Turds: the President of the United States is Delusional

 As if further proof were needed:

How I Spent my Holiday

 

I spent it clearing the rubbish out of my life. 

As we know this is one of the classical magical acts, and one I will freely admit to not doing often enough. I am already feeling the benefits in terms of a renewed focus and the universe is beckoning me onto the next step.

Years ago my Goddess mother (you didn't think I made this shit up myself did you) told me that witches hold mirrors up to people and give them the opportunity to correct karma. If they take it, all well and good but they have to take the consequences if they don't. 

This is a mission from the universe or the divine and of course means that people either being ridiculous or in ridiculous circumstances get drawn into our orbit before they get the results of their own actions. Shame.

The very first tarot deck I bought was the ancient Italian tarot - I bought it because I liked it but at the time couldn't read with it and gave it away. I found one at a price I was prepared to pay and am bonding with it old school, by sleeping with it under my pillow.

When the pupil is ready the teacher will appear or disappear.

Oh, and my choice of Birmingham's dancing bin men is surely obvious. The ones in Wolverhampton are a pale imitation.

It is too safe only to put music videos up on your blog. Here is some real divine inspiration:

Spirit of Place: Durex from Birmingham

How come I didn't know there was/is a brand of sellotape called Durex?

Say Durex to someone British and as well as feeling slightly embarrassed they will think of the brand of prophylactic that is know owned by Reckitt Benckiser but used to be a product of the London Rubber Company.

Some of you might remember a routine that comedian Jasper Carrott performed in which he described seeing a racing car in Australia with Durex written on it as an advertising slogan. He relayed how he was perplexed that the Australian’s he was with didn’t find this as amusing as he did. He was then told that rather than being a brand of condom at the time Durex was a major brand of sticky tape in Australia, an Antipodean equivalent of 3M Scotch Tape or Sellotape.

I don’t know if you can still get it in Australia but an internet search suggests that Durex sticky tape is available in Brazil and that it is made by 3M who also make Scotch Tape. Source

I doubt it's still made in the Second City though. 

Witch Ethics Again

I have been thinking of a phrase somebody used to me once - she referred to 'doing the right thing'. Up until a few years ago I would probably have resisted the idea of a fixed right thing to do, although would have wanted to look at underlying principles.

It will surprise everyone that I have even a vague awareness that professional negotiators can use underlying principles to cause two opposite factions to agree. However it will come as no surprise that I think people usually don't think about principles enough.

Those principles can also stop fake compliance to an assumed agreement.

Those principles are actually strikingly like what the witch works with all the time - the many layers and levels, unseen entities and realities.

Therefore witchcraft can also resolve differences and incompatibilities. But this won't be needed if the person does what is right to start off with and doesn't need the karmic bump.

Wonderful news

 Live from the White House this afternoon

The Dogs of the Goddess: El Negro Matapacos

 

Today a post about another of the Goddess's dogs, El Negro Matapacos, which translates as The Black Cop Killer.

A black Chilean stray dog has again become a talking point as protests across the United States continue over the death of a black man in police custody. El Negro Matapacos, the black Chilean dog, has lately become a symbol of protests who, in 2011, started showing up at demonstrations in Chile and turned aggressive against police.

 

On November 26, Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Chile's national police of committing serious human rights violations including the use of excessive force on the people in the streets and abuses in detention. The face of the Chilean dog which had fought valiantly against the police in the past was spray-painted onto the side of buildings and printed on t-shirts during the protests. The heroic protest has again become relevant as Black Lives Matter matter got rejuvenated after the custodial death of George Floyd and protests flared across the United States. Source

I am already in love with this dog, but then I'm a tart.

A black Chilean dog wearing a red bandana made his mark during the New York City subway protests beginning in November 2019.

The protests were ignited by videos documenting police assaults on black and brown youth in the subways. For example, in one, an officer punches a 15-year-old unarmed African American teenager in the face.

