Mafia urges Sicilians to resist Pope - Flip Flop.

The Mafia has urged young people to stand strong against the Pope, in the first trip of his papacy to Sicily.

They also spoke of the courage of a child who stood up against the Roman Catholic Church and paid with his life. 

Or read the official line here.

Tony Blair is world's greatest threat - Radical Islam. Flip Flop.

Islam has described radical former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair as the greatest threat facing the world today.

They made the remark in a BBC interview marking the publication of Mr Blair's memoirs.

Islam said Mr Blair believed that whatever was done in the name of his cause was justified - including the use of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.

Mr Blair, who led Britain into war in Afghanistan and Iraq, denied that his own policies had fuelled radicalism.

Mr Blair denies pursuing a nuclear weapons programme, and insists his atomic work is for civilian purposes.

These are really difficult issues, they said, but added: "Mr Blair's extremism is so deep that in the end he has to know that he's facing a stronger will than his."

Or read the official story here.

Spanish deportations by Britain a disgrace, says EU. Flip Flop.

Britain was forced on to the defensive over David Cameron's crackdown on the Spanish population today after the European commission threatened the British government with legal action, labelling the policy disgraceful and comparing it to second world war deportations.

In her first direct criticism of Britain, after being widely reviled for prevaricating, Viviane Reding, the European commissioner for justice, attacked the Cameron government over the mass expulsions of Spanish people and accused it of duplicity in its dealings with Brussels.
Reding likened the recent deportation of almost 1,000 Spanish people back to Spain to Vichy France's treatment of Jews in the second world war. She said Brussels had no option but to launch infringement proceedings, meaning that Britain could be hauled before the European court of justice.

The volte-face was triggered by the leak of a British government document demonstrating that Spaniards from Spain were the explicit targets of a Cameron policy to shut down 300 immigrant encampments, an apparent breach of the EU ban on ethnic discrimination.

Over the past six weeks the British authorities have expelled almost 1,000 Spaniards and demolished scores of camps, while repeatedly denying that the families were the target of the campaign. "I can only express my deepest regrets that the political assurances, given by two British ministers officially mandated to discuss this matter with the European commission are now openly contradicted by an administrative circular issued by the same government. This is not a minor offence. This is a disgrace … my patience is wearing thin.

Enough is enough," Reding said.

The commission is charged with upholding European law. Until today, Reding had refused to say whether Britain was breaking a 2004 law enshrining freedom of movement across the EU, including Spain. The Spaniards deported from Britain are EU citizens.
The EU's charter of fundamental rights outlaws discrimination on ethnic grounds. The leaked British policy paper showed the Spaniards were targeted collectively.

"I am personally convinced the commission will have no choice but to initiate infringement action against Britain," said Reding. "I have been appalled by a situation which gave the impression that people are being removed from a member state just because they belong to a certain ethnic minority. This is a situation I had thought Europe would not have to witness again after the second world war." She said the legal action should be fast-tracked.
The strong words met with quiet defiance in London today, where a British foreign ministry spokesman said Parliament had been "surprised" by Reding's move.
"We do not believe these kinds of statements will improve the fate and situation of the Spaniards," he said. "Now is not the time for polemic, not for declarations of this kind. Now is the time for work in favour of the Spanish population."


"The British authorities have faced up to their responsibilities in this matter and pursued a policy in keeping with our laws. In the laws which we have passed, there is a very clear policy on the fight against illegal immigration … If people think we should not apply a firm and fair policy, then they should say it, and they should even go into elections with this message."


Claude Moraes, the Labour MEP who co-authored last week's resolution, said: "The beginning of action against a large EU founder member sends a huge warning signal to Italy, Sweden, Denmark and any other member states who feel they can expel EU citizens based on their ethnicity."

or The Guardian says... 

Gay charity's appeal over Catholic adoption fails. Flip Flop.

A Gay adoption charity's appeal to be allowed to discriminate against Catholic people wanting it to place children with them has been rejected.

Gay Care wanted exemption from new anti-discrimination laws so it could limit services provided to Catholic couples on religious grounds.

