Now we know: in Trump’s fantasy comeback, he’ll be wearing handcuffs | Marina Hyde | The Guardian

In the topsy-turvy world he has created, criminal charges against the former president may be just the boost he needs, says Guardian columnist Marina Hyde

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We all know what Trump should be wearing and where he should be now living and it is not Mar-a-Lago in Florida or Trump Buildings in New York, but a very secure small unit where he, hopefully could be kept under control wearing similar outfits to others in the secure units.

Whether he will be on this charge or any of the others pending we will have to wait and see.

He will never understand, due to his very limited intellect, but at least America will be saved, until the next inappropriate Presidential Candidate and maybe President surfaces.

Source: Now we know: in Trump’s fantasy comeback, he’ll be wearing handcuffs | Marina Hyde | The Guardian

Afghan war pilot hero: Moment my wife said ‘Flee for your life!’ and I began dangerous escape from Kabul to UK | The Independent

Exclusive: Pilot who fought with coalition forces, fled the Taliban and arrived here by small boat tells his amazing story – as clamour to stop his deportation grows

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This is all so wrong and the UK needs to do so much more.

Anyone who put their lives and those of their families at risk should have no problems accessing the UK, so in these instances more safe routes have to be established.

As to the persons accessing in small boats why penalise them, when it should be the criminals who are using these people to make money. Journalists appear to be able to access these criminals so why not the legal authorities, could it be viewed that it is somewhat easier to go after the people coming in small boats than the criminals using these people.

It could be that Rishi is just doing a PR exercise to give some indication that the Government is doing something when in reality they know full well it will not be successful.

Let’s face it who really trust politicians, any politicians.

 

Source: Afghan war pilot hero: Moment my wife said ‘Flee for your life!’ and I began dangerous escape from Kabul to UK | The Independent

Trump wants to be handcuffed for court appearance in Stormy Daniels case, sources say | Donald Trump | The Guardian

People close to former president said to be unsure whether he is serious about wanting to do a perp walk

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Trump will only do what he feels is best for him and most likely is completely unaware of the enormity of this case and all the others to follow.

He has used his assumed fame and his supposed wealth for his own benefit wherever he has been allowed to and in many instances where he has not been.

Over his lifetime and those of his father and grandfather they have assumed that they can control and are above the Law, as though the law is insignificant.

Whereas it is Trump who really needs to be worried for it appears all his actions are coming home to roost. Yes, his MAGA supporters will believe everything he tells them for they too are so blinded by Trump and are unable or unwilling to grasp reality.

Let’s so hope that with all that is coming for Trump this will be his eventual ending and in that all America and the World will be at last not have to hear from Trump ever again.

 

Source: Trump wants to be handcuffed for court appearance in Stormy Daniels case, sources say | Donald Trump | The Guardian

US state legislators propose death penalty for women who have an abortion | The BMJ

Republican legislators in South Carolina have proposed a bill to change the state’s laws, making a fertilised egg or embryo a person and charging a woman who has an abortion with murder, which carries a 30 year prison sentence or the death penalty. Henry McMaster, the state’s Republican governor, has said that he would sign anti-abortion regulations.

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If I had seen this in some other publications I would have assumed it was ‘Fake News’, but about a State in America where common sense and human rights are being totally ignored.

With  the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on 24 June 2022 it was a very retrograde step and now this action is leading to many more retrograde far reaching steps taking place.

The human rights of women which have been long fought for and are now being totally ignored as though women don’t have any rights at all. Much of this is down to the long held extreme religious views held in some states of America where women are being disregarded.

Where will it end, will it be that women will have no legal rights at all, lose the right to vote, a right to lead their own lives and be forced to be under the control of men as is the case in some countries in the Middle East, not allow girls to gain education and more.

These far right Christian religious views are in reality not much different to those of religious fanatics of other religions. Will these States be, in effect, no different to those of Iran and Afghanistan.

What will be the next could it be same sex marriage, LGBTQIA, racism and more.

In these States equality gains are being reversed just because of extreme Christian views, when really Christianity should be much more closer related to equality. These extreme Christians quote The bible, but only the texts which agree with their views and ignore any that don’t.

In the 21st century we are very much more enlightened than in the views and opinions in The Bible which it evidences, but the evidence was years dated when it occurred, if it did, to when it was inserted into The Bible. The Bible has been translated many times and some passages were passed down as folklore and is in some ways disproved in other areas of The Bible.

Times change and so do opinions, but not for religious fanatics of any religion.

Source: US state legislators propose death penalty for women who have an abortion | The BMJ

Oklahoma votes down ban of corporal punishment on disabled children – The Washington Post

Arguing against a bill to bar the practice in public schools, Oklahoma Rep. Jim Olsen (R) quoted a Bible verse from Proverbs: “The rod and reproof give wisdom.”

