which I can't be having.

    I'm with Sky Mobile which I believe uses O2. Think I might need to switch though. My wife is with Vodafone and her signal is better, but still not great. Had visitors on Three, their signal was poor as well. Don't know about EE.

    I've tried looking at Ofcom's signal checker service to see what networks work here, the postcode isn't recognised with it being new, but scrolling the map it seems to show no signal for 3, limited signal for O2 and both Vodafone and EE claiming to have good 4G signal. No 5G for any network at this location.

    Without getting a new Sim card on a different network is there any way to test what the various networks signals would be like at my location so I can decide which network to switch to?

    Turn on Wi-Fi Calling which Sky definitely support.

    Probably building construction so probably bad on all networks but otherwise get PAYG SIMs is the only way.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,648
    Leon said:

    Sandpit said:

    Leon said:

    boulay said:

    Leon said:

    Surely, in the depraved ranks of His Majesty’s Honourable Guild of PB-ers, there must be one miscreant who can give me the skinny on Tramadol

    Did it once at a party, a few tablets ground up and it was honestly a lovely experience but I got in a lot of shit from a very close doctor friend and despite having been very tempted in the years since I have avoided it as I can see it would become very addictive very quickly so avoid like the plague.
    I’ve kicked heroin and Xanax, reckon I can take Tramadol, no probs

    See you all in 8 years after jail & rehab
    Don’t be silly. It’ll fuck you up.
    It’s really not gonna fuck me up. I’m too old and grizzled for that. I’ve done EVERYTHING

    So it’s quite possible you’re just a few years away from your first stroke, then? The one calamity that you have been unable to foresee.
  • lintolinto Posts: 37
    edited January 2023

    Can I ask PB Brains Trust a question please. I moved over Christmas, to a new build, where town is expanding into what used to be a rural area. The only problem I've had is my mobile phone signal is utterly awful, when I am on the phone its often crackly and quite a few calls simply get missed and go straight to voicemail which I can't be having.

    I'm with Sky Mobile which I believe uses O2. Think I might need to switch though. My wife is with Vodafone and her signal is better, but still not great. Had visitors on Three, their signal was poor as well. Don't know about EE.

    I've tried looking at Ofcom's signal checker service to see what networks work here, the postcode isn't recognised with it being new, but scrolling the map it seems to show no signal for 3, limited signal for O2 and both Vodafone and EE claiming to have good 4G signal. No 5G for any network at this location.

    Without getting a new Sim card on a different network is there any way to test what the various networks signals would be like at my location so I can decide which network to switch to?

    EE has generally the best signal everywhere as they massively upgraded their network when the got the 4g contract for the emergency services new radio system. Unsurprisingly this system is now over budget and late due to them trying to shoehorn unsuitable technology in as it was the bright new thing.But the infrastructure is in place and working for the consumer now.Or go with a network that allows WiFi calling, BT do and a few others I think
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,648

    Has anyone tried an iron steamer?

    Can you still cross the Atlantic that way, nowadays?
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 36,825
    I’m truly shocked, shocked I tell you, that South Yorkshire police showed no interest in investigating allegations of child abuse.
  • stodge said:

    Evening all :)

    As usual, well off the pace but this morning's public finance data was just plain bad and the flash PMI numbers weren't brilliant either.

    At least Hunt can safely ignore the siren calls for tax cuts from those who believe it's the only way for the Conservatives to win re-election. It would be good if, as Ken Clarke in the mid-90s, he put the overall health of the economy and public finances before pre-election gimmicks.

    The priority now should be to reduce the deficit which won't be easy if £200 billion every year is going on debt interest payments. Spending cuts? Perhaps but where? Defence ? Hardly seems politically acceptable. Welfare? Ditto. NHS? Hardly.

    Tax rises? We are told those who pay most of the tax are already paying too much and they'll be on the first plane to (fill in the gap) if we try to take any more from them.

    Obviously, we can kick the can down the road - growth will help when more favourable conditions return and as tax revenues recover (and we can perhaps look at raising taxes when growth is back), we can get the deficit down which will mean we're back to living somewhere within our means but for now, it looks very bad.

    Hunt and Sunak are clearly aware of just how serious things are and explains why they are resisting inflation pay rises in the public sector

    The outlook for the next few years is very bleak and frankly politicians are going to be overwhelmed by the unpalatable decisions that will be required to address the economy

    I cannot see any space for tax cuts, indeed taxes on wealth are going to be needed as tax on incomes is far too high
  • @BartholomewRoberts wifi call is your friend

    And Eabhal. Thanks for the advice, WiFi Calling is already enabled on my phone, so not sure why its playing up with the crackly calls and missed calls then?

    We have BT Fibre Broadband which was installed by the developers before we moved in, we just needed to get it activated. Not had any other issues with WiFi.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 47,891
    Sandpit said:

    dixiedean said:

    £250k pa per child.
    OFSTED rated "good".

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63792458

    Thankfully this is very much a one-off, and not at all representative of dozens hundreds of court cases, over decades, involving abuse of children in what’s somewhat euphemistically called “care”.

    It’s a massive scandal but the media ignore it, because it doesn’t fit their “narrative”.
    Rather typical of privatised services when the customer is the state and not the individual. See also NHS and Social Care.
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 36,825
    From time to time, when I read of endless child abuse scandals, police scandals, banking scandals, political scandals, I find myself wondering if the leaders of this country are actively evil.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 53,508

    Sandpit said:

    kinabalu said:

    Sandpit said:

    kinabalu said:

    Sandpit said:

    dixiedean said:

    £250k pa per child.
    OFSTED rated "good".

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63792458

    Thankfully this is very much a one-off, and not at all representative of dozens hundreds of court cases, over decades, involving abuse of children in what’s somewhat euphemistically called “care”.

    It’s a massive scandal but the media ignore it, because it doesn’t fit their “narrative”.
    What narrative do you mean?
    Start with the “Rotherham” problem, with the long list of victims ignored by authorities, journalists, and politicians, over a droid of more than a decade.

    It took a very brave report from Andrew Norfolk at The Times, for the issue to be allowed to be discussed in polite society.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-61868863.amp
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotherham_child_sexual_exploitation_scandal
    I don't see the link to this. Are you saying there's a media narrative that vulnerable children are never abused?
    The media narrative, is that lower-class white people cannot be victims, because they don’t fit into the woke hierarchy of vitimhood.
    That's just nonsense.
    Except that it isn’t nonsense, there was a decades-long documented history of it.

    Baroness Jay’s report identified 1,400 victims between 1997 and 2013, and resulted in the resignations of the council’s Chief Executive, the Director of Children’s Services, and the Police and Crime Comissioner for South Yorkshire.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_Inquiry_into_Child_Sexual_Abuse
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotherham_child_sexual_exploitation_scandal
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 41,387

    kinabalu said:

    Sandpit said:

    kinabalu said:

    Sandpit said:

    dixiedean said:

    £250k pa per child.
    OFSTED rated "good".

