Over the weekend The Guardian reported that £2m has been paid out to child asylum seekers illegally detained as adults which is pretty appalling! However the article reminded me that UK Charity Barnardo’s in its wisdom had decided to run one of these centres for the government which seems at odds with their statement of What We Do on their website:

Barnardo’s transforms the lives of vulnerable children across the UK through the work of our projects, our campaigning and our research expertise.

We believe we can bring out the best in every child whether the issue is child poverty, sexual exploitation, disability and domestic violence.

So are they still running the detention centre? Oh yes! It’s called Cedars which the UK Border Agency describes as pre-departure accommodation. Why the name? Cedars supposedly stands for the principles Border Agency staff will work to – compassion, empathy, dignity, approachability, respect and support – a sick acronym when you consider I started with the £2 million the government has paid out in compensation!

Still if you think that’s trying to disguise the Cedars true purpose then the UK Border Agencies descriptions is nothing compared to Barnardo’s which effuses over the spacious, bedrooms, bathrooms and showers, the comfortable lounge, well equipped games room, dining room and kitchen! In fact there’s no mention of detention in fact it’s called High Close School and is “working together to unlock potential”, what just before children are expelled from the country?

So what’s the reality? Barnardo’s set some Red Lines for its involvement, I’ll take just one of the seven, number 3 – why because I can!

3. Barnardo’s will speak out when any family has stayed at the PDA more than once, or for longer than the one week maximum, due to UKBA procedural error. If this occurs more than twice then Barnardo’s will withdraw its services.

Nice to see that Barnardo’s is going to get upset if a child, and that’s what we’re talking about, not family’s, isn’t expelled quick enough! All part of a caring charity these days. So how did Barnardo’s stack up, who knows, Barnardo’s isn’t saying! However a freedom of information request by but the UK Border Agency failed as evidence obtained by a freedom of information request No-Deportations discovered that of the eleven children who entered Cedars pre-departure accommodation in September 2011, three children spent one day in detention, two spent two days, two spent four days, three spent seven days, and the remaining child, having spent four days in detention was still detained as at 30 September 2011. So where’s Barnardo’s “red lines” in all of this? Lying on the floor forgotten.

This is just one instance of Barnardo’s collusion with the government, the charity is also aggressively bidding to take over the governments running down of Sure Start Children’s Centre’s. Barnardo’s seems less and less a charity and more and more a business run for profit. It seems the charity has chosen to ignore it’s beliefs so proudly trumpeted on its website! Here they are in the vain hope that someone at Barnardo’s might read them and remember!

Barnardo’s believes in children regardless of their circumstances, gender, race, disability or behaviour.

We believe in the abused, the vulnerable, the forgotten and the neglected. We will support them, stand up for them and bring out the best in each and every child.

We do this because we believe that every child deserves the best start in life and the chance to fulfil their potential.

We use the knowledge gained from our direct work with children to campaign for better childcare policy and to champion the rights of every child.

With the right help, committed support and a little belief, even the most vulnerable children can turn their lives around. Barnardo’s is regulated by the Charity Commission. Being a registered charity means that we must always be accountable and transparent.

The next time you get one Barnardo’s little envelope’s through your door I suggest you put the envelope straight into the recycling or bin if you must and avoid giving these sordid money grabbers a penny!

Finally football, last Chelsea where beaten by Napoli in which both teams gave a master-class display on how not to defend! At the end of the game Napoli converted more of the glut of goal scoring opportunities and now take a 3-1 lead to the second leg at Stamford Bridge. It’s not impossible for The Blues to win that game 2-0 and proceed to the last eight. To do so though the defence needs tightening, obviously!

Another day another 750 words! Well not that I’ve ever managed 750 words in a day! It seems like a great idea however when you’re faced with a blank page, well lets be honest a screen, it’s not the only thing that suddenly goes blank! Why 750 words? Go here http://750words.com.

Still the news reveals that Dominique Strauss-Kahn the former head of the IMF the man who had charges he raped 32-year-old hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo in New York dismissed is now being questioned by French police in connection with a prostitution ring. The question is, will the witnesses in this case prove to be any more credible in the eyes of the law than Diallo? Because as Diallo found out if you’ve ever told lies or associated with know criminals then you can be raped and there isn’t a thing you can do about it! What a farce! And again in the eyes of the law you can be damn sure that prostitutes aren’t going to make witnesses. You know what an odious man Strauss-Kahn is when his defence is “I challenge you to distinguish a naked prostitute from any other naked woman”. So how does that work then? Don’t you see women clothed? just naked and then you fuck them? What a cesspit world Strauss-Kahn occupies. And I can feel another aquittal coming on.

Well changing subject to Chelsea and their manager Andre Villas-Boas who wants his bosses backing. Villas-Boas insists he’s restructuring the club to sustain success. Success has been in pretty short supply since his arrival at the club! However I expect Villas-Boas to last the remainder of the season the club can ill afford to sack him before then not because of the €15 million compensation paid to Porto, that’s loose change for the clubs owner Roman Abramovich It’s more because the club doesn’t want to admit to yet another managerial mistake. Personally I’d welcome back Claudio Ranieri at least the football was exciting something that hasn’t really been true at the club since José Mourinho took over. As for Villas-Boas I suspect he’s got the first ten games of next season if he hasn’t turned things around by then he’ll be out.

Microsoft Windows or Apple OS the battle rages on! Personally I’ve always been a Windows fan boy. However with the advent of my 50th birthday my wife brought me a MacBook Pro and one week later I’m wondering why on earth I didn’t make the move earlier? The MacBook is a thing of beauty, well as far as any computer equipment can be.I’m not saying Apple’s perfect but compared to Windows as far as usability goes for me it’s a hands down winner! I suppose my demands aren’t high, a bit of word processing, maybe a spreadsheet, possibly a simple database, Facebook, Twitter, email and web surfing, My burning question to Microsoft after a week is why on earth does it take so long to shut down and restart windows?

What on earth is bookmakers Paddy Power up to?

This is so fucked up on every level!

Finally artificial meat, Dr Mark Post, head of physiology at Maastricht University has managed to grow sheets of cow muscle measuring 3cm long, 1.5cm wide and half a millimetre thick from stem cells extracted from cow muscle. Now I thought stem cells where purely embryonic but a check of Wikipedia reveals I’m very wide of the mark, it’d be true form embryonic stem cells but not adult stem cells, so brushing aside my usual scepticism I’ll continue. Now Dr Post hopes this is the first step to, lets be sensational, test-tube burgers, sounds so appetising! I think I’ll pass! That said may have you ever checked up on mechanically separated meat?

Still as Jamie Oliver failed to persuade these kids I’m guessing I’ve failed to persuade you! So test-tube meat all round!

So how did I do? 669 words – not bad!