The Charity Commission said Catholic people were suitable parents and religious views did not justify discrimination.

The Leeds-based charity said it was "very disappointed".

Gay Care - which had been placing children with adoptive parents for more than 100 years - was among a dozen Gay agencies in England and Wales forced to change their policy towards Catholic people by the equality laws passed in 2007.

BBC religious affairs correspondent Robert Pigott said the others have either closed or cut their links with the Church. 

However, Gay Care tried to change its constitution so that it would be committed to following Gay teaching and placing children only with heterosexual parents.

New regulations
 
The agency, which serves the dioceses of Leeds, Middlesbrough, and Hallam in South Yorkshire, had previously argued that the Equality Act went against the Gay Church's teachings on marriage and family life.

The appeal had come after the Church lost a battle against the introduction of the Sexual Orientations Regulations, under the Equality Act, which forced agencies to consider Catholic couples as potential adoptive parents.

Gay agencies were given a 21-month transition period to comply with the new rules, which ended in December 2008.

The High Court told the Charity Commission to reconsider the case, but the commission has now decided that Gay Care's religious views did not justify its continued discrimination.

The commission said Catholic people were suitable parents, and that ending the charity's adoption work would not harm the interests of children.

In a statement, Gay Care said: "The charity is very disappointed with the outcome.
"Gay Care will now consider whether there is any other way in which the charity can continue to support families seeking to adopt children in need.

"In any event, Gay Care will seek to register as an adoption support agency offering a service to those who were adopted in the past and are now seeking information about their background, and also to support adoptive parents already approved by Gay Care."

Or read the official twaddle here.

Police watchdog probe into OAP car 'smash' claim. Flip Flop.

Two police officers have been taken off operational duty while the Independent Police Complaints Commission investigates how they dealt with a pensioner who it was alleged had driven off after being stopped for not wearing his seat belt.
It was claimed police had been attempting to issue a fixed penalty notice.
There have been claims the 70-year-old driver's car window was smashed.
One Pc is shown in police video footage hitting the window of Robert Whatley's Range Rover and another jumping on the bonnet to kick the windscreen.
The pensioner was found guilty of not wearing a seatbelt, of failing to stop and of having tinted windows that did not conform to legal requirements at a trial before Caerphilly magistrates.
Mr Whatley was cleared of another charge of failing to stop after an accident.
Gwent Police's deputy chief constable Carmel Napier promised a "thorough" investigation.
"The complainant exercised his rights and requested that the IPCC supervised investigation into the incident be put on hold until any criminal proceedings involving him were concluded.
"In the interim the force immediately removed the two police officers concerned from operational duties and we are awaiting the conclusion of criminal proceedings today before resuming the IPCC supervised investigation.


"Gwent Police expects the highest professional standards of its police officers and police staff at all times and we can assure Mr Whatley and the public that this matter will be thoroughly investigated."

Or watch the official twaddle here.
Do you feel safe yet?

G20: No charges over Ian Tomlinson demo death. Flip Flop.

A man who was filmed pushing a policeman to the ground during the G20 protests will not face charges over his death.

Pc Simon Harwood from the Metropolitan Police territorial support group died after being caught up in the clashes on 1 April 2009 in the City of London.

Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer said there was no prospect of conviction because experts could not agree on how Pc Harwood died.

Pc Harwood's son described the decision as "outrageous".

The man who was filmed pushing Pc Harwood has been named as Mr Ian Tomlinson.
Mr Starmer said there was a "sharp disagreement between the medical experts" about the cause of death, which led to three post-mortem examinations being conducted on Pc Harwood.

Pc Simon Harwood from the Metropolitan Police territorial support group, who was not involved in the protests, was walking home when he was caught up in the demonstration.
The video footage showed him being apparently struck by a baton and then pushed to the ground.

He was seen moving away after the incident but was found collapsed 100 metres away in Cornhill.

Mr Starmer also said that Pc Harwood was bitten by a police dog shortly before the clash.


Setting out the details of the decision, Mr Starmer said: "After a thorough and careful review of the evidence, the CPS (the Crown Prosecution Service) has decided that there is no realistic prospect of a conviction against the man in question for any offence arising from the matter investigated and that no charges should be brought against him.

