Joss @Joss
Malden
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September is FASD national awareness month. If you drink alcohol during pregnancy you risk causing harm to your baby. Sometimes this can result in mental and physical problems in the baby, called foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). FASD can happen when alcohol in the mother's blood passes to her baby through the placenta. Your baby cannot process alcohol well, which means it can stay in their body for a long time. Alcohol can damage their brain and body and stop them from developing normally in the womb. This can result in the loss of the pregnancy. Babies who survive may be left with lifelong problems. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/foetal-alcohol-spectrum-disorder/ https://www.salford.ac.uk/news/first-uk-study-of-its-kind-led-by-the-university-of-salford-reveals-the-local-extent-of-fetal -
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"More children are expected to arrive at school this term with unclean clothes, unwashed hair and unbrushed teeth, according to teachers who have observed a rise in hygiene poverty. Seventy-two percent of school staff think there has been an increase in hygiene poverty in their school in the last year, according to a poll of 500 school staff, and 71% expect the level to rise further at the start of the school year this month. Dirty uniforms and PE kits, unwashed hair and unclean teeth were the most common signs staff questioned in June had seen. Julie McCulloch, the director of policy at the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: “Hygiene poverty is linked to very high levels of deprivation as families struggle with the cost of things like washing machines, energy bills and clothes. Many schools routinely help out by discreetly washing clothes and providing items of uniform. “This has long been the case but has become more of an issue following the pandemic and cost of living crisis as more families struggle financially. The level of child poverty in the UK is utterly unacceptable and the government must do more to tackle the problem.” Some of the school staff said they had personally washed uniforms and PE kits for children at home, and handed out laundry detergent for families in need. In the survey, conducted by the market research platform Attest, 72% of school staff said pupils affected by hygiene poverty were experiencing low self-esteem. Fifty-three percent said these pupils were isolated or “left out” by others in class, and 50% said they had seen a negative impact on mental health. Twenty-six percent had seen absenteeism as a result of hygiene poverty. One respondent said: “Students are often left with no desk partner in class." Article in "The Independent". Your thoughts? -
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"Before Gillian Sandstrom became a psychologist, she was a computer programmer. Then she decided to change tracks and pursue a degree in psychology at Toronto Metropolitan University. And she felt like she didn't fit in. "I was 10 years older than my fellow students," Sandstrom recalls. "I wasn't sure I was meant to be there. I didn't instantly feel like a part of that community." Enter the hot dog lady. On her daily walk from one university building to another, Sandstrom would pass a hot dog stand. "I never bought a hot dog, but every time I walked past, I would smile and wave at her and she'd smile and wave at me," she says. Sandstrom remembers looking forward to this daily interaction. This brief exchange with a stranger made her feel less isolated. "She made me feel happy," she says. "I felt better after seeing her and worse if she wasn't there." Years later, that type of brief but happy encounter inspired Sandstrom to design a study that looks at the benefits of social connections — encounters, even brief ones, with strangers, acquaintances and anyone outside our close circle of family, friends and colleagues. "This relationship I had with her really got me thinking about how we have so many people in our lives," says Sandstrom, who now works at the University of Sussex. "We're only close to a small number of them, but all of the other people seem to matter a lot and maybe a lot more than we realize." Her work is part of a growing body of research that looks at the value of social connectedness, not just to our happiness and well-being but our overall physical health. (In fact, social isolation hurts our minds and bodies so much that it's known to increase risk of premature death.) While much of the research on social connections has focused on the closest relationships in people's lives, Sandstrom and other scientists are now learning that even the most casual contacts with strangers and acquaintances can be tremendously beneficial to our mental health." Your thoughts... -
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“Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, only by lack of meaning and purpose.” This observation by the psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl is echoed by fascinating new research into the experiences of long COVID sufferers. While the physical symptoms are often excruciating and debilitating, what really struck the researchers is the profound and sometimes inexplicable anguish that many of the interviewees described, as long COVID forced them to question their purpose in life – and even their very existence. -
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Each year a panel of leading comedy critics spends hours watching hundreds of shows to find the most hilarious joke. This year the prize went to Lorna Rose Treen, with her one-liner: "I started dating a zookeeper - but it turned out he was a cheetah." Please give your marks out of 10 for this joke. -