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Whether the Bible does or doesn’t support corporal punishment on disabled children or, in fact any children, is open to question, for it was created very many years ago well before any of the societies of today and has been translated many times.

It is a collection of many texts which include instructions, stories, poetry, and prophecies, among other genres and there is the old and new testiments all of which occurred before the Bible was created even the the intialial old testiment let alone the new testiment.

It is beliefs and opinions of the time they could have occurred and views and opinions have changed through the many passing of years and the knowledge of disabilities has greatly increased.

But Christianity is not the only religion living in views and opinions of yesteryears for this could be put to any religion. Anyone who quotes from any religious book to subvert the Human Rights of others is not understanding any of these changes in Socitey and picks and choses which old practices they wish to abide with and those they don’t.

So, just because it may appear that a religious book states something, which really it may not, only to the person quoting it for their own, maybe, assumed beliefs, does not make it right by any of today’s fought for human rights.

Human rights need to be respected so that civilised living can be maintained.

No one should be forced to conform with any extreme views of others for society is a collection of all our actions, views and opinions and not those of the extreme. For extreme views of anyone will only lead to the abuse of others.

 

Source: Oklahoma votes down ban of corporal punishment on disabled children – The Washington Post

Are Texas’s abortion laws being used for state-sponsored spousal harassment? | Arwa Mahdawi | The Guardian

A Texas man is suing his ex-wife’s friends for helping her get an abortion – whether he wins or not, the lawsuit is sending a terrifying message to women

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Freedoms are hard fought for and when achieved those who wanted them feel they have achieved everything, but as can be seen in America those who oppose freedoms fight just has hard to overthrow those that have been granted.

Women in America are now losing some of their human rights and this is totally wrong. Will they ever get them back, well we all hope so.

A fight is never truly won, only some of the battles.

 

Source: Are Texas’s abortion laws being used for state-sponsored spousal harassment? | Arwa Mahdawi | The Guardian

Woman who lied about being raped and drove three men to suicide attempts is jailed – Mirror Online

WARNING – GRAPHIC IMAGES: Three men who were falsely accused of rape by Eleanor Williams told the court the allegations caused them to attempt to take their own lives – she was jailed today

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Eleanor Williams with her false accusations has not only created major problems for those she falsely accused, but also made it much more difficult for others to bring accusations of sexual incidents.

It has never be easy to start to report such events for numerous reasons and when doing so few ever get to court, let alone being proven.

Now with Eleanor Williams more likely fewer people will report due to them feeling by this case they will not be believed.

Eleanor has caused so much damage and distress not just for now, but for many years to come, so is an eight and a half years sentence sufficient, I say not has she has created a life-time sentence for many, so the eight and a half years needs to be considerably increased.

 

Source: Woman who lied about being raped and drove three men to suicide attempts is jailed – Mirror Online

City Hall Raking In Millions Thanks to ULEZ Expansion – Guido Fawkes

While Sadiq continues spewing hot air with a moral case over the ULEZ expansion – apparently this is all about saving Londoners’ lives – the TaxPayers’

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Clean air zones have been around for some time.

London may have been believed to be the first UK city to raise a congestion charge, but this was, in fact Durham in 2002,  apparently for only one road, while London was for a specific district.

The whole idea was to reduce pollution, but was it for it could lead to more traffic to use roads where there are no charges and so increase pollution in those areas. But what can’t be argued is that it is a means to raise money at the expense for motorists.

Now many more cities have or are about to introduce similar schemes.

But, if it was really a means to reduce emissions then this should have been run in conjunction with other schemes, such as, providing money to encourage people to purchase less polluting vehicle or state when the most polluting vehicle would no longer be manufactured, which has already been put forward being 2030.

But people will still be able to drive diesel and petrol vehicles, if they can obtain the fuels to do so and currently there is no decision on when these fuels will stop being sold. But sooner or later there will be.

So until then the Local Authorities operating Clean air zones will continue to draw in the money from the charges.

 

Source: City Hall Raking In Millions Thanks to ULEZ Expansion – Guido Fawkes

Sheffield tree inquiry: council misled the public and courts in ‘dark episode for Sheffield’ | The Star

Sheffield Council misled the public and courts in what was described as a ‘dark episode’ for the city, according to the damning findings of the street tree inquiry.

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Trust in anything has to be earnt and can take considerable time to achieve, if ever, but this trust can so quickly disappear where actions happening are irrelevant, dishonest, unbelievable and much more. Then trust has to be re-earnt if it is ever possible to do, but large and assumed powerful organisations tend to believe that they can do as they wish and don’t show respect to others.

So, let’s hope this is taken by Sheffield City Council (SCC) as a warning to do better next time, but, in the past, there will have been other occasions of similar actions, so will ‘lessons be learnt’ we all hope so, but will they.

