Robert Kennedy speaks at vaccine conference

Robert F. Kennedy Junior and Robert De Niro at the Press Conference, 15 February 2017, presented by the World Mercury Project.

Robert Kennedy asks: why are pregnant women advised to refrain from eating tuna fish due to the mercury content and yet they may be vaccinated with vaccines which have a much higher mercury content?

No sensible answers have been forthcoming from the vaccine industry.

There are many other interesting statistics presented.

How is the 3 month intense engagement about Named Person scheme progressing ?

We`re not supposed to know.

"Campaigners opposed to the Scottish Government's Named Person scheme have accused ministers of `throwing a veil of secrecy` around its progress to reform the policy."

"Education secretary John Swinney announced an `intense` three-month consultation on how to make the scheme comply with European human rights law in September last year."

"The consultation was announced six weeks after the UK Supreme Court ruled elements of the policy to be `incompatible` with the right to privacy and family life, as set out in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)."

"Mr Swinney intended to outline his next steps before the end of 2016."

"But the group which mounted a legal challenge against the scheme said there have been no updates from ministers."

"Freedom of Information requests by the No To Named Persons (NO2NP) for details of the consultation discussions were rejected."

"NO2NP spokesman Simon Calvert said: `The engagement period was really a sham consultation because Mr Swinney only wanted to deal with those who support the scheme and organisations mainly funded by the Government`."

"`He refused to engage with us even though we represent an important cross-section of Scottish society, huge numbers of parents and more than 35,000 people who signed our petition`."

"`The three-month 'engagement' has long since ended. It looks like it could be more like six or seven months, March or April 2017, before we hear anything`."

"He added: `The Supreme Court agreed with us that the intrusive sharing of private information which was at the heart of the Named Person scheme was unlawful`."

"`The court granted our appeal, and ordered the Scottish Government to pay all our costs. It was a total defeat for the Scottish Government`."

"`The substantial delay in announcing their plans to try to navigate a way around the ruling indicates that reality is finally beginning to bite`..."

"The Deputy First Minister will update Parliament in due course."

https://stv.tv/news/politics/1381692-veil-of-secrecy-around-named-person-consultation/

Child abuse inquiry hears testimony of survivors who were shipped to the colonies

"The UK national child abuse inquiry has been urged at the opening of its public evidence sessions to name and shame the perpetrators of the sexual abuse of tens of thousands of British children forcibly deported to Australia by the UK government and leading churches and charities."

"David Hill, one of more than 4,000 children who were sent to Australia and other Commonwealth nations from 1947 to the 1970s, waived his anonymity at the opening of the independent inquiry on Monday to make an emotional call for justice for victims..."

"The national child abuse inquiry is hearing testimony from people who were shipped as children to Australia. Some children sent to former colonies between the 1920s and 1970s faced servitude, hard labour and abuse."

"Hill is one of 22 former child migrants who will give evidence at the hearing. Many will testify of the extreme sexual and physical abuse they experienced when they were sent to Australia as part of the child migrant programme..."

"Henrietta Hill, QC, counsel to the inquiry, said it was the first time the sexual abuse of the former child migrants had been investigated in a public forum in the UK."

"She said the focus of the investigation was from 1947 onwards when more than 4,000 children were sent to Australia, New Zealand, Canada and southern Rhodesia."

"There were many reasons for child migration, she said. It was carried out by the British government and leading churches and charities including Barnardo’s, the Church of England Children’s Society, Cornwall county council and the Sisters of Nazareth. But it was not without its critics at the time and the inquiry heard that in 1956 a blacklist of institutions was drawn up by the British government after evidence of sexual and physical abuse came to light. It was not acted upon following political pressure from many of the charities and agencies involved."

"The QC said cutting the cost to the taxpayer of looking after deprived children and providing white Anglo-Saxon labour for the colonies was one reason for the programme. Between the mid-19th century and the 1970s, more than 100,000 children were sent to the colonies."

"They were taken from their parents, foster families and children’s homes, put on to ships and not told what was happening..."

"The inquiry has divided its work up into 13 separate investigations. They are: children outside the UK; accountability and reparations: Rochdale and any links to the former Liberal MP Cyril Smith; children in custodial institutions; child sexual exploitation networks; Lambeth council; Lord Janner; Nottinghamshire councils; residential schools; the Anglican church; the Catholic church; and Westminster including any involvement by politicians. More strands may be identified in future..."

"The next full public hearing is expected to relate to the Rochdale investigation in October, followed by an examination of the English Benedictine Congregation, part of the Catholic investigation, in December."

"Other public hearings already scheduled will examine online sexual abuse, due in January next year, and the diocese of Chichester, in March 2018, as part of the Anglican church investigation."

"The IICSA is due to produce an interim report on its progress the following month, in April 2018.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/feb/27/child-abuse-survivor-inquiry-name-villains-children-australia?CMP=share_btn_fb

`War porn children` - brave women speak out

 

The Foreign Office was in congratulatory mode because the `White Helmets` received an Oscar at last night`s ceremonies.

 

Vanessa Beeley talked to Mike Robinson on UK Column News about the documentary `White Helmets` which received an Oscar award last night. Both Vanessa and Mike have appeared before on UK Column presenting the evidence of atrocities committed by the White Helmets against the Syrian population.

Vanessa talked about the video footage of a one year old child being attended to by a White Helmet responder whose method of stabbing a long needle into the chest of that child has been described by a medic as something that would have killed the child or seriously injured that child. The fact that there was no blood during this procedure smacks of performance, not reality.