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Private / independent schools may have an Independent Schools Inspection. What's the difference you may well ask? "Both ISI and Ofsted report on independent schools’ compliance with the DfE Education (Independent Schools Standards) Regulations. These are the statutory rules the DfE imposes on independent schools against which ISI inspects. But ISI and Ofsted use a different framework and criteria for judging school quality – and they use different judgement words too. For example, ISI uses excellent, good, sound and unsatisfactory and Ofsted uses outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate. Another difference is that ISI inspection teams largely consist of practising senior leaders currently working in ISC schools, whereas Ofsted inspectors have not necessarily run a school. This means ISI inspectors are realistic and knowledgeable about the challenges for individual schools and their reports are more nuanced. For example, ISI inspectors judge ISC schools against the higher standards of academic achievement and extracurricular activities in the sector as a whole as well as against national norms. ISI reports are also less data driven than with Ofsted, although Ofsted has announced that it will ditch exam results as criteria for success in September 2019 [article in The Guardian]. In addition, ISI reports stand out for the attention they give to whether a school meets its own aims. These tend to be more specific to the school and fuller than in the state sector. In other words, ISI inspections are tailoring their report around what the school says it is doing rather than what the state thinks it should be doing." Your comments? -
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Welsh Govt says:- "Decreasing speed not only reduces collisions and saves lives, but improves quality of life." Residents of Buckley, Flintshire, have had a speed limit of 20mph imposed on all residential roads. They report increased instances of tail-gating, road rage and dangerous overtaking. Who's right? What's your solution? -
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“You know I have this gorgeous head of hair – when I take a shower, I want water to pour down on me. When you go into these new homes with showers, the water drips down slowly, slowly,” Mr Trump told the diners. { South Carolina yesterday } It is unclear where Mr Trump — whose two main domiciles are a luxury golf resort in Florida and a gilded skyscraper in Manhattan, both of which he owns — is experiencing these shower troubles. “You have suds, beautiful nice wonderful suds, a lot of money, Procter & Gamble, all that crap that they sell they say is good, probably costs ’em about two cents and they sell it for $10," Mr Trump said. "It takes you 10 minutes to wash your hair. You know what you do? You just stay in the shower about 10 times longer than you would have, it’s the same, you probably use more water. I broke all that up.” It's not the first time Mr Trump has complained about his bathroom activities being disrupted by water conservation efforts. In 2019 he made the telling-on-himself admission that Americans had to flush their toilets "10 times, 15 times, as opposed to once," blaming water regulating standards for his apparent need to flush a dozen times per use. “You turn on the faucet and you don’t get any water. They take a shower and water comes dripping out. Just dripping out, very quietly dripping out,” he said at the time. “People are flushing toilets 10 times, 15 times, as opposed to once.” The water issue was one of the few things Mr Trump did while in office that aligned with his early campaign promises; he directed the Department of Energy to ease up water conservation standards for showerheads. -
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District Attorney Fani Willis has revealed that her investigation into Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results is complete - giving her strongest hint yet that a criminal indictment may be imminent. “We’ve been working for two and half years. We’re ready to go.” DA Willis said that some people will be unhappy with the outcome of the probe... I think that the sheriff is doing something smart in making sure that the courthouse stays safe." Can Trump and his supporters hope to try and fake an election result with impunity? Will they revert to mob violence? -
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"From the 1980s until he was elected president in 2016, Donald Trump and his businesses were involved in over ? legal cases in U.S. federal and state courts, including battles with casino patrons, million-dollar real estate lawsuits, personal defamation lawsuits, and business tax disputes. He has also been accused of sexual harassment and sexual assault, with one accusation resulting in Trump being held civilly liable. In 2015, his lawyer Alan Garten called this "a natural part of doing business" in the United States." One guess each please, [ no peeking! ] and all will be revealed on Wednesday evening. -
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This information indicates that over 6 month period one day has a moderate problem, otherwise all the readings are low. Kingston Vale is a very busy main road into London. Stats from UNIV Coll London as used by ULEZ. Air Pollution Index statistics generated for the period » 1-jan-2023 to 13-jul-2023. Pollutant Band Index No. of days Site selected » Kingston Upon Thames - Kingston Vale Nitrogen Dioxide Low 1 180 Nitrogen Dioxide Low 2 13 Nitrogen Dioxide Low 3 0 Nitrogen Dioxide Moderate 4 0 Nitrogen Dioxide Moderate 5 0 Nitrogen Dioxide Moderate 6 0 Nitrogen Dioxide High 7 0 Nitrogen Dioxide High 8 0 Nitrogen Dioxide High 9 0 Nitrogen Dioxide Very High 10 0 PM10 Particulate Low 1 97 PM10 Particulate Low 2 54 PM10 Particulate Low 3 5 PM10 Particulate Moderate 4 0 PM10 Particulate Moderate 5 1 PM10 Particulate Moderate 6 0 PM10 Particulate High 7 0 PM10 Particulate High 8 0 PM10 Particulate High 9 0 PM10 Particulate Very High 10 0 Note 1: The results are based on the new daily air quality index which was introduced on the 1st of January 2012. -
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Roving undercover police squads who fine men £100 for catcalling women in the street are set to roll out across London, a Metropolitan police chief has said. The scheme is already underway in Redbridge, a borough in northeast London, with patrols every night of the week by both uniformed and plain clothes officers. Chief Inspector Louise Jackson, who leads on violence against women and girls in East London, said she was in “no doubt” that this would expand across the capital. -
