You Should See How They Warn People About Rape And Murder

Sleeping householders are going to be woken up in the middle of the night to discover someone breaking into their house - only to discover it is the police.

Police in Shoebury, Essex, have been going round testing doors and windows of houses to check if they have been left unlocked - and if they find an easy way in they will wake up the household to warn them their house is insecure

Of course burglary is made even easier when the police are engaged in obnoxious gimmicks- that treat the public like lowlifes- like this.

Don't they need warrants to enter people's property anyway?

Musical Interlude

This song was from their less well regarded 2nd album so isn't played but is one of their best in my opinion.

I'm Baaack!

I haven't been following the news, so I was wondering- did they catch the French right wing, white supremecist who has been shooting Jews and Muslims to express his rage at immigration?

Told You So

Earlier this month I pointed and laughed at a ridiculous claim in a story from a local newspaper, which reported:

Police are warning that when cannabis plants reach the final stages of maturity the odour they release has carcinogenic properties.

Officers who deal with the plants use ventilation masks and protective suits and people who have plants in their home, especially anyone with young children, may be exposing their family to a health risk.

After my stirring post the police have now issued a retraction:

AN APOLOGY has been issued by police over an incorrect statement made following a drugs raid.

Northamptonshire Police have retracted a statement which suggested the odour from mature cannabis plants had carcinogenic properties.

A spokesman for the force said: “Northamptonshire Police would like to apologise for the incorrect information provided to the media which claimed that cannabis plants had potential carcinogenic properties.

“This information was provided in good faith. However, we accept the information was misleading and we will strive to ensure this does not happen again.”

The original incorrect statement was published in The Mail on March 1 in a report about cannabis plants being seized by police during a raid in Cottingham.

OK, I had nothing to do with getting them to retract, that appears to have been done as a result of someone bringing the newspaper article to the attention of Ben Goldacre who then started asking questions but I didn't want to say that because his self regard is already too vast.

A Foolish Streak.

Streakers at public events are idiots and bores but this is a ridiculous punishment:

A football fan who ran naked across the pitch during a televised Premiership match for a £100 bet has been put on the Sex Offenders Register.
Unemployed Sam Gorman's genitals were clearly on show as he dashed out in front of thousands during the Aston Villa home game against Manchester City.

Aside from the injustice to the idiotic Mr Gorman it undermines the purpose of having a sex offenders register.

I thought the register was there to enable local forces to keep track of people whose predatory behaviour means that they remain a potential danger to the public even if they are free. By diluting the list to include the likes of streakers (even repeat offenders like Mr Gorman) they are making it less useful, because keeping a close tab on every drunken exhibitionist is not going to help solve any sex crimes that will occur in the West Midlands over the next few year.

As You May Have Noticed....

Posting has been very light.

This is because I've had a lot of work on and just don't have time to blog much.

This is going to remain the case for a few more weeks.

Plus my new favourite website to contribute to is this, but I can't link to my account as you would all think I'm scum.

I will probably be a bit more active on Twitter next week though.

Madonna 2012

The internet today  is full of posts on Facebook and Twitter about some monster going round an African country and abducting kids from their parents to become part of a personal army. They are calling for this person to be brought before a court to be tried.

So boycott Madonna's albums and tours until she faces justice.

Quote Of The Day- 2

Apologies for doing two QOTDs in succession but retired accountant Richard Murphy's misplaced faith in his own intellectual ability deserves to be repeated:

And I happen to think Ricardo did not get comparative advantage right

It's like a retired green grocer pontificating on how Darwin misunderstood evolution or a bloke at Kwik Fit explaining how Newton's laws of motion are complete bollocks.

Quote Of The Day

Melvin Webb, 54, told Reading Crown Court he was not pleasuring himself in front of a female commuter, merely playing a pretend banjo.

The Clay Davis Effect

Black members of Congress are far more likely to be investigated for ethics violations than their white colleagues, and understandably some people are upset:

The facts say this: African-Americans make up 10 percent of the House, but as of the end of February, five of the sitting six named lawmakers under review by the House Ethics Committee are black. The pattern isn't new. At one point in late 2009, seven lawmakers were known to be involved in formal House ethics inquiries; all were members of the Congressional Black Caucus. An eighth caucus member, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. of Illinois, had also been under investigation, but his probe was halted temporarily while the Justice Department undertook an inquiry of its own.
All told, about one-third of sitting black lawmakers have been named in an ethics probe during their careers, according to a National Journal review.

This isn't too surprising given the existance of congressional districtsdesigned to ensure most voters are black. Most black representitives do not have to worry about appealing to non-black voters- this encourages politicians to play the race card to succeed and when elections become a matter of ethnic identity rather than competence or integrity- more corrupt individuals thrive.

This can be thought of as the Clay Davis effect:



It is also one reason why ethnically divided countries without a single demos tend to be more corrupt as voters take the attitude that they need a bigger crook representing them than their neighbours.

Hazmat Suits At The Ready

Is this the most pathetic thing ever?

Police are warning that when cannabis plants reach the final stages of maturity the odour they release has carcinogenic properties.

Officers who deal with the plants use ventilation masks and protective suits and people who have plants in their home, especially anyone with young children, may be exposing their family to a health risk.

Mind you the comments to the article demonstrate why stoners, even when they are right, make such unconvincing advocates for anything at all:

 CAN THE AUTHOR EXPLAIN THIS SUDO SCIENCE

Unpersons

There is (yet another) trial of a group of men of Pakistani origin accused of being part of a "sexual exploitation ring" going on at the moment.

I don't know whether they are guilty or not, but this line of questioning by the defence barrister seems interesting:

Today the father told Liverpool Crown Court that he joined the BNP shortly after his teenage daughter, now 19, was abused.

The girl claims she was raped by various members of the group.

Simon Nichol, defending a 59-year-old who cannot be identified, asked the man about his daughter’s general behaviour in August 2008 and if it bothered him that she was mixing with Asian men.

Why is it relevant? A few months ago footage of self-professed "anti racists" viciously assaulting a middle aged woman made the round- with a worrying number of people dismissing or even condoning the crime because the victim was a member of the EDL. 


Are we getting to the point where members of "far right" groups are unpersons who have less protection under the law?


For what it's worth the father's assessment of the BNP seems about right to me:

He said that in his time at the BNP he met 'three types of people'.
'People like myself, who were not racist and were worried about immigration, worried about jobs, housing and the banking system in this country.'

He said there was a second set of people who he said were 'questionable people'.
'And I met some downright nauseous people who have nothing to do with my views on society as a whole and I consequently left the BNP.'

Andrew Breitbart

So sad for anyone to die at just 43.

This from the Antony Weiner press conference last year was incredible to watch.





His combination on entreprenurial flair and shrewd journalist is almsot irreplaceable.