"This is the organisation that is being given an Oscar," says Vanessa,  "given the celebrity treatment by all our governments... because they are funding it to perpetuate what is going  to be  - further child abuse inside Syria."

Carla Ortiz boycotted the Oscars and is bravely speaking out against this.

Another brave woman is Tulsi Gabbard

See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjiRSIYmt2I

State secrets

Richie Allen Show

 

Robert Green is in conversation with Richie Allen and they talk about Melanie Shaw. "She is heading for two years in prison... None of the time she has already served on remand will be taken into account. Yet nobody knows what it is about."

The secrecy is the main element thinks Robert Green. It seems the state has taken action against her because she has had the courage to speak out... and she has been isolated and her mail intercepted. One way round that is to send mail to her through her MP, Chris Leslie.  Robert has succeeded in doing just that.

For those who are interested in writing to Melanie the address is:
Chris Leslie MP,
12 Regents Street,
Nottingham NG1 5BQ.

Robert then went on to talk about the Hollie Greig case and the failure of Grampian police to investigate the serious allegations of child rape involving a number of perpetrators.

He quotes Dr Boyle who was totally supportive of Hollie:

"In general the research indicates that children do not make up false stories of sexual abuse although obtaining information from children with learning difficulties is very difficult. The perpetrator in all cases has enormous motivation to deny and make accusations such as the child is lying..."

 

Robert reminded listeners that he had personally handed over all the relevant paperwork about the case some years ago to Alex Salmond himself before he entered the conference centre in Perth. [The video is on Youtube]  Salmond is heard to say that he would look into it, or words to that effect. It was not the first time Salmond had received this information.

Robert is convinced that the former First Minister`s colleagues, Nicola Sturgeon, John Swinney and other Scottish cabinet members  are well aware of the Hollie Greig case but they are covering it up and have suppressed the media with legal threats.

"They insist that the Scottish people have to be kept in the dark about this," he says.

============================

Here`s a blast from the past http://www.thedrum.com/news/2010/08/06/did-scots-lord-advocate-spend-more-her-reputation-girl-got-being-raped

Two Dundee institutions are being investigated as part of child abuse inquiry

Dundee Council

 

"A former school and defunct orphanage in Dundee are both being investigated as part of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry..."

"The two Dundee institutions being investigated both closed down in the early 1980s: the Balgowan List D School and the Roseangle Orphanage (St Vincents)."

"The inquiry is collecting evidence from the victims of abuse."

"Dundee City Council has said it is reviewing what information it holds on the two institutions that may assist the inquiry..."

"A number of schools, including Morrison’s Academy in Crieff, and residential care units are being investigated as part of the probe."

"Other schools specifically being investigated by inquiry staff are Fettes College, Gordonstoun, the former Keil School, Loretto School and Merchiston Castle School."

"Eight children’s homes and secure units across Edinburgh, Glasgow, Perth and Fife are also being looked into."

"Faith-based organisations being looked at include those run by religious orders including the Benedictines, Sisters of Nazareth and the Christian Brothers."

"St Ninian’s in Falkland, Fife, which was run by the Catholic Christian Brothers organisation, is also being looked at."

"The inquiry is due to report in 2019 but some survivors’ groups say they are losing confidence in the probe."

"All three original panel members have resigned since the inquiry was set up last year."

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/local/dundee/374766/two-dundee-establishments-investigated-as-part-of-scottish-child-abuse-inquiry/

Little girl died after late visit to GP

"A critically ill little girl died hours after a GP refused to see her because she turned up a few minutes late for an emergency appointment."

"Astonishingly, the doctor is still practising after escaping with a ‘slap on the wrist’ at a secret disciplinary hearing."

"Ellie-May Clark, five, died of an asthma attack after Dr Joanne Rowe refused to see her – despite having previously been warned the girl was at risk of suffering a life-threatening seizure."

"The child’s distraught mother, Shanice, last night said they were just four minutes late for the appointment."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4260108/Girl-5-died-asthma-attack-GP-refused-her.html#ixzz4ZpXzCtEY

Pupils undergo an early intervention programme in Glasgow

They might not get equal educational opportunities but pupils in deprived areas are proving to be a useful resource:

"A school in one of Glasgow's most deprived areas is training parents, pupils and staff in how to cope with stress."

"As part of the pilot, all S4 pupils at St Paul's High School in Pollok were assessed before the programme began."

"About 40% showed high levels of anxiety and depression, well above the national average."

"This dropped to about 20% by the end of the programme which aims to intervene early to prevent longer-term problems."

"Across Scotland, one in 10 adults is currently being prescribed an antidepressant."

"Almost half of all adults with mental health problems developed them before they left school."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-39067388

I`m always in two minds about this kind of thing because I wouldn`t want to deny anybody a stress-busting class. But I still think this is not the role for schoolteachers.

Schools themselves create an awful lot of the stress.

It looks like the focus on wellbeing, engagement and fun learning - the GIRFEC approach - is not working. The figures quoted in the article are quite shocking.

No, this is data mining, experimentation and mental health on the cheap. And not a thought about patient confidentiality.

Schools in deprived areas provide less opportunities to sit highers

Another panel member resigns from Scottish child abuse inquiry

"Survivor groups have reacted angrily after the Scottish child abuse inquiry lost the last remaining original panel member."

"Glenn Houston said he had resigned as a member of the panel because he had accepted two other public appointments which he is unable to hold in conjunction with his panel membership."

"Houston said the inquiry had made `considerable progress` and wished it well in the future."

"His departure follows the resignation last year of chairwoman Susan O'Brien QC and fellow panel member Professor Michael Lamb amid accusations of government interference."

