Month: Aug 2018

(satire)

MPs and activists have launched a drive for a post-Brexit ban on the distribution and import of pure varieties of ‘fact‘ after the UK leaves the EU next year.

Campaigners believe Brexit will be an opportunity to close the door on the problem of the widespread use of what is commonly known on the street as “truth” – now available in quantities so pure that it is set to become illegal to produce in Britain.

A Tory MP at the forefront of the new campaign says he believes there is “a very good chance” of making Britain fact-free once Britain is no longer a member of the EU.

Michael Gove, the environment secretary and Brexiteer, has signalled he is open to halting imports and possession of ‘fact‘ after Brexit, including those sold under the street names of ‘critical thinking‘, ‘free will

Save our Schools West Midlands are working with Birmingham City Council to host a Summit of Head Teachers and Parents. We want to join together Birmingham’s best minds and work on ideas for the future of our campaign.

Editorial note:  The following is a speculative thought experiment intended to provide an objective assessment of our species.  It projects the likely view of one possible external observer, and is not intended to characterize the nature of all such observers if in fact any actually exist.  Undoubtedly, extraterrestrial life would be as diverse as terrestrial life, and extraterrestrial civilizations would be similarly different from each other.  Since the perspective here is based on science, subjective and supernatural beliefs along with their associated moralities reside outside the purview of this presentation.

By Robert A. Vella

The Fermi paradox, or Fermi’s paradox (named after physicist Enrico Fermi), is the apparent contradiction between the lack of conclusive evidence and the high statistical probability for the existence of advanced extraterrestrial civilizations.  Our own human history provides ample reason to hypothesize that before a crucial survivability threshold is reached in their evolution, intelligent…

Since I put up my last blog ‘I’m on my war horse’, I have learnt several interesting things. The first is that the struggle that the staff and parents of Waltham Holy Cross School are putting up to try and avoid being made to leave the control of the local authority and be turned into an Academy – which they do NOT want – is by no means a one off.

Over 227 people visited that blog on the first day and some of them told me about other schools who are or who have been in a similar position. So I am writing part 2 of the blog as you see, so that people who haven’t seen part one yet can do so now and people who have something to say about what has been and is happening to them and their school, can send me the details…

By Robert A. Vella

There’s lots of important news to get to today, so let’s get right to it.

From:  Trump administration must stop giving psychotropic drugs to migrant children without consent, judge rules

U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee in Los Angeles ordered the Trump administration to obtain consent or a court order before administering any psychotropic medications to migrant children, except in cases of dire emergencies. She also ordered that the government move all children out of a Texas facility, Shiloh Residential Treatment Center in Manvel, except for children deemed by a licensed professional to pose a “risk of harm” to themselves or others.

From:  Supreme Court denies Trump admin request to halt youth climate lawsuit

The Supreme Court on Monday denied the Trump administration’s plea to halt proceedings in a landmark lawsuit by young people seeking stronger federal action on climate change.

While rejecting the government’s request to…

Everything’s a bit fucking shit right now, isn’t it? On this side of the Atlantic, our government has decided it’s a better idea to buy every packet of plasters in Boots than it is to simply not cut our own fucking legs off, and on the other side, the animated turd of someone who has eaten nothing but Cheesy Wotsits for a year is trying to destroy the entire fucking planet as though it was a thing as insignificant as a woman’s life. It’s nice, therefore – necessary, even – to stumble across something a bit more uplifting from time to time so we don’t all go completely shitting mad. 

Imagine my relief, then, when the first thing I saw on Twitter this morning was a video of a gay teenager who has been invited to perform his drag act at Brighton Pride next week, after his school had…