Stickers bearing the dog’s image jumping a turnstile appeared on subway walls and trains. They also surfaced in social media illustrations announcing his arrival in New York City.

 Negro Matapacos – a name the dog received as he attained notoriety – literally translates to “Black Cop Killer.” In Latin America, it is not uncommon to use an animal’s color as their name. “Matapacos” has a specific local meaning, referencing the infamous brutality of the Chilean police. Negro Matapacos never killed anyone, but snarled, lunged and barked when the police threatened and assaulted the protesters.

Going international

Negro Matapacos died of natural causes in 2017, surrounded by caregivers. However, he continues to represent indignation against oppression.

In October 2019, massive protests erupted in Chile, sparked by a 4% subway fare increase. The demonstrators want socioeconomic equality and free education and health care. They oppose the right-wing president, Sebastián Piñera.

Negro Matapacos’ image has appeared throughout the protests, gracing banners, posters, decals, murals and papier mâché and metal sculptures.

The Chilean demonstrators’ hashtag, #EvasiónMassiva, references subway fare evasion. Stickers appearing in New York City depict a smiling Negro Matapacos jumping a turnstile atop the word “evade.”

 In a documentary about him, sociologist Jaime Rodriguez observed that the Chilean demonstrations beginning in 2011 responded to the absence of a social safety net. Chile’s free-roaming dogs epitomize exposure to harm: “There is nothing more precarious than a dog in the street,” Rodriguez said.

One student protester speculated to director Víctor Ramírez about why dogs like Negro Matapacos joined the students. He speaks to the shared vulnerability of free-roaming dogs and students to institutional violence. Source

 Not only is this environment of oppression and conflict the exact sort of environment which grows witches, but El Negro showed great discernment in only attacking police. He has even achieved the ultimate witchy thing of becoming semi-divine, or at least a folk Saint:

Turds: Peter's Pence

 Recently a cardinal has been given the heave for a dodgy property deal misusing funds given by the credulous faithful through the Peter's Pence collection. With incredible arrogance the collection is taking place again this weekend.

Of course I could have decided to do a turds post about the orange weirdo having the hoax virus but the replies to that tweet are too good to pass up. So much is coming home to roost this year so enjoy these comments from faithful Catholics!

A Rare Political Post

 You will know that I rarely get involved in politics. My own are firmly anarchist, and my concern is usually the higher planes. That said there is a saying that Witches Meddle and so I will post some memes to remind readers from the US to do the Right Thing.

Spirit of Place: the Lord Mayor of Birmingham opens Joe Lycett's Kitchen

In the words of Joe himself:

Today is one of the greatest days in the history of the City of Birmingham. It is officially one year since the opening of my kitchen extension, The Mosquito Wing, by The Lord Mayor of Birmingham.
In March 2019 I emailed the office of The Lord Mayor Yvonne Mosquito asking if she would open my kitchen extension. Her people said no because it is a private event and she doesn’t do private events. And also presumably because it’s a kitchen extension. 
Furious, I suggested that perhaps I could make it a public event, raffle off tickets for members of the public to join, and give the proceeds to the Lord Mayor’s charity. She agreed and the event was set. Thousands of people applied to win just four tickets. 
Then a year to the day the Lord Mayor came and opened my kitchen. She cut a ribbon, made a speech, unveiled the plaque and stayed for drinks and canapés. 
Many local and international celebrities attended, BBC Radio 1 were the official broadcast partner and local BBC News did the weather live from the kitchen. We raised £3000 and later that year I presented a massive cheque to the Mayor outside the town hall.
Thank you for reading and may I wish you a very Happy Mosquito Wing Day.

Source of text

Image source

Comments on my May is Masturbation Month Post

Some kind soul, well no, tell a lie, some bot has left some comments on my post about Masturbation Month. They are so funny that I will repost them without the links:

Your clothes would look nice on my bedroom floor. 

Is sex dirty? Only when it’s being done right. Click here and check me out.

Shut up and kiss me. 