"Senior judge Lady Smith, who replaced O'Brien as the third chair of the inquiry, is now the only remaining member of the panel."

"Lady Smith said: `Mr Houston has made a valuable contribution to the work of the Inquiry during his time as a panel member and I am very grateful to him for his support. I fully understand his decision and wish him well in his new ventures`."

"`The important work of the Inquiry continues as normal and we would encourage anyone who has relevant information, whether they have been abused themselves or know others who have, to get in touch`."

"Survivor groups said the state of the inquiry was `an absolute disgrace`."

"Alan Draper of In Care Abuse Survivors, told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland the inquiry would miss Houston's experience."

https://www.holyrood.com/articles/news/last-remaining-original-member-scottish-child-abuse-inquiry-resigns

Helping parents to parent

Mike Robinson: "We know what`s been going on in Scotland with the Named Person scheme but Helping Parents to Parent this is a new report from the Social Mobility Commission and the government are saying that this research is to gather evidence on parenting behaviours and the extent to which public policy can support parents."

"Public policy can have an impact on parents .. and achieve positive outcomes for children but there is currently a lack of evidence on what works and this is according to the Social Mobility Commission. They`re saying that figures show in the last decade more than 2.5 million children in England, including over 580,000 children known to be eligible for free school meals, have not reached the government`s definition of a good level of development by the age of five and by the time students receive their GCSE results around 32 percent of variation in performance can be predicted based on indicators observed at or before the age of five."

"So what they`re absolutely saying is, that what needs to happen, Brian, is that these children need to be developing properly between the age of one and five. We`ve got to go in there.  But of course between the ages of zero and five this is the time that children are being vaccinated and increasingly, well some people would say that some children respond to the vaccines they`re getting these days by perhaps ending up on the autism spectrum. Some people would also say that no child is actually getting away Scot free and perhaps we`re seeing a few points knocked off ... IQ scores as a result of this. This isn`t proven but certainly there should be research done on this but that research would certainly not be part of this report. ... This issue was not even looked at."

"So instead, what are they looking at? It`s all about parenting style and it`s all psychological. So we`re going in and we`re going to be teaching parents how to parent and never mind what medical issues there may have been."

Brian Gerrish: "Absolutely Mike but of course the moment the social services get alongside the parents there`s a grave risk those children are going to be taken away from their parents... We were told two or three years ago that in some of the primary schools in South Wales, over fifty percent of the children had special needs and the teachers were warned that they must not talk about that subject. So this is the reality of it, but of course when you have the film VAXXED coming up where there`s considerable evidence to say that vaccinations can present a danger and there should be further investigation into the safety of vaccinations then the government is absolutely turning on the originator of the report."

"And another thing I`ll say is that we know from local reports in the south west that where parents are perhaps in dire straits they`re starting to use food banks.  The food bank staff are reporting the parents to social services and then social services are coming in alongside the families on the basis that those children are suffering at the hands of the parents. So very very dangerous state intervention and of course many people in England and Wales still don`t understand what the SNP tried to get in place with the Named Person scheme in Scotland where, as one member of the Scottish parliament said, `Don`t worry.... parents will also have a role in bringing up their children`. "

"Also !"

"Also."

Mike Robinson: "And just before we finish on this, it wasn`t actually the Social Mobility Commission - it was their report - but the underlying research was done by an organisation called `Family, Kids and Youth` ... and they describe themselves as one of the best known children and young people`s research agencies. So this is about market research. We work for some of the leading names in child, youth and family markets. And again this language ... the word `market` in the context of children and families, I find pretty disturbing."

Brian Gerrish: "And we have of course a child based charity which itself is called Core Assets which I find pretty objectionable as well. So a market in children. That`s the way it seems.... or at least profit from children is what we start to see happening in the UK and we would say it`s on a scale which is truly breathtaking." 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJn9gNqp5r0

Traffic 2

Richie Allen interviews Emma Ibbitson about Traffic 2 and asks why she and the team decided to do a follow up to Traffic.

"Traffic was banned," she explains and they were not going to accept that. The film attempts to blow the lid off the fostering and adoption industry. It is an industry that is still growing.  She discovered that in one city there were as many as fifty hearings in one day.

Listen here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdjCe8B41JQ

Vital evidence lost in child sex abuse cases

"VITAL evidence in child sex abuse cases is being lost because laptops, cameras and microphones frequently break down during interviews with the victims, it has been claimed."

"Faulty equipment means social workers and police who work jointly on interviews in abuse inquiries are even resorting to taking notes by pen and paper on a regular basis."

"This is said to have led to cases breaking down before they reach court because the quality of the written evidence is so poor."

"And it is also causing problems with child victims being interrupted during harrowing disclosures about abuse while a police officer or social worker ‘catches up’, interrupting the flow of the interview..."

"Cases are also said to have broken down because the quality of the interview was poor with police or social workers asking too many ‘leading questions’ which may prompt the respondent to answer in a particular way."

"A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said: `We have committed to working with partner organisations to examine the use of pre-recorded evidence for child witnesses, including in relation to joint investigative interviews currently carried out by the police and social work`."

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15025564.Abused_children_are_let_down_every_day_by_faulty_equipment/

Positive education for life

From the World Government Summit:

"Positive Education is an approach to education that blends academic learning with character & well-being. Preparing students with life skills such as: grit, optimism, resilience, growth mindset, engagement, and mindfulness amongst others."

"Positive education is based on the science of well-being and happiness."