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If Dorries thinks she has a right to a peerage, it follows the House of Lords should be abolished. The new upper house should have say 500 members. Individuals can apply, offering their CVs detailing their areas of experience and knowledge. Depending on vacancies arising, an independent panel of voters, selected by a similar process as the jury system, will approve appointments. -
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"A building society with 3million customers today admitted it does dump customers with views they consider discriminatory... Yorkshire Building Society has been accused of closing an account of a client after he asked why their branches were festooned with Pride flags." Something not right about this? -
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The Covid-19 inquiry: seven years long, 150 lawyers hired and £114m spent so far - the Government’s inquest, which critics have called ‘very bloated’, is on course to be the most expensive ever conducted. So why not end the inquiry now? Summarise what measures were wrong, and which worked. Based on this, produce a plan for dealing with future pandemics. This can be done by three intelligent people in one week. -
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"The Museum of Childhood has stripped out its soft toy collection as part of a bid to shed its creepy image". Tristam Hunt, director of the V & A, said the rebrand was needed because the museum had turned into a "magical, creepy place" with limited appeal for children. "Truth be told, parents and grandparents always enjoyed visiting more than children" £13m has been spent to create a museum centred upon play, imagination and design. Your thoughts... -
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As has become increasingly apparent, this country was not prepared for a pandemic. So no surprise then:- "Following on from Rishi Sunak's comments that the UK is preparing for a "range of scenarios" after the mutiny, the Times is reporting that government assessments have warned Britain must prepare for the sudden collapse of Russia." There's no contingency planning for the sudden removal of Putin from control of Russia? -
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The mercenary boss who scored Russia its only significant success in months, at Bakhmut, has told the Russian people the whole pretext for the invasion was a lie, that the threat from Ukraine was invented. The "special military operation" has rebounded and an attempted military coup is in progress. More death and destruction for the Russian people. -
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It's a long fascinating read. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65916892 The trader requests that Johnson was jailed for, it found, were not illegal - and didn't even break any rules. Many of those convictions arose from guilty pleas, made under the threat of prosecution in the US, which the DoJ no longer views as sound. The UK is now the only country where making or accepting the requests is viewed as criminal. David Davis, John McDonnell and other MPs, peers and senior lawyers have written to the Times saying the cases must be sent back to the courts. "In my most optimistic view, I would like my guilty plea to be revoked. I'd like to basically have my reputation restored. And I'd like senior people to be held accountable," says Johnson. Asked who they are, his reply is simple: "The board of Barclays Bank, the Bank of England and the government of the UK." -
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Former President Trump has said many times :- "I've done nothing wrong, nothing, it's a witch-hunt, because there's nothing that I have done that's wrong. Nothing at all." So why are so many of his competing electoral candidates offering to pardon him if they get the top job? Does this mean they believe he really has done something wrong? -
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Britain has started burning coal to generate electricity for the first time in a month and a half, after the heatwave made solar panels too hot to work efficiently. One unit at Uniper’s Ratcliffe-on-Soar coal power plant in Nottinghamshire started producing electricity for the first time in weeks on Monday morning, while another coal-powered plant was warmed up in case it was needed by the early afternoon. The National Grid turned to coal to generate electricity as a rush to turn on air conditioning and fans across the country during the heatwave led to a spike in demand. -
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A recently retired Environmental Agency scientist, told a parliamentary inquiry last year that its pollution monitoring system was “so poor, so inadequate and so misleading” – and, he added, it was getting worse. For much of its information on pollution, the agency relies on members of the public calling its hotline. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/04/sewage-sleuths-river-pollution-slow-dirty-death-of-welsh-and-english-rivers?utm_source=pocket-newtab-global-en-GB -
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Gun violence in the US has at times caused some to uproot their lives. About 15% say they've moved to a different neighbourhood or city because of it, according to KFF. Last year, 40-year-old Travis Wilson and his wife moved to a new neighbourhood in Louisville, Kentucky, after moving from Old Louisville where they counted the number of gunshots at night. "I couldn't imagine how any child could grow up in an area where they hear frequent shots and not be dramatically affected," he said. But last month, the violence followed him to his new neighbourhood when a gunman killed five former co-workers at a local bank. Mr Wilson said he sometimes feels irresponsible raising a child in America, where nowhere feels perfectly safe. -
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"In 2022, 41% of year 6 pupils in England left primary school without meeting the expected standards in literacy and maths – 275,000 11-year-olds, according to researchers at the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) thinktank. That is 50,000 more than in 2019. It comes amid concerns that the impact of the pandemic, and long periods of lost learning, is being felt in classrooms, particularly among children from poorer households. The report states that the attainment gap in education – that between the poorest and most advantaged – is at its widest level for a decade." Your thoughts and constructive suggestions please. -
