Tag: UK
You're Never Too Young To Be A Racist.
MayorBob.
Posted to Etcetera on Tue Jul 08, 2008 at 01:48:26 AM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.
"Racism is not born in you; it happens after you're born" is the opening lyric of the song "You Have To Be Carefully Taught" from the Broadway musical South Pacific. Point being that there is no such thing as a born racist, just babies born into a world filled with parents, teachers and significant others who shape, mold and impose their racist views on these children as they grow older. But, how does it begin and what can be done to combat it? If you wait too long to counter racist beliefs and values passed on to the very young, do we risk raising the next generation of racists? That seems to be the foundation of a program aimed at adults in charge of nursery schools in the UK. Not only should they be aware of outright racist acts and language, they need to be on the wary for kids who say "yuk" to spicy ethnic food.
(35 comments, 547 words in story) Full Story
The Great Mummy Cover Up
MayorBob.
Posted to Etcetera on Mon May 26, 2008 at 10:48:04 AM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.
A great and prestigious museum is probably not a place you'd figure would get caught up in a controversy involving naked bodies. And, most certainly, you wouldn't figure that millennia-old mummies would be the naked bodies causing the controversy. At the Manchester Museum they're taking propriety seriously. As it happens, one's sensitivity to propriety is another's outrageous act of Monty Pythonesque lunacy. So it goes at Manchester as the public gets a shot at "consulting" with the museum on the most sensitive way of displaying humans who died 2,700 years ago.
(2 comments, 408 words in story) Full Story
Play The Pipes Lowly.
MayorBob.
Posted to Legal on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 06:22:04 AM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.
Easier said than done, according to Ian Hughes, Pipe Major of the RAF Leuchars Pipes and Drum band in Scotland. That's mostly because bagpipes don't have a volume control. But, the European Union (EU) and, by extension, the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) says it makes no matter, because something's got to be done to lower the volume of pipe bands - for the health and safety of band members. This month marks the moment when noise regulations begin taking effect throughout the EU for workers in the music and entertainment industry. If pipe bands don't either figure out a way of lowering the noise or marching with earplugs on, the sound of the pipe bands might be stilled forever.
(19 comments, 429 words in story) Full Story
All Bangers, No Mash? UK Rolls Out Biometric National ID Card
wetkarma.
Posted to Politics on Fri Mar 07, 2008 at 09:10:31 PM EST (promoted by 1fastdog). RSS.
The plans have been announced, the decision made. First they'll single out the Jews, foreigners, academics, and those who want party jobs. And after all of this, what will you do when they come for you?
(8 comments, 260 words in story) Full Story
Mum's The Word On Mum And Dad In British Classrooms
MayorBob.
Posted to Etcetera on Fri Feb 01, 2008 at 09:07:32 AM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.
Anti-gay bullying has been more than a bit of a problem in British schools.
(16 comments, 506 words in story) Full Story
Help Wanted -- Job With British Government. White Brits Need Not Apply.
MayorBob.
Posted to Etcetera on Fri Aug 10, 2007 at 07:29:43 AM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.
18-year-old Abigail Howarth of Bedfordshire in England thought she was a natural for a training position with the Environment Agency. Abigail, who is waiting results in her A-Levels in environmental science, geography, and geology, submitted her application for a position which would pay her a (UK) £13,000-a-year tax-free grant. Imagine her surprise at being turned down. Imagine her shock at the reason for the turndown -- she's a white Briton and the Environment Agency isn't having any of that.
(2 comments, 395 words in story) Full Story
Helping Children By Injuring Two Families
MayorBob.
Posted to Legal on Fri Jun 29, 2007 at 07:26:22 AM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.
Child support maintenance is a monthly stipend, usually ordered by a court, which a non-custodial parent must pay to a custodial parent. In the United Kingdom the Child Support Agency (CSA) determines the monthly amount and administers the transfer of money from non-custodial to custodial parents. Just as in the US, if you get behind in your child support, you can end up going to jail. This Michael Cox from Hythe in Hampshire found out as he was sentenced to serve out a 42 day jail sentence because he owes a bunch in back child support. But, Michael Cox isn't just another deadbeat dad; he's also a campaigner for reformation of child support laws and, according to his fellow advocates, being punished as much for his political beliefs as he is for the arrearage in child support.
(5 comments, 539 words in story) Full Story
All Drugs Are Dangerous, Even The Ones People Know And Love And Use Every Day
shane.
Posted to Politics on Mon Mar 26, 2007 at 09:15:47 PM EST (promoted by 1fastdog). RSS.
A study that was recently released in the UK under the direction of David Nutt, has called for a new framework for classifying drugs - a framework that classifies drugs based on "their actual risks to society" which would include adding alcohol and tobacco to the list of drugs needing regulated.
According to existing British drug policy, alcohol and tobacco are legal, while cannabis and ecstasy are illegal. "The current drug system is ill thought- out and arbitrary," said Nutt, referring to the practice of assigning drugs to three divisions, ostensibly based on the drugs' potential for harm.
Tobacco causes 40 percent of all hospital illnesses, while alcohol is blamed for more than half of all visits to hospital emergency rooms. The substances also harm society in other ways, damaging families and occupying police services.
(8 comments, 234 words in story) Full Story
Should Raising An Obese Child Be A Crime?
MayorBob.
Posted to Etcetera on Tue Jan 30, 2007 at 08:54:43 AM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.
The answer to that question is a resounding yes for some social workers and doctors in the United Kingdom. There has been an increasing trend in the UK to treat obese children in the same fashion as children reported to be at risk from physical or sexual abuse. Beyond merely insuring that parents have to work together with national health authorities to deal with cases of obese children, there are some who believe allowing a child to become obese should bring criminal charges.
(17 comments, 530 words in story) Full Story
Brits: As The USA Stands Up, We Will Stand Down
pO157.
Posted to Politics on Sun Jan 14, 2007 at 05:02:39 PM EST (promoted by 1fastdog). RSS.
As the public in the United States of America debates the latest plan by President Bush to add over 20,000 troops to the current amount in Iraq, America's closest ally will soon do the opposite.
(1 comment, 181 words in story) Full Story
"Mercy Killing" of Severely Disabled Newborns Debated in Britain
profwhat.
Posted to SciTech on Thu Nov 09, 2006 at 09:41:08 AM EST (promoted by Acefantastik). RSS.
According to Britain's Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecology, "a very disabled child can mean a disabled family." That's why the College has invited a debate into the mercy killing of newborn disabled babies.
(19 comments, 198 words in story) Full Story
A lower ambition for Iraq?
Acefantastik.
Posted to Politics on Sun Oct 15, 2006 at 07:33:00 AM EST. RSS.
"The original intention was that we put in place a liberal democracy that was an exemplar for the region, was pro West and might have a beneficial effect on the balance within the Middle East. That was the hope, whether that was a sensible or naïve hope history will judge. I don't think we are going to do that. I think we should aim for a lower ambition." ---General Sir Richard Dannatt, Chief of of the General Staff, UK Army.
(16 comments, 366 words in story) Full Story