"There is a clear need for governments to take positive education – education that conveys both traditional, technical skills necessary for labour market success and critical socio-emotional or life skills that enhance well-being – seriously."

https://worldgovernmentsummit.org/api/publications/document/8f647dc4-e97c-6578-b2f8-ff0000a7ddb6

It looks like the Scottish government is ahead of the game.  How come ?

Child removed because of father`s unorthodox views

"A father who praised `the benefits of formula milk` saw his one-week-old son taken into council care, a court heard."

"Medical staff had told Kirklees Council of the man's "unorthodox views" about feeding including the need to sterilise bottles and social workers later removed the baby from the hospital."

"Care chiefs then `misled` a family court and falsely claimed the parents "agreed" to the child's removal."

"A High Court judge has now ordered the council to pay the family £11,250."

"The baby was returned to the parents, who cannot be named for legal reasons, more than two months after being taken."

"The High Court heard the mother suffered from minor mental health problems and other difficulties and the father had in the past been aggressive to others, but staff at the special care baby unit had no child protection concerns."

"However, Mr Justice Cobb said medics had expressed worries about the couple's ability to care for the baby."

"The father had, among other things, `expressed unorthodox views about the need for sterilisation of bottles and the benefits of formula milk`."

"Kirklees Council persuaded a family court to approve the baby being taken into emergency care as he was about to be discharged from hospital."

"Mr Justice Cobb said the council had `misled` the family judge, wrongly claiming the parents had been `given notice` of the hearing and had `agreed` to the child being taken."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-38995320?SThisFB

The government is against exposure

False reports in a post-truth world

On Friday`s UK Column News: "Tusla is a child agency in Ireland," says David Scott. "It looks after child protection; it looks after families and family law... We came across this organisation when we started to look at the Docherty case because the Dochertys had their children seized twice and they`re still in the care of the state of Ireland and both episodes were vile. The second one, there was I think thirteen people, five policemen and eight social workers or something like this, descended upon this family and violently seized their children. The agencies doing this - there were two agencies Garda Síochána and Tusla. So we started to look at the links between these two. We started to look at how they were managed and who`s managing them and lo and behold all those roads led back to Scotland, led back to Aberdeenshire."

"So we highlighted some of these issues. and we started to get other stories that Tusla and Garda Síochána were very profoundly corrupt. Now what`s happened in the last couple of weeks is that this corruption has become obvious to the people of Ireland. In a way... sadly the corruption that surrounds this case is like the Docherty case. It`s not obvious to people in Scotland. In Scotland itself, it`s completely suppressed; there`s no news coming out; there`s no political questions being asked. But in Ireland people are now standing up in ... parliament and asking very serious questions and the case is horrendous."

 

"It concerns a Garda officer called McCabe who eight years ago discovered serious criminal wrongdoing by a colleague within the police force.... and took the appropriate lawful action and brought that to the authority`s attention... and ensured that the criminal activities were stopped and the man saw justice. And as a result Mr McCabe and his family have gone through eight years of hell. Now there was an early accusation made against this man that he`d been involved in some sort of inappropriate contact with a child. Now this accusation came from the daughter of the Garda officer who he brought to justice and it concerns an alleged incident some decades in the past. This woman was in her twenties and was claiming something happened when she was six or seven. It was investigated . The conclusion was there was no evidence not only that the incident occurred but there was considerable doubt that the incident described by the complainant was even a crime. It described this girl being at this officer`s house playing hide and seek and an allegation that there was something a bit off about that. It was extremely minor. The decision was there was nothing to investigate. No prosecution. Case closed."

"But the case was not closed because later it came back and it transpired that very very serious allegations of child rape had been levelled against this officer and were in the Tusla files and were then circulated throughout the Gardai so his colleagues were told about this. He wasn`t told about it; he didn`t know any of this was being discussed. And he found out about it only very recently, years after these rumours had been circulated. And the official explanation as to why he had been accused of being a child rapist in the official files of Tusla was an administrative error. It was an unfortunate cut and paste exercise that went sadly wrong."

"So there you go. Tusla can unfortunately cut and paste allegations of child rape into your files and then start to investigate your entire family because they had files on all of his children and what`s unique about this situation?  Only that he was a Garda whistleblower. It`s a horrendous situation ..."

 

Comparing this situation to the Docherty case, David Scott goes on: "It`s the same sort of approach; it`s the same sort of manipulation of the files but the difference here is it`s coming out into the open. In the case of Scotland... we know that a Police Scotland officer misrepresented himself to the Dochertys and gave the wrong name and we believe his name was in fact Sergeant Gilbert Buchan."

 

 "And we know that a report written on the Dochertys ... highlighted concerns over another Police Scotland officer called Alan Low, was then modified by Gilbert Buchan and sent off to Child Protection Services. When the modified report got there it was no longer alleging concerns about Alan Low the police officer. No, now the area of concern was the Docherty family and how they were raising their children; and were the children safe? They set the Child Protection Services on the Dochertys with a lie. This is exactly what happened to this whistleblower ... Are we saying it was an unfortunate cut and paste exercise ? No, we`re not saying that because in Scotland we don`t get to say any of these things. There`s no investigation; there`s no questions being asked in parliament because we don`t have anyone with the spine to do it."