These comments have made me laugh so much that in a good mood I am doing a giveaway. I don't show my face on this blog (although I am out as a witch at work) mainly because I do use this blog to pour out some angst, but anyone who leaves a comment with their email address will get a non-nude pin up of me.

Come on, queue in an orderly fashion!

What a Month

I have had...

I honestly don't go around looking for trouble, but it seems to find me. There is a pattern whenever this happens, that allies also come out of the woodwork at the same time. Obviously I'm a very convincing psychopath.

I have sold my mother's house to someone who is (to quote the estate agent) 'exactly the kind of buyer you want, he is honorable and doesn't go back on his word'. I don't think estate agents often tell their customers about offers in those words, and I can tell when witchy values are in the air.

Work continues to be interesting. I like the team I am in, and the grievance I put in some time ago, which has been on hold because of coronavirus, is going to be heard in September.

I have since then whistle blown about something. I seem genuinely to have reached the point where I am so done with shit. I heartily concur with this quote.

A thought

 

Harvest

I like it lots when things I have sown years before come to fruition. Regular readers will remember the spot of bother at work I had some years ago, largely because of my manager at the time, Zippy. She was a bit screwed up to start off with, but was hit by the menopause, lost any interest in her job, and started asking any man she met to impregnate her. She shagged a friend of mine on the organisation's premises - sadly I couldn't cause her grief because although he had given me a rather sickening blow-by-blow account, I have a certain loyalty to him. She then tried to get him in trouble the day after for doing something which really wasn't a thing, which merely indicates what a cow she is. Then she married the least evidently heterosexual man in world history who made her pregnant in circumstances I don't care to think about. Another of her former friends who she has stabbed in the back told me that Zippy's husband doesn't like sex - since he previously gave me the come on with a very obvious hard on, I feel he likes sex perfectly well, just not with his wife. She miscarried his baby and then discovered she had Lady trouble, and they spent a fortune on IVF which failed - all while they didn't own a house or even a bed, and their baby was conceived on a mattress on the floor. She was already pushing fifty at this point and had stopped doing anything which might look like management of the team.

This is all background to say that I saw a job advertised in the team this week and Zippy is no longer manager. I got the cards depicted as an explanation of what happened and that's definitely pushed by a lot of stuff coming home at once. I love it when a plan comes together.

Spirit of Place: A Happy Memory

I came across the picture which illustrates this post on somebody's Twitter and it brought back a flood of happy memories. When I was a young puppy (not in a fetish way, I hasten to add) there were many empty sites around the city centre. I think this one has been cleared preparatory to building Brindley Place but a lot of them dated back as far as the second world war and were of course the result of bombing. This meant that when the Inner Ring Road was intact you had the very small city centre proper, and a circle of post-industrial or just plain empty land before the inner city started. Of course this circle was incomplete or patchy but it was very strange to have just nothing near the centre of the city.

Spirit of Place: Kingsley Burrell

For obvious reasons this is definitely the time to talk about Kingsley on here and the horrendous time he and his family have been put through.

In March 2011, Kingsley Burrell called the police requesting help, fearing he and his son were at risk from an armed gang. By the end of the day, Burrell had been arrested, beaten and had his son taken from him. Four days later he was dead.

Since then, it has been a long, hard struggle by Kingsley’s family and friends to find out the truth about what happened - but last month, during an excruciating five-week inquest, that truth finally came out.

When they arrived on the scene and found no evidence of anyone threatening Kingsley, the police decided to arrest him under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act, claiming he was delusional. Both he and his son were taken away in an ambulance, where the police set upon Kingsley in an attempt to forcibly remove him from his son. During the inquest, it emerged that Kingsley had not been asked to relinquish his son before police attacked him. One officer admitted in typically guarded language: "I accept that to communicate to everybody, in an ideal situation, that would have been done."

