Step Aside, Dallas Police*!

There's a new bunch of legendary incompetents in town!

Police initially said the couple's German Shepherd named Bear was found dead in its kennel inside the home, but the pup was actually alive and healthy at a pet daycare center in Santa Fe along with their other dog Nikita, a seven-year-old Akita-shepherd mix, according to USA Today.

And that also turns out to have been misinformation, with the New Mexico cops now admitting they aere running around at the house. 

The dog that was actually found dead in the home with the couple was Zinna, their 12-year-old reddish Australian Kelpie mixed breed, Sherry Gaber, a friend of the couple, told the outlet. Gaber, an animal chiropractor, was already thrown off by the news of Hackman and Arakawa's deaths, but when she heard about Bear, she couldn't wrap her head around it.

None of us can... 

It is unclear how the deceased dog was misidentified, but a spokeswoman with the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office told the outlet she wasn't aware of the mix-up.

It's pretty clear, actually - the New Maxico Police Farce is staffed with incompetents. 

Two days after the couple were found police announced that they believe the Oscar-winner died on February 17, after finding that was the day his pacemaker stopped recording his heartbeat. Police saw no signs of foul play but are also investigating the deaths as potentially suspicious. The case is shrouded in the kind of intrigue reserved for Hackman's detective thriller novels and has garnered international attention - with many wondering how their deaths went unnoticed for so long.

An ignominious end for a great artist. One wonders how his family can live with themselves. 

* to explain the title, it comes from a passage in Stephen King's 'The Tommyknockers'. To describe police incompetence.

So..?

Almost twice as many boys as girls routinely cycle in the UK, a pioneering report on young people’s active travel has found.

The study, led by the charity Sustrans...

Oh oh!  

...also found strong support among children for measures to help them cycle and walk, such as dedicated bike lanes, slower traffic speeds and barring motor vehicles from outside schools.

Stopping the school-run madness would be good, but of course if you asked their parents, they'd say something quite different.  

While all active travel is good for long-term heath, long-term studies have shown these benefits are particularly marked when it comes to cycling, especially compared with walking.

Despite walking being safer? Well, sometimes, anyway.  

Lily, a secondary school girl from Swansea, said she used to cycle around her neighbourhood but stopped because “it’s not really seen as cool, and we can be quite self-conscious about that”. A lot of cycling gear was “made for men instead of women”, she added.

Well, just pretend you're a boy, love. It's all the rage now. 

Topical!

Matt always has his finger on the pulse...

It's A Wonder Modern Journalists Can Find Their Offices...

                                            

And this is illustrated by something even more stupid....

So when did Glastonbury move, since I'm pretty sure Stonehenge can't?

H/T: the Meissen Bison via email

Sunday Funnies...

Thank goodness for progress!

Yes Indeed, That’s Why These Things Happen Here

Florence Eshalomi, Labour MP for Vauxhall and Camberwell Green, told BBC London she wanted people to feel safe within their community. "Stockwell is a vibrant, diverse, close-knit community. We are going to make sure that there is a visible police presence to reassure people," she said.

It's in such 'communities' that these things happen, Florence.  

A 16-year-old boy who died after being shot in south London has been named by the Metropolitan Police as Lathaniel Burrell. An eyewitness to the killing in Stockwell told the BBC the teenager was shot dead by a man dressed as a food delivery driver on a moped.

Lathaniel - who locals have said was a "very bright" school pupil - died on Paradise Road, near Stockwell Tube station, at about 14:30 GMT on Tuesday. The Met Police has called it an "enormously shocking incident".

Let's have a look at this bright lad whose death was so unexpected, shall we? 

 Oh...

The eyewitness said two boys came down the stairs at a block of flats when the moped rider took out a gun and fired, adding that the teenager who died was well known in the area and was involved in gangs. Police said inquiries were still ongoing, no arrests have been made, and detectives are keeping an open mind about the possible motive for the attack.

So open.... 

What About Mugshots?

Possessing photos of a Muslim woman without her hijab should be made a criminal offence, MPs have proposed. The Commons' women and equalities committee said pictures of a Muslim woman without her headscarf – taken without her consent – should be considered 'non-consensual intimate images'. Such photographs should be treated the same as child sex abuse images, possession of which can carry long prison sentences, the MPs said.

So what if they are arrested and require a mugshot? Oh, wait, we've already seen police cowardice with regard to that, havent we? They'll be delighted to have an excuse. 

The proposals will deepen concerns that Islam is poised to win legal protections which are not afforded to other religions under British law.

Concerns that Labour are doing nothing to dispell. 

It comes after a planned definition of Islamophobia being championed by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner was slammed for risking 'a blasphemy law by the back door'.

No, they are planning it via the front door. They've just got that bold. 

 

Is It ‘Thatcher’..? It Usually Is…

The key culprit, in my opinion? Screen time.

Oh. Silly me.  

On a child’s first day at school, it’s normal to expect a few nerves. But they should be able to move around confidently, pick up stationery, make new friends, build a relationship with their teacher and start to feel part of a wider community. Instead, a recent survey reported that some children in England and Wales are unable to sit up or hold a pencil. I have seen kids racked with separation anxiety and unable to form bonds. Upset and confused, they miss instructions and hold back or lash out. To a busy teacher this looks like a lack of ability, or a disruptive child to be managed. Children are simply being set up to fail.