Referring to the Dochertys: "They`ve managed to get somewhere where they`re safe and they`re warm and they are in contact with us. We hope to get a lot more information. I think they`ve been through a fairly rough few months. ... There seems to be pretty blatant attempts by Garda Síochána to arrest Brian Docherty and have him sectioned. The only problem is there`s nothing wrong with his mental health. Unless he volunteers to be sectioned there`s actually nothing they can do. He`s also law abiding so arresting him is a bit problematic as well. But the harassment and police involvement seems to be going on. So we have Garda Síochána; we have Tusla; we have all of the same engaged in the McCabe scandal and other assaults on other whistleblowers... These very corrupt organisations are now facing the Dochertys. Now at the moment no-one in the mainstream is reporting the Docherty case. There are no questions being asked in the Irish parliament about the Docherty case. But times they are a-changing. So we`ll see what the next few weeks bring."

 

"We`ll end on this one," says Mike Robinson. "Because the government and Amber Rudd in particular has announced a £40 million package of government measures to protect children and young people from sexual abuse. This has got to be good news, doesn`t it? The home secretary yesterday announced that package. Well where`s it going to go? Well it`s going to create a new centre of expertise on child sexual abuse apparently."

Brian Gerrish adds: "It sounds like the Kingfisher set up in Oxford where they used the police station that had been involved as failing the young girls coming forward to report abuse. That`s where they set up the new headquarters to spearhead leadership in child abuse."

"Well what fascinates me Brian is the centre of expertise on child sexual abuse, it`s not the centre of expertise on child sexual abuse prevention and so what exactly is it going to be? Is it going to be a school for paedophiles? It`s unclear at this point. An extra £20 million for the National Crime Agency ... to tackle online child sexual abuse; £2.2 million for organisations to protect children at risk of trafficking - even though they can`t track down children missing from care in this country - and the launch of... independent child trafficking advocates. What is that going to be?"

"Well that`s to undermine the McKenzie Friends," says Gerrish ... "That will be the government to train the people to work with the desperate parents."

"OK, well here`s what Amber Rudd had to say:"

"`Children should be able to grow up free from the horrors of sexual abuse, exploitation and trafficking ... This government has done more than any other to tackle these horrific offences`. And she said it with a straight face. ... Now they have in parallel released this: Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation; progress report. And I just want to highlight the things that they`re crowing about here, and David I`ll ask you for comment on this in a second."

 

"`We have tackled the culture of denial in professions about the scale and nature of this crime`. Well that`s what they claim.  But they certainly haven`t tackled the culture of denial within the government itself, within parliament as to the complicity of parliament and the activity of this parliament in this area`. "

"`We have increased accountability`, they say, `by strengthening statutory guidance to reduce the risks of children falling through the gaps between services`. What that means is they have created a much stronger culture of cover-up because with people working in multiagency groups now they get to know each other; there is no independence; there`s no separation of powers. This is a fundamental constitutional issue. And so what they`ve done by strengthening statutory guidance to reduce the risk of children falling through the gaps means bigger cover-up."

"They say, `we`ve increased the support to victims and survivors of sexual abuse by providing local commissioners with the funding they need to support the particular needs of survivors in their area as well as holding a central fund so that organisations working nationally for survivors are supported`. Except when they`re not supported. Except when they`re put in prison instead because what they`re whistleblowing about is involving parliamentarians and others. So that culture of denial that they say they`ve dealt with feeds into certain people ending up in prison. And of course I`m speaking about Melanie Shaw there."

"And finally they say they`ve sharpened law enforcement response and brought more offenders to justice including offenders who`ve been exploiting new methods and technologies to abuse children. `In the year to December 2015  - 5,789 offenders were convicted of child sexual abuse offences. This was over 1,000 more offenders convicted in 2014;  51% of those convicted in 2015 were sentenced to immediate custody`.  None of those people were called Janner. None of those people were called Brittan and none of them were involved in parliament in any way, shape or form; and ... despite the credible evidence from whistleblowers. So this is a pretty staggering thing."

"David, £40 million, you must be impressed."

"Well I was impressed with that analysis. That`s extremely good. We see this in Scotland because we`re a testing ground ... the named person. What does it mean? It means that when the parent tries to go and confront some sort of wrongdoing,  neglect or other failings of the state they`re now facing an even larger, better organised and more tightly coordinated group of state officials who are all opposing the parent, all are opposing the family ... and getting the truth heard is ever harder. "

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7TNV4p7Fuw

Court of Appeal to consider vaccine injury compensation claim

Paul Gallagher 12:08 Thursday February 2nd 2017

"The DWP could be left with a £12m bill if it fails for a third time to overturn a ruling ordering it to pay £120,000 compensation to a 7-year-old who suffers from narcolepsy caused by the Swine Flu vaccine Pandemrix."

"On 10 December 2009, seven-year-old John was given a vaccination called Pandemrix against the pandemic influenza A (H1N1), commonly known as Swine Flu. Four months later, following extensive hospital examination he was diagnosed with narcolepsy and cataplexy, neurological conditions that will affect him for the rest of his life."

"Narcolepsy is a very rare and incurable autoimmune sleep disorder caused by the destruction of the part of the brain that produces hypocretin, a peptide that regulates sleep. Sufferers regularly experience episodes of drowsiness or excessive daytime sleepiness. Cataplexy is a condition characterised by sudden, profound muscle paralysis, the onset of which takes several seconds, and often results in the sufferer collapsing."

"Although millions of people in the UK received Pandemrix without complications, the 2009-10 pandemic vaccine has been found to have caused an epidemic of narcolepsy in the UK and in other European countries in which it was used. About 1,500 people across Europe are thought to be affected of which about 100 have so far been identified in the UK. John, not his real name, is one of them..."

