Sunday, July 08, 2012



'Lactivist' flashmob take over British cafe in protest against waitress who abused breastfeeding mother

More than 200 breastfeeding mothers descended on a cafe in support of one of their own who claimed she was verbally abused by a waitress for suckling her baby in public.  Kelly Schaecher, 28, claims she was told by a member of staff: 'Don’t you ever come back to my cafe with your t*** out again!'

When word spread about her ordeal, a Facebook page set up by mothers calling themselves 'lactivists' and 'mother suckers' called on like-minded women to take a stand by deliberately breastfeeding there.

Cheered on by schoolchildren and monitored by policewomen on horseback, the group marched to the cafe to have it out with the owner.  Kelly said: 'What we did was a peaceful gathering, not a protest and we had a really good reaction from the police and the public.

'A group of school children started clapping us and there were six policewomen on horseback to make sure no one drifted in the road.'

Kelly had popped out for lunch at the Park Street Cafe in Bristol, where she claims she was told by the waitress that if she wanted to feed her baby she would have to sit in the corner.

On leaving, Kelly, from Clifton, Bristol, told two customers about the cafe's breastfeeding policy who promptly turned around and left.  Kelly claimed she then walked a few minutes down the road when she was pursued in a car by a waitress at the cafe who screamed: 'Don’t you ever come back to my cafe with your t*** out again!'

Kelly, who works in procurement at the University of Bristol, said: 'When this happened, I was absolutely terrified and really shocked. I was only breastfeeding, and Bristol is a really family-friendly city.  'You see girls in nightclubs barely wearing any clothes all the time, so why would someone have a problem with me feeding my child?

'I turned around and said to her “You don’t know what’s coming" even though at this stage I had no idea we were going to assemble in the cafe.'

Although Kelly was distressed by what had happened, she decided not to pursue anything.  Kelly had never met the person who started up the Facebook page, but word spread about her ordeal very quickly.

She said: 'The cafe's owner was really apologetic and gave everyone a free tea or coffee and a free cake.  'He can't help it if one of his staff was rude to me and he has now put up a sign saying "Breastfeeing is allowed in here".'

Davide Pontini, 35, general manager of the Park Street Cafe, said: 'We want to make it clear that we welcome all mothers and we have women breastfeeding in here on a daily basis.

'It's not company policy for us to make women breastfeed in the corner. This was simply an isolated incident due to a misunderstanding.'

SOURCE




The United Kingdom Is Doomed by a Perniciously Wimpy Form of Political Correctness

Normally, I get pessimistic about the future when I think about wasteful spending programs that will drive almost all developed nations into bankruptcy. And America is on that list, by the way, because of our poorly designed entitlement programs.

But sometimes my despair is the result of idiotic political correctness and bone-headed bureaucracy. And for some reason, as shown by these examples, the United Kingdom seems to have a disproportionate share of morons who want to impose bad policy on their fellow citizens.

* A job-placement center got in trouble for discriminating against incompetent people by seeking “reliable” and “hard-working” candidates.

* A women who was being threatened by thugs got in trouble with the police for brandishing a knife in her own home.

* A proposal to prevent children from watching Olympic shooting events.

* A man got arrested for finding a gun in his yard and turning it over to the police.

* The government wanted to require “competency tests” for pet owners.

* An ID requirement to buy teaspoons.

* The most useless sign in the history of the world.

* A proposal to ban skinny models.

But I don’t know if any of those horror stories can match this baffling story reported in the Telegraph.
When the chief starter at the London Olympics agreed to fire his pistol to start the races at a school sports day, parents thought it was a wonderful treat for their children. But they did not count on the intervention of health and safety officials from their local council, who ruled that the noise from Alan Bell’s starting pistol would be too frightening for the youngsters. Bizarrely, the local authority instead suggested playing a recording of a starting pistol on an iPod before agreeing to let Mr Bell start the races by sounding a klaxon.

