London Police Officer Who Shot Dead Black Man Found Not Guilty of Murder. Why Was He Ever Charged?
A police officer who shot dead black man Chris Kaba in south London after he tried to ram his way out of a police roadblock has been cleared of his murder.
Martyn Blake, a Scotland Yard armed officer, fired a single shot through the windscreen of Chris Kaba’s Audi Q8 killing him, when he tried to escape after being stopped by police in Streatham on the evening of September 5th 2022.
While Kaba’s identity was not known at the time, the vehicle had been linked to two previous firearms incidents including a shooting outside a primary school the night before.
Despite this Mr. Blake, 40, who had an unblemished record with the Metropolitan Police, was charged with murder with prosecutors claiming his actions had not been “reasonably justified”.
The decision to charge him followed a lengthy investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) and consideration by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
However following a three week trial at the Old Bailey a jury took three hours to find him not guilty of murder.
The verdict was greeted with relief by Mr. Blake’s colleagues, friends and family, but will lead to inevitable questions about why he was ever charged in the first place.
Despite being cleared of the criminal charge, Mr. Blake could still have to face a gross misconduct hearing which could result in him being sacked.
Mr. Blake told jurors he genuinely feared for the lives of his colleagues, when Kaba attempted to ram his way through a roadblock in a residential street.
He also told jurors he had not intended to kill Kaba but had simply wanted to stop the car driving at his colleagues.
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Scotland Says There Are 24 Genders
Scotland’s SNP Government has said there are 24 genders in a list of options attached to official guidance for data collection bodies.
Scotland’s SNP Government has been branded “disconnected from the real world” after allowing people to choose their gender from a list with 24 options.
Trans people in the country can choose from options including some more mainstream options like “trans man”, “trans woman”, “genderfluid” and “androgynous”.
But among the two dozen options are other terms like “questioning”, where they do not yet know what gender they are, and “autigender” which is described as “an autistic person (who) thinks about and relates to their gender label… in the context of autism”.
The list was attached last week to guidance for public bodies in Scotland who collect data on sex and gender. It allows them to classify freehand answers given to questions about trans status.
But it comes after First Minister John Swinney in July confirmed there were only two genders.
https://dailysceptic.org/2024/10/21/snp-says-there-are-24-genders/
****************************************Australia: Big demand for State selective schools
More than 200 parents a year try to convince the Education Department their child deserves a place in a selective school despite failing to meet the increasingly high entry standard.
Analysts say the proliferation of tutoring and coaching colleges is giving parents false hope and misguided notions about how talented their child is.
The department does not accept appeals if they are based on grounds that should be made through the illness and misadventure process. They can, however, include “what happened to prevent your child from doing his or her best” in the test and supply evidence to support their bid. Parents can also pay $40 to have the writing section remarked, but appeals to remark multiple choice responses are not accepted by the department.
This year, 279 parents have so far requested a review of the outcome for the selective skills test, up from 246 results that were challenged by parents last year. Of those, only eight had their outcome changed.
Competition for selective schools has grown sharply, with more than 18,500 children applying for 4200 spots in fully or partially selective schools for entry next year.
Australian Tutoring Association chief executive Mohan Dhall said the promises made by coaching colleges were leaving parents with unrealistic expectations of gaining entry.
“You have parents who are vulnerable because there are a limited number of places in a highly competitive system and businesses who present themselves as authorities,” he said.
“They call themselves the selective school experts. They amplify it by saying things like: ‘90 per cent of our students got into these schools’. I can understand why vulnerable parents might think, ‘I trust these people more than the Department of Education’.
Coaching colleges target selective students and ‘undermine’ HSC
“With only 3 per cent of students successfully getting a variation in outcome – it says parents should accept the mark they’re given and not query the department. Instead, they should query the commercial coaching colleges.”
Unlike regular public high schools, selective high schools do not have catchments and some students travel two hours to get there. That includes students from Sydney catching the train to get to selective school Gosford High on the Central Coast.
Central Coast Council of P&Cs president Sharryn Brownlee said parents met earlier in the year to discuss the issue of local children being unable to go to Gosford High.
“The reason the meeting was held was because of the population growth on the Central Coast since the pandemic and that the local children are denied the opportunity to go there,” she said.
“We are calling for the Department of Education to have a realistic catchment so students do not spend their whole time commuting,” Brownlee said.
She also said travelling for hours on the train each day was not fair on students who were disconnected from the local school community.
University of NSW gifted education expert Professor Jae Jung said the department should consider adding more places in selective schools in some circumstances.