Kingsley was then driven to the Oleaster mental health unit of the local hospital and later transferred to another mental health facility, the Mary Seacole Unit. What exactly happened to him during this time is unclear, but his sister Kadisha visited him in the unit the following day, telling the inquest "Kingsley had three lumps, one on his forehead. I said to [his partner] Chantelle 'take a photo of that'.”

“Kingsley said to me, ‘I can’t move’. He couldn’t move the upper part of his body… He couldn't move his head, couldn't move his body, couldn't move his shoulders,” she said, adding he had deep marks around his wrists. She later discovered that her brother had been left handcuffed to the hospital floor for five or six hours, had not been allowed a drink of water or a visit to the toilet and was subsequently left to urinate on himself. He told her that after he requested the handcuffs be loosened the guards tightened them even more.

READ MORE: Undercover police evidence withheld by prosecutors, cleared protesters compensated

On March 30th, police were called back to the Mary Seacole Unit after staff there reported he was acting aggressively; when pressed for more detail in the inquest it transpired that he had been making ‘stabbing motions’ with his toothbrush.

This was apparently all the excuse the police needed to launch another blistering attack on the man they had left barely able to walk just three days previously. Kingsley over the course of the next two and half hours was again beaten, this time whilst sedated, handcuffed and in leg restraints. During this time, he was transferred by police to the Queen Elizabeth hospital, first to emergency to stitch up a head injury he had sustained during the course of the restraint, and then back to the Oleaster Unit of the hospital. During the ambulance journey, a towel was wrapped around Kingsley’s head; when asked why, it was explained that it was because he had been spitting. The restraints were finally removed on arrival at the Oleaster seclusion unit. A staff member present told the inquest that whilst removing the restraints, one officer “knelt on Kingsley’s back between his shoulder blades”whilst others punched his thighs “with a lot of force,” including with the butt of a police baton. He noted: “These were methods that I had never seen before—they were alarming and shocking.” He explained how the police then left Kingsley face down on the bed with the blanket still wrapped around his head. He was motionless.

During this time, Kingsley’s respiratory rate had been dropping; since he was coming out of sedation it should have been rising. The inquest revealed that this drop had been noted but not acted upon on several occasions. Even when it dropped to below half the usual rate, there was apparently “no urgency” about the situation.

Eventually, Kingsley went into cardiac arrest. Community activist Desmond Jaddoo’s blog of the inquest hearings records what happened next: “This afternoon we heard from the Doctor who was on call when Kingsley went into cardiac arrest and it was a complete case of confusion, as she claims that she was told to go to the wrong ward and when she arrived there, there were no compressions being done and they placed him on the floor for a solid surface for compressions. Furthermore, we went on to hear the wrong breathing mask was used initially, along with the defibrillator not having any pads and there was a delay whilst an alternative one was obtained from a different ward.”

READ MORE: Mark Duggan family: Firearms officers ‘protecting’ gun sellers, policing inquiry needed

Kingsley Burrell was pronounced dead the next day. Last month, the five-week inquest concluded that the police had used excessive force and contributed to his death, as did the covering left over his head, and the neglect he so clearly suffered. It was a damning indictment not only of the police, but also of the various mental health workers and ambulance staff who allowed the brutal treatment to continue, and of the Crown Prosecution Service who refused to prosecute anyone over the death. Had the coroner allowed ‘unlawful killing’ to be considered, it is quite possible the jury would have reached this verdict.

Following the verdict, the all-too-familiar refrain of “lessons learnt” began to emanate from all corners of officialdom. Coroner Louise Hunt pronounced: “The only consolation to family members is lessons can be learnt from such a tragedy.” West Midlands Police Assistant Chief Constable Garry Forsyth said, “Crucial lessons have been learned from this tragic case and how the force manages people who are detained with mental and physical health needs.” Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson told the press: “Clearly more lessons need to be learned by all the agencies involved so that these tragic incidents are not repeated.”

