Happy Friday!

Bill and Melinda Gates and the problem of the “good billionaire”

The Snowflake in Chief

Why I fought for the right to open up family courts to greater scrutiny. I’m mostly going to come down on the side of Social Services, it’s a horrible job done in extremely difficult conditions. Having said that, this case is scary and should be reported, the problem is that the other cases still won’t be, we won’t hear about the neglect and abuse that other children taken into care suffer from their parents. We are all the heroes of our own stories and every parent with a kid in care will tell you that it’s because Social Services are stealing their children. They won’t tell you about the unchanged nappies or the rotting teeth or kid wandering the street at midnight because mummy was busy or any of the other things that happened to provoke a care order. So you’ll see these stories and think that social workers are  all about snatching children from their parents and into the hands of nice middle class adopters, instead of understanding that they are human beings in a highly stressed job who make mistakes.

A child in a bedsit has more ‘character’ than a braying public schoolboy, Mr Hinds. Or to quote my nephew “it’s the moneys”

Javid’s decision on Shamima Begum demeans his office. I wrote last week about how conflicted I felt about this. I’m still not advocating for British personnel to be sent in to pick her up and bring her home, actions do have consequences but idealistically, I want the leaders of my country to do better than me. Leaving Shamima Begum stateless might play well to the mob but I’m really uncomfortable about what that means for all of us. So I’m going to leave the quote from A Man for All Seasons here. Because it’s worth thinking about…

Roper: So now you’d give the Devil benefit of law!

More: Yes. What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?

Roper: I’d cut down every law in England to do that!

More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on you — where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country’s planted thick with laws from coast to coast — man’s laws, not God’s — and if you cut them down — and you’re just the man to do it — d’you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I’d give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety’s sake.

Covington Catholic student’s family hits the Washington Post with $250 million lawsuit. Like hell it’s not political.

Angela Smith has left Labour. Who do I complain to about her ‘funny tinge’ comment? Are there elements of Labour that are anti-semitic? Yes.  Has the Labour Party dealt with it well? No.  But Baroness Warsi talked about islamophobia in the Conservative Party and it was a story. Angela Smith gets a pass on this one and Nadine Dorries on another fine. It seems we only care about some racism..

You get the heroes you deserve. And Brexit Britain has Gavin Williamson

The new household rules: ditch your toilet brush and wash much, much more.

The Surprising Reason Zebras Have Stripes

About a Dozen Lawmakers Just Made Brexit More Complicated

“I suppose everyone is looking at this thinking, It can’t be as unplanned as it looks,” Anand Menon, the director of the London-based U.K. in a Changing Europe research institute, told me. “But the thing is, maybe it is.”

The Gun Violence That’s a Bigger Threat to Kids Than School Shootings

Who’s the Cutest Little Tyrannosaur? Is It You?

Death-Cap Mushrooms Are Spreading Across North America. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know that you don’t eat mushrooms that don’t come from the supermarket.