“If it is obvious that gifted students cannot access a selective school in some areas due to population growth, and this is reflected in a substantial increase to the number of applications to selective schools in these areas, the department should consider increasing the number of places at selective schools,” he said.
“I think that’s a responsible thing to do. There continues to be a huge demand for selective schools, and they play an important role in supporting many gifted students.”
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Katter's Australian Party candidates campaign for corporal punishment
The Katter's Australian Party (KAP) is calling for a return to physical discipline such as the cane as the party seeks to increase its vote share in Queensland Parliament.
The conservative-leaning party holds four seats in the north of the state and is campaigning on a tough-on-crime policy ahead of the October 26 election.
In a video posted to Facebook, KAP candidate for Townsville Margie Ryder asked followers if they knew anyone whose parents had disciplined them with a jug cord.
"Well, I do, and he turned out wonderful. So good I married him," Ms Ryder said. "The fact of the matter is parents have lost their rights to discipline their children. "Some kids need a smack, a kick up the arse, a ruler or even a hug."
The former Townsville City councillor, who lost her seat at the March 26 local election, went on to say she had met a mother who had been reported to the Department of Child Safety for giving her 14-year-old daughter "a kick up the arse".
Reuben Richardson, the KAP candidate for the seat of Thuringowa based in Townsville's northern suburbs, posted a video with a similar message.
"When I was young there was a healthy fear of doing the wrong thing. You never wanted to go to the principal's office as the cane was always in the back of your mind," Mr Richardson said.
"Did student behaviour deteriorate when we got rid of the cane?"
The cane, wooden spoon, belts, and other threats such as the cord from the kitchen jug were used against children in homes and schools last century.
Corporal punishment was abolished in Queensland state schools in 1995.
It remains lawful under the Criminal Code for Queensland parents to use "reasonable" physical punishment to discipline their children.
When asked if he condoned the use of the jug cord or the cane on children, party leader and Member for Traeger Robbie Katter said: "I condone parents doing whatever they have to do to discipline their kids."
"That can come in any form, you can throw all sorts of examples, you can say a samurai sword, look I don't know.
"I'm not prepared to say what is good and what is bad."
Mr Katter said the corporal punishment policy was borne out of youth crime issues and feedback from First Nations communities.
"Most of the elders in the community will tell you: 'We lost control a long time ago when we lost the right to smack our kids'," he said.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders have rejected claims the policy is coming from the grassroots community.
Townsville youth intervention program manager and elder Aunty Irene Leard said she worked with five traditional owner groups and rejected suggestions Indigenous communities wanted a return to corporal punishment.
"The cane, the jug cord, the belt, that is going to cause more issues because you're introducing violence to these young people," Aunty Irene said.
"Back in the day I got the belt, but we're a different society now. It is not going to work.
"You're actually setting the scene, again, for generations to hit kids whenever they feel frustration."
'Irresponsible' policy
University of Queensland associate professor in social sciences Renee Zahnow said videos promoting corporal punishment were irresponsible and could encourage a "small minority" of parents who take punishment too far.
"We have a responsibility to young people and it is not to teach them through physical abuse," Dr Zahnow said.
She said hurting children teaches them that violence is acceptable and it can cause long-term mental health issues.
KAP member for Mirani Stephen Andrew said he wanted the government to consider returning corporal punishment to Queensland state schools.
Candidates for Cook and Mulgrave, police officer Duane Amos and high school teacher Steven Lesina, also pledged their support for physical discipline.
What is allowed in Queensland?
Most non-government schools across Australia banned corporal punishment more than two decades ago.
Independent Schools Queensland said corporal punishment was not used in the sector.
Mr Katter said the government should not have any say in domestic discipline.
"With words like 'reasonableness' there is an element of subjectivity," he said.
"It's not for the government to prescribe how [parents] should be disciplining their kids.
"They don't need to be double-thinking that they could be reported to child safety."
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21 October, 2024
Good riddance to Sinwar. Now, we brace for what happens next
One of the most remarkable things about the elimination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is the somewhat unremarkable way in which he was found. After a year-long hunt for the October 7 mastermind involving advanced warfare technology, US intelligence and the deaths of thousands of civilians in Gaza, in the end, IDF troops seem to have accidentally stumbled on the terrorist kingpin sitting in a dust-covered armchair in a shelled building.
While Sinwar was suspected to be in the area, it seems the 828th Battalion was not aware of the identity of the man in the chair when they opened tank fire on the Rafah apartment block. It was only after the troops inspected the body, and DNA testing and dental record matching had taken place, that Israel was able to confirm that Sinwar had been killed in the strike.
