Category — England

(Continuing my regular interest in the silly place called England.)

Word “School” is out for new 4.7M (sterling) Sheffield Primary

The word “school”, you see, has “negative connotations”…probably because  English “schools” are staffed by idiots, or the word is too hard to spell. 

Or maybe when you’re marooned on an island in the path of a lethal typhoon, you tinker with your coconut shell and monkeypod place settings in order to distract yourself from your realities.

The word “school” is derived from the Greek word “skhole” or “skole”, which is roughly defined as “leisure” or the things done in leisure time.  More specifically, it applied to the place where serious intellectual exchanges occur between students and teachers.

We can rule out the second usage for anything that might happen at Sheffield Primary.  Instead:

There are no whistles or bells, or locked doors.  We wanted to de-institutionalize the place and bring the school closer to real life.

Someone has stolen the bells and whistles, and the locked doors wouldn’t stop a yob with the physique of Hugh Grant.  For “real life” in Britain, Google “Britain’s crime rate”.

One-year-old racists are the scourge of civilization.

Claim: Kids who say ‘yuck’ may be racist

Toddlers who say “yuck” when given flavorful foreign food may be exhibiting racist behavior, a British government-sponsored organization says.

The London-based National Children’s Bureau released a 366-page guide counseling adults on recognizing racist behavior in young children, The Telegraph reported Monday.

[snip]

The bureau says to be aware of children who “react negatively to a culinary tradition other than their own by saying ‘yuck’.”

[snip]

Staff members are advised not to ignore racist actions and to condemn them when they occur.

Kind of hard to respond to this level of moronic thought, isn’t it. The planet is in more danger from the oxygen use by this bunch than any global threat.

Why, this even takes place on an island.

MPs back creation of human-animal embryos

British scientists will be allowed to research devastating diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s using human-animal embryos, after the House of Commons tonight rejected a ban.

MPS WARNED OVER HYBRID EMBRYOS

Gordon Brown and David Cameron have both firmly backed the ground-breaking technique as a means to develop treatments for common conditions that could potentially save millions of lives.

The Prime Minister and Tory leader also support the creation of “saviour siblings” selected by parents in order to provide tissue material for seriously ill children.

When this chicken comes home to roost, it will weigh more than 3 lb. and have a serious case of the upsets.

The Prince of Wales has warned that the world faces a series of natural disasters within 18 months unless urgent action is taken to save the rainforests.

In one of his most out-spoken interventions in the climate change debate, he said a £15 billion annual programme was required to halt deforestation or the world would have to live with the dire consequences.

“We will end up seeing more drought and starvation on a grand scale. Weather patterns will become even more terrifying and there will be less and less rainfall,” he said.

“We are asking for something pretty dreadful unless we really understand the issues now and [the] urgency of them.” The Prince said the rainforests, which provide the “air conditioning system for the entire planet”, releasing water vapour and absorbing carbon, were being lost to poor farmers desperate to make a living.

Getting rid of these pesky trees is job one; where else can we plant enough corn for more ethanol. Preventing these peasants from wasting this space growing corn for food needs to be relegated to the UN. £15 billion is sufficient to keep the unwashed in line.

I’ll bet “Ole Bonnie” Prince Charlie paused between chukkers to spout this drivel.

This should prove acutely interesting. The naval power once floated by the Brits faces reduction to a coastal defense force. The coast they may have to defend is a bit distant.
Even the mighty Lion suffers reduction to penury by many jackals.

Argentine president lays ‘inalienable’ claim to Falklands

BUENOS AIRES (AFP) - Argentina’s claim to the Falkland Islands, which remain in British hands after the 1982 war between the two countries, is “inalienable,” President Cristina Kirchner said Wednesday. [snip]

The April 2, 1982 invasion prompted then British prime minister Margaret Thatcher to deploy naval forces to retake the Falklands, known as the Malvinas in Spanish. [snip]

In her speech Kirchner called for Argentina to strengthen its representation in international bodies to denounce “this shameful colonial enclave in the 21st century.”

And Vice President Julio Cobos said in the southern city of Rio Grande that “we must recover this territory that is ours, that belongs to us.”

The comments came as Kirchner faces her own woes, battling against farmers who have barricaded roads in a protest against a stiff tax hike on soybean exports.

The Archbishop of Canterbury suggested that British adoption of Sharia law was “unavoidable”.  His comments caused quite a stir with some calling for his resignation.  However, it was more observation than suggestion.  British courts are already considering whether they should “surrender” to Sharia or not:

Last week, as Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, declared it was ‘inevitable’ that certain parts of Islamic law would be introduced into Britain, the Court of Appeal was told how a 26-year-old British Muslim with learning difficulties was married over the telephone to a woman in Bangladesh. It was arranged by the man’s father and deemed lawful under sharia law. 

How can arranged marriages be acceptable under any circumstances in a Western society?  It cuts against our most basic notions of freedom.  And where are the outraged liberals?  Perhaps they think “arranged” is just another quaint modifier like “gay” for marriage.

Wake up, England!  The Archbishop did you a huge favor by calling your attention to a battle you’re already losing.