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63792458

    Thankfully this is very much a one-off, and not at all representative of dozens hundreds of court cases, over decades, involving abuse of children in what’s somewhat euphemistically called “care”.

    It’s a massive scandal but the media ignore it, because it doesn’t fit their “narrative”.
    What narrative do you mean?
    Start with the “Rotherham” problem, with the long list of victims ignored by authorities, journalists, and politicians, over a droid of more than a decade.

    It took a very brave report from Andrew Norfolk at The Times, for the issue to be allowed to be discussed in polite society.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-61868863.amp
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotherham_child_sexual_exploitation_scandal
    I don't see the link to this. Are you saying there's a media narrative that vulnerable children are never abused?
    The whole care system is rife with abuse.

    The prize winning blogger, Winston Smith, who worked in the system, revealed a good deal of how the system creates a converter belt of vulnerable children ready for the predators.

    It’s like police corruption. After how many “bad apples” do you start to think something is up with the barrel, or maybe the whole fucking orchard?
    Awful to think of. Does he have any ideas to reduce the chances of abuse happening?
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 8,041
    edited January 2023
    Sandpit said:

    kinabalu said:

    Sandpit said:

    kinabalu said:

    Sandpit said:

    dixiedean said:

    £250k pa per child.
    OFSTED rated "good".

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63792458

    Thankfully this is very much a one-off, and not at all representative of dozens hundreds of court cases, over decades, involving abuse of children in what’s somewhat euphemistically called “care”.

    It’s a massive scandal but the media ignore it, because it doesn’t fit their “narrative”.
    What narrative do you mean?
    Start with the “Rotherham” problem, with the long list of victims ignored by authorities, journalists, and politicians, over a droid of more than a decade.

    It took a very brave report from Andrew Norfolk at The Times, for the issue to be allowed to be discussed in polite society.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-61868863.amp
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotherham_child_sexual_exploitation_scandal
    I don't see the link to this. Are you saying there's a media narrative that vulnerable children are never abused?
    The media narrative, is that lower-class white people cannot be victims, because they don’t fit into the woke hierarchy of vitimhood.
    Not sure about the that narrative, or hierarchy, but I do note that when the "woke lobby" go up against a group that is up for a fight (the Mumsnet cohort, basically), things get heated very quickly and enter the mainstream discourse.

    Vulnerable children need someone to do the fighting for them. Good to see the BBC digging into it.
  • BurgessianBurgessian Posts: 2,685
    IanB2 said:

    Let me repeat what I said earlier: I do not think Trump is a "prohibitive favorite" to win the Republican nomination.

    And here is some more data, supporting that conclusion, from another column by Aaron Blake, this one from last December:
    "Another pollster to weigh in after the election is Marist College. It asked Republican-leaning voters who has a better shot of winning in 2024: Trump or a hypothetical “someone else.” In October 2021, Trump led on that measure 50-35. Today, “someone else” leads 54-35.
    . . .
    But it’s not just that Republicans finally see a plausible alternative and worry about Trump’s prospects; there are signs that they have soured a bit on what he has wrought for the party. Before the 2022 election, the Quinnipiac poll showed Republicans said Trump has had “mainly a positive” impact on the party by a 76-point margin, 85-9. Today, it’s a much smaller 46-point margin: 70-24."
    source$: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/05/trump-2024-polls/

    The trends are not his friends.

    I’ve been laying Trump as nominee for a while. Just the worry that crediting the US republicans with some sense might land me in the same hole as did thinking that the Tories would surely never put a lying clown into number ten.
    It'll be Trump versus Biden. The Republican base won't be told. He tickles their itch. And why would a narcissistic egotist not do what he wants to do? He craves attention and adulation. And they - or at least enough of them - will provide it in spades.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 48,605
    Eabhal said:

    Can I ask PB Brains Trust a question please. I moved over Christmas, to a new build, where town is expanding into what used to be a rural area. The only problem I've had is my mobile phone signal is utterly awful, when I am on the phone its often crackly and quite a few calls simply get missed and go straight to voicemail which I can't be having.

    I'm with Sky Mobile which I believe uses O2. Think I might need to switch though. My wife is with Vodafone and her signal is better, but still not great. Had visitors on Three, their signal was poor as well. Don't know about EE.

    I've tried looking at Ofcom's signal checker service to see what networks work here, the postcode isn't recognised with it being new, but scrolling the map it seems to show no signal for 3, limited signal for O2 and both Vodafone and EE claiming to have good 4G signal. No 5G for any network at this location.

    Without getting a new Sim card on a different network is there any way to test what the various networks signals would be like at my location so I can decide which network to switch to?

    I have the same issue (dense tenements) and wifi-calling is the answer. Does your phone support that?
    If this is inside the house, WiFi calling is the answer.

    Modern home building/rework often has foil layers in the insulation. Which really, really stuff up mobile reception.
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 8,041

    @BartholomewRoberts wifi call is your friend

    And Eabhal. Thanks for the advice, WiFi Calling is already enabled on my phone, so not sure why its playing up with the crackly calls and missed calls then?

    We have BT Fibre Broadband which was installed by the developers before we moved in, we just needed to get it activated. Not had any other issues with WiFi.
    Weird, works perfectly for me. Does it pop up as "WiFi call" or similar when you make a call?
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 41,387
    Sandpit said:

    kinabalu said:

    Sandpit said:

    kinabalu said:

    Sandpit said:

    dixiedean said:

    £250k pa per child.
    OFSTED rated "good".

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63792458

    Thankfully this is very much a one-off, and not at all representative of dozens hundreds of court cases, over decades, involving abuse of children in what’s somewhat euphemistically called “care”.

    It’s a massive scandal but the media ignore it, because it doesn’t fit their “narrative”.
    What narrative do you mean?
    Start with the “Rotherham” problem, with the long list of victims ignored by authorities, journalists, and politicians, over a droid of more than a decade.

    It took a very brave report from Andrew Norfolk at The Times, for the issue to be allowed to be discussed in polite society.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-61868863.amp
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotherham_child_sexual_exploitation_scandal
    I don't see the link to this. Are you saying there's a media narrative that vulnerable children are never abused?
    The media narrative, is that lower-class white people cannot be victims, because they don’t fit into the woke hierarchy of vitimhood.
    That sounds like a learned phrase rather than something real.
  • @BartholomewRoberts wifi call is your friend

    And Eabhal. Thanks for the advice, WiFi Calling is already enabled on my phone, so not sure why its playing up with the crackly calls and missed calls then?

    We have BT Fibre Broadband which was installed by the developers before we moved in, we just needed to get it activated. Not had any other issues with WiFi.
    So the network can choose to prioritise the mobile access network over Wi-Fi Calling and you probably can't control this.

    However, quick workaround, turn on Airplane Mode. That will force Wi-Fi Calling. See if that's better for a few days.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 53,508
    Eabhal said:

    Sandpit said:

    kinabalu said:

    Sandpit said:

    kinabalu said:

    Sandpit said:

    dixiedean said:

    £250k pa per child.
    OFSTED rated "good".