This is cause for celebration in Israel, and around the world. No decent person will mourn his loss.
As The New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman writes today, it is impossible to exaggerate the significance of Sinwar’s demise. “It creates the possibility not only of ending the Israel-Hamas war, returning Israeli hostages and bringing relief to the people of the Gaza Strip,” Friedman says. “It creates the possibility for the biggest step toward a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians since Oslo, as well as normalisation between Israel and Saudi Arabia – which means pretty much the entire Muslim world.”
But, Friedman argues, there’s a catch.
“The death of Sinwar alone is not the sufficient condition to end this war and put Israelis and Palestinians on a pathway to a better future,” he writes. “Yes, Sinwar and Hamas always rejected a two-state solution and were committed to the violent destruction of the Jewish state. No one paid a bigger price for that than the Palestinians living in Gaza. But while his death was necessary for a next step to be possible, it was never going to be everything.
“The sufficient condition is that Israel has a leader and a governing coalition ready to step up to the opportunity Sinwar’s death has created.”
US President Joe Biden certainly agrees this should represent a before-and-after moment. “Now’s the time to move on,” he told reporters. “Move on, move towards a ceasefire in Gaza, make sure that we are moving in a direction that we’re going to be able to make things better for the whole world. It’s time for this war to end and bring these hostages home.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was singing from the same song sheet, calling Sinwar an enemy of peace-loving people everywhere. “His death is a significant moment and can be a vital turning point in this devastating conflict.”
I’m not so sure whether any of this will change the trajectory of the war in the Middle East, at least in the short term. Israel is yet to launch a retaliatory strike for Tehran’s firing of 200 ballistic missiles at the start of this month; IDF troops and Hezbollah terrorists are still fighting in southern Lebanon; and the Sinwar killing shows that Hamas operatives continue to hide out in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave no indication that the war would end. “Today we have settled the score. Today evil has been dealt a blow but our task has still not been completed,” he said in a recorded video statement. “To the dear hostage families, I say: this is an important moment in the war. We will continue full force until all your loved ones, our loved ones, are home.”
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Texas Attorney General Charges Doctor With Violating Law Against Irreversible Transgender Procedures for Kids
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing a doctor for allegedly providing irreversible transgender medical procedures to 21 minors.
A Texas law, which took effect in September 2023, prohibits experimental transgender medical interventions for children, including such as surgeries, puberty blockers, and hormone replacement therapy.
The Office of the Attorney General of Texas says it obtained evidence revealing that Dr. May Chi Lau illegally provided sex-change hormones to 21 minors for the purpose of “transitioning” the children. The doctor allegedly used false diagnoses and billing codes to mask these unlawful prescriptions, according to Paxton’s news release.
Lau is the medical director of the adolescent and young adult clinic at Children’s Medical Center Dallas. She is also an associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
Paxton’s lawsuit, filed Thursday, marks the first time a state attorney general has sued an individual doctor over transgender procedures for minors, NBC News reported.
“Texas passed a law to protect children from these dangerous, unscientific medical interventions that have irreversible and damaging effects,” Paxton said in a statement. “Doctors who continue to provide these harmful ‘gender transition’ drugs and treatments will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
Children’s Medical Center Dallas is one of 225 hospitals and health care facilities that have provided irreversible transgender procedures to children, according to medical watchdog Do No Harm’s database.
Children’s Medical Center Dallas, where Lau practices, had 49 sex-change patients and wrote 361 prescriptions for hormones and puberty blockers before the Texas law banning transgender procedures for children passed.
An adolescent medicine specialist, Lau is a co-author of several papers on child gender dysphoria, including “Transition from Pediatric to Adult Care for Transgender Youth: A Qualitative Study of Patient, Parent, and Provider Perspectives”; “Developing a Curriculum on Transgender Health Care for Physician Assistant Students”; and “Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy in Cystic Fibrosis: A Case of New Pseudomonas Infection.”
Lau’s profile on the Children’s Medical Center Dallas website said she “particularly enjoys” helping patients though “various adolescent issues.”
“Adolescents have their parents to guide them during these sometimes-tough years, and as an adolescent medicine physician, Dr. Lau endeavors to assist parents in this process as adolescents and parents face the most difficult issues,” her biography says.
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UK: New teachers plan to give children as young as five lessons on colonialism, slavery and the 'lasting impact of imperialism'
Trainee teachers plan to give lessons to children as young as five on 'colonialism, slavery and the lasting impact of imperialism' – as the woke agenda spreads from universities to schools.
