Lauren Cooper (Janis Revell)
This morning it crossed my mind to Google the name of Janis Revell, a young lady who was deafblind who died an agonising death in a British hospital in 1999. As a teenager she...
Author: Matthew Smith
About that Gillette ad …
So, yesterday the razor manufacturer Gillette published an advertisement contrasting examples of harmful expressions of masculinity, such as fighting and sexual harassment, accompanied by fatalistic or enabling attitudes such as “boys will be boys”...
Review: Garmin Dezl 580
Last year I bought, and then returned, Garmin’s latest ‘flagship’ truck sat-nav, the Dezl 780. The reason I returned it was that a major feature which I used on a daily basis, the ability...
Remainers, the “elite” and Corbyn
I’m a remainer. So why do I feel more and more sympathy for leave voters? by Joseph Harker (the Guardian) This piece, published today on the Guardian’s website (probably for the Observer tomorrow), reiterates...
Foreigners, foreigners and more foreigners
One of my biggest complaints about Remainers is that, when discussing the issue of the end of free movement between Britain and the EU, instead of emphasising the benefits to Britain and British people...
Let’s not be intimidated by Brexiteer thugs
Yesterday we saw a group of thugs in yellow vests, clearly acting in imitation of the fuel protesters in France, intimidate the political writer Owen Jones, the journalist Dawn Foster (who wrote about the...
Do we need “a debate on mental health”?
This is a claim I have seen being made in the media on a fairly regular basis. Usually it’s about general mental health issues, and often includes a strong element of blame towards those...
No injustice
In 2011 Sally Challen was jailed for life for murdering her husband, Richard Challen, at his home (and formerly their marital home) in Claygate, Surrey (which is down the road from where I live)....
Where in Europe is the best place to be Muslim?
Recently a graphic has been doing the rounds on Muslim Twitter: a map compiled by the Pew Research Foundation, showing the results of a poll conducted throughout Europe asking people various questions about their...
What is, and what isn’t, a pyramid scheme?
So, the other day I responded to a tweet by the author of Existential Comics which read: A pyramid scheme is a scam where the people at the top get the money from the...
London is not above the UK’s problems
So, last night London had it’s traditional New Year’s Eve fireworks at the South Bank and it featured the London Eye lit up in a way that vaguely resembled the European Flag (which actually...
Kate Osamor and her council house
Recently the Labour MP for Edmonton, Kate Osamor, has come under criticism for still occupying a council property despite having a job that pays her a £77,000 annual salary. This is the same MP...
Muslims and Midnight Mass (and Donald Trump and Santa)
I’ve done two previous blog entries (at least) here about Muslims and Christmas — specifically, about Muslims participating in Christmas, being encouraged to do so (often by other Muslims) in the name of ‘integration’...
Yes, Brexit does have to come first
The past few weeks, I have noticed that there are two bitterly opposed camps when it comes to the importance of Brexit or other issues, particularly as regards the Labour party. One side seeks...
On physical abuse at a top Muslim school
Last week someone posted several accounts on Facebook of physical abuse he suffered at a well-known Islamic school in northern England. This was one of a group of schools that trains boys to be...
Stupid woman: sexist? Ableist?
Earlier this week Jeremy Corbyn was widely criticised in the media and on social media for supposedly mouthing “stupid woman” at Theresa May, the prime minister, during a parliamentary debate. Corbyn claims he actually...
What’s Alice Walker doing reading David Icke?
Yesterday there was much indignation on Twitter and elsewhere that the New York Times had published an interview with the novelist and poet Alice Walker which contained a recommendation of a book by David...
Some notes on recent ATU publicity
Last week two separate stories about people with learning disabilities were in the news. One was that a woman had died following the extraction of all her teeth at a hospital in Worcester which...
Time to ban the “smart motorway” death traps
An all-party group of MPs has said that the roll-out of so-called smart motorways, in particular the “all lane running” (ALR) arrangement in which the hard shoulder is permanently converted into a driving lane...
Should this racist thug be behind bars?
A 29-year-old man who attacked a young boy because he thought he had bumped into his child’s buggy while running for a bus received a suspended sentence (twelve months, suspended for two years) at...