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63792458

    Thankfully this is very much a one-off, and not at all representative of dozens hundreds of court cases, over decades, involving abuse of children in what’s somewhat euphemistically called “care”.

    It’s a massive scandal but the media ignore it, because it doesn’t fit their “narrative”.
    What narrative do you mean?
    Start with the “Rotherham” problem, with the long list of victims ignored by authorities, journalists, and politicians, over a droid of more than a decade.

    It took a very brave report from Andrew Norfolk at The Times, for the issue to be allowed to be discussed in polite society.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-61868863.amp
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotherham_child_sexual_exploitation_scandal
    I don't see the link to this. Are you saying there's a media narrative that vulnerable children are never abused?
    The media narrative, is that lower-class white people cannot be victims, because they don’t fit into the woke hierarchy of vitimhood.
    Not sure about the that narrative, or hierarchy, but I do note that when the "woke lobby" go up against a group that is up for a fight (the Mumsnet cohort, basically), things get heated very quickly and enter the mainstream discourse.

    Vulnerable children need someone to do the fighting for them.
    The only person talking about “Rotherham” before 2009, was Nick Griffin. Sadly, everyone in polite society dismissed him as a racist, and didn’t listen to what he had to say.

    I’m still not sure that lesson hasn’t been learned.
  • Eabhal said:

    @BartholomewRoberts wifi call is your friend

    And Eabhal. Thanks for the advice, WiFi Calling is already enabled on my phone, so not sure why its playing up with the crackly calls and missed calls then?

    We have BT Fibre Broadband which was installed by the developers before we moved in, we just needed to get it activated. Not had any other issues with WiFi.
    Weird, works perfectly for me. Does it pop up as "WiFi call" or similar when you make a call?
    Depends on network as I said above, they can prioritise mobile over Wi-Fi. Use Airplane Mode to force Wi-Fi Calling.

    I'm on O2 here and with full reception my iPhone uses the radio access network as that is the priority O2 has set. I just use Airplane Mode when at home to work around this.
  • Long term solution is more low band spectrum, there's 700MHz being rolled out at the moment on 4G/5G with DSS, newer phones will allow better indoor reception
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 41,387

    IanB2 said:

    Let me repeat what I said earlier: I do not think Trump is a "prohibitive favorite" to win the Republican nomination.

    And here is some more data, supporting that conclusion, from another column by Aaron Blake, this one from last December:
    "Another pollster to weigh in after the election is Marist College. It asked Republican-leaning voters who has a better shot of winning in 2024: Trump or a hypothetical “someone else.” In October 2021, Trump led on that measure 50-35. Today, “someone else” leads 54-35.
    . . .
    But it’s not just that Republicans finally see a plausible alternative and worry about Trump’s prospects; there are signs that they have soured a bit on what he has wrought for the party. Before the 2022 election, the Quinnipiac poll showed Republicans said Trump has had “mainly a positive” impact on the party by a 76-point margin, 85-9. Today, it’s a much smaller 46-point margin: 70-24."
    source$: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/05/trump-2024-polls/

    The trends are not his friends.

    I’ve been laying Trump as nominee for a while. Just the worry that crediting the US republicans with some sense might land me in the same hole as did thinking that the Tories would surely never put a lying clown into number ten.
    It'll be Trump versus Biden. The Republican base won't be told. He tickles their itch. And why would a narcissistic egotist not do what he wants to do? He craves attention and adulation. And they - or at least enough of them - will provide it in spades.
    More likely to be neither on the ballot than both imo.
  • If Trump v Biden, good chance Biden gets a landslide?
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 36,825
    Eabhal said:

    Sandpit said:

    kinabalu said:

    Sandpit said:

    kinabalu said:

    Sandpit said:

    dixiedean said:

    £250k pa per child.
    OFSTED rated "good".

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63792458

    Thankfully this is very much a one-off, and not at all representative of dozens hundreds of court cases, over decades, involving abuse of children in what’s somewhat euphemistically called “care”.

    It’s a massive scandal but the media ignore it, because it doesn’t fit their “narrative”.
    What narrative do you mean?
    Start with the “Rotherham” problem, with the long list of victims ignored by authorities, journalists, and politicians, over a droid of more than a decade.

    It took a very brave report from Andrew Norfolk at The Times, for the issue to be allowed to be discussed in polite society.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-61868863.amp
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotherham_child_sexual_exploitation_scandal
    I don't see the link to this. Are you saying there's a media narrative that vulnerable children are never abused?
    The media narrative, is that lower-class white people cannot be victims, because they don’t fit into the woke hierarchy of vitimhood.
    Not sure about the that narrative, or hierarchy, but I do note that when the "woke lobby" go up against a group that is up for a fight (the Mumsnet cohort, basically), things get heated very quickly and enter the mainstream discourse.

    Vulnerable children need someone to do the fighting for them. Good to see the BBC digging into it.
    Eabhal said:

    Sandpit said:

    kinabalu said:

    Sandpit said:

    kinabalu said:

    Sandpit said:

    dixiedean said:

    £250k pa per child.
    OFSTED rated "good".

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63792458

    Thankfully this is very much a one-off, and not at all representative of dozens hundreds of court cases, over decades, involving abuse of children in what’s somewhat euphemistically called “care”.

    It’s a massive scandal but the media ignore it, because it doesn’t fit their “narrative”.
    What narrative do you mean?
    Start with the “Rotherham” problem, with the long list of victims ignored by authorities, journalists, and politicians, over a droid of more than a decade.

    It took a very brave report from Andrew Norfolk at The Times, for the issue to be allowed to be discussed in polite society.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-61868863.amp
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotherham_child_sexual_exploitation_scandal
    I don't see the link to this. Are you saying there's a media narrative that vulnerable children are never abused?
    The media narrative, is that lower-class white people cannot be victims, because they don’t fit into the woke hierarchy of vitimhood.
    Not sure about the that narrative, or hierarchy, but I do note that when the "woke lobby" go up against a group that is up for a fight (the Mumsnet cohort, basically), things get heated very quickly and enter the mainstream discourse.

    Vulnerable children need someone to do the fighting for them. Good to see the BBC digging into it.
    I wouldn’t say it’s a media narrative. I think that some people in power just view these people as scum. I don’t think it’s a right vs left thing, either.

    And, no doubt, these children are very challenging.

    The need to have people fighting on one’s behalf is essential. The middle classes have them, the lower classes much less so.

  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 41,387
    Foxy said:

    Sandpit said:

    dixiedean said:

    £250k pa per child.
    OFSTED rated "good".

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63792458

    Thankfully this is very much a one-off, and not at all representative of dozens hundreds of court cases, over decades, involving abuse of children in what’s somewhat euphemistically called “care”.