Hmmm, sounds to me like this 'busy teacher' is simply getting her excuses in early... 

For a while, it seemed as if the pandemic might have been the culprit for delayed development. Lockdowns undeniably had an impact on the development of children raised during that period as they were unable to play outside and interact with others, but five years on, it would seem that this was a short-term issue masking a much longer-term trend.

Wow, can't blame the pandemic? I thought that could be blamed for everything. But then I'd reckoned without the modern bugbear: tech. Specifically, tech in the hands of someone they don't like. 

More and more parents relied on smartphones to work, organise their lives, shop, and keep in touch with friends and family. Burnt-out and distracted, they spent less time actively parenting. In turn, they handed their kids a device to keep them entertained. The result has been children growing up with less physical activity and face-to-face social interaction. Imagine spending a year immobilised in a cast – your muscles would weaken and your movements would become awkward. Now, think about children missing foundational years of muscle development, when practice should be natural and constant, because, instead of moving, children have been incentivised to sit quietly with a device.

An expensive device, at that! So at least this won't affect Labour's preferred voting demographic, eh? 

Even more worryingly, these outcomes are not being distributed equally among children; they affect those who already face significant disadvantages due to economic and racial inequality.

Economic inequality? Does anything say as much about the reason for such 'inequality' as buying a £600 babysitting device and then claiming you can't feed your own kids? 

More Police Incompetence

A teenager who was savaged during a dog attack has been hailed a “hero” for shielding his puppy and younger brother during the ordeal. Police were called to Stanley Gardens in Herne Bay on Tuesday afternoon after a 17-year-old boy and a Dachshund had been attacked by an aggressive dog.

I'm getting so very sick of these stories. If the boy had been younger, the consequences could have been so much worse... 

The teenager required medical attention, with doctors creating a body map of his injuries before flushing and dressing his nasty wounds. In the aftermath of the ordeal, his mum Cara told KentOnline Dougie is lucky to be alive and a younger child “wouldn’t have stood a chance”.

And what did the police do? The usual.  

Despite reports of the dog being an XL bully, officers are working under the impression it is a Rottweiler-bulldog cross-breed.

'The impression'? Why is it only an impression? Well, Reader, it's because despite this attack, and all the recent damage caused by out of control dogs, the police action has been...well, it'd be an exaggeration to call it 'action'. 

The offending mutt was secure at its owner’s home when officers attended and police opted not to seize it as it is not a banned breed, offering advice on using a muzzle instead.

A police spokesman has confirmed an investigation into the incident is ongoing.

I wonder if that investigation will include READING THE FUCKING DANGEROUS DOGS ACT.... 

The act specifically beefed up because the useless lazy bastards in the police farces whined they didn't have the powers to deal with dangerous dogs. So they were given more powers. Why aren't they using them?

Why aren't people in the areas these mutts are roaming taking their own measures for public safety?

Slowly, But Surely, Common Sense Returns

A Christian school worker who was sacked after she shared Facebook posts raising concerns about lessons in LGBTQ+ relationships for primary schoolchildren has won her battle in the court of appeal. Kristie Higgs was dismissed from her role as a pastoral administrator and work experience manager at Farmor’s, a secondary school in Fairford, Gloucestershire, in 2019 after an anonymous complaint from a parent at the school. On Wednesday, three court of appeal judges ruled in her favour, describing the decision to sack her for gross misconduct as “unlawfully discriminatory” and “disproportionate”. Higgs welcomed the ruling as “a landmark day for Christian freedoms and free speech”.

And it doesn't stop at schools - the world of business is shaking off its DEI chains too! 

Say what you will about Goldman Sachs, the company goes with the current. So when it starts to renege on DEI (Diversity, Equality and Inclusion) initiatives, we should, I think, take note. Previously the firm’s policy had been only to take to market companies which had two ethnic minority board members, one of them a woman; now it’s dropping that requirement. One reason, says the company, is that it’s job done; boards are already sufficiently diverse so their diktat isn’t needed to bring about change.

And we can see the results all around us.... 

The reason Goldman Sachs is not giving for the move is the influence of Donald Trump. The President has made clear that the carnival is over for the DEI enforcers; it’s not going to be a reason to recruit or retain staff at government level, and corporate America is joyfully following his lead. Deloitte’s, the London based global accountants, is dropping the insanely annoying policy of requiring staff to provide their preferred pronouns. All small stuff, but all blowing in the same direction.

Hurrah!  

But the question is, will the UK follow suit?

The old saying goes 'America sneezes, and Britain catches a cold' so...yes! And it can't come soon enough. 

Goldman Sachs has a collective policy on governance for the US and Europe, so the UK is on this front, simply being drawn into the US current. Jason Tarry, the chairman of John Lewis, told my colleague, this paper’s business editor, Jonathan Prynn, that he has no intention of backing down on the diversity and inclusion stuff, because it’s part of what he sees as the company’s identity.

Which is why even a mighty company like John Lewis is no longer what it once was. 

Me, I can’t wait to see public bodies, including the BBC and publicly funded arts bodies, follow suit and abandon their stupid email signoffs, which does nothing except to annoy recipients (well, me). I would be very glad if every institution appointed people to jobs on that old metric, merit, rather than on the basis of DEI. In short, I think Donald Trump is onto something. But it’ll take far longer for the cultural rollback to happen here.

But every movement has to start somewhere....