…One parent, who did not wish to be named, told a Sunday newspaper: “It was ridiculous. We were told that the children would be distressed by Mr Bell firing his starting pistol. “Anyone who believes they would be frightened by a starting pistol has never experienced the noise at a typical three-year-old’s birthday party.

 …Norman Gardiner, president of the Pitreavie Amateur Athletics Club in Dunfermline, said the decision was “health and safety gone mad.”

It’s amazing to think that the United Kingdom once ruled half the world, but now produces pencil-neck bureaucrats who think starting pistols are a menace to society.

But we Americans shouldn’t feel superior. We’re traveling down the same path.

* A Rhode Island boy got in trouble for bringing toy soldiers to school.

* A student in San Diego got in trouble for making a motion detector for a science project, simply because someone decided it resembled a bomb.

* The military was criticized for giving Osama bin Laden an Indian code name (Geronimo) as part of the operation to exterminate the al Qaeda dirtbag.

* A Florida student was expelled for having a toy gun on school property.

And how can we omit the politicians in San Francisco, who decided that banning happy meal toys was an appropriate use of government coercion.

We also have regulations in Maryland governing the application of sunscreen at summer camps.

And proposals in Seattle to require life vests on swimmers who are more than five feet from shore.

My initial instinct is that we should fire the over-paid bureaucrats who generate this kind of nonsense. I admit that such as step might only address the symptom of a politically correct world, but it would be a good start.

SOURCE (See the original for links)





Judges support the criminals in NYC

Even sentences to probation are being overturned

For the second time in a week,a Manhattan appeals court has overturned the conviction of a teen found packing heat in a crime-ridden neighborhood after a stop-and-frisk.

In yesterday’s stunning decision, the five judge panel reversed the conviction of a14-year-old boy with a rap sheet whom cops found carrying a loaded handgun.

Both decisions are seen as a slap in the face to the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk program aimed at getting guns off the streets.

“They are basically saying officers need to wait for someone to stick a gun in their face before looking for a weapon, even when they have clear and legitimate suspicion,” fumed Mayor Bloomberg’s spokesman, Marc Lavorgna.  “They are establishing a precedent that is going to keep more guns on the street and get people killed.”

In the latest case, Jaquan Morant, then 14, was busted on June 11, 2010, outside the drug-plagued Manhattanville Houses in West Harlem with a 9mm pistol loaded with 11 rounds, according to court records.  Sources said the gun’s serial number had been scratched off.

Officer Mourad Arslanbeck said he saw Morant looking up and down the street, and making a quick phone call before he knelt down, removed a white object from his waistband, and slipped it into his backpack.

When the cop approached Morant, the Bronx boy asked, “What do you want from me? I’m only 14,” and claimed to be on his way to an address written on his arm — known to be “a high-crime, drug-prone location,” court records show.

The “fidgety” teen denied anything was in the backpack, even though it felt very heavy to the cop.

Morant gave the cop permission to search his backpack for his school ID. There, Arslanbeck found the loaded gun.

Morant was sentenced to 15 months’ probation, but appealed.  In a 3-2 ruling, the judges said Arslanbeck lacked both the reasonable suspicion needed to justify patting down Morant and the probable cause needed to search the backpack.

The teen’s mom, Kimberly Morant, last night told The Post she wasn’t aware of the court’s decision but said, “I’m glad [the conviction] was tossed out.”

Of her son’s gun bust, the Bronx mom said, “I’m still trying to forget about it.  “I don’t know where he got it from.’’

Asked if Jaquan — whom law-enforcement sources said has two prior busts, for robbery and grand larceny — was a good child, she replied, “He’s an all right kid.’’

In the earlier reversal, the judges overturned the conviction and probation sentence of Darryl Craig, also 14, who was found toting a loaded .25-caliber pistol. Three months after Craig was busted, he allegedly shot and nearly killed a Queens man.

Michael Cardozo, head of the city’s Law Department, said he will appeal the rulings in both cases.