    It’s a massive scandal but the media ignore it, because it doesn’t fit their “narrative”.
    Rather typical of privatised services when the customer is the state and not the individual. See also NHS and Social Care.
    Yes, profit motive, state as customer, this is a dodgy dynamic.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,130
    kinabalu said:

    Sandpit said:

    kinabalu said:

    Sandpit said:

    dixiedean said:

    £250k pa per child.
    OFSTED rated "good".

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63792458

    Thankfully this is very much a one-off, and not at all representative of dozens hundreds of court cases, over decades, involving abuse of children in what’s somewhat euphemistically called “care”.

    It’s a massive scandal but the media ignore it, because it doesn’t fit their “narrative”.
    What narrative do you mean?
    Start with the “Rotherham” problem, with the long list of victims ignored by authorities, journalists, and politicians, over a droid of more than a decade.

    It took a very brave report from Andrew Norfolk at The Times, for the issue to be allowed to be discussed in polite society.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-61868863.amp
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotherham_child_sexual_exploitation_scandal
    I don't see the link to this. Are you saying there's a media narrative that vulnerable children are never abused?
    There's certainly no media narrative that vulnerable children are abused by gangs of Muslim groomers in town after town across Britain. Which is odd, because you'd think it would be a story worth reporting
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,278
    edited January 2023
    Sandpit said:

    kinabalu said:

    Sandpit said:

    kinabalu said:

    Sandpit said:

    dixiedean said:

    £250k pa per child.
    OFSTED rated "good".

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63792458

    Thankfully this is very much a one-off, and not at all representative of dozens hundreds of court cases, over decades, involving abuse of children in what’s somewhat euphemistically called “care”.

    It’s a massive scandal but the media ignore it, because it doesn’t fit their “narrative”.
    What narrative do you mean?
    Start with the “Rotherham” problem, with the long list of victims ignored by authorities, journalists, and politicians, over a droid of more than a decade.

    It took a very brave report from Andrew Norfolk at The Times, for the issue to be allowed to be discussed in polite society.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-61868863.amp
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotherham_child_sexual_exploitation_scandal
    I don't see the link to this. Are you saying there's a media narrative that vulnerable children are never abused?
    The media narrative, is that lower-class white people cannot be victims, because they don’t fit into the woke hierarchy of vitimhood.
    It's residential special schools for those with the very highest level of needs.
    From all over the country.
    What makes you think they are whiter or more working class than the average?
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,278
    If the state can't provide residential care homes cheaper than the £250k a year this private equity did, then it really ought to be able to.
    16% profit.
  • Two Britons missing in Ukraine have been killed while trying to carry out a humanitarian evacuation, the family of one of the men said in a statement.

    Chris Parry, 28, and his colleague Andrew Bagshaw, 48 – who held dual UK and New Zealand citizenship – had been attempting an evacuation from Soledar, in eastern Ukraine, Parry’s family said.

    The men had been working as volunteers, helping people escape the frontline of the war started by Russia in February 2022.


    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jan/24/two-missing-britons-killed-in-ukraine-family-say
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,278
    kinabalu said:

    Foxy said:

    Sandpit said:

    dixiedean said:

    £250k pa per child.
    OFSTED rated "good".

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63792458

    Thankfully this is very much a one-off, and not at all representative of dozens hundreds of court cases, over decades, involving abuse of children in what’s somewhat euphemistically called “care”.

    It’s a massive scandal but the media ignore it, because it doesn’t fit their “narrative”.
    Rather typical of privatised services when the customer is the state and not the individual. See also NHS and Social Care.
    Yes, profit motive, state as customer, this is a dodgy dynamic.
    Vast shortage of places to add to the mix.
  • If Trump v Biden, good chance Biden gets a landslide?

    Speaking as a Bidenite, my guess is - no. Or rather, hell no!

    Especially IF you are talking about Electoral College. But reckon also with total national popular vote.

    Landslide being defined as margin of +10 percentage points, of total votes (EV or pop) cast.
  • Hi ya @dixiedean welcome back mate
  • Sean_F said:

    From time to time, when I read of endless child abuse scandals, police scandals, banking scandals, political scandals, I find myself wondering if the leaders of this country are actively evil.

    I'm sure that active evil exists. But I suspect the bigger problem is the collective unwillingness to call out evil acts when we see them. And that's understandable (even when it's wrong)... It takes a degree of courage to blow the whistle. It takes a different (but just as real) kind of courage to listen for a whistle being blown and to respond properly.

    Unfortunately, that cowardice (for that's what it is, even if it's humanly understandable) is what allows the proper scumbags to thrive.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,278
    edited January 2023
    DBS not signed off till up to six months after starting the job.
    Simply not possible in any State school.
    No DBS no start.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,278

    Hi ya @dixiedean welcome back mate

    Haven't been away.
    But Hiya CHB. Hope you are doing better mate.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,322

    I'm really not surprised that feminists are simmering with fury at this. If anyone can be a woman - even a male rapist - what was the whole battle for womens rights actually about?

    Equal rights
  • kyf_100kyf_100 Posts: 4,718
    @Leon

    I've been on tramadol recently for a medical condition, having only done heroin a couple of times I'm not an expert, but my feeling is that while tramadol is far, far milder, it activates the same reward centres in the brain, and if you've a history of opioid abuse, I'd say it could easily be the start of a slippery slope. Better to stick to a benzodiazepine which has a similar sedative effect but seems to hit a different reward centre of the brain. There is something quite physical about the opiods and similar, like a body hit, whereas the hit from a benzo or similar is quite cerebral, like a slowing down of the thoughts.

    Anyway - if you've a history with opiods I'd recommend serious caution with tramadol - its an opioid and it stimulates the same reward centres as the hard stuff.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,130
    Sean_F said:

    From time to time, when I read of endless child abuse scandals, police scandals, banking scandals, political scandals, I find myself wondering if the leaders of this country are actively evil.

    I always assumed incompetent or blinded by ideology. It was hard to remain this sympathetic to those in charge once lockdown came along and it became apparent that there were actual card-carrying communists in positions of influence. Hard to convince myself that the likes of Susan Michie isn't actively evil.
  • dixiedean said:

    Hi ya @dixiedean welcome back mate

    Haven't been away.
    But Hiya CHB. Hope you are doing better mate.
    Haven't crossed paths so it is welcome back to me :)

    Sadly been a very rough start to the year but mental health is stronger so coping just
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,278
    Hadn't realised it was still cold down South.
    Been much warmer here since around Sunday lunchtime. 11° today, minimum of 8°.
    Got the window open.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,167

    Two Britons missing in Ukraine have been killed while trying to carry out a humanitarian evacuation, the family of one of the men said in a statement.

    Chris Parry, 28, and his colleague Andrew Bagshaw, 48 – who held dual UK and New Zealand citizenship – had been attempting an evacuation from Soledar, in eastern Ukraine, Parry’s family said.

    The men had been working as volunteers, helping people escape the frontline of the war started by Russia in February 2022.


    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jan/24/two-missing-britons-killed-in-ukraine-family-say

    Andrew Bagshaw’s parents are eminent doctors. His mother is a Dame.
  • BurgessianBurgessian Posts: 2,685
    kinabalu said:

    IanB2 said:

    Let me repeat what I said earlier: I do not think Trump is a "prohibitive favorite" to win the Republican nomination.