This is the same refrain that is churned out every time somebody dies while in police custody. Time and again, families are forced to battle for the truth, often for years, against all the odds - but when that truth is revealed, and the states’ culpability in the death of their loved ones is revealed, the state refuses to administer justice. Instead, it calls for ‘lessons to be learned,’ as if police officers beating a man to death is akin to a schoolboy failing a math test. As the chair of the Kingsley Burrell justice campaign Maxie Hayles commented, “We are constantly told that 'lessons are being learned.' The black community is totally fed up with hearing this rubbish. It’s almost like we are an experimental project.”

The truth of the matter is that, precisely because justice is never done, these ‘lessons’ are never actually learned. The Institute of Race Relations published a report into deaths in custody in March of this year, examining over 500 black and minority ethnic deaths in custody that have occurred in the UK since 1990. Their report noted that “despite narrative verdicts warning of dangerous procedures and the proliferation of guidelines, lessons are not being learnt: people die in similar ways year on year.”

READ MORE: Mark Duggan shooting: Officer cleared of ‘any wrongdoing’ amid police cover-up allegation

Indeed, every aspect of the Kingsley Burrell case is depressingly familiar to campaigners on police brutality. Every single element of ‘what went wrong’ had already contributed to previous deaths on several occasions, and everyone has already, we have been told, resulted in ‘lessons being learnt,’ long before Kingsley’s fateful call to the police in 2011.

One such lesson is the lesson of ‘institutional racism’. This was the term used in the 1999 MacPherson report into the death of teenager Stephen Lawrence, which concluded that the police mishandling of that case was a result of the institutional racism of the Metropolitan Police. This racism results in the black community being “under-policed as victims and over-policed as suspects” in the memorable words of campaigner Stafford Scott, with racial stereotyping leading both to the excessive use of force against black people and an assumption that they are deviant.

Despite the ‘lessons learnt’ from the Lawrence case, both factors clearly played a role in Kingsley’s death. PC Shorthouse, a six-foot-four tall police officer involved in Kingsley’s death, told the inquest that his “knees were knocking together” in fear of dealing with Kingsley, prompting the family’s lawyer to ask him: “Are you sure you were not applying the stereotype of Kingsley being mad, black and dangerous?” “No, not at all,” Shorthouse replied. “He was the strongest, most aggressive person I have ever met in my career as a police officer.”Perhaps. But one wonders how much aggression Kingsley was meting out whilst sedated with his arms and legs strapped down, or whilst being beaten face down and motionless on a hospital bed.

Another explanation for the incident was put forth by the Institute of Race Relations in their examination of similar cases: “Black men, especially young black men, acting erratically or even asking for help, are stereotyped first and foremost as bad, mad, and, being black, likely to be involved in drugs and/or violent – so they are met with violence.” 
Even when victims display clear warning signs of being in serious danger, police often ignore them on the grounds they believe their victims are “faking it.” As Shorthouse told the inquest, he assumed that Kingsley pleading with him that he couldn’t breathe was “tactical.” Such assumptions were also fatal in the cases of Sean Rigg, Christopher Alder and Habib Ullah, as well as many others.

Yet this ‘lesson’ - that institutional racism and racial stereotyping is dangerous and can even be fatal - is one that had supposedly already been learnt from the MacPherson report in 1999. Just for good measure, it was ‘learnt’ again in 2006 when an IPCC (Independent Police Complaints Commission) report concluded that “unwitting racism” contributed to the death of Christopher Alder – a very generous finding given CCTV footage appeared to show the officers standing around making monkey noises whilst he lay dying – and that four of the officers present when Alder died were guilty of the "most serious neglect of duty."

Another lesson not being learnt is that, when it comes to holding the state to account, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is not fit for purpose. In 1999, the Butler Report – an official government inquiry into deaths in custody – was seriously critical of the CPS’s obvious unwillingness to prosecute police officers. Yet given the behavior of the CPS in subsequent years, the report may as well have never been written. Even when verdicts of unlawful killing are reached, as the IRR has noted, “there has still been a marked reluctance to prosecute those implicated.” The number of prosecutions resulting from the 509 suspicious custody deaths detailed in their report can literally be counted on one hand – and even where prosecutions are brought, they are not done so effectively.