SOURCE





Publicity forces a backdown after Florida lifeguard fired for saving drowning man

This is the sort of bureaucratic nonsense you expect in England -- and publicity as the only remedy is also the same

A lifeguard in Hallandale Beach, Fla., canned for helping to save a drowning man can return to work, his former boss says.
Tomas Lopez, 21, was fired for leaving the section of the public beach he was paid to patrol -- and in doing so, leaving the swimmers he was responsible for unattended -- a supervisor for the employer, Jeff Ellis Management, told Orlando's Sun Sentinel earlier this week.

On Thursday afternoon, however, the company recanted the controversial decision that's made international headlines.

"I am of the opinion that the supervisors acted hastily. It was not the appropriate course of action to take," owner Jeff Ellis told the Sentinel.

Ellis said an investigation determined the area where Lopez was stationed wasn't unattended when he left the scene to help the swimmer.

Lopez said he was at his post Monday afternoon when someone ran to him for help. He spotted a man struggling in the water in an unprotected swimming area and ran to assist. He was fired a short time later.

"It was a long run, but someone needed my help. I wasn't going to say no," Lopez told the newspaper.  The man is being treated in hospital.  At least two other lifeguards have quit in protest

SOURCE





Australia: No God or Queen for Girl Guides

TONY Abbott [Federal conservative  leader] has hinted that he wasn't in favour of the Girl Guides cutting ties with the Queen and God.



The Opposition leader said his daughters and wife were all involved in Girl Guides, which he considers to be a fine organisation.

“Speaking for myself, I don't mind pledging to both God and the Queen. They are OK by me. I don't want to drop either of them,” Mr Abbott told the Nine Network today.

Debate on the issue was a hot topic on radio and TV this morning.

Promising to serve God and the Queen and pledging obedience as they have for more than half a century, has been ruled old-fashioned and out of step with modern Australian life by junior and senior Guides.

Australia's 28,000 Guides will instead vow to serve their community and country, and "live with courage and strength".

The change to the Guiding Promise and Guide Law begins in units across the country from today.

Girl Guides spokeswoman Belinda Allen said it was up to members to decide if Queen Elizabeth's photograph was removed from Guide Halls.

"They may decide they still like to have pictures of the Queen around but . . . we have to move on," Mrs Allen said.

About a million Australian women have been part of the Guiding Movement since it began in 1910.

The review of the wording has been under way for two years and involved a survey of all members. "(The Queen) is not part of the Australian Citizenship pledge and being responsible to one's community is one of the essences of Guiding," Mrs Allen said.

The Australian Scouting movement made pledging its duty to the Queen optional in 2001 but retained God in its Promise.

Twelve-year-old Girl Guide Rebecca said not all Guides followed the same religion.  "I think it's pretty cool, most people have different religions or views and this takes it into account," Rebecca said.

Guiding has already tried to modernise. Brownies and Rangers have been cut and uniforms swapped for informal clothes.

But the famous three-fingered salute devised by Robert Baden-Powell remains.

The Queen has a long-standing relationship with the organisation. Her wedding cake was made from ingredients supplied by Australian Girl Guides.

SOURCE

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Political correctness is most pervasive in universities and colleges but I rarely report the  incidents concerned here as I have a separate blog for educational matters.

American "liberals" often deny being Leftists and say that they are very different from the Communist rulers of  other countries.  The only real difference, however, is how much power they have.  In America, their power is limited by democracy.  To see what they WOULD be like with more power, look at where they ARE already  very powerful: in America's educational system -- particularly in the universities and colleges.  They show there the same respect for free-speech and political diversity that Stalin did:  None.  So look to the colleges to see  what the whole country would be like if "liberals" had their way.  It would be a dictatorship.

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, GREENIE WATCH,   EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, GUN WATCHAUSTRALIAN POLITICSDISSECTING LEFTISM, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL  and EYE ON BRITAIN (Note that EYE ON BRITAIN has regular posts on the reality of socialized medicine).   My Home Pages are here or   here or   here.  Email me (John Ray) here.  For readers in China or for times when blogger.com is playing up, there is a mirror of this site  here.

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