    And here is some more data, supporting that conclusion, from another column by Aaron Blake, this one from last December:
    "Another pollster to weigh in after the election is Marist College. It asked Republican-leaning voters who has a better shot of winning in 2024: Trump or a hypothetical “someone else.” In October 2021, Trump led on that measure 50-35. Today, “someone else” leads 54-35.
    . . .
    But it’s not just that Republicans finally see a plausible alternative and worry about Trump’s prospects; there are signs that they have soured a bit on what he has wrought for the party. Before the 2022 election, the Quinnipiac poll showed Republicans said Trump has had “mainly a positive” impact on the party by a 76-point margin, 85-9. Today, it’s a much smaller 46-point margin: 70-24."
    source$: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/05/trump-2024-polls/

    The trends are not his friends.

    I’ve been laying Trump as nominee for a while. Just the worry that crediting the US republicans with some sense might land me in the same hole as did thinking that the Tories would surely never put a lying clown into number ten.
    It'll be Trump versus Biden. The Republican base won't be told. He tickles their itch. And why would a narcissistic egotist not do what he wants to do? He craves attention and adulation. And they - or at least enough of them - will provide it in spades.
    More likely to be neither on the ballot than both imo.
    Well I rather hope you're right. But I don't see Trump losing out on the nomination, and that will mean Biden will feel obliged to run. If not him, who? Harris is pretty hopeless from what I've seen and Buttigieg won't be able to deliver the voting coalition that got Biden elected.
  • Looks like the Germans have finally decided to send Leopards to Ukraine.

    The Americans are sending Abrams.
    Colonel?
  • Eabhal said:

    @BartholomewRoberts wifi call is your friend

    And Eabhal. Thanks for the advice, WiFi Calling is already enabled on my phone, so not sure why its playing up with the crackly calls and missed calls then?

    We have BT Fibre Broadband which was installed by the developers before we moved in, we just needed to get it activated. Not had any other issues with WiFi.
    Weird, works perfectly for me. Does it pop up as "WiFi call" or similar when you make a call?
    I've never noticed it saying WiFi call, no.

    Could try Airplane mode but I would be worried I'd forget to turn it off when I leave the house.
  • Fun report in The Guardian from Eurostar. In essence they have to leave hundreds of seats empty on various trains because there simply isn't the border capacity to process and stamp passports. A bigger issue than just a lack of bodies, there physically isn't the space to create the pens needed to hold hundreds more passengers in queues...

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jan/24/eurostar-trains-empty-seats-brexit-passport-rules-london-paris-brussels
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,278

    dixiedean said:

    Hi ya @dixiedean welcome back mate

    Haven't been away.
    But Hiya CHB. Hope you are doing better mate.
    Haven't crossed paths so it is welcome back to me :)

    Sadly been a very rough start to the year but mental health is stronger so coping just
    Good to hear.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 47,891

    Can I ask PB Brains Trust a question please. I moved over Christmas, to a new build, where town is expanding into what used to be a rural area. The only problem I've had is my mobile phone signal is utterly awful, when I am on the phone its often crackly and quite a few calls simply get missed and go straight to voicemail which I can't be having.

    I'm with Sky Mobile which I believe uses O2. Think I might need to switch though. My wife is with Vodafone and her signal is better, but still not great. Had visitors on Three, their signal was poor as well. Don't know about EE.

    I've tried looking at Ofcom's signal checker service to see what networks work here, the postcode isn't recognised with it being new, but scrolling the map it seems to show no signal for 3, limited signal for O2 and both Vodafone and EE claiming to have good 4G signal. No 5G for any network at this location.

    Without getting a new Sim card on a different network is there any way to test what the various networks signals would be like at my location so I can decide which network to switch to?

    Have you considered asking whether O2 is planning a new transmitter mast for the new estates?
  • Looks like the Germans have finally decided to send Leopards to Ukraine.

    The Americans are sending Abrams.
    Personally think USA should REALLY get serious about helping UKR . . . and send Tyler Swift over to the front lines, to entertain the troops who are fighting for freedom!

    AND believe UK should "truly" give it's all for UKR . . . by sending Radiohead on tour of Russia, to (further) demoralize their audiences and (ditto) destabilize Putin's rotten regime!!

    Speaking of Taylor Swift, the Ticketmaster Meltdown is apparently THE major problem facing America today, judging from CSpan.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,130

    Sean_F said:

    From time to time, when I read of endless child abuse scandals, police scandals, banking scandals, political scandals, I find myself wondering if the leaders of this country are actively evil.

    I'm sure that active evil exists. But I suspect the bigger problem is the collective unwillingness to call out evil acts when we see them. And that's understandable (even when it's wrong)... It takes a degree of courage to blow the whistle. It takes a different (but just as real) kind of courage to listen for a whistle being blown and to respond properly.

    Unfortunately, that cowardice (for that's what it is, even if it's humanly understandable) is what allows the proper scumbags to thrive.
    Tremendous courage. In the case of Rotherham, probably career-ending courage.
    The problem is that these people have convinced themselves not just that they are right but that they are good - nice, virtuous, kind. And so anyone who opposes them must by definition be bad, unkind, vicious. And so it is quite legitimate - indeed, necessary - to destroy anyone who voices a contrary opinion.
    You can see why no-one really dares speak out against the machine.
  • Looks like the Germans have finally decided to send Leopards to Ukraine.

    The Americans are sending Abrams.
    Colonel?
    J. J.

    He might get Lost but it won't trigger Armageddon.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,278
    Tramadol can have serious repercussions if you are on sertraline (or other SSRI's).
    I know cos the hospital put me on them. The GP was horrified when I tried to get a repeat prescription.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,167

    Fun report in The Guardian from Eurostar. In essence they have to leave hundreds of seats empty on various trains because there simply isn't the border capacity to process and stamp passports. A bigger issue than just a lack of bodies, there physically isn't the space to create the pens needed to hold hundreds more passengers in queues...

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jan/24/eurostar-trains-empty-seats-brexit-passport-rules-london-paris-brussels

    Another absolute Brexit shit-show.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 70,694

    Sean_F said:

    From time to time, when I read of endless child abuse scandals, police scandals, banking scandals, political scandals, I find myself wondering if the leaders of this country are actively evil.

    I'm sure that active evil exists. But I suspect the bigger problem is the collective unwillingness to call out evil acts when we see them. And that's understandable (even when it's wrong)... It takes a degree of courage to blow the whistle. It takes a different (but just as real) kind of courage to listen for a whistle being blown and to respond properly.

    Unfortunately, that cowardice (for that's what it is, even if it's humanly understandable) is what allows the proper scumbags to thrive.
    There is another problem.