The new generation shows strong support for teaching which 'challenges the long-standing dominance of Eurocentric and colonialist perspectives'.
They also believe that Christianity should not be the priority in RE, according to a survey.
Nearly 250 trainees were questioned about their understanding of and backing for decolonising the primary curriculum.
In history lessons – which generally consist of the Egyptians, The Great Fire of London and the Ancient Romans – 97 per cent of trainees supported a move 'beyond a Western-centric focus' which breaks down the 'Eurocentric biases' and covers 'historically oppressed groups'.
In geography lessons, traditionally taken up with weather patterns, volcanoes, continents and capitals, the new view is to highlight the complexities of societies beyond Europe.
Just 34 per cent agreed with putting the highest priority in RE on Christianity, but 84 per cent prefer the diversity of religious expression and resisting norms.
The research, by the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, was published in the latest edition of the International Journal of Social Policy & Education.
In contrast, a poll by the Policy Exchange think-tank suggests most communities, whatever their racial makeup, do not support decolonising of the curriculum.
Its survey of 3,400 adults revealed that all ethnic minority groups view Britain as a positive force throughout history and 'emphatically reject the view of some white progressives that it is wrong or racist' to be taught to be proud of British history.
Ethnic minorities polled were as proud as any other demographic of Britain's role in the world wars, Magna Carta, the industrial revolution and the abolition of the slave trade.
A minority of trainee teachers were concerned that it could destabilise pupils' understanding of their cultural heritage.
But critics said children were being indoctrinated by an agenda that reduces complex and nuanced humanities topics to 'goodie and baddies'. Chris McGovern, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said: 'It is no wonder that there is a teacher shortage.
'Education "thought police" are the new witch-finder-generals, silencing those who do not conform to a woke ideology that labels
Britain as forever stained by the original sin of colonialism and general wickedness.'
Professor Dennis Hayes, of Academics for Academic Freedom, said: 'Decolonisation is a codeword for an elite attack on contemporary British culture and values by waging a war on the past. It shows contempt for ordinary people's loyalty to family, community and country.'
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Australia: Methodist Ladies College students forced to remove their 'cross' over fears they will offend
Girls at a prestigious church-founded private school claim they've been ordered to take off Christian crosses because they offend classmates.
Year 12 students at Melbourne's Methodist Ladies College (MLC) in the affluent eastern suburb of Kew claim that students are allowed to wear furry ears, tails and rainbow-themed pride items but not crosses signalling their Christian faith.
An unnamed student told the Herald Sun that the school was practising 'religious discrimination' because teachers were asking those who had them as jewellery to take them off when other students complain they are offensive to non-Christians'.
'My friend was wearing a cross and there was another girl in our class who said she found the cross really offensive and so the teacher told her to take it off,' she told the publication.
'My friend's parents, who are very religious, tried to get answers from the school and were told 'it's not a good look for the school'.
'This is supposed to be a religious school but they are listening to minority opinion rather than mainstream religious students.'
Students who wear Christian crosses have reportedly asked put them on longer chain so they are not visible, but students says they are being told to take them off.
Methodist Ladies College, which charges close to $39,000 in fees for a Year 12 student and an extra 36,000 to board, has strict uniform requirements and does not allow make-up, jewellery or untied long hair.
The school is also very strict on inappropriate dress lengths and non-approved clothing.
A school spokesperson told the Herald Sun they were 'deeply committed to fostering a culture of inclusion, respect, and diversity'.
'Our Christian heritage serves as a foundation for welcoming individuals of all faiths, cultures, and backgrounds, fostering an environment where every student is supported in expressing their identity and beliefs,' the spokesperson said.
'Regarding religious jewellery, such as cross necklaces, the College's uniform policy supports consistent presentation among students while respecting individual beliefs.
Parents pay thousands in school fees for their daughters to attend Methodist Ladies College
'We apply all policies with care and sensitivity, ensuring that individual beliefs are respected while supporting our shared identity through the MLC uniform.'
In August 2022, it was reported a year eight student attending a private girls' school in Melbourne was being allowed to 'identify as a cat'.
'No one seems to have a protocol for students identifying as animals, but the approach has been that if it doesn't disrupt the school, everyone is being supportive,' a source close to the family told the Herald Sun.
The school did not confirm this but said they were 'dealing with a range of psychological issues'.
In a statement, the school said students were presenting 'with a range of issues, from mental health, anxiety or identity issues'.
'As a non-denominational and multicultural college, we value diversity and broad expressions of achievement,' the school website states.
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