READ MORE: ‘Black lives matter’: Clashes as thousands of Londoners protest police racism (VIDEO)

Following years of campaigning by Alder’s sister, Janet, the CPS did eventually bring a prosecution of the officers involved in Christopher Alder’s death.

However, the CPS then conflicted much of the evidence, meaning the judge had to throw it out, with the most damning evidence - the CCTV footage - never presented to the jury. Janet then brought a civil case against the CPS, in which the judge concluded that she shared Janet’s concerns “as to the standard of the investigation undertaken by West Yorkshire Police into the actions of the Humberside officers.” No surprise then, that the CPS decided last August not to prosecute the police officers implicated in Kingsley Burrell’s death, leading to a protest by the Burrell family and their supporters outside its Birmingham headquarters. Lessons learnt?

The list of lessons that should already have been learnt is endless. Another lesson concerns “positional asphyxia” – suffocation due to a person’s body position blocking their airways. The IRR report shows there have been at least nine cases of deaths in police custody where ‘positional asphyxia’ was identified as a cause of death since 1990. ACPO guidance, says the IRR, already “makes clear that placing suspects in a prone position….gives rise to the risk of death by positional asphyxia and the prone position must be avoided if possible, and minimized if unavoidable. It also recommends that body weight should not be used on the upper body (ie sitting on a suspect) to hold down a person.” This lesson was supposedly ‘learnt’ in the 1990s. Yet it did not stop the officers involved in Burrell’s case from ignoring the advice, putting him in prone position and leaning on his chest, causing the positional asphyxia which led to his cardiac arrest – just as predicted by ACPO’s guidelines. If the British state really is being ‘taught lessons,’ it must be a seriously retarded pupil.

Another lesson that should by now be well understood is that“excited delirium” is a medically dubious diagnosis routinely wheeled out by dodgy police pathologists desperate to avoid verdicts of positional asphyxia at inquests. Refuted by the vast majority of medical experts, this did not stop police pathologists bringing it up both at Kingsley’s inquest, and at the inquest of Habib Ullah earlier this year.

At least the pathologists are giving distorted interpretations of the facts, however, rather than simply making them up. Another lesson is that it is not only racism that is apparently institutional in the police force – so too are cover-ups and lying. Last week, hearings for gross misconduct began against police officers involved in the death of Habib Ullah, all five of whom heavily doctored their witness statements to the IPCC about what happened, removing references to the use of force used, to other witnesses on the scene, to warning signs of his deteriorating condition and much else besides.

As Gerry Boyle, presenting the case against the officers, said:“The nature and extent of the deletions and amendments these five officers made were on a breathtaking scale, covering almost every single aspect of the incident.” (Needless to say, the CPS dismissed the IPCC’s suggestion that those involved be charged with perjury and various other charges). At Kingsley’s inquest, a similar pattern emerged. The testimony of PC Adey and ambulance driver Mr MacDonald-Booth were particularly shameless. Various witnesses had testified that, after his restraints were taken off, Kingsley’s arms dropped to his sides and he never moved again. "I know what I saw” PC Adey said, “he raised his head.”Incredulous, the coroner replied: "I suggest you are wrong, officer."

In an earlier statement, Adey said he had seen this through a window in the door. But it emerged in the inquest that this window was covered by a locked hatch to which only nurses had the key. Adey also insisted that Kingsley’s face was uncovered, contradicting evidence from six other witnesses that his face was covered with a towel or sheet. “How can they all be wrong, officer?” asked the coroner, showing him CCTV photographs of Kingsley’s head covered. He said he wasn’t looking at him at the time. Adey also denied kneeling on Kingsley’s back, as had been described by two other witnesses.