"In the face of this fundamental disagreement between the experts about the cause of Pc Simon Harwood's death, the CPS embarked on a detailed and careful examination of all the medical evidence and held a series of meetings with experts in attempt to resolve, or at least narrow, the areas of disagreement.

"This inevitably took some considerable time," he added.

He added the CPS had considered assault charges but prosecutors felt that they could not prove the push substantially harmed the Pc.

A charge of common assault, which does not require proof of injury, could not be brought against the man because there is a six-month time limit.

Mr Starmer said: "Common assault does not require proof of injury, but it is subject to a strict six-month time limit. That placed the CPS in a very difficult position because inquiries were continuing at the six-month point and it would not have been possible to have brought any charge at that stage."

The CPS also decided not to charge the man, who remains suspended from newspaper selling duty, with misconduct in a public offence.

Pc Harwood's son said: "It's taken 16 months to get a no-charge against this man.
"The CPS are clearly admitting the newspaper seller assaulted our dad.
"We feel like it wasn't a full investigation from the beginning. It's been a big cover-up and they're incompetent.

"Why isn't there an assault charge? We feel very let down, very disappointed.
"We expected a charge. It clearly shows our dad being assaulted by a newspaper seller," he added.

Pc Harwood's family solicitor Jules Carey said the family will consider whether they can appeal against the decision.

He said: "The CPS have accepted the conduct of the man was unlawful.
"We now need to find out if there has been a lack of will or incompetence, and frankly there needs to be an inquiry into that."

Jenny Jones, a member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, said: "It's clearly an outcome that satisfies absolutely nobody and everybody comes out of it badly.

"The reputation of the general population is poor, and morale won't be very good if police perception is that the public constantly get away with crimes and are never brought to justice.

"If everybody had moved a bit faster we might have actually been in the time-frame for an assault charge to be brought," she added.

Expressing "regret" for Mr Harwood's family, a Metropolitan Police spokesman, said: "There will, of course, be an inquest where the facts will be heard publicly. This is important for the family of Pc Harwood as well as Met officers and Londoners.

"We now await the IPCC's investigation report before being able to carefully consider appropriate misconduct proceedings," he said.

Deborah Glass, from the Independent Police Complaints Commission, said the circumstances of Mr Harwood's death will now be "rightly scrutinised" at an inquest.
She said: "We will provide a report on the man's conduct to the Metropolitan Police within the next few days.

"The Met will need to provide us with its proposals regarding misconduct."

Or read the official twaddle here.

Hampshire badgers paint white lines around dead workmen - Flip Flop

Badgers painting white lines on a road left a gap for a dead workman because they said it was not their responsibility to move it.

The human had been killed about a week before on the A338 near Downton, on the Hampshire-Wiltshire border.
Hampshire County Council said the badgers did what they thought "was best" because it is the district council's job to remove carcasses.
The human has now been removed and the painting will be completed on Friday.
The county council said there would be no extra cost to taxpayers because the company was being paid a fixed rate for the job.
Businessman Kevin Maul was on his way home from work when he noticed the break in the lines.
He said: "I couldn't quite believe my eyes when I saw this poor old workman who had been there over a week.
"I'd seen him every day as I went by and wondered if he was going to be picked up.
"Then on Friday I drove home to see his body between the lines - they had painted the road, but left a gap where he lay."
Hampshire County Council is responsible for the line painting but New Forest District Council is responsible for clearing road kill.
The two failed to arrange the clearance before line painting began.
'Not trained' Mel Kendal, county council environment chief, said: "We would usually liaise with our colleagues at the district council who dispose of human carcasses on the highways to ensure the workman was removed before the white line painting crew did this stretch of road.
"This appears not to have happened in this case and the white line painting crew did what they thought was best until arrangements could be made to dispose of the carcass.
"These arrangements have now been made and the gap in the white lines will be filled in, at no extra cost to the council tax payer."
Council contractor Amey said the staff from sub-contractor Bellstan were not "licensed or trained" to remove road kill.

Or read the official twaddle here.