"It is the first time the Court of Appeal is considering a case of vaccine injury compensation under the UK statutory compensation scheme. Its decision will be binding on all future assessments of disability brought under the 1979 Act. Payments were then fixed at £10,000. Now they are £120,000 per person, so with around 100 victims seeking compensation under the Act, the DWP will be faced with a £12m bill if it loses."

https://truthman30.wordpress.com/2017/02/06/glaxos-pandemrix-vaccine-causes-narcolepsy-and-cataplexy-in-7-year-old/

Bafta for director Ken Loach

 

"Director Ken Loach accepts the Bafta award for Best British Film for his portrayal of life in the British welfare system in I, Daniel Blake. He uses his speech to criticise the government for its `callous brutality` and its attitude towards `the most vulnerable and the poorest people` in our society, and particularly notes that the `disgraceful` cruelty now `extends to keeping out refugee children`."

https://www.theguardian.com/film/video/2017/feb/12/baftas-2017-ken-loach-slams-brutally-callous-government-video

I do not criticise his portrayal of life in Britain for the most disadvantaged but I wonder if he is aware that hundreds of refugee children have gone missing in the UK and we do not  have a great care system ? In fact, the British system might actually be one that feeds a perverted elite group in society.

Unique NO2NP event in Edinburgh 20 March

Happy book giving day !

 

Free download on Kindle for one day only 14 February 2017 Fir for Luck by Barbara Henderson.

"When 12-year-old Janet’s village is under threat– she decides to take action. It’s a split-second decision that could cost her everything: her home, her family – even her life."

"Can Janet save her village from being wiped out? Or will her family and friends be forced from their homes to face an uncertain future?"

"Based on real life events, Fir for Luck is a tale of the brutal Highland Clearances, when land owners cared more about sheep than people."

https://twitter.com/scattyscribbler

Anti-terrorist agents threaten Standing Rock protesters

"The Guardian has established that multiple officers within the FBI’s joint terrorism taskforce have attempted to contact at least three people tied to the Standing Rock `water protector` movement in North Dakota."

"The purpose of the officers’ inquiries into Standing Rock, and scope of the task force’s work, remains unknown. Agency officials declined to comment. But the fact that the officers have even tried to communicate with activists is alarming to free-speech experts who argue that anti-terrorism agents have no business scrutinizing protesters..."

"`The idea that the government would attempt to construe this indigenous-led non-violent movement into some kind of domestic terrorism investigation is unfathomable to me,` said Lauren Regan, a civil rights attorney who has provided legal support to demonstrators who were contacted by representatives of the FBI. "`It’s outrageous, it’s unwarranted … and it’s unconstitutional`..."

"The three individuals, who include a Native American and a non-indigenous activist, asserted their fifth amendment rights and did not respond to the officers, according to Regan, who declined to identify them to protect their privacy and out of fear of retribution..."

"Two of them were contacted in North Dakota and a third at their home outside the state, according to Regan. She said all three contacts were made in recent weeks after Trump’s inauguration."

"Trump, a former investor in Energy Transfer Partners, the Texas-based firm behind the pipeline, took executive action in his first week in office to expedite the project. On Wednesday, workers began drilling to complete the pipeline across the Missouri river."

Read more https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/08/standing-rock-dakota-access-pipeline-last-stand

Factories in Burma exploited child labour

"Scandal-hit David Beckham championed the global fight against child labour while children as young as 13 made clothes for the high street giant selling his multi-million-pound fashion range, a Mail on Sunday investigation has found."

"We discovered child labour abuse at factories in Burma used by H&M, which sells the former England captain’s clothing line."

"Beckham announced a high- profile Unicef fund in 2015 to combat global child exploitation – as teenage girls were working for as little as 13p an hour in H&M-contracted factories on the outskirts of Burma’s capital Yangon..."

"Emails leaked earlier this month suggested Beckham hoped his Unicef campaign would help win him a knighthood..."

"While there is no suggestion Beckham knew of the use of child labour by H&M contractors in the Far East, a charity exposed the practice in 2015 – three years into his store deal."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4215728/Beckham-s-H-M-fashion-range-child-labour-shame.html

Experts advise caution about neurofeedback

 

 

Betsy DeVos, newly appointed US education secretary has been having a hard time entering a public school, with shouts of `Shame` from a protester.

 

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Some of her other pursuits have been criticised too.

 

"A group of brain performance centres backed by Betsy DeVos ... promotes results that are nothing short of stunning: improvements reported by 91 percent of patients with depression, 90 percent with attention deficit disorder, 90 percent with anxiety."

"The treatment offered by Neurocore, a business in which Ms. DeVos and her husband, Dick, are the chief investors, consists of showing movies to patients and interrupting them when the viewers become distracted, in an effort to retrain their brains. With eight centers in Michigan and Florida and plans to expand, Neurocore says it has assessed about 10,000 people for health problems that often require medication."

"`Is it time for a mind makeover?` the company asks in its advertising. `All it takes is science`."

"But a review of Neurocore’s claims and interviews with medical experts suggest its conclusions are unproven and its methods questionable."

"Neurocore has not published its results in peer-reviewed medical literature. Its techniques — including mapping brain waves to diagnose problems and using neurofeedback, a form of biofeedback, to treat them — are not considered standards of care for the majority of the disorders it treats, including autism. Social workers, not doctors, perform assessments, and low-paid technicians with little training apply the methods to patients, including children with complex problems."

"In interviews, nearly a dozen child psychiatrists and psychologists with expertise in autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or A.D.H.D., expressed caution regarding some of Neurocore’s assertions, advertising and methods."

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/us/politics/betsy-devos-neurocore-brain-centers.html?_r=0

A vital route to safety: or is it a route to child trafficking ?

"First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has written to Theresa May urging her to reverse a decision to cut off a `vital route to safety` for child refugees."