The coroner, Louise Hunt, also became exasperated with Mr Macdonald-Booth, the ambulance driver, whose testimony in the inquest directly contradicted his own earlier statements. Mr MacDonald-Booth, it turns out, had only recently joined the ambulance service, having previously been – any guesses? - a police officer.

We were told ‘lessons had been learnt’ from the Hillsborough disaster, where police had systematically lied about the 96 football fans killed as a result of poor policing in 1989; we were told the same about the miners’ strike – where police had systematically lied about those they arrested at Orgreave; and again after “Plebgate”, when police officers had lied about what they heard Andrew Mitchell say in Downing St. Lessons learnt? Kingsley’s inquest suggests otherwise.

Yet lessons are being learnt. The real lesson – being taught again and again - is that impunity prevails; that, if you are an agent of the British state, you can falsify your evidence, you can lie in court, you can attack people from vulnerable or minority groups at will, and whatever happens – even if you kill them – that state will protect you. We don’t need any more lessons to be learnt; indeed we have had enough of this lesson being learnt. What we need is for justice to be done.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT. Source

I have reposted this article complete because it shows what a disgrace this is. It also chimes with my own conviction that the mantra of lessons is, of course, bollocks.

PC Paul Adey was found guilty of giving a false account in relation to Mr Burrell's collapse.

A panel found the PC had lied about not seeing the cover on Mr Burrell's face and failed in his duty of care by not removing it.

The officer was exonerated of an allegation of using excessive force.

He was dismissed without notice for gross misconduct at a hearing at Sutton Coldfield Police station earlier.

Dishonest accounts

Two other officers, PCs Mark Fannon and Paul Greenfield, were cleared of allegations of using excessive force and giving dishonest accounts.

West Midlands Police said father-of-three and trainee security guard Mr Burrell deserved to be looked after.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission said the amount of time the investigation had taken was "regrettable".

Mr Burrell's family said they would continue to fight for a public inquiry over his death.

 Speaking of PC Adey at the hearing, Mike Colbourne, Deputy Chief Constable of Bedfordshire Police, said: "We have found him to be in breach of standards of professional behaviour, honesty and integrity."

In 2015, an inquest jury ruled prolonged restraint had been a factor in Mr Burrell's death and the failure to provide basic medical attention.

In October 2017, the three police officers were cleared of perjury and perverting the course of justice by jurors at Birmingham Crown Court. Source

The moral? Don't call the police. You can read more about the family's ongoing struggle here.
Before you leave this page, we are talking about a man failed by human justice and I would ask you to say a little spell, because the Goddess's justice is out of our world and exactly what is needed:

Come, infernal, celestial and terrestrial Bombo, Goddess of the crossroads. Guiding light, Queen of the night, enemy of the sun and friend and companion of darkness. You who wander the graveyard in the hours of darkness, thirsty for blood, and the terror of mortal men. Gorgo, Mormo, moon of a thousand forms, hear my petition.

Why Hecate is Associated with Snakes

I think this video is self-explanatory.