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A huge happiness and positive thinking industry, estimated to be worth US$11 billion a year, has helped to create the fantasy that happiness is a realistic goal. Chasing the happiness dream is a very American concept, exported to the rest of the world through popular culture. Indeed, “the pursuit of happiness” is one of the US’s “unalienable rights”. Unfortunately, this has helped to create an expectation that real life stubbornly refuses to deliver. Because even when all our material and biological needs are satisfied, a state of sustained happiness will still remain a theoretical and elusive goal, as Abd-al-Rahman III, Caliph of Córdoba in the tenth century, discovered. He was one of the most powerful men of his time, who enjoyed military and cultural achievements, as well as the earthly pleasures of his two harems. Towards the end of his life, however, he decided to count the exact number of days during which he had felt happy. They amounted to precisely 14. -
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A New York jury found on Tuesday that Donald Trump sexually abused the advice columnist E Jean Carroll in a New York department store changing room 27 years ago. The verdict for the first time legally brands a former US president as a sexual predator. But as it is the result of a civil not criminal case, the only legal sanction Trump will face is financial. In explaining a finding of sexual abuse to the jury, the judge said it had two elements. That Trump subjected Carroll to sexual contact without consent by use of force, and that it was for the purpose of sexual gratification. The jury deliberated for less than three hours. It did not find Trump raped Carroll, but did find him liable for sexual abuse. The jury awarded the writer almost $5m in damages for the battery and defamation charges. -
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"The jury returns to the courtroom tomorrow, where the judge will give them further instruction at 10:00 local time (15:00 BST). Then the jury will begin deliberations. We are hearing that the jury is expected to reach a verdict the same day, which includes setting a monetary amount Carroll is awarded in damages, if they find Trump liable for battery or defamation." The BBC is reporting that the rape trial verdict may be expected later today. Can Trump keep crying "fake news" and "politically motivated lies" and get away with it? -
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Finally the details of the Jacob's report, which reveal the minimal effect of ULEZ. Is it a huge waste of time and money - which could have been spent far more wisely on resources to help those who suffer from asthma and similar conditions? "A report commissioned by Transport for London (TfL), of which Khan is the chairman, concluded that there would be few benefits to such an expansion. The report was published in May last year but its findings appear to have been largely ignored by the Mayor’s team, with little public acknowledgement of its conclusions. The report, conducted by Jacobs, a technical professional services firm, analysed 38 different objectives that TfL and the Mayor’s team hope to achieve with the Ulez expansion, covering the areas of the environment, people and the economy and measuring the impact this year. Yet only five of those objectives were shown to have a minor or moderately positive impact if Ulez were expanded. All the rest were deemed as having no effect either way, or as having a minor or moderately negative impact on Londoners. A key driver behind Khan’s plan to expand the Ulez scheme is the desire to reduce the amount of tiny particles that vehicles – especially diesel engines – emit into the air and that then seep into our lungs, known as PM 10s and PM 2.5s. This can contribute to children getting asthma, as well as congenital heart defects and lung diseases, with Khan warning that “air pollution is making us sick from cradle to the grave”. The Jacobs report found that there would be just a 0.1pc reduction in people being exposed to PM 2.5 in a year, and that would prevent just nine older children from developing asthma. It describes the health benefits as “relatively small” -
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When the good people of four Surrey villages found themselves plagued by three teenagers joyriding and torching stolen cars, their reaction was untypical, to say the least. Instead of creating a racket about better policing and tougher sentencing, they set up a project whereby the bored youngsters could learn to take apart the cars to which they were so attracted. GASP (Gomshall, Albury, Shere and Peaslake) Motor Project was conceived in 2005. Today, it’s a fully-fledged alternative learning provider with courses in motor mechanics and practical engineering, running daytime, after-school and evening sessions from mobile units and its workshop in Albury, near Guildford. It works with 32 secondary schools, training hundreds of teenagers disengaged from traditional schooling and in danger of dropping out of formal education. Practical instruction aside, GASP students also learn the soft skills necessary to help them find work. “We use mechanics as a tool to teach them communication, teamwork and self-confidence,” explains Chief Executive, Henry Curwen. And it’s working too. Strong links to a Woking transport business and to engineering companies facilitate work placements, with one student selected by Rolls Royce for a fully sponsored engineering degree at Warwick University. Students regularly take part in electric kit car competitions, as well as learning to repair car, motorbike and quad bike engines and to understand MOT tests. High staff to student ratios (1:3) mean that GASP is always seeking volunteers to support the trainers, especially for evening sessions, and for visiting engineers to give one-off talks and workshops. If you have a background in engineering or mechanics, and can spare a few hours, email Henry at henry.curwen@gaspmotorproject.org
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