"The UK government has come under fire for ending the `Dubs amendment` scheme in March after taking in 350 children."

"Ms Sturgeon said the scheme was `the only reliable and legal route` for unaccompanied child refugees."

"Home Secretary Amber Rudd said the scheme `acts as a pull` factor and `encourages people traffickers`."

"The Home Office has insisted it is not giving up on vulnerable children and said youngsters would continue to arrive from around the world through other resettlement schemes and the asylum system..."

"The first minister said her government supported a number of other UK commitments to taking in refugees, such as the Syrian Resettlement Programme, and said Scotland `stands ready` to help `provide a place of safety to children in the gravest of situations`."

"She added: `I urge you to reverse the shameful decision on the Dubs amendment which cuts off the only reliable and legal route for unaccompanied children arriving from Europe`."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-38937288

But how safe are these children in the UK?

Heading back to harm a report by ECPAT UK, in partnership with Missing People reveals that, "from September 2014 to September 2015, 28% of trafficked children (167 children) in care and 13% of unaccompanied children (593 children) in care went missing at least once. Of these, 207 missing trafficked or unaccompanied children had not been found..."

"Identification of trafficking is also a challenge in the UK at local level, despite the creation in 2009 of a National Referral Mechanism (NRM) to identify victims. Therefore, the true number of trafficked and unaccompanied children going missing is likely to be far higher than our findings suggest."

http://cdn.basw.co.uk/upload/basw_53551-6.pdf

School bus crash victims out of hospital

"Twenty-two children have been taken to hospital after a bus carrying more than 40 school pupils overturned in North Lanarkshire..."

"The single decker, which was coming from the Abronhill area, flipped onto its side at Dowanfield Road, next to the school..."

"In the immediate aftermath, 29 ambulance service units went to the scene, along with police and the fire service."

"Pupil Joe Smith, who was a passenger, said the vehicle appeared to experience mechanical issues in the run up to the crash."

"He told the BBC: `On one of the roundabouts, the driver had pulled his key back. I thought his engine had started to malfunction because the bus was shaking`."

"`We came to the corner and he tried to pull his key out again because we thought the bus had malfunctioned again and it started to speed up...we hit the lamp-post and then the bus toppled and fell over and unfortunately I fell on one of my friends`."

"He added: `When we were on the bus I heard people shouting and crying 'oh no, this isn't going to happen'."

"Joe said he was able to get out of the bus after the driver smashed an emergency window and a teacher ran over and began pulling pupils from the vehicle..."

"The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said three fire engines had attended and a small fire in the engine compartment of the bus had been extinguished..."

"Councillor Frank McNally, convener of education at North Lanarkshire Council, said a full investigation would be carried out into the crash."

"He said: `The emergency services were very quick on the scene`."

"`The council will be working very closely with the emergency services to undertake any necessary investigation`."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-38918468

Reducing stigma: poverty education in Curriculum for Excellence

We have some more good news from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation who estimate that one in five children in Scotland live in poverty, with the figure rising to one in three in the urban centre of Glasgow. " With more and more families falling into relative poverty and the numbers of working poor rising, the newly branded `JAMs` (just about managing) are in some cases not managing, having to decide between heating their house or feeding their families."

These facts and figures were produced in a report from the Centre for Child Wellbeing and Protection at Stirling University.

In the same report the Stirling University group went on to say: ` Many children suffer from low self-esteem and feel the invisible burden of the stigma that the label of `poverty` places on them.` In addition, they say, children affected by poverty suffer from a number of disadvantages that more affluent children do not, including lower attainment and poorer physical and mental health.

Having said that I can add that surprisingly the invisible burden is not experienced by many children:

"Many children, even from the poorest backgrounds do not recognise themselves as being in poverty. This is something highlighted in research conducted by the Scottish Universities Insight Institute (SUII), which looked at child perceptions of poverty, and expressing these through alternate methods such as art."

 

But that is something the study attempts to put right by engaging educational professionals in poverty discourse. By that means the researchers would put the invisible burden that poor children do not actually experience well and truly on their shoulders. The study places its endeavour in the overarching framework: Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC).

"We know that poverty can have an adverse impact on wellbeing and on learning, and that children who live in poverty are more likely to be absent from school. However, education professionals are largely excluded from the discussions which child welfare officers, social workers, doctors and third sector colleagues are already having around the health and wellbeing of children who are living in poverty."

 Wow. ! Look at all those people who are emboldened in the paragraph above who ARE having discussions about children living in poverty. How many of them are screaming: `We must end poverty now ?`

Answer: some of them are, but not enough of them are. What do the academics at Stirling University have to say about it, whose remit is to study children`s wellbeing ?

Well, absolutely nothing about demanding the end to poverty. What they do say is that educators, that is teachers in schools, should use more creative methods to explain poverty to children and that includes  - as if teachers do not already have enough to contend with -  art, dance and storytelling to help explain to those children who do not understand that they are in poverty how to share their experiences. Think about that.

Art, dance and storytelling is to be used to explain poverty in a classroom where some pupils are ok and some pupils are not.  As if that was not bad enough, here comes one of the most sickening paragraphs in the study:

"Using creative ways of communicating and engaging with children has already been found useful in helping them to talk about other issues personal to them, such as trauma or abuse. Researchers from the Scottish University Insight Institute-funded research team employed similar methods, using art, drama and play to help children express their feelings on poverty, and how it could be tackled in their communities. Children acted out scenarios, wrote poems, and created a number of pieces of tactile artwork, including sculptures and drawings."