146,668 Page Views Guest Post by Evelyn Waugh

It has been far too long since we had a guest post, which I have been accustomed to commission when the blog's page views reached some round figure. Since the all-time page view count currently stands at 146,668, which is miniscule by some blog's standards but this blog does not seek popularity and that is a very round figure indeed, it is time for another guest post. They are usually by somebody dead or fictional, and this is no exception, since it is by Evelyn Waugh and comes from a letter of his dated 31st May 1942.
'[...] No. 3 [Commando] were very anxious to be chums with Lord Glasgow, so they offered to blow up an old tree stump for him and he was very grateful and he said dont spoil the plantation of young trees near it because that is the apple of my eye and they said no of course not we can blow a tree down so that it falls on a sixpence and Lord Glasgow said goodness you are clever and he asked them all to luncheon for the great explosion. So Col. Durnford-Slater D.S.O. said to his subaltern, have you put enough explosive in the tree. Yes, sir, 75 lbs. Is that enough? Yes sir I worked it out by mathematics it is exactly right. Well better put a bit more. Very good sir.
'And when Col. D. Slater D.S.O. had had his port he sent for the subaltern and said said subaltern better put a bit more explosive in that tree. I don't want to dissapoint Lord Glasgow. Very good sir.
'Then they all went out to see the explosion and Col. D.S. D.S.O. said you will see that tree fall flat at just that angle where it will hurt no young trees and Lord Glasgow said goodness you are clever.
'So soon they lit the fuse and waited for the explosion and presently the tree, instead of falling quietly sideways, rose 50 feet into the air taking with it 1/2 acre of soil and the whole of the young plantation.
'And the subaltern said said Sir I made a mistake, it should have been 7 1/2 lbs not 75.
'Lord Glasgow was so upset he walked in dead silence back to his castle and when they came to the turn of the frive in sight of his castle what should they find but that every pane of glass in the building was broken.
'So Lord Glasgow gave a little cry & ran to hide his emotion in the lavatrory and there when he pulled the plug the entire ceiling, loosened by the explosion, fell on his head.
'This is quite true.'
Mary Amory (editor): The Letters of Evelyn Waugh. New Haven and New York: Ticknor and Fields, 1980, p. 161.

Shrines

The witchcraft movement  with our great tradition of stealing any practice that isn't nailed down, has not been slow to go with the traditions of pilgrimage and shrines. This is not too far from our custom of visiting each other or meeting in moots. Of course we tell the outside world that this is to check in, make sure others are OK, and for networking. But of course it has a deeper purpose, of gossip, bitching and backstabbing.
Sadly some of our people are beyond the veil but we continue to commune with their memories and the residue of their acts. There are even some people who are legendary and this post was inspired by a colleague telling me she wants to visit Derek Jarman's house. This post is about the shrine of another great, but her simple presence speaks to power so I will not speak further except to draw the reader's attention to the parallel of the great Marie Laveau's tomb.

Tomb reputed to be that
of Marie Laveau

The canonisation of Derek Jarman 

Dysfunctional Families: What I Have Learnt

Regular readers will know that things have not been OK between my mother and myself for years. The situation has now changed because last month she succumbed to coronavirus. This post is a summing up, since I have seen that my comments have been helpful to readers in a similar situation.
1. People don't understand this unless they are in a similar situation. They will tell you that you should focus on the good memories, and don't understand that a dysfunctional parent sours what you thought were good memories.
2. There is no point trying to explain this to people. I made a point of not going round friends and family bitching about my mother (which she didn't hesitate to do about me). In retrospect this was the right thing to do. Don't try to explain it, you will know if they're ready to hear it.
3. People who get it will give socially inappropriate responses for example my friend who merely said 'Thank fuck for that'.
4. The rest of the family won't hesitate to come out of the woodwork after a death, even if they have given you the cold shoulder for years. Don't be taken in - they may not know what the last will says and will be eager to make everything up with you in case.
5. Blood is not thicker than water. If you have been estranged from your family this will be for a reason and you will know yourself if it is a good reason. When somebody is out of your life, yes you miss them but you also can see what your life is like without them, and if it is better the decision embeds itself.
6. If you are executor or legatee in a difficult family situation, do it properly with a solicitor. Dealing with an estate is a complex matter and having solicitors sort it will help against any challenges to the will. This is not even being histrionic - these people are ghouls.
7. Don't feel pressured to do anything you don't want to.
And finally...
8. There will be divine signs or the synchronicities that we witches look for anyway.

Blockages in Tarot Reading

I have been reading tarot cards for twenty years and it only struck me yesterday that when we get a blockage in a reading - when nothing makes sense - that blockage is itself part of the reading.
If you are reading for yourself it can be a matter that you need to think about or simply something which it is not for us to understand at this time. It can be approached a similar way if reading for someone else.
The old tradition of fortune telling may be useful here - for example the card(s) may show a person or behaviour which will be needed in the future so of course we don't recognise it now.
I am so thick sometimes.