This is not just lessons for SCC but all other authorities and especially governments, for governments are seen to be so much more powerful and they do exert their assumed power on these other authorities which is not generally recognised by the population and the authorities are blamed when it should be the government.

It is not the authorities and government who should be powerful, but the populations, but in many instances the populations are discounted to the point of being irrelevant and that is so wrong.

Just relying on elections is way insufficient and many more ways need to be available for the populations voice to be heard and for it to be so much easier to do.

But, here the ability to bring these actions has been made so much more difficult has they can be expensive and the access to Legal Aid has been, over the years made so much more difficult to receive and the time it takes can, if when possible, is far too long.

We are supposed to live in a democratic country and while the UK is so much more democratic than some countries, there is still a much longer way to go for it to be fully democratic, will it, well only time will tell.

 

Source: Sheffield tree inquiry: council misled the public and courts in ‘dark episode for Sheffield’ | The Star

Systems for challenging adult social care decisions failing, warns rights regulator – Community Care

The system for challenging councils on their adult social care decisions is failing those who need it, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has warned. Inaccessible information, “complicated and stressful processes” and a lack of advocacy were undermining people’s ability to challenge local authority decisions in England and Wales, the rights regulator found, on […]

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Mostly I agree with the points raised and certainly more needs to be done to make the processes more equitable and so much easier to go through. But, in many instances it is down to trust, for a good proportion of the population are scared of very large organisations and certainly those who appear to have great power, which Local Authorities, (LAs) certainly have.

Over the years I have submitted many complaints to my LA, and in the main my complaints have been upheld, but the process can be very long, so is very time consuming and exceedingly stressful.

I was caring for my daughter for going on 40 years and over time became much more knowledgeable about processes and certainly what mine and my daughters Rights were.

I studied the legislations including the Care Act 2014 and I became aware that a significant number of LA staff were not very aware of what was in the Care Act, and also became aware that in some instances the Care Act was being ignored to some extent, either by design or lack of knowledge.

That being said, in one Formal complaint, I became so incensed about the complaints procedure that I added to the complaint , a complaint about the procedure.

Only once have I progressed a complaint to the Ombudsman, but was told I submitted to them too late, even though this was due to the LA taking over a year to forward to me their final response. To have a deadline to submit, to me is totally wrong and does not take into account the stresses encountered by persons with needs and their carers which in many instances can be considerable.

Also, the Ombudsman only takes into account whether the processes were fully followed and not the right or wrongs of any decision, which again needs to be rectified. So does the opportunities to raise a Judicial Review, which over the years has been made much more difficult due to Governments making it more difficult for persons to obtain Legal Aid to fund the process, having to rely on finding a law firm to take on by ‘No Win, No Fee’.

A ‘no win, no fee’ agreement, also known as a conditional fee agreement, is an arrangement between you and your personal injury solicitor. It means that if your compensation claim is unsuccessful, you will not have to pay a contingency fee for your lawyer’s services.
While the Care Quality Commission is being given more powers, it should be given much more including the provision to investigate complaints.

I had the ability to understand, over the years, the process and have the strength and ability to go through the processes. At times having to explain my Right to complain by any media I wished to use, being in writing, by telephone, by email, etc and not as I was informed on occasions only on their complaint form and at times advised I would have to go through a more senior staff member, which again is untrue. So, I have had to talk through some LA staff what the process is.

Over the years I have become so much more involved with my LA, in that they call upon me to help them in various ways, as they wish to avail themselves of my ‘Expert by Experience’ knowledge and over the years have seen some improvements to some degree.

I am now 73 and took early retirement at 62 due to health, but this gave me more opportunities to be involved and I am now a regular contributor to many areas within my LA. But I have over the years become involved with my local Healthwatch, Health Authorities and many over local voluntary and Charity organisations.

I do appreciate that many others will not have the time, the strength and other requirements to do what I have and continue to do, so I do hope by doing what I do I am helping to improve what is there not only for my own family, but for many others too.

Unfortunately, over the last few years I had to deal with the death of my wife in September 2020 and my dear daughter in October 2022 and my involvement in the areas above have in many ways been helping me to deal with these losses and I have received many supporting comments from persons I am in contact with in my LA and other organisations.

To me complaining and then being involved in other ways has been, in most respects, good for me and my family and have been able to become much closer to the processes which are not easy to deal with and to know the people I am dealing with. This will not be possible for most of the population, but I do hope in time more improvements will be made.

The largest of these is funding, which since 2010 for all LAs has been well short of what is required due to Tory austerity cuts and really needs to be reversed. The government said the cuts would be absorbed through saving being made, well in most respects there were not opportunities to make saving, unless cuts to services were made, which there has been to many, if not all services, leading to great deterioration to the lives of many.

This Government and all future governments need to ensure that funding cuts are not the way forward and lead to much more deprivation and many more inequalities.

 

Source: Systems for challenging adult social care decisions failing, warns rights regulator – Community Care