    They are mostly rather ignorant, while convinced of their own omniscience.
  • Everton have been put up for sale by Farhad Moshiri, who is looking for offers of more than £500m for the Premier League club.

    https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/jan/24/everton-for-sale-farhad-moshiri-asking-price-more-than-500m?utm_term=Autofeed&CMP=twt_gu&utm_medium&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1674590466
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 41,387
    Cookie said:

    kinabalu said:

    Sandpit said:

    kinabalu said:

    Sandpit said:

    dixiedean said:

    £250k pa per child.
    OFSTED rated "good".

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63792458

    Thankfully this is very much a one-off, and not at all representative of dozens hundreds of court cases, over decades, involving abuse of children in what’s somewhat euphemistically called “care”.

    It’s a massive scandal but the media ignore it, because it doesn’t fit their “narrative”.
    What narrative do you mean?
    Start with the “Rotherham” problem, with the long list of victims ignored by authorities, journalists, and politicians, over a droid of more than a decade.

    It took a very brave report from Andrew Norfolk at The Times, for the issue to be allowed to be discussed in polite society.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-61868863.amp
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotherham_child_sexual_exploitation_scandal
    I don't see the link to this. Are you saying there's a media narrative that vulnerable children are never abused?
    There's certainly no media narrative that vulnerable children are abused by gangs of Muslim groomers in town after town across Britain. Which is odd, because you'd think it would be a story worth reporting
    Still don't see the link to this scandal. Perhaps there isn't one. Not every bad thing in this world has a Muslim or Woke angle.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 47,891
    dixiedean said:

    kinabalu said:

    Foxy said:

    Sandpit said:

    dixiedean said:

    £250k pa per child.
    OFSTED rated "good".

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63792458

    Thankfully this is very much a one-off, and not at all representative of dozens hundreds of court cases, over decades, involving abuse of children in what’s somewhat euphemistically called “care”.

    It’s a massive scandal but the media ignore it, because it doesn’t fit their “narrative”.
    Rather typical of privatised services when the customer is the state and not the individual. See also NHS and Social Care.
    Yes, profit motive, state as customer, this is a dodgy dynamic.
    Vast shortage of places to add to the mix.
    Indeed, it's money for old rope, and can save on staff costs by using untrained staff and pocket even more money.
  • Foxy said:

    Can I ask PB Brains Trust a question please. I moved over Christmas, to a new build, where town is expanding into what used to be a rural area. The only problem I've had is my mobile phone signal is utterly awful, when I am on the phone its often crackly and quite a few calls simply get missed and go straight to voicemail which I can't be having.

    I'm with Sky Mobile which I believe uses O2. Think I might need to switch though. My wife is with Vodafone and her signal is better, but still not great. Had visitors on Three, their signal was poor as well. Don't know about EE.

    I've tried looking at Ofcom's signal checker service to see what networks work here, the postcode isn't recognised with it being new, but scrolling the map it seems to show no signal for 3, limited signal for O2 and both Vodafone and EE claiming to have good 4G signal. No 5G for any network at this location.

    Without getting a new Sim card on a different network is there any way to test what the various networks signals would be like at my location so I can decide which network to switch to?

    Have you considered asking whether O2 is planning a new transmitter mast for the new estates?
    Good idea, no I haven't, I looked online but couldn't find a way to find that out online. Since I'm only indirectly a customer with O2 I wasn't sure how to approach that.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 47,891

    Foxy said:

    Can I ask PB Brains Trust a question please. I moved over Christmas, to a new build, where town is expanding into what used to be a rural area. The only problem I've had is my mobile phone signal is utterly awful, when I am on the phone its often crackly and quite a few calls simply get missed and go straight to voicemail which I can't be having.

    I'm with Sky Mobile which I believe uses O2. Think I might need to switch though. My wife is with Vodafone and her signal is better, but still not great. Had visitors on Three, their signal was poor as well. Don't know about EE.

    I've tried looking at Ofcom's signal checker service to see what networks work here, the postcode isn't recognised with it being new, but scrolling the map it seems to show no signal for 3, limited signal for O2 and both Vodafone and EE claiming to have good 4G signal. No 5G for any network at this location.

    Without getting a new Sim card on a different network is there any way to test what the various networks signals would be like at my location so I can decide which network to switch to?

    Have you considered asking whether O2 is planning a new transmitter mast for the new estates?
    Good idea, no I haven't, I looked online but couldn't find a way to find that out online. Since I'm only indirectly a customer with O2 I wasn't sure how to approach that.
    Presumably your neighbours are having the same issue, so it might suit O2 well if it is a substantial estate.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 41,387

    kinabalu said:

    IanB2 said:

    Let me repeat what I said earlier: I do not think Trump is a "prohibitive favorite" to win the Republican nomination.

    And here is some more data, supporting that conclusion, from another column by Aaron Blake, this one from last December:
    "Another pollster to weigh in after the election is Marist College. It asked Republican-leaning voters who has a better shot of winning in 2024: Trump or a hypothetical “someone else.” In October 2021, Trump led on that measure 50-35. Today, “someone else” leads 54-35.
    . . .
    But it’s not just that Republicans finally see a plausible alternative and worry about Trump’s prospects; there are signs that they have soured a bit on what he has wrought for the party. Before the 2022 election, the Quinnipiac poll showed Republicans said Trump has had “mainly a positive” impact on the party by a 76-point margin, 85-9. Today, it’s a much smaller 46-point margin: 70-24."
    source$: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/05/trump-2024-polls/

    The trends are not his friends.

    I’ve been laying Trump as nominee for a while. Just the worry that crediting the US republicans with some sense might land me in the same hole as did thinking that the Tories would surely never put a lying clown into number ten.
    It'll be Trump versus Biden. The Republican base won't be told. He tickles their itch. And why would a narcissistic egotist not do what he wants to do? He craves attention and adulation. And they - or at least enough of them - will provide it in spades.
    More likely to be neither on the ballot than both imo.
    Well I rather hope you're right. But I don't see Trump losing out on the nomination, and that will mean Biden will feel obliged to run. If not him, who? Harris is pretty hopeless from what I've seen and Buttigieg won't be able to deliver the voting coalition that got Biden elected.
    Ah well I don't see Trump getting the nomination. So that's the essence of our difference.
  • Sandpit said:

    Eabhal said:

    Sandpit said:

    kinabalu said:

    Sandpit said:

    kinabalu said:

    Sandpit said:

    dixiedean said:

    £250k pa per child.
    OFSTED rated "good".

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63792458

    Thankfully this is very much a one-off, and not at all representative of dozens hundreds of court cases, over decades, involving abuse of children in what’s somewhat euphemistically called “care”.

    It’s a massive scandal but the media ignore it, because it doesn’t fit their “narrative”.
    What narrative do you mean?
    Start with the “Rotherham” problem, with the long list of victims ignored by authorities, journalists, and politicians, over a droid of more than a decade.