They go on to say that: "Effective discussion could go a long way to helping children open up about experiences of poverty and also help them to be more understanding of other children who are living in poverty, reducing stigma and encouraging positive action within their local communities."

========================

We are going to have GIRFEC integrated into Curriculum for Excellence and the Named Person integrated into Curriculum for Excellence, and let us not forget the Wellbeing Indicators integrated into Curriculum for Excellence. What else? We are going to have youth work integrated into Curriculum for Excellence and death and dying integrated into Curriculum for Excellence as well as the Army Cadet Force.. .That last three are a nice combination for some.

We`re also going to have social and emotional learning integrated into Curriculum for Excellence. And we`re going to have poverty integrated into Curriculum for Excellence with the poor subjected to ritualistic opening up `confession` sessions in front of their classmates who will be encouraged to feign concern but who will actually hold them in contempt.

We`re going to have so much embedded in Curriculum for Excellence that there will be little room for an actual education.
 
https://theknowledgeexchangeblog.com/2017/01/30/talking-to-children-about-poverty-why-education-needs-to-get-in-on-the-act/

Army Cadet Force to be integrated with Curriculum for Excellence

Scottish Daily Mail 7 Feb 2017 Michael Blackley

"The Army is to set up cadet units in Scottish state schools for the first time, it can be revealed today. Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon has told the Scottish Daily Mail that a Dumfries secondary school will be the first in the country to get a cadet unit. The UK Government wants to promote the military ethos of the Army by establishing formal partnerships in 500 state schools across Britain - mostly in deprived areas - by 2020."

"The plan has previously come under fire from the Scottish Government, which claimed it could impact on the `wellbeing` of children, while some within the SNP raised concerns that youngsters would be treated like `cannon fodder`..."

"However, the Scottish Government last night confirmed that it had worked with the Army Cadet Force to ensure a scheme specially adapted for schools north of the Border can now go ahead. A spokesman said: `Education policy and the wellbeing of children are the responsibility of the Scottish Government and Scottish parliament."

"The hosted cadet unit model is not suitable for Scottish schools as it does not contribute to the curriculum, which is why the Army Cadet Force has been working with delivery partners in Scotland to integrate with Curriculum for Excellence."

"We would expect any consequentials from additional UK funding to flow to Scotland, which would enable us to allocate additional funding to organisations, including cadet organisations, which contribute to our youth work strategy."

https://www.pressreader.com/

The PPP scam

"Labour has called for an SNP minister to give evidence to an inquiry into the multi-million pound private finance initiative (PFI) school building programme after documents emerged detailing her role in its development."

"Jeane Freeman, who was elected to the Scottish Parliament in May and is now minister for social security, was previously in charge of a civil service division that helped drive the construction and renovation of dozens of schools through PFI."

"The deals, which have seen private contractors reap large guaranteed annual payments including interest, came under the spotlight when 17 Edinburgh schools built under PFI were shut after potentially dangerous building faults were discovered. An inquiry by Edinburgh Council is about to begin, and Nicola Sturgeon has said `questions must be asked` about privately financed infrastructure."

http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/labour-demands-snp-minister-jeane-freeman-face-pfi-inquiry-1-4152312

"The official tale is that PFI no longer exists in Scotland, having been abolished by the SNP. The reality is very different: the SNP correctly identified that people liked the idea of there not being any profit being made from education, the NHS and large public infrastructure projects, so introduced a system known as `non Profit Distributing` (NPD), a nice sounding name. They set up a trust known as the Scottish Futures Trust (SFT), another pretty cool sounding name, the SFT appointed a Chief Executive called Barry White. Seriously guyz, full marks for names..."

"Aside from the exact structure, the concept is the same: buy now, pay later, pay lots. The biggest cheek is using the words `Non Profit Distributing` when the only entity which doesn’t make a profit is the Scottish Futures Trust set up with public cash. But don’t take my word for it, here’s a handy quote from legal firm, Blake Morgan, who explain."

"It is therefore not a `not for profit` model. Contractors and lenders are expected to earn a normal market rate of return, as in any other form of privately-financed PPP deal."

"The NPD model is defined by the principles of enhanced stakeholder involvement in project management; no dividend-bearing equity; and private sector return capped at a reasonable rate set in competition through an open procurement process compliant with EU rules. Investors bid a rate of return in competition."

"It is important to realise that apart from this, NPD is not very different to traditional forms of PPP including PFI. In particular, the distribution of risk between public and private sector, including to construction and service contractors and their sub-contractors, is much the same."

https://athousandflowers.net/2016/04/12/why-are-we-still-building-pfi-schools/

A way of thinking

 

Eerily predictive:

"Science is more than a body of knowledge; it is a way of thinking. I have a foreboding of an America in my children’s or grandchildren’s time—when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the key manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what’s true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness."

Carl Sagan

The Demon-Haunted World: science as a candle in the dark

Alan Watt joins forces to ask: "What`s that coming over the hill?"

As some have suspected GIRFEA is the Scottish government outgrowth of GIRFEC, Getting it Right for Every Child so that the Scottish government, it would seem, is now intent on Getting it Right for Every Adult.
 
Broadcasting about this in Canada, Alan Watts  is incredulous that the Scottish people are allowing what he calls the fake Scottish government to get away with ramming this through. "You see, everybody`s to get managed here...  You`re all to be put into different pathways." (about 34 minutes into the broadcast)

Those of us who follow the ramifications of this policy from the Scottish government are aware that it is less about ramming it through against a protesting population and more about sneaking it in under the radar.

http://www.ukcolumn.org/article/whats-coming-over-hill