“Royal housing benefit” story is irresponsible
The Queen and Prince Charles cash in on tens of thousands of pounds' worth of benefits every year – Mirror Online The Daily Mirror yesterday ran with a story about how the royal estates,...
Indigo Jo Blogs Blog
“Let it not be about lessons learned”
Today the report into the death (PDF) of Connor Sparrowhawk, an 18-year-old who drowned in an NHS learning disability unit in Oxford last July (see earlier entry), was published. That it was published was...
“Awaiting final written permission” (updated)
Update 5:43pm: The report is out. My response is scheduled for publication at 6:30pm GMT. Southern Health: report publication update Southern Health, the NHS trust responsible for the death of Connor Sparrowhawk in one...
A plug for QTM
You probably know by now that (like most blogs) this blog uses WordPress. What's less obvious is the software I normally use to write entries, and that's because I write it myself and rarely...
Rise in teens admitted to adult psych wards
It was reported today that there has been a rise in the number of teenagers under 18 admitted to adult psychiatric wards, and that these were sometimes hundreds of miles from home and often...
CyModding your LG G-Pad
So, last week I got my replacement for my iPad, which I was dissatisfied with because of the completely inadequate Apple keypad (see earlier entry). I looked for a similar size Android tablet, because...
The hidden costs of private schooling
I’ve just had my second letter in about a month published in the New Statesman, a British left-of-centre political magazine, this time on the subject of private education, which they ran an extensive feature...
The dangers of racism in the anti-FGM crusade
The Thursday before last was apparently “Zero Tolerance of FGM day”, accompanied by widespread media coverage of various campaigns against it, a petition which apparently gained two signatures per second, interviews with anti-FGM campaigners...
Bye-byePad
Well, I’m sending my iPad back to the vendor today. Amazon’s policy is that an item is returnable for about a month, and I’ve had mine a week and a half (although I made...
iPad: First impressions
The other day I took delivery of my new tablet computer, an iPad mini with a Retina display, which cost £290 plus delivery charges on Amazon. It’s a wi-fi only model; I can’t afford...
Is an iPhone really more useful than the early 90s’ gadgets?
I saw this linked on Facebook yesterday; it’s centred around a 1991 American Radio Shack advert in which a Tandy computer is offered for sale at a then reduced price of $1,599 (about £975...
No, it’s not just a sharp scratch
This morning I went for my latest blood test, which I have to have roughly every six months or a year — I can't even remember as I have so many of them —...
Wanted: decent Android Twitter app
I've used Android since 2009, and I'm currently on my fourth phone and first tablet. I've used Twitter since about the same time, maybe a little bit more. Having a smartphone pretty much makes...
World Hijab Day: DoA
Earlier this week, there was a so-called Day of Acceptance (of Disability), organised by a company called 3E Love, which markets a variety of merchandise, like T-shirts, stickers etc, bearing their logo of a...
Claire Dyer update
Regarding the ongoing case of Claire Dyer, the 19-year-old autistic woman from Swansea who is being threatened with a transfer to a secure hospital in Northampton, which neither she nor her family wants: a...
Lethal psycho-babble
I've been unable to get the ongoing case of Claire Dyer (right), currently being threatened with forced transfer to a secure hospital unit 185 miles from home under a wholly inappropriate section of the...
Why “state school fees” are a bad idea
BBC News – State school fees call for parents earning over £80,000 Dr Anthony Seldon, the principal of Wellington College, a well-known independent co-ed day and boarding school in Berkshire, has suggested in a...
“The Lost Girls”: why it’s a load of old rubbish
The lost girls: Illegal abortion widely used by some UK ethnic groups to avoid daughters 'has reduced female population by between 1,500 and 4,700' – Science – News – The Independent I saw this...
‘Wahhabis’ are not the only fanatics in Pakistan
The saints go marching out as the face of Islam hardens in Pakistan | World news | theguardian.com This article is about how traditional, supposedly gentler and mystical, forms of Islam are being edged...
Claire Dyer belongs with her family
Update 23rd January: the tribunal has been adjourned with no decision made; this is because more evidence is needed from the health board. Claire therefore remains under section and the threat of transfer to...