    It took a very brave report from Andrew Norfolk at The Times, for the issue to be allowed to be discussed in polite society.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-61868863.amp
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotherham_child_sexual_exploitation_scandal
    I don't see the link to this. Are you saying there's a media narrative that vulnerable children are never abused?
    The media narrative, is that lower-class white people cannot be victims, because they don’t fit into the woke hierarchy of vitimhood.
    Not sure about the that narrative, or hierarchy, but I do note that when the "woke lobby" go up against a group that is up for a fight (the Mumsnet cohort, basically), things get heated very quickly and enter the mainstream discourse.

    Vulnerable children need someone to do the fighting for them.
    The only person talking about “Rotherham” before 2009, was Nick Griffin. Sadly, everyone in polite society dismissed him as a racist, and didn’t listen to what he had to say.

    I’m still not sure that lesson hasn’t been learned.
    The lesson is the story of the boy who cried wolf.

    When you keep banging on about bullshit and lies, then when one of those strands of bullshit turns out to be correct, people aren't listening to you anymore.

    Don't be a racist prick and people might take you more seriously.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 70,694

    Sandpit said:

    Eabhal said:

    Sandpit said:

    kinabalu said:

    Sandpit said:

    kinabalu said:

    Sandpit said:

    dixiedean said:

    £250k pa per child.
    OFSTED rated "good".

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63792458

    Thankfully this is very much a one-off, and not at all representative of dozens hundreds of court cases, over decades, involving abuse of children in what’s somewhat euphemistically called “care”.

    It’s a massive scandal but the media ignore it, because it doesn’t fit their “narrative”.
    What narrative do you mean?
    Start with the “Rotherham” problem, with the long list of victims ignored by authorities, journalists, and politicians, over a droid of more than a decade.

    It took a very brave report from Andrew Norfolk at The Times, for the issue to be allowed to be discussed in polite society.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-61868863.amp
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotherham_child_sexual_exploitation_scandal
    I don't see the link to this. Are you saying there's a media narrative that vulnerable children are never abused?
    The media narrative, is that lower-class white people cannot be victims, because they don’t fit into the woke hierarchy of vitimhood.
    Not sure about the that narrative, or hierarchy, but I do note that when the "woke lobby" go up against a group that is up for a fight (the Mumsnet cohort, basically), things get heated very quickly and enter the mainstream discourse.

    Vulnerable children need someone to do the fighting for them.
    The only person talking about “Rotherham” before 2009, was Nick Griffin. Sadly, everyone in polite society dismissed him as a racist, and didn’t listen to what he had to say.

    I’m still not sure that lesson hasn’t been learned.
    The lesson is the story of the boy who cried wolf.

    When you keep banging on about bullshit and lies, then when one of those strands of bullshit turns out to be correct, people aren't listening to you anymore.

    Don't be a racist prick and people might take you more seriously.
    Alternatively, as Garak suggested, never tell the same piece of bullshit twice.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 69,047
    Brandon Tsay is a hero. He fought the Monterey Park shooter and disarmed him.
    https://twitter.com/stillgray/status/1617741509927014401

    And showed remarkable forbearance in not turning round and shooting the fncker.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 47,891
    Cookie said:

    kinabalu said:

    Sandpit said:

    kinabalu said:

    Sandpit said:

    dixiedean said:

    £250k pa per child.
    OFSTED rated "good".

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63792458

    Thankfully this is very much a one-off, and not at all representative of dozens hundreds of court cases, over decades, involving abuse of children in what’s somewhat euphemistically called “care”.

    It’s a massive scandal but the media ignore it, because it doesn’t fit their “narrative”.
    What narrative do you mean?
    Start with the “Rotherham” problem, with the long list of victims ignored by authorities, journalists, and politicians, over a droid of more than a decade.

    It took a very brave report from Andrew Norfolk at The Times, for the issue to be allowed to be discussed in polite society.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-61868863.amp
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotherham_child_sexual_exploitation_scandal
    I don't see the link to this. Are you saying there's a media narrative that vulnerable children are never abused?
    There's certainly no media narrative that vulnerable children are abused by gangs of Muslim groomers in town after town across Britain. Which is odd, because you'd think it would be a story worth reporting
    Considering it has been all over the press and broadcast media for over a decade, repetitively in both factual and drama forms, what is it that makes you think it unreported?
  • NEW THREAD

  • Eabhal said:

    @BartholomewRoberts wifi call is your friend

    And Eabhal. Thanks for the advice, WiFi Calling is already enabled on my phone, so not sure why its playing up with the crackly calls and missed calls then?

    We have BT Fibre Broadband which was installed by the developers before we moved in, we just needed to get it activated. Not had any other issues with WiFi.
    Weird, works perfectly for me. Does it pop up as "WiFi call" or similar when you make a call?
    Depends on network as I said above, they can prioritise mobile over Wi-Fi. Use Airplane Mode to force Wi-Fi Calling.

    I'm on O2 here and with full reception my iPhone uses the radio access network as that is the priority O2 has set. I just use Airplane Mode when at home to work around this.
    Its a good idea, but I worry I'll forget to turn Airplane Mode off when I leave and be driving around and going elsewhere with Airplane Mode still on.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,130
    kinabalu said:

    Cookie said:

    kinabalu said:

    Sandpit said:

    kinabalu said:

    Sandpit said:

    dixiedean said:

    £250k pa per child.
    OFSTED rated "good".

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63792458

    Thankfully this is very much a one-off, and not at all representative of dozens hundreds of court cases, over decades, involving abuse of children in what’s somewhat euphemistically called “care”.

    It’s a massive scandal but the media ignore it, because it doesn’t fit their “narrative”.
    What narrative do you mean?
    Start with the “Rotherham” problem, with the long list of victims ignored by authorities, journalists, and politicians, over a droid of more than a decade.

    It took a very brave report from Andrew Norfolk at The Times, for the issue to be allowed to be discussed in polite society.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-61868863.amp
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotherham_child_sexual_exploitation_scandal
    I don't see the link to this. Are you saying there's a media narrative that vulnerable children are never abused?
    There's certainly no media narrative that vulnerable children are abused by gangs of Muslim groomers in town after town across Britain. Which is odd, because you'd think it would be a story worth reporting
    Still don't see the link to this scandal. Perhaps there isn't one. Not every bad thing in this world has a Muslim or Woke angle.
    Maybe not. Looking back, I only came into the conversation belatedly, by which time it was about Rotherham.
  • Fun report in The Guardian from Eurostar. In essence they have to leave hundreds of seats empty on various trains because there simply isn't the border capacity to process and stamp passports. A bigger issue than just a lack of bodies, there physically isn't the space to create the pens needed to hold hundreds more passengers in queues...

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jan/24/eurostar-trains-empty-seats-brexit-passport-rules-london-paris-brussels

    Another absolute Brexit shit-show.
    Appalling that they don't rebuild Amsterdam Centraal station to allow the big holding pen needed to slowly process a trainload of people heading to the UK. Why won't these uppity foreigners respect the mandate from the 17.4m people who very specifically voted to wait in a big holding pen to board the handful of trains its worth running.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,167

    Fun report in The Guardian from Eurostar. In essence they have to leave hundreds of seats empty on various trains because there simply isn't the border capacity to process and stamp passports. A bigger issue than just a lack of bodies, there physically isn't the space to create the pens needed to hold hundreds more passengers in queues...

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jan/24/eurostar-trains-empty-seats-brexit-passport-rules-london-paris-brussels

    Another absolute Brexit shit-show.
    Appalling that they don't rebuild Amsterdam Centraal station to allow the big holding pen needed to slowly process a trainload of people heading to the UK. Why won't these uppity foreigners respect the mandate from the 17.4m people who very specifically voted to wait in a big holding pen to board the handful of trains its worth running.
    Brexit is crucifying British business.
  • Cookie said:

    Sean_F said:

    From time to time, when I read of endless child abuse scandals, police scandals, banking scandals, political scandals, I find myself wondering if the leaders of this country are actively evil.

    I'm sure that active evil exists. But I suspect the bigger problem is the collective unwillingness to call out evil acts when we see them. And that's understandable (even when it's wrong)... It takes a degree of courage to blow the whistle. It takes a different (but just as real) kind of courage to listen for a whistle being blown and to respond properly.

    Unfortunately, that cowardice (for that's what it is, even if it's humanly understandable) is what allows the proper scumbags to thrive.
    Tremendous courage. In the case of Rotherham, probably career-ending courage.
    The problem is that these people have convinced themselves not just that they are right but that they are good - nice, virtuous, kind. And so anyone who opposes them must by definition be bad, unkind, vicious. And so it is quite legitimate - indeed, necessary - to destroy anyone who voices a contrary opinion.
    You can see why no-one really dares speak out against the machine.
    Thing is, you don't need to invoke woke, and plenty of scandals have no woke angle.

    Just a bunch of people who are nervous for their jobs, tired most of the time, and knowing that they're not spotless (because none of us are). Far easier to stick to the agreed line and look the other way if necessary.

    Which is not to say that "in awe of our wonderful leaders" isn't a thing as well. Yesterday, I had to do some Church of England safeguarding training, which started with the Peter Ball scandal.
  • Fun report in The Guardian from Eurostar. In essence they have to leave hundreds of seats empty on various trains because there simply isn't the border capacity to process and stamp passports. A bigger issue than just a lack of bodies, there physically isn't the space to create the pens needed to hold hundreds more passengers in queues...

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jan/24/eurostar-trains-empty-seats-brexit-passport-rules-london-paris-brussels

    Another absolute Brexit shit-show.
    Appalling that they don't rebuild Amsterdam Centraal station to allow the big holding pen needed to slowly process a trainload of people heading to the UK. Why won't these uppity foreigners respect the mandate from the 17.4m people who very specifically voted to wait in a big holding pen to board the handful of trains its worth running.
    The proud people of Britain didn't vote to be put in a holding pen, dammit.

    We voted for the freedom to put other people in a holding pen if we wanted to, which is something completely different.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,034
    ydoethur said:

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    The SNP voted down an amendment to prevent rape defendants from legally changing their sex before trial. To help avoid sort of defence advanced by defence barrister in this case, that this now-convicted male rapist shouldn’t be seen as a “predatory man”

    [Thankfully this means the jury rejected the extraordinary argument from Bryson's KC that "if you accept that evidence, that she is transitioning ... that goes a long way to acquitting her of these charges."]

    Key facts: this convicted rapist started transitioning in 2020 AFTER he raped two women in 2016 and 2019 with what was referred to in court as “her penis”

    But, no, it’ll never ever happen and women are crazy to fear that male sex offenders will cynically abuse a system that allows them to change their legal sex with barely any safeguards.


    https://twitter.com/soniasodha/status/1617881626503155716

    The proposition that the KC, one of the most experienced at the Scottish bar, put forward in that case was little short of outrageous. I am relieved that the Jury were not misdirected from the real issue in the case, namely whether 2 very vulnerable young women had been raped.
    The general public appears to have remained sensible through all this, unlike some of their more excitable politicians....
    The problem though is what does the Scottish Prison Service do with this person for the next 5 or so years? She will no doubt want to go to a women's prison. The risk assessment connected with that is going to be horrendous. In fairness she would not be safe in a men's prison either.
    Sounds liek a despicable person at best , men's prison for me where HE can do less damage.
    And for longer than 5 years!
    Let's hope he/she is not less than 25 years old.

    Under new sentencing guidelines in Scotland people under the age of 25 are now not to be regarded as fully responsible for criminal actions. Apparently they are not mature enough and should be considered adolescents.

    https://www.itv.com/news/border/2022-01-26/new-scottish-guidance-for-sentencing-young-people-comes-into-effect

    NB. On the other hand, in the wonderful world of woke that is now Scotland, 16 year old adolescents will be regarded as adults for the purpose of changing their gender.

    It is like Alice in Wonderland up here just now
    Wasn't that to do with paedophilia rather than transgenderism?
    Who knows with eth bunch that are running the country just now , add the weirdo Greens and anything is possible TUD.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,034

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    The SNP voted down an amendment to prevent rape defendants from legally changing their sex before trial. To help avoid sort of defence advanced by defence barrister in this case, that this now-convicted male rapist shouldn’t be seen as a “predatory man”

    [Thankfully this means the jury rejected the extraordinary argument from Bryson's KC that "if you accept that evidence, that she is transitioning ... that goes a long way to acquitting her of these charges."]

    Key facts: this convicted rapist started transitioning in 2020 AFTER he raped two women in 2016 and 2019 with what was referred to in court as “her penis”

    But, no, it’ll never ever happen and women are crazy to fear that male sex offenders will cynically abuse a system that allows them to change their legal sex with barely any safeguards.


    https://twitter.com/soniasodha/status/1617881626503155716

    The proposition that the KC, one of the most experienced at the Scottish bar, put forward in that case was little short of outrageous. I am relieved that the Jury were not misdirected from the real issue in the case, namely whether 2 very vulnerable young women had been raped.
    The general public appears to have remained sensible through all this, unlike some of their more excitable politicians....
    The problem though is what does the Scottish Prison Service do with this person for the next 5 or so years? She will no doubt want to go to a women's prison. The risk assessment connected with that is going to be horrendous. In fairness she would not be safe in a men's prison either.
    Logical solution for me is men's prison with protective solitary custody if that is required.
    From the BBC:

    "Clearly, Bryson cannot be held in segregation - solitary confinement - forever. It would breach her human rights.

    At some point she will mix and be housed with other prisoners. One commentator with extensive knowledge of Scotland's jails said the prison service "is in a very difficult position facing very difficult choices.""

    You can say that again.

    A very realistic fear is that sex offenders will game the system and, simply on the basis of self identification, declare themselves a woman, with all the perquisites that go with it.

    I'm really not surprised that feminists are simmering with fury at this. If anyone can be a woman - even a male rapist - what was the whole battle for womens rights actually about?
    Even worse i sthe F***ing BBC pretending he is a woman
This discussion has been closed.